A very long time ago, at a small table high perched atop a grassy knoll, a beautiful woman with long white hair was reading a large white book. She was dressed in black from head to toe. Her eyes were dark and her flawless face was cast in a sardonic smile.

A small girl wearing an elaborate pink dress marched up the hill with a serious expression on her face.

“Mother,” Beatrice asked. “What are you doing?”

Echidna glanced up at Beatrice for a moment then returned her attention to the book. “I’m contemplating the vagarities of this existence. The perplexing nature of a clockwork universe where the mighty stream of time can be completely rerouted by the ripples of a single perfectly tossed pebble.”

Beatrice blanched. She glanced away, a look of intense concentration on her face as she searched her memory for something that would help her decipher this obtuse statement. “Betty has also considered this!” Beatrice said desperately.

“Oh?” Echidna said in a tone of amusement as she turned a page in her book.

“Yes! Betty was just considering this… thing, in fact,” Beatrice asserted. “Perhaps Betty could help Betty’s mother in her research!”

Echidna chuckled. “I don’t normally require assistance, Beatrice,” Echidna said carelessly, turning a page.

Beatrice’s face fell.

“Still, I suppose another pair of eyes might be useful,” Echidna continued.

Beatrice’s face lit up. “Betty is proud to help Betty’s mother research the… um, err,” Beatrice voice trailed off. She gave a weak cough. “Perhaps Betty’s mother could explain… how far she’s gotten in researching this… thing?” Beatrice suggested awkwardly.

The Witch of Greed’s face fell into an amused expression. “As I said, I was ruminating on how baffling it is that the mighty force of time should be so strangely fragile. Time is a great river, flowing to some unimaginable destiny. A river stronger and wider than any we have ever beheld. And yet, change just one tiny thing in its stream and the river can jump its banks and flow in an entirely new direction. What manner of river can be dammed and rerouted by the tossing of a single pebble?”

Beatrice looked awkward. It was clear that she did not understand what her Mother was talking about and was desperately trying to avoid admitting to this.

Echidna smirked. “‘Of all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these: it might have been.’ My precious Book,” Echidna continued. “Shows not merely the past, present, and the fluid images of the future but the flickering shadows of what might have been. It always fascinates me how lives could have otherwise been because of the smallest decision a person might make…”

Elsa stood in the doorway of the church wearing a formfitting outfit. Her cleave window reached down to her navel. She wore tights and a red cape was draped behind her.

Elsa smiled calmly. “Your friends were most amusing to play with, Princess. They did not want to tell me where you were.”

Anri’s eyes darted around the room, looking for an escape that wasn’t there.

Anri drew herself up imperiously. The girl forced her mouth into a grim line. “Look, if you were expecting me to beg for my life, Elsa, then I’m afraid I’m going to disappoint you,” Anri snarled even as tears streamed from her eyes. “I’ll show you how a princess can die!”

“Oh good!” Elsa said approvingly. “This should be fun! I don’t get to fondle young entrails like yours very often. I’m sure that they’ll be most soft and supple. I’m very curious as to what color they’ll be.”

Anri’s face remained defiant but her cheeks were ashen.

“Princess! Run away!” Victoire shouted, drawing a short sword from her belt and sprinting to stand in front of Anri. “I’ll hold this cunt off!”

Elsa smiled kindly at Victoire.

Emilia’s mind went blank as Anri rushed over to her, the princess throwing her arms around Emilia and trembling. Elsa’s appearance was a literal nightmare, in some ways the thought of facing her was worse than the thought of encountering a Snow Blight or even the Black Snake.

Elsa slashed at Victoire with her long daggers and sent her crashing back against the wall next to Emilia. Victoire had a massive gash across her stomach.

Emilia froze. Unable to move, to think, or to do anything useful.

Elsa simpered as she slowly walked over to Emilia and Anri.

Elsa sprang at them, blades extended and a gleeful smile on face.

Victoire’s smug expression broke into a shock as she realized that Elsa was aiming for Anri and not Emilia.

Victoire leaped to her feet and knocked Elsa back with her bare hands.

Elsa staggered back several steps and then regained her balance. She looked delighted. “Oh my! You do have some fight in you!” She exclaimed, examining Victoire with renewed interest.

“Stay back, Princess!” Victoire shouted.

Anri and Emilia drew back from the circling combatants.

Part of Emilia screamed at her that Subaru needed her and that she needed to confront Elsa to keep him safe. Emilia suddenly realized that she could finally step up and protect Subaru for once.

She thought that she could finally prove to everyone that she was more than just a helpless girl that needed Subaru to take care of her.

But only for a moment.

Emilia knew that she was no hero, that facing Elsa would certainly kill her, and that she had no hope at all of keeping Subaru safe.

At least not by fighting.

Emilia made a decision.

“Come on,” Emilia whispered to Anri, pulling the girl into the hall.

Emilia’s last view of the kitchen was of Elsa trying to slash Victoire and Victoire jumping away.

“What are we doing?!” Anri demanded.

Emilia sighed but she didn’t slow down as they hurried into Subaru’s room. “Anri, if we try to fight Elsa… we’re just going to die…” Emilia said sadly as she picked up Subaru from the bed and bundled him up in blankets.

Anri bit her lip, looking miserable but she didn’t argue. “But… what about Victoire?” She asked plaintively.

Emilia remembered Victoire with small kindness after all her sharp words and insults toward Emilia and Subaru. For a moment, Emilia realized that she didn’t really care if the sharp tongued woman died. Then she shook off these unworthy thoughts. “She’s buying time to protect you, Anri,” Emilia explained. “If Elsa kills you, that sacrifice was for nothing. Make her sacrifice an act of honor by escaping and returning to your people,” She urged.

Anri bowed her head, tears streaming down her face, but she nodded.

The beautiful, sensual, enchanting, gorgeous, and passionate Capella Emerada Lugnica realized that she had a problem.

It wasn’t her fault, of course. Her plan was nothing short of brilliant but as she dodged one of the sluttish Elsa’s slashing daggers, she was forced to admit that it was just possible that there was a tiny little flaw.

Late last night, Capella had left a message for Elsa in one of the Assassin Guild’s many dead-drop sites. The message had told her that Anri was hiding at the church.

Capella had intended for that stupid hussy Elsa to show up at the church and kill the pustulent Subaru and his little elven slut. Then Capella would kill Elsa which would earn Anri’s trust and gratitude as well as ensure that there was no one left but Capella for Anri to depend on. After that, Capella was confident that Anri would have to listen when Capella recommended that she open the Vault.

However, it was at least technically possible that Capella had miscalculated.

It wasn’t her fault, of course. The basic plan was flawless. However, now that the pieces of her plan were in motion in front of her, it was trivial for an astounding mind like Capella Emerada Lugnica to realize that Elsa could not recognize the woman whom she was attacking as her benevolent mistress because of Capella’s ingenious ‘Victoire’ disguise.

Capella had not informed Elsa of her presence in the church because she had no faith in the numb cunt’s acting ability. If Capella had told Elsa that her scintillating patron was impersonating a Gusteko Operative named Victoire then Elsa would have acted differently around Capella, refusing to fight the immaculate goddess whom she had worshiped for all these years, and Anri would have become suspicious.

Thus, it was clear to Capella that she had been entirely correct in her decision not to share this information with Elsa.

However, the extremely minor flaw in Capella’s brilliant plan was this: Elsa was fixated on trying to kill Victoire rather than cutting up the contemptible Subaru and his stupid elven whore. Elsa seemed to be in no hurry to chase after Anri, being content to hunt her down later after Elsa had finished playing with her current opponent. Elsa was utterly confident that she could easily kill Anri at leisure since there was nowhere for her to run. The big-titted cow’s stupidity was letting Capella down once again.

Capella could easily destroy Elsa in a split second. But the irony was that Capella had just realized that Victoire couldn’t do that. If Victoire were to suddenly demonstrate enough strength, agility, or magic to deal with Elsa, then Anri would be suspicious of her suddenly mighty ally and the entire plan would be ruined.

As it was, the amazing Capella Emerada Lugnica was reduced to dodging knives while she attempted to use her remarkable brain to compensate for her tramp of a servant’s stupidity.

Elsa’s stupidity was genuinely overwhelming. Elsa had found a way to do exactly what the amazing Capella had told her to do and yet the plan was still ruined. How could Elsa have possibly screwed up this badly?

Elsa had already marked Capella with a dozen minor wounds in non-crippling places. Elsa wasn’t trying to win the fight yet. She was still having fun and wanted to drag this out for as long as possible before finally cutting up her prey.

Capella’s wounds weren’t bleeding but Elsa hadn’t noticed that yet.

As the minutes dragged on, Capella turned her incandescent brain toward finding a solution for all of Elsa’s blunders in Capella’s flawless plan but Elsa’s stupidity was so profound that the remarkable Capella simply couldn’t find a way to compensate for the plan going sideways.

As time passed and Elsa continued to stab and mock her, Capella got angrier and angrier.

Finally, Capella just couldn’t stand it anymore.

Suddenly moving much faster than a normal human would be capable of, Capella placed her palm firmly against the startled Elsa’s midsection and pushed.

Elsa went flying backwards, shooting through the church doorway and landing on her back outside, skidding through the mud. The fact that Elsa had flown through the open doorway as opposed to crashing hard against the Church wall and splattering like a rotten fruit, was mostly chance.

Elsa quickly got back to her feet and saw Victoire standing there, her face twisted in rage and her eyes absolutely insane.

With a thought, Capella mended the dozen or so knife-wounds dotting her body.

Elsa blanched. Elsa adored combat, the rush and frenzy of battle was her one true passion, unless one counted the torture and execution of her helpless victims afterward, but this woman had a strange power that reminded Elsa of Mother Capella. Elsa might love battle but she was no fool. Any power that reminded Elsa of Mother Capella was nothing to trifle with.

Elsa leaped to her feet and took off running.

Capella stormed after Elsa with a scowl on her face.

The changeling Capella had a thousand different forms that could easily catch up to Elsa and tear her to pieces. She was already in the process of shapeshifting into one of them before she remembered that her ultimate goal was to cozen Anri into opening the Vault so she regretfully let her tramp of a minion escape for now. Capella took a moment to collect herself emotionally and get back into character as ‘Victoire.’ Then she went into the back of the church with a warm smile on her face.

“Princess?” She called. “We’re safe now!”

Capella entered the room where the faggot Subaru had been resting only to discover that the bed was empty. The window was open and the curtains streamed in the wind.

The entire village of Iruk was awakened that morning by Capella’s ear-splitting scream of fury.

Anri rode Patrasche to the north while Emilia sat behind her, holding Subaru in her arms.

Emilia had wanted to immediately return to the forest and take shelter in the only safe place she’d ever known but Anri had immediately nixed this idea. Elsa was a talented and skilled tracker and the elven village was their very last point of refuge. They needed to throw off pursuit before they went back there.

Thus they rode toward a town in Gusteko called Stoneybrooke. Anri had visited it once and it was even possible that Anri could find some of her scattered bodyguards there.

“Mili, how’s Subaru doing?” Anri asked as Patrasche raced across the flat ground.

Emilia looked incredulous. “You’re asking me?!” Emilia protested.

“Well, I’m a little busy right now to inspect him,” Anri grumbled, guiding Patrasche.

“But how in the world would I know how he’s doing?!” Emilia asked helplessly.

“Is he feverish?! Is he shivering? Is he moaning in pain?” Anri snapped back.

Emilia quickly felt his forehead. “No. I don’t… think so,” Emilia answered in a small voice. “…Subaru will be fine, right?”

Anri didn’t answer.

“Right?!” Emilia asked desperately. “We gave him the medicine!”

Anri sighed. “Well… Subaru should have had another dose of the medicine this morning but… I didn’t have time to pack it before we fled. He seems to be doing OK but…”

Emilia bit her lip and held Subaru tighter as if to stop him from slipping away from her.

Subaru drifted in a strange world between sleep and waking. He found himself in a large clearing in a forest full of mist. The clearing was simply a flat expanse of gray mist under a bright sun that struggled to shine through the fog. The clearing was fenced by a ring of low shrubs and ferns that were all exactly the same size and shape. The forest trees were distant shadows, standing in the mist.

Something bothered Subaru about the area but it took him a moment to put it together.

All of those ferns look exactly alike. There’s no dirt or bugs on any of the fronds and all the leaves have exactly the same pattern. The dirt floor is a muted gray color with no variations in shade or texture and it’s as level as a table top. The trees that I can see in the mist are all the exact same size and have the exact same pattern of branches, like someone did a crude copy-and-paste.

This place isn’t real. It lacks the small details and irregularities that a real place would possess.

Subaru looked up at the sun overhead. A moment later, Subaru realized that the ball of light above wasn’t a sun. It was an enormous ball of fire hovering thirty feet him. Long spindly tendrils of flame reached out from the central body and drifted weightlessly through the air.

Subaru heard something rumbling in the forest just out of sight. He turned and saw a titanically long, snake-like black body crashing through the underbrush at lightning speed.

What is that?! It looks like a body made of sludge. It looks like the Black Water but… the Black Water was like a creeping puddle. This looks more like a raging river that’s jumped out of its banks…

“Hellooo…” A girl’s voice whispered through the clearing. She spoke in a sing-song voice.

Subaru looked around but saw no one. The sludge monster continued to rampage through the undergrowth like a runaway train, circling the clearing but making no effort to come closer.

“I’m cooooming…” The same voice whispered.

The strange creature suddenly reared up from within the shrubs, swaying like a cobra and towering over Subaru like a great tree. The monster resembled nothing so much as an enormous slug. Its body lacked any identifiable features such as a mouth, eyes, or limbs. It just looked like black sludge somehow brought to life.

The monster swayed far above Subaru’s head but it seemed to completely ignore him. Instead, it extended its blunt nose toward the fireball burning above.

The fireball’s spindly tendrils of flame drifted toward the monster. As soon as the first tendril made contact, the monster liquefied and was drawn up the burning limb like a thick milkshake sucked through a tiny straw. The fireball swelled and became too bright for Subaru to look at. Then its light faded. When Subaru looked again, the sun-like sphere had become the color of a fresh bruise. It sat high above, still burning sedately but its light and heat had been drastically reduced.

Subaru stared at the fireball opened-mouthed. What the FUCK just happened?! Did the sun eat the slug? Did the slug eat the sun? Or is this a case of neither and this is some weird example of how baby… ‘whatevers’ are born?

“Daphne is here,” A breathy voice whispered from behind him, close enough for Subaru to feel the breath on the back of his neck. “Subaru…”

“We need a room,” Anri said to the innkeeper in Stoneybrooke early that afternoon.

The innkeeper, a burly man with a tiny red mustache, squinted down at Anri. “How old are you?” He asked.

“Ask me how old my money is instead,” Anri said brusquely, holding out a silver coin in her good arm. She absently adjusted her arm-sling. Anri was on edge. She’d seen no sign of Elsa and that was suspicious. Anri didn’t believe for a moment that Victoire had held Elsa back for more than five minutes, much less beaten her. So where was she? Elsa was a relentless tracker. Her losing the trail would be an amazing stroke of luck and Anri had learned long ago not to accept good luck unquestioningly.

The innkeeper scratched his nose. “How many of you and for how long?”

“Just me, my brother, and his wife,” Anri replied. “We’ll need a room with two beds. Just tonight for starters. If we like it here, we might stay longer.”

The innkeeper nodded and took the coin. “Upstairs. Third door on your left,” The innkeeper said. “Supper is just after sundown.”

Anri nodded and then walked back out of the inn.

Emilia stood outside, huddling against the inn. She cradled the bundled-up Subaru in her arms while Patrasche stood close by.

In an effort to avoid detection as an elf, Emilia had her hood pulled very low over her face, so low that she was effectively blind. People walked down the street not far away but all Emilia could see of the Stoneybrooke pedestrians was their feet.

Emilia heard more than saw someone approaching. She assumed that it was Anri until she heard a gruff voice ask, “Hey, got a copper to spare?” in a slurred voice. From under her hood, she could see his old and poorly maintained boots.

Emilia jumped back. “Get away from me!” She almost screamed, clutching Subaru closer to her.

The stranger jumped back and a few of the locales stopped to look at the commotion.

Patrasche bent her head protectively over Emilia and gave the man a low growl.

“OK! OK!” The stranger exclaimed, beating a hasty retreat. “Forget that I asked!”

The few onlookers grew bored and, realizing that nothing more of interest was likely to happen, they kept walking.

I don’t know what to do, Emilia grieved. I can’t do anything to help Subaru. I can’t keep him safe. I can’t curse his illness. I can’t even make him happy. All I can do is be a lead weight around his neck, dragging him to ground…

Yesterday I told him to leave me. I know that was the right thing to do but it took absolutely everything that a weak, helpless little girl like me had just to be able to say it.

I have nothing even close to that kind of willpower left. I couldn’t bring myself to ask Subaru to leave again if the fate of the world depended on it. If Subaru broke our engagement and went to live with someone else, I think I might collapse and beg him to bring me with him as a mistress… or even as a maid…

Anything as long as I could stay close to him.

He’s the only one that can make me feel safe.

He’s the only person who’s stopping me from inflicting even more pain and misery on this world…

“Mili,” Anri said, causing Emilia to jump. “This way.”

Anri took Emilia by the sleeve and led her inside the inn. Anri walked slowly, guiding Emilia’s steps since she knew that her hood was pulled so low that she could barely see.

Anri took a wary glance at the innkeeper.

The man behind the counter looked suspicious but he didn’t seem inclined to ask any questions. At least not so far.

Emilia’s reached the staircase inside the inn and was guided up by Anri.

Subaru spun around and saw what might have been the strangest sight that he had ever beheld.

The girl before him was tied up in what looked like an upright coffin. The box’s open lid was split in half, like window shutters. The coffin was filled up with what looked like some very soft and comfortable pink padding. In the middle of that padding lay a girl. She looked to be about fourteen with pale, colorless hair and a mouth full of sharp teeth. What was even stranger was that this fourteen year old girl appeared to have some very unusual fetishes.

The girl was chained head to foot inside the coffin in such a way that she could not move a millimeter. She was wearing a tight bondage suit that, if anything, looked even more restricting than the chains. Both the chains and the body suit were locking her legs tightly together beneath her body while her arms were widely separated. She wore a broad purple blindfold.

“Who are you?” Subaru demanded.

The girl cocked her head. “Daphne is here, Subaru,” The girl repeated, not changing a single note of inflection in her previous statement.

Subaru scowled. I remember something my Mother once told me about the ‘Mathematician’s answer.’ It’s an answer that fully answers the question asked but doesn’t provide any kind of useful information. Like if you ask someone if they know what time it is and they say ‘yes.’ This girl has twice told me her name but nothing about who she actually is or what she’s doing here.

“What are you?” Subaru rephrased.

Daphne thought for a moment. She looked off into the distance despite her blindfold and she took a step back, seeming to be deep in thought.

Subaru realized to his shock that the girl hadn’t moved at all and was in fact incapable of moving. Instead the coffin that she rested in had moved. The coffin was mounted on strange crab-like legs and it had extra appendages protruding from the front that resembled a centipede’s pincers or a spider’s fangs. The coffin wasn’t being carried by some monster, the coffin was the monster. Some insectine-abomination created just for the purpose of carrying the restrained girl around.

“I am Daphne, Subaru,” The girl explained quietly. “I am the Witch of Gluttony.”

Subaru’s jaw dropped. “You’re a witch?!”

“Yes,” She replied calmly.

“How did you get here?” Subaru demanded. “Hell, where is here?”

Daphne looked around as if her blindfold was not restricting her vision in any way and her crab-coffin turned slowly in a circle. “This appears to be the realm of dreams.”

“Dreams?”

“Yes. A place where the minds of individuals connect to the Soul of this World,” Daphne continued matter-of-fact. “Dona spends a lot of time here. I don’t like Dona very much but Nerva asked me to be nicer to her,” Daphne rambled, sounding a little sullen.

Subaru blinked, struggling to follow along Daphne’s line of thought. “Um. You seem to be restrained. Did you need a hand with that?”

Daphne thought for a moment. “That wouldn’t be a good idea, Subaru,” She said regretfully. “I tied myself up because I have a hard time repressing my appetite. I’m so very hungry…” She finished in an almost dreamy voice.

Subaru frowned. “Wait a second, aren’t you supposed to be dead?”

Daphne cocked her head. “Hm?”

“All the witches were supposed to have been killed by the Witch of Envy when she destroyed most of the world,” Subaru replied.

“Tella destroyed the world?” Daphne asked, sounding slightly impressed. “Where did little Tella get that kind of power?”

Subaru scratched his head, unsure of how to respond to that question. “I’m not sure. Don’t you know? I mean the Witch of Envy did kill you, right?”

Daphne cocked her head again. “Daphne is not dead, Subaru,” She corrected calmly.

Subaru blinked. “Wait, you’re not?! I thought that the Witch of Envy devoured all the other witches!”

“Tella eat Daphne?” She asked skeptically. Daphne shook her head. “Daphne is not dead. Daphne is just sleeping, Subaru. How else could she come here and find you?” She asked logically.

Subaru scratched his chin. “Um… OK. I… guess that makes sense,” He said slowly, uncertain if Daphne’s argument really did make any sense or not. “Why are you here?”

“Bored,” The girl proclaimed laconically. “Being sealed up for centuries is boring. Especially now that I’m awake after all the noise coming from Dona’s grave.”

Subaru hesitated, uncertain what that meant. “Yeah, I guess it would be pretty boring but… why did you come to me?”

Daphne considered this for a moment. “Because you have a part of me. A piece that was stolen long ago.”

“I do?” Subaru said dubiously.

“You have a shard of my Authority,” Daphne grinned with razor-sharp teeth.

Subaru’s jaw dropped. “What?!” Subaru said. “I don’t have Gluttony!”

“Apparently, you do. Did you kill one of the usurpers?” She asked, sounding not terribly interested.

Subaru frowned. So, is she saying that when I killed Roy, I picked up his Authority? I haven’t felt any different lately. And did I steal Petelguese’s too or did that not happen?

“Because you have a shard of my power,” Daphne continued. “And then were contaminated by a creation of my Authority, I was able to follow the trail back and find you here. It’s very nice to meet you, Subaru. I haven’t talked to anyone else in such a very long time…”

For a moment, Daphne sounded so lonely and sad that Subaru reached up to pat her head and try to comfort her. However, before he could do so, her coffin leaned sharply forward until Daphne’s face was inches from Subaru. “Subaru, do you have anything to eat?” She asked plaintively.

Subaru swallowed hard as the Witch looked down at him through her blindfold. Her maw full of sharp teeth was close enough to kiss. Subaru glanced down at the crab-coffin’s body which was gripping the ground with sharp legs to avoid losing its balance. “Um. No, sorry,” Subaru replied. Subaru slowly pulled his hand back, suddenly worried he might lose that hand if he put it anywhere near the Witch’s mouth.

“Oh,” Daphne said in a morose voice as she straightened up. Her crab-coffin scuttled away a few feet and Daphne stared off into the misty forest with a moody expression.

Subaru cleared his throat. “So what were you saying about being tied up?”

“Hm? Oh. I don’t know. It’s very hard to control myself these days. I’m so very, very hungry. If I was free, I don’t think I could control myself. I might eat anything right now. Anything…” Daphne trailed off but her voice was more eager than apprehensive and Subaru swallowed hard.

Subaru coughed. “Say, Daphne, if you’re a witch then maybe you could help me with something?”

“Oh?” Daphne murmured incuriously.

“I’m trying to break a curse. I thought maybe you might have heard about it and could suggest something.”

“Have you tried Azoth?” Daphne asked.

“Um. Never heard of it,” Subaru admitted. “Is that something that cures curses?”

“It’s a solvent. A potion that breaks down magic into its base components. It breaks curses and other spells by reducing them to six flavors of raw mana,” Daphne recited in a bored voice.

Subaru made a face. “Um. I think this might actually be a very powerful curse, Daph. All the memories of my wife have been, well, erased.”

“Hm?” Daphne said, still not turning around to look at him.

“She remembers everything that’s happened to her and so do I but for some reason, all of our friends act like they’d never met her before. As far as I can tell, everyone in the whole world has forgotten about her. Ever heard of a curse like that?”

Daphne thought for a moment and her crab-coffin slowly turned around so that the witch could look at Subaru. “It sounds to Daphne like your wifey isn’t cursed. Her name has been eaten.”

Subaru blinked. “What?!” He asked incredulously.

“It’s a power of Gluttony, Subaru,” Daphne explained. “When you eat someone’s name, you devour all of the mental connections that people have made to that name. The sweetness of the memories shared with their cherished friends, the bitterness of their enemies’ wounds, every salty tear, every savory love,” Daphne’s coffin started to tremble and vibrate. “It’s so delicious! I haven’t eaten anyone in so very long!” She declared in rapture, her face twisted in an ecstatic smile and drool visibly dripped through her sharp fangs. Her crab-coffin’s legs extended to their full length until Daphne towered over Subaru. The coffin began to rock back and forth wildly as Daphne seemed to go into a delirious frenzy.

Subaru could only stare at the exultant witch in disbelief. “Um, Daphne?”

The coffin-crab slowly sank back into a normal posture. “Yes, Subaru?” She said calmly.

“Would you happen to know any way of breaking this um, curse?” Subaru asked.

Daphne cocked her head. The coffin-crab scuttled off a few steps and then began to move around the clearing as Daphne frowned. It was almost as if the witch was pacing while deep in thought.

Finally, the coffin-crab returned to its previous position so that Daphne could face Subaru. “Have you tried Anima?” Daphne asked.

“What’s Anima?” He asked.

Daphne gasped. “You’ve never tried Anima?!” She said in horror. “How are you even alive? What is life without Anima?! What’s the point in living without-”

“Daphne,” Subaru cut her off. “Can we… rein this in a little?”

Daphne was still ‘staring’ at Subaru in shocked disbelief but she finally nodded. “I would suggest giving your wifey Anima, Subaru. It connects a person to the Soul of this World. That should be enough to restore the world’s missing memories of your wifey.”

Subaru scratched his chin. So all I have to do is feed my wifey… Subaru made a face and then shook off Daphne’s bizarre turn of phrase. So all I have to do is feed Emilia, a completely unknown substance that a witch whom I just met assures me will make everything better… “Are you sure about this?” He asked dubiously.

Daphne sniffed. “Be nice, Subaru!” She sounded both petulant and offended. “I am the greatest master of alchemy and potions in centuries! I was revered as the… second… most brilliant witch of my time,” Daphne trailed off with a growl.

Subaru rocked his head back and forth. “OK… any idea is better than nothing, I suppose. Where do I find it?”

“You don’t find Anima, Subaru. You make it. I was the first to make the Philosopher’s Stone in thousands of years,” She said proudly. “I was a genius at alchemy. I think that was part of what made the Authority choose me.”

“Wait, what?!” Subaru asked in surprise.

“The Philosopher’s Stone is a catalyst that facilitates the creation of extremely powerful magical potions, potions whose production would be infeasible any other way. I was a prodigy at alchemy,” Daphne mused, scuttling off a few steps. “Daddy was sick and he was desperately trying to find a cure. I was his little helper. He used me to test some of his potions. I created Soma to try and cure him. We drank it… The Authority came to me… And then I… forget exactly what happened next. I just remember being really, really hungry…,” She trailed off.

I have some theories about what happened next, Subaru thought grimly. “Daphne, can you tell me how to make Anima? I need to cure Emilia.”

Daphne hesitated. “What about a trade?” She wheedled.

A trade? “Alright,” Subaru said slowly. “I guess that sounds fair. What did you want me to tell you?”

“Telling is a waste of time,” Daphne said dismissively.

“Um. Not if you’re trying to learn something, Daph,” Subaru disagreed.

“I know a much faster way! I’ll swap you a bit of me for a bit of you!” Daphne proclaimed excitedly.

“…What does that mean?” Subaru asked warily.

Daphne thought for a moment. “It’s a little like eating a name,” She explained. “You give me copies of some of your memories and emotions and I’ll give you copies of some of mine.”

Subaru hesitated. “Copies?” Subaru emphasized.

“Yeah. You’ll still have all of your memories. They might fade a little but that’s the price of making copies. Believe me, I wouldn’t give up my potions.”

Subaru thought for a moment. I don’t really like the sound of this. But what if I say no? Daphne might be the only one who knows how to restore everyone’s memories of Emilia.

Do I really have a choice?

“Alright,” Subaru said slowly. “How do we do this?”

“Give me your hand,” Daphne said eagerly.

Subaru started to reach out for Daphne’s chained hand but instead Daphne opened her mouth very wide and said “Ahhh!” in a sing-song voice, like a small child begging for a treat.

“Whoah!” Subaru jumped back, holding his own hand possessively. “I’m not going to let you bite my hand off!”

“Hm,” Daphne thought for a moment. “How about just your pinkie then?”

Subaru hesitated. “How do I know you won’t just grab the whole thing?” He hedged.

“Cut it off,” Daphne suggested.

The crab-coffin sliced its scissor-like fangs together a few times with a shearing sound.

Subaru looked down at his hand with a sick expression on his face.

I hate this. I hate this but this might be my only chance to fix everything…

Subaru thought of Emilia and then gingerly put his finger in-between the monster’s slicing fangs and closed his eyes.

The monster sheered through the joint like it was tissue paper.

Subaru looked down at his severed finger that lay on the dirty ground and fought not to scream.

Then his face twisted in confusion. His hand was bleeding but it was a slow, seeping kind of bleeding rather than the huge spurt of blood one would expect after a sudden amputation.

Stranger still, it didn’t hurt at all.

“This is a dream, Subaru,” Daphne said with some amusement. “You didn’t lose your real finger. It’s just symbolic.”

That made Subaru feel a little better. “Well, you might have said that upfront,” He muttered. “So what do we do now?”

Daphne again opened her mouth wide with a musical ‘Ahh’ but Subaru shook his head. “Slow down. How are you going to give me your memories?”

“Oh,” Daphne squirmed for a moment. “Fair is fair, I guess,” She admitted. Subaru watched her extend her pinkie finger.

Subaru frowned. “Daph, your hand won’t reach your… um… crab-fang things,” Subaru said awkwardly.

Daphne shrugged. “Just bite it!” She said impatiently.

Subaru made a pained expression. “Really?” He asked in a sick voice.

“Come on! Hurry up!”

Subaru sighed and moved closer to Daphne’s crab-coffin. He was careful to stay well clear of the crab’s slicing jaws.

Because of Daphne’s restraints, it took a little effort but he finally managed to get her pinky finger into his mouth up to the knuckle. It was as thin as a carrot stick.

Subaru glanced up at Daphne’s face but her expression betrayed no misgivings. If anything, she looked excited.

Subaru sighed and bit down hard.

The bone parted as if he had bit into freeze-dried ice-cream. The flavor wasn’t unpleasant but it was unfamiliar and Subaru struggled not to spit the finger out.

Subaru chewed as fast as he could and swallowed the gruesome mouthful.

“Mine now, please!” Daphne said hurriedly, opening her mouth wide.

Subaru grabbed his forehead as the world swam around him. He teetered in place and then he collapsed onto the hard ground.

“Oh. Well, OK,” Daphne said in a friendly voice. “Whenever you wake up, I guess.”

Subaru found himself sitting at a table full of bubbling flasks and decanters in a rainbow of different colors. Most of the potions were connected by transparent tubing and drops of strange glowing fluid slowly flowed from one container to another in a massive, interconnected process. Subaru had never taken a chemistry class in his life but he somehow knew every potion on that table like the back of his hand. Concepts like ‘distillation,’ ‘sublimation,’ and ‘acetalisation’ bounced around in his head. Each flask was working at a specific temperature and pressure, gathering products from previous steps and making new regents in situ before the products bubbled out of their flask and slipped further down the chain.

Subaru drummed slender fingers with ragged, short nails against the table. He sighed, I need to focus. That annoying Flugel always warned me that my Authority was only marginally under my control. He kept said ‘Focus on satiation, not gorging.’ Seek out that flash of ‘Dionysian ecstasy’ as he put it, instead of always looking to feel full…

Yeah, that’s really sound advice, buddy but it’s really very hard to live by. I’m counting down the heartbeats until tonight’s feast.

Subaru snorted. As if that idiot knew what it was like to really feel hungry. Down in your bones hungry. He’s probably never known real hunger in his life! I’d do anything to fill in the emptiness inside of me…

He glanced at the bubbling Azoth as it slowly condensed in the final flask as a thick purple syrup. Inside the previous flask was a red orb the size of a baseball. It looks like a faceted ruby and every few seconds it pulsed, glowing a brilliant red like a constant heartbeat.

The Philosopher’s Stone. That’s what lets me make Azoth. Without it, the costs to produce that potion would require all mana on a continent.

Even with the Philosopher’s Stone as a catalyst, Azoth was extremely complicated to make, requiring a series of steps and very precise temperatures and pressures to make all the necessary ingredients. Subaru remembered working on this mouthful of Azoth for close to a month and he didn’t dare let it out of his sight for long. Even a very small variation in temperature or pressure would be enough to ruin weeks of work. Worse, that tiny variation would almost inevitably produce a variety of unexpected gaseous compounds, all of which were either poisonous, explosive, or both.

Subaru closed his eyes and sighed. There would be no Anima until the ceremony tonight but at least it was only a few hours away. He looked at the other table where a bright green liquid was pouring into a small keg. Soma was trivial to make compared to Azoth. He just had to set up the ingredients and let it cook for an hour or two. But if the new Postulant that Giorti had been interviewing was really serious about joining the Order then they would need a taste of Vitae and regular doses of Soma before much longer. Later he’d reduce the Soma to powder so that it was easier to work with.

A hesitant knock came from behind him.

Subaru turned around and saw a chubby man in a purple robe standing diffidently by the open door. “Forgive me, Lady Daphne,” He bowed.

“Hey, Giorti,” Subaru murmured in a bored tone as he examined a bubbling flask. “How did the auction last night go?”

Giorti’s face grew bittersweet. “I won the auction. I did acquire a flawless copy of Choval’s masterpiece ‘The Pillar of Heaven.’”

“But?” Subaru murmured, poking at the flask.

Giorti sighed. “I admit, I still wish that I had been able to find an original,” He said wistfully.

“That would be a waste of time,” Subaru commented, frowning at the flask.

“Mistress?”

“I’ve told you this a thousand times, Giorti. That statue you bought has been magically produced. Magic reproductions work off the molecular level. The statue you bought is an exact duplicate of the original in every way, indistinguishable even to an expert. It is a perfect copy down to the smallest chip and smudge, completely indistinguishable from the original,” Daphne grumbled with an eye roll.

“But-”

Subaru cut him off. “Take any work of art, Giorti, like a painting for example. Duplicate the first tiniest dot of color and then the next and then the next. You’ll be left with an exact copy. That’s all there is to it. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again,” Subaru muttered, watching the bubbling flasks. “No object can transcend its own smallest part.”

“True, my lady, but the original does have a vast amount of sentimental value.”

“If this ‘sentimental value’ exists,” Subaru said skeptically, “Then it was copied as well. Nothing unreal exists, Giorti.”

Giorti gave Subaru a half smile. “Forgive me, Mistress but that seems like a very odd philosophy coming from a witch.”

Subaru sniffed and tapped one of his flasks. He muttered something and a small jet of flame erupted from his finger, increasing the temperature of the reaction inside the beaker. “Nothing happens in defiance of the laws of nature, Giorti. Only in defiance of what we know of them. Incidentally, has there been any word from Jango?”

Giorti sighed. “I’m afraid so, Lady Daphne. Jango found the grave but it was empty. There’s no trace of him left.”

Subaru slammed his fist against the lab table. “Damn it! I need to eat some kind of remains to get his memories!” Subaru hissed.

“Forgive me, Lady Daphne but why is this suddenly so important to you?”

Subaru sighed. “Because this is my only real chance to figure out what she’s been up to! Even when she comes to the tea parties, she still won’t explain. She keeps pushing off our questions, acting like we’re not smart enough to understand what she’s doing but I understand very well: She’s breaking one of the cardinal rules.”

Giorti was silent.

Subaru sighed. “What about Jango’s other mission? Any luck there?”

“I’m afraid not, Lady Daphne. He reports that it’s very slow going. The Grey Mountains are swarming with Black Dragons. Thus far, he had had no sightings. Locating a Golden Dragon nest will take some time. Golden dragons are critically endangered-”

“Of course, they’re critically endangered! Golden dragon eggs make omelets fit for the gods! Whole books have been written about the subtle interplay between the albumen and the yolk,” Subaru said in a voice filled with yearning.

Subaru realized that he was drooling and he hastily wiped his mouth.

“Forgive me, Lady Daphne,” Giorti said uncertainly. “But given how endangered a golden dragon is, is it really appropriate to use their eggs for omelets? If we acquired a few eggs, perhaps we could breed them in order to repopulate-”

“Giorti,” Subaru sighed. “Some days I really don’t know why I bother to put up with you.”

Giorti abruptly stopped talking.

“If I can taste their eggs then I can reproduce them! The complex weave of textures and flavors will live on in my research! I can mass produce their eggs using my Authority! The indescribable sensation of eating their eggs will one day be as commonplace to us as the lowly chicken egg is now! Do you really think that the average person in this world cares if the sky is full of dragons of any color?!

Giorti hesitated.

“No! They care about having a belly full of good food! Who cares what happens to the dragons once we can reproduce their essence? If their essence lives on, does it really matter if the animals do?”

Giorti was silent and Subaru was certain that he was carefully considering a safe response.

Subaru rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I doubt that you came in here to discuss this.”

Giorti nodded. “Ah yes, forgive my distraction, Lady Daphne. Sister Jenevieve has arrived for tonight’s feast.”

Subaru’s face brightened and his mouth watered. Subaru quickly wiped away a thin stream of drool from his chin.

He watched as the last purple drop fell into the vial and then he stoppered the Azoth tightly and slipped the vial into a pocket.

Subaru went to the other table and checked the bubbling Soma as the last of it poured into a small keg about six inches high. Subaru put a lid on the keg.

“Bring the keg,” Subaru ordered Giorti. Giorti hastened to obey as Subaru marched away from the lab. Subaru had no idea where he was going but somehow he knew exactly how to get there.

As he left the room, he happened to pass by a mirror and in the mirror he saw a girl with pale hair who looked to be about fourteen.

Wait! I’m Daphne! Somehow I’m… Daphne!

The girl looking back at him in the mirror looked so different from the Daphne that Subaru had met in the dream that he had to double check his conclusion before he really believed it. This Daphne was wearing a stylish purple pleated skirt and a thin white blouse. Her teeth were unusually sharp but they weren’t the grotesque chompers that Subaru associated with her modern incarnation or the other Gluttonies. Daphne’s features were regular and could have been considered pretty but it was her eyes that demanded attention: Her eyes were nothing short of captivating, like deep pools of emerald.

Despite his shock, Subaru found that he was unable to pause his journey and he continued to walk down the hall as if the sight of his reflection was in no way remarkable.

The shock of realizing that he was someone else quickly subsided and Subaru began to experience the world as Daphne once again. He felt himself subsumed by her memories and experiences.

That man in the robe. Giorti. He was one of the first to join me when I acquired my Authority. The elders had their doubts about the direction that I was taking my branch of the Order all those years ago but the young loved it and Giorti was one of my first acolytes.

Jenevieve. I remember her. I gave her that name. Flugel told me that it means ‘woman of the family.’ I gave her that name when we took her in. We found her huddled by the side of the road, abandoned, starving, and almost dead.

Horror of horrors. …What kind of world is this that allows someone to go hungry?

I’ll fix that. I swear I will. I’ll see to it that hunger is a thing of the past…

She was so young. She didn’t even know what her name really was. She’d been living on the streets in that city for years. She told us a long series of nicknames and insults that the locals would call her when they pleased to call her anything.

I named her Jenevieve…

We took her in. We raised her. Five years was a ridiculously small time to become an Acolyte of the Order but she surprised us all with her dedication.

As soon as she reached full rank, she declared her intention to hold a feast. She wept with joy when I chose her from all the other petitioners…

Subaru paused in his journey. Giorti was plodding behind him, the tubby man struggling to carry the small keg.

“Actually, Giorti,” Subaru mused. “Let’s check the greenhouse first.”

The greenhouse was an enormous glass dome at least a half mile in diameter. It contained a veritable forest. Full grown fruiting trees stood side by side with odd ferns and shrubs. Strangely, all the plants were as black as coal. A dozen men and women in purple robes worked diligently to tend to the plants.

Subaru shook free of Daphne for a moment. There’s something wrong in here, His instincts warned him.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

Subaru couldn’t quite put his finger on it but he was certain that there was something dangerous in this place.

A moment later, Daphne’s memories subsumed him again and Subaru realized that it didn’t matter what was happening. This was a memory and he was just a passenger on this journey. He had no ability to intervene.

Subaru walked up to an enormous tree whose branches were heavy with a strange, unfamiliar green fruit that reminded Subaru of bell peppers.

A girl in a purple robe was tending to the tree, working the soil around its roots with a spade. She also had a wheelbarrow full of what looked like scraps from a butcher shop: offal, bones, entrails, and other animal refuse.

Are they using that as fertilizer? Subaru wondered. It might be good for the soil but I doubt it’ll smell good after a few weeks. Maybe that’s why the entire greenhouse reeks.

The girl returned to the wheelbarrow and brought it over to the other side of the tree. Subaru watched as she dumped all the meat against the tree roots.

A moment later, there was a horrible chomping and crunching sound.

Subaru broke out into a cold sweat as he felt his body walk around to the other side of the tree.

The tree had an enormous, slavering maw built into the lower trunk. The tree was tearing into the meat that had been dumped into it, cracking through the bones without any effort.

In seconds, a wheelbarrow full of animal parts were all gone and the mouth became still although it still drooled copiously down the trunk.

“How is it doing?” Subaru asked clinically.

The worker jumped and fell to her knees. “Oh! Lady Daphne! Forgive me! I didn’t see you-”

Subaru waved off her excuses. “Save the bowing and scraping,”She said in a bored tone. “I asked, how is the tree doing?”

The worker got back to her feet. “Very well! I mean… I think, Lady Daphne,” The girl said uncertainly.

Subaru checked a sigh. Subaru reached up to pick one of the strange fruits and discovered to his considerable irritation that he wasn’t tall enough.

This felt like a very familiar frustration to him.

“Lady Daphne,” The girl said solicitously. “Would you like me to-”

Subaru concentrated for a moment and in response, the tree bent. Its branches groaning and creaking as they moved and flexed. The fruit-bearing limb dropped low until Daphne could easily pick one of the strange fruits from its branches. Then the tree returned to its former posture.

Subaru turned the fruit over and over in his hands, inspecting it. It really did look very much like a green pepper but the top of the fruit had a strange ‘seam’ running around it, almost like a pea-pod.

Subaru yanked at the stem and the top of the fruit popped off.

Inside, the fruit was completely hollow. The fruit had a thin, dry outer shell and the insides were filled with nothing but a fine white powder.

Subaru took a pinch and raised it to his lips to taste.

What the fuck?! Subaru thought. This is processed sugar!

“How is it, Lady?” Giorti asked deferentially.

Subaru shrugged. “It’s… adequate. I think that we can call this experiment a qualified success. Let’s check the succulents.”

Subaru led the way through the greenhouse with Giorti following silently. They left the girl behind who continued to bow deeply until Subaru was well away.

As Subaru walked further into the greenhouse, he found himself in a realm of horrors. Where the ‘sugar tree’ looked pretty much like a normal tree except for its mouth, the other plants in Daphne’s greenhouse were abominations dredged up from a nightmare. Many of the plants were fleshy horrors that looked more like tumorous meat than any kind of vegetation. The plants all came in a mix of black and unnatural flesh-tones that made them look diseased and necrotic. Several of them looked slimy. Judging from the red and brown stains around their roots and the foul smell pervading the area, Subaru took it as a given that all of these plants ate meat. Subaru even thought that he briefly passed by a fruit tree that had what looked like pork chops growing from its boughs.

Finally, Subaru came to a stop in front of a small row of ‘plants’ that nearly defied description. The plant body was round and spiny like a horse chestnut. The plant measured two feet across but where a horse chestnut would have a hard shell, this plant looked soft, wet, and meaty like a grotesque tumor. A few short hollow tubes like intestines dangled underneath the plant.

Subaru wanted more than anything to stop looking at the freakish plant. Unfortunately, Subaru was not in control and he found himself forced to study the plant clinically. I just want to get out of here before this thing opens a giant mouth and starts chewing on things, Subaru whimpered. I hated Little Shop of Horrors!

Subaru looked around the area and noticed a small bucket not far away. He grabbed the bucket and placed it under the plant. Subaru’s mind screamed in protest but his hands grabbed one of the tubes and yanked down.

Green fluid sprayed out of the tube like some grotesque parody of a cow and streamed straight into the bucket.

This liquid looks like the stuff that Daphne was cooking in the lab…

Subaru thought hard for a moment and found that he remembered things that he’d never known before. I remember… Labs are good for experimenting with new compounds and new types of synthesis but they’re not very efficient for making chemicals in bulk. So once Daphne masters the synthesis of a compound… she uses her Authority to create plants that will mass produce that compound from basic carbohydrates and proteins.

This is both amazing and really, really disturbing…

Subaru had finished ‘milking’ the strange plant and handed the bucket full of green liquid to Giorti who was already struggling just to carry the keg.

“Some more Soma for the faithful,” Subaru said laconically.

“I’m sure that they’ll be most grateful, Lady Daphne,” Giorti assured her.

Subaru sighed and stroked the fleshy plant like it was a pet. Subaru thought that the plant quivered in response but he prayed fervently that it was just his imagination.

“Just think, Giorti,” Subaru said in a tone of wonder. “One day my creations will be all over the world. Providing good food three times a day to everybody! Hunger will be nothing but an old wives’ tale. Something that parents use to scare children into behaving,” He whispered wistfully.

Giorti coughed. “Um. Lady Daphne,” He said awkwardly. “Forgive me for mentioning this but… I doubt that your brilliant creations can survive out in the wild…”

Subaru sighed. “I’ve already taken care of that, Giorti,” He reminded him impatiently. “My creations are all fortified with high levels of Putrescine. No animal is going to be willing to try to eat them. When we did experiments, even most insects refused!”

Giorti hesitated. “Yes. That’s all well and good, Lady Daphne but I was referring to the fact that all your creations are carnivorous…”

Subaru scowled. “Of course they are, you great dope! You’re not going to get the number of calories necessary to produce large quantities of complex carbohydrates like refined sugar and processed flour using nothing but water and sunlight!”

“I understand, my Lady. My point is that this means that we need to feed your creations manually,” Giorti reminded her. “No animal is going to be stupid enough to crawl into an open mouth in a tree and be eaten alive by a plant!”

Subaru gave Giorti a sour look. “Then I’ll just give them the ability to hunt down their own food then!”

Giorti looked quite alarmed by this prospect. He considered his answer carefully for several seconds. “Won’t giving your creations the ability to move and pursue prey… cost as many calories as it gains?” Giorti asked weakly.

Subaru sniffed. “I’ll figure it out. Maybe I could make them eat mana… Give me a break, I’m a genius, Giorti! I’ll find the right answer eventually. Give me enough time and I could even replicate the Sun King’s forest!”

Giorti had nothing to say to that and a few moments later, Subaru left the green house followed by Giorti who struggled to carry both the keg and the bucket of red liquid.

Anri and Emilia gently placed Subaru in the bed.

“Now what do we do?” Emilia asked.

Anri felt Subaru’s forehead and bit her lip. “I’m not sure, Mili,” She admitted. “I think he’s doing OK…”

Emilia sunk down on the other bed and pulled her knees to her chest.

Anri shook her head. “Mili, stay here for a bit. I need to put Patrasche in the stable and then I’m going to take a look around. My family has a safe house in this village. Maybe one of my guards made it here and can help us.”

Emilia nodded. “We’ll be fine here. But be careful, Anri. Elsa is bound to be looking for us by now.”

Anri took a deep breath and pulled up her hood before walking out of the room.

Subaru entered a large, indoor amphitheater where dozens of people sat or reclined with dreamy looks on their faces. The amphitheater could likely hold several hundred people although only about half that number were currently in attendance. Most of the attendees were dressed in loose robes but some were in near rags. The base of the amphitheater had an enormous stone altar-like platform with a massive cauldron, bigger than a hot-tub built into it. The top of the cauldron was flush with the altar’s surface. Behind the great stone altar, placed atop a small dais, was an enormous stone throne. The throne was made of a single piece of carefully sculpted rock and the top of the throne had been shaped into a great cobra’s head that hooded the seat.

As soon as Subaru walked in, the spectators all cried out in wonder and joy. They stared at him and their expressions became exalted, adoring.

Subaru rolled his eyes. If I wanted adoration, I’d get a puppy. I expect something more useful from my Acolytes than just lying around and waiting to be fed. They’re so annoyingly dependent.

Giorti entered a few moments later, rolling the small keg along the ground. He held the bucket in his other hand. The crowd erupted in great excitement as Giorti struggled to roll the keg up the stairs onto the stone altar where dozens of tiny stone goblets waited for him. The crowd all began to fidget as if they could barely stay in their seats as Giorti opened the keg.

He measured the amount of green liquid precisely with a measuring spoon before pouring it into the stone goblets.

Subaru watched him for a moment and then took his accustomed seat on the throne.

It wasn’t a comfortable seat. It never was. He’d requested that his throne have a serpent motif. He liked snakes. They were very logical animals and easy to understand. Not like people. But he had never asked that the throne be made of hard stone!

Subaru wished for the hundredth time that he had remembered to ask for some cushions.

It never fails. Whenever I remember to talk with Giorti about getting something to pad the throne, it’s not the right time to ask and whenever it is the right time to ask, I’ve already forgotten all about it.

By now, Giorti had finished filling the first stone goblet and he brought it to Subaru, offering the cup with a low and reverent bow.

Subaru took the the goblet with disdain. The liquid inside was a vivid green and as opaque as paint. It almost seemed to glow. Subaru began to sip it slowly.

Actually, slowly was an understatement. Subaru might as well have been emptying the goblet with an eyedropper.

The taste was heavenly. The sensation was so powerful that Subaru briefly shook free from Daphne’s consciousness.

This is amazing! I’ve never tasted anything like it! This can’t be alcohol! Although if it was, I’d finally understand how people can get addicted to alcohol so easily. This stuff… This stuff must be like happiness in a glass or something!

The rush of euphoria faded slightly and Subaru was once again subsumed by Daphne.

“Does your latest batch meet with your satisfaction, my lady?” Giorti said anxiously. “Or is it not to your taste?”

Subaru sighed. “It’s… OK,” He admitted in a glum voice. “Maybe a little better than the last batch. Maybe a little bit worse. I’ve tried to re-balance the tannins this time. Not sure if that really accomplished very much. Next time I’m considering adding a secondary malolactic fermentation for some of the more bitter ingredients before blending them in with the other finished components.”

Giorti clearly had no idea what Subaru was talking about but he bowed his head. He returned to the altar below Subaru’s throne and began to call the names of the other acolytes. They approached one by one with their heads bowed and their hands trembling. They each accepted their daily ration of Soma with tearful gratitude. They each reverently took their tiny goblet in both hands and returned to their seat before partaking.

Subaru watched their barely concealed longing for the elixir with faint contempt. Their dependency on the Soma is sickening. They think that their need for Soma is ‘hunger?’ These idiots have no idea what being hungry is really like. If any of these dolts held the burden of my Authority, they would have already devoured the whole world for their bellies. Subaru took another tiny sip of Soma.

From the first sip of the Soma, Subaru felt lighter. His body’s normal aches and pains eased and his problems seemed smaller and further away.

It almost feels like using Reason and Judgment.

It should, Subaru clinically answered his own thought as Daphne’s memories retook control. The Soma opens up the drinker to ambient mana. The mana swirling through the air is absorbed by the drinker, increasing their total supply and thus augmenting their strength, speed, and endurance. Even their magic and intelligence are equivalently enhanced. You feel more powerful after drinking because you are more powerful.

And I need to keep a substantial quantity of Soma on hand for the other acolytes. It’s the only way to provide seasoning.

Subaru heard a dozen sharp gasps from the crowd. As he looked up, he saw Jenevieve descended down the stairs into the amphitheater at the head of a long procession of Acolytes who were all dressed in hooded, purple robes.

Jenevieve was a beautiful girl of about eighteen with smooth white skin and long blond hair. She wore a thin white robe, belted around her slender body and nothing else. She was smiling in rapture and tears streamed down her cheeks as the procession descended to the amphitheater floor. Some of the spectators in the seats reached out to Jenevieve with murmurs of adoration. They tried to brush the hem of her robe with their fingers as she passed by.

Subaru stared up at Jenevieve with a kind of wonder. How has it been ten years since she was declared an offering? It feels like only yesterday. Fifteen years altogether since she joined the Order…

Jenevieve has spent ten years preparing for this moment. She’s spent her life fasting for weeks at a time and was then offered only the finest of delicacies. The plates were small enough to fit in her hand but each and every bite felt transcendent to her; well-seasoned by her hunger.

We ordered her to abstain from fleshly pleasures for months and then ordered three of the most skilled lovers in the Order to worship her beautiful body for hours on end. She once maintained an unceasing vigil in the temple for seven days and nights until we permitted her to lay down on a bed of rose petals to learn the true meaning of rest.

Every sensation and experience was carefully selected and cultivated. Preparing her for this moment…

I remember one afternoon, when I was passing by the training chamber, I saw Giorti offering Jenevieve instruction with the whip. Jenevieve was stripped to the waist and blindfolded as Giorti slowly flogged her. I paused to watch them as Giorti urged her to stop struggling against the blow and to embrace the whip.

And she did. It was like watching the blossoming of a beautiful flower. I watched as Jenevieve forced her body to accept the pain, not becoming hardened and inured to it but… softening. She tried to will her body into becoming softer, more yielding to the lash, trying to extract the maximum amount of pain possible from each burning strike.

I was so proud of her. Why didn’t I ever think to tell her that?

Jenevieve finally reached the floor of the amphitheater and her attendants gently slipped her robe off her beautiful body. They purple robed Acolytes backed away while bowing and joined Giorti at the side of the great altar.

Jenevieve stood nude in the center of the amphitheater, a warm smile on her face as she looked at Subaru.

Subaru got up off his throne and approached the naked Jenevieve.

“Lady Daphne,” Jenevieve whispered, tears streaming down her face. She opened her mouth but words failed her as she groped for what to say.

Subaru quickly stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Jenevieve. His head only came up to Jenevieve’s chest and the girl bowed her head over Subaru as she hugged him.

She’s gotten so tall. When we met, she only came up to my stomach…

“Lady Daphne,” Jenevieve whispered in a thick voice. “Thank you. Thank you so much for granting me this experience…”

Subaru reached up and stroked Jenevieve’s face, wet with tears. Her cheek was smooth, soft, and glowing, like the skin of a baby newly-come from the bath.

For a moment, Subaru’s hunger awoke and he struggled to repress the savage urge to bite the delectable morsel before him. He hadn’t eaten in days and he was starting to push the limits of his own control.

“You’ve earned this, Jenevieve,” Subaru whispered in reply. “No one worked harder for this moment than you. This moment is yours.”

Jenevieve bowed her head and began to weep in gratitude, quickly brushing aside her tears and she turned to face the audience with a bright smile.

“I’m grateful that you’ve all come here today,” She said in a clear voice. “That you’re all here to share this wonderful moment with me. Remember, even if we die, we will live on in those whose lives we touched.”

Subaru checked a sigh. He’d spent decades at the very least urging his followers to discard any infantile fantasies of ‘immortality’ or ‘life beyond death.’ Subaru had always preached to his followers that they should accept death as the liminal boundary of existence and revel in the accompanying freedom of the finality of that boundary. But few were willing to do so.

Jenevieve took a deep breath and lifted her face, her cheeks wet with tears. “I’ve spent most than half my life preparing for this moment. Every day I have sought out the finest sensations to prepare my mind and soul and under Lady Daphne’s guidance I have become lithe and sweet. Each morning I have drunk the Azoth to prepare myself and today, my soul lies ready. The joy I feel this day is too great for my soul to bear and so, my soul shall open…”

The audience cooed and sighed at Jenevieve.

Subaru took the tiny vial out of his pocket. It was full of syrupy purple liquid. Subaru held it close to him with grave mien and then presented it with a bow to Jenevieve. She took the vial and slowly worked the cork out.

Subaru looked at the crimson purple with a strange fondness. It takes me days to make a new supply of Azoth. It would have taken decades if not for the Philosopher’s Stone! I found the recipes necessary for the Great Work in an ancient tome that I was unable to read. I could work out the Nigredo, the Albedo, and the Rubedo formulas but the the manuscripts all made careful mention of something called “the King’s Gift” which completely baffled me. I couldn’t decipher the pages! In desperation, I was forced to finally call on… Dona for assistance. I hoped that if she helped me study the book, we could work together to translate it.

To my immense irritation, Dona didn’t even need to study it. She could read the language without any effort at all. Strangely enough, she wasn’t willing to me very much about what was in the book. She gave me the formula I asked for which was easily the most complicated chemical synthesis I have ever found.

Then Dona refused to answer any more questions and just left! I never found out why but it was clear to me that, whatever Dona had read in that book, it had disturbed her mightily and she felt like she had a lot of thinking to do.

Even more annoying was the revelation that I could have never made it alone. Apparently the “King’s Gift” can only exist by consent of both Gluttony and Greed.

How Dona smirked when I had to ask for her help again…

Creating the King’s Gift took me years of endless trial and error. But once it was done and it was combined with the other three materials to create the Philosopher’s Stone, I could craft potions long believed to be impossible as easily as I could boil water…

Jenevieve reverently raised the vial of Azoth to her lips and began to drink.

She sipped the purple liquid slowly. Subaru knew from accidental exposure that the drink tasted like a river of knives going down your throat but Jenevieve drank it by sips, dragging out the sensation for as long as she could.

When the vial was empty, Jenevieve handed the dry bottle back to Subaru. Jenevieve raised her face with a happy smile and she hopped into the huge cauldron built into the platform.

Subaru bowed his head and walked up to Jenevieve. Her head only came up to his chest now. He gently ran his hand up her naked stomach until he reached her heart. Then he closed his eyes and concentrated.

The amphitheater was quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

A moment later, Subaru saw a thin tear of bright crimson blood descend from Jenevieve’s eye and drip down her cheek. Then another.

Then a drop of blood flowed down her arm.

Her body was… opening in countless places, leaking out fluids but her rapturous smile never wavered.

Jenevieve eyes rolled up in her head and she fell down into the cauldron that was rapidly filling with a viscous crimson fluid. It wasn’t blood. It was too uniform and opaque to be blood. Its color was like red nail polish.

Jenevieve’s body disappeared into the cauldron and the enormous basin just kept filling up with crimson fluid, far too much fluid for it to have come from Jenevieve’s body.

In the end, the enormous cauldron was filled to the brim with bright crimson liquid. There was no trace of Jenevieve left, not a strand of hair or a flake of skin. Nothing but the strange fluid remained.

The crowd sighed in rapture as Subaru slowly returned to his throne, his thoughts melancholy.

Subaru felt something touch him. A ‘spark’ of Jenevieve’s life entered into him.

My Authority has let me absorb the last of her life-force, Subaru thought. Just like her, it’s sweet and vibrant and spirited.

The Philosopher’s Stone will let me turn that spark into a full Decade of Vitae. I can use this life to restore another’s youth or heal grievous wounds. I think Jenevieve would like that. The last of her life granted to give happiness to another…

Subaru stared down at the unmarred crimson pool sitting before him.

Ten years of her life were dedicated to achieving this moment…

Jenevieve, I hope that it was everything you dreamed of… Everything that you worked toward…

You deserve that much…

Did the sensations of your final moments live up to your expectations? I hope so.

Giorti bent down and carefully used an eyedropper to extract a tiny bit of fluid. He reverently approached Subaru with the eyedropper and offered it to Subaru.

Subaru took the eyedropper and placed a single drop of the crimson fluid on his tongue.

A moment later, Subaru slumped on his throne.

His mind whirled with a thousand images. Subaru’s mind was drawn to the Soul of this World and for a moment he became one with everything.

This world had a beating heart and Subaru felt his own heart beating in time with it. This world was alive. The World Soul shared the consciousness of all lesser and quasi spirits in the world and for a moment, Subaru shared in it as well. Subaru sensed a nearby water spirit called Ladon that was charged by the World Soul with ensuring that the river-water of its river remained clean and flowed properly through all of its tributaries. He briefly shared the conscious of an earth spirit known as Minthe who tended to the roots of plants in the nearby fields and ensured that they had enough nutrients to grow big and strong. He became one with a spirit of the Great Sea who labored in the deepest depths and had never been glimpsed by humans and thus, had no name.

Slowly, Subaru found himself returning to his own being and the images became more human. He was deluged by thoughts and images that had been cultivated by Jenevieve. Subaru saw a thousand pictures, memories, and sensations from Jenevieve’s life. Her pleasures, her yearning, her joy at coming to join the Order more than fifteen years ago and finally feeling accepted and loved. The awe and admiration that she had felt for Daphne.

Subaru experienced Jenevieve’s long fasts. There was a memory where Jenevieve hadn’t eaten for more than two weeks. The sharp pain in her stomach had faded into a dull ache. Set before Jenevieve was a tiny pastry that could easily fit in the palm of her hand with room left to spare. Jenevieve had also been presented with a tiny glass of blended juices specially selected so that their bitter flavor would offset and heighten the pastry’s sweetness.

Jenevieve was starving but she didn’t lunge at the food. Instead she took slow, tiny bites. She let the airy frosting dissolve on her tongue and the fluffy cake underneath swaddled her tongue in sweetness.

Jenevieve took her time breaking her fast. Her deprivation was over and more food was on the way but Jenevieve savored the moment, seasoning her body with memories of bliss and ecstasy for her coming offering.

During her fast, she’d taken her body right to the very limit of endurance. In just a few more days, her body would have devoured itself. Jenevieve had brought herself to the brink of death but this tiny cake was life and she celebrated each bite, each moment of life as only those who have come so close to their own doom can do.

The memories shifted and Subaru experienced Jenevieve blindfolded and restrained while three sets of hands caressed her helpless body. She thought that any more pleasure would break her into pieces but somehow those skilled hands found a way to coax yet more passion from her.

While academically interesting, Subaru did not find these sensations particularly fulfilling and he tried to will his mind to return to the pastry.

Another memory. Jenevieve flinched at the lash of the whip and fought not to struggle against it but to simply cherish every drop of bright crimson pain that flooded through her body. She straightened, deliberately trying to force her muscles to relax and soften so that the next blow would land even harder.

Finally, Subaru returned to himself and he saw Giorti staring at him in concern. Subaru knew that only a few seconds had passed since he’d tasted the Anima but it felt like years.

Subaru felt tears streaming down his face. “It’s wonderful, Giorti. Jenevieve is so wonderful… This might be the best Anima that we have ever made,” Subaru whispered in a choked voice.

Giorti nodded. “And so much too! We might get more than two hundred bottles from this! For a moment, I was afraid she might overflow the cauldron and we’d lose some of her!” He said in horror.

“Gods forbid!” Subaru shuddered at the terrible thought. Subaru looked up at the acolytes who walked through the amphitheater dispensing drops of the precious Anima to the spectators. Some of these spectators were openly weeping in a combination of ecstasy and anguish, each one sharing in the precious memories that Jenevieve had spent ten years to gather. Her life offered willingly to give pleasure and satiation to so many.

Subaru looked at the spectators with an unexpected lack of contempt. “Every drop of Jenevieve is priceless, Giorti,” Subaru whispered. “I want every single drop bottled and make sure that you label the bottles carefully before putting them into the vault.”

Giorti looked offended that Subaru even felt a need to say this but he bowed his head.

“Jenevieve’s memories and experiences will be with us for centuries,” Subaru said in a voice that was half pride and half melancholy.

Oh, Jenevieve… You did so well. I am so, so proud of you. You’ve brought me closer to the ultimate edge of sensation than I have ever been before…

Those people out there in the amphitheater, they’ll treasure this moment for the rest of their useless lives. The life that you shared with them. If Jenevieve’s Anima makes me feel this good then to them this must be a moment of sheer transcendence.

And yet, I’m certain that there is more to be felt. Deeper wells of sensation to tap into. Experiences of an intensity that few could even imagine.

I have dedicated myself to the immortal pursuit of sensation and happiness.

And one day I will find that ultimate line: the absolute limit of human sensation…

Giorti sighed. “Jenevieve was a truly special girl,” He mused. “Loving, gifted, and dedicated to your mysteries, Lady Daphne.”

Subaru nodded, staring off into the distance. He thought for a long moment. “Giorti, do you think that I could bring her back?”

Giorti blinked. “…Bring her back?!”

Subaru nodded. “My Authority grants me the power of creation,” He mused. “You’ve seen what I can create. As long as I’ve tasted something, I can spin and weave the strands of those memories together to make it again. After tasting the Soma I was able to create plants that would synthesize it. Now, I’ve tasted Jenevieve. Her flesh, her memories, her thoughts, her… what some unemployed poet would call ‘her soul,’ I suppose,” Subaru rolled his eyes. “…Why couldn’t I bring her back? A perfect duplicate, indistinguishable in every way from the original?”

Giorti looked aghast.

Subaru didn’t seem to notice. “What if… we could do it all over again?” He mused. “What if I could bring back Jenevieve as an infant and have her raised in the Order? Trained to be an offering again? We could eat her and revive her over and over again. We could take copious notes on her development and training. We could discover what kind of experiences and memories make her taste sweeter, what moments and events make her more sour or bitter when she’s finally sacrificed. We could experiment and adapt her training until Jenevieve reached the absolute peak of deliciousness! We could sacrifice her again and again and again until everyone in the entire world knew the taste of her. Genevieve would be on the lips of an entire world! A worthy tribute to my cherished Acolyte,” Subaru said in rapture. He realized that he was drooling and quickly wiped his chin.

As Subaru had talked, Giorti’s expression had grown more and more horrified. Finally, Giorti swallowed hard and cleared his throat. “Um. Forgive me, Lady Daphne but… I think that Master Flugel would not approve…”

Subaru’s euphoria was instantly snuffed out. He scowled at Giorti and slammed his hand down on the stone arm of his throne. “Don’t mention that man’s name to me! What does he know, anyway?”

Giorti hesitated. “If you recall, Lady Daphne, he did teach you how to control your hunger…”

Subaru snorted. “He didn’t teach me anything that I couldn’t have learned for myself!” Subaru folded his arms across his chest.

Giorti didn’t answer right away. He took a deep breath. “That might be the case but… you do recall what happened when you first acquired your Authority, do you not? Never being able to feel full? You were roaming the countryside eating everything you could find! Animals, trees, people, leaves, furniture, basically anything that wouldn’t break your teeth! You even ate your own par-”

Subaru cut him off. “Flugel thinks that he knows everything!” Subaru snapped. “He thinks that he has all the answers but you want to know something that he doesn’t have?! An Authority!”

Giorti hesitated. “I don’t have one either, Lady Daphne,” He reminded her. “I don’t pretend to understand their power or all of their effects. All I know is that according to Master Flugel, the Divine Exousia are supposed to be… very dangerous when one attempts to dig deeper into their mysteries and their origins. Master Flugel is extremely well-read and very wise-”

Subaru scowled. “I don’t give a shit, Giorti!” He shouted and Giorti flinched. A few people in the stands were distracted from the ecstasy of their Anima by the argument and looked down at them. “I don’t care about your precious Flugel! You know why?! Because there’s absolutely nothing that I can learn from him that I can’t read about in some fucking book!” Subaru scowled for a long moment. “Books are nothing but secondary experiences. Direct and personal experience is the most valuable form of knowledge. To experience a thing is the only way to truly understand it. And that’s why Anima is the source of all wisdom.”

Giorti bowed his head. “Of course, Lady Daphne. Also, if I forgot to mention it before, I heard back from Princess Ami this morning. She remains interested in becoming an offering.”

“Really?” Subaru’s face brightened.

Giorti nodded. “Apparently, she has an incurable disease and will not make it much further than ten years. She’d rather join us and share in our experiences than simply be offered in marriage to some noble to finalize an alliance.”

Subaru looked exultant. “A princess!” He breathed.

Giorti gave Subaru an indulgent smile. “Yes, my Lady. I’ll tell her that you approve,” Giorti said with a bow.

“I want it, Giorti. I want it all,” Subaru whispered.

“My lady?”

Subaru shuddered in rapture. “I want to be a Princess. I want to be a King, a barmaid, a genius painter, a simple man. I want to experience the glory of the knight when he slays the wicked dragon and I want to experience the horror of the knight when he slides into the dragon’s burning gullet. I want it all! All of their memories will become a part of me.”

Subaru’s voice grew awed. “I will spend an eternity becoming everything…”

“Yes, my Lady,” Giorti bowed.

Subaru’s stomach growled. The fast was over and he decided to treat himself to a small bite. “Go get me one of Georg’s special pastries, Giorti. The ones with cherry-infused chocolate frosting. I’m hungry.”

Giorti bowed low and scurried away. Subaru stared out at the huge amphitheater where the attendants still writhed in ecstasy out in their seats. Subaru took another drop of Anima.

The Anima took effect and Subaru was subsumed by Jenevieve’s memories. As the memories of a thousand sensations flowed over him, Subaru fought hard to cling to the memories of her feasts. The indescribably perfect sensation of a full belly…

Emilia sat at the table in her room, nursing a glass of juice. With her hood pulled low, she had managed to sneak down to the kitchen long enough to get herself a glass of fruit juice from some dark, bitter berry that grew in Gusteko.

Subaru was still unconscious.

Emilia heard a knock on the door.

“Come in?” She whispered in a worried voice.

The door opened slowly and Anri slipped into the room, two people in a hooded robes. One was a stranger, a dark haired woman with a hard expression. Her skin was pale and her hair was set in a French braid.

The other was Victoire.

“Mili,” Anri said, sounding practically bubbling, “This is Vera. She’s the head of my bodyguards.”

Vera gave Emilia a hard look.

Emilia recognized the expression on Vera’s face and checked a sigh.

Vera glared at Emilia for a moment. “We were attacked by the assassin as we crossed the river. We stayed behind to protect the Princess and we got separated,” Vera said, ostensibly for Emilia’s benefit but mostly talking to Anri. “Only a few of us made it. I’m grateful to see you in good health, Princess.”

Anri nodded. “It’s all thanks to Subaru and Emilia,” She told her. “They saved me from the storm and the Black Water!”

Vera squinted at Subaru and Emilia bristled.

Going by her expression, Emilia could read Vera’s thoughts clearly: ‘This’ fought the Black Water?!

“There are some very dangerous mabeasts in the forest, Princess,” Vera replied suddenly.

Emilia glared at Vera. Yes, Emilia grumbled to herself. It’s very easy to mistake the Black Water for… absolutely anything else!

“Vera,” Anri said in a worried tone. “The Black Water poisoned Subaru. He didn’t get the entire antidote. Is there anything that we can do for him?”

Vera stepped forward and glanced at Subaru’s unconscious body. “He looks like he’s coming along,” Vera replied.

Anri actually touches Subaru when she checks on him! Emilia thought savagely. Could you make it more obvious that you don’t really care if he lives?!

“Princess,” Vera said. “Forgive me for being blunt but we really should be moving along.”

“Yeah,” Victoire agreed. “Sorry to be a bitch, Princess but we got serious problems to handle. We need to get back to Siros.”

Anri bit her lip. “I’m not sure if it’s safe to move him yet,” She hedged.

Emilia sighed. And naturally, Vera doesn’t see that as a problem because…

“Princess, we need to leave them behind,” Vera said firmly.

And there it is.

“Vera!” Anri reproached.

Vera shook her head. “I’m sorry, Princess. My priority is to get you home safely. Your responsibility is to Siros, not to…” Vera gave Emilia a hard look and hesitated. “Outlanders.”

Emilia knew the word Vera had been considering was much fouler and she gave the woman a glare.

Anri hesitated. Where she had told Victoire off for such comments, Anri clearly had a long history of trusting Vera’s counsel and now she was wondering what the right thing to do really was.

“The assassins are hunting us,” Vera continued. “If we leave, the assassins will likely ignore these people. They’ll both be safer if we depart.”

Emilia’s face was stony. That might actually be true. Not that Vera cares in the slightest whether it is true or not.

All the same, Anri has done everything for Subaru that she can. I can’t ask her to stay here if it will put her life in more danger.

“It’s a good point, Princess,” Victoire agreed. “I barely escaped from that dumb cunt Elsa with my skin! We should be putting as much distance between her and us as possible!”

Anri’s face was mournful. “Mili,” Anri said in a guilty voice. “I-”

“It’s fine, Anri,” Emilia said calmly. “Subaru is on the mend. We’ll spend a day or two here while he recovers and then we’ll head… back home,” She said with a wary glance at Vera.

Anri looked awkward. “I worry about leaving you here all alone, Mili. This is Sanshi territory! They’re vicious to outsiders, especially demi-humans! If any of the locals see you, you’ll be in big trouble!”

Emilia forced a smile. “We’ll be OK, Anri. I can keep my hood up to go grab some food if I need to and Subaru should be awake soon. He can run down to the kitchen for us.”

Anri looked dubious.

Victoire seemed thoughtful and a slight smile flitted across her chin. She raised a finger to her mouth and gently bit into the tip.

Nobody noticed.

“Princess,” Vera said in a grim tone. “We need to go.”

Anri nodded and took a deep breath. She looked at Emilia with miserable eyes. “I’m very sorry, Emilia,” She whispered. “I… I would have very much liked to host you both in Siros.”

Emilia smiled. “Someday you will,” She promised.

Vera looked daggers at Emilia.

Emilia ignored her and continued to smile at Anri.

Anri nodded. “I hope so, Mili. I really do,” She said sadly. Anri suddenly smiled. “No. We’ll meet again. I’m sure that our fates are entwined.” Anri slipped out the door.

Now that Anri was gone, Emilia’s smile instantly fell off her face. She looked at the two women with pronounced dislike.

Victoire walked up to Emilia with a friendly smile and gave the astonished elf a hug, pulling Emilia’s face into her bosom. “Hey, no hard feelings, right?” Victoire said in a warm voice. “We’re just taking care of our own shit, just like you. You and the little fucker can make it on your own now, right?”

Victoire deftly dabbed her bleeding finger into Emilia’s drink.

Emilia squirmed in the embrace and quickly pushed Victoire away, looking affronted. Emilia didn’t understand this abrupt mood shift but she had no friendly feelings toward Victoire at all.

“Victoire,” Vera snapped. “Let’s get moving!”

Victoire gave Emilia a smirk for a long moment then turned around obediently. “Coming, boss!” She almost sang.

Victoire was about to step out the door when Vera grabbed her upper arm.

Victoire’s face was livid as she faced Vera. Her expression suggested that Vera could either move that hand or lose it.

Vera looked at her with a stone face. “Victoire, how did you escape the Bowel Hunter?” Vera whispered.

Victoire snorted. “I fucking told you how! I held her at bay for a minute and then all the shit-fucking peasants in the village came to investigate what the hell was going on! The bitch got distracted cutting up the locals and I bailed!”

“So, Elsa decided to forget all about you and go after unarmed civilians?” Vera said in a voice of profound skepticism.

Victoire lifted her chin. “Maybe the numb cunt realized that I was too much for her!”

“Guys? Are we going?” Anri called from down the hall.

Vera’s glare was flinty but she gestured with her head and Victoire walked out of the room with a toss of her head and a snort.

Vera paused at the doorway just long enough to give Emilia a threatening look. Emilia’s expression was coolly defiant as she glared back at Vera.

Vera left the room.

Emilia got off the bed she sat on and slowly limped over to Subaru’s.

“Why did we even bother getting two beds?” Emilia murmured, sitting down beside Subaru. “I guess we didn’t realize Anri would leave so soon…”

Emilia didn’t notice as thick strands of black liquid dispersed in her juice and slowly disappeared.

Subaru’s raised his head up off the dirty ground as he found himself back in the strange forest clearing.

Holy shit. I finally woke up!

I mean… I’m still dreaming… or something like it anyway, but at least I’m me again.

Subaru’s mind swam with information, both the memories that he’d personally experienced during the vision and a thousand other memories that had been handed to him as some form of raw data.

“Did you find what you were looking for, Subaru?” Daphne murmured from inside her crab-coffin cage.

Well, I know how to make Anima and about a thousand other chemicals and potions, Subaru stared up at the bound witch in shock. What the hell happened to you?! How did Daphne go from being a brilliant and articulate chemist to a slobbering monster who needed to be chained down just to restrain her appetite?

Subaru’s shock slowly softened into pity. I don’t know how or why but at some point Daphne’s hunger turned on her. And she was the one devoured…

Subaru shook his head. I… I remember the intensity of her hunger. The gnawing emptiness… It was awful.

“Then… Anima is made from… people?” Subaru said in a disturbed voice.

Daphne nodded. “Anima is formed from the very best of people.”

“So you’re telling me that to cure Emilia, I need to kill somebody?!” Subaru protested.

“We kill to sustain our lives everyday, Subaru,” Daphne shrugged.

“Daph, I’m not talking about chickens here!” He shouted.

“You killed that Gluttony, Subaru,” Daphne reminded him absently.

Subaru hesitated. Actually, she does make a point. Like it or not, I’ve killed an awful lot of people since I came to this world…

Fuck, when the hell did killing people get normal for me?! But… I mean, killing in self-defense is very different from hunting someone down to use their body as spare parts in a potion. Then again, if all I need to do to cure Emilia is to save a corpse the next time some asshole tries to kill me then that’s not all that bad, is it?

I need to give this some thought… But there’s still a problem.

“Daphne,” Subaru said in distress. “It sounds like to make this ‘Azoth’ I need the Philosopher’s Stone!”

“So?”

“Daphne, it took you years to make the stone! I can’t spend years trying to cure Emilia!”

“Why not?” She asked curiously.

Subaru closed his eyes and counted to ten. “Daphne, Emilia is in danger,” He said as if speaking to a child. “She’s in more danger every single day because of this… name-thing. I need to cure her soon! Not to mention the fact that I don’t think Regulus would help me make the stone no matter how sweetly I asked!”

Daphne thought for a moment and then shrugged. “Well, you could always go looking for my stone.”

“Where is it?”

“No idea,” Daphne said calmly.

“Big help,” Subaru sighed. “Are you sure it’s even still out there?”

“No.”

Subaru rubbed his head.

“But it probably is,” Daphne continued. “The Stones are terribly hard to destroy once they’re created. They’re formed from the Authorities. The only other Stone that I know of was destroyed on purpose by its creator ten thousand years ago.”

Alright. So maybe I can find the stone. Otherwise everything that I learned here today is absolutely pointless…

“Subaru,” Daphne said impatiently. “Come on! I gave you yours, now give me mine!”

Subaru blinked and realized that his own severed finger was still lying in his lap. He glanced at his hand and discovered that the bleeding had completely stopped.

Hurray for dream wounds, Subaru thought darkly to himself.

Subaru got to his feet and approached the crab-coffin, being careful to stay away from its sharp, scissor-like jaws.

Daphne opened her mouth wide. “Ahhh!” She sang, extending her tongue out as far as she could in anticipation.

Subaru looked at her sharp teeth with trepidation. I mean, as long as her tongue is out, she can’t bite me… right?

Subaru carefully put the severed finger on her tongue.

Daphne jerked her tongue back inside her mouth like a frog and she snapped her jaws shut with a resounding crunch.

Subaru stumbled back, rubbing his wrist to reassure himself that he hadn’t just lost a hand. Daphne was grinding through the severed digit with such gusto that Subaru was amazed that she hadn’t broken her own teeth yet.

“Oh!” Daphne exclaimed in rapture. “It’s so delicious! It’s been so long since I’ve eaten. The memories! The sensations! The warmth of the sun, the sound of the wind! …The scent of Emilia’s skin!”

Subaru jerked back. What?! What memories did she look at?! His face twisted in outrage at this violation.

The crab-coffin visibly stiffened. “Wait,” Daphne whispered, sounding shocked. “A silver haired half-elf? And why do you feel like…”

Daphne gasped.

Subaru frowned in concern. “Daphne?”

“You? …You and her and… Oh…” She whispered in horror. “Oh no…”

The crab-coffin scuttled away a few feet.

Subaru squinted at Daphne. “What are you babbling about now?!” He growled.

“Liar!” Daphne shouted in a voice of desperation. “Liar, liar, liar! Not true! We all unmasked! All of us but you! Take it off! Take off your mask, you liar!”

Subaru shook his head in exasperation. “I’m not wearing a fucking mask, you dope!” He shouted.

“No mask…,” Daphne whispered and the crab-coffin trembled. “No mask!” Her voice rose to a shriek.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Subaru demanded, walking over to the suddenly terrified witch.

“No!” Daphne screamed, the crab-coffin flinching back. “Not us, my king! Not us!”

The doors of Daphne’s coffin slammed shut with a sound like thunder, concealing the witch in her black box and the crab-coffin quickly scuttled back into the misty underbrush and out of sight.

Subaru stared at the vanished witch in disbelief. “What the fuck was that all about?” He asked.

Then the world fell apart.

Subaru bolted upright in his bed. He sat there panting for breath, his heart racing.

“Subaru!” Emilia shouted. “Are you alright?!”

Subaru looked at Emilia and found her laying beside him under the covers. She was sweating profusely and shivering.

“Um,” Subaru said slowly. “I… guess so. Where are we?”

Emilia sounded out of breath. “We’re at the inn in Stoneybrooke. It’s a little town in Gusteko,” Emilia coughed. “Subaru, there’s a bucket.”

“A bucket?” He asked, noticing the bucket beside the bed.

Emilia nodded. “Anri said that after you woke up, you’d need to throw up,” Emilia panted for a moment. “Do you?”

Subaru blinked. He thought about it for a moment. “No. Not at all, actually.” He looked around the room. It appeared to be a small but spacious loft directly under a slanted roof. There were two beds and a small table in the room.

Subaru looked more closely at Emilia. She was pale and shivering. “What happened?” Subaru asked. “Where are we?”

Emilia took a deep breath. “We went to Iruk to get you some medicine for the Black Water’s poison. But we got ambushed by an assassin and we had to run.”

“An assassin?”

“It was Elsa, Subaru,” Emilia whispered.

“Elsa?!” Subaru shouted. “You met Elsa?! Are you alright?!”

Emilia coughed and nodded feebly.

“You don’t look alright!” Subaru said in concern. “What’s wrong?”

Emilia shook her head. “I don’t know… I feel sick.”

“Sick how?” Subaru whispered.

Emilia struggled to lift the blankets off her body.

Subaru reached out to help her lift the covers but his left arm wasn’t moving properly.

Subaru looked at it and almost passed out. While Subaru had never been muscular, his left arm now looked like it belonged on a twelve year old boy. It was thin as a rail and seemed drastically undersized.

“That’s the result of the Black Water’s poison,” Emilia explained, following Subaru’s gaze. “Anri says it can be repaired.”

Subaru shuddered then put it out of mind for the moment. He lifted the bedspread.

Subaru gasped. Emilia was naked in bed. Black and red splotchy patches that looked like strange letters had crawled up Emilia’s legs. They looked almost like fresh kanji tattoos but the edges of the patches were wet and as Subaru watched, the symbols wept blood and a thick sludge as black as pitch. Emilia had surrounded her body with towels to catch the fluid.

“What happened to you?!” He gasped.

Emilia shook her head. “I don’t know.”

Subaru clenched his teeth. “Where’s Anri?”

Emilia seemed barely conscious. “She… left…”

“Figures. Just when she’d finally be useful!” Subaru hissed in a venomous voice.

Subaru took a deep breath. “I need to find you a doctor,” Subaru said, climbing out of bed.

“No!” Emilia weakly grabbed his arm. Her hand felt like an oven on Subaru’s skin. “We’re in… Sanshi now, Subaru. This isn’t a safe place for us. For me…”

“You need medicine!” Subaru protested, grabbing his robe and struggling to get his weakened arm into the sleeve.

Emilia shook her head. “If the locals find out an elf is here, we might both be in danger.”

Subaru growled to himself. If people find out that Emilia is here, we’re in trouble because I doubt that it’s safe to move her right now. But it’s clear that Emilia is seriously ill. I can’t just sit back and hope that this goes away on its own!

He didn’t know what to do. For a moment, Subaru forgot how to breathe. In desperation, he triggered Reason and Judgment and the world stilled all around him.

His terror faded and was replaced by a detached calm and an icy certainty.

Interesting. Whatever Anri has done seems to have inadvertently corrected your connection with Reason and Judgment. Or perhaps it was your encounter with the witch in your dream?

No matter.

You must focus on Emilia right now.

Emilia is clearly extremely sick. That must be your primary focus. Without question, exposing Emilia to the local healer is risky but it is a risk that must be taken and taken immediately.

Remain calm. Stay focused. And rely on Reason and Judgment to strengthen you as needed.

Subaru restarted time.

“Emilia, I need to find you a doctor,” Subaru said firmly. “We’ll deal with the fallout as it comes.”

Emilia looked worried but she didn’t say anything.

Subaru continued, “How big is this town?”

“Not nearly as big as Rixum, I think,” Emilia said, shivering.

Not good but I suppose it could be worse. I need to find a healer willing to treat Emilia. And hopefully one willing to keep his mouth shut about an elf being here for a few gold coins.

Wait, gold coins…

“Mili, where’s my satchel?” Subaru asked, looking around.

Emilia winched. “We lost it running from Elsa,” She said quietly.

Subaru’s face screwed up in frustration. “Shit! That’s where all our money was! Now how are we supposed to buy-”

“Sub-” Emilia broke into a huge coughing fit and Subaru held her gently, trying to steady her as she coughed hard enough to shake her entire body. A minute or two later, she had caught her breath and pointing a trembling hand at the table where a bag sat. Subaru got up and glanced inside. He found it full of gold coins.

“We got your money pouch when we fled from the safe house,” Emilia said in a hoarse voice. “But we didn’t have time to get your satchel. Sorry,” She murmured.

Subaru shook his head. “No problem,” He bit his lip. “Hang on, I’ll be right back. I want to grab a few things before I leave.”

Subaru slipped out of the room.

A few minutes later, Subaru had placed a pitcher full of ice-water on the night-table along with a small cup.

He then stripped the other bed and wrapped all the blankets around the shivering Emilia.

He took a small cloth, wrapped ice-cubes inside it and laid it across Emilia’s forehead.

“Do you need anything else before I go?” Subaru asked tenderly.

Emilia shook her head. “I’m fine… Subaru,” She said shivering violently.

“Mili, you might just be the worst liar that I’ve ever met,” Subaru said in a sinking voice.

Emilia smiled weakly. “Maybe I just don’t want to lie to you,” She said in a hoarse croak.

“You want me to get you some food before I go?” He suggested.

Emilia shook her head. “I’m not hungry right now, Subaru.”

Subaru nodded. “Alright. Stay here and try to rest. I’ll be back as soon as I can!”

It was mid afternoon when Subaru left the inn. He briefly popped into the stable to check on Patrasche, who was delighted to see her master back on his feet. Then he went searching for a doctor.

Stoneybrooke was a much smaller town than Rixum. There were only a few shops in the market.

Oh this is just great.

Fucking Anri! What was she thinking? Abandoning Mili at a time like this?!

Even if she didn’t know a cure for her illness, she could have stayed here to change Mili’s washcloth and help keep her temperature down! Now I’m running all over town and I need to worry that something might happen to Emilia without anyone even being there to help her!

Calm down. I’ll just do this as fast as I can…

“Excuse me,” Subaru said, calling out to a local at random.

“Um, yes?” The man had sandy blond hair and wore a white tunic.

“Is there a doctor in town?” Subaru asked.

“Yeah!” The man pointed. “Brother Cyril lives in the chapel just that way.”

“Is he any good?” Subaru asked anxiously.

The man rocked his hand back and forth. “He’s a low ranking spirits-art user. He’s far from a master healer but he’s all we got. Our only other option when we get sick is Nicholas. But medicine isn’t really his forte.”

“Who’s Nicholas?” Subaru asked.

The man shrugged. “Old Nicholas is an alchemist,” The man said with a deflating smile. “He was the fourth son of some noble and he spent his inheritance doing alchemical research a few miles from our village. He never quite made it work as I understand. I think that he’s still here today so maybe he could make whatever medicinal potions you needed.”

“An alchemist, you said?” Subaru said sharply.

The man chuckled. “Well, I’m not sure if I’d say that but he does. He might be able to help you out but I’d hurry if I were you. I think he’s supposed to leave and visit his son down in Sibarrel today or tomorrow. His house is just a few miles out of town,” He pointed.

Maybe I could make Emilia medicine? I know a bunch of potions from Daphne’s memories. The problem is Daphne had no interest in medicine itself and I have no idea what’s wrong with Emilia or what might make her better!

I’ll start with Cyril and see how that goes…

Subaru nodded. “Hey, thanks a lot!”

The man nodded and kept walking.

A donation, a fee, and a tithe later, the exasperated Subaru was walking through town with Brother Cyril. Brother Cyril was a fat man with a florid face. He had a tonsured head and wore a loose, red robe.

“So that’s all I know,” Subaru explained as they walked. Subaru desperately wanted Cyril to hurry up but the fat man plodded along complacently.

“That sounds like a serious illness, my son,” Cyril said pompously. “I might even suspect it’s some manner of cursed wound.”

“Cursed wound?”

“Curses can cause wounds and sores on the body, areas where the body fights to push out the poison. They often look like glyphs and letters as you described.”

Curses… Daphne knew a potion that could mitigate and cure curses… But it’s not that easy to make…

“Curses are extremely difficult to remove,” Cyril said in a voice of anticipation. “This might take several treatments.”

Subaru struggled not to break the man’s teeth over the tones of raw greed that he heard in the monk’s voice.

Let’s get him to confirm the diagnosis and treatment first. Then I can handle this in whatever way seems sensible, Subaru thought as they walked into the inn.

The tap room at the inn was crowded for the lunch rush. “Hey, Brother,” The innkeeper called from behind the bar. “The usual?”

“Not right now, Shaun! I need to heal the sick first!” Cyril said cheerfully.

Subaru closed his eyes and sighed. Does medical confidentiality exist on this world?!

“Sick!?” Shaun said sharply. “Who’s sick?!”

Subaru took a deep breath. “My wife.”

The innkeeper leaned over the bar. “It ain’t catching, is it?” He all but growled at Subaru. “The last thing we need is some traveler bringing a pestilence to our little town!”

“No!” Subaru snapped back. “It’s not contagious.”

Shaun did not seem inclined to take Subaru’s word for this and he glowered at him.

“No worries!” Cyril interjected. “If anyone gets sick, you have me to rely on!”

Nobody in the tap room seemed to find this idea reassuring.

Subaru followed Cyril up the stairs, wondering what kind of snake-oil salesman he had fallen in with.

“-of the most potent cures involves eel blood and moonlight,” Cyril continued his discussion on curse remedies as Subaru led him into their room.

Subaru knew nothing about magic but he was starting to get the distinct impression he was wasting his time here.

“I’m back, Mili,” Subaru called gently. “And I brought a doctor.”

Emilia didn’t answer and her breathing was shallow.

Subaru raced to her side. She was asleep and her face was pale.

“Well, let’s see what we have here-” Cyril stopped talking abruptly.

Subaru looked at the monk. His jaw had dropped and his face pale.

Subaru checked a sigh. He lifted the blankets and showed Cyril Emilia’s legs. The bloody marks were slowly creeping up her body. “These are the wounds I told you about,” Subaru prompted him.

Cyril stared in disbelief. “What is this?” He whispered.

Subaru sighed. “I’m not sure. We’re been through a lot lately. I don’t know what could have caused this but-”

“You brought a filthy half-blood into our town?!” Cyril hissed.

Subaru dropped the bedspread. He turned to face Cyril, his eyes glittering. “You’re referring to my wife,” He whispered. “She’s very sick. And you are a healer, are you not?”

“I am a healer!” Cyril snapped. “I treat people not livestock!”

Subaru snarled at him.

Cyril shook his hand in disgust. “Your… wife?! You rut with this type of monster?! Taking a pig to your bed would have been more acceptable!”

Subaru took one step forward, raising his fist. Cyril stumbled backward suddenly looking afraid.

“Be careful,” Subaru whispered in a voice as chill as death.

Cyril spat on the floor. “I will not waste one second of my time on this… abomination! You should be ashamed of yourself! Your filthy lust has led you to couple with an inhuman! You dirty the blood of all of humanity by your actions!”

Subaru ground his teeth and fantasized about spilling Cyril’s filthy blood all over the floor.

No. That will just make the situation worse. I underestimated this place. I knew that Gusteko people didn’t like demi-humans but I never imagined to what extent. Maybe Cyril is just a particularly virulent racist and everyone else in town will be more understanding but I doubt that I’ll be that lucky.

This means that I need to get out of here. Maybe if we head back over the border I could find a healer in Lagunica who’s not an absolute waste of skin.

Also I could try stopping at that “Nicholas’s” house before we leave. He wouldn’t need to see Emilia to make her a ‘curse remedy’ potion. It might not cure the condition but at least it will slow it down.

Then again, Nicholas sounds like the alchemist equivalent of an country bumpkin. He might not know how to make a curse remedy potion. Hell, maybe nobody remembers most of Daphne’s potions after all these years.

Maybe I could rent his lab for an hour and cook it myself?

Whatever. I’ll figure it out. The thing I need to do first is get Emilia and myself out of town before this situation comes to a boil.

Subaru snorted at him. “If you’re not going to help us then get the hell out of here! You got paid for doing nothing but I got the impression from the other villagers that’s how you make most of your money!”

Cyril looked mortally offended at this and he huffed and puffed before finally storming out of the room.

“Subaru,” Emilia squeaked.

“Mili?!” Subaru spun around and saw Emilia lying there, blinking.

“What was all the noise?” She whispered.

“Nothing. The doctor wasn’t much help,” Subaru glossed over the details. “Mili, I think we might need to take you somewhere else to get you a good healer. The one in this village seems really… dumb.”

“Where are we going to go?”

Subaru wasn’t sure yet. “We’ll stop and get you some medicine on our way out and then we’ll hop the border back into Lagunica until we find you a healer.”

Maybe Ganaks?

“But, Subaru-”

“Don’t worry, Mili,” Subaru laughed. “I have it all planned out!”

Emilia looked skeptical.

Subaru quickly changed the subject. “You look thirsty, Mili. Try to sit up and I’ll pour you a drink,” Subaru said, grabbing the pitcher full of ice water and pouring a glass. “I’ll change your facecloth and then go pick up some food for the trip. We’ll saddle Patrasche and get out of here.”

Subaru started to bring the glass of water to Emilia but he noticed that she was still lying down in bed. Her face was horrified.

“Mili, is something wrong?”

Emilia looked up at Subaru in near terror then she bit her lip to try and hold the fear in check. “Subaru. I… I don’t think that I can move my legs…”