“O-oh! Suu-boy, you know it’s not kind to be so forceful with an old woman, right?” Despite her nonchalant words and the way she attempted to brush off my actions as nothing, her wide eyes and trembling lips gave away her fear completely. I wondered for a moment if Echidna had ever known true fear— normally, she was the perfect manipulator and actress, never letting her emotions get the best of her. It almost made me feel sorry for her.

I ignored Omega for now, instead focusing intently on the crystal in my palm. Something bounced hard against Soul Defense, and a similar force bounced off of Mind Defense a moment later. Yep, this was the soul crystal housing the Castle of Dreams— I was quite certain of that now.

Beako tugged on my hand, and I spared a moment to look back down at her horror-torn face. My mind made up, I squeezed Beako’s hand once with affection— I had no idea how she would react to the coming revelations, but in either case, I wanted her to know that I was here for her. Perhaps she already knew, if her falling face was anything to go by.

“Quit the act, Echidna. Ryuzu wouldn’t have such a terrified look on her face, you know? She’s already come to trust me. Just look at your fellow clones.”

Indeed, the other three sentient Ryuzus looked at the proceedings with surprise, but none had so much as a hint of fear.

Omega waved through the air with the back of her palm, “Suu-boy, what are you talking about?” She’d done a much better job of hiding her fear this time, probably in direct reaction to my words. But, there was one thing she couldn’t hide from— the absolute smell of terror radiating off of her, known only to my draconic senses.

“Don’t play with me, Echidna.” I grabbed onto the front of her jacket, pulling her in close and towering over her.

Her face cracked, and then her voice came out much deeper. Beatrice gasped, recognizing her mother’s voice. “You’ve ruined it, ruined it, ruined it, ruined it! You’ve ruined everything!” She shouted into the cave, still trembling under my grip on her jacket— but from anger too, not just fear.

“Everything I’ve worked for! To escape the dragon, to live and see the world again! You’ve ruined everything!” Her hoarse shouts echoed through the former trial chamber.

“At first, I was so happy! I thought I’d found the ultimate answer to my endless curiosity— your authority granted by the Witch of Envy herself! But you changed. Something happened, didn’t it? All of a sudden, all of my dreams began crumbling around me as so much dust. The future!” She screamed hysterically, “The future that should have been set in stone, through my follower’s actions, reduced to nothing!!!” She let out one brief huff of exasperated laughter, “It’s so unfair! Completely, utterly, absolutely, ridiculously unfair! What even are you?!” She practically demanded but continued her tirade before I could possibly answer, “Some kind of being related to him, no doubt! I hate you.” Omega brought one hand up to furiously grasp onto my wrist, trembling under my grip, which held her jacket. “Why can’t you just leave me alone? Every route, every careful stipulation, every meticulous plan... Each path led to dust! To ruin! Nothing I did allowed me to escape from this fate.” She sobbed, glancing wildly around the room as if searching for escape, before she re-met my gaze, “Many mortals vomit upon so much as seeing me, you know? I finally understand what those people felt— since it’s the way I feel about you!”

“You are an evil sociopath, exploiting those who love you for your own gain.” I pointed out calmly. I wasn’t sure how Beako would react to those words, so I looked at her briefly.

Beako hadn’t let go of my hand, but she seemed torn in some way, looking between the two of us with constantly moving eyes. I let go of her hand and pulled her in, squishing her face and chest into my side. I rubbed soothing circles on her back.

Omega continued, “You, it’s all your fault! Everything... My curiosity will never be satisfied! Because of you!” She laughed again, a pathetic sound. “Because— what you are going to do to me...” She let out a longer sob this time, tears even beginning to form at the corner of her eyes, “Everything is just darkness, isn’t it? Cold, metal, darkness. For eternity. Until you take everything I have and I exist as no more than a tool for your own curiosity. That’s what I’ve been reduced to, isn’t it? A toy of knowledge.” She completely broke down crying then, even going so far as to hit and whack my arm in terror and anger fueled ferocity. After she realized that was pointless, she just limply flopped, her body held on by nothing more than my unyielding grip, her sobs coming quickly and hopelessly.

“It’s a curious thing, what your authority showed you, is it not? Perhaps, a perfect ending for one such as you. Left to languish without ever being able to satisfy your own greed while at the same time endlessly supplying mine,” I said.

I noticed Beako lift her head up and look at me, an unwritten plea in her eyes. I smiled down at her in response.

“But, seeing as how you’ve become somewhat more human through this experience, I’d like to give you a chance.”

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Omega stared at me with hate, but something impossibly bright flickered in her eyes— an ember of hope.

“Explain to Beatrice exactly what you did to her and why you did it to her.” I wanted to let the words hang in the air for a moment, but Omega jumped onto this opportunity so fast that I barely finished the last syllable of my previous sentence before she began rapidly spitting out words to Beako.

“Yes! I gave you the book and told you to wait for a fake person! Your, ‘that person,’ never truly existed!” Her explanation tumbled out, ravingly mad. Each word she spoke seemed to break Beatrice inside with splintering fractures, “It was all to satisfy my own curiosity! I wanted to see what you would do, would you die of loneliness? Choose your own person to leave the library with? Would you leave and become independent all on your own? I had no idea what you would choose! And that excited me; I just wanted to know what would happen.”

At the end of it, Beako was trembling against my side, no longer willing to look Omega in the eyes. She just pushed her head into my side, tears spilling out and wetting my shirt.

“Betty doesn’t want to hear anymore, in fact!” She shouted.

Omega looked up at me with a supremely hopeful gaze, not unlike a child who had been promised something sweet if they behaved. “There, I told her the truth; you’ll let me go now, right? Truly?”

I shook my head, causing Omega’s brightly hopeful eyes to become clouded in an instant. “Now, apologize to my Beako,” I heavily emphasized my next words while pulling her closer to my face, lifting her tiny body off the ground by my grip on her jacket. Our faces nearly touched as I stared into her eyes. “And you have to mean it.”

Omega hiccupped once, then looked away from my stern gaze to her daughter below, “I-” her voice cracked, “Beatrice, I’m sorry.” She spoke, her tone not giving anything away. “You, Beatrice, you believe me, right?” Omega spoke softly, desperately, “Beatrice, dear daughter, you believe me, right?”

“Betty...” Beako rubbed her face into my side. “Betty...I suppose.” The middle of her sentence cut off under a mumble too quiet to hear.

“What was that?” Omega hopefully asked, “You believe me, right? You said you believe me, right?”

“Dear mother is the one who made me suffer for 400 years?” Beako asked the world, heartbroken.

“But, you forgive me, right?” Omega replied quickly, desperately grabbing onto strings.

“Betty... does not forgive, I suppose. Betty could never forgive or forget, I suppose.”

The executioner’s sword swung, leaving the witch of greed’s neck empty of a head.

“You heard your daughter, Echidna,” I said, “Sounds like it’s cold and metal for the foreseeable future.”

“No! No!!!” She screeched into the trial chamber, her voice resonating with the stones so loudly that Rem, on my other side, brought her hands up to cover her ears.

“I won’t let you!” She shouted, then brandished a hand at me, “AL GO—” Her voice and everything else were cut off by the most simple of spells from her dearest daughter.

“Shamak,” Great Spirit Beatrice said quietly into my shirt before the world went black.

When the world returned, Omega was lying on the floor, tied up like a burrito in an absurd amount of purple coiling ropes, her mouth gagged and hands tied behind her back. She screamed into her bindings and wriggled desperately, to no avail.

I leaned over to whisper into my lover’s ear, “Rem, can you put her in the dungeon with Meili?”

There was no need to worry Beako about any more of this unpleasantness, and I already suspected a large amount of cuddles would be needed to restore Beako’s normal upbeat attitude.

“And, maybe you could let Beako stay with me for tonight?” I added on.

“Yes, Subaru-kun,” Rem lightly bowed her head to me, just a fraction of an inch.

“Betty would enjoy... that very much, I suppose.” Her crying still came out in quiet tears as she held both tiny hands tightly onto me— as if I might disappear at any moment.

I picked her up gently and held her bodily against me, supporting her with my hip. The portal to our Sweet Home opened a second later, probably in tune with Beako’s will— I certainly didn’t have the hands free to open the portal, and Rem was preoccupied with picking up a wriggling purple-roped burrito.

The rest of the Ryuzus just watched with wide eyes as Rem brought her through the portal, Beatrice and I stepping through after her a moment later. After we crossed the threshold to the front lawn, I gently let Beako back down on the ground, much to her protests.

“You should keep holding Betty, in fact!” She said quite loudly.

“Beatrice, there’s more things I need to do back in Sanctuary, and someone needs to explain things to the Villagers and Refugees.”

Someone came bursting out the front door, the white, overly modernist door swinging with a clang as it hit against the side of the house.

“Tch! Ya don’ need ta worry ‘bout the villagers, leave ‘em to me.” Garfiel came tumbling out of the front door, holding one of his arms that hung limply, his entire body covered in bleeding cuts— even his left eye puffy and forced shut.

“Garf, you idiot.” Ram quickly hurried after him, “You are in no position to help anyone. Sit down and let me treat your wounds. Stop running around pointlessly.”

“Bah! Let me see my people, woman! Where even are we?” He shook his head, “Sides, you haven’t gotten the right ta boss my amazin’ self around since ya chose someone else to stay by your side, ain’t that right?” He glared at Ram with his one functional eye. “Wounds like these’ll clear right up with my earth spirit blessin’. It’s like Regulus and the storm, ya know?”

His words held a certain amount of weight, some of the scratches visibly receding as he stood on the front lawn. He barreled over to me and next to the portal, looking out of it.

“So thas how ya always disappear so sudden like, huh? Neat trick.” Then, he stepped through the portal to talk with the villagers.

Ram loudly let out a huff of frustration. “Idiot.”

“Betty is going to her room, don’t disturb her, I suppose.” Then, she turned to look at me with hopeful but tear-streaked eyes. “But, I guess it’s okay if it’s Subaru.” Then she marched off.

I would join her later, make sure that she had someone to hold tonight, though just for comfort since anything else would be inappropriate while she’s grieving, but there was something else that needed to be done first— something that really couldn’t wait.