Subaru, Emilia, and the spirits raced across the open field toward the road. They took shelter in a small grove of trees nearby.

Subaru scowled looking at four purple robed Witch Cultists walking up the road.

“What are we going to do, Subaru?” Puck whispered from his shoulder, “Should we wait for them to pass and then sneak by them?”

Subaru shook his head, “Nope. We promised Rem that we’d get Capella’s attention. I think this should do it!” He said with a wolf grin, “We kill them and then run into the woods. I think Capella will take the bait.”

“Four of them?” Puck asked negligently, “Gee, Subaru, I thought you said that this was going to be difficult.”

Subaru laughed as he slipped Beatrice off his shoulder.

He glanced back at Emilia. Her face was pale and drawn but her eyes were steady. She gave him a nod.

“Keep your filthy magic to yourself, witch!” Puck snapped at her, “We’ll take care of this, you just try to keep out of the way!”

Emilia flinched looking miserable.

Subaru wanted to say something but there was no time.

“OK, here we go!” Subaru said rushing out of cover with a roar.

The Cultists were startled by the man rushing toward them and Beatrice and Puck had already unleashed their magic.

Puck drove a great frost spike clear through one Cultist’s body pinning him to the ground where he died with a gurgle.

Beatrice surrounded another Cultist with a purple aura that made his body melt into a puddle.

Subaru triggered Indomitable, trying to draw the Cultists’ attention. He punched one in the face and his entire head exploded in a great fountain of blood.

The body fell onto Subaru splattering him with blood. Subaru barely swallowed a scream as he hurriedly pushed the bloody corpse off of him.

The last cultist turned to run away.

Puck started after him but Subaru grabbed the tiny cat, “No, let him go!” Subaru whispered.

Puck looked at Subaru in surprise.

Subaru gestured for Emilia to come quickly and the girl raced over to them as Subaru picked Beatrice up and put her on his shoulder.

“This way, hurry,” Subaru shouted as they ran into the forest and disappeared under the trees.

“Subaru, why did we let that one go?” Puck asked in astonishment as he flew after Subaru.

“Because he saw where we went and he’ll tell Capella! That way she’ll look in the forest and not back where the others are!” Subaru said panting for breath as he ran deeper into the trees with his family.

“Subaru, how far can you run, in fact?” Beatrice asked in a worried voice.

“Not… far…,” He admitted, “But I don’t need… to run very far! We just need a little distance right now. Then we can walk.”

Far behind them, Subaru heard a roar. For a terrifying moment he thought that Capella had found the others but he heard the beating of wings coming closer and he knew that she was following them.

Subaru saw a very dark dense part of the forest ahead, “OK, let’s hold up… for a minute,” Subaru said doubled over gasping.

“Subaru,” Emilia whispered, “Are you sure we’re safe here?”

“Not… remotely,” Subaru replied with a wry grin, “But Capella won’t spot us under all this dense growth. That gives us a little window.”

They heard the dragon fly overhead with heavy wing beats and keep going.

Subaru caught his breath and shook his head wearily, “Alright, enough standing around. Let’s keep going.” He said taking Emilia’s hand as they continued into the dark trackless forest.

Crusch sat in the council chamber of her manor in the capitol, waiting for her guests to arrive. Felix stood silently behind her.

This is a rear guard action. If the reports I’ve heard are true and frankly, I very much doubt that they are exaggerated, then the game is already over.

A few moments later, Jarvis the head butler entered, “Her grace, the Baroness Priscilla Barielle,” He proclaimed as Priscilla marched into the room followed by her knight Al. Jarvis’s tone was reserved and even but those who knew him well heard a slight growl in it.

Hm. It’s not just anyone who can make Jarvis sound frustrated. I wonder what she said to him.

This promises to be moderately unpleasant. I was hoping that Anastasia would arrive first. At least Anastasia’s company is tolerable and then after Priscilla showed up we could get down to business.

Now I need to make small talk with Priscilla.

“Good morning, Lady Priscilla. Thank you for coming to my humble home,” Crusch said politely.

“I trust this is actually important,” Priscilla sniffed. “My calendar is quite crowded at the moment and a great deal needed to be rescheduled in order to make time for this. What is this all about?”

“Perhaps we should wait for Lady Anastasia before getting down to business,” Crusch commented.

Priscilla’s eyes widened and then narrowed.

Priscilla may be flighty and frivolous but at least she’s no fool. The fact that I’ve asked both of them here tells her that I have something important to say.

And if she’s been listening to the news coming out of the the northwest she probably knows what it is.

Jarvis reentered the room, “Lady Anastasia Hoshen,” He announced as Anastasia walked into the room followed by her knight Julius Juukulius.

I’m not very familiar with Julius although I know that he is close friends with Felix and Reinhard.

I should correct that oversight but it doesn’t seem to be important right now.

Anastasia took a seat at the large conference table.

“Good morning, Lady Anastasia. Thank you for coming,” Crusch said politely.

“Oh, my pleasure, Lady Crusch. Your letter made me very curious,” She replied.

“Well, let’s get down to business,” Crusch began. “How much have you ladies heard about what’s going on in north western Lagunica right now?”

“Quite a bit,” Anastasia said calmly.

“Why? What’s going on?” Priscilla asked.

Crusch managed to not roll her eyes, “There are currently unsubstantiated reports coming out of the Mathers domain. Apparently two different communities have been attacked and destroyed by the Witch Cult. A large number of refugees managed to escape and they alerted the Kingdom but the full facts are still being deciphered.”

“That could be good news for us,” Priscilla said carelessly. “If Subaru Natsuki can’t keep people safe in his own domain then why would anyone want him on the throne?”

Crusch sighed, “The preliminary reports state that Subaru was directly involved in repelling the attacks. According to the intelligence compiled so far, the communities were devastated but Subaru Natsuki managed to avoid taking any causalities and got everyone out safely. The witnesses go on to claim that Subaru Natsuki fought three Sin Archbishops without assistance from the Sword Saint. They also claim that he killed two of them,” Crusch said in a flat voice.

The words hung in the air.

“He killed Sin Archbishops?” Al asked forgetting his role.

“Silence!” Priscilla snapped.

“I’ve heard the same rumors, Lady Crusch, but as you say, they have yet to be confirmed. I also know that Reinhard van Astrea has set off to locate his lord. No one seems to know quite where Subaru Natsuki is right now,” Anastasia commented.

“Maybe he died fighting the Sin Archbishops,” Priscilla shrugged, “His luck was bound to run out sooner or later.”

“That would indeed be the best outcome that we could hope for,” Crusch admitted, “But we’d have to be very lucky for that to happen.”

“Lady Crusch,” Anastasia said, “I don’t mean to be rude but what is all this about? I doubt that you invited us over here to discuss current events.”

“In a funny way, I did,” Crusch replied. “We are all in the same boat right now, ladies. Subaru Natsuki is the universally preferred candidate for the throne. If it turns out that he really did save these communities from the Witch Cult and slew two Archbishops, the game is over.”

“Rather optimistic of you to assume that the game isn’t over already, Lady Crusch,” Anastasia commented.

“I don’t know how optimistic I feel right now but I was hoping that the three of together might stage a recovery,” Crusch replied.

“And how exactly would we do that?” Priscilla grumbled.

“I’m talking about a formal alliance between our three factions,” Crusch explained. “We all work together, hand in glove, with the sole objective of bringing Subaru Natsuki back down to earth. We can break up the alliance and jockey for first place once the race evens out a little bit.”

“I’m afraid that you’re missing the point, Lady Crusch,” Anastasia said gently, “That’s a fine idea and all but what could we possibly do to blunt Subaru Natsuki’s appeal at this junction; even if we were all working together? He killed the Whale and a pair of Archbishops? What’s left? What could we possibly do to make the public think twice?”

Crusch was silent.

Anastasia raised an eyebrow, “Lady Crusch, forgive me, but you called a meeting and you didn’t even have a plan to propose?”

Crusch flushed, “I was unable to come up with a strategy to recover from this on my own so I thought that if we all joined forces and combined our knowledge-”

“I doubt that my trade network would tell you anything that your own military contacts haven’t already passed along,” Anastasia interrupted. “Believe me, ladies, I do hate to say this but unless someone has a really brilliant idea, it may be time for us all to bow to reality and start planning for our post election positions.”

Crusch scowled at her, “Are you really willing to give up that easily, Lady Anastasia?”

“Easily? No. But I didn’t become a master merchant by being unable to read the writing on the wall,” Anastasia replied. “If we have a plan, then I’m all for it. Otherwise, it’s time for me to start soliciting offers to give Subaru my support.”

Crusch stared at Anastasia, “He already made you an offer, didn’t he?”

“As a matter of fact he did,” Anastasia admitted. “It was a bit too low but I think that it’s negotiable.”

“And what exactly did he offer you?” Priscilla asked sounding only vaguely curious.

“A position on the royal council and exclusive licensing and distribution rights to all of his inventions,” Anastasia said without an ounce of shame. “Subaru Natsuki is about to completely rebuild the world economy and I want to have a good seat for the ride. As long as Subaru and I have the right understanding regarding my own interests, I can live with bowing to him.”

Crusch fumed, Subaru targeted her already! He knew that an alliance between me and Priscilla would never hold and would be almost worthless. So he picked out the moderate in our triumvirate and made her a ridiculously generous offer to ensure that she wouldn’t get involved. Curse you, Subaru Natsuki! Will you deny me even the most unlikely of openings?!

“Lady Anastasia, with all due respect, what makes you think that Subaru Natsuki will actually deliver on this promise?” Crusch growled struggling for control.

“Well, it’s a verbal promise,” Anastasia shrugged. “You can’t take a King to court for violating a contract, after all. But Subaru recognizes that I can be useful to his regime and that makes me think he’ll treat me fairly. I studied him carefully during our talks. He has amazing ideas but the details seem to defeat him. He needs a lieutenant who can get down into the trenches and make his ideas work. And I’m pretty sure that as long as his ideas do work, he doesn’t really care if the Hoshin Trading Company is the exclusive contractor in facilitating them.”

“Hm,” Priscilla mused. “You may have a point there, Anastasia. I hate to admit it but if there’s really no way to catch up with Subaru then we should all make plans for our own advancement after his victory. I noticed that Subaru has yet to choose a queen. Put his brains and my luck together and in ten years Vollachia, Kararagi, and Gusteko will be vassal nations of the Lagunican Empire.”

Crusch looked at Priscilla with open disgust, “Are you really prepared to go that far, Priscilla?” She asked, not even pretending to be respectful, “Prostituting yourself to Subaru Natsuki?”

“I’ve occasionally wondered what my body and heart would be worth,” Priscilla mused calmly, “I think the throne of the entire world sounds about right.” She glanced at Anastasia, “I assume that we don’t need to cross swords over this?”

“Thank you for your concern, Lady Priscilla,” Anastasia tittered, “But I have another approach to gaining Subaru’s attention. I’m shooting for ‘Lord Chancellor.’”

Crusch buried her face in her hands.

“Oh,” Anastasia continued, “And just as a courtesy, Lady Priscilla, might I point out that you are more right than you know about the ‘Lagunican Empire.’ My agents discovered that Subaru Natsuki is currently working on a new invention that will shake the very foundations of the world.”

“What is it?” Priscilla demanded.

“Oh, I couldn’t just give away high value intel like that for free, you understand. Placing agents to acquire this information was extremely costly. I think we’d first need to come to an understanding for our mutual interests,” Anastasia replied.

Priscilla cocked her head, “Are you suggesting an alliance?” She asked, sounding intrigued.

Crusch gaped at both women. What is happening here?!

“Exactly,” Anastasia tittered, “We’ll divide the power in the court between us. The queen and the chancellor. You’ll have absolute political authority and I’ll control the economic situation. With both of us working on Subaru, he should be easy enough to manipulate to our needs.”

Priscilla frowned thoughtfully, drumming her long nails on the council table, “I’m surprised to hear myself say this, Lady Anastasia,” Priscilla mused, “But that sounds rather appealing to me.”

“Priscilla,” Crusch interjected. “Are you out of your mind? Why would Subaru even consider marrying you? What could you possibly offer him?”

Priscilla laughed, “Oh, Crusch. You really need to get out of that uniform once in a while and have some fun. It would do wonders for your disposition.”

Anastasia tittered.

“If he wants to bury his face in fat tits, he can do so for a silver piece at the brothel of his choice,” Crusch spat. “What could you possibly offer him that would entice him to make you queen? Your husbands have an interesting track record of dying rapidly.”

“True, that is how my luck works. After all, none of my husbands have ever been able to give me anything that I couldn’t acquire for myself, except for their rank and property. That meant the luckiest thing for me was to see them die off quickly. However, Subaru Natsuki can offer me the entire world on a platter and assure that I keep it; a deed that I doubt even I could do on my own. I’m confident that my luck will preserve Subaru in perfect health for many many decades.” Priscilla smirked.

Crusch shook her head, “Have you forgotten that during the Whale Hunt Subaru gave you the job of ‘party planner?’ That was clearly because it was the only thing he thought you could do. You were an afterthought in the hunt and simply offered a sop to pacify you. I was the only one in the field. You both got played.”

Priscilla and Anastasia looked at each other a moment and then they burst out laughing hysterically.

Crusch blinked and glanced at Felix who looked as puzzled as she.

“Oh my,” Priscilla said wiping a tear from her eye, “She really hasn’t figure it out yet.”

“Do you think that we should tell her?” Anastasia tittered.

“Oh, let’s. It sounds like fun,” Priscilla answered, “Crusch, the only person who got played in the Whale Hunt was you,” Priscilla said sweetly.

“I got to spread word of my contributions to the hunt across the entire continent,” Anastasia explained. “The merchants and functionaries I court thought no less of me for not being involved in the field. They thought that I was focusing on doing the real work of spreading word and providing incontrovertible proof of the Whale’s death rather than seeking my own glory. My faction grew over three hundred percent during Priscilla’s Triumph party alone.”

“As for me, I was badly wounded in the election when Subaru embarrassed me in public,” Priscilla said, her face momentarily darkening. Then she shrugged, “But I suppose I really can’t blame him. He was certainly clever enough to realize that I was his most serious opponent. To form a new alliance, he offered me the perfect way to rebuild my faction: a citywide celebration. He gave me the perfect opportunity to prove to the entire kingdom that I would ensure their prosperity as only I could. I was in last place when the selection started. But after the Triumph I had drawn even with you, Crusch, dear,” She smirked.

“The only person who didn’t benefit from the hunt and the Triumph was you yourself, Crusch,” Anastasia explained with a faintly patronizing look on her face, “Because you really did do nothing. You and your army simply stood there and watched the Sword Saint make the kill. You could hardly expect your supporters to be impressed. Even better, I have it on good authority that your officers now think extremely highly of Subaru Natsuki and are more than prepared to follow him in the future. You spent the entire hunt pacing around and scowling while Subaru charmed your entire officer core. Any hopes you might have had of mounting a coup have completely evaporated.”

“The long and short of it, Crusch,” Priscilla said loftily, “Is that the only person in this room with nothing to offer the future king, is you yourself and you have been neutralized accordingly,” Priscilla glanced at Anastasia, “Lady Anastasia, I feel that we have wasted more than enough of our time here. The Barielle estate in the capitol is not far away. Might I offer you its hospitality? It would behoove us to further discuss our plans and goals in private.”

“That sounds just lovely, Lady Priscilla,” Anastasia said rising to her feet with a slight curtsy, “I accept with pleasure. I foresee a very long and healthy working relationship for the two of us.”

The two princesses left, chatting animately without a backward glance at Crusch. Their knights followed them out leaving Felix alone with Crusch who could do nothing but stare straight ahead in shock.

Subaru and company kept walking for close to an hour. The dragon never got very far away from them and her frustrated bellows shook the canopies overhead.

“So from this, we can guess that Capella is either looking for us alone, or she’s using Ley and a few more Cultists,” Subaru observed.

“What makes you say that, I suppose?” Beatrice asked.

“Well, I suppose she could be using resources we haven’t encountered yet but, at a bare minimum, we know that Regulus isn’t here,” Subaru replied.

“Um, why is that?” Puck asked.

“Because Regulus would have lost all patience with this game of ‘hide and seek’ by now and he’d simply tear up the whole forest until he found us,” Subaru said with dark humor. Subaru paused thoughtfully, “Although on the other hand, if Ley or another weak Archbishop was around here, it might be worth our while to see if we could get our hands on him. I have a few questions I’d like to ask.”

“Wait a second,” Puck said incredulously, “Subaru, Ley is weak?! He was kicking all of us around like it was a game!”

Subaru shrugged, “Well, relatively yes. He’s the weakest Archbishop we’ve encountered yet, except for Roy who was far weaker.”

Puck looked unsettled.

“Anyway, what I was saying is that we know that whatever was done to Emilia must have involved the Authorities. So if we could catch one of the Archbishops maybe we could squeeze some answers out of him,” Subaru finished.

“Betty doesn’t like our chances of that, in fact,” Beatrice commented, “We’re one and four for successfully defeating Sin Archbishops.”

“Well, that’s a little pessimistic, Beako,” Subaru objected, “We ran Ley off and Petelguese is dead, isn’t he?”

“Perhaps Regulus will show up and kill more Archbishops for us, I suppose?” Beatrice asked sarcastically.

“No!” Subaru shook his head emphatically, “No more Regulus! Thank you!”

“Subaru, who is this ‘Regulus’ you keep talking about?” Emilia asked.

Subaru sighed, “The worst of the Archbishops,” He replied.

“We hope,” Beatrice corrected.

Subaru rubbed his forehead as they walked, “You’re right, Beako. We’re just guessing here. We have no idea how dangerous the Archbishops really are. There could be five Archbishops that are worse than Regulus but I can’t imagine how.”

“Hey Subaru, what makes this Regulus guy so dangerous anyway?” Puck asked.

“He can smash huge trees and boulders into dust without any effort and, as far as I could tell, he was completely invulnerable to attack,” Subaru explained.

“What?!” Puck gasped.

“It’s true, Bubby,” Beatrice interjected, “Subaru punched him, buried him under an avalanche, and hit him with all the lightning contained inside the engine stone. He survived unharmed, in fact.”

“Unharmed?” Subaru asked incredulously, “The jerk wasn’t even dirty!”

Puck gaped at Subaru and Beatrice, “Wow. Subaru, how would we deal with someone like that?” Puck asked.

“At the moment my strategy relies heavily on running and hiding,” Subaru admitted.

“Hey, Subaru? I think I’d like to raise a complaint about the overall quality of your plans lately,” Puck grumbled.

“Sorry, buddy. I guess this whole situation caught me kind of flatfooted,” Subaru sighed, “I only discovered that the Sin Archbishops existed a few days ago and now they’re my greatest enemy.”

“Subaru,” Emilia whispered, “Do we have a plan for getting away from the Witch Cult?”

“Sort of,” Subaru admitted. “Beatrice, can you smell the witch’s miasma coming off Emilia?”

“Oh my, yes,” She said pinching her nose theatrically.

“How much does she smell… well, compared to me?” Subaru asked.

“Um, maybe five times as bad?” Beatrice replied.

“And how much did she smell when you first woke up?” Subaru asked.

“Yuck. About fifty times as bad, I suppose!” Beatrice answered.

“Subaru,” Emilia mumbled self-consciously, “Is there a point to this discussion?”

“OK, so here’s my theory: I think that the Cult is tracking us by the smell or whatever you call it. I think that the miasma you picked up when you finished the trials was bad enough that the Archbishops can detect it from far away and that’s what they’re using it to track us,” Subaru explained.

Emilia looked stricken, “Then the Archbishops are after me. I’m putting all of you in danger!”

Emilia tried to pull her hand free but Subaru held on firmly, “Knock it off, Mili! This is no time for you to play martyr!”

“But-”

“Emilia, Beatrice already told you the plan! Now, the Cult doesn’t seem to be able to track me,” Subaru continued.

“How do you know that, I suppose?” Beatrice asked.

“Because Ley looked surprised that I was in the trailer yesterday. If he could smell me, that wouldn’t have happened. So Emilia’s odor may be enough for the Cult to track us but I don’t think mine is and Emilia’s is diminishing over time. In twenty four hours it’s gone from fifty times as bad to five times as bad. I don’t know if that decrease holds steady but if it does, it should only be a few hours until Emilia only smells as bad as me and then doesn’t smell at all. They’ll lose the trail at that point and we can make a break for it. We’ll make our way to Miseri and get help. The Cult doesn’t seem like it’ss prepared to attack a major city yet so they probably won’t follow us there,” Subaru finished.

Beatrice looked thoughtful, “It make sense, I suppose.”

“I really miss feeling like we’re in control of things,” Puck mourned.

“So in other words, you miss the days before you met me?” Subaru twitted.

Emilia chuckled wearily.

“Very funny, Subaru. I won’t act like things haven’t gotten really exciting since you showed up but I feel like the three of us had a handle on it until we went to the Sanctuary and fell into Roswaal’s trap,” Puck replied.

“That might have been the single worst decision of my life,” Emilia mourned shaking her head.

Beatrice looked at her in confusion, “Wait. What did you have to do with that, I suppose?”

“You didn’t know, Emilia,” Subaru reassured her.

“I should have,” She replied.

Subaru snorted, “How? How could you possibly have known that Roswaal was plotting against us. I had no clue. Are you really that much smarter than me?”

“No, I should have known better than to listen to him,” She sighed, “He kept telling me what a burden I was to you and Puck. How pathetic I kept acting around you both. I should have never listened to him. Everything that’s gone wrong happened because I believed him.”

They walked in silence for a moment.

“You know,” Subaru muttered, “I feel like the moral here isn’t that you should have known Roswaal was plotting against you, it’s that if you feel uncomfortable or insecure, talk to us about it! I mean, if you love someone then you need to trust that they’ll be there for you and that they’ll help you even if you really are being weak and pathetic at the moment,” Subaru smiled, “You know, a very pretty lady taught me that in the garden one night.”

“Who?!” Emilia demanded.

Subaru sighed, “You did, you dummy.”

“Oh,” Emilia said with a rueful flush.

Subaru laughed.

“Hey, just for the record, Subaru, Betty and I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about,” Puck grumbled.

“Yeah, don’t worry, Puck. Fixing that problem is currently number two on my to-do list.”

They had been walking in the forest for several hours. Capella’s roars and wing beats were getting steadily more distant. The woods were beginning to thin out revealing grasslands beyond.

“I wonder how long until sunrise,” Subaru said with a yawn.

“Probably about six hours,” Puck replied as he floated listlessly beside Subaru. His tail was hanging straight down.

“Betty, how bad does Emilia smell right now?” Subaru asked, his feet starting to stumble.

“Do you think we could come up with a nicer way to ask that question?” Emilia murmured tartly. She swayed on her feet looking exhausted.

Beatrice yawned, “About as bad as Subaru, I suppose. Maybe a little bit better.”

“OK, great. That suggests that Capella really has lost the trail. That means we can start looking for a place to spend the night before we fall collapse,” Subaru said.

“In the woods?” Emilia asked dubiously.

“I’ve seen a couple of huts and little cottages out through the trees. Probably hunter’s lodgings during the winter. We can borrow one,” Subaru replied.

“At this point, Subaru, I’m almost ready to lay down on some soft moss,” Emilia confessed with a yawn.

They took shelter that night in a small one room hut just outside the forest. The hut sat at the edge of a wide grassy plain.

The hut was empty except for a single trunk and plenty of straw on the floor to bed down on.

The spirits and Emilia went right to sleep but Subaru stayed awake.

Emilia wasn’t sleeping next to Subaru and this made him uncomfortable. The spirits had both snuggled up next to Subaru and glared at Emilia with fire in their eyes until she had gloomily accepted that there was a line in this hut that she must not cross. Their family was divided and Subaru felt an overwhelming wrongness with the situation.

Subaru told himself he was keeping watch but the reality was that sleep simply eluded him.

What happened? How did this situation get so far out of control? Four days ago I was with Beatrice calmly driving a wagon across the plains. My biggest concern was Emilia’s self-esteem and her thoughts on our long term viability as a couple.

God, how has it really only been four days? Since then, it feels like the entire world has shifted under my feet! The Witch Cult is hunting me down, the dragon blood is all gone, and nobody remembers who Emilia is, which means they’re all treating her like a witch!

What about Felt, Garf, and the twins? Are they even OK? I know that Capella didn’t go after them since she was so busy chasing us but what if Ley showed up again. Or… God help them, Regulus?

Hell, maybe it didn’t even have to be an Archbishop. If a hundred purple robed Cultists showed up, could Garf and Rem really handle that alone? Garf is strong but he’s impetuous and inexperienced. Felt would be close to useless in that fight and Ram probably isn’t even awake yet.

Did I do the right thing in running away? I mean, I thought so at the time but now…

I thought I was protecting Emilia from the Cult and our friends from being collateral damage but maybe I was only kidding myself. Maybe I was trying to rescue Emilia and just threw Felt and the others away as a distraction…

No. I can’t think like that. I made the best decision I could. Maybe… maybe it was a bad one but I did the best I could with the hand I was dealt. I have to hope that everyone got away safely.

I hope Felt finds Reinhard quickly. She needs him and not just for protection. Maybe… he can help her heal in a way I couldn’t…

God, imagine how furious Felt would be if she heard me say that.

What happens when we reach Miseri? They’ll probably assume that Emilia is a witch as well. Maybe I could say she’s my prisoner? Yeah that’ll work: “She’s my prisoner but I’d appreciate her staying with me and can you find a bed big enough for both of us? No reason, don’t ask.”

Do I have any idea how to make hair dye? If Emilia had brown hair or something that could save us from a lot of frustration.

Subaru dozed off.

Subaru woke up in the middle of the night, Beatrice and Puck still sleeping on top of his chest.

Emilia was gone.

Subaru was about to leap into full blown panic when he heard a soft sobbing nearby.

Subaru gently moved Beatrice and Puck without waking them. He then silently followed the sound out of the hut.

Subaru found Emilia huddled in a ball a short distance away.

She was crying and sobbing to herself, her face buried in her knees.

Subaru knelt down beside Emilia.

“It’s OK,” Subaru whispered.

Emilia’s head flew up in surprise. Then she saw Subaru sitting beside her.

“Subaru,” She whispered still crying.

Subaru wrapped his arms around her and drew her head to his shoulder.

Emilia whimpered and began to sob louder.

Subaru held her tight, “That’s it, Mili. Just let it all out,” He encouraged, “You’ve been through so much lately. It’s OK to have a little breakdown. Take all the time you want and just… fall apart if you need to. When you’re ready, I’ll be here to help you put the pieces back together.”

Emilia cried for a long time, burying her face in Subaru’s shoulder. Subaru held her and waited. He stroked her back as her sobs wracked her body and she trembled in his arms.

Eventually she began to calm down.

Emilia’s breathing evened out and they sat there in silence for a while.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Subaru whispered.

Emilia took a deep breath, “Subaru, I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”

“This week has been pure hell,” Subaru agreed.

“I’m trying to be strong. I’m trying to be brave but…”

“You have been incredibly strong and brave in an impossible situation,” Subaru assured her, “Nobody could have handled this any better than you.”

“Subaru. This whole… It’s like a nightmare!” She wept.

“I know,” Subaru whispered holding her tight.

“Daddy is sleeping with you, Subaru! It’s not fair!”

Subaru sighed, “No, it isn’t. It’s going to take time to fix this. But even if we can’t fix his memories yet, Puck is warming up to you.”

Emilia looked at Subaru through tear filled eyes. “No, he isn’t, Subaru. Neither of them are,” She whispered.

“Emilia-”

“Subaru, Daddy wants me dead! They don’t believe anything that you’ve told them about me,” She whimpered.

Subaru stiffened.

Emilia looked up at him sadly, “They don’t believe a word of it. They’re just humoring you. They’re afraid that if they tell you the truth then you might try to leave them behind to protect me.”

“I…” Subaru struggled to say anything.

Emilia shook her head with a whimper, “Beatrice and Puck literally want to kill me but Puck can read your heart and he knows that if anything happened to me you’d be completely destroyed.” She shook her head, “So they’re protecting me for you. But they resent it. They think that I’m putting you in danger. They think that I’m deceiving you. They think that I’m trying to steal you away from them. But they know that you think that you’re… in love with me, even if it is just an enchantment. And Beatrice would do anything for you,” Emilia took a ragged breath and her voice turned venomous, “Daddy would do anything for you! They think that they just need to put up with me until they can figure out how to undo what’s going on and prove to you that I’m an evil witch. Then they can…,” Emilia ended with a whimper.

“We’ll… Look, it’s going to be OK, Mili,” Subaru said desperately holding her tight.

Emilia sobbed, “I can’t take seeing Daddy snarl at me whenever you’re not looking. I hate how Beatrice keeps making threats to me and pretends that they’re just jokes. I thought… It was always just me and Puck. And that was fine. I was happy that way. Then I met you and then you adopted Beatrice, I felt like I finally had a real family.”

“You do have a real family,” Subaru assured her, “I am right here with you and I am not going anywhere no matter what happens, no matter how bad things get. If you get too tired to keep going then I will carry you the rest of the way. That’s what family means. I’m staying with you and I will never ever give up on you, Emilia.”

Emilia was quiet for a long moment resting against his shoulder, “I love you, Subaru. I do. But… you can’t take Puck’s place.”

Subaru kissed the top of Emilia’s head. “I don’t want to take Puck’s place,” Subaru said, “Believe me, that is not the relationship I want to have with you. But I am here to support you. I’m here to support you until we get Puck’s memories back and I’ll be here to support you after we get Puck’s memories back.”

Emilia sighed, “I thought that being trapped in the Sanctuary was an endless nightmare. You were gone. Even Puck was gone. But it was a thousand times better than having the people I care about hating me. I can’t take the way Puck looks at me. He wants me dead.”

Emilia shook her head looking absolutely crushed, “Maybe… maybe it’s just time for me to leave. To go back to the forest.”

“Alone?” Subaru asked incredulously, “Emilia, be honest. That isn’t what you really want.”

“No,” She admitted, “But being alone is better than being surrounded by people who hate you. It’s better than putting someone you care about in danger.”

“But, Mili, what is your plan? Just go back to the forest and sit there until… what?”

Emilia shook her head, “Maybe someday you’ll find a way to break this curse.”

“Someday? Wouldn’t you miss me?” He asked.

“More than you would believe,” Emilia sighed, “But Subaru, please try to understand. Would you stay with me if you thought you were putting me in danger?”

Subaru opened his mouth to respond.

“Yes or no?” Emilia asked sharply.

Subaru gave her a dirty look, “Would you let me go off on my own because I was putting you in danger?”

Emilia blanched and then sighed, “We’re quite the pair, you and I. Two people: both desperate to sacrifice themselves for the other.”

“I think that maybe we both have some serious self-esteem issues,” Subaru agreed.

Emilia stared off into the distance, “I hate myself for saying this but I really can’t much more of Puck. Even if he won’t actually attack me, his glares cut like knives. That’s why I think… maybe I should just go. I’ll go back to the forest and you can go reunite with Felt and Reinhard. They’ll forgive you instantly. And you could even keep looking for a cure to the curse. It seems like this is the best idea. Just promise me that you’ll take good care of Daddy for me…”

“Bullshit,” Subaru snorted.

“Excuse me?” Emilia said in surprise.

“Emilia, be honest, this isn’t you making a strategic decision for the best way to find the cure, this is you giving up. If you walk away, you’re giving up on Puck, on me, and on us ever having a life together. Are you really willing to do that?”

Emilia took a deep breath, “Subaru, we don’t even know what happened to me, much less how to fix it. What else can we do?”

“Emilia, if you want to give up on seeking out a cure then that’s fine,” Subaru said simply, “We don’t have to try to fix this if you really don’t think it’s worth it or if you don’t believe we can. We can just disappear but we are going to disappear together. If you’re going to hide in the woods for the rest of your life then I’m going to be hiding right next to you.”

Emilia shook her head against his shoulder and sighed, “Subaru, you dummy. Why would you do something stupid like that? You could be King. You could have a wonderful life. You deserve so much more than to hide out in the woods for the rest of your life with a suspected witch.”

“I don’t think life is about what we deserve, Mili. Life is about what we choose. I choose to be with Emilia, no matter what happens. No matter how bad things get, I want to be by Emilia’s side. What about you, Mili? What do you choose?”

Emilia rubbed her eyes and sighed, “Subaru, even in a situation like this, you make everything sound so easy.”

“Well, I really want to impress my fiancee,” He admitted.

Emilia gave him a tired smile.

Subaru stood up and helped Emilia to her feet. “Come on, let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be another long day,” He said leading her back toward the hut.

When Subaru and Emilia returned to the hut, they found Beatrice sitting outside calmly petting Puck.

Now that Subaru was watching for it, Puck’s glowering at Emilia was impossible to miss.

“Oh. Where did you go off to, I suppose?” Beatrice asked in a languorous voice.

Subaru looked at Beatrice with mingled amusement and annoyance, “Did you two enjoy the show?” He asked archly.

Puck jumped and Beatrice flushed guiltily.

Subaru was about to continue when from behind him he heard a deafening thunderclap far off in the distance.

Subaru turned around and he heard another and then another.

Subaru peered across the grassy plain.

Far off in the distance he saw explosions. Balls of light and claps of thunder danced across the horizon.

“Subaru,” Puck murmured flying over to perch on Subaru’s shoulder, “What’s going on?”

Subaru bit his lip, “Good question, buddy.”

Subaru frowned, “Emilia, Beako, you guys stay here for a second. Puck and I are going to run up to the top of that hill and take a look at things.”

“Right behind you, Subaru,” Puck agreed.

Subaru snorted, “Actually, at the moment, buddy, you’re riding on top of me but whatever.”

“Betty. Watch the witch while I’m gone,” Puck instructed.

Subaru made a face at Puck and then ran off toward the hill.

Emilia looked at Beatrice, “What did Subaru mean by ‘the show?’” She asked, more to break the silence than out of any real curiosity.

Beatrice flushed and folded her arms across her chest, “Betty and Bubby were… watching you, I suppose,” She muttered, “Betty and Bubby aren’t very sneaky, I suppose. When Subaru came back and we weren’t ripping the forest apart to find him, Subaru knew that we must have know where he was and what he was doing, in fact.”

“Subaru is very clever,” Emilia agreed before it suddenly dawned on her, “Wait! You were listening to us?!”

Beatrice looked at her awkwardly.

Emilia bit her lip, “Oh, Beatrice, I am so sorry!”

Beatrice just stared at her, “Why is the elf sorry, in fact?!”

“Beatrice I said terrible things about you and Puck-”

“The elf said the truth! Does the elf think she deserves abuse and is ashamed to speak of it?” Beatrice demanded.

“I’m sorry, Beatrice,” Emilia murmured, “I was very cruel to you both. I was exhausted and angry and I exaggerated.”

“The elf did not exaggerate. Bubby and Betty did threaten to kill the elf. She hurt our Subaru. Subaru means everything to Bubby and Betty. A witch who hurts Subaru should die,” Beatrice said flatly.

Emilia bowed her head in shame.

“Hm. However, Betty never realized how strong Subaru’s feelings for the elf were,” Beatrice mused.

Emilia flushed.

“How does Emilia feel about Betty’s Subaru?” Beatrice demanded.

Emilia looked at Beatrice guiltily, “Oh. You must be worried that I’m trying to take him away from you.”

“Stop putting words in Betty’s mouth, in fact! Betty is not afraid of you. Betty wants her Subaru to be happy above all else and Betty would welcome anyone who could make her Subaru happier, I suppose,” She replied.

Emilia gave the little spirit a faint smile, “That’s a very mature attitude, Beatrice,” Emilia replied.

“Do you want to make Subaru happy?” She demanded.

“Of course I do,” Emilia said in surprise.

“Betty has not seen evidence of this,” She retorted.

Emilia sighed, “Beatrice, I… I know you don’t remember me or have memories of Subaru and I being together-”

“Betty does not remember this. Betty isn’t certain if this was true or if you are lying,” Beatrice said matter-of-fact, “Betty also doesn’t care. Does Emilia want Subaru to be happy?”

“Yes, of course I do.”

“Then why isn’t Emilia trying to make Subaru happy, I suppose?” Beatrice demanded, “Since Betty met Emilia, Subaru has done nothing but think about Emilia. Emilia has also done nothing but think about Emilia.”

Emilia flinched, “That’s not fair, Beatrice!”

“That’s truth!” Beatrice argued, “The elf is a spoiled child unworthy of being the precious one of Betty’s Subaru!”

They were both silent for a moment.

“Betty could believe that her memories were changed, I suppose. Betty could… believe that her Subaru cared for the elf,” Beatrice mused, “Betty’s Subaru helps people. He supports them. He would have cared for and supported the elf.”

“Subaru has taken care of me since we met. And all I’ve ever been is a burden to him,” Emilia admitted in an ashamed voice.

Beatrice shook her head in disgust, “The elf is unworthy of Betty’s Subaru. The elf is nothing but a spoiled child, in fact!” Beatrice said pointing at Emilia like a judge condemning a criminal.

“What are you saying?” Emilia whispered.

“The elf has refused to take any responsibility for this mess. The elf refuses to control her magic. The elf refuses to face difficult truths,” Beatrice said sharply.

Emilia was crying freely, “Yes. I can’t argue. That is all true.”

“Does Emilia love Subaru?” Beatrice demanded.

Emilia hesitated then nodded.

“Emilia must commit to being more than she is in order to be worthy of Betty’s Subaru, I suppose. Emilia’s magic will put Betty’s Subaru in danger. Emilia’s magic will put Betty and Bubby in danger. Emilia must learn to control her magic. Emilia needs to grow up and take responsibility. Or admit that she will not and tell Subaru that she can not be Subaru’s partner but just another of Subaru’s burdens,” Beatrice asserted.

“That’s what I went to the Sanctuary to try to do,” Emilia muttered, “I wanted to show him that I could be his partner. But even after I finally finished the trials everything went wrong…”

Beatrice looked out at the explosions far away, “Things will always go wrong, I suppose,” Beatrice mused, “But if we have people who will stand beside us, we will manage.”

Beatrice was silent for a moment, “The elf never answered Betty’s Subaru: What does Emilia choose?”

“What?”

“Subaru asked Emilia what she chose. She did not answer. Subaru taught Betty that life was about our choices. Does Emilia know why Betty chose Subaru?”

Emilia looked uncomfortable, “Yes. You asked him to kill you.”

Beatrice looked at Emilia sharply, “…You know about that, in fact?”

“You were lonely and miserable and you wanted to be put out of your suffering. And for some reason you asked Subaru to do it.”

“‘Some reason?’” Beatrice echoed, “Perhaps. Perhaps Betty’s Subaru was just in the right place at a time when Betty would have taken anyone. Betty’s connection with her Subaru grew very strong, very fast. Betty knows that there was something odd about it. Betty isn’t sure why she chose Subaru that day. Betty also doesn’t care.”

Emilia stared at her, “You don’t?!”

Beatrice shook her head, “Betty is four hundred years old. Betty has seen people join together for many reasons. Some of them were bad reasons. However, Betty knows that the reason why people come together is not as important as the reasons they choose to stay together. Betty doesn’t know why she chose Subaru then. It doesn’t matter. Betty just knows why she chose Subaru today.

“In the Sanctuary, Betty begged Subaru to run away and save his own life. Subaru refused. Subaru said he would rather die at Betty’s side than live without Betty. Subaru chose Betty because he loves her and Betty will choose Subaru because she loves him. Betty will do that today, tomorrow, and after tomorrow. Betty chooses to be Subaru’s Betty and for Subaru to be Betty’s Subaru.

“Betty assumes that Subaru had a fairly silly reason to want to be with Emilia: he thought the elf was beautiful. Then perhaps he decided to help her because he thought her quest to save her kin was noble. Perhaps Emilia’s quest is ended, perhaps not. But Subaru still chooses to protect Emilia because she matters to him. Subaru cares about Emilia.”

Beatrice walked back into the hut, “What does Subaru mean to Emilia? What does Emilia choose to be to Subaru? And what does she choose Subaru to be to her?”

Subaru raced to the top of the tall hill with Puck on his shoulder. When he reached the summit, he crouched down and crawled on his belly to the edge.

Hm. The nice thing about having Puck on my shoulder is that unlike Beako, I don’t have to worry too much about him falling.

Balls of fire were dancing on both sides of the field far away and thunderous explosions echoed across the plain.

“What the hell is that?” Subaru whispered.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before, Subaru,” Puck admitted.

“Me neither. It looks like a war. If you told me that was artillery firing out there or carpet bombing, I’d believe you,” Subaru replied.

“Artillery? Carpet bombing? What’s that?” Puck asked.

Subaru hesitated then shook his head, “Not important right now,” Subaru replied.

They watched the shocking display in silence.

“That’s got to be a battle, right?” Puck asked, “Maybe armies of magic casters throwing themselves at each other?”

“Or just a few really really powerful ones,” Subaru replied grimly.

“Do you think it’s that Regulus guy you keep talking about?” Puck asked.

“Maybe. Honestly, I almost hope so. Little as I want to have anything to do with Regulus ever again, the notion that there are more people than just him in the world with that kind of power doesn’t sit well with me,” Subaru said.

“Who do you think he’s fighting then? Reinhard?” Puck asked.

“Maybe. Or maybe it’s some other champion that we’re not aware of. Or maybe the Lagunican army? They might have mobilized more quickly than we thought if the Archbishops did enough damage to get the kingdom’s attention on their way to the Sanctuary. Or hell, maybe Regulus and Capella had a falling out and we’re watching two people who are pretty close to immortal try to kill each other. God help anyone who gets caught in that cross fire,” Subaru muttered.

Subaru stared at the explosions in awe. He had never imagined destruction like this.

“Should we try to get closer and investigate?” Puck asked.

Subaru stared at the cat incredulously, “Seriously? You want to try to get closer to that?!” Subaru demanded as a particularly loud explosion shook the earth.

“Well, if it is Reinhard then he could probably protect us,” Puck replied.

“Even if it is Reinhard, I’m not sure that anybody could keep other people safe in that mess,” Subaru murmured looking at the dancing lights and explosions, “Secondly, there’s no way to tell if it is Reinhard. It could be the Lagunican Army or even Capella. Even if we did know that one of the people fighting was friendly, which side of the field do you want to go toward? We have a fifty fifty shot at best of walking right up to someone who wants to kill us. Besides, Emilia would be in danger. You need to remember that we’re currently traveling with someone whom everyone immediately assumes is a witch on sight.”

“Yeah, Subaru, people are more perceptive than you’d think,” Puck grumbled.

Subaru glowered at him and gently tapped the cat on the forehead with one finger.

“Ouch,” Puck said unconvincingly.

“Even if it is Reinhard,” Subaru continued, “We can’t throw Emilia at him in the middle of a battle. He’s going to be moving off instinct trying to contain the fight and if he has a split second to make a decision, he might make the wrong one. A battlefield is not the right place to try to convince him that Emilia isn’t an evil witch.”

“True enough, Subaru,” Puck muttered, “And just for the record? That field of parasitic frost flowers she made when she almost killed you and Felt? That wouldn’t be a great place to try to convince him either.”

Subaru gave Puck a steady look, “Puck, do you have something you’d like to say?” He asked calmly.

“Why are we doing this, Subaru? I know you’re a really nice guy but this is crazy! We rescued the witch from the Witch Cult. OK, fine. We did our good deed for the day. But the Cult can’t track her anymore and staying close to her is doing nothing but putting all of us in danger. Let’s send her on her way with our best wishes and get the hell out of here! It doesn’t make sense to risk our lives this way,” Puck glanced away, “Frankly, I’m starting to wonder if Felt might be right.”

Subaru blinked, “Right about what?”

Puck hesitated, “While you were sleeping, Felt talked to Betty and me about a few concerns she had…” He trailed off.

“Such as?”

Puck sighed, “Subaru, how do you know that this woman isn’t magically influencing you? Some Authorities can twist the minds of people around them without the victim ever realizing it. An Authority could compel someone to care about or even love its wielder for no good reason.”

Subaru flinched remembering his talk with Roswaal about the Authority of Pride, “Believe me, Puck, I am well aware of that.”

“Then how can you be sure she isn’t doing exactly that? I know that you’re always trying to be the hero but why would you risk your life, and ours, to help a woman you barely know? I mean, if Betty or I were being bewitched by an Authority to care for a person we had no reason to be invested in, we wouldn’t know!”

“Please stop rubbing it in, Puck,” Subaru sighed putting his face down on the grass and feeling sick to his stomach.

“Huh?”

“Never mind,” Subaru sighed.

Subaru and Puck returned to the hut. Emilia and Beatrice sat on opposite sides of the room. Both looked pensive.

“What’s happening, Subaru?” Emilia asked quietly as they went back inside.

“War,” Subaru spat. “Whose war and against what, I don’t know, but the entire area is one big explosion. We’re not going any further that way. Miseri is out of the picture for the time being.”

“Then where are we going, in fact?” Beatrice mumbled.

Subaru rubbed his face still exhausted from the few hours sleep they had gotten, “It’ll be sunup in a few hours. It’ll be easier to pick our direction once we have the sun to guide us. Let’s try to get a little more sleep and then we’ll have some breakfast before we hit the road.”

The spirits went back to sleep quickly but Emilia realized that Subaru was still awake.

“Subaru, are you alright?” Emilia asked quietly.

Subaru sighed, “I guess,” He replied, “It’s been a rough couple of days.”

“Make that a rough couple of weeks,” Emilia corrected.

“Yeah. I forgot that for you this nightmare has been going ever since you went to the Sanctuary,” Subaru agreed.

“Yes, but it wasn’t all a nightmare,” Emilia replied, “Felt proved that she really cared about me. Before anyway,” She sighed. Emilia shook off her malaise, “Subaru, I just realized that I still haven’t thanked you.”

“For what?”

“For helping me pass the trials.”

“What? Why would you thank me? You only took those damn trials to save my ass from Roswaal,” Subaru replied.

Emilia gave him a shy smile, “Well, I’d like to think that I did it to save a lot of people, even if maybe that isn’t completely true,” She admitted, “But you helped me get through them and I saw some things that… I really needed to see. You helped me to see myself in a new way and I don’t think that I ever would have seen things this way without you, so thank you, Subaru.”

Subaru scratched his chin, “You’re arousing my curiosity, Mili. What did you see during the trials?”

She smiled at him, “I’ll tell you. Someday.”

“Uh-huh,” Subaru snickered, “You know, I haven’t really had a chance to talk to you about the dragon blood yet. It feels absolutely insane that somehow that’s not our biggest problem right now.”

“Yes,” Emilia sighed, “That’s the whole reason that Puck and I left the forest in the first place. And now it’s all gone.”

“I’m so sorry, Mili,” Subaru said, “I can’t even imagine how you must be feeling right now.”

Emilia stared off into the distance for a moment, “It’s devastating,” She said, “But also strangely… liberating.”

“What do you mean?”

Emilia sighed, “I owed it to my people to do whatever it took to free them. To dedicate my life to making up for that horrible mistake that made so many innocent people suffer. But if there’s simply no way for me to do that…” She trailed off.

“Then you don’t have to dedicate your life to doing something that’s impossible,” Subaru finished.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

She nodded, “I feel a little bit relieved. And I feel guilty about that.”

“Emilia, you did everything that was humanly possible to try and heal the forest,” Subaru told her, “No one could argue different. You have nothing to feel ashamed of. I think accepting that you’ve done all you can, at least for the moment, is very mature and says a lot about how far you’ve come. Honestly, I was worried that the news of the loss of the dragon blood would completely shatter you and you’d become a shut-in recluse like I was,” Subaru said in an apologetic voice.

Emilia smiled at him, “I would have guessed that too. Just a few days ago I think that would have certainly happened. But the trials changed me. Actually it wasn’t really the trials it was the fact that I did them myself. I feel different. I feel stronger, more resilient,” Emilia chuckled, “I truly never imagined that I would ever say this in a thousand years but… I like this new me. I think I could learn to like ‘Emilia.’”

“Well, I think she’s pretty special,” Subaru commented.

Emilia laughed.

“It must be awful that all of our friends don’t recognize you,” Subaru said.

Emilia rolled onto her back staring up at the ceiling, “Yes, but mostly just Puck. It’s so strange. I knew so few people in this world. Objectively, I’m probably the absolute best person that this curse could have happened to. The twins always treated me as nothing more than a house guest. Roswaal was conspiring against me. Garf is just frustrating. Felt and I became pretty close in the Sanctuary but that’s just been over the past two weeks. Honestly, as long as you and Puck remembered me, I wouldn’t even care about anyone else!”

“And you only got one of us. We were so close to this not even being a problem and we still missed,” Subaru admitted.

“True, but as long as you remember me, Subaru, I can hold on,” Emilia replied, “When I feel really bad about it, I wonder to myself what would have happened if you had forgotten me as well. I’d have probably died in the Sanctuary because you never would have come back to get me. Even if someone did find me, everyone would have assumed I was a witch and I would have been imprisoned or killed. You saved me once again.”

“Well, you saved me from becoming Roswaal’s puppet so I’d say that we’re even,” Subaru commented, “I don’t like to think what that creepy man-clown might have made me do!”

Emilia chuckled, “Subaru, thank you.”

“For what?”

“For never giving up on me, even if I wanted to give up on myself. For never going away no matter how hard I tried to push you. Thank you for… remembering me,” Emilia said.

Subaru shook his head, “The world might forget you, but I never will.”

Emilia gave him a warm smile, “You always know just what to say.”

“I just talk a lot. Babble like I do and you’re bound to get lucky sometimes,” Subaru shrugged.

Emilia laughed.

They were both quiet for a moment, lost in their own thoughts.

She stared up at the ceiling, “Subaru, what do you want to do?”

“Hm?”

“I’ve been thinking, almost everything that we’ve done together has been with the goal of getting access to the sacred dragon’s blood,” Emilia said.

“Yup, and then we found out it’s all gone. What a waste of time,” Subaru sighed.

“So what do you think we should do now? There’s not much point to the royal selection anymore is there?” Emilia asked.

“I’m surprised to hear you say that, Mili. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that you said it but I’m surprised that you’re willing to walk away from the selection so easily. You’re just so responsible,” Subaru replied.

“I don’t know about that, Subaru, but like you said, we could still help the world without winning the throne and we wouldn’t have to deal with the nobility or all the other facets of royal life,” Emilia replied, “Because, honestly, that all made me miserable.”

“I have to agree,” Subaru replied, “I won’t miss all that royal selection crap in the slightest.”

“Then do you think we should just focus on taking our initiatives world wide without the burdens of the selection?”

Subaru shrugged, “If that’s what you think we should spend our lives doing, it’s fine with me, Mili.”

Emilia was quiet for a long moment, “Subaru, that wasn’t really what I was asking.”

“What were you asking?”

“I was asking you what you wanted. I knew that you’d support me in whatever I decided to do, but what do you want? What if I’d like to support you for a change?” Emilia asked.

“I don’t think I understand,” Subaru replied.

“Subaru, what do you want? What would make you happy?”

“Um… being with you and Beatrice?”

“Isn’t there anything else?”

“Well, you make me really happy, Emilia,” Subaru replied.

“And you make me very happy as well, Subaru. But what would you find fulfilling in your own life? We were talking about increasing our efforts to end hunger, empty the slums, and seek out equal rights for demi-humans. But are those things that you want to do, things that would make you happy or are they just things that you’d do because you think that they would make me happy?”

“Um. Well doing them wouldn’t make unhappy,” He said, “I don’t know. I don’t really have any goals of my own so I guess I just adopted yours.”

“How come?”

“I don’t know!” Subaru said awkwardly, “I mean, I spent years thinking I was an absolute loser, you know. Maybe losers don’t deserve to have dreams and goals so I pushed them all down and tried to focus on other people. If I ever had a goal for myself, I forgot about it a long time ago. I mean, if you’re absolutely worthless as a human being, then at least you can still help other people, you know? That gives you a sort of a value,” Subaru coughed self-consciously, “I… guess you probably wouldn’t understand that.”

Emilia’s eyes widened as she stared at Subaru.

“Emilia? What’s wrong? What did I say?” He asked in concern.

She shook her head, “Nothing. It’s just that… I understand exactly what you mean. I guess I just… never thought that you felt the same way.”

Subaru scratched his chin, “We should try to grab another hour of sleep, Mili. The sun will be up soon and we have a long couple of days in front of us.”

Emilia nodded and Subaru settled down and finally began to snore, but Emilia found that sleep eluded her.

Everyone was up with the sun and Subaru dug into the bag that Rem had prepared. They hadn’t opened it last night since everyone had been too tired to be hungry but now Emilia and Subaru’s stomaches demanded food.

“Let’s see what she packed. Hopefully Rem wasn’t feeling petulant enough to try to starve us,” Subaru muttered.

Subaru opened the bag Rem had packed and found some dried fruits which he passed around and a few gourds of water.

“So, Subaru, if we can’t go any further west,” Puck said munching on some fruit, “Where are we going?”

Subaru sighed, “I guess we’ll start heading back east and then south, toward the capitol,” He paused, “Or maybe we could head south sooner and go back toward Arlem village. We’re likely to find somebody friendly there. Even Fredericka might be useful, assuming she doesn’t try to back stab me again,” He muttered.

“East?” Emilia echoed, “But the Witch Cult is looking for us there.”

“No, the Witch Cult was looking for us there before,” Subaru corrected, “After they spent the night combing the area and found nothing, they’ll have moved on. This is probably our safest chance to get through there and get out of dodge,” Subaru said with a confidence he did not feel.

Beatrice rubbed her chin, “There is wisdom there, I suppose, but not enough that I would readily agree to such a course,” She said dubiously.

Subaru sighed, “Listen, if anyone has another idea,” He said reasonably, “I am very happy to entertain it.”

No one said anything.

“Hang on, I want to check something,” Subaru said walking over to the trunk. He triggered Indomitable and broke the lock with a single strike.

He opened the trunk and dug through it a bit.

“Anything useful?” Puck asked.

“Clothes,” Subaru replied pulling out a couple of hooded robes. He sniffed one and winced, “They don’t smell very good but they might help us stay in disguise.”

“Why do we need a disguise?” Emilia asked.

“You’re beautiful, Mili,” Subaru pointed out with a small smile, “Which is great but it also means you attract a lot of attention. Puck and I checked that dirt road outside the field before we came back. Judging by the tracks, there’s been a lot of traffic on these roads lately. Whatever is going on, everyone in the area is trying to get clear of it. A few more travelers on the road won’t attract too much attention, as long as we disguise ourselves a little.”

“We’re going to be traveling on the road now?” Puck asked dubiously, “Isn’t that a little risky?”

Subaru shrugged, “It’s also something that the Witch Cult won’t expect. Beyond that, no matter who is fighting in that field out there, the Kingdom won’t be able to ignore a pitched battle in their own territory. If all the Kingdom’s forces aren’t here yet they soon will be, that means we have good odds of encountering some friendly faces while we walk. If we bump into Witch Cultists they might look right by us now that we don’t smell of the witch’s miasma any more.”

“And if the Witch Cult does recognize us, in fact?” Beatrice asks.

Subaru shrugged, “Then we either fight or run for our lives,” He answered simply. “But what’s the alternative? Wander around randomly in the woods until we bump into somebody we hope is friendly? That’s the same risk we’d face if we took the road plus it gives us the benefit that we can chart our course.”

Emilia thought about it, “Subaru, I think this is just too risky. Let’s follow the road but stay off of it. If we’re partially hidden in the woods then we can decide whether the people we see are ones we should risk revealing ourselves to or not. And if not, it should be easier to hide and vanish if we’re still in the woods.”

“Sounds good,” Subaru agreed, “But remember the road leaves the woods and frequently cuts across plains. There won’t be anyplace to hide once we do that. When that happens we should all get on the road. If we can’t hide then it’s better not to look like we’re trying to hide because that attracts attention.”

Emilia nodded.

Beatrice sighed, “Why is Betty surrounded by all these sneaky people?”

They had been walking in the woods for hours, following the road from a distance. The sun was starting to go down.

Subaru peered down the road, “You know, I think that big field up ahead might be where we said goodbye to everyone,” Subaru mused.

“So we’ve taken twenty four hours to go in a really big circle, I suppose,” Beatrice muttered from atop Subaru’s shoulder.

“Yeah, maybe next time I need to plan things out better,” He sighed.

Beatrice looked at him with concern, “Betty was not being critical, in fact. Betty is just frustrated.”

“I get it, Beako. I’m worn out and frustrated too. Whenever we straighten this mess out, I think we’re all due for a long vacation,” Subaru replied.

“What would we do on vacation, I suppose?”

“I don’t know. Anything that takes us a long way away from fanatical witch cultists, royal selections, and anyone else trying to kill us. Maybe we could rent a little cottage somewhere and just relax for a week or two.”

“Sounds great,” Puck replied.

“Betty would have to bring a lot of books, in fact. Subaru and Betty are far behind on their nightly reading.”

“Or maybe we could take a trip,” Subaru mused, “I kept wishing that you both were on that journey across the plains with Beatrice and me. It was very peaceful.”

“Both?” Puck asked in confusion.

Subaru sighed, “You and Emilia,” He explained.

Puck looked at Emilia darkly, “I keep forgetting that you think you’ve known Emilia since before we went to the Sanctuary.”

Emilia hung her head.

“I don’t think I know that, I do know that. I get that our memories have diverged but I need you both to trust me right now. We have huge problems and fighting among ourselves is a problem we can’t afford,” Subaru said.

Beatrice tapped Subaru’s shoulder and gestured for him to put him down.

He lowered the spirit to the ground with a curious look on his face.

Beatrice looked at Subaru calmly, “Subaru, how certain are you?”

“Of what?”

“Of the elf. How confident are you that she’s not just manipulating all of us,” Beatrice asked calmly.

“What are you trying to say?” He asked.

Puck drifted over to Subaru and gave him a stern look, “Subaru, almost all of our problems right now are centered around the fact that we’re traveling with a witch.”

Subaru opened his mouth but Puck shook his head, “Don’t talk, Subaru! Just listen to me for a second! Everyone is hunting us down because of this girl. It looks like even the Witch Cult is after us because of her. You have to admit that if we just sent her away, most of our problems would be solved.”

Emilia took a deep breath, “You’re right. I’m just putting all of you in danger. We should split up. I’ll go-”

“Stop talking, little elf,” Beatrice muttered, “This is a family discussion, I suppose. You are not involved.”

Emilia flinched and wandered off a short distance in the forest to give them some privacy.

“Subaru,” Beatrice continued, “Bubby and Betty are on your side no matter what. If you say that we are going to protect this witch with our lives then that is fine, I suppose. But Bubby and Betty deserve to know how certain you are that this… ‘whatever-it-is’, manipulated our memories and not yours. We deserve to know what we’re risking our lives for. How confident are you that the elf is someone worth risking your life over?”

Subaru took a deep breath, “Well Beako, I’d say I’d be my life on Emilia being someone worth risking my life for, but we both know I gamble that pretty foolishly on a regular basis. So let’s say, that I’d bet both of your lives on the fact that Emilia is a wonderful person, because you know I’d much rather gamble my life than either of yours. I’d want to die a thousand times before I ever let anything happen to either of you.”

“Subaru!” Puck said in annoyance.

Beatrice held Subaru’s gaze for a long moment.

“Very well then,” Beatrice said with a deep sigh, “Then there is nothing more to be said. If the little elf matters to you that much… then she matters to Betty. It won’t be the first time Betty has dealt with witches, I suppose.”

“What? Betty!” Puck objected.

Beatrice gave him a patient look.

“Subaru! That witch almost killed you! She almost took you away from us! Do you really expect me to just let that go?! Do you understand how long we waited to find you?! What the thought of… losing you… means to us…” Puck trailed off plaintively.

“You’re not going to lose me, Puck,” Subaru assured him, “We are family. We belong together and I’m going to do whatever it takes to keep us together. I promise.”

Puck folded his arms and fumed in midair. He sulked for a long time then threw a glare at Emilia that was sharp enough to draw blood.

“Fine!” Puck said finally, “I’m on your side, Subaru, no matter what,” The spirit admitted, emphasizing the ‘your’ with another scowl at Emilia. “But don’t think for an instant I won’t be watching that witch! If she tries to do anything to hurt our family again I’ll obliterate her!”

“She won’t make another mistake like that,” Subaru assured him.

“‘Mistake,’” Puck muttered under his breath sarcastically.

The little spirit shook his head, “Fine.” He gave in with bad humor.

Subaru gathered them both in his arms and cuddled the little spirits, “Thanks guys,” He whispered, “You don’t know what it means to me to hear you’ll stand by me.”

“Betty and Bubby will never leave Subaru, in fact,” She whispered, “Subaru is Betty and Bubby’s family.”

“Forever and ever,” Subaru agreed.

“Subaru?” Emilia called.

The spirits both sighed, “The little elf knows how to ruin tender moments, I suppose,” Beatrice grumbled.

“Yeah, Mili?”

“I think… I think that the trailer is still there.”

Subaru and the spirits rushed to Emilia’s side.

Subaru recognized the field that they had raced across to escape the Cultists and the four Cultist bodies were still lying in the road being pecked at by crows.

Hidden within a grove of trees in the distance, the trailer was still there.

“What happened?” Emilia whispered in a frightened voice, “They were supposed to get away after we led pursuit off! Why is the trailer still there?!”

“Calm down,” Subaru snapped at himself as much as Emilia, “We don’t know what happened yet. Maybe… maybe…,” Subaru groped for something to say, “Alright, let’s get over there and take a look. We’ll see what happened.”

“Subaru, what if it’s a trap?” Emilia asked.

“It’s a lousy trap if it is,” Subaru replied, “Are they really hoping that we’d go back to the trailer? Why? That’s pretty bad bait, Mili. All the same let’s try to stay under cover. We have no idea who might be around and watching.”

As the sun set, the group slipped across the road and quickly hid in the same grove of trees that had protected them during their escape.

“Our journey has come full circle, I suppose,” Beatrice muttered, “And Betty is still not back at her library.”

Subaru raised a finger to his lips to signal for quiet. Beatrice nodded from his shoulder.

The group crept up to the trailer.

Subaru looked all around trying to spot anyone who might be watching them but he didn’t see anything.

Subaru jumped up into the trailer’s back door. Nothing appeared to be disturbed from when they had left but the frost flowers had finally melted.

“Felt?” Subaru called in a loud whisper.

They moved quickly up onto the driver’s platform. The earth dragons were gone.

“Emilia, can you check the storage container in the trailer?” Subaru asked.

Emilia opened the small trunk, “Empty. Subaru, what do you think happened?”

Subaru considered using Reason and Judgment then decided against it. He didn’t think he needed super intelligence to crack this riddle.

“It looks like they got away,” Subaru replied.

“What if the Cultists captured them?” Emilia asked.

Subaru shook his head, “No bloodstains, no damage to the trailer, no signs of a struggle. Plus all the food supplies are gone which isn’t something that the Cultists would do. I’m guessing that as soon as we left they decided to book it out of here. Keeping the trailer was pointless for only four people. They probably unhitched the earth dragons and either set them free or decided to ride them to safety.”

Subaru paused, “Maybe Ram woke up,” He mused.

“What makes you say that, Subaru?” Puck asked.

“It would be pretty hard to sit on an earth dragon with no saddle while carrying an unconscious person. It could be done but it wouldn’t be easy. I’m guessing that if they took the dragons and rode away then Ram must have finally woken up,” Subaru said.

“That’s good,” Emilia said, “It will certainly put Garf and Rem in a better mood.”

“I like picturing the look on Garf’s face when Ram refused to ride with him,” Subaru snickered.

“Subaru,” Emilia criticized, “That’s awfully petty.”

“Yeah, I’m like that sometimes,” He admitted. Subaru scratched his chin thoughtfully, “OK, well there’s nothing for us here.”

“Except for basic shelter,” Emilia pointed out, “If we really think that this isn’t a trap and we’re safe here for the moment, then this is probably a better place to spend the night than anywhere else we’ll find nearby. I don’t think I can walk much further tonight.

Subaru reached into the bag that Rem had packed and pulled out a jar of dried peaches. He took one from the jar and chewed it distastefully. It tasted old and waxy.

He then handed the jar of fruit to Beatrice who passed it to Emilia without even opening it.

“Beako? Don’t you want to eat anything?” Subaru asked as Emilia ate a peach.

“Bubby and Betty don’t get hungry, in fact.”

“I know, Beako, but I thought you enjoyed eating with us,” Subaru replied.

“Betty does enjoy eating with Subaru, I suppose. However, our journey is currently one without definite duration and scope. We may need to save the food for those who need it.”

Subaru sighed, “Well, you’re right. But I can’t say that’s a happy thought…”

Subaru heard some noise coming from outside.

“What’s that?” He muttered.

He peered out one of the trailer windows. Emilia and the spirits quickly joined him.

“What do you think it is?” Puck whispered to Subaru.

“I see some people. They look like soldiers I think. Four of them walking down the road,” Emilia replied.

“Probably scouts,” Subaru said pulling up his hood and almost gagging at the smell.

“Should we risk talking to them?” Beatrice whispered from just behind Subaru, “They might be Cultists in disguise, I suppose.”

“Maybe,” Subaru agreed, “But we might be able to get information from them and we desperately need some. You all stay here for a minute. If they just see me they won’t think I’m a threat. And if they are Witch Cultists then they’re looking for a group with an elf and two spirits so they shouldn’t think anything of me.”

“Subaru,” Puck warned, “If those are Witch Cultists then they might kill you just for fun.”

“Well, they may find that harder than they think,” Subaru winked at him, “Besides I have good friends standing by to rescue me if it gets ugly.”

Puck rolled his eyes and rubbed his forehead.

Subaru exited the trailer and moved quickly across the field before picking up the darkened road in a place the soldiers couldn’t see. He tried to walk casually toward them.

Emilia and the spirits watched from the trailer.

“Puck, maybe we should sneak closer,” Emilia whispered. “That way if something happens we’ll be ready to help Subaru.”

“You’ll stay right where you are,” Puck growled at her.

Emilia flinched.

Beatrice’s gaze flickered between Emilia and Puck, “Betty thinks she has an idea for how we can monitor Subaru, I suppose.”

Subaru was wondering what he should say as he approached the soldiers but they saved him the trouble.

“Halt, peasant!” A soldier with a tall feather in his helmet shouted imperiously.

Peasant?! Is that really how you talk to someone you just met?

“Me, sir?” Subaru replied politely.

“Do you see anyone else around here?” The officer asked in annoyance.

OK. I do not like you, Subaru grumbled to himself.

Regardless, he put a broad smile on his face, “What can I do for you, sir?”

The officer glared at him, “Have we forgotten how to make our manners?”

Who the hell is this jerk?! How does a peasant greet an army officer? And why does he expect me to know that?

“I can’t forget, sir,” Subaru shrugged, “I never knew.”

“Ignorant trash, you-” The officer snarled.

“Sir? Is there really a point to teaching proper etiquette to a filthy peasant?” Another soldier asked wearily.

I’d like to dispute the filthy part but in this funky robe that would be pretty hard. We’re all going to need a bath after this. Possibly several.

The officer shook his head with a sigh, “I suppose not, corporal. Still, dark times are these when a traveling knave can make light of a man of noble blood.”

The Witch Cult is on a rampage, there is a pitched battle of terrifying scope twenty miles away at most, the peasants are starving each winter, and the whole kingdom is facing down the barrel of a race war between humans and demi-humans any time now. But this guy thinks that a lack of respect to the nobility is the major problem? I’m starting to think I know what’s wrong with this kingdom and the French solved the same issue by introducing the guillotine.

“Peasant, what are you doing in this region? Are you unaware that all persons were bidden to evacuate for their own safety?” The officer demanded.

Subaru activated Reason and Judgment.

Alright. You should think this over carefully. And try not to waste too much time thinking about how much better this idiot would look with your Indomitable fist driven straight through his torso.

Everyone was told to evacuate? The man is an idiot if he assumes that all the peasantry out here actually got that message, especially the ones living on isolated homesteads. You only fled the Sanctuary a few days ago. The evacuation order can’t be any more than four or five days old at the most. To make certain that all the peasants in the area were informed of this order by now, much less were able to evacuate, the Kingdom would have to have been really motivated to keep all the peasantry out of harm’s way. Somehow that doesn’t jive with their priorities as far as you’ve seen.

More importantly it’s clear that there’s nothing to be gained from conversing with this man. He views you as subhuman and he’d never agree to answer any of your questions unless you reveal yourself for who you really are. But that should be a last resort. For one thing, you’re not entirely sure who this fellow is or what his purpose is. You shouldn’t disclose yourself or reveal the others to him until you are certain. More to the point, he would almost certainly refuse to believe that a peasant traveler in a dirty robe that reeks of years of mud is a royal candidate.

If you plan to get any information out of him, you will need to capture his interest. Perhaps by introducing yourself as a villager of Arlem who got separated from the rest? No matter who he is or what he’s looking for, that might catch his attention. It’s worth a try anyway.

Subaru restarted time.

“I’m afraid I’m not from around here, sir,” Subaru apologized, “My name is Lucas of Arlem,” Subaru said grabbing the name of one of Petra’s friends.

“Arlem, did you say?” The officer said in a riveted tone.

OK, well I got his undivided attention. Hopefully that’s a good thing.

“Yes, sir, my friends and I were fleeing the Sanctuary in a wagon and we were attacked by the Witch Cult. That’s how I got separated from the rest,” Subaru explained.

“Where did this happen?” He asked intently.

Subaru shrugged, “Can’t really say, sir. I’d been wondering through the woods all night trying to find the road. No idea where I came from or how many circles I went in.”

The officer sighed, “Regardless, perhaps you are still in a position to be useful to me.”

“I’ll try, sir,” Subaru said cautiously.

“If you are a resident of Arlem village then you are doubtlessly aware of Lord Subaru.”

“Oh, yes. I’ve met Subaru, sir,” Subaru said biting his lip to avoid smiling.

“Lord Subaru, peasant,” The officer grated, “Mind yourself when referring to the man likely to be the future King of this land. Disrespect for his majesty is a capital offense and it can be made retroactive, you know.”

And the future king will get to deal with nobles just like you all day long. Hard to imagine why anybody wouldn’t want the job.

“Lord Subaru, sir,” Subaru said trying not to grind his teeth.

“Do you have any knowledge of his whereabouts?” The officer demanded.

“I know he fled the Sanctuary at the same time we did. We both drove north for a while before we separated at his urging to give our pursuers more targets. Why are you looking for him?” Subaru asked.

The officer seemed to debate answering, “There are unconfirmed reports that Lord Subaru has been abducted.”

“Abducted?” Subaru echoed in surprise.

Did Felt think the Witch Cult captured me? Fuck, she must be worried sick.

“His retainers and companions believe that Lord Subaru may have been bewitched by the Witch of Envy and then abducted by her,” The officer replied.

Subaru’s jaw dropped.

What? No no no. This can’t be happening. Who told the Lagunican army that I was abducted by Emilia? I mean, maybe Rem I guess might say something like this but Garf and Felt? They wouldn’t do this to me… would they? And how do they even start to think that Emilia is the Witch of Envy? Just because she’s a half-elf with silver hair? Her appearance is striking no argument but it can’t be that unique.

Oh my God. The entire Kingdom is after Emilia now! If they think that she’s the Witch of Envy then she’s going to be killed on sight! I’d never persuade them to wait long enough to explain the situation to them. Beyond that, if everyone thinks that Emilia has bewitched me then they won’t even listen to me anyway. If I’ve been mind controlled then everything I say is suspect.

Holy shit. Ever since the Sanctuary I’ve been saying that things simply can’t get any worse and then somehow, in complete defiance of all reason and logic, they do!

Subaru took a ragged breath, “The Witch of Envy? Umm… that’s a little hard to believe, sir. I always thought she was sealed away somewhere.”

“That’s what I said, Captain,” Another soldier commented to the officer, “Maybe those maids, the little girl and the weird one were just confused. Lord Subaru was abducted by the Witch of Envy? Really?”

“I know Lord Subaru,” Subaru quickly agreed, “I find it hard to accept that he would be bewitched and abducted so easily, sir.”

“Regardless, that is the intelligence we have received,” The officer said in annoyance to both Subaru and the soldier, “We are to locate Lord Subaru and bring him back!”

Subaru raised an eyebrow, “Um, no offense, sir, but what if Lord Subaru doesn’t want to come with you? How do you plan to capture a man who killed a troll with his bare hands?”

“Hey!” A soldier gasped, “Is that story really true?! Were you there when Lord Subaru fought it?”

Subaru chuckled, “I was there and I was scared to death,” Subaru replied honestly.

“Enough of this,” The officer interjected, “We will locate Lord Subaru and liberate him from the witch. Those are our orders.”

“Um,” Subaru began, “What about Red- Sir Reinhard, Lord Subaru’s knight? What does he say?”

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business, peasant,” The captain snorted, “However, Sir Reinhard van Astrea is combing the country looking for his lord. He is determined to liberate him from the witch’s spell and do justice upon her.”

…And things just got worse yet again…

Subaru swallowed hard, “Well, best of luck to all of you. I certainly hope you find him,” Subaru said in a faint voice, “Anyone know how far it is to Arlem from here?”

“Oh foot?” A soldier said dubiously, “Maybe two or three days. There’s an army camp about fifteen miles up the road. If you head there maybe they could help you find-”

“Enough soldier, we have important business to do,” The officer interrupted, “We can’t be distracted by shepherding lost peasants. One side, knave!” The officer ordered Subaru as he deliberately pushed past Subaru so he could lead his small group down the road.

Subaru watched and waited until the soldiers were well down the road and then slipped back into the well hidden trailer and reunited with the others.

Puck looked unsettled, “Well, that was interesting!”

“You heard all that?” Subaru asked noticing Emilia’s forlorn expression.

“We heard it all,” Beatrice grumbled, “Betty’s magic can be used to eavesdrop, I suppose.”

Subaru closed his eyes and rested his forehead the trailer wall with a sigh.

“So, do we have a new plan, Subaru?” Puck asked.

Subaru laughed, “Why are you asking me, Puck?” He chuckled, “Ever since we went to the Sanctuary all my plans have gone belly up! Everything I try to do just makes things worse. I’m leading everybody from disaster to disaster…” Subaru sighed.

“That is not true,” Emilia said firmly.

Subaru turned around and saw Emilia standing there looking angry. “SUbaru, you helped me understand how I could pass the trials. Your plan let us get all the villagers out of the Sanctuary safely. Your plan allowed us to get away from Capella yesterday and that soldier told you that Garf, Felt, and the twins escaped safely as well. I know that we’re all in a dire situation right now but none of this, none of it, can be laid at your feet. You’ve done everything possible to keep us safe and you will get us out of this mess yet!” Emilia proclaimed.

Puck stared at Emilia.

Beatrice nodded approvingly, “The elf speaks sense, Subaru.”

Subaru laughed and pulled himself off the wall, “Thanks, Mili. I needed that.”

Subaru rubbed his forehead with a sigh.

“So what’s the new plan, I suppose?” Beatrice asked.

Subaru shrugged, “I guess,” He hesitated, “For right now we head back toward Arlem. They trust me there… I think.”

“Of course they do!” Emilia said.

“Then maybe they’ll give Emilia the benefit of the doubt when I tell them that she’s OK,” Subaru replied. “If we can just get a few people to say that she’s not trying to hurt anybody, we might dull everyone’s certainty that she’s a witch. That gives us an opening to start negotiating for her safety.”

“But, Subaru, won’t the twins and maybe even Garf and Felt be at Arlem?” Puck asked.

“I don’t know, Puck! But we have to take the chance! The whole world is after us right now and Arlem is pretty much our last possibility to find a potentially sympathetic audience. If we say that Arlem is a no-go, what’s left? We run off to Gusteko or Kararagi? We don’t have any particularly promising prospects there.”

Puck took a long hard look at Emilia and finally sighed, “Alright, Subaru, you lead and we’ll follow. We are a family. Betty and I are on your side, no matter what.”

Beatrice nodded firmly.

Subaru sighed, “Alright, let’s get some sleep. Maybe tomorrow will be better.”

The spirits nestled against Subaru dozed off quickly but Subaru and Emilia were up longer. They were sleeping on opposite couches again and that just felt wrong. Puck and Beatrice had very reasonably pointed out how there wasn’t room for two people on a single couch but Subaru suspected that they had ulterior motives for this.

What am I going to do? If that idiot soldier was right then the whole goddamn Kingdom is after Emilia! What the hell can I do to protect her? If they think she’s the legendary Witch of Envy then they’ll kill first and ask questions second. Not that they’ll even bother to ask me any questions anyway! If they think I’ve been bewitched then nothing I say has any weight. If I beg them to leave Emilia alone, that’s just a sign of how completely she’s brainwashed me.

I hate to think of it this way but Reinhard is my knight and he’s pledged to obey my orders. If I ordered him to leave Emilia alone, would he have to listen? Or does the code of chivalry make exceptions for not following your lord’s commands when he’s been mind-controlled by an evil witch?

What the hell can I do? Everyone thinks Emilia is a witch, there are armies after us, the Witch Cult has declared war on everybody, and the dragon blood is all gone.

Wait. Let’s take a deep breath and focus. Right now there should be only one priority: Keep Emilia safe. Period.

You have to keep your family safe. Emilia, Beatrice, and even Puck need you right now. You need to keep it together.

You have two options: find friends who are willing to give Emilia a chance, or get the hell out of the country and disappear for a while.

Neither option is necessarily appealing. I think they trust me in Arlem but if I walk in there with the Witch of Envy at my side and try to convince them that’s she’s really a sweet girl named Emilia, will they just assume I’m crazy? And let’s say that they do believe me. Let’s say that they like Emilia and decide her resemblance to a famous monster is just an unfortunate accident. Great. Now Reinhard and Felt show up and tell everybody that I’ve been brainwashed and you can’t trust a word I’ve said. Do they argue the point or just assume this was all some kind of ruse by the witch to trick them?

So do I run for the border? Well, that’s not very appealing either. The closest border, and the only border that I have any real chance of reaching on foot, is Gusteko. The people there are probably still a little annoyed with me. I did kill a bunch of their troops. From what I’ve read, Gusteko is one of the worst countries in the world for demi-humans so Emilia will not get a warm reception there. There are only a few cities in Gusteko and the closest one is a huge trek to the northeast. No way our supplies will last that long and we aren’t equipped to deal with the cold once we start entering the Gusteko mountains.

OK, so that’s it then. Arlem is my only option. I go to Arlem and try to convince everyone to trust Emilia. If that fails maybe at least I can gather supplies. The chief might agree to give me clothes and provisions for the long march up into Gusteko.

It’s a dumb plan. It only has the faintest chance of working, and if we don’t gain acceptance from the Arlem villagers then we’ll have to walk all the way north again but it’s the only plan I’ve got.

Subaru sighed and slipped into a pensive sleep.

Something woke Emilia up in the middle of the night.

“Betty!” Puck whispered, “Wake up!”

“Ugh,” Beatrice grumbled. “What is it, I suppose?”

“Subaru and the witch are fast asleep. We need to talk.”

Emilia tried not to tense as she lay there with her eyes shut.

“What did Betty’s Bubby want to talk about?”

“Betty, how far are we going to let this go?”

“Let what go, I suppose?”

“Subaru’s fascination with this witch! She does nothing but put Subaru in danger both directly and indirectly. I don’t believe for an instant that she had nothing to do with this memory modifying thing. She could lose control of her magic at any moment and this time she might actually kill Subaru. And now we know that everyone in the whole world wants her dead and that just puts Subaru in more danger!”

“Bubby’s statements are true as far as they go, I suppose,” Beatrice said with a yawn, “What do you propose that we do about it?”

Puck was silent.

“Bubby,” Beatrice warned, “Taking the elf away would make Subaru most unhappy.”

“Ugh! Betty! How can we let Subaru just wander around with someone who puts him in danger?”

“Betty thinks that all of our Subaru’s friends have put him in danger at one time or another, I suppose. He seems to attract this type.”

“Not like this, Betty! We need to get her away from him!”

“Subaru would object most strenuously to that plan, I suppose,” Beatrice replied in a bored tone.

“Betty, Subaru is just a kid! He doesn’t know what’s best for him yet!” Puck hissed, “He’s too soft hearted for his own good! That’s why he needs us here to watch out for him.”

“Betty is looking out for him. Bubby is looking out for him too, I suppose. What’s the problem?”

“Betty, what happened? When did you go so soft on the witch?”

Beatrice hesitated, “When Bubby and Betty heard them talking in the forest. Betty saw how much Subaru cared for her. Betty understands now how much Subaru would be hurt if he lost her, I suppose.”

“But it could all be the witchcraft making him think he loves the girl!”

“Perhaps. Are you willing to kill Subaru’s love on a ‘perhaps,’ Bubby? Even if this theory were true, it is unlikely that killing the elf would undo the witchcraft.”

Puck growled, “Alright, fine. How do we prove if Subaru is bewitched or not?”

Beatrice was quiet for a moment. “Betty has read stories about witches who charmed men this way, I suppose.”

“Were any of them cured?” Puck asked.

“Yes. A knight was charmed by a witch. The spell was broken when the knight met his son and realized that the witch was not his mother.”

“Well, honestly, Betty, unless Subaru has been keeping secrets, I don’t think that’s going to be too useful.”

“The same principle applies, I suppose. The Authorities are supremely powerful but to modify one or more person’s memories like this is a challenging endeavor. Because the son’s mother was not the witch, simply replacing the mother with the witch in all of the knight’s memories would have led to obvious inconsistencies because the witch and the mother would behave differently in a given situation. Correct for this and you’ll have still more memories to fix because the outcomes of the remembered behaviors would differ. If, on the other hand, the witchcraft tried to make the son be forgotten about entirely, then more and more memories would need to be removed and the man’s mind would become fragmented. It was the details that ultimately defeated this witchcraft, I suppose.”

“OK, Betty, so how do we remove it?”

“Witchcraft is never perfect, I suppose. There is always a flaw. If Subaru has been bewitched, the witchcraft may be strong enough to rewrite Subaru’s memories but there’s always some inconsistency that it can’t cover up. Betty’s Subaru isn’t stupid. If the elf has bewitched him, in fact, then sooner or later Subaru will stumble over a paradox in his memories that even the witchcraft can’t reconcile. Then he’ll realize what is going on.”

“OK, so at least there’s hope then. Maybe we could try to get him to talk about the differences in his memories? Maybe that would highlight an inconsistency?”

“Perhaps,” Beatrice mused, “Subaru is the thinker, not us, so Betty and Bubby would need to wait for him to solve the puzzle, I suppose. In any event, talking about memories might provide the answer to who is bewitched: us or Subaru.”

“Wait, us? Betty, you don’t really think that everyone was bewitched except Subaru, do you? I don’t think that even an Authority could shift a Great Spirit’s contract around the way Subaru claimed.”

“Betty is simply keeping an open mind, I suppose. Betty trusts her Subaru. He will find the truth eventually and resolve this matter.”

“Alright,” Puck said grudgingly, “That makes sense. But we need to keep an eye on the witch. If she tries something else we need to end her hard and fast. We can apologize for it later if we’re wrong.”

“Do you truly think that Subaru would accept such an apology?” Beatrice asked skeptically.

“Betty, Subaru is my everything. I won’t accept a world without Subaru. I’d destroy it before that happened.”

“Betty agrees with the sentiment, I suppose, but Betty still plans to take a wait and see attitude. Betty trusts her Subaru. If he is bewitched, Subaru will unravel it. If the elf is cursed, Subaru will break it. It’s just a matter of time.”

“Stupid witch, messing up our family. First she almost kills our Subaru and then she gets the Witch Cult and the entire Kingdom after him. She’s done nothing but put Subaru in danger! If she hurts Subaru again, I’ll-” Puck grumbled.

“It’s late, Bubby. Go back to sleep,” Beatrice muttered.

The spirits settled down and went back to sleep.

Emilia lay there with her eyes shut for a long time until she was absolutely certain that Beatrice and Puck were unconscious.

And then she broke down and quietly cried herself to sleep.

The group was up with the sun. Subaru and Emilia ate a quick breakfast while the spirits again refused to partake. This alone made the food taste stale in Subaru’s mouth.

The group marched south from the trailer following the road from the shadows of the nearby forests.

“I’m going to be honest,” Subaru sighed, “I’m not really sure which way we’re going at this point. The soldiers suggested we were headed toward Arlem but I don’t know that I trust their sense of direction. We could be headed toward Arlem or the capitol. Personally, I am completely lost.”

“Hey, anywhere is better than where people are looking for us, Subaru,” Puck observed.

They walked through the forests until noon when the forests finally thinned out. Before them was a large plain with more forests visible far in the distance.

Subaru scratched his head with a sigh, “OK. We’re out of hiding places so we’re going to walk boldly down the road. We can’t hide so we want to be so boring that nobody notices us. Mili, keep your hood up and your head down. Beatrice, any chance you could change your clothing to something… less vibrant?”

Beatrice made a face, “It is an emergency, I suppose. What colors are less vibrant?”

“Honestly? Try gray. We’re basically pretending to be peasant refugees so anything that makes your clothes look old and worn out will help.

Beatrice scowled but raised a hand and her pink and red clothing faded to various shades of gray. A moment later her outfit changed into a hooded robe that covered everything above her gray tights. It looked like the clothes of someone who had gone through hard times recently.

“Puck, the other thing is that they’re looking for a group of four and frankly a magic flying cat attracts a lot of attention,” Subaru said apologetically.

“So, nap time?” Puck said with a yawn.

“Sorry, buddy,” Subaru said shamefaced.

“Nothing to apologize for, Subaru. I’m always happy to take a nap. Frankly it’s weird not having to go into the crystal as much since I met you.”

Subaru blinked and looked at Emilia who shared his puzzled look, “Huh?”

“I’m not as hungry for mana since we contracted, Subaru. I guess it’s part of your Authority but ever since we contracted instead of getting tired and needing to rest every sunset, I feel like I can just keep going and going. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to go into the crystal and take a nap but I’m not really tired so call me if you need me.”

Subaru scratched his chin, “OK, Puck. Thanks.”

The little cat disappeared and in his pocket, Subaru felt the crystal pulse with warmth for a moment.

The trio continued to walk down the road.

Subaru was deep in thought, “Beako, have you noticed any changes since we made our contract?” He asked.

Beatrice shrugged, “Betty doesn’t require as much mana as her Bubby does, I suppose. Also because Betty loves her Bubby, she tries to always make sure there is plenty of mana left over for him.”

“Aren’t you a wonderful sister?” Subaru complimented you, “I say that from personal experience by the way. You’re my favorite sister.”

“Betty is your only sister!”

“That did make the choice easier,” Subaru admitted.

Beatrice smirked, “Betty is wonderful in many ways, I suppose, but she never tires of hearing it.”

Subaru kissed her cheek, “Guess I better say it a little more often.”

He reached out his hand toward Emilia who was standing there, looking left out and forlorn. After a moment she took it.

Together the three went down the road.

They walked for most of the day and Subaru had no idea where the road they followed was going. He thought he was still headed toward Arlem after the discussion with the soldiers, but who knew how reliable their directions were.

Emilia and Beatrice were both exhausted. Emilia was somber and Beatrice was snippy so after a while he stopped trying to engage them in conversation.

Come on, Subaru. Pick it up! Your girls need you! They’re depending on you to keep their spirits up. It’s all on you, Subaru. Think of something to get Emilia and Beatrice talking. Find a way to take their minds off their troubles.

“Hey, Emilia, did I ever tell you about how Beako and I learned to ride an earth dragon?” Subaru mused.

“You rode an earth dragon?” Emilia asked.

“Betty is not going to like this story, I suppose,” Beatrice grumbled.

“Yeah, Roswaal left us a riding earth dragon at the manor so that we could follow you to the Sanctuary. Beako found the ride most stimulating,” Subaru continued with an angelic smile.

Beatrice pinched Subaru’s cheek firmly, “Betty did not enjoy that experience, in fact!” She snapped

“What?” Subaru asked painfully as Beatrice held him by his cheek, “You didn’t enjoy it? But you were saying such lovely things to me during the trip.”

“The only land monster Betty wishes to ride is Betty’s Subaru!” She retorted.

“Beatrice,” Emilia murmured looking unsettled, “What are you doing to Subaru?”

“Betty’s Subaru often thinks that it’s funny to annoy Betty so that Betty will punish him! Subaru is an overgrown child who causes trouble because he enjoys getting caught!” Beatrice informed her still pinching the side of Subaru’s face.

“Hey, can we talk about this?” Subaru moaned through a numb cheek.

Emilia chuckled, “I’m well aware of his bad habits. Do you remember when he tried to use his engine to blow me out the window?”

Beatrice’s eyes widened at Emilia’s question and she let go of Subaru’s cheek, “…No, Betty doesn’t remember this, I suppose… But only a few people knew that Subaru’s engine was briefly the world’s most powerful fan…”

Emilia gave her a tired smile, “I was there, Beatrice. Just like I was there all those nights that you and Subaru read to each other from your book before bedtime.”

Beatrice looked unsettled and she gazed off into the distance.

OK, well, it wasn’t what I was hoping for but maybe it could be good anyway. Beatrice looks like she’s debating if maybe Emilia is telling the truth.

Or maybe she’s just worried that Emilia can read minds…

Damn. Beatrice still looks frustrated and Emilia still looks depressed. I didn’t accomplish anything. Can’t I think of some way to perk them up? We need to stick together and we need to keep our morale high which is really hard when we don’t actually have a strategy and we’re just grasping at straws for ideas.

Jeez, Subaru, you suck!

They passed groups of soldiers frequently but none of them paid much attention to the group. Emilia and Beatrice kept their hoods up and the soldiers looked right past them.

Eventually they passed a man who looked too young to be wearing his uniform, digging ditches beside the road.

“Excuse me, sir,” Subaru called to him, “Do you know how far it is to Arlem village from here?”

The boy stopped digging, “Are you from Arlem village?”

Subaru hesitated a moment and wracked his brain but he could think of no other reason that three people walking down the road would be asking such a question, “Yes…”

“Do you know anything about Lord Subaru, sir?” The soldier asked.

“I know him,” Subaru admitted.

“Do you have any idea where he is?”

“I’m guessing that he’s wandering around lost in the woods somewhere. Isn’t that what all of us are doing right now?” Subaru sighed.

Emilia covered a giggle with a cough.

The boy looked slightly pained, “I don’t think that a great hero like Lord Subaru would get lost so easily, sir.”

A great hero?! Is that supposed to be a joke?!

“Listen kid, I know Subaru pretty well,” Subaru said with a sigh, “Don’t get me wrong he’s a nice guy but he’s also an enormous dunderhead.”

The boy stared at him wide eyes, “Should you be talking about Lord Subaru that way, sir?”

“Kid, trust me. Subaru would be fine with me talking about him this way.”

“Really?” The boy asked in surprise.

“Oh yeah. Give Subaru half a chance and he’s very likely to tell you himself just how much he sucks,” Subaru sighed.

Subaru felt a jab from behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Emilia glowering at him, “Subaru! Quit it!” She mouthed.

“Gee. I’d heard that he was casual with people beneath his station but that’s a really impressive amount of humility,” The boy murmured approvingly.

An impressive amount of humility?! Seriously?! Kid, this is ‘Lord Subaru’ bowing to fucking reality! Subaru is a loser who thought he had all the answers. Subaru has now been thrown into the deep end of the pool and is just figuring out that he can’t fucking swim. Subaru is a guy who is finally accepting that he’s in WAY WAY over his head. Also, I’d love to tell this kid that this paragon of humility he’s referring to is actually the fucking Witch of Pride.

Subaru was about to ask him for directions when the boy interrupted him, “Sir, if you were at the Sanctuary, could you tell me if the stories are true?”

“What stories?” Subaru asked with a sigh.

“They say that Lord Subaru killed two of the Sin Archbishops with his bare hands! They even say that one of them was Petelguese Romanee-Conti, the scourge of the continent!”

Subaru rubbed his face. I know I should be flattered. All of this stupid praise should be inflating my ego and making my Authority stronger but it’s all fucking lies! Regulus killed Petelguese, not me. How am I supposed to be proud of that? We killed Roy by the skin of our teeth and frankly it had more to do with his magic… backfiring on him somehow and making him sick than anything we did.

Come to think of it, why did that happen to Roy? If we have to fight Ley again, it might be good to know.

Subaru nodded, “Yeah, Petelguese is dead,” He said shortly.

“You saw it?!” The boy asked his eyes shining.

“Not among my favorite memories but yes,” Subaru admitted.

“Wow! I can’t wait to tell everybody in the platoon!”

“Um, can you give me directions? I’m just trying to get my wife and sister someplace safe right now,” Subaru reminded him.

The boy stared at Beatrice who sat on Subaru’s shoulder, “I don’t mean to be offensive, sir, but isn’t she a little young to be married?”

Is this boy trolling me?! Nobody could be this stupid by accident!

“This is my sister,” Subaru sighed.

“Oh. Right. That does make more sense. Sorry, sir. I’m not very clever. That’s why I’m out here digging these ditches for the Sarge,” The boy explained.

Subaru glanced around.

He’s digging ditches by the road in the middle of nowhere. Why do I get the funny impression that his Sarge just wanted to get rid of him for a couple of hours?

“Anyway, could you tell me how to get to Arlem from here?” Subaru asked.

The boy scratched under his helmet, “Can’t rightly say, sir. I just followed the column here, honestly. But if you keep following this road you’ll come to our base camp. I’m sure somebody there could direct you.”

Subaru nodded, “Thank you, have fun with your digging.”

“Thank you, sir!” The boy said cheerfully, continuing to chop into the ground.

The enormous army camp was built across the road like a small city. It had a wooden palisade erected around it and several watchtowers.

“Subaru,” Emilia whispered, “Are we actually going to go into the camp?”

“I don’t see that we have much choice,” Subaru muttered, “They’re camped right across the road which tells me they want everyone heading south to pass through their camp and be questioned. They have lookouts who are going to be very suspicious if we get off the road so sneaking around the camp doesn’t seem to be a realistic option and will just attract attention. We’ll just keep our heads down, stay quiet, and we’ll get out of there before anyone recognizes us.”

Subaru marched up to the large army camp and saw two men in full armor guarding the gate.

“Halt!” One cried, “Identify yourselves!”

“My name is Lucas, sir,” Subaru said lowering his hood, Hopefully I can get him to focus too much on me to pay any attention to Emilia. Luckily, I’m so dirty and mud stained that no one would ever take me for this vaunted ‘Lord Subaru.’ “This is my wife Petra and my little sister Betty.”

“Where are you coming from?” The soldiers asked.

“Up north, sir,” Subaru said trying to sound both servile and stupid, “My family farms the land on a small homestead out in the woods. Hard work but we do alright. We got a message telling us that we had to evacuate so we decided to head south to see my brother in-” Subaru tried to remember the map, “Hanumas,” He said referring to a town south of Arlem.

“You’re walking to Hanumas?” The soldier asked with surprise and some sympathy.

“Well, the thing is, sir,” Subaru replied, “My family doesn’t have anywhere else to go! I don’t know quite what’s going on up there but there was lightning and thunder and explosions. I decided it was time to get my family out while the getting was good.”

“Good thinking,” The soldier replied.

“Can you give me some directions, sir? Are we still going the right way?”

“Yes. Keep going down this road and in a day or two you should hit the King’s Highway. It will lead you south through Arlem and Hannumas,” He said.

“Thank you, sir. Much obliged to you,” Subaru said with a slight bow.

“If you and your family are hungry, the cooks are already preparing dinner. Camp rations I’m afraid but we’ve been told to offer it to any hungry travelers during this crisis. Orders of Lady Karnstein,” The guard said.

Crusch is mixed up in this? Is that bad or good? Maybe it doesn’t much matter right now.

“Thank you kindly, sir, but I think we’ll keep heading down the road. We can probably get a bit further today before we call it a night,” Subaru replied.

The soldier nodded and stepped aside, “Safe journey.”

Subaru held Emilia’s hand as they walked through the busy camp. It was very much like the camps he had slept in during the Whale Hunt, everybody was yelling and rushing in one direction or another. Subaru spied the ornate tent of the camp commander and hurried past it as fast as he could. The commander might be Crusch or one of the officers he had met during the Whale Hunt.

Subaru could actually see the other gate in the distance when he heard a familiar voice: “…my magnificent self kicked all their asses!”

“Garf!” Subaru gasped and he felt Emilia grip his hand tighter.

Oh shit. This is bad. If Garf is here then is Felt? Rem? Reinhard?

Could you talk to Reinhard? Convince him? Rem and Felt are probably a lost cause right now but maybe Garf and Reinhard could be persuaded to trust you.

No, that’s a terrible idea. If you fail to convince him, you’ll be in a pitched battle with not only Garf and Reinhard, although that’s more than enough, but an entire army of hundreds of soldiers trying to kill Emilia as well. Plus everyone thinks that you’ve been brainwashed. Nobody is going to listen to you right now. You need to get out of here.

Fuck, don’t panic. You look just like ten thousand other refugees that Garf and everyone else have already ignored today. Just keep your head down and keep walking. You’ll be out of here in two minutes.

Subaru was sweating bullets by the time they walked out of the camp and it took everything he had not to simply start running.

“Seriously, fleabag? Do you really have to piss off everyone you meet?” Felt asked in exasperation as she and Garfiel returned to their tent. It was large enough for four people to sleep in and they could even stand up comfortably inside although it was just four sleeping rolls spread out on the ground.

Garfiel flung himself down on his sleeping roll with a triumphant grin. “Heh. I feel like the person my magnificent self pisses off is mainly you, shrimp! Besides, what’s the big deal? I was just having some fun with those grumps.”

“Arm wrestling Crusch’s personal guards?” Felt demanded rolling her eyes, “Can you really not even imagine any way that might come back to bite us?”

“It was all in good fun,” Garfiel said dismissively.

“I know that you had fun, fleabag! I’m just not so sure about the ten guards that you beat, especially the one that needed to have his arm put in a sling! Nice job taunting them after they lost too!” Felt snapped.

“Come on, shrimp, you’re such a scaredy cat! This is the army! It’s a place for a man to be a man and it’s the perfect place for my magnificent self since I just happen to be the ultimate man!” Garfiel laughed.

Felt buried her face in her hands, “Ugh, fleabag! Why don’t you grow a brain?!”

“Why don’t you grow some tits?” Garfiel snorted with a grin.

“Garf, you’re the dumbest man I’ve ever met in my life. There is never any blood flowing through your brain, fleabag, and I don’t know where the rest is going because that tiny-ass dick of yours can’t hold much!” Felt snapped with a vicious smile.

“Listen, shrimp, your little ass-” Garfiel began but something grabbed Garfiel’s ear and jerked his head around.

Garfiel found himself looking up into Rem’s coldly impassive face, “Garf, do we need to discuss the proper way to speak to a woman?” She asked calmly.

Garfiel’s eyes were wide as he shook his head back and forth violently.

Rem let go of Garfiel’s ear.

Felt sighed, “Rem, you know, you didn’t really have to get involved in that. We were doing just fine on our own.”

“I will never understand why the two of you seem to enjoy insulting one another,” Rem commented.

“Rem, just cause you don’t understand something, that doesn’t necessarily make it bad!” Felt pointed out.

“Hey, how’s Ram?” Garfiel interrupted before Rem could respond.

Rem glanced at him, “Sister is doing well. Felix expects her to be back on her feet tomorrow although he recommends that we seek out a few specialists in the capitol before returning home. Also,” Rem continued turning to face Garfiel squarely, “Sister expressed her gratitude for my taking you in hand during her incapacitation but she assures me that tomorrow she expects to be able to resume disciplining you personally.”

Garfiel swallowed hard.

“Heh. You know, fleabag,” Felt drolled, “If you’re really into this kind of stuff, I know a professional. She’s expensive but I’m told that she’s worth it.”

“Hey!” Garfiel protested, “Nothing wrong with a man finding a strong woman who knows what she wants attractive!”

“Garf, there is a limit-” Felt sighed.

“I smell a witch,” Rem whispered.

Garfiel and Felt stared at her.

“Where?” Felt asked.

“They just passed through the camp,” Rem continued.

“Must be a cult spy,” Felt muttered.

“Let’s get after them! Before they get away!” Garfiel said leaping to his feet.

“We need to tell everyone,” Felt objected.

“There isn’t time, Miss Felt,” Rem said picking up her mace, “The trail is already fading. We must pursue the cultist. Quickly now!” Rem set off at a run.

“Hell ya!” Garfiel shouted scoping up Felt and tucking her under one arm.

“What the fuck are you doing, fleabag?!” Felt shouted as Garfiel leaped after Rem, “Stop carrying me around like fucking luggage! I have a Blessing! I can keep up!”

The pair pounded through the camp at full speed scattering soldiers.

“One side, guys!” Garfiel roared at the gate guards. The two soldiers leaped back as Rem and Garfiel charged out of the camp, Felt still bitterly complaining as Garfiel carried her under one arm like a football.

“Wait! Do you have permission-” The guard trailed off as the three raced into the woods and out of sight.

“If Garfiel was there, then who else?” Emilia asked a mile down the road.

Subaru shook his head, “I don’t know. Nor do I want to find out right now.”

They walked in silence for a few moments while Beatrice dozed on his shoulder.

“Subaru, what is our plan?” Emilia asked.

“We go back to Arlem and try to convince all of them that you’re not evil. And we may also need to convince them that I’m really Subaru,” He added, “I probably look and smell like a stable boy right now.”

“Do you really think that they’ll listen to you about me?”

“They better. I think it’s fair to say they owe me one. And if they tell people that Emilia wasn’t an evil witch and she was very nice to them, then maybe Reinhard won’t come after us with his sword drawn. All we have to do is convince him to wait and watch before making up his mind.”

Emilia sighed, “Subaru, after I almost killed Felt, I’m not sure that Reinhard is going to be in the mood to listen to us.”

“He’ll definitely be angry. Probably angry at both of us, and frankly I don’t blame him,” Subaru admitted, “But Reinhard is a good person, one of the best. He’s not going to be willing to kill someone in cold blood unless he’s absolutely certain that they need to die.”

“What if he thinks this person bewitched his lord?” Emilia asked in a small voice.

“…Yeah. That’s the bigger problem,” Subaru admitted, “As long as that’s everyone’s working theory, nobody is going to listen to anything I say.”

Subaru scratched his chin, “Well, at least we’re back in some woods so we can get off the road again.”

Subaru let go of Emilia’s hand and reached into his pocket to touch the crystal, “Puck,” He whispered.

The magical cat appeared in mid air in front of him.

“Hey, Subaru. What did I miss?” Puck asked drifting down into Beatrice’s arms to be petted.

“Nothing particularly interesting, buddy.” Subaru shrugged, “But we got lonely so we decided to wake you up.”

“Aw, it’s so nice to be loved,” He smiled as Beatrice cuddled him.

Subaru heard a voice behind him, “-This way?”

It was Garfiel’s voice.

“Subaru!” Emilia whispered.

“Come on!” Subaru hissed grabbing her hand and taking off at a run deeper into the forest.

They ran like this for twenty minutes but the voices always seemed to be on their trail.

How are they following us? We’re not leaving any tracks in this soft grass! Could it be a coincidence, maybe Garf was just headed in the same direction?

Yeah, right. But the fact is that they’re catching up so we better try something else.

Subaru spotted a small cave, “This way quick!” He hissed pulling Emilia along.

They huddled inside the cave, “Beako, I need an illusion. Can you use your magic to make it look like we’re not here?” Subaru whispered.

Beatrice nodded and raised her hand. The world around Subaru turned purple as if he was peering through stained glass. He could still see everything outside but he took it on faith that Beatrice’s magic would keep anyone from seeing inside.

The voices got closer.

“Wait? It smells like the Captain?!” Garfiel exclaimed.

A few moments later Rem, Garf, and Felt walked into the cave. Rem had her morning star in hand.

They all looked around the small cave.

“Where to now, Rem?” Garfiel asked.

“This is where the trail ends. The miasma is strongest here,” She replied.

“Then where did they go?” Felt asked in a tired voice.

“I’m uncertain,” Rem replied, “The trail ends here.”

Emilia looked at Subaru but he shook his head and put a finger to his lips.

Garfiel scratched his chin, “Maybe it wasn’t actually the Captain. Maybe this is the den of some mabeast or something that came too close to camp and Rem caught a whiff of it.”

“That is possible,” Rem admitted.

“I knew this was going to be a wild goose chase as soon as Rem mentioned Subaru,” Felt muttered, “Whatever that witch has the boss doing, I doubt that he’s just wandering around the countryside hiding out in caves.”

“Alright, whatever. Let’s head back to the camp before dinner starts. I hate it when they run out,” Garfiel grumbled.

“They don’t run out, fleabag, you just don’t always get to have three servings,” Felt sighed.

“Hey! I’m a growing boy!” Garfiel protested.

“How big are you planning on getting?” Felt snickered as she walked out of the cave.

“Hey, just cause you’re a little shrimp, don’t ruin it for the rest of us!” Garfiel snorted, following Felt. He paused, glancing back at Rem, “Rem, you coming?”

“I’ll be along in a moment. I need to relieve myself and the cave is a preferable place to the camp latrines.”

Garfiel looked thoughtful, “Well, do you want us to-”

“I do not require an audience, Garf,” Rem replied calmly, “Nor do I need an escort to walk a few hundred yards back to camp. Return with Felt, I will be along shortly.”

She’s about to use the bathroom? Oh shit. I don’t want to see Rem like this! Subaru thought as Garf left the cave.

Rem turned and looked at what must have been a blank wall to her.

“You can come out now, Subaru Natsuki,” She said calmly.

The group looked at each other.

“I am not a complete fool. I can smell the miasma coming from a blank wall,” Rem continued. “This is a common trick of Lady Beatrice and Lord Roswaal.”

Subaru made a face and then looked at Beatrice and nodded.

Beatrice waved her hand and the barrier disappeared.

Subaru stood up and stepped in front of Emilia and the spirits protectively, “So what now?”

“I believe that I feel sufficiently ‘relived.’ Therefore, I am going back to camp,” Rem said impassively.

She turned to leave the cave.

Subaru frowned, “Why did you help us back there?”

Rem stopped, “Believe me, Subaru Natsuki. I didn’t help you. I helped young Garf and Felt. If I had revealed you to them they would have attacked the witch.”

Subaru blinked, “What? I thought Garf had learned not to pick fights he can’t win.”

“Young Garf is well aware of the fact that he couldn’t win. He considers that the genius of his plan,” Rem said still facing away from him.

“Care to enlighten me?”

“Young Garf has immense respect for his Captain. He wishes to follow you, Subaru Natsuki. His plan to save you from this witchcraft was to throw himself at the witch with everything he had. To throw himself toward certain destruction and he has convinced Miss Felt to join him in this attack.”

Subaru scratched his head, “No way. Felt is way too smart to do that.”

“Sometimes the heart blinds the head, Subaru Natsuki. Miss Felt loves you. She has placed you on a pedestal and sees you as a man worth revering. A man who could truly change this world for the better. This is why she is willing to risk her life in this senseless attack that Garf proposed. Garf convinced her that his Captain, the man they both so admire, would never physically turn against them, nor permit them to die in battle against a witch. If his Captain were to see them fighting in hopeless battle to free him from her terrible influence, the scales would finally fall from his eyes and, with Subaru Natsuki once more beside them, they could vanquish the evil witch and reunite their team,” Rem turned to face Subaru, her face still impassive, “I think that young Garf would be… disappointed if he attempted this plan and asked you to choose between them and the witch, would he not?”

Subaru swallowed hard, “I would… never let Garf and Felt die.”

“As I thought,” Rem said impassively, “You would choose to sacrifice Garf and Felt to protect the witch. You would sacrifice all of us to save her.”

Subaru’s mouth opened but he didn’t know what to say.

“I know that you are no Witch Cultist, Subaru Natsuki. I knew that I was wrong about you the night I tried to kill you,” Rem said in a flat voice. “When you knocked away my mace with your bare hand I knew this was a fight I couldn’t win. I expected to die when you tore my mace out of my hand. But instead you just stood there staring at me. You actually looked scared!”

Subaru sighed, “Rem, you had just flung a mace at my face. I feel like I was justified in being scared.”

“Then you told Reinhard not to kill me. That was when I understood that I had made a terrible mistake. Lord Roswaal was prepared to exile me as a punishment. For a moment, I thought that was your whole plan, rather than killing me you just intended to separate me from Sister forever; a fate worse than death. But instead, you defended me.

“For a long time I tried to convince myself that it hadn’t happened. That you were playing some kind of ‘long con,’ as little sense as that would make. The Battle of Arlem made that idea impossible to sustain. You could have killed me that night without any effort at all and no one would have blamed you. My own sister would have agreed that I had been in the wrong if you’d murdered me where I stood. The only conclusion was that you really were a good person and that I’d tried to kill you for no reason,” Rem finished.

“The night that Roswaal told me about your Authority, I was certain that I’d been tricked. That you had used your magic to deceive me,” Rem said in a flat tone. “I waited until I could excuse myself and then took my mace and followed you up to your room. I intended to kill you.”

Subaru’s eyes widened and he shared a worried look with Beatrice, “Um. What changed your mind?”

“Once again, you did. I walked into the room and saw you comforting and consoling the little spirit. She offered you a chance to escape. Instead you promised to die at her side rather than abandon her,” Rem sighed.

“Subaru…” Emilia whispered.

“Subaru Natsuki, I knew that you weren’t a Witch cultist the night I tried to kill you. Over time, I decided that you were a kind and wise man; Someone to be respected, perhaps even admired,” Rem said calmly.

Subaru flushed awkwardly.

“I realize now that I was completely wrong,” Rem said looking at him impassively.

Subaru blinked.

“You did not spare me because of some deep insight into my character, you let me live because you yourself didn’t want to accept the guilt of my death even though I had tried to kill you,” Rem said.

“You say that as if it was a bad thing,” Subaru replied weakly.

“You promised to die beside Beatrice. You even admitted to the Arlem villagers that this was an act of sheer selfishness on your part. You would rather have died beside her then deal with the guilt of leaving her behind, even if you could have done infinitely more good outside of the Sanctuary,” Rem continued matter-of-fact.

“Rem-” Subaru began.

“And now you have been given all the evidence in the world that this witch has twisted your mind and your memories but you refuse to see it. You can’t stand the guilt and pain of turning against someone that you think you love, even if a blind infant could tell that those memories had been implanted by withcraft. You are choosing to run away with this witch out of some romantic fantasy that you can save her. You are a child, Subaru Natsuki: A man who refuses to see the world as it is when it conflicts with his desires,” Rem continued calmly.

Subaru scowled, “If you’re that certain of all this, then why are you letting us go?”

“Because I can’t stop you,” Rem said matter-of-fact, “We stand no chance against you alone. Likely we would fail even if we brought every soldier in the camp to face you. Our only option is to find the Sword Saint. Only he can face you and slay the witch,” Rem continued, “Beyond that, as little as I like to admit it, I am in your debt for sparing my life and I will see that debt ended.”

“I never said that you owed me a debt, Rem,” Subaru scowled, “You’re the one saying that. But how have you repaid anything? By your own admission, you just saved Felt and Garf’s lives not ours.”

“I prevented you from having to kill them,” Rem said quietly, “I assumed that would still mean something to you. Perhaps I was mistaken.”

Subaru shook his head barring his teeth, “What the hell is this? Rem, we have done nothing to you! I did not trick you, I did not deceive you!”

“Nothing to me?!” Rem hissed. She bared her teeth as she marched closer to Subaru. She carried a mace she must have known would be as useless to her in a fight as a feather-duster, “You didn’t trick me. You betrayed me! I trusted you! We all trusted you! You betrayed Garf and Felt who would have done anything for you! The poor girl was emotionally shattered in your service but you were more concerned with the emotional health of the witch who did the shattering!”

“I risked my life to try to draw the Archbishops away from you and Felt!” Subaru shouted.

“Do not treat me like a child, Subaru Natsuki,” Rem hissed with narrowed eyes, “You weren’t trying to protect us. You were trying to protect the witch! You would have thrown every single one of us onto the Witch Cult’s blades to save ‘Emilia.’” She drew back with a disgusted sneer on her face, “Tell me that I’m wrong, Subaru Natsuki.”

Subaru’s jaw clenched.

She shook her head in disgust, “Poor Garf and Miss Felt. They truly thought you were a hero. They would have done anything for you. You betrayed them. I will never forgive you, Subaru Natsuki. You betrayed all of us. Even those poor spirits who adore you and would die for you without a second thought. Perhaps they will get an opportunity to prove it if your witch decides that their deaths would benefit her.”

Subaru glared at her his vision turning red with fury, “Do not push me any further, Rem,” He said in a deathly quiet voice.

Rem stared at him her face shifting back to impassive and disdainful. “This is as far as I will go, Subaru Natsuki,” Rem said in an expressionless tone, “I owed you a life and my debt is now paid in full. The next time we meet, it shall be with Sir Reinhard at my side and we shall be enemies. He shall slay the witch and free you from this enchantment but that is no credit to you. You are the worst kind of fool, Subaru Natsuki: a powerful one. Fate in its blind ignorance has granted you the ability to do more harm to this world by accident than most men could do on purpose. You will watch as this witch slowly reveals herself to be evil incarnated in human form and I have no doubt that you will still refuse to see it. She will do great wrong to this world and, I am confident that by the time we meet again, I, and your former friends, will be in no mood to show you any quarter. Are we understood?”

Subaru scowled and nodded.

Rem stared at him impassively for a long moment, “You are nothing but a fool, Subaru Natsuki, and you will die a fool’s death,” Rem said calmly, walking away without looking back.