Uploading date: 12/12/2019 [M/D/Y]

Forgive Me [Arc 3] - Remade

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Chapter 9: It ends with a reunion

Right after finishing their battle with the cardinal of Sloth, Betelgeuse, the three headed back rather victorious. They make their way to the village and entered into one of the houses, inside, Felix was present.

"Haaah! Finally, after pulling out two all-nighters, we did it…" Subaru said as he slumped down his chair, rather exhausted. Felix was seated across him skimming through some papers while Beatrice stood beside him.

"Good job nya~"

"Betty isn't sure what an 'all-nighter' is… but I suppose it means being nocturnal?"

"Hmm, half-correct, it means not sleeping in order to finish work that could have been otherwise, done in the day. It's something procrastinators do in order to make it through their deadlines"

With Julius sitting down as well, the room fell silent, only the ruffling of papers from Felix can be heard. Everything else was still, that is, until the door suddenly opened. "S-Sorry for breaking in when your all clearly exhausted… but we may have a small problem…" Otto said as he entered the room.

"A small problem… how small exactly?" Subaru asked worriedly. "Ah, well… it's a… not so small problem… id say it's a rather large problem, actually…" Otto replied hesitantly.

"What may the problem be?" Julius asked while getting up from his seat.

"While we were checking all the merchant's goods, we've found everything but one item..." Otto hung his head low, the others fearing the worst, "One of the merchants had brought a large number of fire gems with them, there's enough to blow up this whole village in an instant…"

Subaru's eyes widened as he shot up from his chair, "Beatrice, were going… now" Getting his cloak ready, Subaru rushed out the door, everyone else following closely behind.

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"Which carriage is it?"

"It's most probably in Ketty's carriage -nya, his carriage... it's the one carrying the village's children, Emilia-sama and Rem-san..."

"Can't you give me a break for just one second?! I'm seriously running on the last bit of luck I have right now" Subaru said loudly, to no one in particular. "Where are they now, I suppose?"

"It hasn't been too long since they left so chances are they're still near, but Ferri-chan isn't sure a ground dragon would make it in time, once they reach the Lifuas Highway, it's pretty much 'Let's hope it doesn't detonate'"

"You've gotta be kidding me..."

Subaru tried to think of something, racking up all the brainpower he has left, Beatrice and Julius looked at him worriedly, but it seemed like Otto had something he wanted to say.

"Umm, Natsuki-san, we both seem to be in a desperate position, so if your okay wit-"

"I'll do anything! Just please tell me you can get us there in time!"

In return to Otto's sudden declaration of a deal, Subaru didn't hesitate to accept, though he did it rather forcefully, with all the shoulder grabbing and screaming that is.

"Ah... your quick thinking... is impressive Natsuki-san. Don't worry, I can guarantee that we reach them in time"

With Subaru bringing out Patrasche and Otto bringing his own ground dragon, they connected them to a singular carriage and Subaru hopped in with Beatrice.

"Ny'all better make it back ya hear? Oh, and try not to get yourself blown up nya~ It'll be problematic for Ferri-chan, you see"

"Don't sweat it, I'll make sure that I'm the only one with scratches when we get back"

"That just might be the only Knightley thing I've heard you say, Subaru"

"Oh shut it, Julius, we don't have time for this"

"Heh…"

Julius himself didn't go on the carriage, as speed was of the utmost importance in this last-minute mission, having extra unneeded weight would only bring them down.

Subaru, Otto, and Beatrice were off in a flash, Julius and Ferrix waved them off, but they paid no heed, they had no time to, "Are you sure you shouldn't have gone with them -nya?" "Of course not, Emilia-sama is in danger… if there is someone who has to save her, it'd have to be Subaru, even if he may be rather foul-mouth and reckless, he's still got a man's pride, and he still sees himself as her knight, whether it may only be in name, a knight's job is to be there for their king…"

"You're all about those ethical things aren't nyou?"

"I've been raised as such, old habits die hard, as the saying goes"

Without any distractions, the three of them went straight for the roads, speeding through the forest. Through Otto's divine protection, the Divine Protection of Animal whispering, he was able to communicate to wildlife in the forest to help him, telling him the current location of the carriage, and giving him the fastest route to the carriage.

"Hey Otto, your Divine Protection, it's pretty useful, isn't it?"

"Huh, you think so…? Well, I hadn't really any use of it besides having interesting conversations with animals..."

"I think it's less of the Divine Protection itself and more of your skill in applying it to the situation, that is where the usefulness of the Divine Protection shines, you're rather skilled in making something that should be useless into something worthwhile, I suppose…"

"Ahh, I feel like that's a little too much praise from the little girl…"

"Which route are we taking exactly, Betty can't see any clearings nearby, I suppose, are you sure the animals aren't tricking you?! Also, refer to Betty as the 'Great Spirit', I'm not little girl, you know!"

"I can assure you all, that this is the correct path, please hold on now, the ride is going to get bumpy"

"I think it's plenty bumpy as it is now, just where the hell are you taking us, Otto!?"

Whipping the reins, he made the ground dragons sprint faster and faster, Subaru couldn't see where they were going due to the thick bushes but he had this eerily bad feeling about this,"Otto- Oi! Where the hell do you think you're going!?" "Hang on tight everyone!"

Without even a second of notice, they leaped straight off a steep cliff, "OTTOOOO!"

Right after that, they hurdled straight downwards. Beatrice clung to Subaru's waist while he grabbed the seat he was on and forced himself down, Otto was visibly floating above his seat as the carriage fell down.

"You're trying to kill us, I suppose!"

"Please, hang on for a little longer!"

After surviving the painfully vertical drop, they rushed over an old rustic wooden bridge, before they could even make it halfway, the rope had snapped.

"Betty is going to die of shock at this rate, Subaru, do something, I suppose!"

"What do you want me to do, fly?! Man is not capable of that just yet!"

They barely made it alive. Otto was shaking vigorously, "I didn't even know I can do this...!"

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After many more terrifying paths, they finally exited the forest. Beatrice and Subaru breathed out a sigh of relief as they looked outside, they saw Wilhelm, several others with him, fending off as many Witch Cultists as they can.

They looked further and they saw the carriages that housed the evacuees.

"Otto, they're over there! We have to be quick, put the pedal to the metal!"

"I'm unsure what that phrase means Natsuki-san, but alright!"

Otto whips the reins firmly and the ground dragons sped up, they zoomed past several cultists, running some over. Noticing the speeding carriage some tried to follow in pursuit, "Hey Beako, do you mind if I..." "Go ahead, I suppose" She gripped his hand tightly

Feeling the small slender hands on his own gave him confidence, and power.

"Minya!"

A singular dark purple shard formed on his hand and it burst forward, ripping through the air with a screech. The cultist was in the middle of a fireball chant and the two spells collided, an explosion ensued and the cultist was burned to ashes.

"This is hard… It's easier just screaming 'Visualise~' and stuff..."

As Subaru commented on that, Beatrice was forming shards of her own and effortlessly too, the skill gap between them is as clear as night and day. One by one she shot, they all start going down the moment they face them. Before they knew it they were close enough to the last carriage that they could possibly call them, but that would give away the facade they had.

"Beako, you know any spells that slows them down? Or something that can make them stop, cause that'd be very useful right now"

"Of course I do, don't ever doubt a great spirit, I suppose"

She went to the front of the carriage where Otto was and stretched out her hand, aiming her palm at the group in front of her, and she chanted...

"Lahm!"

An eerie sound could be heard and a dark shadow like substance had formed under the carriages, almost instantaneously they're speed has halved. They were able to catch up to them now in the blink of an eye.

"Beako, cloak, and under no circumstances will you take it off!"

"Understood, I suppose"

They had almost reached the front carriage but they're speed wasn't satisfactory enough. Subaru had told Otto to disconnect Patrasche from the carriage and had hopped straight onto her. The carriages had now completely stopped, Subaru put Emilia's cloak on and rushed for the front carriage. Before he reached it he heard something.

"We made a promise not to let you worry!"

"Worry? Promise? With who"

"Subaru!"

He stopped for a moment, and froze, then his face grinned. He continued running and he jumped into the carriage, "You kids are really bad at keeping promises... kinda like me, hehe"

He glances through all of them, the kids, Emilia, and Rem, soon after Puck materializes and gives him a suspicious look, "You're…" Rem and Emilia were about to speak but a sudden rustle from behind had caught their attention, all the other kids were trying to silence one child who seemed to want to say something.

After chuckling at it for a bit, Subaru's glance suddenly turned serious, Rem felt a change in the air and went back in a defensive stance.

Subaru scanned the wooden flooring, and felt some heat emanating from a certain spot, and with his hands plastered onto it, he chants "Visualise... Minya!" A blast of shards ripped off the wood paneling from the carriage floor, and down there a bag glowing a faint red had caught everyone's attention.

"That's-!"

Without a moment to waste, he dug into the wooden planks and lifted up a sack, small puffs of smoke could already be seen, he's cutting it really close here. "So that's why you're here!" Puck said. Subaru, not wasting a second jumped out of the carriage. Rem being the first to grasp the situation tries to rush over to him, she reaches the back of the carriage and calls out.

"Wait!"

Subaru had already mounted Patrasche, a small figure sat in front of him, ready to go at a moments notice, before they were about to leave, he turns to see Rem, her eyes were wavering at him. "Thank you," He says, as he dashes forward into the remains of the White Whale.

"Shit, can we make it?"

"It's going to be a close one, I suppose…"

He was able to reach the carcass of the whale with Patarasche's help. The sac was now glowing red hot and burn marks can be seen, the smoking also seems to have intensified heavily. It's about to blow any second now.

"Kick it, Patrasche!"

The ground dragon flung her body to the other direction, having little concern for the comfort of the passengers prioritizing getting distance above all else.

A few moments later, they heard an explosion, a blast of wind threw them off the ground dragon. Subaru reacted quickly grabbing onto Beatrice as they make roll down the solid grassy field. Patarasche was able to roll on the ground, but an inferno was headed their way from the blast.

Beatrice spent no time in deploying out a defense mechanism, "Kardese!" A solid purple bubble had enveloped the three as the fire and smoke surrounds them, but Subaru sees cracks forming all over, she cast it too late, and it's breaking apart quickly.

But there was nothing he could do, so he watched and watched as it peeled off slowly, and once it broke down, he grabbed her by the waist and sprung back to his ground dragon as it curled up into a ball, protecting them from the inferno. The rising mushroom cloud that had resulted from the gems were sent blasting back up to the atmosphere...

The onlookers stared at the large phenomena, their hearts shaking at the sight of something so large and so close to them, if the hooded person had not been there to get the time bomb away, the whole line of carriages would have been blown to smithereens, Emilia thought silently, "Is he okay!" She asked one of the men, Otto.

"I-I'm not sure, they looked pretty close to the blast radius but the flames didn't go past their location, they may have been able to defend against it somehow…" Otto removes the linkage between the carriage and his dragon and sets off into the smoke in search of Subaru, "Wait, please! Bring me with you"

With such a determined look on her face, Otto had to comply, there was nothing he could do when faced with such strong emotions.

"Are you okay!"

They shouted into the smokescreen, visibility was near zero but there was nothing they could do but push forward to their last seen location, and from the rising ashes, Emilia's elven ears picked up a sound, a voice, a familiar one.

"Shit… to think it'd end right here, when I was so close…"

Her hands quivered as she heard that voice, that voice, it was, "S-Subaru?" She got off Otto's ground dragon, and rushed to wherever she heard his voice, but the smoke truly is making it hard, "After all I did… it still wasn't enough, I guess we part ways here…"

"No…"

Pinpointing his exact location, Emilia brushes through the smoke, further and further, until it all disappears, "Subaru!" Breaking through to a clearing, she sees Subaru standing upright with a cloak burning up in his hands. "Heh…" Letting the cloak float up, he takes in a deep breath. "You!"

Turning around and pointing a finger at Emilia, he stares down at her amethyst eyes and asks, "I just saved your life, so am I not entitled to a reward!" Taking Emilia by surprise, he shoots her a smile, "Uh- ah, y-yes? But…" "Then, I ask you, drop the sad face… and smile for me, please"

A moment of confusion arose in Emilia's head, this moment felt so similar to the first time they meant, no, it was near identical wasn't it? After getting her senses back, she starts laughing, "Heh… Heheheh…" With her giggling starting to build up, she brought her hand up to her mouth to suppress it but it does not good.

Subaru smiles at her, but she suddenly runs up to him, and embraces him, "E-Ehhhh, Emilia-tan, I only asked for a smile ya know?! I think this may be a little too much for me, too much stimulation-" With head on his chest she starts saying, "You're always like this aren't you Subaru… doing things recklessly, and then appearing out of nowhere to save the day, every single time…"

"...Yeah… I promise I'd be there for you didn't I?"

"Yes, yes you did… but…"

She releases him and looks at him right in the eyes, "Why… why do this for someone like me? For someone who's always relying on you, don't you find that annoying?" "Nothings annoying when you're involved Emilia, cause you're someone I treasure deeply, someone I look up to, someone I love…"

"Subaru…"

"EmiliaaAAHHH!"

A stinging pain across his cheeks as Emilia started pulling onto it with all her might, "You made me worry, you made Ram worry, and you even made Rem cry, you should be more mindful of the people around you Subaru" "G-Gh, my confession had no effect! Impossible levels of denseness have been reached! Ouch, Emilia-tan that really hurts so if you could please…"

After being satisfied with the reddening of his skin, she lets him go and breathes out a sigh of relief, "Haah…" "Sorry, I'll be sure to inform you about things in advance…" Nodding, as if winning a negotiation she replies with "Good"

"Uuuh… Natsuki- cough san, sorry to intrude but we're going to suffocate in the smoke if we don't get out of here…"

"Otto? Way to ruin the mood, I was finally gonna go through her head ya know?"

"I think you should value your health more than the mood, Natsuki-san!"

He says that as smoke starts to cover up his face, making him disappear once again into the abyssal darkness, "Why'd you come here even? Are you worried about my safety or something?" "Don't think I'd let you die so easily, you have yet to fulfill your side of the deal!"

"Ah, yeah, there's that too I guess... but man you merchants really do only care about money!"

"Does that even matter now!?"

"Speaking of which, isn't Betty supposed to take priority right now, I suppose? Have you already forgotten about me!" another voice erupted in between them.

"Ah, sorry about that Beako, kinda got caught up in the moment…" Picking up the tired Beatrice from the ground in a princess style carry, he along with Patrasche and Emilia, though Emilia was immediately shocked, "E-Eh? Beatrice is here? Where did she come from all of a sudden!"

"Long story, but she's my contracted spirit now is the gist of what happened"

"What? But how? Isn't she the guardian of the library? Also when? And why?"

"Too many questions from you girl! And Subaru, go faster, I suppose, the smoke is making Betty's eyes sore you know!"

With the group returning back from the dissipating ashes, they were greeted by a worried Rem who has, after glancing at them, now gleefully joyed, "Hmph, I can walk from here, I suppose…" says Beatrice as she forced herself off of Subaru's arms, "I'm only giving him to you this once so be grateful, I suppose" she says to the blue-haired maid, in a rather condescending tone.

"...Pardon?" Rem replies, rather astonished to see that Beatrice was here.

"My, my, I've got myself a rather high maintenance spirit now don't I?"

"Of course, I did tell you, Betty isn't some second-rate spirit that can be pleased just by your presence"

"There's going to be a bumpy road ahead of my life, I can already feel it…" Subaru walked forward behind Beatrice but stopped by Rem, the others walking on forward, "We'll leave you two alone for a while" Emilia said as she gave Subaru a nice smack on the back, quite uncharacteristic of her, it seems she can read the atmosphere at least.

Finally alone with no one within earshot, the two faced each other, "Yo, Re-" "So you decided to return, Subaru-kun?" Rem got straight to the point, and with a sharp tongue nonetheless, "Y-Yes… despite what I said, it seems like I'll be returning back anyway…" With Subaru rubbing the back of his head awkwardly Rem stared at him relentlessly, with eyes that can be mistaken for a beasts.

"Rem… is glad, Subaru-kun…"

"...Yeah, it's all thanks to you Rem…"

Even now, looking at her still brings back bad memories, traumatic ones, but unlike last time, there's no need to worry anymore, everything's been taken care of, everyone's been saved.

"..."

"..."

"Rem…"

"Yes, Subaru-kun…"

"About what you said back then… back in those old ruins in the capital…" Glancing towards her, he looks at her eyes, and she just nods, "..." not saying a word, as if signaling to him that she'll listen to everything he has to say, "Even when I didn't believe in myself, you believed in me, and the words you said, they really got me you know?"

"Hm"

"Looking back, I really wished I'd handled it better, I'm sorry for worrying you, I'm sorry for yelling at you, I've showed you a terribly hideous side of me. But even then, you still helped me and picked me up, honestly, everything here, couldn't have been done without your help from back then…"

"Rem is glad to hear, Subaru-kun…"

"I know you've poured all you're heart into it, b-but… even then, I'm… I'm…"

"That's no good, Subaru-kun… it won't work if you don't say it directly…"

"...That's really unfair you know? For the both of us…" Knowing full well what he means Rem's just smiles, and tells him, "The world isn't made fair Subaru-kun, both you, and Rem know that right?" With that sentence steeling his nerves he breathes in.

"If you say so…"

"I love you, Subaru-kun"

"Thank you, thank you so much… Rem, those words, and the words you told me before, they helped me build the courage to be here, to accomplish all this… but even then, I won't be able to return those feelings!"

"Hm, Rem knows, the one Subaru-kun truly loves is Emilia-sama, coincidentally, the Subaru-kun that Rem loves is the Subaru-kun that loves Emilia-sama, unfair as that may be to Rem, as envious as Rem may be... all that Rem can do is accept it…"

"Are you really fine with that… isn't it painful? Even after everything you put into me"

"Of course it is… but compared to the pain Subaru-kun has experienced, Rem's pain can't possibly compare. So Rem is glad, as long as Rem can be by your side, to help you when you need Rem, to have fun with you when we're free, to cry with you when we're at a loss, to fight alongside you when a threat looms, as long as Rem can do that, Rem is satisfied…"

"..."

"Even when you think badly of yourself, even if everyone else belittles you, just know that Rem is there for you… the world may abandon you, but Rem will not, so please stay the same Subaru-kun you've always been ok?"

"Hkk…" Even though she shouldn't know of the pain he's felt, just the coincidence of her mentioning something like made Subaru feel like he was no longer alone, knowing that someone out there has acknowledged the excruciating pain he had gone through, had realised something so subtle as that, it had shook his heart beyond compare.

He starts tearing up and sobbing, bringing up his sleeves to his sniveling his nose, he tries to wipe it all down, "Hmph, Subaru-kun, shouldn't Rem be the one crying here?" "I know… but I can't help it…" Having so much kindness and support showered down on him, he seriously can't help it, so he just hugged her.

"No matter what, I'll make sure you're always by my side Rem, I promise it!"

"...Nh, Rem would love that…"

Simply returning the embrace with her own, the two share a warm time together before letting each other go.

"..."

"..."

They both face back to where everyone else was, and smiled at each other, "Seriously… if I that had gone even a little longer, I may have fallen for another one…" With that phrase entering Rem's ears, she can't help but cheekily comment, "Rem wouldn't dislike such a development to happen, perhaps Rem shall capture Subaru-kun in another embrace"

"Why you little devil… Has Nee-sama's attitude finally rubbed into you!" Subaru replied jokingly, while roughly patting her head. "Does Subaru-kun dislike it?"

"No, you can be whatever you wanna be, as long as you're by my side, that's enough, right?"

"That's correct, indeed…"

"Well then enough of that, lets get back to everyone…"

And with that they walked over to the encirclement of people in front of them, with the sun still rising up by them...

[To be Continued in: Warlock of Sin]

A/N

"The final chapter will be out sometime later, probably going to be out late as it always is…"

Was what I said last chapter and well, I didn't exactly lie? BUT HOLY DAMN 1 YEAR JUST PASSED BY DIDN'T IT! By leaving the original available to read, I felt less of a need to complete this and continue on with the other stories, but it was just me being me again… as always…

OK, so with the story finally finishing I can make my announcement now, Warlock is currently stuck with incomplete and weird plot holes that I plan on fixing, and this time, the right way.

As for why I've been gone for quiiiite a while, ive been university hunting! I'm about to turn into an independent adult soon, can't be wasting my time doing nothing, now can I?