Chapter 4: Finding out Answers

"Buagh!" He spits out the tea remaining in his mouth and fell to the ground holding his stomach. He tried to get the rest out but it didn't work.

"Geez, you know, I didn't poison it or anything, it's just a normal drink, besides, you just drank it here, so your real body hasn't really done it, no reason to be so... paranoid," said Echidna.

He kept spitting out all that was in his mouth, "But it was body fluids, your body fluids! Don't know what kind they are exactly and I don't look forward to finding out, I reckon it's nothing good!"

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He gets up from the ground and sits back in his chair, looking rather sick, he tried his best to not barf out his stomach empty. He took a deep breath and faced Echidna, "Okay... let's start..."

"Yes, let's," She said cheerfully clasping her hands.

"So..I only met, three other witches, what happened to Gluttony, Lust and... Envy? A-Actually forget about Satella, she destroyed you guys so there are bound to be some grudges... she's also not dead I guess..."

"Right... " she showed an uninterested expression but snapped back instantly "Ok, let's leave Daphne and Carmilla for another time, you might not be able to... how do I say this... understand them, well Daphne anyway, Carmilla might be dangerous... So, any other questions?"

Subaru took a moment to think, putting his now attached left hand to his chin, "Ok, first question... What's in the trials?"

"I do not know... I am merely an observer of the trials, its contents would differ from person to person but the main concept is to reject or to accept a reality imposed by the trial that relates to the taker"

"When you put it that way, sounds like your going to be reviewing your past or something... must be hard for the halves... anyway, second question, what is Sanctuary made for, and why do some people refer to it as a 'test site'?"

This question shook her a bit, it seemed like she didn't want to pry into that direction, but "Sanctuary retains the same purpose, to house those who have nowhere to go, thrown away by the world, in other words, a refuge for people with split lineage... though the name 'test site' came a while after the establishment of the barrier, I really don't want to tell you why though, wouldn't want you to despise me... though your free to look and ask for answers to figure it out"

Having seen that she was unwilling to give any information, he quickly steered off from that topic, "Third question, you've been alive a few hundred years ago, can you tell me about the great mabeast that roamed the world, I don't really know much and it would be great to get educated on it"

Seeing that he won't pry into the name 'test site' she returned to her original happy demeanor, "The Three Great Mabeast... The White Whale, The Great Hare, and The Black Snake... the three most dangerous creatures, children of the Witch of Gluttony Daphne, created with the intention of curing world hunger while starving herself. The White Whale, a vicious creature that soars through the sky, spreading mists and eating away people from existence. The Great Hare, known not for its strength but for its numbers, it devours anything and everything living and is able to replicate itself at will. The Black Snake, the most deadly, feared for its toxic poison, one that can make the very land it trods uninhabitable... satisfied?"

She finishes her overdramatic, speech... no, lecture, with a prideful smile, Subaru sat on his chair, taking in the vast amounts of information and was processing it, "The children of Daphne? So Satella creating the mabeasts was just a misconception... oh well, doesn't really matter, not sure if it's believable, but I kinda took down that damn whale the other day." He said looking very proud.

She widened her eyes when he told her this "Defeated The White Whale? After four hundred years, someone actually did it, though looking at you here, it seems you've gathered quite a bit of help right? You don't seem to have any brute strength, nor do you have a good aptitude for being a sorcerer..."

He sighs, "Huuh, no... it wasn't a solo attempt, but I was given quite a lot of credit, as far as being called the Hero of the subjugation..." he said this while scratching the back of his head.

"My that is interesting, back in my time, the only one that would be able to do such a thing would be Reid Astrea, the Swordsaint, is that still around, I wonder..."

"Swordsaint? Yeah, they're still around, I'm actually good friends with the current one, Reinhardt van Astrea, that guys a monster... anyway enough of that, I really need to get going so I'll ask one last question..."

"Although it is upsetting that you have to leave, ask away..."

"Do you know someone named Beatrice? She's my contract spirit, she used to live or at least visit Sanctuary with her so-called 'Mother', do you know anything about her? Her 'Mother' I mean?"

She looked surprised when she heard that she was his contract spirit, "Beatrice... of course I know her, hard on the outside but soft on the inside, she was contracted to protect the Forbidden Archive until 'they' Arrive..." She put on a rather happy expression, "Her mother would be-"

"UAGH!"

Subaru fell to the floor clutching his stomach, it was glowing and he felt pain and heat on it, "Oh, looks like the Witch genes will settle in now... it's better to experience it here than outside, so your quite lucky..."

She gets off her chair and kneels down to Subaru, "What did you do to me!" he screamed at her.

"Oh it would be the after effects of the tea, my body fluids will help the Witch genes adjust to your body, in a way it's, improving your compatibility with them, well I guess your time is limited, lets talk again sometime... oh and just so you know, I've made you into an Apostle of greed, I doubt that girl will be able to pass the trials at her current condition... your welcome by the way"

"You..." She gets back up and walks away, leaving the suffering boy behind as he slowly vanishes, but she turns around and tells him something, "Before you go... entering a Witches tea party isn't free, for now, I'll have you refrain from talking about this place, at least until someone tells you about it..." she makes a grabbing gesture at him and smiles before the whole world turns black.

"Ugh... where am I" he asked, he was in a dark void, different from the ones he's normally been to, in front of him stood a shadow, holding what seems to be a purple orb, he was about the same height as him and he was looking straight at him.

The figure approached him, holding out the purple orb, he tried to back off but he couldn't, his body won't move, he started to panic, he tried to shut his eyes, but they won't shut, he tried to scream out but his mouth won't scream, he tried to turn around but his body won't turn, he tried to run away but his legs won't run.

By now he was directly face-to-face with the figure, it was completely engulfed in shadows, he couldn't tell who it was, but for some reason, he felt a strange familiarity with this person. The figure jabbed the purple orb into his chest, his whole body started to shudder, the figure backs away slowly.

"Sloth..." he said, the voice was male, he never heard it before but he felt like he should have.

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...

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He slowly opened his eyes, an unfamiliar wooden ceiling was the first thing he saw, he was asleep on a wooden bed, it didn't feel too comfortable as he got used to sleeping in the mansion's luxury guest rooms, the next thing he knew he was tackled by someone.

"Subaru-kun!"

It was Rem, she was hugging him with small tears in her eyes, "Rem leaves for a few minutes and your already hurting yourself!"

"Ugh... What happened?"

"Geez, Subaru, you've gotta be more careful, when you entered the tomb you suddenly blacked out... we were all worried, I had to go down and carry you up, you know"

"Seriously, Betty's contractor is hopeless, I suppose"

After urging her, Rem released him, he took a good look around the room, the people in the room were him Rem, Beatrice, Emilia, Lewes, and Garfiel. It seems that he had passed out for only a few minutes, though it felt like he was out for quite a while.

"So, Subaru, what happened when you passed out?" Emilia asked him this question.

"What happened? Well... can't really remember too well, I remember... this person... he was like putting something in my chest, it was all pretty dark and I couldn't tell who he was... though it's probably some kind of dream or something so let's not worry about that... anyway, where are we?"

"Well that'll be my house, Su-boy"

"Oh, thanks Lewes-san for lending the bed"

After a bit of persuading they finally left and continued with a tour of Sanctuary but before they left... "Hey Rem, can you keep Emilia busy... I'm gonna go and talk with Ros-chi for a bit and if she's there..."

"Yes, Rem understands, Subaru-kun can count on Rem"

"Thanks, Rem" He waves to her as he runs off.

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"Rem where is Subaru going?" Emilia asks

"Subaru-kun has business to discuss with Beatrice-sama, surely Emilia-sama understands"

"Oh, I get it, better leave them to it then"

Rem smiled to her and said to herself, "Emilia-sama is too gullible, Rem hopes she gets out of it later, or it might cause problems..."

Subaru enters the building with Beatrice in hand, "Let's talk for real Roswaal" Subaru gave an annoyed look at Roswaal as he sat, his bandages being replaced by Ram.

"I've been expecting you a little later, Subaru-kun... but whats this, I don't see Emilia-sama back there?"

"Rem's busy with Emilia, can't have here in this conversation... not that I see her as a niusance but more like she's unsuitable for it. With that put away, we can finally talk for real" He grabs a chair and places it away from Roswaal's bed, he sits on it and Beatrice sits on his lap.

"Alright then... firstly I'd like to show you my gratitude, felling The White Whale and eliminating a sin archbishop, alongside the duchess, and the kingdoms greatest knight, forming an alliance with a rival camp, it would surely be inevitable that you aren't anonymous, may everything works out and you'll turn out to be the Knight Natsuki Subaru, there is no reason to not take pride in that, is there not?"

"I hate to admit it, but you have become quite the person, Barusu, though I am sure stating that you were leaving us to bait Rem back was unnecessary"

"Even Ram... I hope Roswaal is forcing you to say that, cause your the one I expected to berate me, seriously all I did was tell them information, and there they go saying that I'm the hero that slew it, man I think I know a little bit of how Reinhardt feels now..."

"Hmph, to think that you would reject not only Ram's but Master Roswaal's gratitude, that is the rudest you've been, Barusu!" she leers at him.

"Eh, it's not that I'm rejecting it, it's just that it feels like the gratitude is too much..."

"Subaru, you're going off track, please finish what we have come here to discuss, I suppose!" The spirit on his lap protested, crossing her arms and looking away.

"Oh, that's right but before that, I have been informed by Ram that Lady Beatrice had left the library, but I wanted to see it and here she is, and it seems she's grown quite attached to you, care to elaborate on that?"

"Not much to elaborate on, if it's not already obvious, she's become my contract spirit, I kinda begged her out of the Library and that's it," he lays his chin on her head, she allowed it "Now onto more pressing matters... why didn't you tell Emilia about her half-elf Lineage provoking an attack from the Witch-cult, sure it's common knowledge, but for a person like her, even common knowledge is hard to obtain, explain"

"Jumping straight into it now are you, Subaru-kun..."

"Shut it and just answer... please" He started to raise his voice but asked politely as he remembered that Ram was still in the room, "The girl is your superior and thus you should have told everything that is required, seeing that you didn't tell her about this means that you intentionally hid information from her, I suppose, now tell us the reason"

He didn't just bring in Beatrice for show, he brought along so she could help decipher his plans just as she did in their first meeting, she is better off doing it than Subaru.

"Hmm, assistance from your spirit, you've come prepared Subaru... now the simple reason as to why I didn't tell her is because... it would happen, and it did"

Subaru was struck with utter confusion, "That makes... no freaking sense..." He thought about what he said for a second and, "To put it into simpler words, you wanted that to happen? But... then why didn't you, this camps most powerful in the offensive sector, come?"

"Well... it would be true that if I were to appear, the casualties would be minimized, and the time taken would have been minimized..."

"Then...! Of course... if you did it, we don't get the credit, just you, what's the point in that..."

Normally he would burst out, berating him for taking chances on the impossible but, "Beako what do you think of this?"

"He is out of his mind, I suppose!"

"As expected... how about you Ram?

"It doesn't matter what I think, whatever my master wants I will wholeheartedly do, no objections, you wouldn't understand, you lack skills in servantry," She said it as if it was an insult.

"Loyal as always huh... So Roswaal, you left the mansion and Emilia unguarded, and you expected everything to turn out alright, who the hell were you counting on!"

He closed off his blue and stared at him with his yellow one, "Why, no one else... but you, and it looks like that paid off if I'm not mistaken?"

Subaru was dumbfounded, he was losing it, he was about to burst at any moment, but "Your a complete sicko Roswaal, S-I-C-K-O you hear, what was there to count on, last time we saw each other I made a fool of myself, trusting a fool with a Royal candidate is what a complete maniac would do... that is unless you have like future-telling powers..."

The last part was intended to be a joke, but everyone in the room, besides Subaru reacted to it strangely, Beatrice twitched a bit, Roswaal glared at him and Ram gave him a surprised look, though surprisingly Subaru didn't notice any of them.

"Hmm... I wonder what Rem and Emilia would think... man what does everything see in me, geez, I understand Rem and all but everyone else..." He stands up ready to leave.

"So it seems this conversation is at its end?"

"Yeah, gotta catch up with the tour or I'll miss it all..." He walks to the door with Beatrice but before reaching the handle, "Hey Roswaal, was wondering, why haven't any of the Sanctuary residents tried to beat the trials, I mean they're all halves right?"

"That would be due to the presence of a contract between the former residents and Echidna, the former Mather's had little influence on the contract but we aren't completely unrelated, just a minuscule amount of factors came from us..."

"Beako?"

"The contents are as goes, no person can take the trials unless they have come from outside Sanctuary, Do you want to know why, I suppose"

"Nah, its pretty simple, anyone taking the trials from inside would find it easy and thus make the whole thing pointless, that's why they have outsiders take it, they were prone to discrimination and thus should pose a harder challenge"

"Wait... how did you figure that out, I suppose?"

"I... hmm, not exactly sure, it's like I have some sort of residual information or something, can't really tell where it's from, been it's been there since I saw that creepy figure thing in my dream..."

Roswaal looks interested in what he said, in actuality, he knew exactly what happened and a smile crept on his face, after that Subaru and Beatrice left, leaving him with Ram.

They met back with the others and continued their tour around Sanctuary, now with Otto as he suddenly tagged along, they spent about an hour going around Sanctuary a second time and no matter how many times he looks at it, it's still a gloomy place.

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It was evening and Subaru was out near the tomb with Beatrice, Emilia was resting up for the trials and Rem was with Ram attending Roswaal. Otto was in the stables talking to his ground dragon, Garfiel was watching him from afar.

"Subaru..." Beatrice called him.

"Huh, something wrong, Beako?"

"That time... while you were in the tomb, did you meet someone, I suppose?"

"I told you didn't I, that shadowy figure?"

"No, I mean anyone else, maybe... Mother...?"

"Nope, all I..."

When Beatrice asked him this questions, the memories of the tea party with Echidna surged back, it was weird how he lost them in the first place but he has them now and, "Why the hell didn't you tell me that Echidna was your 'Mother'?!" Subaru lightly scolding her.

She looked away regretfully.

"Now I have to wait for another time to berate her for putting you through that hell, seriously don't you feel a little angry for making her do that to you, I suppose," He said the last part mockingly.

By now they would have started a playful banter but when Beatrice looks back at him, "Y-You don't mind that... Betty is the creation of a witch..." She looks down with a dejected expression.

"Pfft, like hell do I care, if I did, I wouldn't want to be Emilia's knight. Anyway, Beako is Beako, Echidna is Echidna, and that's that, were you worried about me not liking you?" he crouches down and pats her head.

She looks away, now in a clearly better mood "Hmph, my worries were for naught, I suppose!" though she did sound displeased, a smile crept onto her face, as looked off into the distance.

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"So... anything about the Trials, Beako?"

"There are three, I suppose. Past, Present, Future, in that order"

"Technically, it would be as simple as saying 'yes' or 'no', but when the person in question had a past, present or future they do not wish to see..."

"It will be difficult to accept or reject it... I suppose"

"Stop trying to mock me, I suppose!"

He burst out laughing from their banter and continued to wait a little longer until everyone else arrives, one by one.

A/N

This chapter was a fun one to write, the new fic is out BTW, do me and Red a favor and check it out why don't ya.

Not much to say except thanks for your reviews in advance.

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