Trigger Warning: This arc is much darker than the last two. There is significantly more violence and some disturbing situations.

Subaru stared at Puck, “Puck. Buddy, that really isn’t funny.”

“Um. I’m not joking, Subaru. I’ve never heard of any ‘Emilia,’” The flying cat said ruefully.

Subaru stretched his hands out and Puck drifted down into them while still streaming mana into Beatrice’s unconscious body, “Buddy, I think that barrier thing might have damaged your memory. What do you remember?”

“Well… I remember us spending time at the capitol for a week or so. Then we split up. You were trying to become King or something like that although I admit I wasn’t paying too much attention,” Puck replied.

Subaru took deep breaths, trying not to panic. God. I don’t know if there could even conceivably be a worse time for Puck to develop amnesia.

Subaru spoke slowly, “Puck, what is the last thing that you remember?”

Puck thought about it, “Well, I remember you reading to Betty before we went to bed. I remember talking to you about going back to Arlem. Then I went back into the crystal and the next thing I knew, I couldn’t get out.”

What the fuck? He remembers… he remembers everything except for Emilia! How does that make the slightest amount of sense?

Maybe I can jog his memory?

Subaru shook his head, “Puck, how did you get to Arlem?”

“In the crystal.”

“Sure but how? I wasn’t in Arlem or in the Sanctuary until yesterday so who brought you there?”

Puck blinked and pondered that question, “Um. Gee, Subaru, I’m not sure. Did you give my crystal to someone else? That’s really not OK, you know,” He criticized.

“Did I give someone your crystal?! How could I have done that? We don’t have a contract,” Subaru pointed out.

“Of course we do!” Puck said.

“What?”

“Come on, Subaru,” Puck said sounding both offended and hurt, “We made a contract before you ever met Betty! Remember? We told you how you were ‘that person’ and we’d been waiting for you for four hundred years?”

Subaru stared at him.

Something is going on here. Losing his memory is one thing but memory loss isn’t so specific as to just forget one person. And even if it was, his mind wouldn’t be filling in the blanks this way.

“Puck, that’s not possible,” Subaru said gently. “Remember when I made my contract with Beatrice? She made me promise that I couldn’t form pacts with any other spirits.”

“Well sure, I remember,” Puck agreed, “But you made the contract with me before you even met Betty so that didn’t count. Betty can be just as greedy as I am, Subaru, but she’d never try to take you away from me.”

Subaru felt the trailer coasting to a stop by the side of the road.

The earth dragons must need a rest. I should go ask Rem and Felt if they’ve ever heard of a case of amnesia like this. In a perfect world I’d be able to fix this before Emilia woke up but at a bare minimum I should at least have some idea of what I’m going to tell her about this. I have enough bad news to spring on her as it is without needing to tell her that her father has forgotten all about her.

“Puck, stay here for a minute and look after Beako, OK?” Subaru asked, “I’ll be right back.”

The little cat nodded and floated up off Subaru’s hands.

Subaru walked past the sleeping Ram and Garfiel and exited the trailer.

Rem and Felt were sitting on the driver’s platform chatting as the earth dragons rested in harness underneath a shady tree.

“Ladies, I think we have a problem,” Subaru began.

“The Archbishops?” Rem asked in a terse voice.

“No, not quite that bad, I guess,” Subaru mused, “Thanks for the perspective, Rem. I needed that.”

Felt sighed, “After all this, how could we possibly have any more problems?”

“Trouble is the gift that keeps right on giving, Felt,” Subaru replied, “The good news is that Puck is back and he’s out of his crystal.”

“Hey! That’s great!” Felt said her face brightening.

“Yeah, the bad news is that he’s completely forgotten who Emilia is,” Subaru sighed.

Felt and Rem stared at him.

“I know,” Subaru shook his head, “After everything she’s already been through, Emilia is going to be devastated.”

“Subaru,” Felt asked awkwardly, “Who’s Emilia?”

Subaru glared at her, “Felt, you know that I’ve had a very long couple of days. I’m not in the mood for that kind of humor.”

“Um, I wouldn’t mind being let in on the joke either, boss,” Felt replied. “Who is she?”

Subaru stared at Felt in mounting horror, “Rem?” He almost pleaded.

The blue haired maid shook her head, “I’m sorry, Subaru. I’ve never heard of anyone named Emilia.”

Subaru clapped his hand against his mouth barely holding back a scream.

Subaru triggered Reason and Judgment and his fear floated away.

Alright, don’t panic! You might want to scream but that is not going to help anything right now. This is very strange. Strange is useful. Common issues have a million different explanations but the bizarre barely have any. It’s time to start asking questions.

Subaru restarted time.

“Ladies,” Subaru said in a surprisingly calm voice, “Could you both join me in back? I think we need to have a very serious conversation.”

Rem nodded, “Let us feed the dragons and we’ll join you shortly.”

“Jeez Captain, why’d you wake me up,” Garfiel grumbled rubbing his eyes.

Ram was still asleep but Subaru led the other three to the back of the trailer where Puck waited with Beatrice and Emilia.

Subaru pulled the curtain aside and heard a sharp gasp.

He looked behind him and saw Garfiel staring at Emilia in sheer terror.

“Captain,” He whispered, “What the hell is that?!”

Excuse me, ‘what’ is that? She’s a person not a thing! Subaru thought with great offense. He shook off his irritation and fought for calm.

“This is Emilia. She’s a long time friend of ours, a candidate for the throne, Puck’s partner, and my fiancee,” Subaru explained, “Something has rendered you all unable to remember her and we need to figure out what did this.”

Everyone stared at him open mouthed.

Something is wrong here. I get that they don’t remember Emilia and they probably think that I’m acting crazy right now but they don’t just seem weirded out by what I’m saying. They look afraid.

“Subaru,” Rem murmured in a tight voice, “Where did she come from?”

“She was born in the Elior forest-” Subaru explained.

“That’s not what I mean, Subaru,” Rem shook her head, “How did she get here?”

“I brought her here after the fight with Capella,” Subaru explained. “I went back to the Tomb to get her and found her passed out from the stress of the trials.”

Felt stared at him in horror, “Wait! You took that out of the Witch’s Tomb? A silver haired half-elf?!”

“OK, enough with the ‘that’ already!” Subaru said losing patience, “I know that you guys don’t recognize her but she’s still our friend… err, she’s still my friend…fiancee. Look she is still a person at the very least and she doesn’t deserve to be treated like a thing!”

Garfiel, Felt, and Rem all looked at each other uncertainly.

Subaru sighed, “Look, I don’t understand what’s going on yet either but something has apparently damaged all your memories so the first thing we need to do is go over the past month and figure out what memories we have in common.”

The group sat on the floor inside the trailer. Subaru noticed that he was the only one willing to sit near Emilia.

“Felt, do you remember how we met?” Subaru asked.

“Of course I do,” Felt replied.

“So you remember stealing Emilia’s insignia and how we tracked you down at Rom’s place?” Subaru continued.

Felt stared at him.

“Felt?” He asked.

“Subaru,” She said slowly, “Not that I would ever admit to stealing anything at all, but when we met you gave me your insignia to hold after I joined your faction. After all, if I’d touched someone else’s insignia, wouldn’t I have had to join their faction instead of yours?”

“You’re not under oath here, Felt. You can skip the lawyer-speak,” Subaru grumbled. He rubbed his face, “Puck, do you remember how we met?”

“Sure, Subaru,” Puck shrugged in midair. “We met in that alley in the capitol after you tricked those boneheaded muggers into thinking that you cursed them.”

“Exactly! Remember how you and Emilia came into the alley chasing after Felt and the insignia?” Subaru urged.

Puck was silent for a moment, “I’m sorry, Subaru, but I’ve never seen that girl before. I just went into the alley randomly and met you there. I figured out that you were ‘that person’ and we formed a contract.”

What’s happening? They remember everything except for Emilia!

Subaru buried his face in his hands, “Oh my God! This is like some horrifying nightmare I can’t wake up from!”

“Hey! Calm down, boss,” Felt murmured rubbing his shoulder. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on here yet but we’re all with you and we’re going to help. Let’s just keep talking and we’ll figure this out.”

Subaru took a deep breath and nodded, “Right. Thanks, Felt, I needed that. OK, Roswaal was Emilia’s sponsor. If there’s no Emilia then how did I meet Roswaal?”

“The ass-clown came to the Astrea manor the night that you’d been wounded,” Felt grumbled, “Reinhard had called him there to consult about the insignia reacting to you.”

“But why did Reinhard and I go to his manor then? I went there because I wanted to see Emilia. I stayed there because I wanted to be near Emilia,” Subaru replied.

“Lord Roswaal asked you to come and see him when you had recovered,” Rem interjected quietly. “He said that he was interested in forming an alliance and supporting your claim to the throne.”

“OK, so we went to his manor but why would we have stayed there? I can’t imagine that I enjoyed the clown’s company all that much,” Subaru pointed out.

“To keep Red away from his asshole father,” Felt replied.

Subaru shook his head.

This is so weird! Memory damage is one thing but whatever has afflicted everyone didn’t just erase Emilia from their memories, it went back over her history and rewrote it so that everything she did has a plausible alternate explanation. What could possibly have the power to do this? One of the Archbishops? Or is this not a memory thing at all? Could Emilia and I have jumped time-lines to some parallel world where Emilia never existed? But when? And, more importantly, how did that happen?

Could my Authority have shifted us to a parallel world? Maybe but why? That isn’t something I ever wanted to happen and it doesn’t benefit me in any way that I’m aware of. Roswaal implied that my Authority responded to my unconscious desires. Could my Authority be suppressing and rewriting everyone’s memories? Maybe but again why would it?

I need to figure this out.

“So, Beatrice and I just got to the Sanctuary two days ago, right?” Subaru asked slowly.

Everyone nodded.

“OK, so how did Puck get there? He was there for a few weeks right?”

“I brought him,” Felt explained.

“You?” Subaru asked.

“Yeah, you really didn’t want me to going to the meeting in Arlem alone,” Felt replied making a face. “You made a huge deal over it. I kept telling you that I could take care of myself but you wouldn’t listen and you insisted that I bring someone with me. Puck wasn’t thrilled about it but you eventually convinced him to come with me and you gave me his crystal.”

“Oh, right,” Puck mused, “I remember that now.”

Subaru looked at Puck sharply.

This isn’t good. Puck didn’t remember that earlier. Was that because his memory was fuzzy from being in the crystal for so long or is some force editing people’s memories in real time so that they don’t look too closely at any of the inconsistencies?

“OK, so I remember Emilia going to the Sanctuary with you, Felt,” Subaru said slowly. “You told me that you spent two weeks trying to help her pass the trials. She failed every day and then you would take her home and put her in bed. So, if there was no Emilia, what were you doing in the Sanctuary during those two weeks?”

“I was helping my boy Garf to try to pass the trials,” Felt replied pointing at the young man, “But I definitely did not put him to bed!”

Garfiel gave Felt an amused snort.

“Garf can take the trials?” Subaru asked in surprise, “Wait! Your boy?!”

What the fuck! Felt hates Garfiel! She didn’t even want him escaping the Sanctuary with us! Now they’re buddies? What the hell is going on here?

OK, wait. Let’s think about this. Felt probably hated Garfiel because of the way he treated Emilia. God knows that’s why I hated him. If there really is no Emilia in this time-line then I guess it makes sense that Felt and Garfiel would become friendlier. They’re both rough and tumble scrappers who are way smarter than they act.

“What?” Garfiel grumbled looking offended, “The shrimp and I were trying to take care of business while you were out wandering lost in the countryside like Dillon and Dutch!”

Subaru frowned thoughtfully while his friends looked at him in concern. “So… I remember Emilia passing the trials and freeing the Sanctuary but you guys remember Garf doing it?”

“Nah, it was fucking Otto,” Garfiel grumbled folding his arms across his massive chest with a sneer of contempt.

“And who pray tell is Otto?” Subaru sighed.

Everyone stared at him.

“What?!” Subaru asked, “I’m not playing some kind of ‘reverse practical joke’ on you. I have no idea who Otto is. I’ve never met an Otto.”

“Lucky,” Garfiel snorted.

Rem and Felt glanced at each other.

“Otto was a traveling merchant,” Felt explained, “He took Rem and me and some of the Arlem villagers in his wagon to escape from Petelguese. He came with us to the Sanctuary.”

OK, so was this ‘Otto’ guy there in the Sanctuary all along and I just never met him or is he something that was introduced by this ‘whatever you call it’ that’s affecting everyone? Either way I need to talk to him.

“And he had the qualifications to take the trials?” Subaru asked.

Weird. Roswaal said that Emilia was the only one who was qualified to do it. I guess he was lying? Hm, maybe not. I feel like Roswaal wouldn’t have trapped Emilia in the Sanctuary if he thought there was any chance that someone else could have done the job for her. Maybe he didn’t know? Or maybe this is another change to people memories?

“Not at first,” Felt replied. “Originally, we all tried to take the trials but none of us were qualified. When that happened, Ryuzu revealed that Garf was qualified to take the trials. The fleabag was not happy with her about that.”

“Stupid Grams,” Garfiel grumbled.

“Garf had tried to take the trials once before,” Felt explained with a faint smirk, “But the big dope wasn’t able to pass them and he found that pretty embarrassing. Worse, he thought the trials were painful and terrifying and he really didn’t want to have to take them again.”

“Shut up, shrimp,” Garfiel spat glancing away with a flushed face.

“Garf was really mad at Ryuzu for telling everyone that he could take the trials but Ryuzu told him to suck it up. The Arlem villagers had to get out of the Sanctuary before everyone starved to death or fighting broke out. Garf was our only choice so he had to take the trials,” Felt concluded.

Subaru wasn’t entirely able to suppress the glare he cast at Garfield.

So that’s it! Garfiel was treating Emilia like shit because he was jealous! Emilia kept taking the trials which is something that Garf couldn’t bring himself to do! He knew that he was scared and he resented it so he took it out on Emilia! Garf, I don’t care that you’re only fourteen, you are an asshole!

Subaru shook off his irritation. He had bigger problems right now, “OK, so where does this Otto guy fit in?”

“Otto was just kind of hanging out with the residents at first,” Felt explained, “He apparently became pretty close to Ryuzu though.”

Garfiel growled and ground his fist into his palm.

“Garf uh… didn’t really take that too well,” Felt said giving Garfiel an amused look, “Anyway, the day you arrived, Ryuzu did… something that made Otto qualified to take the trials.”

“She can do that?” He asked in surprise. Why didn’t she offer to let me take them then?

“I guess so,” Felt shrugged. “But don’t ask me how. She was pretty shocked too. She didn’t give us many details about what she’d been trying to do but whatever she did to Otto, it wasn’t supposed to make him qualified to take the trials. That was just an unexpected side effect, I guess. Anyway, Otto tried to take the trials and he had a mental breakdown.”

“Seems like the standard reaction,” Subaru sighed.

“Anyway, you and Otto really hit it off and you talked him through it. The next day he managed to pass the trials before the Archbishops came and we got everybody out,” Felt finished.

Subaru drummed his fingers against the floor.

OK, so what the hell is going on here? Why would anything want to delete just Emilia from everyone’s memories? And why wasn’t I affected? That’s probably the real key to figuring this out. Either I was deliberately excluded from whatever this is or my Authority protected me.

If I was deliberately excluded, that suggests someone is trying to extort me: “Do what we say and we’ll give Emilia her life back.” Roswaal maybe? Could this be another way of taking Emilia hostage?

Well, maybe but I don’t think that Roswaal has this kind of power. If he could make everyone but me forget something, I can think of much more effective ways for him to use that ability. Besides, if someone wants to blackmail you, they usually make sure that you know who’s doing it and what they want you to do to make it stop. Otherwise, they don’t gain any leverage. Despite being the most powerful mage in the world, Roswaal seemed to be implying that the greatest magic belongs to the Authorities. So does that mean an Archbishop did it? Or a witch? OK, how and why?

Maybe it was Roy? Or Capella? But again, how and why?

What’s the last time I remember anyone interacting with Emilia?

…The fight with Roy. She came out with Felt and I called her by name and no one reacted so whatever happened to her must have happened after that. Or could this be some final punishment of the trials? If you complete the Witch’s trials you’re cursed to be forgotten by everyone you know because Witches are assholes?

Maybe. Ryuzu might know. No, if she knew that the price for completing the trials would be everyone forgetting about you, I doubt she’d let Garf try to take them… or was she really desperate enough to sacrifice him?

I didn’t get the impression that she’s that cold blooded. But she might have heard a legend about the trials having that kind of effect and then discounted it. I need to find Ryuzu and pump her for information. I need to track down this Otto guy too.

“Felt, do you remember my confrontation with Roswaal?” Subaru asked.

“Not my fondest memory but yes,” Felt admitted.

“What was his plan?”

Felt screwed her face up thoughtfully, “I’m not really sure, boss. He was pretty vague about what he wanted you to do, I mean aside from being his slave and all. He lured everyone into the Sanctuary to trap them and then used the Archbishops to try and force you to sign his slave contract. Otherwise, everyone would have died. Then you spiked his wheel by getting Otto to pass the trials.”

Huh. Isn’t that odd? There’s no Emilia in this time-line to drive the point home. Would Roswaal’s plan have really worked? If there had been no Emilia in the line of fire, would I still have signed myself away to save Beatrice, Puck, and Felt? Dying beside them is one thing but… selling myself into eternal slavery? Would I have really gone that far to save them? Roswaal must have thought so but I’m not so sure. I guess I’m really just not all that great a person.

Fuck me.

“Does anyone know why the Archbishops came to the Sanctuary?” Subaru asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

“Maybe they made a deal with the clown?” Felt guessed, “He said that they were coming to kill everyone but he didn’t say why.”

“Hm,” Subaru mused, “I remember him saying that they were coming to the Sanctuary to try to capture Emilia.”

“Wait a fucking minute! Those freaks came to the Sanctuary because of her?!” Garfiel demanded.

Oh shit.

“The girl that you took out of the Witch’s tomb?” Rem asked her face darkening, “The Witch Cult came to get her?”

This is going nowhere good!

“Emilia!” Subaru shouted cutting everyone off, “Not the girl from the Witch’s Tomb! She’s our friend!”

“And are the Archbishops chasing after us right now to get the witch-girl back?” Rem demanded.

“She is not a witch, Rem!” Subaru shouted back. “And the Archbishops have plenty of reason to be chasing us regardless. I’ve already killed two of them and we have all made Regulus and Capella really mad!”

Everyone was quiet.

Subaru rubbed his forehead, “The Archbishops must have had something to do with what’s going on with everyone,” He said, “I’m guessing that nothing other than an Authority would have the power to shift everyone’s memories around this way.”

Felt, Rem, and Garf all looked at each other as Puck drifted down onto Subaru’s shoulder to be petted.

Felt sighed, “Hey Subaru, have you ever heard of Occam’s razor?” Felt asked quietly.

“I don’t think so, what is it?” Subaru replied.

“It’s something that Gramps taught me when I was a kid,” Felt replied.

“Hey, shrimp, was that last week or the week before that?” Garfiel asked.

“Screw you, fleabag,” Felt muttered. “Anyway, the idea is that ‘the simplest solution is usually the correct one.’”

“In this world, I assume the simplest answer is always magic,” Subaru muttered stroking Puck and trying to gather his thoughts.

“Probably,” Felt admitted. She sounded awkward, “I mean, sure, it’s possible that some great power has affected all of us and shifted our memories around and convinced a Great Spirit that he made a contract with someone that he didn’t.”

Subaru nodded petting Puck.

“But,” Felt hesitated, “Isn’t it also possible that maybe you’re the one whose memories have been modified?”

Subaru shook his head, “I think the reason that I wasn’t affected is because I have an Authority. That must have protected me from the effects.”

“Maybe,” Felt admitted, “But we don’t know that much about the Authorities or how they work. Isn’t it just possible that in addition to giving you great power it also makes you more vulnerable to certain things? Maybe more susceptible to witchcraft?”

Subaru scratched his head, “I mean, maybe, but why? What’s the point in convincing me that someone existed when they didn’t?”

“Well, I’d ask you the same question, boss,” Felt said gently, “Why would anyone want to delete a girl from history? What’s the angle? How does this benefit anybody?”

Subaru shrugged, “I’m struggling to answer that question too.”

“Yeah, but,” Felt continued, “On the other hand, if we assume that someone wanted you to believe that the girl was your friend and lover when she wasn’t, I can think of lots of motivations for that one.”

“Like what?” Subaru snorted.

“Well, protection for one,” Felt said looking away from Subaru, “Maybe they needed the girl to have a protector while she recovered her strength because she would be vulnerable when she came out of the tomb.”

Subaru looked up at Felt and frowned.

“You know, boss, Gramps told me lots of old stories about witches using magic to make men fall in love with them. They would make the men believe that they had always been the witch’s lover. It’s a neat strategy; great way of turning enemies into powerful allies and securing guards willing to die for you,” Felt continued, sounding as if she was doing nothing more than thinking out loud.

Oh God, no…

She can’t be thinking…

“Subaru, you said you brought that girl out of the Witch’s Tomb, right?” Felt coaxed, “A silver haired half-elf? According to the legends, Satella the Witch of Envy was a silver haired half-elf.”

Puck yawned, “I thought Satella was sealed away in the Auriga Sand Dunes.”

“Hey, I don’t know,” Felt admitted, “I’m just saying that Subaru has brought a girl who looks exactly like the Witch of Envy out of a Witch’s Tomb.”

Subaru stared at Felt in shock.

“Subaru,” Felt continued gently, “What if the witch is the one who’s twisting your memories? Corrupting your thoughts?”

“No!” Subaru said firmly. “That is not what’s happening! Emilia is not a witch and there is nothing wrong with my memories.”

Felt clasped her hands together, “But come on, boss, how would you know?” She mused studying her hands, “I mean, if some magic had twisted my memories, how would I know that it had happened? Everything would seem completely normal to me. I’d think that all the folks who told me that my memories had been modified were crazy or trying to deceive me. So how do you know that your memories are intact?”

Subaru was breathing rapidly.

What do I say here?! I mean she’s right. Well, she’s right but she’s wrong! I know Emilia! I know these memories are real! There isn’t a doubt in my mind but how do I convince her of that? She trusts her own memories as much as I do! The only problem is that her memories are wrong!

“Captain, this witch must have been imprisoned in the Sanctuary for centuries!” Garfiel said.

“What do you mean?” Felt asked.

“The fucking Sin Archbishops came to the Sanctuary to find her!” Garfiel exclaimed baring his teeth. “Grams always claimed that the barrier around the Sanctuary was there to protect us form outsiders. But I always thought that was stupid. The barrier doesn’t actually keep anything out. But it’s awesome at keeping things in! We lower the barrier and bang! A witch appears in the tomb and we carry her out! What if the Sanctuary wasn’t supposed to keep people safe but to keep the Witch trapped inside! The barrier made the Spirits weak while they were in there, maybe it also renders witches comatose as long as the barrier is up!”

Oh fuck. Garf, why did you choose this exact moment to start thinking for what must be the first time in your life?!

“I don’t know, Garf,” Felt said dubiously, “It’s called a Sanctuary not a prison. That’s not usually the kind of place where you lock someone up.”

“Besides the barrier doesn’t affect Authority possessors,” Subaru pointed out, “It didn’t effect me, Roy or Capella.”

“Yeah, but Satella is a half blood!” Garfiel snarled, “Maybe that was enough to trap her inside the barrier! Maybe as long as the barrier was up she stayed in hibernation! Hell, there wasn’t much else to do in the Sanctuary. Maybe Satella has been trapped in there for centuries!”

Oh my God. Satella… Do they really think…

“Subaru,” Rem said calmly before Subaru could respond, “We can’t fight the Sin Archbishops again. We’re simply too exhausted to handle any more combat. Sister and Lady Beatrice are still unconscious. If the Sin Archbishops are chasing us to find the witch-girl then we should leave her here.”

“No way!” Subaru shouted.

“Fuck that shit, Rem!” Garfiel retorted, “I’m not letting Satella roam around as she pleases. She almost destroyed the world last time! We should kill her while she’s still weak!”

“Absolutely not!” Subaru said rising to his feet.

Garfiel stood up as well, snarling and with his fists clenched.

Subaru let Puck float away so that his hands would be free.

The two men stared each other down.

“You’ve seen me fight, Garfiel,” Subaru warned, “You know what I’m capable of. Don’t force me to prove that to you.”

“Whose fucking side are you on, Captain?” Garfiel demanded with a snap of his jaws.

“You know, Garfiel, you really should think this through,” Puck mused, floating next to Subaru, “Frankly, I have no idea what’s going on here. I don’t know that girl and I have only the vaguest idea of who you are but anyone who tries to hurt my Subaru is going to be very very sorry.”

Subaru gaped up at the flying cat.

What the fuck is going on here? ‘My Subaru?’ Is this some twisted dream?!

“Hey! Everybody calm the fuck down!” Felt ordered.

Everyone stared at the small girl, “Look. We’re not going to do anything right now,” Felt said firmly, “We need to think carefully about our next move. We also need to wait until Ram and Beatrice wake up before we decide anything. The earth dragons have had their rest, let’s just keep moving. No matter why they’re after us, the Archbishops definitely want us dead. Even if they got whatever they wanted, the Archbishops would still kill us, so let’s stay the hell away from them.”

Everyone was quiet for a moment.

“A sensible plan, Miss Felt,” Rem said calmly. She turned and walked out to the driver’s platform without looking back.

Garfiel gave a low growl at Subaru but then his face changed. Garfiel actually looked hurt. His expression shifted him from looking like a ferocious fighter to a sad and lonely kid, “What’s wrong with you, Captain?” He whispered walking away.

As Garfiel passed Ram’s couch he picked up the unconscious girl and gave Subaru a look of reproach.

Subaru had no idea how to respond.

Garfiel turned away and carried Ram out to the driver’s platform with Rem.

Felt sighed and rubbed her forehead, “Look, boss, I’m with you on this. I am going to help you figure out what the hell’s going on here.”

“I know what’s going on here, Felt,” Subaru said earnestly, “Something has removed Emilia from all of your memories.”

“OK,” Felt said awkwardly, “Sure. That’s… a theory.”

Felt shook her head and sighed, “Look, Subaru, we got bigger problems to deal with right now. Let’s just all focus on getting the hell out of here and away from the Archbishops. We can figure out what to do with the… girl later.”

“You don’t believe me,” Subaru said. It was not a question.

Felt looked pained, “Boss, look, I know how smart you are. You’ve always been able to see things that I couldn’t but this…” She hesitated then threw her head back in exasperation, “Come on, Subaru! You’re telling me that this girl, who looks just like the witch and whom I’ve never met before in my life, is our dear friend. You’re telling me that everyone except for you has had their memories modified by some unknown power for some unknown reason. This is a lot that you’re asking me to buy and you don’t have any proof of any it!”

Subaru couldn’t respond.

Felt looked sad and walked out to the driver’s platform casting Subaru one last worried look.

She exited the trailer and left Subaru alone with Emilia and the spirits.

Subaru fell to his knees and buried his face in his hands.

“Hey, Subaru, are you alright?” Puck asked drifting down to him.

“No, Puck,” Subaru whispered, “I’m not sure that I’ve ever been less alright in my life. The world has forgotten all about Emilia and even our friends are ready to turn on her. I don’t know what to do.”

Subaru felt a soft paw touching his face and looked up.

“Look, Subaru,” Puck said, “I have no idea what’s going on here but I know that we’ll figure it out. Betty and I are with you. Remember, you’re not just our partner, you’re our family. We’re on your side, no matter what.”

Subaru started to cry and cuddled the little cat against his face.

“It’s alright, Subaru,” The cat said patting his cheek. “You’ll straighten this out. You always do.”

Subaru hugged the cat tightly.

“Wow. I can’t wait for Betty to wake up,” Puck mused, “I wonder what she’ll think of all this.”

Subaru actually chuckled at that thought.

Subaru noticed that Puck was looking at the sleeping half-elf.

“Anything coming back to you, Puck?” Subaru asked hopefully.

“Not really, Subaru. Sorry,” He said, “I mean, she does seem kind of familiar but I can’t place her.”

Subaru sighed.

“So tell me, Subaru,” Puck continued, “Do I have any kind of relationship with this ‘Emilia’ person?”

Subaru smiled sadly, “You’ve been her partner for about seven years, ever since you met in the Elior forest. You call her ‘Lia’ and you think of yourself as her father. When you and I first met, you threatened to kill me because I was having lewd thoughts about your precious daughter.”

Puck gaped up at him, “Wow, Subaru. That’s… that’s seriously a lot to take in. I mean, I know that you’re not lying to me but I’m not sure that I believe all that. Sorry.”

“It’s OK, buddy,” Subaru whispered cradling the cat, “I know that it’s a lot to absorb.”

“‘Lia,’ huh? I like that name. But you’re the only person I’ve ever formed a contract with, Subaru. You’re ‘that person,’ not the girl,” Puck said.

“I’ll accept that for now, Puck,” Subaru acknowledged, “Because God knows the only people who could love you as much as Emilia are Beatrice and me.”

Some time later, Beatrice stirred.

“Beako,” Subaru whispered picking up the tiny spirit, “Are you alright?”

Beatrice rubbed her eyes, “Betty is very tired, in fact. This barrier is most unpleasant.”

“No more barrier, Beako,” Subaru said cradling the little spirit close against his chest, “We got out.”

“Well, that’s good, I suppose,” Beatrice murmured, “So why is Betty so tired?”

“Apparently when the barrier broke it drained everyone’s mana,” Subaru grumbled, “Because everything has to be unbelievably difficult when we’re involved.”

“You were in a real bad way, Betty,” Puck commented drifting down into Beatrice’s arms, “Your mana was almost empty!”

“That explains why Betty is so tired, I suppose,” Beatrice sighed, cuddling Puck with a contented smiled.

“Yeah,” Puck yawned, “It took most of my mana to stabilize you so I’m feeling pretty drained myself. It might be a few weeks before we’re back to normal.”

“Beako,” Subaru hesitated, “Do you remember Emilia?”

“Who is Emilia, I suppose?” Beatrice asked absently.

Subaru sighed.

“Sorry, Subaru,” Puck said.

Subaru nodded.

Beatrice gave Subaru a puzzled look, “Who is ‘Emilia,’ in fact?”

Subaru sighed and pointed at the sleeping elf behind him.

“Hm,” Beatrice said curiously, “Where did the elf come from?”

Oh my God, this is terrible!

“She’s my fiancee, Beako,” Subaru sighed. “But nobody seems to remember her.”

Beatrice gaped at him, “Subaru is getting married? Why didn’t he tell Betty, in fact?!”

Subaru sighed and shook his head, “Beako, you’ve met Emilia many times. You’ve lived with her at the manor and while we were in the capitol. She slept in our bed. But something has happened and now nobody remembers who she is. Beako, do you know any kind of magic that could shift people’s memories around like that?”

Beatrice stared at him open-mouthed.

Subaru chuckled sadly, “I’m not making this up, Beako. Emilia was precious to all of us in different ways. But now, nobody remembers who she is. Everything that she did is now being ascribed to someone else. Can you think of anything that could do that?”

Beatrice frowned, “Magic can erase memories I suppose but Betty has never heard of any magic that could remove an individual from existing memories and then cover it up.”

“Yeah, it’s not just that people don’t remember Emilia, they’re attributing things that she did to me and other people,” Subaru added.

Beatrice shook her head, “Magic can not do this, I suppose. This is reality warping. Only an Authority grants such power.”

“And that means that the Archbishops are involved,” Subaru grumbled, “I don’t suppose you know which one?”

Beatrice shook her head.

“Well, that’s not much help,” Subaru sighed. He thought it over frowning, “Betty, so Roswaal says that I have an Authority. Do you have any idea how they work?”

Betty cocked her head.

“I mean,” Subaru tried to put his thoughts into words, “If an Authority did this to Emilia, is there anyway that I could use my Authority to undo it?”

“Wait a second! Subaru, when did you get an Authority?!” Puck gasped.

Beatrice shook her head, “Betty doesn’t know much about how Authorities work, I suppose. Betty just knows that they are vastly more powerful than any other form of magic and follow far fewer rules.”

Subaru leaned back against Emilia’s couch with Beatrice in his arms and Puck in hers, “Everything always comes back to the Authorities for good or for bad,” He muttered.

“Authorities are unique to the user. No two Authorities manifest in quite the same way, I suppose,” Beatrice replied, “Although some manifestations have general features in common. The power of an Authority is the power to ignore the laws of physics and magic in some way. Which Authority did Roswaal say that you had?”

“Pride,” He answered.

Beatrice deflated slightly, “Betty had hoped that it might have been Greed, I suppose,” She whispered.

“Why? What difference would that make?” Subaru asked.

Beatrice just shook her head.

“That seems kind of weird, Subaru,” Puck mused, “I mean, you’ve got your flaws; mostly dealing with being really weird and occasionally kind of dumb but I don’t think arrogance is one of your core traits.”

“Gee. Thanks, Puck,” Subaru grumbled, “Alright. So as unhappy as it may be to discover that I am a witch, maybe it will let me reverse whatever is going on here. We just need to figure out how. Roswaal said that my Authority would grow more powerful over time. He said that I’d develop an affinity for it and learn to control it but I don’t know what that means.”

“I’ve heard that Authorities become more powerful as the wielder succumbs to their own flaws, Subaru,” Puck replied.

“So basically if I want to unlock the full power of the Authority of Pride and bend it to my will, I just need to become more arrogant,” Subaru rubbed his forehead with a rueful chuckle.

“Betty thinks that the very idea of a mortal gaining control of an Authority is already arrogant, in fact,” She said.

Garfiel, Felt, and the twins had left Subaru and the spirits entirely alone. Subaru didn’t like to think about what they might be saying out front.

In any event, he had several hours to carefully consider what he was going to say to Emilia.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t come to any brilliant conclusions when she finally stirred and her eyes fluttered open.

“Subaru,” She whispered.

“Emilia,” He answered quickly taking her hand.

Her gaze moved to over his shoulder where he knew that Beatrice and Puck were sitting.

“Puck!” She gasped and her smile was like the sun coming up. She reached out to him her arms wide.

Subaru knew without turning around that Puck wasn’t moving or even smiling at her. He was looking at Emilia with doubt.

Emilia’s face flickered, “Daddy?” She whispered, “What’s wrong?”

“Emilia,” Subaru said taking a deep breath, “Just… Just look at me for a minute, OK?”

Emilia turned her attention back toward Subaru, her brow creased with worry.

“Listen, um, I have a lot to tell you and none of it is going to be easy to hear,” Subaru said sadly, “So I need you to be very brave right now and to remember that we are in this together and, no matter how bad things get, we will find a way to fix them.”

Emilia stared at Subaru, seemingly willing herself not to look at anything else. She swallowed hard, “Alright.”

“The first thing I need to tell you is that we’ve discovered that the Kingdom seems to have run out of dragon blood. They don’t have any more to give us for the forest,” Subaru said squeezing her hand gently.

Emilia gasped. She stared at Subaru her face contorting in horror.

“Deep breath, Emilia,” Subaru instructed, “We don’t have a plan for healing the forest right now but that doesn’t mean that we’re going to give up. I have very good reason to believe that there is another way to save the forest so I want you to try to stay calm right now. I… I actually have something worse that I need to tell you.”

“Worse?” Emilia asked in shock.

Oh my God. How do you even break bad news like this to someone? Telling her that she was dying of cancer and had days to live would be easier than this!

“Emilia, I think that you’ve been placed under some kind of strange curse,” Subaru said gently.

“A curse? Like what?”

He took a deep breath, “I’m afraid that… everyone’s memories of you have been damaged. Nobody except me… remembers who you are.”

Emilia’s jaw dropped. She stared at Subaru as if waiting for him to say ‘just kidding.’ Subaru could only sit there and squeeze her hand.

Finally, Emilia looked at Puck who was resting in Beatrice’s arms looking uncertain.

“Daddy?” She asked plaintively.

“Um,” Puck muttered, “Hello, Emilia. It’s very nice to meet you.”

Emilia’s mouth worked but no sound came out.

“Puck,” Subaru coaxed as Emilia held onto his hand like a lifeline, “This is the daughter I was telling you about: Emilia. You’ve had a contract with her for about seven years now.”

Puck drifted out of Beatrice’s arms and perched on Subaru’s shoulder.

“Um, I don’t know about that, Subaru. I know that you’re not lying to me but I never had a contract with anyone except you. Beatrice and I were waiting for you for four hundred years. There wasn’t anyone else before we met,” Puck told him awkwardly.

Emilia’s face crumbled and she began to cry.

Subaru pulled her into a tight hug and she buried her face in his chest.

“I know, Mili,” Subaru whispered to her, “I know how hard this is but we’re going to fix it. I promise. We’re going to break this curse and everything is going to go back to the way it was.”

“Subaru! This is like a nightmare!” Emilia sobbed.

“Yeah, it is,” Subaru agreed as Emilia wept, “Listen, Emilia, I know that I’m a poor substitute for Puck but I’m still here for you. We are a team and this nightmare has trapped both of us and we are going to get out of it together.”

Emilia slowly stopped sobbing. “Yes. Yes, we will,” She said firmly, “As long as you and I are together, we can do anything.”

“That’s my Mili!” Subaru cheered.

Emilia took a few deep breaths and seemed to steady herself. She picked her head off of Subaru’s chest, “Hello, Puck,” Emilia said, fighting to put a smile on a face that was still wet with tears, “I’m Emilia and it is very nice… to meet you. And you as well, Beatrice.”

The spirits looked at Emilia curiously.

“I feel like I know you from somewhere but I can’t place it…,” Puck grumbled sounding annoyed.

“Betty does not remember you but if Betty’s Subaru likes you then Betty will accept you as well,” Beatrice added.

Emilia almost laughed, “Thank you, Beatrice. I appreciate that.”

“OK, guys,” Subaru said, “We have a number one priority right now: to undo whatever happened to Emilia.”

“Undoing something that we can’t even define is a complicated task, I suppose,” Beatrice replied.

“No argument,” Subaru said, “But we know that normal magic couldn’t have done this so it had to be an Authority, right? Could it be anything else?”

Beatrice thought about it then shook her head, “Assuming that this ‘Emilia’ did not simply bewitch you to believe that she is your friend when in fact she is not-”

“Hey!” Subaru objected.

“Then no. To cause people to not only forget a person but to associate their actions as being done by another so seamlessly goes beyond magic, I suppose. This is reality warping and only Authorities give their wielders such power to deform the laws of nature and magic. This also explains why you may have been unaffected: your Authority may have protected you from the other Authority’s power,” Beatrice finished.

“Yeah. Hey, Subaru, can we go back to that for a second?” Puck asked plaintively, “Since when did you acquire an Authority? And why didn’t you ever tell us?”

“I’d like an answer to that question too, Subaru,” Emilia agreed.

Subaru sighed, “OK, so the full story is that I never told you I had an Authority because I didn’t even realize it meant anything. Until Roswaal brought it up I just thought an Authority was some kind of fancy title. You know, something to group abilities like Indomitable and…,” He trailed off.

“And what?” Emilia asked.

Reason and Judgment…

Subaru hesitated and shrugged, “You know, just my magic,” He finished lamely, “Anyway I got my Authority a few minutes after I came to this world, although it took me a while to figure out how to use its abilities. Roswaal claimed that it has way more power than I’ve tapped into so far. Maybe even enough to un-warp Emilia’s memories or to restore the Elior forest.”

“Um, so, Subaru, is fixing that forest something that we’re trying to do now?” Puck asked in a confused voice.

Emilia and Subaru exchanged a weary look and both sighed.

“Yeah, buddy,” Subaru replied, “Emilia was born in the Elior forest and the whole reason that I even joined the royal selection in the first place was to help Emilia acquire the dragon’s blood so that we could heal the forest,” He finished sadly.

“Oh! So that’s why we were doing all of this!” Puck replied, “Huh. I always figured that you were just trying to become King because you were a really nice guy who wanted to make things better for everyone.”

Subaru snorted, “Yeah, glad I could correct that misconception.”

“Subaru is a wonderful person who is always trying to help others, even me. Puck was not incorrect,” Emilia interjected, giving Subaru an annoyed look.

“See? Like I said,” Puck agreed with Emilia.

“If Betty could get this conversation back on track,” Beatrice said in a tone of annoyance, “Betty remembers Capella telling us that the blood was all gone right before Betty collapsed. She claimed to have drunk it all if Betty remembers correctly.”

“She drank the blood?” Emilia asked in astonishment.

“You didn’t meet Capella, Emilia. Believe me, drinking blood is something I’d assume is not terribly unusual for her,” Subaru grumbled.

“Then the blood is all gone,” Emilia whispered.

“If we believe her,” Beatrice sniffed, “Do we believe her, in fact, Subaru?”

“It makes sense,” Subaru sighed, “After all, if the kingdom still had the blood, why wouldn’t they have used it to heal the King and his family?”

“Good point,” Puck noted.

“But,” Emilia began, “Can’t we just ask for more blood once we reform the pact with the dragon?”

“According to Capella,” Subaru replied, “The powerful blood we need to lift the curse isn’t just any dragon blood: it needs to come from a dragon’s last heartbeat. Then again I’m not sure that if I’m as willing to believe her about that-”

“Betty can confirm it, I suppose” Beatrice grumbled, “The strongest blood, the curse breaking blood, must come from a dragon’s death.”

“OK, so how did the kingdom get any in the first place? The dragon was still alive, I thought,” Subaru asked.

“Likely from killing another dragon, I suppose” Beatrice shrugged.

Subaru sighed, “OK, well. Fixing everyone’s memories of Emilia is our first priority right now but can anyone think of other approaches to break the curse on the forest? Maybe a talisman or a spell or something? I really don’t want to have to go dragon hunting.”

“Subaru!” Emilia protested, “We can’t kill a sentient being just because we need their blood!”

“Emilia, I very much doubt that we could kill a dragon period, no matter what our motivations were. So can anyone think of another way to break the curse on the forest without relying on dragon blood?” Subaru asked.

Beatrice and Puck shared a long glance and then shook their heads, “Sorry, Subaru,” Puck replied, “But I don’t think that anything but the Dragon blood would work on a curse of that magnitude.”

“OK,” Subaru shook his head, “So maybe dragon hunting is in our future. Is there any way that an Authority could break the curse?”

“Authorities warp reality. There is no reason in principle an Authority couldn’t do this, but the wielder of an Authority generally has no say in the form their Authority takes, I suppose” Beatrice replied.

“Um, care to explain that a little bit more, Beako?” Subaru asked.

Beatrice frowned thoughtfully, “Reinhard van Astrea has great power, in fact. Reinhard would be powerful enough to heal any wound in an ally. Reinhard can not heals wounds, however. This is not the form his power takes.”

“Got it,” Subaru sighed, “So my Authority so far has taken a form that has nothing to do with breaking curses. That might be the end of the story but Roswaal implied that over time I would be able to control my Authority.”

Beatrice stared at Subaru frowning, “Few ever develop the power and rapport to command their Authority consciously, I suppose. The Witch of Envy was said to have come close,” Beatrice mused, her gaze flickering toward Emilia, “Betty has also heard stories about a powerful witch of the ancient world who completely mastered her relatively weak Authority and could reshape reality to her liking at will.”

“That sounds like a nice power!” Subaru said, “You know anything else about this witch?”

Beatrice shook her head, “Not even her name, I suppose. She was considered a secret among secrets even when Betty’s mother was alive. There is very little information about her.”

Subaru frowned, “Well, let’s keep our eyes open for any more information then. If this witch was able to do all that, then there must be a way for me to do it too. That might be our only chance to save Emilia and the Forest.”

“Subaru,” Emilia whispered, looking worried. “Are you sure about this?”

“About what?”

“About using your Authority,” Emilia said. “This is witchcraft! It’s dangerous. It could do bad things to you.”

“I’ve been using it since I got here without much trouble,” Subaru shrugged.

I think that’s not technically a lie.

“The half-elf makes a valid point, I suppose,” Beatrice said folding her arms, “Many people who acquire such black magic are mastered by their Authority rather than the converse. They are devoured by the power and it twists their minds.”

“OK, that sounds bad, how do we avoid that?” Subaru asked.

The spirits looked at each other, “Honestly? I have no idea, Subaru,” Puck replied, “There isn’t all that much information on the topic of Authorities.”

“Not even in your library?” Subaru asked Beatrice.

Beatrice glanced away looking embarrassed, “Betty’s library is not complete, I suppose” She murmured under her breath.

“Come again?”

Betty bit her lip, “Mother left Betty only some of her precious tomes, in fact. Her personal reflections on the greater mysteries of magic were secured elsewhere.”

“Where’s that?”

Betty snorted, her face glowing red, “Betty doesn’t know, I suppose!”

Subaru very carefully hid a smile, “Well, we’ll just have to find them then! Those books might be the key to solving all of our problems. Besides, I’d feel bad if your mother’s books didn’t wind up in your library, Beako.”

Beatrice frowned at Subaru thoughtfully, “Yes,” She said after a moment, “Mother’s legacy belongs in Betty’s library, in fact” She agreed.

“OK,” Subaru said clapping his hands together, “So the plan is to figure out a way to use my Authority to restore Emilia’s memories and heal the forest. This is a dark magic that is incredibly dangerous and as likely to destroy me as it is to help us. We need to learn how to use it and we have a few angles to follow in that regard: We have the books on magic, although nobody has any idea where they might be located, and we have the legend of a witch of terrifying power whose name we don’t even know. Does that about sum it up?”

Emilia stared at Subaru, “Subaru, is all this funny to you?!”

“Funny? No. I’m actually trying to reassure everybody by acting confident right now,” Subaru clarified, “It’s just kind of hard to act confident when we’re dealing with all this. I thought when we escaped the Sanctuary that we could take it easy for a while. Now the world is throwing all this shit at us!”

Emilia sighed, “Nobody even remembers what I did, do they? I fought so hard to complete the trials and save the villagers and now nobody even knows who I am.”

“I do,” Subaru said seriously, “You’re still a hero to me, Mili!”

Emilia smiled sadly, “Thank you, Subaru. Maybe that should be enough but…” She looked at the two spirits who still regarded her skeptically.

“We’re going to fix it!” He promised taking her hand, “We’re going to bring everyone’s memories back and Puck is going to drive us both crazy for several days with how guilty he feels for having ever forgotten you!”

“Hey! Subaru, leave me out of this pep talk!” Puck complained.

Emilia laughed.

“OK, guys,” Subaru said leading Rem, Felt, and Garfiel into the trailer while the earth dragons rested. Ram had been brought inside and placed back on the couch, still unconscious. “I want you all to meet Emilia.”

Emilia sat there looking apprehensive.

Felt, who had become a dear friend to Emilia during their time in the Sanctuary, now looked at her without recognition. Felt stared at Emilia’s hair and ears and bit her lip. Felt’s gaze kept flickering back to Subaru as if asking if he was really sure about this.

Rem, who had always been kind and polite to Emilia, if not friendly, had a face as hard as iron. Her arms were tightly folded across her chest. Emilia saw that Rem had brought her mace with her for this introduction.

Garfiel scowled at Emilia but not much had changed there. His gaze was doubtful when it strayed to Subaru.

Emilia glanced at the spirits who sat on the couch across from her looking equally unconvinced. Especially Puck.

Emilia took a deep breath, “It’s wonderful to see you all again,” She said standing up and giving them all a small curtsy, “My name is Emilia. Just Emilia.”

Rem glowered at her. Felt and Garfiel glanced at Subaru uncertainly.

“Hey, Subaru,” Felt muttered, “You’re… sure that you know this girl?”

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

“OK,” Subaru began, “I know that this situation is really weird for all concerned but it is the truth. Something has erased Emilia from everyone’s memories. We need to figure out a way to undo this.”

Felt and Garfiel looked at each other helplessly for a long moment.

Finally, Felt shook her head, “OK, boss, this is all,” Felt hesitated and sighed, “Really kind of hard to believe, but I’m on your team. If you say that… ‘Emilia’ is our friend then I’m on board. What do we do about this?”

Garfiel looked unconvinced. He squinted at Emilia and growled, “Are you the one the Witch Cult destroyed my home to rescue?”

Emilia was absolutely stunned by this question but she shook it off, “Garf, whatever the Witch Cult wanted with me, I very much doubt that they intended to do me any favors,” She said firmly.

Garfiel looked startled, “Wait! You know my name?”

Emilia took a deep breath, “Of course I do, Garf. We just spent two weeks together. Every day I’d come out of the tomb in tears after failing the trials, you’d say something about me being weak and pathetic, and Felt would threaten you.”

Garfiel blinked and scratched his head, looking uncertain.

“Um…, well it’s nice to meet you…, Emilia,” Felt mumbled.

“It’s good to see you again too, Felt,” Emilia smiled.

Rem glowered at Emilia suspiciously.

“OK,” Subaru continued, “So the spirits and I have been talking and it looks like the only possible explanation is that the Archbishops used their Authorities to modify everyone’s memories for some unexplained reason.”

“Hang on, what makes you think they did it, Captain?” Garfiel asked.

Subaru shrugged, “Because according to Beako, normal magic couldn’t do it. And if it was done by an Authority then that explains why I might be immune to the effects.”

“You reek of witchcraft,” Rem interjected with a scowl at Emilia.

Emilia’s eyes widened.

Subaru cocked his head at Rem, “Really? You never said that before.”

Rem gave Subaru an annoyed look.

Subaru spread his hands defensively, “Rem, I’m just saying that you’ve had plenty of encounters with Emilia and you never commented on her smelling like a witch until now. I doubt you would have kept it a secret. You tried to kill me a few hours after we met because I smelled like the witch.”

“Whoah!” Garfiel said in shock, “Seriously, Rem?” He asked.

Rem glared at Subaru.

“We’ve more or less worked it out, Garf” Subaru twitted, “Anyway, maybe that the new aroma has something to do with Emilia passing the trials?” He asked Rem.

Rem folded her arms and thought about it, “Master Otto did smell very foul after he emerged from the tomb,” She admitted.

“Alright, so let’s assume that answers that question for now. We have enough other problems to deal with,” Subaru replied.

“So, what’s the plan, boss?” Felt asked looking at Emilia dubiously, “Now that we’ve got ourselves a witch, what are we going to do with her?”

“OK, first of all, let’s cool it on the witch talk?” Subaru sighed, “Beyond that, our plan is pretty much the same as before: The Witch Cult is after us and they’re really pissed off so personally, I do not want to see them again right now.”

Felt blanched, “Bad news, boss!” She shouted pointing out the trailer’s back door.

A group of six men in purple hooded robes were running inhumanly fast up the road.

“OK, Puck, Beako look after the Ram, Felt, and Emilia. Garf and Rem, we’ll deal with these losers,” Subaru instructed.

“Alright!” Garfiel cheered.

“Try not to let any of them get away or they might bring back reinforcements!” Subaru yelled as he leapt out of the trailer and onto the gravel road.

Garfiel charged out with a wild whoop and a feral grin on his face. He took a position to Subaru’s right. Rem stood on Subaru’s left with a stern look as she shook out her chain mace.

The cultists were armed with long knives. As they charged, Subaru deliberately stepped forward to invite them to focus their attacks on him.

The six all sprang at Subaru stabbing at his torso but Subaru triggered Indomitable and their knives glanced off. The cultists seemed baffled and uncertain of what to do next. Subaru took advantage of this to deliver a punch that shattered a cultist’s head in a geyser of blood. His triangular hood turned red and collapsed inward like a rotten tomato.

Subaru choked back a retch as he turned to help Garfiel and Rem.

Garfiel effortlessly grabbed two cultists by the throat and smashed their heads together, shattering their skulls like dropped pumpkins.

Rem swung her mace at a cultist’s chest crushing it and then spun around driving her mace into another cultist’s face with a crunch.

The last cultist tried to turn and run but Rem’s mace clipped his ankle, sending the cultist crashing down onto the ground. Before he could even move, Garfiel grabbed the cultist’s head and slammed it face first into the road with terrific force.

He lay still.

“Huh,” Garfiel snorted, “You know, Captain, after dealing with Roy, my magnificent self was expecting to have more fun with the Cult than that.”

“You may still get your wish, Garf, if the Archbishops find us!” Subaru replied. “Everyone get back inside!” Subaru said already running back to the trailer followed by Rem.

Garfiel looked confused and he had to hurry to catch up.

“Rem, have the earth dragons had a long enough rest?” Subaru asked.

“No, but we had better get moving anyway,” Rem answered tersely. She ran back to the driver’s platform followed by Felt.

“Hey, Captain, do you really think the Archbishops are that close?” Garfiel asked.

“I don’t know but I do know what will happen when that group of cultists doesn’t report in so we better get the hell out of here,” Subaru explained.

Garfiel made a face. “Sounds good to me, Captain,” Garfiel replied racing out to the driver’s platform.

Subaru paused to look at Emilia and the spirits, “Are you guys OK?”

They nodded but Emilia looked worried.

“OK, wait here. I’ll be right back,” Subaru said heading out onto the driver’s platform.

Rem quickly spurred the tired earth dragons into a run which they did with a groan.

“Shit, Captain, maybe I shouldn’t leave Ram in there with the witc-”

“Puck and Beako will watch Ram, Garf,” Subaru interrupted with annoyance.

With the sun setting behind him, Subaru peered down the road, “Are there any turn offs around here? It would be really useful to get off the road and onto another one before those flunkies are missed by their bosses.”

“If I remember correctly,” Rem said tersely, “A few miles ahead the road forks: one path goes to the capitol and one leads to Miseri city.”

“I’m not sure that there’s anything in Miseri city for us, but we do need to change course,” Subaru grumbled weighing his options.

“There’s a third possibility,” Rem said, “There is also a broad meadow near the fork. Merchants sometimes cut across the meadow and follow a few rough roads to reach the king’s highway back to the capitol. This trailer may be too large to take that road, however.”

“Lets do it,” Subaru decided, “If the road gets too narrow then Garf and I will just smash down a few trees.”

Garfiel laughed, “That sounds awesome, Captain! You know, if I wasn’t homeless and running for my frickin life right now, this would totally be fun!”

Subaru rolled his eyes, Was I ever this immature?

Felt looked at Garfiel with weary amusement.

Subaru chuckled, “First off, you’re not homeless, Garf. As long as you’re with us, we’ll take care of you. We’ll help you land someplace where you’ll be happy. And as far as running for our lives goes… yeah, I guess I can’t really argue with that one,” Subaru admitted.

Garfiel laughed and playfully punched Subaru’s shoulder. Subaru barely swallowed a cry of pain.

Damn, this kid is strong! I need to use Indomitable if he’s going to do that again!

“OK, I’m going to go check on Emilia. Call me when we reach the fork,” Subaru said going back inside.

Emilia was still sitting on her couch while Betty sat across from her cradling Puck. All three parties seemed markedly uncomfortable.

Subaru sat down beside Emilia and took her hand.

Emilia smiled at him but Puck and Beatrice both seemed annoyed by his choice of couches.

“OK, I don’t know about everyone else but I’ve had just about all the fights today I can handle. I am ready to call it a night,” Subaru sighed closing his eyes for a moment.

Subaru wasn’t sure when he fell asleep.

“Captain! Wake up, you lazy bastard! I think we’re being followed!” Garfiel yelled.

Subaru staggered out of an uneasy sleep. It was dark outside, “What’s going on?”

“Someone’s tailing us and he’s catching up quick! He jumping around like Roy was!” Garfiel growled standing at the back door of the trailer as it raced along the road at breakneck speed.

Emilia sat next to Subaru looking frightened and the tired spirits sat across from her.

Subaru sprang up and leapt to the door. In the distance he saw a small thin figure with long scraggly hair leaping after the trailer, “Ley,” Subaru growled.

“Ley, huh? Captain, you said he’s the easy one, right?” Garfiel muttered.

“Did you think Roy was easy?” Subaru grumbled, “Assume this guy is worse.”

Garfiel stared at Subaru wide eyed. When Subaru didn’t say ‘just kidding,’ Garfiel swallowed hard.

“How far until we reach that turn off Rem mentioned?” Subaru asked.

“Captain, we took it! We went clear across a meadow and through the woods for an hour! I even walked behind us to make sure we weren’t leaving any obvious trail!” Garfiel growled.

“What?” Subaru said, “Well, how the fuck did he find us?”

“I don’t fucking know!” Garfiel snapped.

“The dragons can’t go much further!” Rem called from the front.

“That’s fine, Rem,” Subaru yelled back, “We aren’t getting away like this anyway! Give Felt the reins and get back here. Felt, give the dragons a rest.”

Rem raced into the back, mace in hand as the carriage jostled to a stop.

“OK, both of you be quiet!” Subaru instructed Garfiel and Rem as the bouncing Ley came closer, “I don’t care how much you hate the Witch Cult, we are in no shape for another fight right now! I’m going to try to talk us out of this. Stay here and wait for it to get physical before you jump in.”

“You really think that will work, Captain?” Garfiel asked skeptically.

Subaru shrugged, “I don’t know, Garf, but it’s worth a try at least! I’ve met Ley and I bet he remembers the fight I had with Regulus. He may not be willing to fight me all alone. Beyond that, he doesn’t seem all that bright. Maybe if I tell him that I’m following instructions from whoever runs the Cult, he’ll buy it. Ley seems to be a little confused about which side I’m on.”

“I can sympathize,” Rem muttered.

“Oh, go bury it, Rem!” Subaru snarled.

Subaru swaggered out the back of the trailer with a confident smirk as Ley bounded up to him. When Ley saw Subaru, his frog like face creased with confusion, “Pride?”

“Hey there, Ley,” Subaru replied with a smirk, “I assume that you’re here to congratulate me on capturing the elf.”

Ley squinted up at him, “You captured her? I thought the elf got away.”

“Who told you that?” Subaru said in feigned confusion.

“Capella,” Ley replied.

Subaru scoffed, “You’re listening to Capella now?” Subaru asked incredulously, “Why? You know how she gets. The little bitch threw a tantrum when she didn’t get her hands on the elf personally but I just told her: ‘Finders keepers.’”

Ley snorted, “Bet that didn’t go over too well,” He said sympathetically, “No wonder she went bananas. You know she turned us all loose to hunt down the elf?”

Subaru sighed, “Is she still throwing a tantrum? It’s been hours since we split up! She hasn’t gotten a grip on herself yet?”

“Nah. She and Regulus are both livid about some sorcerer who led them on a chase and then disappeared,” Ley said.

Roswaal got away, huh? That’s good. In theory.

“I’d buy him a beer if I knew who he was,” Subaru replied, “Anyone who aggravates those two is a friend of mine.”

“Now that’s the truth, Pride!” Ley giggled, “Hey, what’s your name anyway? I can’t just keep calling you ‘Pride.’”

“Well, I’m willing to accept ‘Great One,’ ‘Your Majesty,’ ‘My Liege,’ ‘The Glorious One,’ or ‘Subaru.’ Take your choice,” Subaru deadpanned.

Ley laughed out loud, “Yeah, you’re proud. I get it. OK, ‘Subaru’ then. Hey, who are all those guys? Are they part of the Order?”

“They work for me,” Subaru shrugged, “Meaning that so long as I’m following instructions so are they.”

“Fair enough,” Ley scratched his head with a sigh, “Look, I’m going to head back then. I’ve wasted way too much time running around tonight on Capella’s say-so and I’ve got nothing to show for it. I’m getting hungry.”

“Try telling her to suck you off if she wants you to follow her instructions. That’s what I do,” Subaru said carelessly, “Believe me, she turns all kinds of fascinating colors. I’m not sure it’s because she’s angry or aroused though and that worries me,” He added looking uncomfortable.

“Fuck, no! I’m not that brave, Pride! You and Regulus might be able to tell her off but can you imagine what she’d do to me?” Ley asked, “She’d turn me into a pile of furry caterpillars.”

OK, so I was right about the power scale for these freaks.

“Yeah, fair point,” Subaru agreed, “So does that clear up everything for you?”

“Almost. The only thing that confuses me is where are you taking the elf? The cathedral is the other way.”

Oh shit. What do I say to this?

“The cathedral? I was told that we were supposed to take her to the old temple,” Subaru said.

“What’s that?”

“Capella didn’t tell you about it?” Subaru asked.

“She doesn’t tell me anything except where to go and who to kill!” Ley mourned, “Can I be there the next time you make her suck you off? I’d like to see that. Err… from a very safe distance.”

“I’ll see what I can do!” Subaru laughed, “Anyway, why don’t you go sync up with the little bitch and see what the next step is. I’m guessing I’ll see you at the temple later.”

“OK, sounds good,” Ley yawned.

Subaru’s heart leapt.

“Just let me check the Gospel first,” Ley added pulling a small black book out of his pocket.

He flipped through a few pages looking puzzled, “Weird. It’s still telling me to take the elf. Any idea what’s that about?”

Subaru shrugged, “I couldn’t tell you.”

“Maybe you should check your Gospel just to be sure,” Ley suggested.

Subaru hesitated for a split second, “I didn’t bring my Gospel with me. Honestly, I’m surprised that you did! This mission could have gotten rough. Imagine the Gospel being damaged!” He said in feigned horror.

Ley scratched his chin and thought for a moment, “Sorry, Subaru, but if the Gospel tells me to take the elf, I think I’m going to have to take her. Maybe your instructions are out of date. I think I’m going to have to insist.”

“Insist?” Subaru echoed, “Really?”

Ley nodded.

“I respect your determination to follow instructions, Ley. I just find it rather interesting that you think I’d abandon my own instructions,” Subaru said with quiet menace stepping closer to Ley, “I hope you’re not planning to get physical about this. You might vaguely recall what happened when Regulus and I had that little disagreement.”

Ley flashed him a sharp-tooth smile, “True but the Gospel wouldn’t send me down a blind alley,” He replied.

Ley delivered a roundhouse kick to Subaru’s jaw but Subaru managed to trigger Indomitable just in time.

Ley looked stunned. Subaru was not only was unhurt but he hadn’t even been budged by a kick that could have shattered stone.

Subaru tried to punch Ley’s face but the stringy boy cartwheeled away drawing his long daggers.

Subaru saw Rem and Garfiel leap out of the trailer to flank him. He quickly glanced behind him and saw Puck and Beatrice rushed out to help them leaving Emilia and Felt standing on the back platform of the trailer.

“This isn’t going to end well for you, Ley,” Subaru warned him, “Why don’t you just get lost before you get hurt?”

Ley grinned at him, “I may not be Regulus, Subaru, but don’t underestimate me!”

Emilia stood by helplessly as the group fought Ley.

Garfiel and Rem kept trying to surround the Archbishop but Ley always leapt away almost casually. Ley was remarkably acrobatic in a way that put Roy to shame, spinning and rolling away from every attack. Everyone was flailing at the grotesque boy and almost never striking a solid blow. Even the spirits couldn’t pin him down. Puck unleashed a barrage of ice crystals but Ley spun, flipped and cartwheeled around them. Beatrice tried to grab Ley with shadowy tentacles but he leapt over her head and her tentacles accidentally tangled Garfiel.

Ley would have quickly won the fight except for Subaru. Each time Ley tried to go on the offensive, Subaru was right in front of him and Ley quickly backed off knowing that his daggers were no good against Subaru.

Ley wasn’t willing to fight Subaru directly after he’d seen Regulus fail to kill him. He wanted to pick off the others and grab Emilia.

I have to do something! Emilia thought desperately, But what? I don’t have my connection to Puck anymore so my magic is all gone!

Emilia shook her head, Don’t think like that! She admonished herself. My connection to Puck is eternal! He’s my Father. No witchcraft can change that! Maybe… maybe if I reach down deep enough I can still touch that connection and use some of his magic…

Ley seemed to be growing frustrated with the indecisive fight. As he leapt into the air to avoid Rem’s mace, he spring-boarded off Garfield’s chest and flung himself full speed at Emilia, planning to grab her and run.

Felt desperately pulled out her short knife.

Emilia was strangely calm. She felt the magic bubbling up inside her. She could still command Puck’s magic. Probably not much of it, maybe only one ice crystal but if it hit Ley properly that would be enough to let the others finish Ley off.

As Subaru made a desperate grab for Ley, Emilia raised her palm toward the Archbishop and called upon the magic. She was not at all prepared for what happened. Puck’s magic did not answer her.

Another magic did.

A massive bolt of frost blue light that could only be described as an avalanche of pure power erupted from her palm. It rushed out of her in a great burst like a river liberated by a bursting dam.

The shock of the magic flung Felt, who wasn’t even in the direct line of fire, down onto the road knocking the wind out of her.

The light struck the shocked Ley full in the chest and sent him flying a full hundred feet away. The shock-wave Ley made as he flew at tremendous speed through Emilia’s friends knocked them back and flung them all to the ground. Subaru who was closest to Ley ate a piece of the magic and was slammed face first into the road.

The wizened toad-like boy crashed onto the road where he tumbled and rolled until he finally came to a stop, his body covered in frost. The Archbishop looked up at Emilia with true fear in his eyes and fled.

Emilia panted for breath as she stared at her own hand in absolute shock.

A moment later Emilia noticed a small patch of ice underneath her and it was spreading. The ice patch crept slowly out from under her feet and a moment later a small shoot appeared in the ice growing upward. It grew an inch, two inches and then it grew leaves and a bulb on top. A moment later the bulb blossomed into a beautiful crystal flower made of ice.

Emilia stared at the beautiful crystal plant. As the frost kept spreading out and more and more flowers sprouted.

Felt and Subaru were groggily regaining their senses as the creeping ice spread underneath them and continued to sprout flowers.

Felt moaned, trying to figure out what had just happened. She dimly felt everything become cold around her.

A moment later she grabbed her hand with a scream.

She felt as if the bones in her hand were cracking, as if they was being torn apart from the inside.

Felt watched in absolute horror as a slender shaft of ice grew out of the back of her hand and became a blossoming ice flower three inches tall.

Felt screamed in pain as the slender delicate shaft of the frost blossom turned red, blood being drawn up the shaft until the blossom itself blushed bright crimson, dying itself red with her blood.

Felt screamed and pulled frantically at the blossom trying to uproot it but the blossom felt stronger than steel and Felt sensed that she would tear out her own bones before she ripped out the plant.

Felt felt to the ground screaming in agony as more blossoms began to sprout all over her body. They were each beautiful and delicate. They flowers bloomed gracefully and then quickly turned red, feeding on Felt’s blood.

One was growing in her shoulder. Felt heard a sharp ‘crack’ sound as the roots dug deep inside her shoulder bone and tore it open the same way as a tree’s roots split stone. The flower drank deep and turned red.

Felt was unable to do anything but writhe and scream as her entire body became a seedbed for the parasitic flowers. Felt dimly sensed Subaru screaming next to her as the flowers infested him as well.

The silver haired witch was at Subaru’s side, saying something but Felt couldn’t make it out. Her world dissolved into pure pain as the flowers kept growing and spreading all over her body.

Felt’s hands felt as though they were on fire. Her fingernails split open as the flowers began to grow through the tips of her fingers. They grew in profusion over her torso and effortlessly ripped through her clothing. Felt was practically naked now but she barely noticed. She felt a slender shaft beginning to erupt from her tongue. Felt desperately opened her mouth wide to allow the tiny blossom to grow and flower without breaking through her teeth.

She stared up at the beautiful blossom protruding from her mouth and Felt thought she would go mad as she felt the flower sucking the blood out of her tongue. The sight of the perfectly beautiful crystal flower blooming above her, rising out of her own mouth and slowly turning red, seemed like the final bit of insanity she could cope with before her mind shattered into a million pieces.

Then she felt a blossom beginning to sprout from her left eye.

Emilia wrapped herself around Subaru, sobbing desperately, “Subaru!” She screamed shaking him.

She had no idea what to do. The frost flowers continued to bloom all around her as the frozen ground spread. She dimly realized that the frost flowers were beginning to grow up across the trailer, sticking straight out of the walls in complete defiance of gravity.

She watched in horror as a frost flower began to emerge from Subaru’s check. She heard an audible cracking sound as its root sank deep into his cheekbone and Subaru howled in pain.

She saw Garfiel leap to Felt’s side and pick her up. Felt was in convulsions now, her body looking less like a girl and more like a potato that was sprouting tubers.

As Emilia helplessly cradled Subaru’s writhing body she sensed a shadow over head. Rem was leaping toward her, her mace outstretched and descending toward them both.

“Get away from us!” Emilia screeched calling on her magic again and blasting everyone away, especially the tiny spirits who went flying.

Garfiel bounced against the ground struggling to shield Felt from the impact while Rem who was the main target was slammed into the road tumbling end over end.

Garfiel shook his head and got back to his feet, cradling the sobbing Felt. He looked hard at Emilia and Subaru, “Rem!” He shouted, “We can’t help the Captain right now! Grab Ram! We need to get out of here!”

Rem glared at him but nodded and they both took off at a run toward the front of the trailer.

Emilia barely noticed them fleeing as her attention was completely fixated on the helplessly sobbing Subaru.

“Subaru! What do I do?” She begged him but Subaru was unconscious and the only impulses running through his brain right now were pain and agony as the flowers continued to rip his body apart and grow.

“What are you doing, you witch?!” Beatrice screamed at her as she and Puck flew over. Puck was surrounded by a swarm of ice crystals ready to fire and Beatrice was wrapped in a cloak of writhing shadow tentacles just waiting to be unleashed. Both spirits’ faces twisted ferociously when they looked at Emilia.

“I don’t know!” Emilia screamed back, “Puck, what do I do?!”

Puck hesitated, “This is your magic!” He snapped coldly, “Control it! Pull it back in!”

“Bubby!” Beatrice screamed in shock, “Are you going to let her-”

“Breaking the curse will take too long, Betty!” Puck snapped back, “Subaru and Felt will die if we don’t get this spell under control immediately. Pull your power back in, witch!”

“I don’t know how!” Emilia cried.

Betty hissed at her, “If you don’t control your magic right now then Subaru will die. He will freeze to death and the frost flowers will drink his blood.”

Emilia stared at Beatrice in horror then tried to focus as she had never focused before.

No one needed to tell Emilia that she had one chance to get this right before the spirits killed her to try and save Subaru. What was worse, if she didn’t stop the magic right away, then it was very likely that her curse would indeed kill Subaru and Felt.

Emilia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt the vast river of power surging out of her. Emilia had never imagined such magic. She couldn’t believe she could possess so much power, much less control it, but Subaru needed her and failure was not an option.

She fought to pull the power back in. It resisted. Finally unleashed and free, the magic did not want to return to dormancy. She fought it tooth and nail and the magic slowly began to ebb. The frost flowers grew slower and finally stopped spreading altogether. The normal temperature returned to the area.

Emilia panted for breath. She looked down at Subaru. The flowers had stopped spreading but Subaru’s body still looked like a madman’s flowerbed. She brushed Subaru’s cheek. His skin was pale and cold.

“Puck! You have to heal him!” Emilia begged.

Puck scowled at her and Emilia’s mouth went dry. She could never have imagined Puck looking at her with such raw loathing.

“Bring him back inside the trailer!” The flying cat ordered, “We can’t put him down on this ice!”

Emilia leapt to her feet with Subaru in her arms. She raced into the trailer to discover the floor was frozen here too and the frost flowers had spread everywhere. She gently deposited Subaru on the couch as the spirits raced up behind her.

Puck stared in horror at Subaru’s ravaged body and began to cast a healing spell, the tiny cat glowing bright orange like a newborn sun.

Emilia heard a snarl and turned to see Beatrice scowling at her with pure hatred in her eyes, “The witch hurt Betty’s Subaru! The witch will pay!”

Emilia recoiled as Beatrice raised a tiny hand that glowed with purple magic.

“Not now, Betty!” Puck shouted, “We need to heal Subaru! We can deal with the witch later!”

Beatrice ground her teeth glaring at Emilia but she turned away with a snarl and joined Puck’s healing magic.

A short time later, Subaru was breathing more easily. The spirits had fought tooth and nail to melt the flowers and his wounds were beginning to mend from where the frost flower roots had bit into him. The trailer was still covered with frost flower blooms and, despite the warm air, they showed no sign of melting.

“He’ll be alright, I suppose,” Beatrice said glowering at Emilia.

Emilia bowed her head before the Great Spirit’s rage, recognizing she deserved as much or worse.

Beatrice snarled at her, “Why did the witch hurt Betty’s Subaru?!” She demanded.

Emilia flinched, “I didn’t mean to,” She said in a small voice.

“The witch almost killed Betty’s Subaru by accident, I suppose?” Beatrice said sarcastically.

Emilia lowered her eyes and nodded.

Emilia sensed Puck floating above her and looked up. Emilia immediately started to cry. Never in her life had Puck looked down on her with such rage and contempt.

“How do we know that you didn’t bewitch Subaru into thinking that you’re his friend?” Puck demanded.

“I… don’t know how to do that,” Emilia whimpered.

“And Betty and Bubby are supposed to take your word for that, I suppose?” Beatrice snapped holding Subaru’s hand and not looking at Emilia.

Emilia flinched, “Puck would know if I was lying…”

Puck glowered down at Emilia, “You hurt Subaru,” He murmured as if pronouncing her doom, “Betty and I have waited to find Subaru for four hundred years. He is everything to us. If Subaru hadn’t committed to trying to help you, I would have already turned you into ashes.”

Emilia’s tears wouldn’t stop falling at hearing Puck speak to her like this.

Puck snarled at her, “You live only as long as Subaru doesn’t decide that you’re an enemy trying to trick him, but you have thrown away any trust that Betty and I had for you! If you so much as prick Subaru’s finger then I will come for you myself witch and not even Subaru pleading with me for mercy will stop me from reducing you to dust! Are we understood?”

Emilia bowed her head and nodded, unable to control her tears.

Puck snorted and drifted back over to Betty and Subaru.

“Betty,” Puck grumbled, “I’m going to go find the others and let them know that it’s safe to come back to the trailer. We need to get moving. Keep an eye on the witch.”

Emilia flinched at Puck referring to her this way.

“Betty thinks that is the most unnecessary thing her Bubby has ever said,” She replied as Puck flew out the window.

Emilia walked on numb legs through the field of frost flowers growing in the trailer. She sank down on the couch that sat across from Subaru, buried her face in her hands and cried.

Beatrice looked at her with sheer loathing, “Bubby’s words were not idle, little witch,” Beatrice said in a cold voice, stroking Subaru’s face, “Threaten our family again and we will not stay our hand.”

Puck drifted high above the trailer getting a clear view of the surrounding area. The trailer sat in an enormous patch of frost and its body was festooned with crystal flowers growing out of every surface. The flowers had spread across the road and it was a minor miracle that none had infected the earth dragons in their harness.

Puck saw Garfiel, Felt and the twins gathered a short distance off the road and he flew over to them.

Garfield and Rem were standing there panting while Ram lay on the ground unconscious and Felt had blacked out with the red frost flowers still growing in profusion all over her body.

“Master Puck!” Rem cried, “Are you and Lady Beatrice alright?”

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Puck muttered drifting down to hover before them.

“What about the Captain?” Garfield demanded.

“He’s out cold but he’s stable. Betty and I broke the witch’s curse and healed his wounds,” Puck grumbled.

“Really? Hey, can you do the same for Rem and the shrimp?” Garfield asked.

Puck glanced at Rem. The maid had broken the flowers off her body but was still bleeding from deep wounds in several places, “Yeah, I can heal Rem.”

Puck glowed bright orange as he used his magic to staunch Rem’s bleeding and mend her wounds. A few moments later Rem was completely healed.

Rem dipped into a graceful curtsy, “Thank you, Master Puck.”

“Yeah, don’t mention it,” Puck murmured absently as he drifted down to inspect Felt who seemed barely conscious or catatonic, “Wow, she’s in bad shape. Maybe even worse than Subaru was. This might take a few minutes,” He observed beginning to heal her wounds and melt the crimson flowers.

“What the fuck is that witch doing now?” Garfield demanded.

“Last I checked she was sitting on the couch sobbing,” Puck grumbled, “Betty’s watching her.”

Garfiel stared at Puck, “Bullshit!”

“That’s what she was doing,” Puck replied.

“A witch that has enough power to do… whatever the hell she just did to all of us, is now curled up in a ball crying like a little girl? Bullshit!” Garfield proclaimed.

“It must be a ruse,” Rem said wearily rubbing her sore limbs, “She’s probably hoping to make us feel sorry for her.”

“That’s my guess,” Puck agreed focusing on Felt.

“So what the hell are we going to do about it?” Garfield demanded, “This witch is fucking dangerous! She almost killed us and nearly destroyed the trailer!” Garfiel paused in realization, “She did it on purpose, didn’t she?! She deliberately trapped us here so that the Archbishops coming for her would have time to catch up!”

“If the witch wanted to trap us here, I think there were more effective ways to do it,” Rem replied.

“She didn’t have any bad intent that I could detect,” Puck admitted grudgingly, “Witches usually don’t. They kill people out of indifference and carelessness. This particular witch is also too weak and incompetent to control her own magic and that puts all of us in its own kind of danger. And that’s even ignoring the possibility that she’s using her Authority to shield her thoughts from me.”

“She might have failed to trap us this time but we should not give her a second opportunity,” Rem replied, “Can we salvage the trailer?”

“That shouldn’t be a problem. I looked it over before I came to find you,” Puck said, “There aren’t any flowers that might jam the wheels or something so the trailer should work the way it always does.”

“Yeah, that’s great and all, seriously,” Garfiel grumbled sarcastically, “But I must ask again: What about the witch?” Garfield demanded Rem.

Rem gave him a tired look.

“We’ve got to do something about her!” Garfield cried, “We can’t just drive off down the road with a monster sitting behind us! What is this, Michael and the Living Doll?”

Rem looked confused at the idiom.

“Do you have a suggestion?” Puck asked folding his arms.

“My suggestion is: Let’s kill her!” Garfiel snapped.

Rem thought about it, “It certainly seems to be a sensible goal,” She agreed, “But we didn’t have much luck against her in the last fight.”

“She took us by surprise!” Garfield snapped.

“That’s true, Garf, but we’ll only get one more chance to kill her. I doubt she’ll let us escape so easily next time,” Rem pointed out, “We should wait until Subaru and Sister wake up and then plan our attack together. The four of us and the Great Spirits should be able to finish off one witch.”

“And what do we do with her until then?” Garfield demanded with a snap of his jaws, “Would you like me to make her a cup of tea?”

Puck shrugged, “Personally, Garf, I suggest you take your own advice: drive off down the road with the monster sitting behind you. Unless anyone has a better suggestion. The Sin Archbishops are still after us so we better keep moving. Betty and I will watch the witch to make sure she stays out of trouble but you all should stay out of the trailer anyway.”

Puck glanced down at Felt. The flowers had all melted. Her wounds still looked inflamed and painful but she was breathing easier. Puck couldn’t tell if she was unconscious or just shell-shocked.

“Ugh!” Garfield growled as he picked up Ram’s sleeping body from the ground.

“No, Garf,” Rem said firmly.

Garfiel sighed and handed Ram over to her sister. Rem carried Ram back to the driver’s platform leaving Garfiel to gently pick up Felt and follow her.

“This shit is all so fucking stupid,” He grumbled.

Subaru groggily sat up on the couch, “Ugh. What happened?” He muttered. He saw Puck’s green crystal sitting beside him.

“Subaru!” Emilia cried out, leaping to her feet.

Subaru rubbed his eyes. He saw Emilia wilting under the glares of Puck and Beatrice. Emilia bowed her head and slowly sat back down.

It was almost night time, “Um, hey guys. Did I miss anything?” Subaru asked.

Puck was still glowering at Emilia, “Well, you missed dying, Subaru, but just barely,” Puck growled.

Subaru looked around in bewilderment. The trailer had become a magical garden full of plants made of ice. They were even growing straight out of the walls in complete defiance of gravity. “What the hell happened here? When did we plant a garden?”

The spirits glanced at each other, “Are you feeling alright, Subaru?” Beatrice asked.

“Um, a little confused, honestly,” Subaru replied, “What happened? Is everyone OK?”

“You were in really bad shape, Subaru,” Puck replied drifting down into Subaru’s cupped hands as Beatrice hopped up onto the couch beside Subaru and rested her head against his chest. Subaru wrapped an arm around Beatrice to hold her close, “Although, I suppose Felt was honestly worse. Rem had some wounds but nothing all that serious. Ram and Garfield got off with scratches.”

“Well, that’s good. I mean not so good for Felt but still. So what exactly happened?” He asked.

The spirits glowered at Emilia.

Emilia bowed her head in shame.

Subaru coughed nervously, “OK, I’m sensing that everyone blames Emilia for this mess but, um, maybe you guys could explain it in a little bit more detail?”

“The witch cast a curse, in fact,” Beatrice snarled at Emilia, “She froze the entire area and started spreading blood drinking frost flowers everywhere. The blossoms tried to eat Betty’s Subaru and the others!”

Subaru gaped at Beatrice. He looked at Emilia who was sitting there crying, “Mili, how did you do that?”

“I don’t know, Subaru,” She whimpered, “I am so so sorry. I don’t know what came over-”

“No, Emilia,” Subaru interrupted, “How did you do that? I know it was an accident, you didn’t need to clue me in about that. But how did you do it? You always needed to rely on Puck for most of your magic but now you suddenly managed do this? You’ve never had that kind of power before so what gives?”

Emilia frowned and thought it over, “I don’t know. You’re right, I’ve never been able to do anything on this scale, at least not since I got thawed out of the ice. I thought I had used up all my magic cursing the forest. I liked not having that much power anymore so I didn’t investigate it.”

“What do you mean ‘thawed out of the ice?’” Puck growled.

“I’ll explain later,” Subaru mused, “Puck, I have a question for you: If Emilia had previously been contracted with a Great Spirit, could that have absorbed the bulk of Emilia’s natural power or maybe the spirit could have suppressed it another way?”

Puck sounded exasperated, “Subaru, I’m telling you, I don’t remember ever-”

“I know, Puck,” Subaru sighed, “Just think of it as a hypothetical question.”

“Well,” Puck floated up in the air and folded his arms as he thought, “I mean, a contract with a Great Spirit does absorb a lot of mana. Most people couldn’t form one at all.”

“Wait, then how am I doing it? Much less doing it with both of you at the same time?” Subaru asked.

“Oh, you have a ton of magic, Subaru, although it’s mostly inert. I guess that’s because of your Authority. It’s funny but I never really thought about how odd it was that you had so much magic before. You could probably make a contract with every Great Spirit in the world without even noticing the drain.”

Beatrice pinched Subaru’s side, “Do not take that as a suggestion, in fact!”

“Ouch! Don’t worry, Beako. I’m not planning on expanding our family,” Subaru replied. He hesitated, “By contract anyway,” Subaru amended. “OK, so if Emilia was contracted to a Great Spirit previously, could that drain account for why her magic seems so much stronger now?”

Puck thought it over while glowering at Emilia, “Not really, Subaru. The gap between what you’ve described as her magic and what she actually possesses is just too big. The rest of it would have to have been magically sealed.”

“Could a spirit do that?” Subaru asked.

“Sure, if she was willing to allow it but why would they?” Puck asked.

“Maybe the spirit was really overprotective and was worried that Emilia might hurt herself wielding magic he wasn’t sure she could control?” Subaru suggested looking guiltily at Emilia.

Emilia sighed and bowed her head.

“Hm. That spirit had good judgment, I suppose,” Beatrice said in a snippy voice.

“That’s my Beako for you,” Subaru sighed, “Takes no prisoners, suffers no fools.” He shook his head, “Emilia, are you OK?”

“Is Emilia OK, in fact?!” Beatrice interjected, “This witch suffered not a scratch! It was the rest of us who suffered including Betty’s Subaru! The witch should be made to depart immediately. Or be reduced to ashes…”

“That’s enough, Beako,” Subaru said trying to sound both patient and firm, “I know you don’t remember her but the four of us really are one family and Emilia needs our help right now.”

Puck and Beatrice shared a look that was equal parts concerned and exasperated.

“Subaru, I’m not sure you realize just how close you came to dying because of this girl,” Puck grumbled.

“Believe me, Puck, it wasn’t the first time,” Subaru smiled.

“Subaru!” Emilia complained.

“How are you feeling, Emilia?” Subaru asked patiently.

Emilia stared at him in disbelief, “Subaru! I almost killed you! I almost killed Felt!”

“Yeah, I know, Mili, I was there,” Subaru said calmly, “I appreciate you not actually killing me by the way. I do want to go and check on Felt though.”

“Betty thinks that Subaru’s admirable kindness and empathy might be going too far when it starts being applied to witches, in fact,” Beatrice muttered.

“Well, first thing’s first,” Subaru said, “Emilia, do you have your magic under control right now?”

She bit her lip and nodded.

“OK, that’s good,” Subaru said feeling the trailer start to slow down and pull over to the side of the road, “How long was I asleep?”

Beatrice scratched her chin, “Almost twenty four hours, I suppose? Your mana was nearly drained.”

“Felt barely has any mana so she got off easier in that regard. She woke up pretty quick once I healed her wounds. We’re probably stopping for dinner now and the others are going to make some food,” Puck added.

“OK, great,” Subaru muttered standing up.

He immediately became light headed and crashed back down on the couch.

“Hey! Subaru!” Puck protested, “Take it easy! You lost half the blood in your body yesterday!”

“Well, you don’t hear that everyday,” Subaru muttered rubbing his forehead. “Just for comparison, does anyone know how much blood I lost when Elsa gutted me?”

“Subaru promised Bubby and Betty that they would be together forever,” Beatrice grumbled, “Betty recognizes that Subaru is mortal but could he stop almost dying so often, I suppose?”

Subaru sighed and slowly got to his feet. He awkwardly waded through the delicate crystal flowers that seemed as strong as steel, “Alright, well I have a lot to catch up on so lets go out then,” Subaru said extending his hand to the seated Emilia.

“No,” Puck and Beatrice both said flatly.

“Huh?”

“That witch is staying where we can watch her,” Beatrice asserted.

“If we all go out together, you can still watch her,” Subaru argued.

“No, Subaru,” Puck replied firmly, “It’s not going to happen. That witch is dangerous and she is staying someplace where we can limit the damage that she causes.”

“It’s really fine, Subaru,” Emilia said with a sad smile, “I’m alright here. You should go check on Felt.”

Subaru sighed and nodded.

Beatrice tugged on Subaru’s arm and he obligingly picked her up.

“It’s Bubby’s turn to watch the witch, in fact,” Beatrice said as Subaru hoisted her up onto his shoulder.

Puck sighed, “Fine. Keep my crystal close to you though, Subaru. I don’t know how she got it away from Felt but I don’t want that witch to touch it ever again.”

Subaru looked at Emilia, pained but she just shook her head sadly.

Subaru pocketed Puck’s crystal with a sigh.

Subaru walked out of the trailer and found Rem, Garfiel, and Felt sitting in a nearby field trying to start a campfire. Felt had changed clothes and was now wearing a yellow dress that she must have brought to Arlem for the meeting with the nobility.

“How long until dinner?” He called casually.

“Subaru!” Felt cried out.

“Captain!” Garfiel shouted with a laugh.

Garfiel and Felt rushed over to Subaru. Rem gave him a steady look then turned away and continued fussing with the campfire.

“Subaru, are you alright?” Felt asked.

“Fine, Felt. How about you?” He asked in concern. Felt did not look good. Her thin body had large bruises all over it and her eyes had become sunken and haunted.

“Oh, I’m fine, boss,” Felt snorted after a moment’s hesitation, “I’ve been through way worse.”

Garfiel barked a laugh, “The shrimp is pretty tough,” He said cuffing her shoulder.

Felt bit her lip against crying out as she grabbed her shoulder.

“Seriously, Captain, it’s good to see you back on your feet,” Garfiel told him, “You were in bad shape. I was worried that… well, it’s good to have you back,” He laughed.

“Any problems while I was napping?” Subaru asked walking to where Rem was starting a fire with the others.

Garfiel shook his head, “Smooth sailing so far, Captain. No sign of the Archbishops since Ley ran off. We’ve been taking turns feeding the witch-”

“Garf,” Subaru moaned.

He snorted, “Fine, we’ve been taking turns feeding ‘Emilia.’” He said sarcastically.

Rem managed to strike a spark and quickly fed it with twigs and dry grass.

“Nice work, Rem!” Garfiel cheered, “It’s cold out here tonight. Right, shrimp?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, fleabag. I’m not some fainting flower like you. Some of us are used to living rough,” Felt snorted her arms wrapped around her thin body as she shivered.

“Rem, are you OK?” Subaru asked glancing over her bandaged wounds.

She gave him a dark look, “Fine. I’ll go fetch some food for us to cook,” She said walking off.

The three plus Beatrice sat around the the campfire, feeding it with sticks and helping it grow.

“How’s Ram? Is she up yet?” Subaru asked.

Garfiel shook his head, “Nah. The magic cat took a look at her earlier. He said that her Gate or something had been damaged previously. The cat told me that the mana-drain thing that happened when the barrier broke hurt her more than the rest of us. He doesn’t expect her to wake up before sometime tomorrow.”

“Well, I’m glad she’s recovering at least. So nothing major has happened since yesterday?” Subaru asked.

“No, but that’s fine with me,” Garfiel admitted, “Yesterday was wild! It was like Jack facing the storms.”

Subaru laughed, “Garf, I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you admit that something might be too much for you to handle!”

Garfiel scowled then relaxed with a smirk, “Hey, Captain, what can I say? You were persuasive,” Garfiel snorted, “That little frog-faced freak was pretty persuasive too. I thought you said he was the weak one.”

Subaru snickered, “He is.”

Garfiel looked at Subaru incredulously.

“Roy and Ley are by far the weakest Archbishops I’ve met. I have no idea how we could even hope to wound Capella, Petelguese could rip apart a small city with his bare hands, and don’t even get me started on Regulus,” Subaru sighed.

“Fuck. What the hell have I gotten myself into?” Garfiel whispered.

“Yeah, don’t feel too bad, fleabag,” Felt commiserated, “I’ve been asking myself the same question ever since I met the boss.”

“Betty’s Subaru does have a habit of getting us into strange situations, I suppose,” Beatrice mused from Subaru’s shoulder. “So far Betty’s Subaru has led us into the thick of a fight for the throne, an ancient magical Sanctuary from which we barely escaped with our lives, and a protracted battle with the Archbishops of Sin. Where do you plan to lead us next, I suppose, assuming we survive the trouble you’ve already stirred up? Sailing off the edge of the world?”

Garfiel and Felt burst out laughing.

“Jeez, guys!” Subaru complained, starting to laugh along, “What is this, ‘pick on me’ day? I’ve had a pretty rough go of it myself lately.”

“Hey, you’re the boss, Subaru! You get to take the blame for all of this shit!” Felt chuckled.

“Betty agrees,” Beatrice added primly.

“Hey, I’m not your boss, Beako. I’m your family, so you stay out of this,” Subaru snickered at her.

“Betty feels entitled to tell her brother, both of them actually, when they are skipping merrily down the road toward disaster,” Beatrice replied.

Garfiel was still laughing out loud while Felt sat there with a smirk on her face.

Subaru chuckled and shook his head ruefully, “Look guys, if anyone has a better idea, I am all ears! Seriously! If someone has a better plan, lay it on me, I’d really appreciate it.”

Garfiel finally managed to contain his laughter, “Eh, relax, Captain. Me and the shrimp are only fooling around.”

“I know,” Subaru agreed.

It was quiet for a moment.

“You know, Garf, it’s weird to say this but I feel like we get along a lot better now than I remember,” Subaru mused.

Garfiel gave him a puzzled look. “What do you mean, Captain?” He asked.

“Well, I remember us being pretty adversarial, until the fight with Roy at least,” Subaru struggled to put his thoughts into words. “I guess in this… ‘time-line,’ or whatever you want to call it, we get along better.”

Garfiel scratched at his wild yellow hair looking confused.

“So, how did we meet?” Subaru asked him.

“What?! We met two fucking days ago, Captain! You got any idea how weird that question sounds?” Garfiel replied.

“Imagine how weird it feels to be the guy asking it and knowing that his memories are different than everyone else’s,” Subaru chuckled.

Garfiel looked awkward but shrugged, “We met when you gave me a flying lesson.”

“I beg your pardon?”

Garfiel laughed, “I’d been trying to pass those shitty trials for two weeks by then. I was getting pretty down on myself so the shrimp here kept kicking my ass to keep me moving forward.”

“We had a lot of shouting matches. I had to scream pretty loud to get through your thick stone head,” Felt commented with a faint smile.

“Yeah, Captain, so when you and the Little Bit came to the Sanctuary, Felt and I were at the Tomb screaming into each other’s faces and promising to do all kinds of gruesome things to each other. I guess you thought I was really threatening the shrimp because the next thing I knew I’d gotten punched in the gut and I was airborne,” He snickered.

Garfiel laughed at the stunned look on Subaru’s face, “Yup, I got some great hang-time too! Then I ate dirt. By the time I had walked back to the tomb, the shrimp had explained the situation and you were seriously sorry. My magnificent self decided to forgive you but you had to promise to go a few rounds with me after we got out of the Sanctuary!” He yelled smashing his fists together.

Oh boy, that sounds painful!

“Maybe we should wait on that until we’re not running for our lives, Garf” Subaru suggested.

“I hear that, Captain,” Garfiel said picking his teeth.

Garfiel frowned, “Say, Captain, how do you remember us meeting?”

He’s curious about the difference in our memories? That could be a good sign.

“It’s a lot less exciting to be honest,” Subaru shrugged, “I came into the Sanctuary and heard Emilia sobbing. She’d failed the trials again and Felt was trying to help her get through it. She actually blacked out from the stress so Felt and I took her back to the cottage to rest. We bumped into you and Ryuzu on the way back. You kept saying how… pathetic you thought Emilia was,” Subaru growled, “And I really did come close to knocking you across the field. Instead you took off and left me and Felt to put Emilia to bed.”

Garfiel scratched his head, “Look, Captain, I’m not saying that you’re lying but even if my memories were switched around, that story still doesn’t make much sense to me. Why would I make fun of someone because they couldn’t complete the trials? I wasn’t having much luck either.”

Because you’re an insecure child who covers up said insecurities with aggression and bravado? God, was I this annoying when I went through my edgy phase?

Yeah, something tells me I don’t want to hear the answer to that question.

“Well, none of us knew that you could take the trials,” Subaru replied, “Maybe Ryuzu knew but she didn’t see fit to share it with the rest of us so Emilia was our only possibility and I never even met this Otto guy. Roy showed up at the tomb because someone had told him to capture Emilia and Emilia was at the tomb because she was trying to break the barrier. We killed him and then while we were fighting Capella, Emilia succeeded in breaking the barrier and we got the hell out of there.”

Garfiel looked pensive and folded his arms across his chest.

“Subaru,” Felt grumbled, “None of that happened! It’s all illusions. It’s not real.”

Subaru shook his head, There’s no point in arguing about it. It will just lead us in circles.

“Well,” Subaru sighed, “You have your memories and I have mine, Felt.”

“Yeah,” Felt grumbled, “But the funny thing is that my memories have the benefit of agreeing with Garf and Rem and Beatrice. The only person who agrees with you is that witch. Think about that.”

Subaru took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He changed the subject: “So, Garf, once we get somewhere safe, are you planning to go meet up with Ryuzu or are we going to get to keep you around for a bit?” Subaru asked.

Garfiel looked up at the stars thoughtfully, “I dunno, Captain. I definitely need to go and make sure that she and the others are OK,” He mused. “If they have landed somewhere safe then I’m a free agent and I think I can do a lot more to keep them safe by taking the fight to the Cult rather than waiting for the Cult to come to us.”

“Sound thinking,” Subaru replied, “I just hope you’re not planning to take on the freaks as a one man army.”

“Nah, Captain. I think maybe I’ve gotten a little bit smarter in the past few days,” Garfiel admitted.

“Could have fooled me, fleabag” Felt commented poking at the fire with a stick.

“Oh shut up, shrimp,” Garfiel chuckled, “Besides, I seem to have already fallen in with the craziest group of fuckers since Martin and Roger took on the General. Pretty sure if I just hang with you lot, the Cult will come to me.”

“Beako, I don’t know what irritates me more,” Subaru grumbled, “That Garf would say that, or the fact that he’s probably right.”

“Betty finds the latter far more objectionable, in fact,” Beatrice replied and Garfiel laughed.

“Hey, I’m going to go see if Rem needs any help,” Felt sighed and walked off into the field.

Subaru waited until Felt was out of earshot, “I think maybe I won’t point out that Rem is in the opposite direction from where Felt is going.”

“Yeah,” Garfiel muttered, “Hey, Captain, listen: I’m worried about the shrimp.”

“She doesn’t look good,” Subaru agreed.

“I don’t think she slept at all last night,” Garfiel told him, “And I’m not sure she’s eaten today. Those freaking… flower things really got to her.”

“Trust me, I can relate,” Subaru admitted with a shudder, “I was grateful when I blacked out.”

“Yeah,” Garfiel said slowly, “Captain, Felt didn’t black out. She remembers all of it.”

“Oh,” Subaru flinched. “That’s… that’s really not good.”

Garfiel shook his head, “Yeah. I thought maybe you could talk to her about it. I really want to help the shrimp out after everything she did for me during the trials but I wasn’t really sure what to say to her. I was worried that I’d just end up saying something dumb.”

“Probably but that’s part of what we like about you,” Subaru shrugged.

“Hey, Captain! Give me a fucking break!” Garfiel laughed.

Subaru gently deposited Beatrice on the ground, “Can you go check in on Puck for a bit? I need to talk to Felt and she’d probably prefer not to have an audience.”

Beatrice pouted, “Subaru had better make lots of special time for Betty when we get home!”

Subaru wrapped her in a tight hug, “It’s a date,” He promised.

Beatrice smiled and walked away with her head held high.

Subaru walked over to Felt. Felt reclined under a small tree with her arms wrapped around her knees and her haunted eyes staring off into the distance.

“How are you doing, Felt?” Subaru asked sitting down beside her.

“Fine,” She said shortly not looking at him.

Subaru looked at her with concern and gently slipped an arm around her tiny shoulders.

Felt stiffed, “Hey, boss! You don’t pay me enough for that! I don’t let my clients touch me! I don’t-”

Subaru wrapped his other arm around Felt and drew her close.

Felt’s large red eyes filled with tears and she buried her face in his chest with a sob.

Subaru rubbed her back, “It’s alright, Felt. It’s alright. It’s all over.”

Felt was weeping so hard that her entire body trembled, “No, it isn’t!” She sobbed.

“What do you mean?” He asked gently.

“I can’t handle what the witch did to me, Subaru! I thought I was tough and that I could handle anything but I just… I just can’t fucking cope with it!”

“It’s OK, Felt!” Subaru said uncertain if it really was, “It’s OK! It’s just a memory! It can’t hurt you!”

“Subaru, I can’t sleep! I can’t close my eyes! Every time I try to lay down, I feel the frost flowers burrowing into me! I feel them slicing my skin and cracking my bones open to drink my blood!” Felt wailed.

Subaru’s eyes widened in horror as he held Felt tighter.

“It’s alright, Felt! I’m here now! We’re… we’re going to figure this out!” Subaru said helplessly as Felt sobbed into his shoulder.

“Subaru,” She sobbed, “They were eating me alive… They spread all over my body and they were sucking me dry…”

Subaru gently rocked her, “It’s going to be OK, Felt. Maybe not today but it’s going to be OK. We have two Great Spirits on call and once we get back to the capitol we’ll find the best healer around. We’ll figure out how to help you get through this!”

Felt sobbed.

“Maybe you can’t sleep tonight,” Subaru soothed, “I’ll stay up with you and we’ll talk. If you think you can try to sleep, I’ll hold your hand until you fall asleep. I’ll hold your hand all night if you need me to.”

Felt was panting for breath as she lay against his chest, “Subaru,” She whispered, “What are we going to do about the witch?”

Subaru hesitated for a long moment, “Emilia,” He emphasized gently, “Feels horrible about what happened. She never meant to cast those flowers on us, she was trying to stop Ley. And I know how horrible those flowers were, believe me,” Subaru lied knowing their experiences where in no way comparable, “But our problem right now isn’t Emilia, it’s helping you to recover.”

Felt looked at Subaru incredulously then shook free from his embrace. Felt leapt up and stormed away with her arms folded tightly across her chest.

“Felt, wait!” He cried hurrying after her.

Felt stopped but didn’t turn around to face him. Her arms were holding herself together with raw determination, as if Felt was worried that she was about to fall apart. Subaru had never really noticed how tiny Felt was before, how terribly frail and breakable she seemed.

Felt took a deep breath, “Subaru, I need you to get your goddamn head on straight.”

“Felt?” He asked.

“That witch is not your friend, Subaru!” Felt cried out whirling to face him with tears in her eyes, “You’ve never even met her before! We’re all telling you the same thing but you won’t listen to us! Do you really trust her more than your closest friends?! Think!”

“Felt,” He whispered uncertain of what to say.

Felt turned her face away with a grimace, “That… witch almost killed you, Subaru,” Felt’s face contorted in agony, “She almost killed me! Do you not even care?!”

“Felt, of course, I care!” Subaru protested wondering what he could say.

“What kind of magic changes everyone’s memories except for one person? What kind of sense does that make?” Felt demanded.

“I have an Authority and that protected me,” Subaru explained.

“Why would anyone even do this?! Give me one reason why anyone would want to make the entire world forget that some girl existed? What possible purpose could that serve?” Felt shouted.

“I don’t know yet,” Subaru admitted.

“No shit, Subaru, because there isn’t one! This theory of yours doesn’t make sense because it benefits nobody! But if the witch is weak and vulnerable and needs a protector, then it makes perfect sense to bewitch the strongest person around and make the bonehead think he’s in love with her!”

“Felt, that is not what happened!” Subaru shouted.

“The witch is twisting your mind, Subaru! You need to trust your friends and get the hell away from her! She will turn you against us if you let her! Please! Don’t you trust me at all?” Felt begged.

“Of course, I do!” Subaru assured her, “You are my precious friend, Felt. I promised that I would take care of you.”

“Well, no offense, boss but so far you’ve done a pretty shit job!” Felt snapped back.

Subaru flinched looking stricken.

“I’m not stupid, Subaru,” She moaned looking away with a haggard expression on her face, “I’m not Reinhard! I knew exactly how much trouble I was risking when I lied to Heinkel and the council for you. But I did it because I thought we were friends.

“I hate the fucking nobility! You have no idea the way they have treated my friends. How they’d treated me personally! I’d like to gut each and every one of them but at the selection I put on a pretty dress and smiled at them because you were my friend.

“But this time… Subaru, she tried to kill me!” Felt wailed burying her face in her hands, “She tried to torture me to death with those horrible parasitic flowers!”

“Felt,” Subaru whispered taking the little girl in his arms.

“I don’t understand what’s going on, Subaru, and I don’t care! I don’t know what the Authority means or why it matters that the dragon blood is all used up!” She cried out burying her face in his chest. She trembled in Subaru’s arms and panted for breath until she could continue, “Subaru, if we just go back to the capitol then when the selection ends you will be King! You could make things better for millions of people across the continent!

“If you think that there’s no point to taking the throne anymore, fine! Let’s just grab Garf and the spirits and get the fuck out of here! We’ll find Red and we’ll disappear! We can make a go of it together! Let the world worry about its own problems. Let’s forget about thrones and Archbishops and everything else! I’m fine either way but please Subaru! Let’s just get out of here before it’s too late!” Felt sobbed into his chest.

“Felt,” Subaru whispered trying desperately to soothe the girl’s anguish, “There’s more going on here. Emilia’s memory has been erased from the whole world.”

“No, it hasn’t, Subaru!” Felt screamed in his face, “It’s a lie! It’s all a lie! We’ve all told you! I have been with you since the day you entered this world and Puck has been with you even longer! We both told you that ‘Emilia’ doesn’t exist! The witch is twisting your mind! Your friends are trying to save you! Why won’t you believe us?!”

Subaru sighed, “Felt, it’s not true. Emilia is not twisting my mind. I’m certain of it.”

Felt stopped crying and she wordlessly withdrew from Subaru’s arms and took a few steps back.

Tears were still streaming down her face but her expression was hard, “Please don’t tell me that, Subaru.”

“Why not?”

“Because if that witch really hasn’t put a spell on you then that means that you are willingly traveling with a witch who almost killed all of your friends. You’re willingly traveling with someone who almost killed me and you don’t even seem to care,” Felt said flatly, “And I really don’t want to believe that.”

Felt turned and walked away without a word.

Subaru thought about chasing her and trying to talk to her further but he thought this probably wasn’t the right time. He glanced back at the fire where Rem had handed Garfiel some strips of meat and he was grilling them. Rem returned to the trailer and Subaru decided to follow her.

Subaru returned to the driver’s platform where Rem sat next to her comatose sister.

“Any sign of Ram waking up?” Subaru asked climbing onto the platform.

Rem shook her head, staring at her sister, “Tomorrow night at the earliest according to Puck.”

“I find that Puck is usually reliable,” Subaru mused sitting down near Rem.

“A pity that can’t be said about other people,” Rem said not looking at Subaru.

Subaru sighed, “Well, I did promise to answer your questions once we were no longer running for our lives. Anything in particular you wanted to ask?”

Rem turned to face him, “Who are you, Subaru Natsuki?”

Subaru sighed, “I am Subaru Natsuki from another world, or beyond the Great Waterfall if you prefer. I came to this world almost two months ago through means unknown to me. I met Emilia that day, fell in love with her, and have spent the last month trying to become King so I can get the dragon blood for her. You and I have had a fairly rocky relationship together: you started off trying to kill me, then started to trust me, then stopped trusting me, so… where are we at the moment?”

Rem’s face was hard, “Tell me about the witchcraft.”

Subaru took a deep breath, “During my conversation with Roswaal the other day, he explained to me that the magic I acquired when I first came here was a type of witchcraft. It’s called an Authority.”

“And that makes you a witch,” Rem said coldly.

Subaru sighed, “Yeah, I suppose it does. You know, for the record, I didn’t go looking for this power, Rem. According to Roswaal it was looking for me, although don’t ask me how that makes sense.”

“And what about the other witch?” Rem demanded.

“Emilia is not a witch, Rem,” Subaru said firmly, “People’s memories have just been mixed up. Emilia doesn’t have an Authority so she can’t be a witch or an archbishop.”

“And how do you know that she doesn’t possess one?”

Subaru blinked, “Um, well, Roswaal probably would have mentioned it, wouldn’t he?” Subaru asked awkwardly.

“Subaru, do you have any evidence at all that this girl does not possess an Authority?” Rem asked.

“Well, not exactly-”

“And do you any evidence at all that our memories have been twisted rather than your own? What kind of magic changes everyone in the world to remember something differently except for one person?”

“Well, maybe my Authority protected me,” Subaru replied.

“Do you have any evidence of that?” Rem demanded.

Subaru just gave her a worried frown.

Rem turned her back on him and fussed over her sister, “Subaru, you once told me that you need to be certain that the person you’re killing deserves to die.”

“I remember,” Subaru replied.

“That witch nearly killed you and all of your friends. If that doesn’t convince you that she deserves to die then what will?”

“Emilia didn’t mean to do that! Ley was kicking our asses and she tried to help! The magic just got out of control!” Subaru protested.

“Don’t brush aside what she did as if being an accident rendered it meaningless!” Rem demanded, “Most of us aren’t like you, Subaru Natsuki! We can’t shrug off a mace to the head or a witch’s curse and keep going! You once told me that mistakes are as serious as the consequences they caused. That witch’s ‘mistake’ very nearly killed Felt and she is deeply traumatized as a result. Even if I believed for one single instant that the witch didn’t mean to hurt us, she still caused grievous harm that can’t simply be swept under the rug. But you, Subaru Natsuki, appear to be completely unwilling to hold the witch accountable for nearly killing one of your friends, especially Miss Felt who has shown you great loyalty and devotion.”

Rem stood and looked down at Subaru coldly, “You are either deeply under that witch’s spell or in a state of delusion. I can’t tell which. Nor am I sure which answer I would prefer. You are ignoring the obvious answer in favor of the reality you desire and you are putting everyone who cares about you in jeopardy because of your foolishness.”

“Rem-” Subaru began but Rem turned her back to him and sat down by her sister.

Subaru sighed and got off the driver’s platform.

“Hey guys,” Subaru sighed walking back into the trailer.

Emilia sat on the same couch as before with a sad expression. Beatrice sat across from her with Puck lying in her lap, both glowering at Emilia.

“So, nice to see that everyone is getting along so well,” Subaru murmured as he sat down next to Emilia and took her hand.

Puck and Beatrice both grumbled.

Subaru smiled when a moment later Beatrice left her couch and sat on Subaru’s lap possessively. Puck drifted back into her hands. They both still scowled at Emilia.

“Mili,” Subaru chuckled, “Do you remember when we were first living together and Puck tried to use Beatrice to separate us while we were sitting on the couch?”

Emilia frowned and then her face brightened into a smile, “I do! I didn’t understand what Puck was doing at the time but looking back on it, it was really funny. How did you get her to run away again?”

The spirits looked back and forth between Subaru and Emilia with baffled expressions on their faces.

Subaru laughed, “Remember, this was back when Beako didn’t like me too much! I wrapped my arms around her and told you to do the same,” Subaru said once again wrapping his arms around the little spirit, “Beako freaked out and yelled ‘Betty is not for hugging!’ and then raced out of the room at top speed carrying Puck with her. Luckily, we’ve gotten over that little issue, haven’t we Beako?” Subaru said hugging and snuggling his spirit partner.

Emilia laughed out loud.

“Betty doesn’t know what either of you are talking about, in fact! No such event ever happened. Moreover, Betty is entirely for hugging but only to certain persons. Too many people wish to hug Betty without permission. Although, it is understandable. Betty’s form was chosen to be delightful, I suppose,” Beatrice said loftily.

“Everything about Betty is delightful!” Subaru said cuddling the little girl.

“It’s good that you recognize this, I suppose,” She smiled.

“Hey, Subaru, how about a little affection over here?” Puck protested from Beatrice’s arms.

“You got it, buddy,” Subaru replied stroking the cat who smiled blissfully, “I’ll give you both all the affection you want!”

Subaru looked at Emilia who watched their fractured family with a sad smile and watery eyes.

Subaru knew his own smile must be equally pained.

This is wrong. This is so wrong. She’s a foot away but she might as well have been separated from Beako and Puck by a thousand miles. Our family has been divided by whatever this is. Emilia is being excluded and, what’s worse, the spirits clearly consider her an enemy. I need to fix this before it gets totally out of hand, but how? Maybe I should have tried to capture Ley earlier so I’d have someone to question about it.

When I find out who did this, somebody is going to pay.

“Puck,” Subaru murmured, “So is anything else coming back about Emilia?”

Puck stopped smiling and looked somewhat annoyed, “She seems familiar,” Puck admitted grudgingly, “But I can’t place her. I’m starting to wonder if I might be remembering her from a time before my memories were sealed. I knew a lot of witches when I was young.”

Subaru blinked, “Wait what? When were your memories sealed? When did you know witches?”

“Oh, sorry, Subaru,” Puck said with a yawn, “Did I forget to tell you about that? Betty and I are four hundred years old, after all. We date back to the time when the witches walked the land. Although our memories are a little fuzzy about those days.”

“How did your memories get sealed?” Subaru asked.

“Um. I forget…” Puck replied.

“Please tell me that was a terrible joke,” Subaru sighed.

“No. Sorry, Subaru. I did… well, something that I wasn’t supposed to do, I guess, and as a result my memories of the past were sealed. Hey, Betty, do you remember anything about those days?”

“Betty only remembers her mother and her Bubby, I suppose,” Beatrice replied, “Nothing else was worth remembering.”

“Not helpful,” Subaru sighed. He squinted at the ceiling thoughtfully, “What is a witch anyway? What makes someone a witch?”

“A witch is just someone who possesses an Authority,” Puck explained.

“Hypothetically,” Subaru began, “Is there anyway to check to see if Emilia has one?”

Beatrice shook her head, “There is no test for Authorities, I suppose.”

“So there’s no way to confirm that Emilia doesn’t have one because that’s just how our luck works,” Subaru said leaning back with a sigh.

Subaru closed his eyes and shook his head, “Alright, they’re cooking outside. Why don’t I go see if I can get us a few plates of whatever Rem and Garf threw together.”

“Betty has misgivings about eating any food that was prepared by Garf,” Beatrice said as she slid off Subaru’s lap.

Subaru grinned at her, “Luckily Beako, you are a Spirit and therefore you do not get hungry!”

Subaru hopped out of the trailer with a laugh.

Subaru approached the campfire. Rem, Felt, and Garfiel were huddled around it eating strips of meat and some roasted vegetables.

“We got anything for the prisoner?” Subaru asked mockingly.

Nobody laughed.

Subaru sighed, “Listen, guys-” Subaru began.

A hoarse screech bellowed out in the distance.

Everyone leapt to their feet.

“Garf, put out the fire! Now!” Subaru ordered.

Garfiel began to dump fistfuls of dirt onto the blaze.

“Subaru, what was that?” Rem demanded.

“I’m not sure but it sounded a lot like Capella’s dragon form,” Subaru whispered.

“How do they keep finding us?!” Felt whispered.

“Good question!” Subaru replied, “Alright. First, we put the fire out. The trailer is pretty well hidden under those trees. In the dark, Capella is going to have to get damn lucky to find us. Let’s get back under those trees ourselves.”

Garf had put out and disguised the remains of their fire through a combination of dirt piling and stomping on it.

The trio picked up all their food and tools and raced back to the trailer, huddling next to it.

A few moments later they heard the sound of heavy wings beating through the air.

Capella’s dragon form, darker than the night sky, flew into view overhead. She passed over their field, gave a shrill bellow and continued to fly through the area.

“Is she leaving?!” Felt hissed.

Subaru shook his head, “No, she’s hunting. She thinks we’re here.”

“Captain! We keep getting off the road! After we lost Ley, we blazed a trail through a dry prairie for two hours! How the hell do they keep finding us? This is like Kimble and Gerard at the dam!” Garfiel whispered.

Subaru frowned, “I think… maybe they’re tracking us.”

“The witch!” Rem hissed, “She must be signaling to them!”

“You might be right, Rem but not for the reasons you’re thinking,” Subaru muttered. “Come on, we need to move quickly.”

Subaru jumped back on board the trailer.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Puck called.

“Rem,” Subaru said ignoring Puck, “I need a bag filled with food. Just throw enough in there for a few days, whatever you can grab.”

Rem frowned but went off as she was instructed.

“Emilia, get out here!” Subaru ordered.

“No, Subaru,” Puck said flatly, “We are-”

“Yes, Puck!” Subaru snapped, “This is what we are doing!”

Emilia looked at Puck uncertainly. The flying cat folded his arms and nodded curtly, not looking at Emilia.

Emilia walked over to Subaru’s side.

“Captain, what’s the plan?” Garfiel muttered looking out at the sky, “She’s coming back!”

Subaru sighed, “Alright. It seems pretty clear that Capella is tracking us. The only candidates for who she’s tracking are me and Emilia so,” He looked Emilia in the eyes, “The two of us are going to run away and hopefully draw the Cult away from all of you.”

Emilia held his gaze and nodded once, her face set.

I can’t stop the Archbishops from coming after us. If they really can track us then this is very likely to be our final stand. But at least we won’t risk anyone else dying in the process. And if it is the end, at least Emilia and I will be together.

“What?!” Garfiel demanded.

“That’s insane!” Felt whispered.

“If anybody has a better idea, I am all ears!” Subaru assured them, “Now listen, if this works, Capella and any other nearby Cultists should follow us and leave you guys alone. Wait until you have an opportunity to slip away and then get the hell out of here. You don’t want them to spot you and get any bright ideas about taking hostages!”

“Then what?” Garfiel demanded.

“Same plan as before, get out of here, get somewhere safe, find Reinhard!” Subaru told him.

Rem returned and handed Subaru a small backpack he presumed was full of food. He quickly put it on his back.

“Subaru,” Rem said quietly, “What if they find us before they realize that you’ve gone?”

Subaru gave a grim laugh, “That won’t be a problem, Rem. I’ll make sure I get Capella’s attention!”

“Subaru,” Felt hissed at him, “Just send the witch away! It’s her that they want!”

“No, Felt,” Subaru replied, “They want all of us. They are pissed. However, the question isn’t which one of us they want, it’s which one are they tracking. And considering what Roswaal told us, it’s just as likely to be me as to be Emilia.”

Garfiel shook his head violently, “You’re walking off into a huge fight, Captain! I’m going with you!” He grimaced then continued in a low growl, “And the witch, I guess.”

“No,” Subaru refused, “I need someone I can trust here to make sure that Felt and Ram are OK. If we’re lucky all the Archbishops will follow us but there are still plenty of Cultists that could come after you. You and the spirits need to stay here.”

“What?! No way, Subaru!” Puck growled.

“Betty will not remain here!” Beatrice agreed.

Subaru took a deep breath, “Not this time, Beako. It’s a hundred to one that I even get out of this alive. I don’t want you to have to die with me.”

Beatrice raised her chin defiantly while her eyes filled with tears, “Then Subaru is a hypocrite, I suppose! Betty asked Subaru to save himself in the Sanctuary but Subaru refused to let Betty die alone! He said he wanted to share Betty’s death with her! Then why can’t Betty share Subaru’s death, in fact?”

“You might as well face it, Subaru,” Puck said firmly folding his arms, “Either you let us come or we’ll just follow you.”

Subaru stared at both of the spirits especially the little girl whose face was wet with tears.

Impulsively he pulled them both into a tight hug, “I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you in my life!” Subaru gasped.

Yes, you do. You acquired an Authority that forces people to like you. At that point, what you deserve and what you’ve earned immediately became irrelevant…

Subaru heard heavy wings passing overhead, slower this time.

“Alright,” Subaru whispered, “When Capella gets a little further away, we’ll slip out.”

“Where are you going to go, Captain?” Garfiel asked.

Subaru pointed across the road, “Into that forest for starters. A dragon will have a hard time locating us in all that. Then we’ll swing back toward Miseri. Maybe we can find some help there,” He took a deep breath, “Listen. I’m truly sorry that I got you all into this situation,” Subaru sighed, “I’ll do whatever I can to make sure everyone gets away safely.”

Garfiel scowled and ground his fist into his palm.

Felt looked conflicted and Rem glared at Subaru coldly.

Subaru lifted Beatrice up on his shoulder.

“Alright, let’s go now!” He whispered as the four of them leapt out of the trailer and started running for the nearby road before the dragon returned.