Natsuki Subaru: Warlock of Sin

Chapter 1

[An Uncalled for Reunion]

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"Phhff…!"

A distasteful lump of gravel and dust had greeted his taste buds, reawakening him yet again. "I'll never get used to this…" His eyes adjusted to the darkness as he confirmed his save point, "Definitely the tomb… and there's Emilia!" The silver-haired beauty sat there, unconscious and in pain, Subaru spared no time in grabbing hold of her.

"..."

Looking at her face intently, he's glad that the effects from the last loop didn't carry forward to this one. If he's learned anything from the experience, then it's that if someone manages to know about Return by Death, the witch would spring forth. He also knows that Echidna's trial is still affected by Return by Death, so he has no need to worry about her knowing.

"Oh right, I have this now…"

Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a purple crystal from inside, it flickered dimmly in the darkness of the tomb, signaling the presence of the existence that resides inside it. "Okay… now time to bring Emi-" Before being able to move a finger, his hands reflexively cover up his mouth as his mind starts getting ripped apart by nausea.

"Agh-"

He feels like he's about to empty his whole breakfast, lunch, and dinner right here, right now. "Have... to get out of here... quickly!" Hastily picking Emilia up from the cold stone floor as carefully as he can, he rushes for the stairs, trying to hold it all in until after he got out.

"Khh-!"

"Sorry Emilia-tan, but I'll be all over the floor if we don't go out right now"

Emilia quivers as she starts to realize what's happening, it seems her consciousness has abruptly returned from being forcefully taken out of the trials.

He climbs and climbs until he somehow manages to reach the top where everyone else had awaited for his return, "Haaah, I thought I was gonna die!" He drops down head first into the grass, Emilia safely laying on his back, "Subaru-kun!" Rem cries out as she rushes over to his side, everyone else following behind her.

"Ugh… I'm fine, just a killer headache is all"

"Ya got some nerves rushin' in there like tha! Half an hour and ya didn't come back. Who knows what coulda' happen if yer not in tha trials, not my amazin self" Garfiel says as he looks at him from above.

"Yeah, I took part in the trials alright… you've got a smart head for a guy made of muscles, glad no one rushed in to save me... but whatever, there's something I gotta discuss with you all, also Emilia seems to still be …" Glancing over to her, they could all see she was well awake, but also very disturbed and untalkative right now.

"Seems like she ain't fit for talking, Bring 'er over to my place, we'll let her rest for a while" said Lewis, ever so caringly.

"Natsuki-san, are you okay? Do you perhaps need a hand?"

"Nah, it's fine, I just feel a little bit dizzy is all… I can walk on my own"

After saying that, they all readied themselves to switch locations. Rem carries Emilia in her arms as they traverse through the village square into Lewis's house, isolated from the rest.

As always, greeted by the creaking of her door, the insides of the village elder's house were kept sparkly clean, and it smells nice, some could mistake this for an actual house instead of an old hut.

Rem laid Emilia down in the bed, though suddenly, she snapped back to her senses that moment, "H-huh…?" She looked around to see everyone's worried expression. "Where am… Oh... Subaru… Subaru took me back up didn't he?" With a curt nod, he replied, "Yeah, sorry if I interrupted your trial, you just looked pretty pained back then, I couldn't stand it"

Shaking her head, she replies, "No it's my fault for worrying you all… If it's ok with you, I'd like some time alone…"

They all looked to each other, and collectively nodded, allowing her to have some alone time.

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"Right ya better start talkin now, ya hear!" Garfiel suddenly bursts out as they get out of Emilia's room, the noise disrupted the awkward peace that everyone was maintaining, Rem steps in to tone it down, "Garfiel, Emilia-sama is just a door away, she needs her rest! Also, Subaru-kun also needs some rest-"

"Putting Emilia-sama aside, for now, it's as Garf says, you better start spilling it Barusu"

"Nee-sama, not you too…"

"It's fine Rem, it's something I have to get off my chest anyway"

Worrying that Emilia may come out and tell them to quiet down, he brought them outside to talk about it all.

They stood in a circle, all facing towards Subaru, it does feel awkward having this much attention directed towards yourself but through the repeated loops, he's gotten used to it already, and is more or less prepared to say what he has to say.

"As Garfiel's said, I took the trials when I went into the tomb, and needless to say I've passed without a hitch…"

"If you've past then-"

"It's not that simple Ram…" Stopping her mouth from jumping over to conclusions, Subaru glances over to Garfiel, as if trying to confirm what he's about to say, "He's only done the first one, there's three that ya gotta do ta really pass, it's still a long way till we free Sanctuary… and from what ye were sayin after ya got out…"

That sense of nausea he felt as he was leaving the tomb, it was akin to the curse he had suffered from back when he first visited the mansion, an attack that targets ones gate, he felt that same sensation back in the tomb. "I haven't confirmed it yet… but it seems I may not be able to attend the trials a second time"

"The headache you were feeling was most likely the tomb trying to reject you, I suppose. Just what exactly did you do to anger mother?" Beatrice asked him with a suspicion.

"To be honest, I don't know what she sees in me, one moment she's intrigued that 'finally' a person has come after so long, and now she's rejecting me from entry, I don't really get it…" he scratches his head, he was also quite surprised that it happened so aburptly.

Barging in to the conversation rather rudely, Garfiel clicks his tongue, "Tha old hags a witch, ain't no one can think what she's thinking, either way, if thas all then got, then 'eres nothin left to talk 'bout, right? Emilia-sama's already failed her attempt right? Tha means we oughta wait fer tomarrow for her ta try again"

"And even if Emilia can do it again, in the state she's in, I doubt we can leave her in alone again…" Subaru said, having her stay there trembling for hours on would make his heart ache. But with all that said and done, everyone decided that it was enough and called it a night here.

"Then I'm off to tend to Roswaal-sama's wounds, Rem, assist me quickly"

"Of course, Nee-sama"

The two maids hurried off into the hut that housed the injured Roswaal, meanwhile, Garfiel scurried off into the forest, most likely off to do his nightly patrols. Subaru, Otto, and Beatrice were the only ones left with Lewis, "Ya'll can sleep over in the main hall, prepared beds an' everythin for ya. Need any extra just ring me up"

"Thanks, Lewis-san"

They waved her goodnight too as she went back into her hut, probably to look after Emilia, "Then, Natsuki-san, I'll go on ahead if you don't mind" "Oh, yeah that's fine, I have some things I wanna do before I call it a night" Waving each other farewell too, they also separated ways, now leaves Subaru and Beatrice together.

"Hey, Beako-"

"Not, now I suppose, they're watching us…"

Though, 'they' sounds rather ambiguous, Subaru's very certain about it, it's the 'clones'. Before he wants to tell her anything, he has to get rid of any suspicion, and he's got the brightest idea, "Geez Beako, if you wanted to go to the toilet so badly you should've just told me!" Suddenly blurting out something like that startled Beatrice and made her face scorn in malice, "You! Just what are you saying out loud, I suppose!"

"Just put up with it for a while, he may be hard in the head, but I'm sure he won't go peeping on some girls business…"

"Don't think you'll be forgiven so easily for disgracing Betty like this, I suppose! I'll make sure you pay-"

"Ya, Ya, I'll carry you alright, just sit tight we'll be there!"

Saying that even louder than before, he carries her over to the direction of the village outskirts while whispering in her ear that it's all okay. With much resistance, they reach their destination and she pulls him in to the stall quicker than the blink of an eye, "This better be worthwhile, I suppose!" Saying that as she huffed and puffed her way into the brightly lit room, Subaru stared in awe at what he was seeing.

"I didn't know you could connect the library to any old door! This is pretty usefu,l isn't it? Now we won't be eavesdropped"

"Useful as it is, connecting the library to an area that it's not meant to connect to takes a lot from Betty's reserves, not even your daily's worth of mana would be enough to suffice" she says as she angrily stomps her feet on the library's carpet, still not satisfied with what had happened.

"Don't be like that Beako… I'm sure i'll be able to stockpile enough mana to reimb-"

"Like I said, that's besides the problem, I suppose! Think of my pride that you've trampled on, worthless contractor!"

"Ah, yeah that would hurt, wouldn't it… well it's alright, I'll just shower you with praise and affection until you've forgotten all about it! I'm sure you'd be satisfied then!"

"Just what kind of cheapskate do you take Betty for, I suppose…" Looking at him rather disappointed and defeated she sits down on her stool that had since been unmoved for the past few weeks, "So, what's the matter? What could you have seen in the trials, I suppose? Or is it a message from mother?"

"Neither… and to be honest, it's kinda hard for me to bring this topic up… but promise me you won't overreact?"

"When has Betty ever overreacted, I suppose, I'll assess the situation accordingly and act accordingly"

"That's… not very assuring, can you at least promise me that you'll not freak out?" she looks at him cautiously, "Just what have you been hiding that would warrant me to 'freak out', I suppose, have you been hiding your life of sin all along or what? Just so you know, whatever side you may show me, as Betty's number one, Betty has no choice but to follow, but do expect some resistance, I suppose, Betty isn't an evil spirit in… fact..."

A violet flare entered her field of vision, she blinked twice as he notices the figure in front of her. She slowly wipes her eyes a bunch of times and blinks again, and with a long sigh, she puts her hand to her forehead, "Of all the people I'd ever think of seeing, I'd never thought I'd live to the day to see 'you' here again…"

Glancing back up to see the figure in black, it struck her with a certain emotion, she couldn't exactly tell what it was, her mind was in a state of turmoil but she cleared her throat out rather loudly, "Ahem! So let's get one thing straight, I suppose…"

She straightens up at her rather abrupt and imposing order, "Tell me how long have you been stowing away in Subaru, I suppose…" It took her some time to reply, and she stuttered in her words too, "T-Twen… no thirty minutes, ya, thirty minutes max"

"Hmm… so I'm assuming she's been with you from the moment you took the trials then?"

"To be exact, it's in between after I took the trials and before I left the tomb…"

"Then that'd explain things" She crossed her legs as she lowers her arms down to her waist, "There is a mountain of things Betty would like to question you about, I suppose… but I guess that can wait for later, Satella…" she narrows her eyes at her, she seemed quite terrifying right now.

"So you guys already know each other personally or…?

"Well, Betty and I are… no, Beatrice and I..."

"Hmph, that woman…"

Before Satella could answer that question, Beatrice interrupts, spitting out her words in a way that was unlike her, but her expression eases up as she faces the other direction, "That woman isn't someone Betty dislikes, I suppose…" Subaru seemed very glad to hear that, he even chuckles and comments on it, "What a tsundere"

"Shut up, I suppose! It's not like we're friends, and I'll have no comment from you, infact!" Getting irritated by his snarky remark, she pouts away all her anger by herself before calming down.

"So, how'd you get out? And why Subaru in particular, I suppose"

"Well… I'm only half here, since my physical body is still in the sealing stone. And as for why Subaru… honestly, it's just happenstance. I'm not sure why it's Subaru in particular that I'm with… but it's probably because he has my witch genes…"

Beatrice seems to understand what she's saying, she has some knowledge on the matter at least, "Subaru, when and how did you get it? And why have you been keeping this from everyone?" She directs her attention to Subaru. He just shakes his head, regrettably not knowing the answer, "Never have I been remarked about the miasma I have until I've been in the mansion, and I can't think of any time before I met you guys that could have warranted me to absorb a stray witch genes… and I only learned from her that I possess them"

"I understand the latter, but it's hardly believable that you wouldn't have any knowledge about it, I suppose. Absorbing witch genes aren't a small thing in life, you know? It's not as simple taking in medicine, it's more life-changing than that"

"Maybe it has something to do with before you came over to our realm"

"Ah, now that you've mentioned it, I did go through something when I was younger, though I doubt it's due to any witch genes. Even then, my... 'realm' as you say it, doesn't have all this magic and witch stuff anyway"

"Realms? Subaru what is she talking about, I suppose. You can't possibly be saying that you've come from the existence of a temporal anomaly, I suppose? As a Yin expert I don't think such a thing is possible, in fact"

"There were definitely some words there I didn't understand… but basically, I wasn't born in this fantasy world, Beako, I come from a world independent of this one, but… it's pretty hard to explain, you know?"

"Hmph, if its an independent 'realm', then its fine... Mother has talked about such things before, especially with the great sage, I suppose. It surely isn't common knowledge, and to Betty it sounds like madness, this concept of different independant 'worlds'..."

It surprised Subaru that this world, that's filled to the brim with magic of many types, does not have the idea of different universes, with Beatrice's Yin magic, and his own ability to rewind time, he'd thought that there should definitely be a handful of people who have knowledge on this sort of sci-fi thing, but it seems he's expectations where a little over the top.

"Well, my birthplace aside, there are a few other things I'd like to talk about, more alarming ones"

"I'm ready to hear it, I suppose…"

Subaru sits down across her on the floor, Satella joining them too, and he reveals to them the severity of the current situation that he's had to deal with, "There are a few problems right now that i'm facing, first is that a rather large wave of mabeast is heading over to Sanctuary in a few days"

"Is that really a problem, I suppose? With all our firepower, we could take on hundreds on end, regardless of whether Roswaal is fit to fight or not" She waved her arms as if what he said meant nothing.

"You see, the problem is… it isn't your average mabeast"

"Which one is it, I suppose?"

"The Great Rabbit"

"That one!?"

An above average mabeast would have been plenty hard, but one of the top three, it's almost become an impossibility. The whale itself took half an army, and a whole mercenary group accounting for several losses to both, to think they can take this one with a select few is near suicidal.

"Setting aside how you knew all of this, how do you plan on fighting back such a force, I suppose? Their numbers are up in the thousands and even if we kill them, it'll just revitalise it's numbers in an instant, I suppose!"

"See here, the reason I'm telling you this is because I don't know exactly how to stop it"

"Honestly, how worthless can you be, I suppose!"

"Agh, hearing you say it really does hurt you know?"

Beatrice grieves on the sheer difficulty of the task at hand and also realising that it's only one of the 'few' problems they had, "What else do you need to tell me, I suppose?" he continues, "Back in the mansion, a few hours before the Great Rabbit reaches us, an assassin is going to reach the mansion, a few mabeast would probably show up too, but nothing too much compared to what Sanctuary will be facing"

"You really are a troublesome man aren't you?"

True as her words may be, she's harsh as always with how she says them, "Anyway, there's only one way for us to save everyone in sanctuary without any casualties and that's to evacuate everyone, in fact. The assassin at the mansion, I doubt the ex-head maid could fend them off… let alone handle mabeast as a side dish. Even if Rem is going back, it'd just be suicide…"

"Rem's going back to the mansion… I forgot about that. But it's oka,y right? We can just evacuate them using Gate crossing, like we're doing right now"

"It's not that easy, I suppose. You get a discount for being Betty's contractor, and she over there doesn't count as an entity that my magic would register, it's complicated but in essence, she gets free passage… But everyone else, would require lots of mana to enter, transport, and then leave the library"

Sadly for them, unlike Subaru thought, magic isn't some sort of cheat they could be using, it has some sort of rule to it, much like the laws of energy, there simply isn't an easy way to move one object instantaneously from one place to another, much less a whole village at that.

"Well, all I wanted to do was inform you about that, you can leave all the thinking to me. I'll make sure I find a way to save everyone…" Feeling quite resolved, he balls his fists up into the air and says to himself, "Yeah, I can't call myself Emilia-tan's knight if I can't do at least that much…"

"You don't have to force everything on yourself, you know? Betty's your contracted spirit now, so your burdens are Betty's burdens too"

"Hm Hmm, it's rare you get such sweet support from Beako… but it's okay, besides, I did promise right? That you'd be my number one? So when I said I'd save everyone, it'd mean your in the front seat, you don't have to worry about anything, I'll take care of it all"

"The contract goes both ways, I suppose! Don't be so negligent as to push aside Betty's feelings on this, in fact! And you too, you better do your part as well, I won't allow you to just sit around and use Subaru as your host for free, I suppose!"

"E-Ehh? B-But of course!"

Suddenly dragging her into the conversation that was supposed to be just the two of them, she stuttered in her words, "U-Uh, I don't know h-how useful I can be, but I'll try to my best abilities…" With her now in the scene, Subaru suddenly realised something, "Wait a minute, aren't the mabeast your creations? I could've sworn Ram told me about that…"

"Uhh, I think-"

"That's a misconception by the public, I suppose. The real mother of those monsters is the Witch of Gluttony, Daphne. Her existence was just so pale in comparison to the Witch of Envy that people just assumed merged their storie together, I suppose. Same with all the other five"

Talk about stealing the fame. It shocked Subaru a bit, but it made a lot more sense. It's ability to erase people's memories, are near identical to the Archbishop of Gluttony. "Well if anything that's a nice thing to know…"

He's just about done with everything he wanted to say, and recalling back on how both of these two girls know each other, he said to them, "You guys probably want some time to catch up right? I'll leave you guys to yourselves and call it a night here"

"Okay…"

"Hmph…"

And with that, Subaru leaves the library through the doors, the Sanctuary was what greeted him, he was half-expecting it to be the mansion, since the door he opened very much looked like the mansion doors.

"See you guys then..."

He closes the door behind him, leaving a final wave to the two before leaving them completely on their own. Now, silence dominated for a while, a good few seconds where both of them just stared at everything but themselves. And then, Satella tried to start off the conversation.

"Beatri-"

"Are you feeling well, I suppose?"

Taken aback by her sudden soft tone, she scrambles to answer the question, "You should relax more, in fact. You can call me what you used to, it's not like you to keep up this awkward atmosphere, you know?" Another stool can be seen floating over to where Satella was. A table was approaching them too.

"I'm… mostly alright…"

She gladly takes the stool, and places it across Beatrice so that they were sitting face to face. Though, Beatrice immediately slumped onto the table, resting her head on her arm, as one arm twirled a strand of her hair that hung off from the side of her face.

"That's unlike you Betty, aren't you more formal than that?"

"Give me a break, I suppose, it's been a long day, and you being here doesn't make it any shorter…"

This moment they were having, it was very akin to how they would normally banter back in the day, just remembering it, made Satella very, very happy. But her expression quickly changed into seriousness, and she asked her, "Betty… I need to ask you something…"

"Ask away, I suppose, there are lots of things Betty would like to ask you too..."

"Dona… your mother… did I- was I the one who killed her?"

"..."

Beatrice stopped twirling her hair for a second, only for a brief second, but that brief second felt like an eternity to Satella, her heart gripped itself waiting for a response, "Hard to say, I suppose, Betty wasn't there to witness it, but seeing that mother has a tomb, and according to what the great sage told me long ago, it seems that you didn't kill her, though, she did live to garner extreme hatred towards you…"

"...I see…"

"That being said, to say you didn't 'kill' her would be going too far, I suppose. Her mental health, you could say it's in shambles because of you, and maybe her sense of self too, well whatever it is, she's most likely gone past the point of no return because of what you did…"

She said that all without batting an eye, oblivious to everything she was saying, it really conflicted Satella as to why Beatrice was like this, talking about such hard subjects with ease, it makes her wonder how she could put on such a facade, or if it even is a facade.

"Betty, do you not like Dona very much?"

"Don't get the wrong idea, I suppose. Betty loves mother a lot, for creating me, for nurturing and teaching Betty things, as a mother, Betty loves her, but what you did to her, is completely unrelated to that. It's not that Betty doesn't grieves mothers death, nor is it that Betty hates you for pushing her to such limits. It's a combination of factors, I suppose. Mother is, in a way, rather selfish, being the Witch of Greed does connote to that, I suppose. Mother has taken away some things from me, it stings me to remember it but there was some shred of anger in me that mother did that, but I understood it was in goodwill…"

"..."

"And making me wait in this library for someone to come, for centuries, that too has made my thoughts on her rather sour. Mother's whole character, it's just hard to grieve the death of someone like that, I knew someday or another someone else would have been bound to do it, and besides, grieving won't bring the dead back"

She sighs as she finishes up what she wanted to say, and gets up from her slumping position to look at her right in the eyes, "Apologies aren't needed, lets just continue as we've been doing since the last four centuries, I suppose"

"I see… so what your trying to say is that you were in your rebellious stage weren't you?"

"Kkh, I didn't mean to transition back into your old self so quickly, I suppose!"

"Sorry, I just thought I'd lighten the mood up after such a heavy talk… but knowing that you don't hate me, I feel a little safe and comfortable now. Seems like we can just be friends again"

Beatrice choked some words out at that remark, "I've never thought of you as a friend, I suppose! You're just an annoying acquaintance that follows me around all the time, in fact" Satella puts a hand on her chin and smiles, "This must be the tsundere thing Subaru was talking about…"

"No more questions from you, in fact! And here I thought it'd be nice to talk to someon I knew from a long while back, I should've thought twice about this, I suppose!"

Having enough of her snarky remarks, she shuts her down with a glare, but the girl was unfazed and just kept on giggling delightfully. "I don't like the fact that Subaru just dragged you out without warning, but what's happened has happened, I suppose… Now that you're out what do you intend to do?"

She thought about it for a bit, she just decided to come out on a whim after all, it's all due to Subaru's pressuring, it's not like she had a plan to do anything, "Well… I guess I'll start by making up for all the trouble I've caused in the past four centuries… I'll do it bit by bit and work my way up, being part elf gives me a lot of time to do it anyway…"

Ending it with a nervous laugh, she wasn't sure how she was going to make it up to everyone that she's harmed, but she's gonna find a way to do it, her undying guilt for everything that's happened, will drive and fuel her to finish it.

"Hmph, telling a bird they can't fly won't stop it from trying, I suppose… So how'd you sneak yourself in here, in fact? We can't have you walking around in Sanctuary, you know, and I doubt you'd like to hang around in the library until we find a chance to get back"

"Oh, give me a moment..."

She starts to vanish into a mirage, then into nothingness as a sparkle of what's left of her disappear. In her place a purple jewel floats in midair. "Compressing your entire existence into a mana crystal, I suppose? Where did you even collect the mana for it from?"

"It's not actually mana, I hate to say it but Subaru spared a bit of his Od so I can materialize in this world… I hope I can return it back to him one day"

"So that's how… well, whatever, I suppose. Betty is going to take her rest now, so you just stay quiet, I suppose…"

Grabbing the jewel in her hand, she tucks it away somewhere in her dress and makes her way back out of the library, looking to see that no one was around. "I feel very uneasy with you all of a sudden, I suppose…"

A/N

Happy new year! Or Decade! Or both if that's what you want.

The Re:watch for Re Zero [Directors cut] starts today! I'm awaiting the episode as I proofread this chapter, and though we're probably not gonna get anything for the first 2 arcs, I'm very excited for arc 3, pretty sure theres gonna be a lot of cut-anime content being... well essentially un-cut, it'll be great!

Anyway, i'm gonna do a thing here where Satella 'does not' have Return by Death. Unlike last time, this helps me solve a few problems and thus i'm going to have her know a few other tricks instead, so she won't be using her authory of envy any time soon.

Two days, to One week. That's the schedule, I suppose.