Chapter 4: The Tomb of a Witch

*Smack* A palm went over his face.

"I had to kill a whale and fight a sin archbishop, while you just sat here in bed getting tended to, absurd...!" Subaru scoffed at the man with face paint.

Garfiel was confused, Beatrice, Emilia, and Rem just watched, giving a 'he deserved it' look, Ram was definitely angry and Otto was horrified at what Subaru just did.

The slapping sound resonated through the room, it sounded like it hurt, a lot, but, "Huu... I wasn't~ expecting something soo light, Subaru-kun~, did my injuries make you~ hold back?"

"No... if I did any harder I'll be dead, Ram's already got the look when I got here..."

He points to Ram, everyone saw that she was suppressing her anger, but she calmed down and looked away when Roswaal put up his hand. He was on a wooden bed, his body wrapped in blood-soaked bandages.

"I'm glad to see that you're all alright. Though seeing Beatrice here, is rather surprising..." He gives Beatrice a smile, and she knew exactly what it meant, she humph'd and looked away.

Subaru and Emilia then began staring at Roswaal, making it suddenly silent, "My, my, what's with this staring, it's making me rather uncomfortable, no?"

"You know exactly why Roswaal, so just cut the act" Subaru said.

"My, being so straightforward, I see you've changed for the better, Subaru-kun, I wonder what happened...

"Enough of that shit talk, you decide to be the backer of Emilia, brought her out knowing she would be prone to cult attacks and just leave her in the mansion without some kind of contingency plan?!"

Roswaal sighs "Ah yes, that would be a mistake on my behalf, I am truly sorry for that, really I shouldn't so careless as to do that... now then... the villagers are fine and are currently residing in the Cathedral at the center of the village, as for me, there is no need to be concerned, and for why we haven't come back is simple... we can't"

"You can't...?" Emilia said.

"Yes... as of now... we are all currently under house-arrest, and by the time you entered Sanctuary... you are as well..."

"What are you..." before Subaru could finish his question Beatrice decided to answer it, "He's talking about the barrier, I suppose... Emilia can't leave, she's half-blood... you set us up didn't you... you plan on having Emilia beat the trials to free Sanctuary, I suppose?" Beatrice said, having clearly seen through him, Roswaal chuckles at how his plan was uncovered in mere seconds.

He drops his shoulders"Of course, my sincerest apologies for not telling you in advance, but now that the Royal selection has begun, It's time for you to take your part, Emilia-sama... let us talk later, for now, I want you to see something... Garfiel, please show them to the tomb..."

"Y'sure bout that? Right then, follow me..." Ram urged Emilia and Subaru out of the building, guiding them away, Beatrice followed them, but before they left, "Don't you dare enter the tomb, unless you want to be entrapped by the Witch..." she said this in a much more colder tone than her usual, Subaru wasn't able to ask about it and Rem was tasked with showing Otto to a vacant house so she was already gone.

As Rem was bringing Otto around he told her that he would rather stay in the carriage for the night, but she said it was an order from her master so she should at least show him there, she told him he could go to wherever he wanted to sleep after.

"Visitors lil-gar?"

A young pink-haired girl was standing a few feet in front of them, she wore a dark purple robe, with red edges on it. Her eyes were ocean blue, she had long ears and held a rather large walking stick.

"Oh granny, Ye it's Emilia-sama an her compatriates"

Garfiel called her 'Granny' though it didn't really fit with her image what so ever. Subaru instantly came with a conclusion, "Loli-Granny" he said aloud. She looked as tall as Petra and Beatrice, maybe she was about eleven or twelve appearance-wise, but hearing Garfiel refer to her as granny made him think otherwise.

"Loli? Not sure what it means burt Sounds like I been made to look bad er somethin?" She said looking at Subaru.

"Loli... I hear you calling Beatrice that, what does it mean Subaru?" She turns to Subaru with questioning eyes, Garfiel also faces him. Beatrice turns away, she already knew what it meant.

"Hmm... well a loli is... a person who has an appearance of a little girl, disregarding all other factors such as age, so loli technically means saying 'you look like a little girl' yea?"

"Not sure, if thas a complerment or something but eright, names Lewes Meyers, kinda like er representative of Sanctuary er somethin," she says doing a polite bow to them, "How bout you?"

"I'm Natsuki Subaru, Maebeast slayer, and future knight! A pleasure to meet you."

"Emilia, a candidate running for the forty-second king of Luginica, nice to meet you, Lewes-san"

They both bowed back to her in a respectful manner, it was Beatrice's turn but when they looked at each other.

"..." Beatrice was staring at her, she had a pained expression on her face, it didn't look like she wanted to talk. Garfiel saw it and decided to stand beside Lewes.

"Something wrong Beako...?" Subaru asked her, taking note of her expression, It's probably something about her past when she was at Sanctuary. "She shy'r somethin?" Lewes asked Subaru.

Beatrice was surprised when she said this and instantly refutes her statement, "O-Of course not, I suppose...! I-Its Just... that you just look a little like someone, Betty knew... just a little, I suppose..." she turns away.

"Oh... really now? Well, ner helpin that..." Lewes shrugs her shoulders.

"Anyway, this is Beako, she's my contract spirit, say hi Beako"

"Greetings, I suppose..." she waves her hand nervously.

They continued their talk as they made their way to the 'tomb'. They passed a small stone gate, inside the area looked like an ancient ruin and in the center stood a stone tomb, with a staircase leading downwards, it was surrounded with grass and shrubs, seemingly untouched for a long time.

"So can someone enlighten us on these trials? Beako how about you?" When he called her name she just looks away, "Don't know huh... okay then, Garfiel?"

"Them trial'S a bunch er tests yer gotta undergo in the tomb, happens only at night and ther'er three of em, once yer done, the barrier round Sanctuary's gone, thas all"

"So Roswaal is planning on making Emilia pass the trials... well it would make sense, could give a boost in the Royal election, though going in unprepared like that, I expected a little more from Roswaal... so then this all?"

"Emilia-sama's gotta enter them tomb over there in to check if she got the qualifications, can't take the trial without the qualifications. Though she's er half anyways, so not really necessary, but the bastards insistin on it"

They walked up to the tomb and looked in Emilia took a deep breath and was about to take a step in, but...

"Letting you go in a dark place first without checking if its safe is a terrible thing to do, I'll go in first to check, okay Emilia?" Subaru puts his hand out to stop her.

"May wanna reconsider, Su-boy, that is, unless you wanna end up like lil-Ros back there," Lewes said.

Beatrice tugs at Subaru's sleeve "Subaru should be fine, I suppose, he's terrible at magic anyway," Beatrice said while she stared down, "Hey, I know I'm bad but you don't have to say it out loud! But... what does magic have to do with injuries?"

"When someone enters the tomb, people with the qualifications will make those lights flash, I suppose" she pointed at dull white gems fitted on the tomb's entrance, "If a person without the qualifications come in, they will get rejected and their gates get attacked, so in a sense..."

"The better you are at magic, the more it hurts... well that explains Roswaal... okay then, the more reason I should go in, eh does that mean Beako can't come to?"

"I'm not going in there, I suppose! Not when I know i'll get hurt!" She looks away and kicks on the ground.

"Don't say we didn't wern ya, Su-boy..."

.

After hearing their warnings, Subaru stepped inside the tomb, he took another step, he felt nothing strange, his insides seem to be intact, his limbs are still attached to his body, he takes another step, still nothing, he takes another... then another... until he reaches the bottom, as he reaches the bottom, he felt a little dizzy and had a slight headache, nothing serious. He walks in deeper, the nauseous feeling got more intense but he could manage.

"Are you okay Subaru!" He heard Emilia call out from the outside.

"Yeah, just feeling a little dizzy, there doesn't seem to be-"

'Why hello there..." he heard a voice call out.

The next thing he knew he was on the ground, he laid on the dusty floor, his mind was fading away, he could hear everyone calling out to him worriedly, the last thing he saw was a wall before his vision went black.

"Ugh..." He felt something soft on his face as he slowly started to regain consciousness, he felt a breeze blowing past his hair, the dusty floor he was once on was replaced with lush green grass that stretched for miles, "Where... am... I?" He asked, who wouldn't ask such a question, he got up and saw that he was on a hill, with an oak tree on top, some feet away from him was a table, two chairs, and a tea set, a bright blue sky was on the plastered above the world he was currently in.

He looked around, clearly confused, "I've never seen this... so probably didn't die..."

"My, your an interesting one..." He jerked his head back as he heard that voice, he never heard it before, it sounded happy, excited, and not threatening. From behind the oak tree a woman appeared, she wore a black funeral dress and had long white hair, she had a smile on her face as she walked to the table, "You have many questions, and I have many answers, why not have some tea while we talk?"

She pulls out a chair and sits down, and points towards the chair opposite to her, Subaru just looked even more confused, starting to back up a bit, "Apologies, it is quite rude for me to make such a request before my introduction, now is it... well then my name is Echidna... but it would be more understandable if I told you I was... The Witch of Greed"

Subaru just stared at her, half expecting some kind of laugh or something witch like but nothing came. He took a deep breath and walked to the chair, and sat down, "Natsuki Subaru... nice to meet you" He raised his hands for a handshake, he was very cautious, though she just looks like she wanted to talk, she's still a witch, so you can't expect something bad not to happen, to add to it, she's also dead.

"Your, Echidna, The Witch of Greed... but I thought you're dead? How are you here? Or more importantly... where is here?" She smiles and giggles a bit after he asks her this question, making him take a more defensive position.

"Hah... it been a while since I talked with someone, no need to worry, I won't bite, haha... anyway, this place here? You can refer to it as my castle, where I make the rules, it's like a dreamscape..."

"Dreamscape? So none of this is real right? I'm just dreaming this?"

"Well, not quite, It's a dreamlike place, I just bought your consciousness here for a little chat, so your real body is still on the ground inside my tomb" It cleared up some doubts but Subaru was still confused.

"But you're supposed to be dead right? You shouldn't be able to talk right now... I'm in your tomb after all"

"Well, I was taken down by the Witch of Envy who was sealed a few hundred years ago, but the dragon Volcanica had entrapped my soul within this tomb, and thus my spirit remains, my sisters are also here, the Witches of Sloth, Pride, Lust, Gluttony, and Wrath... hmm... it would be rude if I didn't introduce them, would you like to see them?"

He was bombarded with so much information that he nearly lost it, he took some time to process it, "I guess I could meet some more but I really need to get outta here, some people are getting worried so if you wouldn't mind"

"Oh, of course, I don't, I didn't really call you here, I just opened the front door... though are you okay with it?"

"Am I okay with what?"

She fought back his demand with a question, and a confusing question it is, he made it clear that he wanted to go back so... "I am the Witch of Greed, I thirst for knowledge, having the chance to speak with someone like me, you sure you want to let this chance go to waste?"

He thought about it for a second, "The Witch of Greed, the embodiment of the thirst for knowledge... you have the answers to my questions?"

She answers with a kukuku kind of laugh, "Starting off with a question like that won't give you answers, but what about this, do you wish to know of the Witch of Gluttony Daphne, who created godforsaken beasts to save the world from hunger? About the Witch of Lust Camilla, who sought to fill the world with love and gave emotion to those without others? About the Witch of Wrath Minerva, who punched all people into health while lamenting the strife-filled world? About the Witch of Sloth Sekhmet, who drove the Dragon beyond the Great Cascades just for some peace and quiet? About the Witch of Pride Typhon, who brought judgment upon criminals with the innocence and ruthlessness of a child? Or is it about the Witch of Greed, me, Echidna, who thirsts for knowledge? "

He was bombarded with vast amounts of information, it was things he never heard of, when people referred to a Witch it was always the Witch of Envy, Satella, there were no others that they knew of, at least not anymore. But here he is, being told about not one but six other witches other than the Witch of Envy.

"Is it none of those? Well then... is it about, Satella, the Witch of Envy...? The one that destroyed the other Witches, the one that made the world her enemy while pursuing what was most precious to her

"Subaru!" Beatrice shouted down, "Something happened!"

Everyone was now panicking, especially Beatrice, without a second to waste, Emilia went inside the tomb, when she reached the bottom she found Subaru, lying limp on the ground, he was sweating. She picked him up by the shoulder and carried him back up. Garfiel noted that the lights turned on when Emilia went out of the tomb. Once they were up Beatrice immediately went to check on him, she wasn't particularly worried about his condition, she knew where he was, and she didn't want him to be there, to meet her. He was then carried by Garfiel to a house and was left to rest.

Subaru fell silent... he was breathing, but he couldn't feel it, his heart was beating but he couldn't register it, he was utterly terrified of Echidna's pressure, the aura she exerted was beyond what was comprehendible.

"Oh, maybe I overdid it with the menacing atmosphere, huh, such a bother, I'm always like this when I'm answering questions, no wonder people never interrupt me back when I was alive..."

Even if she realizes she overdid it, it doesn't reduce the overwhelming pressure she's exerting. The woman that standing before Subaru now is not a what she was anymore, right now, she truly was a Witch.

"Let's try a change of setting," she says and snaps her fingers as she mists away, it snapped Subaru back, he looks around but he saw no one, he looks at the empty seat where Echidna once was.

The next moment the whole world went black, the sky disappeared, the field of grass faded away, all that is left is the table, the chairs, the tea set and them. Subaru looked down and saw an endless abyss. Normally people would freak out, but for some reason, Subaru felt like it was normal.

.

"Hey Nii-san, I'm Typhon!" He looks to what was supposed to be a woman with white hair, but she was no longer there, in her place was a little girl, about Beatrice's size, she had dark green hair, she wore a frilly white and blue dress, her eyes red, she had tan skin and had a blue flowery hairpin.

"Eh... ah... w-where did Echidna go...?" He nervously asks the girl in front of him.

"Dona? Not sure, Dona always goes away without telling us, but what about you Nii-san?"

She points at Subaru asking him to introduce himself, he lays his back on the chair and takes a deep breath, "Um... My names Natsuki Subaru... I kinda got lost while finding my way out of here... now I'm currently being interrogated by a little girl, you see"

"So your, Baru-Nii...!" She said cheerfully, she seemed like an innocent little girl, harmless even, she sat there playfully kicking her legs back and forth, but then she asks Subaru a question "Hey Baru-Nii, are you a bad guy?"

"Uh well... wait, say that again?" Surprised by the question, he asks her to repeat.

"III saaaiiid, ARE YOU A BAD GUY!" she says in a louder voice, pouting after, it made Subaru cover his ears, "Okay, okay I heard you this time!"

"Well, if you ask am I a bad guy... naturally I would say no... but hey, we were born to make sins, I've killed a few people, but they had it coming, so I don't feel guilty for it... though there are things you do that you don't really notice so I can't really say if I'm completely good or not... that satisfying?"

He looks over to the little girl, only to see her spinning her head in confusion, "Baru-Nii... I got lost somewhere in the middle... I'll just check real quick"

She brings out her arms, making a swimming motion, she and the chair slowly came closer to Subaru and when he was in arms reach she grabs on to his left arm, he tilts his head at this.

.

'sinscostsnothingbutpaintoatone'

.

"Eh?"

She whispered something that he didn't quite catch, suddenly he felt something tug on his left arm, his left side felt rather light all of a sudden, he turned to see that his whole left arm was ripped clean of his shoulder, no blood gushed out, but the feeling of missing an arm was uncomfortable.

He kicked back, holding on where his arm used to be, he just looked at it, he wasn't really panicking, he kept on telling himself, 'its just a dream, chill!', he trembled a bit as he looks over to Typhon.

"Looks like Baru-Nii is good after all- here" she tosses his arm back at him, he caught it, looking disgusted at the sight. He turns his head up to look at Typhon but...

.

"Huuh, such a bother, I guess I have no choice..."

Typhon was no longer there, sitting in her place was now another woman, her magenta hair stretches down extremely low, and she seems extremely fatigued but she was still beautiful. Her skin and lips are abnormally pale. Her eyes are narrowed more with a deficiency of will to live, there were bags under her eyes probably due to lack of sleep, and she makes her every breath sound like a bother to do. She's wearing a black robe, but the filth and frayed patches scattered around it give an incredible impression of this seriously being the only thing she wears.

"Witch of Sloth, Sekhmet, huh, let's get this over with, haah..."

"Uh... ah... sorry I need some time to adjust to this..." He points at his arms that was detached from his body.

"Huuh, looks like Typhon's at it again, such an unlucky person you are, meeting three witches in a row... and to still keep sane, well the only other people that have done that would be the dork Flugel, haah, and Reid... the stick swinger, huuh"

She sighs and looks lifelessly at Subaru, he tried his best to stay calm, nothing seems real in here, well nothing is real, it's a kind of dreamscape like Echidna said, "Okay... so question... will my arm come to its place?"

"Huuh, that's not really something I can do, huh, anyway, I feel like I can't keep this up... I'll just disappear then, haah" not wanting to continue, Sekhmet just slumped over and faded away, Subaru was left alone in the void, no one to talk with.

.

"I'm gonna die if this goes on..." He seemed to have calmed down drastically now that he was alone, but...

"Did you just say that word in front of me!" A loud voice says, coming from in front of him, but he saw that nobody was there, the next thing he knew was that he was flung into the air, and the was hit with a flurry of punches, he felt his back being pushed on an invisible barrier. He heard a shattering sound and he fell straight down, into the abyss, at least that was what he expected. He hit his back on a familiar grass field and a crater formed on impact... he was dizzied from the fall but his body felt refreshed for some reason.

He got back up and analyzed the situation, he saw that his arm was back where it was supposed to be, he breathed a sigh of relief, "Let me guess, Witch of Wrath, Miner..."

He stopped mid-sentence as he saw the woman in front of him, she wore clothes that seemed easy to move in and was accompanied with a short skirt, she had blue eyes and wavy golden hair, she had a large chest and emphasized curves, Subaru reflexively turned his head, giving her a shock.

"Oh no, your Lust aren't you... Carmilla, I probably shouldn't look!" His whole body faced away, he covered his face and was trembling.

"What, No!? I'm Minerva, Witch of Wrath! Anyway... your arm is back to normal, it wasn't bleeding so Typhon must have done it... again, seriously, she doesn't think about other peoples pain, that girl! Hah, well there is no other reason for me to be here, so- hey why are you still looking away, I'm not Carmilla you know!"

"Sorry, but I would risk a nosebleed if I looked in your direction, so it would be best if I didn't look..." he said still trembling.

She blushed at what he said, looking embarrassed, then she stomped her feet on the ground looking quite serious, "Ugh, I don't want to see you getting hurt now, promise me that!" She said as she ran off to the distance.

"Sorry, can't promise that!" He shouts, still facing away from her. He got back up and climbed out of the crater in front of him was the table and chairs, Echidna was sitting there pouring tea into the teacups.

.

"So? How was it? Now that you've seen the others you know that you can't really get hurt here and that I'm completely harmless"

"Yeah, right... but your still a witch, your thinking is way different from ours..."

She smiled cheerfully now that they can talk normally, she pushed a cup of tea over to him, he grabs it and examines it, nothing seemed strange, so he took a sip, it didn't taste very much like tea, though the taste was very familiar, "Can't really tell what it tastes like..."

"Oh well that's just my body fluids," she said to him nonchalantly.

...

"Something wrong?" She asks him.

N/A

Wooh, nice and big chapter, 4k words, was aiming for 3k but this is better. Not much to say since I haven't really prepared anything, just expect the next chapter sooner. Exams are done, so I should have much more time to plan this. Also, keep a lookout for a new fic, Warlock of sin, it branches off from this one so it's kinda like an IF chapter kinda thing. Most of the plot was thought by ChristianRed, I'm just writing it down, cheers to him for giving an amazing plotline and idea.

Updates will be constant for now, three days or five days probably, so yeah, reviews are amazing and are highly appreciated.