27: Try to know what you're talking about.
"...Idiot." I mutter to myself, slumping against the wall outside Lev's room. "What the hell were you thinking, Natsuki Subaru? That if you just apologized for your screwups, everything would be fixed?"
It won't be that easy. Saying sorry won't return Lev Lainur's soul to his body, or undo the explosions of the bombs I failed to stop. The latter is impossible to fix at this point. With the exception of Natsuki Subaru, the dead don't come back to life, and [Return by Death] only ever returns me to the most recent 'save point'. And as for the former...
It goes without saying, using the Witch's taboo like that was a mistake. After all, it's not in her nature to be gentle when tearing apart those who learn about [Return by Death]. In all likelihood she tore out Lev's soul at the same time that she removed Flauros, without bothering to distinguish between the two.
And of course… knowing this power of mine works, I won't be able to return far enough back to make a difference now.
No, that's not quite right. The truth is, if I had really wanted to save Lev, I'd have made sure that he was alright the moment Flauros was gone. There was already clearly something wrong with him at that point. But I pushed it aside, because I was selfish.
"Because… I still don't want to die, huh?" I mumble, scratching at my arm and beginning my slow walk back to my room. That's right, even though I've died more than fifty times at this point, I'm still hesitant to-
"Oi, just what the hell am I thinking?" I realize.
I've already been down this mental road and been scolded for it before. It's not wrong to survive. It's not wrong to want to live. It's not wrong to be afraid of dying.
...Where was I?
Right, a way to fix the damage to Lev…
"His soul is missing… but what does that even mean?" I mutter, trying to think back to my brief stay at the Clock Tower. The nature of the soul, what exactly a soul is, was certainly covered. However, I didn't have the chance to attend that lecture.
"Right, that was the day Von Krudik kidnapped me, wasn't it?" I mutter. And while the guy who rescued me did try to explain the concept to me afterwards…
"Well, it's like a dance between 'that' and you, you know?"
...Flat Escardos was terrible at explaining things. Even after he spent several hours telling me about it, I still couldn't wrap my head around his explanation. I had meant to ask the Professor for help, but a few days after that fiasco I finally got my chance to meet with Zelretch, so it never wound up happening.
So… if it's come to this, I'll use my secret special move-!
"I'm completely clueless, so please explain it to me." I say with a polite bow.
Doctor Roman sighs. "...The Soul, huh? Well, that's a pretty complicated question, since there are so many schools of thought on it… Chaldea uses the threefold existence model, which posits an independent [Body], [Mind], and [Soul]."
"...So, it's something as extreme as having the body completely destroyed? How is Lev even still alive, then?" I ask.
"...Well, in theory, you actually have to eliminate at least two of the three in order to actually kill someone. Of course, it's not like the body, mind, and soul are wholly divorced from one another. Under normal circumstances, just losing one would cause cascading trauma that kills the other two." Roman says. "If I had to guess… odds are that it's because of what Flauros talked about. That the Lainur family was created for the exact purpose of hosting him. If that's the case, then it explains how he could be possessed without experiencing the usual bodily and mental corruption that demonic possession entails."
"Eh… so there are usually pretty clear signs, huh?"
"Sort of. The real bodily changes don't usually kick in until the demon is fully matured, from what I've been told." He says. "But once the demon's matured, it's way too late to save the possessed person. For that reason… those who can detect demons are highly prized by the church." He locks eyes with me.
"Hey, it was just a fluke this time, okay? A fluke!" I say, sweating a bit under his stare. "Don't go selling me to the church or something!" I already know that won't end well, after all. The life I spent dealing with those guys was a disaster through and through.
He chuckles. "Anyway, the fact of the matter is, we got incredibly lucky with Lev. As a general rule, surviving a full demonic possession is impossible. Supposedly there's a man in the [Burial Agency] who can actually exorcise fully matured demons, but even then, it's unknown what happened to the person he saved."
"I'm sure they're fine… is what I'd like to say, but since the one to do it was one of those weirdos, there's seriously no guarantee!" I yell.
"Wait, Subaru-kun, are you actually familiar with-?"
"Nope. I've definitely never met any of them before. I'm just inferring based on their reputation, yep." I say with a forced smile.
"R-right… in any case, Lev's chances of recovery aren't zero, but we can't do anything with the equipment we have here at Chaldea. And, well…" He says, trailing off with a sad look.
"Yeah. Humanity has been incinerated, after all." I mutter.
Things weren't fixed when the Fuyuki Singularity was resolved. [Apocalypse Conflagration] was not prevented. At the present moment, every human being outside of Chaldea is no more than cinders. And unless we resolve all seven of the extra singularities that popped up in the wake of the first's collapse, they'll remain that way.
"Well, it's not like we had any choice in the first place. We'll just have to save the world, right?" I say with a chuckle.
The doctor lets out a laugh of his own. "I guess so! Nowhere to go but up, right?"
"Exactly!" I reply, grinning. "On that note, I know I'm clear to move around, but how soon will I actually be able to exert myself physically? I've got to get back into shape if I'm going to be scrambling around another seven Fuyuki-level disaster areas, you know!"
"Hmm…" He closes his eyes and nods, stroking his chin. "Well, according to Cu Chulainn, you should already be healthy apart from the blood loss - and since modern medicine has that part covered, you're technically good to go. Still, considering the wounds you sustained, I'd really like to supervise your rehabilitation. As long as I'm there to keep an eye on you, it's probably fine!"
"Great! That means you get to be my first… no, actually, you're my fourth victim!" I say with a thumbs up.
"Mhm, that's… Wait, what's this about me being a victim!?" He yells. "Subaru-kun, don't just laugh menacingly! You need to explain at least a little!"
For a brief moment, his reaction reminds me of a certain grey-haired merchant. Quickly, I turn my face away from Roman, and blink to control the stinging in my eyes. Am I replacing my friend? Is that what's happening right now?
For a couple seconds, guilt eats away at me - and then I realize how stupid I'm being. I'm not replacing my friend. I'm just making another friend. I'm allowed to have more than one friend, even if they are surprisingly similar in how they respond to my jokes. In fact, having friends who are similar to each other is good, since that means they'll get along well with one another.
Right. Right. This is fine. Besides, Otto's probably whining to himself right now about how he misses playing the straight man to my jokes. Right, it's decided, I'll mess with him twice as hard to make up for lost time when we reunite.
But for now, I need to keep in practice.
"Muahahaha! You already agreed to be there, after all! Everything is going according to plan!" I laugh.
"Wait, three prior victims… Mash, Cu Chulainn, and Mordred… No, I refuse! Anything but thaaaat!" Roman yells, scrambling away.
"Heh heh heh… Too late, Doctor! No one escapes… Radio Calisthenics!"
A/N:
Incidentally, I wanted Da Vinci to be the one to explain the soul stuff, but then I realized Subaru's a bit more likely to go to the Medical Doctor he already knows to learn about the medical condition of Lev. I'm kind of glad with how it turned out, though.
Luckily, friendship is not an exclusive relationship. Also, Subaru is on good terms with Flat, which is also my way of saying "I just binge-read Strange Fake, in preparation for _'s appearance in Orleans, and _'s appearance in Okeanos."
Anyway, sorry this was a bit late. Next chapter Mondayish.
Review responses:
Kulkukan-chan said:
So what about regulus what would the servants think of him and what will they think about his powers? Hoping to see more content and stay face sir
"So he also acts like a creepy weirdo to throw off his opponents... I see, I s- It's not an act!?" -Blackbeard
"It's like if you took away Jason's few redeeming qualities." -Medea and Atalanta.
"Hmm... I think I could make a fun toy out of him~" -Stheno
"Aaaaaarthuuuuur!" -Lancelot
I will do my best to stay face I guess.
Alverd said:
So, if Mordred is now a Servant of Chaldea, what does this mean for London Mordred and especially Camelot Mordred? Will they still be there and if they are, will they meet this one?
That's a secret for now!~
IhevMelons9 said:
I must confess, I am not finished with part 1 of FGO[still in london]. I do not mind spoilers for parts 1.5 and 2 but the lostbelt stuff is going to go over my head.
Yeah, my bad. I should have given Kirschtaria a bit more of an introduction. I added a couple sentences to explain who he is to Olga and Chaldea.
"Tall, wearing all white, with long flowing blond hair - father's foremost disciple, the leader of Chaldea's A-team, the pride and joy of Clock Tower's astrology department. Kirschtaria Wodime. A mage without peer."
(He's a master who got put on ice, and only wakes up during the lostbelt stuff.)
Wolfclaw661 said:
Apologies if this is an annoying question but seeing as it's been brought up in this chapter I'm curious as to how exactly the origin of someone is relevant to things like magecraft? I'm quite a novice in the lore and systems for this stuff so apologies again if this is an odd thing to ask. Also how common is a dual origin? Star for Subaru makes complete sense but the only thing I can guess for Spirit is the high affinity he has for the spirit arts. is that the explanation for why he has that kind of presence to spirits?
Every human has an origin and an element. Elements tend to be what you'd imagine (fire, water, etc., with a few rare extras showing up now and then). Origin tends to be a bit more conceptual. (Shiki Ryougi's, for example, is [Emptiness], while Sherlock's is [Elucidation]). Element is only really important to mages (casting along your elemental affinity reduces mana costs), but Origin can impact almost everything one does in life. Usually people find absurd amounts of success when what they're doing aligns with their origin - Sherlock being the easiest example. If a mage's path aligns with their Origin, even absurd things like Reality Marbles can be within the reach of a first generation mage.
(Incidentally, Shirou Emiya's element and origin are both [Sword].)
As for dual origins, the only example we're given of such a thing is Kiritsugu's origin of [Severing and Binding]. That doesn't tell how rare or common such a thing is - in fact it might be less that it's a dual origin and more that it's a single origin with two aspects. Who knows.
Anyway, yeah. Subaru has an origin of [Star and Spirit], which helped with his learning the spirit arts - or perhaps he acquired an origin of [Star and Spirit] due to whatever relationship he has with Flugel, and that relationship is the real reason he's got such an affinity for spirits. (In Shirou's case, he seems to have acquired his [Sword] origin and element thanks to Avalon being implanted in his soul as he was developing and recovering from the soul melting fuyuki fire.)
Anyways when it comes to the story so far I have very little complaints. It has definitely been fast paced but your writing especially with the influence of the first person perspectives of the characters has mitigated the majority of the problems on that front allowing a lot of personality and charisma to be in something that if written in third person I think would lose some of its heart. I'm very impressed with how authentic Subaru feels in this story you've pulled off a lot of his mannerisms and personality expertly. A lot of the weaknesses I find in fanfiction is the character writing and authenticity of the MC especially but this is one story that hasn't failed on that note when it is explored in heavier detail. In fact this element of Save Scumming is so compelling that I would love to see (if possible) you lean heavier into character interaction, dialogue and relationships. They are already great but if you delved into that more I think you could really have something special on your hands. I already understand the relationships the characters have with each other generically but I think there is quite a bit of potential for development especially with how they influence each other in that department. It would be lovely to see everyone bond and become more connected and also how their interactions change each other. This is also where I would ask how much Subaru himself will be influenced by this? He has loads of room to grow in interesting ways thanks to the situation you've have placed him in. Again apologies if this is a little too much focus on this particular part of the story.
Yeah, I'm definitely working on giving the characters some room to breathe and grow closer at the moment. Fuyuki was a mess, but things are gonna be calm for a bit. Until they aren't.
Aside from characters the action sequences so far have been a pleasant surprise with highlights like the first and second battle with Salter, Emiya and Cu's fight and Subaru's 'duel' with Alter Emiya. You've managed to balance the exciting action and relevant emotions surrounding these moments without dragging things out too much and wiping the tension from it all. Your comedic writing and interactions so far have also provided the much needed relief from suffering that the readers and Subaru need so that it isn't compete pain and misery.
I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed them. I'm honestly not that experienced with fight scenes, so I'm happy to hear that I've been striking a decent balance.
Sorry about the huge fucking essay I just wrote. I would also like to apologize if my critique was vague or not useful as I'm very bad at elaborating on things. I would like to say thank you for writing such a fun and compelling fic. It's actually thanks to this fic that I've become more interested in Fate in general. It's been a brilliant ride so far and I'm excited to see what comes next.
Thank you for your feedback! It certainly helped.
Brokula said:
Btw, how is powerscaling in this story? As in, if theoretically Subaru were to summon one of the 7 witches, would they be equivalent to the mid-LV Servants, the stronger ones, deities or whatever else.
Very much depends on the Witch. Satella is pretty much beast-tier, but the rest of them have some pretty big variance. Daphne, Sekhmet, and Echidna would be pretty heavy hitters - possibly also nearing beast-tier. But meanwhile, Carmilla's effectiveness is purely down to whether her enemies can resist her charm, and Typhon is similarly situational. Minerva just ends up being 'Nightingale but she actually heals you'
Guest said:
I was rereading this and found that someone complained about not being able to download FGO since it is not available in their country.
Just use APKPure
No more shall we be slaves to geography! VPN is love! VPN is life!
Awsome fic by the way, i legitimately started playing FGO for the sole reason of this fic.
Woah, thanks for the praise.
Only objection i would have would be sub dying in every conflict. Take in consideration that a normal dude survived everything without dying once. Of course it must happen but it would be nice if he could do something without the need to restart for a change of pace.
Well, part of that comes down to Ritsuka being sorta sketchy as far as this fic is concerned. Consider Zelretch's statement in chapter 4:
"Correct. Rather than myself, the one best for the job would be a [Perfectly Ordinary Human Being]. However, since this timeline is lacking a unique existence like that, you'll have to fill in."
-Implying that [Ordinary Human]s aren't actually common. Which personally I think makes sense, in a Nasu kind of way.
In any case, Subaru won't die to everything. After all, he survived Flauros and EMIYA, didn't he?
One last thing, if you are not sure about something from the re zero please check this site it has most of the q&a by tappei www. /r/Re_Zero /wiki/translation #wiki_arc_6
Oooooh, primary sources! Thank you, thank you!
YoMama21 said:
So like, do you think King Hassan can cut the connection between Subaru and Satella? Would there be any reprecussions at all?
That will have to remain secret for now!~