A cool breeze from the deepening night pulled me from my reverie. When I turned, Emilia was still sitting beside me, her eyes fixed on the moon above.
"Do you like the moon, Ethan?" she murmured.
I followed her gaze, lifting my eyes to the pale celestial body hanging in the sky.
"I like a lot of things, Lia," I replied with a smirk, "But yes, I would say that I like this moon."
She hummed before looking over at me. "Puck once told me that the stars above us are giant spheres of mana. Do you think that's true?"
I glanced over at her before staring back at the tapestry of tiny lights floating in the abyss. I considered using Reason and Judgment just to see, but didn't really want the artificial confidence to mess with my mindset for the moment.
"I'm not sure. I never studied the stars, hey, maybe they've got some crazy metia that lets you read them."
"What?" she questioned, "Like a book?"
"No, like... mana readings or something." I gestured vaguely at the sky. "Some kind of device that could tell you why that star"—I pointed upward, and she leaned closer to follow my finger—"is bigger than, say, that one over there."
"Hmm. Maybe?" she hummed. "I haven't seen many metia before. Roswaal told me they're reeeally expensive."
"Same. Off the top of my head, all I've seen are Reinhard's conversation mirror and Subaru's—" I broke into a short laugh, "—metia he tried to sell."
"Oh! Right!" she said, turning toward me with a sudden spark. "What did he say it did again? It made some sort of flash, didn't it?"
"Yeah, it flashed. He claimed that it could "capture a moment in time," like some sort of perfect painting, I'm guessing."
I looked away from the stars and focused on her.
"Did you not see the instant painting he took of that assassin at the time?"
She shook her head lightly, silver hair rippling like silk in the moonlight.
"I was focused on other things. Puck had told me to be careful... I'd just found my insignia, and I didn't know what you were going to do."
"You make it sound like I didn't have a plan." I gave her a mock-wounded look, clutching at my chest like I'd been betrayed.
She giggled. "I didn't mean it like that, silly. You're a really good actor, you know?"
"You think so?" I asked, a small smile tugging at the corner of my lips. "Really, I was just trying to find an opening. The moment I saw that woman, I had a bad feeling. I'm glad we got out of that in one piece."
"I am too," she said, smiling softly, then she turned away, voice dipping to just above a whisper. "I'm also glad you were there with me. I don't think I could've done it on my own."
"Well, you would have still had Puck, but even with me there, it was tough," I admitted, the memory of Elsa's blade something I had intentionally not put much thought toward. "But hey... that made me think."
"Can I ask you for a favor, Lia?"
"Of course, Ethan. If it's within my capabilities, I'll do my very best!"
"Do you think you could help me with training my magic? Or, well, training in general."
She blinked, her earlier confidence fading. A bit of apprehension crept into her expression.
"Uhm, I'm not really sure how I could help you train. I myself was never trained."
I gave her an odd look, recalling the magic she'd cast back at the loot house, the footwork, the coordination with Puck, the composure.
"I think you have plenty you could help me with, Lia. You don't need to be a professional instructor or anything… just stick by my side and help me out. How does that sound?"
She hesitated. Then—
"Well... I'm still not sure how much help I can be, but I'm willing to try my best."
"Thanks, Lia."
I smiled, turning my gaze skyward again. Happy, that I'd just secured another advantage. Or at least that's what I told myself.
Then, a streak of light cut across the sky.
'Woah. Shooting star? How lucky for me.' I thought, letting myself revel in that tiny wonder.
But even in my star-struck daze, I caught her words.
"...We're partners, right, Ethan?"
I looked over.
She was still watching me. Had never looked away.
"Yeah," I said, smiling softly. "We are."
I extended my hand toward her.
"We even shook on it, didn't we?"
—
A soft tapping echoed through the darkened office of one Roswaal L. Mathers.
Boot to floor. Again. And Again.
He stood by the window, heterochromatic eyes fixed on two figures sitting in the moonlit grass, Emilia and Ethan. Clasping hands. Rising as one. Walking toward the manor.
"Well," the clown murmured, smile tugging at the corners of his painted lips, "this is certainly interesting."
He turned and crossed the room, collapsing into his chair with a cushioned thump. Reaching for his drink, he grimaced at the warmth of the amber liquid. It had sat too long. Observation had taken longer than expected.
No matter.
A shimmer of light from the faintest of will left the glass chilled anew. He downed it in one pull. The glass hit the desk with a sharp crack.
And then, he reached beneath the desk.
Not for anything physical, of course. No, that would be too pedestrian.
Instead, Roswaal reached beyond. Into a separate realm of his own making. A dimensional pocket woven through his mastery of Yin magic. For a gift from his teacher, his salvation, his curse, his obsession.
He opened it with reverence, eyes hungrily scanning its pages. Lines detailing what was and what would be.
Until finally... he reached the entry he sought:
Ethan Caldwell.
His fingers froze.
Roswaal prided himself on planning. On contingencies. Variables, pawns, foundations, laid and cultivated across years of meticulous preparation. The Book had always shown him enough.
Until Ethan.
Usually, the divergences he dealt with were minor. A misstep. A blip. Something to correct.
But this? This was a rupture.
Still, his teacher had been wise. A new path had already begun to form. A new means to achieve the dream.
He would adapt. As he always did.
New letters would be written. Layers of separation forged. Strings pulled... and cut.
No cost was too high.
Not if it meant he could see Her again.
—
Walking through the quiet halls, I glanced down at my hand. Or… our hands?
I'd offered it to her as a callback, some silly little replication of the handshake she used back when she first called us partners. Thought it'd be a cute full-circle kind of thing.
But she never let go.
Instead, she'd smiled and said it was getting late, that I "deserved to get lots of rest after everything I did today."
Eh, I wouldn't argue with it.
So I let her pull me along, down the winding corridors of Roswaal's oversized dollhouse, our steps echoing gently between the stone and silence. The pale glow of the lagmite lights cast soft shadows across the floor.
'Wonder how much it costs to keep these things running annually?' I mused, letting my eyes trail along the fixtures dotting the walls.
Eventually, we reached a familiar stretch, one hallway leading to her room, the other to mine. I slowed my pace and gave her hand a light squeeze.
She stopped.
"I think I know my way back from here, Lia."
She turned, eyes flicking to mine, her fingers still loosely tangled with mine.
"Oh. Right, of course." Her hand lingered for a moment longer… then finally slipped away.
I tucked mine into my coat pocket. "I'll see you in the morning," I said, nodding gently. "Good night, Lia."
"Good night, Ethan," she murmured, and I stepped past her and started down my hall.
"...Partners." I thought I heard her whisper behind me, but didn't bother to turn around.
—
Finding my way to the third floor, I kept my eyes up and my posture loose. But not relaxed.
Now that I had confirmed, or at least strongly suspected, why Rem held such a firm dislike for me, I couldn't afford to let my guard down. I had no plans to act against her. For now, I'd play it passive.
But if she attempted to attack me, it would be self-defense.
It was that exact breed of paranoia, just shy of full-on combat readiness, that made me catch it.
One of the shadows up ahead… wasn't right.
There was just the slightest hint of an additional form hidden in the alcove just next to my door.
I stopped. Instinct took over. My hand slid to the hilt of my sword, fingers wrapping tight around the leather grip as I began to draw it from the sheath.
Then—
"Hey, Ethan!"
The voice rang out before the blade cleared an inch.
That wasn't Rem.
No, stepping out of the shadows with zero tension in his gait and a big dumb grin on his face… was Subaru. Dressed in his tracksuit that had been cleaned, he looked exactly like he did when I first spotted him in the loot house.
"Hey, Subaru." I offered a thin smile, keeping my hand resting casually on the hilt. "What's up?"
"Eh? You didn't hear me at dinner?"
'No. I wasn't paying attention to whatever spiel you were going on about at the time.'
"Sorry, buddy. I was distracted," I said aloud, tone light. "Mind repeating what you said?"
Click
Reason and Judgment
Time cracked like glass.
Words froze before they could leave his mouth.
'Let's see what you actually said, and whether it lines up with what you're about to tell me.'
The world rewound.
Dinner table. Emilia poking at Puck. Subaru, in the background, shifting awkwardly in his seat.
"Hey, Ethan! Uh, dude? Hey, could we maybe talk later?"
I never responded.
'Well. That is slightly embarrassing. Were we truly so out of it?'
The memory continued. Subaru opened his mouth again, but before he could get the words out, Rem had already clamped onto his shoulder and started hauling him off.
"Ahh, Rem-rin, I'm sorry for not helping serve dinner, I can make it up to—"
I cut the memory there.
'He really did try and call out to me. But he never said why he wanted to talk to me.'
This wasn't the first time, either. When I had returned from Arlam, he had tried to say something. Hesitated in the presence of Rem, dragged away by her once more. Constant interference. Whatever this was, he was determined.
'Very well then.'
I let my grasp on time slip, and he finally spoke.
"I had a lot of things on my mind. And was hoping you could help me."
I stared into his sharp eyes, weighing my options, before letting a small grin slip onto my face.
"Let's take this inside, shall we? I need to prep for bed anyway. We can talk while I do."
"Oh, uh… sure." he looked at me with mild concern that then shifted to an exaggerated pose as he held himself tight, "You're not gonna… I have to warn you that I strictly like—"
"Don't even finish that sentence," I deadpanned.
Walking past him, I opened the door to my room and stepped inside. Checking the corners quickly, I moved to the lamp and lit it with a flicker of mana.
Checking my burlap bag, I found that everything in it seemed untouched. But that was surface-level perception. Human perception.
A quick trigger of my Authority confirmed what I already suspected.
The fabric had been moved. Memory comparisons to my little inventory check before dinner and what I saw now confirmed that the blanket in my bag had been shuffled a little off to the side.
Not by much, just enough for a hand to reach in and check under and inside the folds of the blanket. Of course, there was nothing else in this bag aside from my weapon maintenance kit, new clothes, and said blanket.
But it was highly off-putting to find somebody had gone through your belongings.
"Man, you still get the fancy room, huh?" Subaru muttered behind me, stepping inside and blatantly eyeing every inch of the space. "I got the boot and was shoved into the servant's quarters."
"Not a fan of the reward you picked?" I asked, pulling the blanket free from the bag and spreading it neatly over the bed.
"No, it's not like that. If anything, that room feels more homely, y'know?" He scratched his head. "This place is too… pristine. It'd be like living in a penthouse I'm not paying rent for."
"Can't say I follow the comparison exactly… but I get the sentiment," I lied, smoothing the blanket's corners.
With that done, I unclipped my sword from my hip and placed it across the bed. Then I sat beside it, the mattress dipping slightly under my weight.
My eyes stayed on Subaru.
"Well?" I said, motioning lazily toward the chair in the far corner.
Subaru blinked at it. "That's such a weirdly placed chair."
'Believe me, I know. But get on with it, kid.'
Dragging the chair over with a light scrape, Subaru plopped himself down and immediately started squirming.
"Jeez, man, you make it feel like I'm being stared down by a judge or something. Tone down your eyes, or I'll begin to feel all self-conscious and stuff!"
'What? How does one even tone down their eyes? That's not how biology works, bruh.'
"You're not even gonna say anything?" he muttered.
I didn't. Just kept staring.
He threw up his hands. "Yeesh, alright, alright! Question number one! And this has been bothering me for ages."
He leaned in, voice hushed as he seemed to wage an internal battle.
"Are you… In a relationship with Emilia?"
I gave him the flattest, driest look in my entire emotional arsenal.
This was what he wanted to ask?
Here I was hoping that maybe he'd spill the beans. Not even sure why, it wouldn't make any logical sense, but maybe, just maybe, he'd tell me he was the chosen one of the Witch of Envy.
But no.
Instead, it was this… locker room gossip.
I resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of my nose.
Instead, I smiled.
"You're asking if Lia and I are in a relationship?"
His eyes twitched. "I mean, yeah. You two seem… close."
"We are," I said plainly. "We're already partners, after all."
Now, that didn't technically mean we were in a relationship. It was just me helping her out, and Lia being sentimental or silly about it. But he didn't know that. Plus, if he ever asked her about it, I could just shrug and say, What? I said we were partners. Not lovers.
Plausible deniability was a beautiful thing.
—
Subaru stared long and hard at his self-proclaimed rival.
Of course, he hadn't just come here to ask if the beautiful, silver-haired girl of his dreams had already been stolen. He had other goals.
Or at least… he thought he did.
But suddenly those goals felt like distant constellations in a foggy night sky.
Partners. That's what Ethan had said.
'What the hell does that even mean?' Subaru wondered, leaning back in the chair and doing his absolute best not to look dead inside.
'Screw it. Just because there's a goalie doesn't mean you can't score. Besides, if this goes well, maybe I'll even have my rival helping me win her heart.'
So he'd ask. For all the boy somewhat disliked, Ethan Caldwell, he had to admit that the guy was probably one of those shōnen protagonists or something.
'Or, worse, one of those favored secondary characters that the author likes more than the MC.'
He had the fancy hair color that all people of this world seemed to have, though he hadn't seen white, he was pretty good with a sword (but not god-status with it, hence the secondary character tag), he had golden eyes, sounded good with his words, and—
Subaru caught himself.
He was spiraling.
And Ethan was still staring at him. That creepy, silent, you're-being-judged-by-a-superior-being kind of stare.
Okay. Fine. He'd shoot his shot.
"…Can you teach me?" he asked.
Ethan raised a brow.
Subaru pushed forward. "Magic. Sword stuff. Like what you did back at the loot house."
It physically hurt to say it. Like peeling off his manly pride with a butter knife. But the image of himself, cape flaring, fireball in one hand and sword in the other?
That image kept him upright.
Barely.
—
The door clicked shut behind him, and silence settled back over my room.
I fell backwards and landed on the bed. A sigh ripping from my lungs so deep you'd think my soul was going with it.
Subaru was a character.
An oddball through and through. Who else would ask about my relationship status and then immediately pivot into begging me for training?
Still. As much as I didn't want to even consider it, him coming to me for help did serve my goals. I needed to monitor him, and he'd just made that vastly easier.
…Even if I had no clue how to actually teach anyone proper swordsmanship. Or how to use magic beyond the basics. I'd even told him as much.
In the end, he "convinced" me into training sessions, scattered through the week, and I may or may not have let slip that Emilia would be helping me with magic.
All in all?
Annoying
Groaning, I sat up and dragged the chair he'd left over to the door, propping it under the knob like a makeshift barricade.
That would do.
Finally… I could turn in for the night.
—
The whistle of projectiles tore overhead, dozens of them, thick as stones, fast as bullets, and glowing faintly blue. I dropped and rolled just before the barrage shredded the air where I'd stood, slamming into the bark behind me with sharp, splintering cracks.
I ducked behind a fallen tree trunk, sucking in air, heart pounding. It was a thick, moss-laden thing, probably dead for years, but it barely bought me a second. A flash of light and a howl of magic screamed through the clearing—
BOOM.
The log exploded like a rotted barrel struck by lightning, blown sideways in a shower of bark and steaming dirt. Shards scattered like shrapnel across the forest floor.
I stood, jaw clenched, already facing my two opponents as a fresh wave of projectiles burst into existence with eerie synchronicity, hovering, pulsing with cold light before arcing toward me in an image that made me think, "bullet hell."
I raised a hand.
"El Goa."
A thunderclap of flame burst forth, spiraling into a cone of roaring hellfire that lit the entire glade in a searing orange glow. My counter devoured the wave of opposing projectiles midair, the temperature shift snapping the mana in the air like brittle glass.
The scorched air warped around me as I used the resulting smoke and firelight to bolt sideways, darting between tree trunks with new-found agility courtesy of the mana racing through my body.
A basic flanking maneuver after unleashing a large blinding attack. Rather standard and unimaginative, but I was outnumbered and needed to make fast moves.
With each step, I sculpted mana at my side. A ring of my own frozen projectiles began to flicker into existence behind me, thick dulled chunks of compacted ice swirling in a lazy orbit around me.
Stepping up to a large bush, I peered through the leaves and found the enemy spell caster still standing in the same place. Looking unusually calm.
Before I could send the mental command to let my missiles fly. A cold shiver rolled down my spine. My breath came out in plumes of fog.
My control over my orbit of missiles faltered, and they fell to the ground with dull thuds, before shattering into motes of glimmering light.
I had been caught.
I never even got to see their face before a monstrous surge of magic behind me detonated the air itself, and I was launched.
Smashing through the bush, tearing through branches, up and over the clearing I went, limbs flailing and coat flapping. Somewhere below, my other opponent waited.
But where were they?
A flicker of instinct told me to trigger my Authority, but no. That would've defeated the entire purpose of this exercise. I braced for impact.
Only, it never came.
I stopped midair. Or rather… was stopped.
Cradled.
By arms far too delicate. I blinked slowly, then looked to my side. Yep. I was being princess carried—
—By Emilia.
Taking us down to the ground and landing with a soft thud, I understood the exercise was up.
Her soft voice, lilting with glee, chimed in my ear.
"Hehe. Looks like I caught you, Ethan."
Her silver hair danced in the breeze. Eyes bright, expression both radiant and slightly smug. An odd combination I wasn't familiar with seeing on her face.
I stared blankly into the sky.
'My pride is in tatters. Charred beyond recognition. I should forfeit all further thoughts of living.'
A long pause passed between us before I mustered a reply.
"It seems I've lost Lia… in more ways than one."
She giggled, a melodic little laugh ringing through my ears. And a moment later, a much smaller weight landed squarely on my chest with a thump.
"Heya, Ethan!" chirped Puck. "You sure fly good! That was awesome. You should've told me this was on the agenda, I would've joined you two yesterday!"
I groaned lightly. "You seemed rather occupied with Beatrice. I didn't want to intrude."
"Well, I've gotta do my duty as the older brother and show her some love now and then!"
'What an odd family that is.' I shook my head and steadied my breathing. As reality finally caught up to me, I glanced down at my situation.
"Uh… Lia? You can let me down, you know."
"I know!" she hummed.
And… continued holding me.
"…Right. But can you actually let me down?" I asked while trying to hide the exasperation in my tone.
Her lips pursed for some reason as she spluttered a reply.
"Oh! Sorry, sorry. I got distracted."
Letting me finally stand on my own two feet, I could only question what she was even distracted by. Was she just going to carry me around if I didn't say anything?
Puck slipped away from me and landed on her shoulder while giving her an odd look that I didn't bother to decipher.
"Well then, I'd say I lost that round," I stated with a shrug. "Shall we go for another? I still have plenty of mana left."
"I'm sorry, Ethan." Emilia apologized, "But I want to get back to that new policy you suggested last time. Will you come with me?"
I hummed while looking up at the sky. It wasn't even noon yet, and I wanted to get a little more experimentation in out here, away from the manor.
"I'm really sorry, Lia. But I think I'm going to stay here for a little longer."
"That's alright! I'll work reaaally hard to write down my ideas. We can go over them later today, right?" she asked with innocent fervor.
"Of course, Lia." I simply agreed.
With our courses diverging, Emilia smiled at me before turning and heading in the direction of the manor, long silver hair swaying in the breeze.
Before Puck could leave, I called out to him.
"Hey, Puck! Could you help me out with something?"
He paused mid-hover, then slowly floated back toward me. "Depends what it is," he said with a playful grin. "Might cost you an arm and a leg."
There was something in his eyes, sharp, calculating, that said he wasn't entirely kidding. In rare moments like this, I caught a glimpse of who he really was beneath the fluffy exterior.
Something dangerous.
"Well, I hope it doesn't come to that," I deadpanned, "but can you help me get access to Beatrice's library?"
I shuffled on my feet and offered my hand to the floating cat, who was quick to flop on my palm.
"You see, I didn't make the best first impression with her, but I saw a really interesting book in there, one I think could help me with my magic. What do you want in return for helping me get that?"
He looked at me while propping his chin up on a paw.
"If I were to help you patch things up between you and Betty, I want a promise," he began casually—
—and then the temperature dropped.
"No. I want something more than a promise," Puck said, and now his voice wasn't cheerful. It was cold, touched with just the slightest hint of something inhuman.
"I want an oath."
My eyes narrowed, but I didn't answer immediately. Both Puck and Emilia had treated me well; I wouldn't just brush him off, but I'd be damned if I'd agree to something blindly.
Puck floated up from my hand, tapping my chin once with his paw, tone not rising a decibel, but the magical pressure in the air did.
Snow began to fall.
"You have some measure of strength, Ethan. I know you're holding back when you play these little practices with Lia. But I think you can go far. Far enough to be worth an investment."
The snow thickened, and the wind howled louder.
"I like you," Puck said, "so I'll be lenient."
He hovered at eye level now, gaze cutting through the fog like glass on flesh.
"When the moment comes, just once, I want you to protect Emilia in my place."
The frost crept over the grass at my feet.
"I want you to do everything possible in your power to help her at that moment. Both with the power you willingly show, and that which you don't. When I mean everything, I mean everything," he explained while the temperature kept dropping.
He continued, the weight of his words pressed into my chest, pressure gripping down on my shoulders.
"I want you to be willing to lay your life down at that moment. If you accept that, I'll back you, always. I'll make Beatrice talk to you. I'll guide your magic. I'll help you grow. So long as what you desire doesn't go against Emilia's wishes or safety, I will help as I can."
The wind stopped.
And I stared at the cat.
No.
I stared at the Great Spirit of Fire.
And refused.
"I will not swear an oath that binds me to another's will. I will not wear chains, be they of duty, guilt, or affection. I will not be controlled."
My heart burned.
My Authority surged.
The cold that blanketed the world turned to mist.
Frostbitten grass hissed and steamed beneath my feet, the ground crackling with the heat of my defiance.
My spine straightened.
Pride would not bow to anyone.
A second of silence passed.
"But," I continued, softer now, not hostile, "I will, of my own volition, aid Emilia should the need arise. Look into mine eyes, Spirit of Fire, and know that I do not lie. Gaze into mine thoughts and know that I hold a level of respect for the girl. She need not die a sad death. I would not permit it."
I held his gaze.
"I care." I finished.
The Great Spirit of Fire stared back.
Weighing my worth.
Then, he laughed.
His voice was no longer the androgynous high-pitched tone he used around Emilia.
It was something ancient.
As though a creature the size of the manor itself was chuckling. Deep and echoing laughter reverberated throughout the forest. Shaking the frost from the leaves.
"I can respect that, Ethan Caldwell."
"Very well. You will, on your own terms, aid my daughter, and I will aid you as I see fit."
The snow ceased.
Warmth returned to the glade like sunlight through storm clouds. The high-pitched, chipper voice of Puck returned with it.
"I like you, Ethan. I think you and I are going to continue to get along great! Keep up the good work, and keep making my daughter smile!"
With a tap on my nose, he blinked from existence.
—
Author's Yap Session:
Uhhh, pacing? Never heard of it! Anyway, here's another chapter! I'm beginning to move things forward a little faster. Notice that tiny time skip?
Got a question though: am I actually accurately portraying characters to an acceptable degree? Or have I created OOC skinstealers? I'd like to think I do an ok-ish job at being a rather character-centric and detailed writer, but idk.
I was particularly iffy about my portrayal of Subaru. I did take bro's waifu from him, so I gotta give him something to strive for in the meantime.
I feel like he shouldn't be as far gone as he was during the arc 3 return to the capital moment, where he went batshit insane out of jealousy over Emilia. Not much time to connect with her in this story, plus he hasn't suffered as much as his canon counterpart yet.
Doesn't mean I'm just shoving bro out of the plane door, though. I do love my goat.