FYI;
[Speech]
(Thoughts)
Narration/Other Types of Communication
『Title/Importance』
"Quoting"
"'Flashbacks'"
Author's Note/(Author's Note)/RBD
AN: Author's Note
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Fair Warning: There Will Be Major ReZero Arc 9 Spoilers
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Al then quickly rushed towards the Geyser.
Al: (I have become myself. Just a few more steps and I will fulfil my purpose.)
Al tightly grips the black orb in his only hand.
Al: (Bro... no Natsuki Subaru. I won't kill you. I'll send you back to your world.)
Suddenly, a rain of icicles hit the area in front of Al as he stopped and turned around to see Emilia. She was fuming with rage. At this moment, she truly looked like a Witch.
Emilia: [Give back Subaru right now! I'm reaaally angry at you, so I'm not going to hold back!]
Al: [I just can't do that.]
Emilia rushed in, forming a twinblade as she swung it at Al, who blocked her attacks with his sword.
Al: [Dona!]
Al summons a pillar of earth at Emilia, who dodges to the side, only to see Al there in front of her as he kicks her in the stomach, forcing her back.
Al: [Damn all of this.]
Al suddenly dodges to the side as a morningstar hits the spot he was standing, as Rem jumps down from a building.
Rem: [Give back Rem's hero!]
Rem fires off multiple icicles at Al, who flails his arms as he dodges.
Al: [Whoa, that was close!]
Garf jumps down from a building as Al jumps away, and Garf's landing creates an impact crater before rushing in and punching at Al, who makes sure to dodge all his strikes and creates distance.
Garf: [Give back, Captain, now!]
Al: [Damn it. Did everyone lose already?]
Al sighed.
Emilia: [I already said it once. Give back, Subaru.]
Rem: [How dare you! Give back, Subaru-Kun!]
Garf: [Ya goddam fucker.]
Al: [It sounds like you're all pretty adamant about this.]
Rem held her morning star.
Rem: [You'll give him back to us right now.]
Al sighed.
Al: [I never wanted things to turn out this way.]
Garf: [Now yer makin' up excuses? I'll tear ya from limb ta limb.]
Al: [All he had to do was save the princess, but he didn't.]
Garf: [The fuck ya sayin'? That's your job, not his, ya fucker!]
Petra watched from a distance.
Petra: [Everything is going according to plan. Roy Alphard is dead. We even managed to subdue Volcanica thanks to Ram-Onee-sama borrowing Rem-rin's horn.]
Phantom Subaru: [I can't believe Ros-chi died like that. Was he that obsessed with killing the dragon?]
Petra: [Ram-Oneesama, Roswaal and Ezzo had to work together, but we managed it.]
Phantom Subaru: [You guys... are seriously awesome.]
Petra blushed, but then her face became determined.
Petra: [We've almost won. Al has been backed into a corner.]
Phantom Subaru: [Don't underestimate him. He's a loser like me, so he'll always keep a hidden card up his sleeve.]
Petra: [You're not a loser. You saved us so many times. Too many times to count.]
Phantom Subaru: [I've failed you all even more than that. The whole reason this mess started was because I failed to save Priscilla. The reason you all had to go through all this. The reason you had to sacrifice so much.
Tears fell from the eyes of the Phantom Subaru, remembering everything that Petra had sacrificed as the self-proclaimed Witch of Melancholy.
Phantom Subaru: [This is all... my fault. If only I weren't so... useless.]
Petra: [You're not useless. You've made so many sacrifices, and we're just doing the same. Just watch how much you matter to us.]
Phantom Subaru looked to the battlefield.
Emilia formed two ice swords in her hands.
Emilia: [Subaru reaaally cared about you. He insisted on helping you after everything he'd gone through in Vollachia, even though I told him to rest. I just don't understand how you could do this. It's evil.]
Emilia rushed in, slashing at Al, who countered her blows as he jumped back, and a morningstar hit the area where he was standing as an icicle almost hit his foot.
Al: [Damn it.]
Al: (I'm really cutting it close here, huh, Princess?)
Garf stomped the ground as earth rushed up, striking at Al, who blocked it with his arms, getting sent up into the air as he landed a few meters away.
Al: (This is not good.)
Al looked around and clicked his tongue.
Al: (I'm not within my territory anymore, but still I'm close to the geyser.)
Petra: {God, Buddha, Od Lagna. For as long as I live, I hereby vow to never accept gifts ever again.}
The Witch of Melancholy once again compressed the thought processes of everyone on the battlefield as they rushed at Al with a newfound level of teamwork.
Al: (It's do or die. No opening to re-establish my domain. No second chances. My Stars are really bad right now.)
Al dodges multiple icicles from both Emilia and Rem.
Al: (Princess... Teacher. Give me the strength to fulfil my purpose.)
Emilia rushed in as Al held out his hand.
Al: [El Dona!]
Multiple pillars of Earth blocked her path as she smashed through them, only to see Al swinging at her neck, having closed the distance.
Al: (No more mercy!)
Garf rushed in, blocking the slash with his shield as Al kicked both of them back, standing there with his cape flowing in the wind, several cuts on his arm caused by the debris of shattered rock slicing his flesh.
Al: (Almost...)
Al saw a chain as he leaned back to do a limbo as a morningstar whirled above him and shattered the rock. The shattered rock hit him, sticking out of his flesh as he fell to the floor, his ears ringing, his body in pain.
Rem jumped down, slamming her foot into the ground, causing the earth to rise up from pure force as Al shielded himself, getting knocked back.
Al gets up to see Garf as he dodges a strike and then slashes him across the chest, as Garf grits his teeth in pain, but kicks Al, sending him flying into a building.
Al: (My stars are really shit.)
Al slowly got up, pushing the building debris off his shaking body. He was exhausted. Even asking him to fight one of these three combatants was too much to ask of him, but now, with help from the Witch of Melancholy, they were working in perfect synchronisation. Al knew he didn't stand a chance and that ever since being forced out of his territory, he was only surviving off of pure instinct and luck. Out of the three combatants in front of him, only Garfiel had sustained any kind of significant damage and only due to his rage and reckless nature.
Rem: [Come here, Garfiel-Kun.]
Garf walked over as Rem healed him, as even that small light of hope dimmed and sputtered out for Aldebaran. His stars were truly shit. Even still, Aldebaran stood up. Just as giving up did not suit Natsuki Subaru, it did not suit Aldebaran either. If Natsuki Subaru was a man who did not give up, so was Aldebaran, as he was Natsuki Subaru's -----.
Emilia: [Why did you do all of this?]
Al: [He was never meant to come to this world. Neither was I.]
Rem: [How dare you! Just shut up and give back, Subaru-Kun!]
Garf: [Ya give the Captain back and I might go easy on ya, ya fucker.]
Al: [Both Bro and I aren't from this world. We were never meant to come here.]
Garf: [The hell ya on about?]
Rem: [You!!! How dare you imply that Subaru-Kun doesn't belong next to us!]
Emilia: [Subaru is my knight. Our friend! Say what you want about yourself, but he's our Subaru! His place is with us!]
Al: [Both of us were brought here to this world against our will.]
Rem: [What?]
Emilia: [Eh?]
Garf: [The hell? Captain is... from beyond the great waterfall?]
Everyone was shocked.
Al: [This world's cruel as hell, ya know. We've suffered. The both of us. Our parents don't even know if we're alive or doing well. I'm just sendin' him back to where he belongs.]
Rem: [What?]
Emilia: [Subaru's parents...]
Garf faltered. Would his Captain want to stay with them if he had the chance to see his folks? Garf didn't want him to leave, but a part of him wondered. His mind shifted to an agonising thought. The thought that his Captain would leave.
Garf: [Even still, that should be the Captain's choice. Not yours, ya fucker!]
Rem: [Even still Rem... Rem can't give up Subaru-Kun. Not even to Subaru-Kun's parents!]
Rem: (Rem doesn't want to be separated from you again... Subaru-Kun. Rem still has so much to make up for if... if Subaru-Kun will still accept her.)
Emilia: (Subaru... how much must you miss your parents... but I... I don't want to lose you. Every second you're not next to me, I feel like... I feel like a part of me is missing. It hurts... so much that I want to cry. Subaru, I'm sorry. I know if should be your choice but... I can't... I can't let you go.)
Al pointed to Emilia and Rem.
Al: [You two are bro's anchors that let him remain the way he was, and the princess was mine. My princess is gone, so I've returned to being myself. My purpose. To eliminate Natsuki Subaru from this world.]
Rem rushed in as Al predicted it and...
Petra: [Wait, no!]
Al slowly took off his helmet to reveal a more mature version of the face that they all were very familiar with. The face of an aged Natsuki Subaru. Rem faltered, stopped, her face twisted in shock.
Rem: [Subaru-Kun...?]
Al slashed her across her chest as she fell to the floor, gasping in pain.
Emilia: [Rem!]
Garf: [You bastard!]
Garf rushed to Rem using Healing magic as he, too, was still shaken up at the sight before him. A man who looked like an aged version of his Captain. How could that be?
Garf: (What the hell is goin' on?)
Phantom Subaru: [I don't know what the hell this crap is, but this is his trump card!]
Petra: [Emilia-sama!]
Al: [My stars were truly shit today, but unfortunately for you, your stars were way worse.]
Al threw the black orb, and a geyser suddenly erupted out of the ground. Without hesitation, Emilia rushed towards it, grabbing it as she and the orb were hit by the geyser.
Rem: [Subaru-Kun!]
Rem tried to get up, but she couldn't move. She cursed her own weakness. She cursed the fact that she'd been injured at such an important time.
Garf: [Captain!]
He wanted to move, but he knew his Captain would never forgive him if he let Rem die.
So he and Rem stared as Emilia and the orb disappeared into the geyser.
Emilia opened her eyes slowly as she saw tall buildings around her.
Emilia: [This is...]
Emilia looked shocked as she saw that she was in a park. Thankfully, it was nighttime, so no one was there to question how she had appeared out of thin air.
Emilia: [This... this isn't fake, is it? This is... Subaru's world.]
She felt that her hands were empty as an anxiety clawed at her chest. She looked around for the black orb and sighed in relief. She saw it on the ground as it cracked slightly before splitting in half. Subaru and Beatrice appeared on the ground unconscious and unmoving where the black orb had been.
Tears rolled down Emilia's cheeks as she hugged Subaru desperately.
Emilia: [Subaru!!! You're... you're alright!]
Emilia hugged him tighter. She felt as if she let go, he would suddenly disappear again.
Emilia: [Subaru?]
That same anxiety clawed at Emilia's heart as she checked his heartbeat.
Emilia: [Subaru...]
Subaru snored as Emilia once again sighed in relief.
Emilia: (He's... okay. Just asleep.)
She pouted.
Emilia: [Making me worried like that. You dunderhead.]
Emilia's eyes turned to the Great Spirit Beatrice.
Emilia: (She seems okay as well.)
Emilia shook Subaru.
Emilia: (I want him to wake up. I want to see his smile. I want to see him look at me with those eyes.)
Beatrice, however, was the first to wake up.
Beatrice: [Ugh... where is Betty's Subaru...]
Beatrice looked to see Subaru unconscious. A sharp pain of worry sprouted in her heart.
Emilia: [Subaru is okay. He's just being a dunderhead by being asleep.]
Beatrice calmed down.
Beatrice: [This world... It's where Betty's contractor is from, right?]
Emilia: [You knew?]
Beatrice: [Betty's contractor told her many stories from his world, in fact.]
Beatrice: (The mana is dense and abundant. So dense that it's hard to control. There's no way a beginner would even be able to start learning magic here. Well, I'll be able to use magic, but Betty will have to soften the mana first, so it'll take longer to cast, and Betty won't be able to use as high-level magic as Betty could before, but... as long as Betty is with Subaru, Betty doesn't care.)
Emilia: [Did Subaru tell you where he lives? Or how to get him home?]
Beatrice shook her head.
Beatrice: [Betty's contractor did not. Betty's contractor likely never thought he could return to his world, I suppose.]
Emilia: [His parents must be so worried. I want him to see them as soon as possible.]
Beatrice: [Betty agrees, I suppose.]
Emilia looked around, seeing all the modern buildings.
Emilia: [This is all reaaally strange.]
Beatrice: [Betty's contractor likely felt the same way when he was brought to our world, I suppose.]
Emilia then got up, holding Subaru in a bridal carry.
Emilia: [Now. Let's go find Subaru's parents!]
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To Be Continued
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Rating Out Of 10 For This Part:
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