AU Re Zero

Chapter 1

What was he thinking?! Staying to try and find out who killed him wasn't just foolish, it was downright idiotic. The blue haired maid, Rem, she'd been doing it because he had the witches scent on him. So, he chose to run away after convincing Roswall to supply him with some supplies for a long journey. After that he hadn't stuck around, he'd said goodbye to Emilia, Puck, a confused Beatrice, he'd thanked Roswall profusely, and nervously said goodbye to the two maids. One he kept his distance from. Emilia wasn't worth this kind of pain.

Some would chastise him for his decision, but he didn't care. Natsuki Subaru would survive in this new world. So far he was at least a good ways away from the mansion, he prayed that Rem wouldn't come all the way out here to murder him. No way she hated him that much. Right?

"If I die again, would I wake up back at the mansion?"

He didn't plan on testing this out. He didn't want to die again, and he would avoid it at all costs. That meant finding a town or something first, getting some more information on this world, and continent. If possible he needed to either learn how to fight or join some kind of group to protect him.

"Wait, I don't have any useful skills so who the hell would accept me?"

The teen sighed. This was going to be difficult.

"Acceptance, such a joyous thing." A young female voice said. "To find those whom you share a common goal with, to find comrades and friends is such a wonderful thing."

Subaru froze in terror. He didn't recognize this voice, but every fiber of his being was screaming at him to run away as fast as possible. Movement was impossible. Right now he hoped for a quick and painless death. The girl clapped a few times.

"Natsuki Subaru, right?"

Don't tell her.

"That is your name, correct?"

Don't let her know who you are.

"Ah, it seems that you're afraid." She said. "Are you afraid of me?"

She was in front of him, like she'd always been there, but he never bothered to look at her. She was a young woman with a small, delicate body. Her long, straight, platinum hair was seemingly transparent and gave off a soft glow akin to the shine of the sun. The radiance of her hair created the effect of a glistening waterfall that traveled down her slender shoulders and rested slightly below her knee line. Her eyes, with slit pupils, were as deep blue as the sea and were framed by long eyelashes.

Her attire was a single sheet of white fabric that covered her torso and traipsed over her like a poncho. The decoration the fabric had was a line of deep blue stiches at the top and a matching blue ribbon. Aside from her gown, the sole piece of material that could be found on the Witch was a blue ribbon tied into her hair that was similar to the one that decorated her dress. Her legs and feet were both completely bare.

To say she was beautiful would be a crime. She was an existence so precious that the world itself couldn't touch. Yet Subaru was scared, he could see that there was something wrong with her.

"You are afraid aren't you?"

She laid her palm on his cheek. Cold, she was as cold as ice. Their eyes met much to his horror.

"Don't be, I want to give you a new purpose in your life." She said. "Oh, I apologize, I never introduced myself." – "I am Pandora the Witch of Vainglory."

"You're part of the witch cult?"

"That's right, and you need us now more than ever." Pandora said. "You are a survivor, you even gave up on that girl in order to save yourself."

"H–how did you–"

Did she know about his ability? Did she know about Return By Death?

"You didn't even try to ask why, how slothful of you." Pandora said, her smile never wavered. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to live, it's a natural instinct for all living things since dying is a terrifying experience."

"I didn't want Rem to kill me." He stated.

"There's nothing wrong with that, and now you lack purpose." – "Allow us to assist you."

Pandora places her hand on his head.

"You will now fall asleep for three days."

Everything went black for Subaru as sleep suddenly and forcefully took him. The last thing he saw was Pandora's smile.

"Hmm, altering his memories would be best as well."

4 Days Later – Gusteko – ???

'I love you…I love you…I love you…I love you…I love you…I love you…I LOVE YOU!'

A voice in the darkness, figure that got closer without warning, and a suffocating feeling that clutched his very soul. Subaru opened his brown eyes, and was met with the sight of a plain white ceiling. His head hurts, not a lot, but enough to cause him discomfort.

"What the heck happened?" Subaru asked while rubbing his head. "Where am I?"

Subaru looked around and saw that he was in a room with a single window, and white walls. He was on a plain bed with a wooden headboard. This was all there was, a desk, and a small closet in the corner.

"Is this some kind of cheap hotel room?" – "Wait, did I get kidnapped?!"

The last thing he remembered was coming out of the gas station after buying some stuff. Then everything went black. This wasn't good, this wasn't good at all. Plus his head hurts so maybe he'd been drugged?

"Wait, where's my phone?" He looked around a bit and saw it on the desk.

Getting off the bed, he fell flat on his face. His legs were weak, in fact his entire body felt weak. Likely from being drugged. Plus there was no telling how long he'd been out. This was great, just great. Then the door opened causing a sense of dread to creep up his spine. His kidnapper had returned, and they probably wouldn't be happy to see him awake.

'I'm gonna die!'

He could feel his heartbeat increasing as the sound of footsteps got closer. No shoes, that much he could tell, and they probably didn't weigh much.

"A meat bag lying face down on a dirty floor, how fitting."

'A–a young girl?' Subaru silently said. 'Wait, did she just call me a meat bag?'

An insult, a strange insult, a unique insult that he'd never heard before. Who called another person a meat bag of all things? It was so degrading, and her voice was so full of mocking joy.

"Who–who are you?!" Subaru asked. "What did you do to me?!"

"Is that how you talk to the person who, in her infinite kindness, let you into her home?" She asked. "What an ungrateful sack you are."

"Let me into your home, what're you talking about?" – "The last thing I remember was leaving the convenience store, and then…everything went dark."

"I'm not sure what a convenience store is, but my people found you in the forest about to become a mabeasts lunch." She explained. "They brought you here and I even had you healed, your injuries were quite severe."

"Severe?"

She flipped him over with her foot allowing Subaru to get a good look at her. Much to his surprise, she was a young girl with short golden hair with a string of hair down her right and a rose attached at the end of it. Her eyes were crimson red. In terms of attire she wore very revealing clothes that consisted of hot pants, leggings, a bikini and nothing more.

Oddly enough on her waist two larger circular appendages can be seen sprouting out of her body. With his awkward position, Subaru was quick to look away.

"Falling in love with my beautiful legs?" – "You shouldn't get so worked up so quickly." She teased.

Kneeling down, she lifted up his right sleeve, causing him some discomfort. There was some slight pain. That's when he saw it, his eyes widened as horror took over. A scar, one around his arm, and a bit under his elbow. There were clear signs of stitching as well, and the rest he could figure out himself.

"My arm, what the hell happened to my arm?"

"Not just your arm."

With her feet she pointed to his left leg, his right hand, and his stomach. Those parts of him had been replaced with ease, sure she was used to inflicting sweet suffering, but healing was easy enough. The teen should be forever grateful to her since said limbs came from her. She was part of him in an intimate way that nobody else could claim.

"What happened?"

"The mabeasts got to you, but they were interrupted by my people." She said while avoiding using the word 'children'.

Subaru was silent as he took in this new information. He'd been torn apart by some kind of animal, nearly died, but was saved by whoever lives here. Apparently this girl in skimpy clothing and her people, whatever that meant. Even so he had doubts since his memory was in disarray. Not to mention the fact that he'd lost a few limbs and some guts was a shock. If this was true then he was glad he wasn't awake to feel the attack.

"Thank you for saving me and replacing my body parts, that feels weird to say." Subaru said. "My name is Natsuki Subaru."

"I don't exactly care about your name, but I'll give you the pleasure of knowing mine." – "I am Capella Emerada Lugunica the Sin Archbishop of Lust, but as a gross meat sack you will call me mistress since you're unworthy of speaking my name."

"Uh, ok, thank you for saving me…mistress." – 'I'll just go along with it for now, but damn that feels uncomfortable.'

He would avoid calling her that as much as possible if he could help it. Not only did it feel weird, but he also felt like slipping up meant pain. Speaking of feeling, he felt strength in his limbs. Slowly, but surely he was able to get up. His body felt weird, in fact he could feel that these limbs were foreign. It was odd, like putting on a new pair of shoes, but made of flesh.

"You adapted faster than I thought you would." Capella said. "Be honored that I not only came to visit, but I also give you praise; very few receive such things from the lovely lady."

Subaru nodded as he tried to keep his balance. Capella couldn't help, but want to trip him and make him fall, but that was too easy. There'd be no fun in it.

"So, where exactly am I?" Subaru asked. "What part of Japan is this?"

"Ja-pan?" Capella asked, clearly confused by the word yet now very curious. "What's this Japan place?"

"It's a country, wait what country is this?"

"This is Gusteko, one of the four great nations, this nation is directly east of the Kingdom of Lugunica." Capella answered.

"I've never heard of this place, either of those places, but how could you have never heard of Japan?" – "Wait, what about America?"

"Never heard of it." She stated. "You must be from really far away, cause none of those places exist on this continent that's for sure." – "Plus, you've got a slight accent so you're clearly a foreigner."

Capella smirked.

"Not from Kararagi, maybe from across the sea?" – "This lovely lady is starting to find you more and more interesting."

It was on a whim, she had saved him after her people brought him in after finding him. This room belonged to one of her previous children who'd failed to kill a simple target. Now said meat sack was in the dungeon as a literal meat sack. The punishment wasn't over yet, not by a long shot. After all, how could someone be so completely and utterly useless?!

"Now, what should this lovely lady do with you?" She asked. "How do you plan on repaying my kindness?"

"R-repay?"

"The room, the limbs, the guts, and saving your life in general." Capella said, listing off the debts that Subaru owed. "Well, what's your plan, Natsuki Subaru?"

'Repay, how the hell am I supposed to repay all of that?!' Subaru silently exclaimed in a panic. 'This is literally the worst hospital bill I've ever heard of!'

He didn't have his wallet and he needed his phone. Aside from that, he had nothing to offer. Those animals must've eaten his food too. The high schooler was broke. He was worthless as usual.

"I don't have anything aside from my phone." He said, dejected by this fact. "Sorry, but I'm not exactly worth anything…never have been."

Capella was an opportunist and this was a decent opportunity to have a little fun.

"From here on out, I'll decide your worth." She said.

The hissing of a snake made him freeze. Something coiled around his body, something with dark purple scales, and yellow eyes. It was a large snake that was coming from Capella's right arm, starting at her elbow. Half her arm had literally turned into a large snake.

"A meat bag like yourself should be honored that this lady is willing to give you a purpose, and some kind of worth." Capella said. "Right off the bat too, you're receiving special treatment that this lady would never give out!"

She pulled him closer and closer until she was mere inches away. Leaning in close to his ear she whispered something that made him settle down if only a bit. Capella's arm returned to normal and Subaru was dropped to the ground.

"This lady believes that she's given you enough of her–"

Subaru reached up to the bed in an attempt to stand, only to grab something rather smooth. His hands slid down, and the sudden feel of fabric only served to confuse him.

"You…you're an incredibly bold meat sack." Capella said. "Have you fallen for me so hard that you're willing to go this far to express it?"

Subaru looked to his right hand, the wrong hand that he'd wanted to grab the bed with. Instead he was grabbing at something else, something that made the blonde girl smirk with sick amusement.

"Eh, I've never had someone be so forward with me, maybe I was wrong about you." – "You sweet smelling meat sack."

"Wait, I didn't mean to–"

"Here."

She reached out to him.

"Let me give you my response."

All throughout the mansion, the cultists heard Capella's insane laughs. They were glad to not be that unlucky soul while Subaru wished that he'd just stayed home.

Chapter 1 End