Chapter 2: Their Departure

Subaru was sound asleep in bed with Beatrice. He felt someone lightly calling his name, shaking him, "Subaru-kun... wake up..." the voice called to him. He opens his eyes, the open windows showering him with the morning sunlight. He looks up and sees Rem beside him, giving him a sweet smile. "Hey Rem, thanks for waking me up *yawn* "

"Anything for Subaru-kun" she chimes.

He sits up but he felt something holding his left arm, "Beako's still asleep? Oh well, better let her rest..." He gets up on his feet doing a few stretches then suddenly Rem gives him a hug, he succumbs to her warmth and hugs her back. Once they released Rem pouts, "It's not fair that Beatrice-sama gets to sleep with Subaru-kun... R-Rem wants to sleep with you too..."

She says the latter rather shyly, looking quite flustered, "E-Eh... n-no I can't possibly do that... not yet anyway..." Subaru says, his face a little red from embarrassment.

"I-It's okay... if Subaru-kun would rather sleep with Beatrice-sama..." She looks down, her face showed sadness, "Eh! That's not what I meant... If Ram finds out, you know what she'll do so yea..." He looks away, scratching the back of his head, he thought about sleeping with Rem, then about how Ram would kill him the next morning, he shivered at the thought.

"Then Rem will try her best to convince Nee-sama" Instantly, Rem's mood made a 180 turn, she was happy and showed a determined face.

Subaru pulled the sheets over Beatrice who was still sleeping and leaves the room with Rem, closing the door behind him.

.

"Hector... kill you... I suppose..." She furrows her brows and mutters this in her sleep, no one heard her.

"Ahh! What kind of sorting system is this!" Otto screamed as he shuffles through several stacks of paperwork, "Beats me, I can't even read any of that stuff" Subaru replied.

Subaru was with Otto in Roswaal's office, on his desk were multiple piles of unsorted pages, Otto looked at it in disbelief while Subaru stares at Otto as he tries to order the mess. Otto arranged the documents at terrifying speed. He glances over the documents until gets the gist of the content, then throws it onto a mountain of papers stacked up on the desk, and continued doing one document after another. Subaru watches, his head starting to get dizzy from the intense speed at which he is asserting the pages.

"Elior forest... this goes here... Land border management... goes there... wait..." He suddenly stops, and drops the papers that were in his hands, "These documents are supposed to be classified information... so why am I looking at them?"

"Took you awhile to notice huh? Well... I told you I'll pull you in deep into this camps affairs, remember? And now that you've seen it, I can't let you leave" He whispers the last part to him.

"W-Was that meant to be a threat..." He stutters. Subaru backs off and looks at the pile, "You can interpret it any way you want. The Emilia camps got a shortage of allies, so I decided to go make some, though you gotta be careful with who you pick. I chose you cause you seem to have some satisfactory terms"

"Terms...?"

"Yeah, your factionless, your a merchant so you gotta have some calculation skills or something and you aren't discriminatory towards Emilia... you also seem like someone we'll get along well with"

He goes back to sorting the papers, "I see... wait what was that last one?"

"You show no discrimination towards Emilia?"

"No after that"

Subaru gave him a confused and an annoyed look as he picked up one of the papers,"I didn't say anything after that... wait a minute..." He noticed something in the document he was holding, it was about the mining rights of Elior forest, "But... Anastasia was never part of the original deal... so why did he..."

The documents were about the shared rights that came with the alliance, the one Roswaal was forming but was postponed, Subaru was able to form the alliance while he was gone but there was an addition of Anastasia's camp as well, Roswaal wasn't informed about Anastasia so he wouldn't have a reason to add her, that was unless Ram filled it out.

"Something wrong, Natsuki-san?"

"Uh... Nah, thought I saw something weird is all" He pushed the thought to the back of his head, for now, he would ask it to him later when they returned. He headed out of the office and left Otto with his sorting.

He went outside after talking with Emilia and Frederica for a bit, he saw Rem, she was going somewhere, he ran off to catch up to her, "Hey, Rem! You going to the village?" She stopped in her tracks and looks back with a happy expression, "Yes, Subaru-kun, we are low on seasoning so Rem is going to buy some"

"Oh, mind if I accompany you?"

"Rem would like that..." She quickly grabs his arm and hugs it, Subaru was a little startled by it, 'I'm gonna have to get used to this' he voiced to himself.

.

Once they reached the village, Rem and Subaru split up, Rem went on with her shopping while Subaru did his daily Radio calisthenics with the villagers.

"VICTORY!" The crowd cheered as they were finished with their exercises, Rem was watching from the shade of a store, the village children were rushing at Subaru, playing with him, Rem went up to him.

"Subaru-kun always makes the mood better doesn't he"

"Rem-rin!" The children squealed as they saw her.

The village children have grown quite attached to Rem since the Mabeast incident, they would always cling to her whenever she went shopping for supplies. They had some fun but Subaru and Rem noticed that something felt off, it was Petra, she wasn't as cheery as she used to be.

"Petra, Something up?" Subaru asked her as he went down to her eye level, "Uhm... no, not really, I'm just worried about everyone else..."

"Don't worry, we're going to Sanctuary tomorrow to check on them" He was trying to reassure her, but she still seemed a bit gloomy and anxious. He got back up and faced Rem. "Hey Rem, we might take a while at Sanctuary, you think Frederica would like a little helper in the mansion, just a temporary one"

"Maintaining the whole mansion by herself is a difficult job, Subaru-kun is suggesting that Petra-chan will help in the mansion? I don't see a problem with it"

"You heard that Petra, wanna give it a try?" Hearing her name she jerks her head up, her eyes gleaming at them, "I would love to!" She was being very enthusiastic, that was what Subaru wanted.

"Subaru-kun always makes everyone happy"

"Ehe... I guess I do. Anyway, Petra, go tell your parents first, if they approve, come over to the mansion, you will meet our senior maid"

"Okay!" She rushes off to the other children, getting them all excited. Subaru takes Rem's hand and they walk back.

"Hopefully Beako gets along with her".

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Outside the mansion, Beatrice was waiting with an angry and impatient face, "Hey Beako, I see you were waiting eagerly for us!"

"You left Betty alone, I sup- KYAAA!"

As she was relaying her displeasure, Subaru picks her up and seats her on his shoulder, "Yeah yeah, it's your fault for looking too cute while you sleep, I couldn't bring it in myself to wake you up, hehe"

Rem smiles enviously at the two's interaction.

"Put Betty down, I suppose!"

"Aww, but I wanted to carry Beako for a while..." He starts to slowly lower her down with a sad face, she was actually enjoying being carried though she was too prideful to admit it.

"Ghh, fine if Subaru must!"

"hehe".

"Hey Patarasche" He calls out to his ground dragon as he enters the stables with Beatrice, sitting on his shoulders. The ground dragon raises her head and looks towards the direction of the voice.

They walk up to the ground dragon, Subaru held his hand out and patted his head, they played a little, Subaru gave her an appa, then she turned to look at Beatrice.

"Eep, S-Subaru! It's looking at me..." Patrasche stares at Beatrice, she nervously she stared back, it got closer but Beatrice starts to back up.

She puts her hand out to stop her but she rubs her snout on her palm. "Eh...?"

"Hmm, Patarasche and Beako seem to be a match, looks like my mission here is done, see ya later Beako, play with Patarasche for a while, okay?"

Subaru puts her down and swiftly leaves the stables waving goodbye to Beatrice, leaving the door slightly open. She was too busy staring at the ground dragon so she didn't notice that he left.

Subaru went back to the mansion and did his regular chores and chatted with Otto for a bit before bringing Beatrice back for breakfast, she was displeased that he left her. Shortly after breakfast, Petra arrived with her mother, she was interviewed by Frederica and then shown around the mansion, she was to start working tomorrow.

The rest of the day was uneventful, not much happened, Subaru stayed in his room alone while Beatrice was taken away by Petra, she seemed to space out sometimes but she told them it was nothing.

After preparing the carriages for tomorrows departure, they all went to bed.

He woke up the next morning, it was later than usual, but pretty much the same scene over again, Beatrice sleeping in, Rem pouting, not much changed, but Instead of letting her sleep in, he woke Beatrice up, he didn't want to be late.

He put on his tracksuit, he went over to the table and grabbed a magenta colored cloak, with a B sewed in the back in I glyphs. He gave it to Beatrice, she looked at it puzzled.

"What's this, I suppose"

"It's the cloak I promised to make you, what don't you like it?"

"N-No... thanks, I suppose"

She took it and put it on, Subaru put on a prideful smile and they went out of the room, to his surprise, Petra was there cleaning the hallway, she wore a maid's outfit similar to Rem's. "Ahh... you're already up an at it Petra"

"Good morning Subaru-sama, Beatrice-chan, we have prepared breakfast early today so you can go and eat"

She does a bow, it seemed almost perfect, Frederica must be a really good teacher. After commenting on Petra's maid outfit they went to have a quick breakfast.

Right after breakfast, Subaru went with Beatrice to the village to do the daily Radio Calisthenics. After that Subaru was planning on introducing Beatrice to the village the children, Beatrice despaired at the thought and urged him to return to the mansion immediately.

.

"Now that I think about it, Beako and I are quite similar..."

"What nonsense are you spouting, I suppose!" Hearing Subaru's mumbling Beatrice voiced her displeasure at the thought.

"Well, we were both Shut-ins, locked from the outside world, lacking social contact..."

"What's a Shut-in, I suppose, and Subaru has been entrapped by a contract as well?"

"A Shut-in is someone who holes themselves in their room for whatever reason it may be. Entrapped is a strong word, maybe self-isolation would be correct, I felt like I just didn't want to go outside of my room and... well yea that's it, as a result I didn't have many real friends, and most of them moved houses so I rarely get to talk with them, so you could say I was kinda lonely there, but now I have you guys so I'm happy!"

"Hmph, you really are hopeless, I suppose..."

.

The mansion was starting to come into their field of view, well Subaru's at least, he saw everyone there seemingly waiting for them, Subaru started walking faster but Beatrice complained that she was tired.

"If you want me to carry you just say so," He said before lifting her onto his back, making her shriek quietly because of the sudden movement and he made a run for it.

.

"Hey Emilia, hah... hah... are we late...?" Subaru asked her.

"No, you're just in time Subaru," she answered.

They all boarded the carriage, Rem was tasked with navigating the ground dragons since she knows the way while Otto drives them. Petra gave Subaru a handkerchief, white with a golden puck embroidered onto it. He said he'd keep it as a 'good luck charm' as he didn't want to dirty it.

"So, Frederica-san, is there anything we need to worry about at Sanctuary?" Subaru asked her before leaving.

"Hmm... the only thing that comes to mind would be Garfiel, be cautious with how you interact with him."

"Okay, can you tell me a little bit more about him?"

Frederica had to think a while before answering, "Well, I can't remember how he looks clearly but just now that he is really strong and has high authority in Sanctuary, you can get more information from Rem, she's been to Sanctuary more than me"

"Okay then, strong guy, I'll look out for him"

A little bit of small talk and they were off to Sanctuary. It would be a total of eight hours to get there so it was destined to be a really boring ride.

Subaru couldn't handle it after an hour and decided to tell them stories from where he was from, Rem temporarily moved back in to listen, leaving a curious Otto in the driver's seat. He avoided telling them exactly where he's from, as it would lead to an insane amount of confusion. He had to explain a bunch of terms to them like the ocean, and a spherical world.

It turns out that their worlds differed immensely as if it wasn't obvious already, their world was flat and consisted of one continent containing four countries, they were separated by four rivers which diverge in the center. They extend over to the edge of the world until it makes a steep drop. This is most commonly known as The Great Waterfall, an endless abyss marked with a torrent of water. It is said that it is where the Hakugei goes after it hunts.

.

After his storytelling and lectures, they had reached the edge of a forest, trees could be seen stretching for miles. Rem returns to the driver seat with Otto and tells them that they have almost arrived.

Everyone sighed in relief. If they waited a little longer they just might have died of boredom.

They entered the forest and a few minutes have passed, Subaru was looking outside through the back of the carriage, Beatrice and Emilia peeking out as well though Beatrice had a sour look on her face. For a brief moment, Subaru thought he saw someone deep in the forest, Beatrice saw it as well but refrained from saying anything, suddenly the carriage stopped.

We went to the front of the carriage with Beatrice, making it to the driver's seat, they saw short, blonde haired youth standing before them, he wore an open vest and some rather cool looking pants, he had a noticeable scar on his forehead.

"Them guys with you Rem?" The boy asked.

"Hello Garf, they are with me, we are here to retrieve Roswaal-sama, Nee-sama and the villagers"

"Hmm, okay then..." He jumps onto the top of the carriage and looks down at Otto. "Yo driver, jus a little straight an should be it"

Rem enters the carriage and switched places with Subaru and Beatrice, he wanted to talk with Garfiel despite Frederica's warning. "So... your Garfiel if I'm not mistaken?"

"Tha's right, my amazing self's the strongest man alive, who're you?"

"Strongest man alive? I might give you second or third but strongest maybe... not. I'm no one special, just a soon to be knight of a half-elf, the names Natsuki Subaru"

Garfiel closed his eyes as he takes in the information, "Soon to be knight ey? And by half-elf, you mean the princess that's just passed out now?"

"Yep, that's- Wait What!?" He turns around and sees that Emilia is unconscious on Rem's lap, he could see Rem panic a little as he gave him a worried look, he jumps back in after setting Beatrice down, calling out to her. "Emilia!"

"It's the barrier... nothing to worry about, I suppose, this is a natural for half-bloods that pass through it," She said facing forward, making it look like it's not a big deal, Garfiel also seemed to not be concerned about it.

"Barrier? And you're telling us this now!?"

"B-Betty forgot about it, I suppose, how do you expect Betty to remember everything from a place she's only been in for a few years!"

Suddenly Garfiel looked down at Beatrice from the top of the carriage, "Hey, lil girl, don't think I've ever seen anyone like you in Sanctuary and I know everyone here, so how do you know about the Barrier?"

"Watch who you call a little girl, I suppose!" She shouts while looking away pouting, that was a very, little girl thing to do. "Well, she's Beatrice, my contract spirit. She told me her mother used to live here a few hundred years ago" Subaru said from inside the carriage.

"Contract spirit? Okay then... wait four-hundred years! Then yer like 'The ol' granny on the sleepin hill'! ...But then yer mother must-" Before he could complete his sentence Beatrice sent him a death glare, she sent a terrifying aura at him, keeping his mouth shut out of fear.

"R-Right... hows about that one?" He points to Otto.

"Oh, he's just Otto" Subaru sighed as he introduced Otto

"Natsuki-san... why did my introduction sound like you were trying to pity me?"

"No, that's impossible Otto, your misfortune is so great it's almost impossible to feel pity for you, haha!"

"What!"

They went past a stone gate and a few houses started to appear.

"So, Garfiel... care to tell us a little bit about Sanctuary?" He asked Garfiel

Garfiel clicks his tongue before answering, "Tch, thas what the bastard's callin it? Call it what you want but here 'S more or less known's the Witch a greed's cemetery, a test site where a bunch of nobodies gather"

"Nothings changed, I suppose...," Beatrice added, "I heard there were other witches, one for each of the other six sins... Does this place always have such a depressing atmosphere?"

Hearing this Garfiel sighs, "Sure 'S a depressin' place. Jussayin', the people inside're even more depressin'. Everybody's got this gloomy look, like they're livin' but they're dead. 'S messed ups what it is"

After a few more minutes they saw houses, slightly run down, the overall feel was gloomy. Emilia started to wake up, and they arrived shortly after, the citizens gave them lifeless glances, it was a disturbing scene. They saw Ram standing there waiting for them.

They stopped and Rem rushed over and hugs her, a sisterly thing to do, she was glad Rem wasn't sad anymore. Emilia came out next then Garfiel and Otto, Subaru came out last with Beatrice.

"Barusu..." She slowly approached him, giving him a glare. "You're on your own, I suppose," Beatrice said as she let go of his hand and went to where everyone else stood. They all looked confused when they saw this, mostly Garfiel.

"Ah... a promise is a promise... make it painless ok..." He surrenders, lifting his arms in the air.

"Hmph, I have no intention of making it painless" She raises a hand and faces the palm at him, then sighs "Though torturing you here and now would only make me look bad, instead I'll work you dead when we return, be grateful for my mercy"

He fell to his knees and breaths out a sigh of release, "T-Thank you Ram, for showing mercy!"

Emilia and Rem burst into laughter, Otto and Garfi gave him a confused while Beatrice just doesn't care.

Deep in the forest, something moves, there are many, yet it acts as one. A grave danger seeps through Sanctuary, preparing its onslaught on its residence.

A/N

Wooh, Garfiel's accent/wordings were very hard to make, nows where the real differences will pop up, let's see how Subaru reacts when he finds out that Dona is Betty's mom. I think my writing has improved a lot over the last month, I'm proud of myself.

Updates will most likely be irregular later on, but who knows.

~( ' u ' )~ See ya later!