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Rating:
Not Rated
Archive Warnings:
Creator Chose Not To Use Archive WarningsGraphic Depictions Of Violence
Category:
Gen
Fandom:
Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活 | Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World (Anime)
Characters:
Rey Alaraph (OC)Louis ArnebLye BatenkaitosRoy Alphard
Additional Tags:
POV First PersonDysfunctional FamilyThe Gamer Ability (The Gamer Webcomic)Fluff and AngstThe gluttonies are terrible childrenThe Author Regrets EverythingWhy Did I Write This?This was entirely an excuse to fit as many self-indulgent things into one fic as possibleSpoilers for Re:Zero season 3Lots of struggling to change canonDescent into MadnessNot Canon CompliantThere is more than one playeroc is a fourth gluttony siblingprobably the most 'normal' but compared to the others that's not saying much
Language:
English
Stats:
Published:2024-10-28Updated:2026-01-07Words:246,117Chapters:58/?Comments:1,238Kudos:848Bookmarks:113Hits:41,077
A Dog in the Cradle of Od Lagna
TheGimbler
Chapter 13: Mercy for That Which is Undeserving
Notes:
short chapter since it's thanksgiving and I don't care enough to write more today. Probably no chapter tmr either
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Head-pounding, chest-wrenching adrenaline coursed through me as Emilia and I clashed once again.
Beatrice no longer had mana, and Julius was frozen in ice, though I wasn't naive enough to think he couldn't break free and rejoin the battle if I took too long.
One-on-one, and my mind was stiff and lifeless. Yet, I still fought as hard as I could.
Emilia returned to doing her little ice-weapon magic, switching between several different weapons back and forth, never quite sticking with one.
Unfortunately, she was fighting a Gluttony.
A thrust of a spear was dodged, a slice of a sword was met with one of far higher quality, gauntlets were cracked against skin. I was fast.
My body didn't have any restriction of movement anymore, and even with blood dripping from my lips, I moved like a fluid. Sliding down to the floor, approaching with a spin, even sliding my cheek along the ground as I ran up to her.
"Huma!" Emilia shouted, and ice sprung from the ground. I smelled the coalescence of mana, and flipped over it, letting it barely scrape my skin. Emilia gaped from my casual dexterity, and I swung the Yin Sword across her legs.
It clanged against her hasty defence of ice, and I growled, pressing it harder and harder into her shoddy attempt at blocking me.
[Adrenaline Surge activated! +70% to STR for a few seconds! (360 → 612)]
My muscles bulged and her defence collapsed, slicing through her ice construct and across both of her thighs. Her skin split and she cried out, even as she jumped back and grit her teeth.
It wasn't a strong blow, so her mental stats wouldn't be affected, but if I could cut her then I could kill her.
I pressed onward as Adrenaline Surge remained active, wanting to grab as much value from its second activation as I could.
I took a deep step and thrust the sword towards Emilia's chest, and her eyes widened. Another ice construct appeared, and several balls of light buzzed into view. My sword met the wall, and even with my temporarily increased status, it failed to pierce through.
"Tch, damn scimitar!" I cursed the Yin Sword's shape, being crafted in a way to create cuts but being poor for piercing anything.
The spirits surrounding Emilia grew in number, and she thrust out her hand. A beam of mana shot toward me, and I flipped to the side. The beam struck the ground, creating a spire of ice that would've encased me.
"Still, still? You're looking to capture rather than kill?" I landed and swung the Yin Blade, a slash of shadow sliding through the air.
-100MP!
Emilia's spirits put up another defence, but the attack crashed through and forced Emilia to duck. I was there in an instant, rushing up and bringing my sword down on her head.
[Adrenaline Surge has deactivated. (STR: 612 → 360)]
But this time luck wasn't on my side. My swing came down, and Emilia clapped her hands together on both sides of the blade, catching it. We struggled against each other, our raw strengths being poured into both sides, and I felt my strained grip falter.
The temperature dropped again, and ice raced up the length of my sword. I hissed, releasing it and opting to swing my fist down at Emilia. Her spirits were there again, and my fist slammed into a thin shield of ice, extra-reinforced.
I was forced to abandon my sword in Emilia's grasp as she overloaded her magic and sent a dozen stakes toward me. I flipped backward, gaining distance from her when I didn't want to, and felt a few of her icicles graze me.
It felt like they slid off my body like drops of water, and I quickly reached into the shadows on the ground, pulling out the Yin Blade.
Emilia blinked in shock as the sword clasped between her hands dissipated and reappeared in my grasp.
I took the lull to breathe, feeling my lungs rattle with exertion.
"Thank you, everyone," Emilia held her hands out to the spirits surrounding her with a gentle smile on her face, even as her thighs bled down her legs.
[MP: 830/1,870]
The steady drain on my mana was beginning to show. Emilia was well-versed in combat, and her adaptability was strong if you took Gluttony out of the picture. No wonder Lunar Eclipse worked so well with my circumstances, but my head hurt using it for too long.
Pain in both mind and body didn't feel too good. It made it hard to concentrate.
"Hyah!" Emilia shouted, and the battle resumed.
Icicles fired all around me, striking the floor, walls, and ceiling, freezing along them. I clicked my teeth, recognizing her attempt at removing my fluidity of movement.
I rushed towards her, slashing through several icicles and letting the weaker ones glance off my body. Emilia frowned, seeing how her attacks didn't work against my body, and reformed another spear.
She thrust it toward my gut, and I redirected it with the Yin Blade, sliding it along Emilia's impromptu weapon and aiming to slice off her fingers. She released her weapon, and her spirits fired ice at me from every angle.
I fired a wave of shadow from the Yin blade upward, swallowing several of her spirits and destroying them. I jumped through the opening I created, hearing the crash of the ice on the ground. I fell toward Emilia, an even more powerful overhead swing coming down upon her head.
-100MP!
She jumped back to avoid it, firing more ice from the floor to impale me. My foot tapped off the stake, and I flipped up once again, feeling several of the sharp points glance my body.
-10HP!
-32HP!
-89HP!
I felt the thin trickles of blood slid down my body, and I ignored the sharp pain that came with it. I was atop Emilia once more, and I gripped the Yin Blade with both of my hands. With all of my might, I swung it down on her head, intending on splitting it like a pumpkin.
Emilia formed a shield of ice and tried to defend against my attack, but it cleaved right through. She gasped and jumped to the side, trying to avoid it, but it was too late.
[You have struck a crippling blow!]
[-100 to opponents INT/WIS stats!]
[-300MP!]
Through her right shoulder, through her collarbone, through her lung and into her gut, my sword traveled through her body. A clean slice with no errors in line-proficiency, I slashed through Emilia's vitals with enough power to kill her.
[Sword Skill: 45/150 → 46/150]
And so, I took another step on the path of swordsmanship.
Emilia fell backward with a wide-eyed gasp. She hit the ground with a thud, blood spilling across her body. She coughed weakly, her hand shakily moving over her chest and glowing with a healing light. She wasn't dead, and perhaps she'd be able to save herself.
I lifted my sword again, intent on ending her misery.
"Wait!" I heard Subaru cry out. "Please! Please, wait, Rey!"
I looked over at him, eyes half-lidded and blood covering the bottom half of my face.
"Even now, you still refuse?" I tilted my head, seeing his desperation. "Even with circumstances like this, you want it to play out?"
"You keep asking that!" Subaru gritted his teeth, trying to keep his gaze off Emilia's gasping body. "I don't understand what it is you want from me! Just explain it!"
"There's no point to that," I shook my head, seeing frustrated tears form in his eyes. Beatrice was in a similar state, clutching her chest from using too much mana. I could smell the fear and anguish coming off of them in waves. Including the adrenaline from being angry.
– Adrenaline that came from being angry?
"DO IT, NOW!" Subaru suddenly roared, looking behind me.
I gasped, smelling the pulse-pounding adrenaline along with moisture, and spun to see Julius' determined face far too close for comfort.
The ice cracking and being flung everywhere! It was to mask the sound of Julius breaking out of the ice encasement!
My sword swung for his head, but even with the frost still lining his body from being encased in ice, he was prepared. He parried my thoughtless swipe and sent my weight careening to the side. I sent a fist wildly towards his body, but he easily pushed me, sending my strike into the open air.
And then, with his broken blade, he stabbed me through the gut.
-507HP!
[You are hemorrhaging! -50HP/min!]
[WARNING! HP is at 97/4,120! If it reaches 0, you will die!]
I coughed weakly, looking down at the sword in my midsection. The burning pain vanished into a dull cold feeling as the heat began to seep from my body. Blood spilled from my body at an exorbitant rate, and I began to shake weakly.
Julius' cold expression didn't budge at all as he released his sword, still planted in my stomach, and let me wobble in place. "I put more power into that than I did before. There seems to be a limit to your resistance to damage."
"Yeagh…" I gurgled weakly, feeling the Yin Blade slip from my fingers and into the shadows below, vanishing entirely.
[DEX: 642.6 → 357]
I heard a cry, and Beatrice ran over to Emilia's gasping body, placing her hands onto her wound and beginning to mend it.
[HP: 84/4,120]
"...You've lost, Rey Alaraph," I heard Subaru declare as he approached me, Julius was still standing nearby with narrowed eyes, awaiting any kind of sudden action I might make.
My hands slowly raised to my stomach, and cupped around the blade sticking out of me. I held it tightly, and tried to stop the bleeding, but there was nothing I could do anymore.
[HP: 68/4,120]
I didn't have the necessary mana to heal myself, and Lunar Eclipse wasn't possible in my ailing body.
I swayed for a moment, then fell onto the ground with a weak groan. I curled into a ball, trying to hold my blood inside my body, but I only succeeded in making myself look small and feeble, totally unlike how I was just earlier, fighting like a monster that didn't know how to stay down.
[HP: 56/4,120]
"Please take Emilia to the green room, Julius!" Subaru looked up at the knight, who stiffened and quickly nodded, rushing over to where Emilia and Beatrice were. He scooped up the half-elf and spirit both, letting them continue their healing as he ran off to where the healing spirit was.
Subaru, for all his cold calculations and determination, had a bead of sweat falling down the side of his face, and worry etched into his features. His care for the people around him was truly heroic, and who knew exactly what he experienced when he looped back in time?
I was soundly defeated, and lay dying. I suppose that was the only outcome to this when I had barely prepared at all.
[HP: 42/4,120]
The haze surrounding my mind thickened, and I lost the ability to think.
Subaru looked down at me with a troubled expression, "You damn… I can't believe you. I don't– I don't understand a single damn thing about you."
He ran his hands through his hair, and he growled, "Gahh! Why am I thinking so hard about this!"
His arms suddenly pulled on me, and I weakly whimpered as he scooped me into his arms and lifted me into the air.
My blood instantly covered his hands, and it began to soak through his clothes.
He took off running with me in his arms, "Don't look at me like that!" He snapped, looking down at my face. "You have to answer for all the things you did, and if you die, then I'm not getting any answers, am I?!"
[HP: 28/4,120]
"Tch, you can't even hear me, can you?" Subaru growled as he turned the corner, his footsteps slamming through the corridors. "Dammit. Dammit, dammit. Why did things have to turn out this way! This is your fault for being so determined!"
I coughed up blood, a death rattle from my ribcage.
"Stupid idiot! This is all my fault for asking your name!" Subaru shouted at himself. "If I hadn't, then none of this would've happened! Dammit!"
He continued running through the hallways of the fourth floor, intending on preserving my life.
"Just my luck! You better stay alive, or else I'm going to be pissed off at you! Why did you wake up Rem?! If you didn't, none of this would've happened either!"
He was shouting at no one. He only cried out at the circumstances.
[HP: 16/4,120]
And my mind shut down into unconsciousness.
Quest failed!
At last the truth is laid bare.
Failure: Be captured and lose your freedom.
//I didn't really see this going any other way
Julius burst through the green room, carrying a terribly wounded Emilia and Beatrice, who was atop her and pressing a healing light into her wound. He quickly set Emilia onto one of the cots and turned to Ram, who was staring in surprise.
"Lady Ram, would you please leave the room?"
Ram barely took her eyes off Emilia before she nodded, hopping to her feet and pulling her confused sister by the hand.
"U-uh, umm…?" Rem made a bunch of uncertain noises, looking on in horror as Emilia rasped. Her bleeding was beginning to stop, but both her and Beatrice were focused on sealing the wound, and the green room spirit and the water spirits that followed were using themselves as conduits to push vitality into Emilia as well.
"It's fine, Rem," Ram gave her sister a warm smile. "This room has healing properties, but only a few people can be in it at a time. Barusu will probably show up with wounds of his own as well later."
"O-okay," Rem nodded, and Ram led her out into the hallway, clearing up some space in the green room.
Not a moment too soon as Subaru's shouting could be heard above the swirl of mana within the room. Julius stiffened, gave a quick bow to Emilia, and rushed out of the room to help Subaru.
However, he paused in the doorway, eyes wide at the sight before him.
"Move out of the way, jackass!" Subaru shouted, and Julius quickly stepped aside as he ran in, carrying a terribly bloody blonde-haired girl. She was as pale as a corpse, her lips blue.
She wasn't breathing, either.
"That's–" Julius tried to say, but the steely look Subaru shot at him shut him up. He sighed, feeling a spark of anger in his stomach try to come to life, but he snuffed it out. It would be better if Gluttony remained alive to answer questions and wake up her victims.
Subaru set the girl down on a separate cot, and the green room spirit began to push some vitality into her wounds. However, there wasn't any change in her condition.
"This…" Subaru's eyes twitched, and he gritted his teeth.
"She's going to die at this rate," Julius answered beside him. "I am not well-versed in healing, and without Kua, I cannot access the healing arts."
"T-then…?" Subaru's face began to fall. "Then, that's it? She's going to die?"
"N-no, it's okay…"
Both Subaru and Julius stiffened as they turned to Emilia, who was looking pale and sweaty. Though the fire in her eyes had only strengthened, Beatrice looking steadier, which told how much her condition improved.
She was looking at the swirling spirits above her, "I'll be okay, so please, go heal that girl for me. I'd rea~lly appreciate it."
The spirits swirled for a moment, before dutifully floated over to Rey on the cot, and began to add their own suffusion of vitality to her.
Julius had a troubled look on his face at the willingness to help save the life of the one who attacked them just earlier. Of a Sin Archbishop, no less. His own rationality kept him from saying anything, since her being alive would only help in recovering the memories of her victims, including his brother.
He took a deep breath and walked beside the half-dead body of the Sin Archbishop. His sword was still implanted into her gut, and he wasn't quite willing to pull it free quite yet. Regardless, he felt a pat on his back, and he saw Subaru give him a firm and pleading nod.
The knight nodded back, almost full of reluctant duty, and placed his hands atop the girl's chest.
And he began to pump her heart.
Notes:
Man if only there was some kind of mental status effect that makes people not think clearly haha
Though I think the main cast is too nice anyway
I forgot to dump the stat sheet into this bitch earlier too
Rey Alaraph LVL 50
Race: 25% Demi-Human (dog)
Affiliation: Witch Cult (Sin Archbishop), -99% Reputation with non-affiliated members.
Magical Affinity: Yin, Earth
Health: 97/4,120
Mana: 320/1,870
Exp: 4494/5000
STR: 360
-The weight of your blows, the ability to exert force in numerical form.
VIT: 103
-Your constitution, the vitality you carry in numerical form.
DEX: 357
-The litheness of your body, the speed at which you can actively react to in numerical form.
INT: 187 (+50 for one week)
-Puzzles, memory, knowledge in numerical form.
WIS: 117
-Understanding, thoughts, and the ability to comprehend in numerical form.
LUK: 11
-Chance, and the odds it's in your favor in numerical form.
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Actions
Entire Work ← Previous Chapter Next Chapter → Chapter Index Comments Share Download
Work Header
Rating:
Not Rated
Archive Warnings:
Creator Chose Not To Use Archive WarningsGraphic Depictions Of Violence
Category:
Gen
Fandom:
Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活 | Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World (Anime)
Characters:
Rey Alaraph (OC)Louis ArnebLye BatenkaitosRoy Alphard
Additional Tags:
POV First PersonDysfunctional FamilyThe Gamer Ability (The Gamer Webcomic)Fluff and AngstThe gluttonies are terrible childrenThe Author Regrets EverythingWhy Did I Write This?This was entirely an excuse to fit as many self-indulgent things into one fic as possibleSpoilers for Re:Zero season 3Lots of struggling to change canonDescent into MadnessNot Canon CompliantThere is more than one playeroc is a fourth gluttony siblingprobably the most 'normal' but compared to the others that's not saying much
Language:
English
Stats:
Published:2024-10-28Updated:2026-01-07Words:246,117Chapters:58/?Comments:1,238Kudos:848Bookmarks:113Hits:41,077
A Dog in the Cradle of Od Lagna
TheGimbler
Chapter 14: "I dunno."
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Getting hit by something akin to a train hurts like hell. Waking up afterward, however, surprised me even more. And finally, the biggest kicker, I wasn't bleeding to death.
"She's waking up, I suppose." Came a voice I recognized.
Beatrice, the one who thought she was so much better than me. Even with my current capabilities all being thrown into sword skills, my magic wasn't strictly terrible. It certainly hurt to consider how I no longer had the functionality of the Yin magic in my memories.
–Our memories, maybe?
Still, I groaned with the aching pain that radiated from my chest and the pulsing agony of my belly, the faint cuts along my arms and legs were also present, but much easier to ignore.
And that was when I felt the restraints encasing my limbs.
I cracked an eye open and saw ice binding my ankles and knees together, and my arms were similarly frozen behind my back. It wouldn't be hard to break free, but those seconds of struggle was all the opening someone watching me needed to finish me off.
"Hey."
I froze in place, a wince on my face, and looked up.
Subaru was seated on the back of a dragon carriage, looking down at me with a hard frown. Julius and Emilia were standing off to the sides, both completely focused on my actions. Beatrice was standing beside Subaru, giving me a scathing look, but still positioned herself behind the protagonist.
Added to the humans, were both of the ground dragons to the side, laying down and pretending not to be paying attention to me. Their steadily flicking tails were a clear sign of agitation, and the black one had its eye slightly opened, remaining on me.
"We do need to talk, you know." Subaru called out to me, the friendliness of his tone no longer there.
I felt something clench in my chest, but left it alone.
[HP: 1,534/4,120]
[MP: 1,023/1,870]
My stats weren't full, and I doubt they'd let me heal myself to max capacity while their prisoner.
"It's a big surprise you didn't use the Evil Sealing Stones on me," I mentioned, almost casual amidst the atmosphere of animosity. I looked to the side at Beatrice, who was still giving me her glare. "Did you not have enough mana?"
"Betty has nothing to say to you."
That was fair. Unfortunate.
"Let's talk, Gluttony," Subaru called to me again, and I peeked at him. He didn't look very happy about this situation at all, and I was inclined to agree. "Just me and you."
"About what?" I tilted my head, feeling my mouth dry a bit. "Are you angry about me tricking you?"
"We all talked about that while you were recovering from near death."
I flinched, a visceral reaction that wasn't missed by anyone there.
"Yeah, we were talking about the things you did and said that should've clued us into you not being who we thought," He pinched his nose. "Seriously, Shaulo was the best you could come up with? Not to mention how you never once referred to yourself as Shaula. We all just kind of assumed."
"I… am bad at names?" I tried again with a weak smile, but he wasn't very amused.
"Before we talk, let me preface this by saying something," Subaru narrowed his eyes, and I felt my stomach drop. "We all voted on whether to kill you or keep you alive."
Ah.
Ah.
Oh my god.
My heart began to pound harder in my chest, and I swallowed only the dryness of my throat. My breathing fell out of consistency, and it grew louder, "A-a-and…?"
"Two votes in favor," Subaru shot a glance at Julius, who continued burning a hole into the side of my head with his glare. "Three against," He glanced at Emilia for a moment, who was looking more on guard than anything angry. And he finally looked back at me, "And three undecided."
They were still voting. They wanted a reason to keep me alive. Oh my god. Oh my god.
My terror must've shown on my face as Subaru's glare softened only a tiny bit.
"I'm against it, of course. You helped out, and you definitely could've just eaten us if you truly wanted to. Besides, you're confusing, " Subaru shook his head with a groan. "None of us can figure out your actions."
"The actions of a Sin Archbishop aren't dictated by logic, Subaru," Julius spoke up, and Subaru groaned.
"You've said, ' illogical this ,' and, ' incomprehensible that,' already," The young man pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, we get it, man. We're here to figure out why she was doing that stuff. I think she's capable of holding a proper conversation, but," He opened his sharp eyes, and I swallowed nervously. "If she can't, then I guess that's that, huh?"
The pressure caused me to hunch like a cornered animal. Somewhere, deep in my mind, I recognized just how valuable I was, and that this was all a show to place pressure on me to answer questions.
But what if it wasn't?
My sharp teeth poked into my lip as I shuddered, "W-what… do you want to know?"
That caused the room the pause, disbelief filtering into the minds of those who thought me just a mere Sin Archbishop.
"First up," Subaru raised a finger. "Why were you in the sage's watchtower?"
"I woke up here," I answered truthfully. "I– I don't want to be here."
"Couldn't you have just left?" Emilia tilted her head, confused. "Or were you afraid of the mabeasts in the desert?"
"...Yeah," I lied. "I wouldn't be here if I could help it. Travelers reaching this place are almost impossible, so–"
"Betty thinks she's dishonest," Beatrice piped up, and I stiffened. The spirit's gaze lingered on me for a long moment. "Before, she would simply give us truths without reasoning. And now, she's falling back into explaining it through common knowledge. Betty thinks she's not afraid, and she could've left at any time, in fact."
"Which begs the question as to why," Subaru hummed in thought. "She doesn't want to be here, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have something here to do." He leveled his gaze on me. "What are you trying to do here?"
My throat clammed up.
"Answer me, Rey."
I stiffly shook my head, unable to trust my own words.
"Answer me, Gluttony."
His usage of my title caused me to shrink on the spot. I didn't like hearing it. Every action I did just dug my grave just a little bit deeper, and I couldn't lie. The truths I spoke would only incriminate me further, and place Louis in deeper danger.
"I won't," I shivered. "Never. Never, never. I can't trust that. I can't trust you. Every action I do is for– So I can't tell you, or it'd all be a waste."
"Would you even die for it?" Julius questioned, a contemplative look on his face. "Duty and honor are one thing, but a Sin Archbishop has none. I find it strange that you'd be willing to risk us executing you if you could keep your desires secret. Does it have something to do with Gluttony?"
I flinched again.
"Does it have something to do with Roy Alphard?" He kept pressing.
My shivering intensified.
"Does it have something to do with Ley Batenkaitos, I suppose?" Beatrice asked in succession, following Julius' example.
I gulped weakly, feeling all the moisture in my mouth evaporate.
"Does it…" Beatrice tilted her head up. "...Have something to do with Louis Arneb?"
I launched at her, teeth bared. I cleared over a dozen feet in an instant, my sharp canines seeking the spirit's throat. She yelped as I shot toward her, but Emilia was there in an instant. She approached from the side, grabbing my neck and swinging me along with the momentum, spinning me 180 degrees and slamming me into the ground.
I struggled and snapped, snarling with anger as Emilia simply put pressure on my neck and back; my wounds didn't like that, and began to flare in pain.
-34HP!
"Don't touch her, tsu!" I screamed and shouted. Emilia's ice began to crack from my strength, but the half-elf continued to repair it as it did. "Don't touch our sister! Don't even think about it! We'll eat you! We'll kill you, you shitty spirit! Leave her alone! If you hurt her, we'll–!"
Julius reached Emilia, and forced my struggling legs to still. His strength added to hers, and without the debuff from the Yin Blade, I could hardly struggle against the both of them. My raging spirit didn't abate, and I continued baying like a dog.
"Don't touch her, don't touch her! She's ours! Our sister, tsu! We won't let you! We won't let you even get close! If you get close, happen to get close, might get close, we'll eat you! Don't get close, stop getting closer, if you get even a hint of a bit closer, then– Then–!" I yowled.
"Then talk," Subaru hopped off the dragon carriage and knelt right before my face, pressed into the dirty ground of the sixth floor. "If you do, then we might be interested in… well, I was gonna say letting you go, but that's not happening. Listening to you about your sister, maybe? I'm surprised you care about your sister that much when your siblings have eaten away that connection from so many people. If you care, why do you eat it?"
"Hah!" I sneered. "We don't eat people, that's our siblings. They do what they want, while we don't really care about that. We told you, didn't we? We like them enough to sacrifice good people like you to protect them. They're your enemy, which makes us your enemy, too, Natsuki Subaru!"
"Stop with the anger," Subaru gave me a frown. "We both know you weren't this ecstatic when you talked about it before."
My sneer twitched, and the fight left my body.
I went slack, and my face fell onto the ground, "Shut up. I don't want to hear it."
"You were sad. You helped Rem at no gain. You were figured out because you did that. You didn't eat any of us, despite ample opportunity to do so, only until after I asked who you were. You… shit, you're not the same as the rest of the Sin Archbishops. I think all of us can agree on that."
I didn't move or respond, prompting him to continue.
"I think… I think it's possible for you to be…" Subaru struggled to find the right word. "Rehabilitated." He settled on.
"Oh, because we're just some poor mutt?" Our eyes snapped back to him. "That's just your personal opinion, Subaru. Is there any one person who's truly evil? This conversation is meaningless. Even if we were to say we never harmed or ate anyone, there would be assumptions of that based on our ability to wipe the world's memory clean."
"I also believe your words to be misleading, Subaru," Julius said stoically, still restraining my legs. "There is no such thing."
"Look, man," Subaru looked up at the knight. "Do you want to have a somewhat amiable relationship where we can get information instead of having to…" His eyes returned to me for a split second.
"Torture me?" I guessed, and judging by his wince, was correct. I sighed, recognizing his game. "Pretending to offer me an out isn't going to work, Subaru. I am strictly on the side of my siblings. Perhaps, I could live out a quiet and calm life if I wasn't or they didn't exist, but that world isn't this one."
"I heard Reid tell Gluttony that she was capable of reaching his heights with the sword," Julius spoke to Subaru. "I would like to nip the threat in the bud before it's allowed to come to fruition."
"No, we're not cutting off her hands," Subaru rolled his eyes, even if I stiffened at the possibility. "We voted and some of us have some hope that we can fix the damage all four of the siblings have caused with her. Even you have to agree she's the most reasonable out of them."
Julius' silence was his answer, and Subaru returned his look back to me.
"Alright, look," He began, sitting down in front of me. "Be honest. If I didn't ask you who you were, and none of us were to intrude on whatever it is you were doing here, would you have hurt us?"
I thought about it for a moment. "...Maybe just you." I admitted with a grimace. "Though, that's something we should talk about on our own."
"Hmm?" Subaru tilted his head. "Why? I'm not really sure I'd be safe around you alone when you just admitted you might've still tried to attack me if I didn't out your identity."
"Then you'll never know," I tried to shrug, but it just looked like I grinded my face into the dirt.
"But it's just me, right?" Subaru tried.
"Subaru, you shouldn't take all the danger on yourself like that!" Emilia complained, even when she was still pushing me into the dirt. "It's not easy to protect you when you don't even protect yourself!"
"Yeah, yeah, sorry Emilia-Tan," Subaru hesitantly scratched his chin for a moment before turning back to me. "Alright, whatever. You–" His eyes darkened. "--You didn't hurt us badly enough that it killed anyone. But it was close."
"I'm fine!" Emilia said with a bit of pep. "I'm mostly upset about how you hurt those poor children. Did you really have to do that?"
"Children?" I suddenly remembered I obliterated a few of her spirits with the Yin Sword. "Oh. Sorry about that, they would've gotten me if I didn't open up a hole in their assault. Wait, you don't care that I nearly killed you?"
"No, I'm rea~lly upset," Emilia admitted, and I realized my face being pushed into the dirt must've reflected how she felt. "I thought I was going to die. But I did attack you first."
"That's… true," I recalled the icicles that launched at me after I was assailed by a few walls of text.
"In other words, Rey," Subaru continued. "You're not being let off the hook for what happened. I don't like it. They don't like it. No one in their right mind would let you walk around freely after that whole debacle. Hurt a ton, you know."
"I didn't even scratch you," I gave him a flat look, and he gave me a strange expression in return.
"Wouldn't that have been nice?" He rolled his eyes, and I blinked slowly. "Anyway, just answer our questions. Come back with us to Priestella to wake up the other Gluttony victims, and we'll see about not executing you."
"You'd be awful at hostage negotiations," I scoffed. "If I did none of that, you executing me would lessen your chances even more."
"I'm sure Felix would find a few ways to make you talk," Julius mentioned off-handedly. "He would greatly enjoy having another Sin Archbishop to derive answers from."
I sweated, "You wouldn't."
"Why wouldn't I? You haven't given any cause to prevent you from feeling that kind of pain."
"Ahem," Subaru cleared his throat, giving Julius a hard look. "We were trying to do the first plan, remember?"
"Forgive me, my emotions got the better of me," Julius hardly sounded torn up about it.
"Rey," Subaru crossed his arms. "Why did you wake up Rem?"
And he finally asked what he'd been wanting to ask the entire time. I could feel the room tense up with silent pondering from everyone. It must've lingered on their minds endlessly, toiling over the reason for such a seemingly bad move on my part.
Too bad my answer was just a, "I dunno."
"...You don't know?" Came the pure disbelief.
"I dunno." I repeated with even less energy than before.
"No, that's not–" Subaru slammed a hand on his head. "You can't just have no reason for having done that! What's the reason? At least give some sort of excuse!"
"Uh," I blinked slowly. "I felt bad, I guess. And decided to test out if I could wake her up. And I did. That's all."
"You–" Subaru paused. "Wait, felt bad? You felt bad about Rem's predicament? So you woke her up?"
"I'm surprised you can hear stuff with how many times I need to repeat myself."
"It's because what you're saying doesn't make any sense! "
"Sure, it does!" I snorted. "Just accept that I helped you out because I felt bad about you guys not getting what you wanted and shut up, yeah?"
Subaru slowly looked up at Beatrice, who shrugged with a similar confused face. Emilia hummed gently, then decided to let up on the pressure on my neck, letting me sit back up on my knees.
Emilia looked me in the eyes, "You don't like what your siblings are doing?"
I nodded, "If they didn't eat people, that'd be nice."
Emilia silently looked at Subaru, who nodded in contemplation.
"Alright," Subaru crossed his arms. "You're a dumbass."
"Yeah, probably." I didn't deny.
"You're also probably the best way to help out everyone that was hurt by your shitstain siblings."
"No arguments on either front."
"So I propose a non-interference pact," Subaru declared.
I was interested, and he knew I was, judging by his smirk.
"Your sister shows up? She's your business. She attacks us? We'll retaliate. Otherwise, we'll leave her be since other things are more important," He shot a look toward Julius, probably having to do with his brother. "You'll stay our prisoner, but we don't lay our hands on you if you give us answers and don't try to break free. You come back with us to Priestella, wake everyone up, and…" He pondered for a moment. "...Maybe we'll let you go."
"Let me go?" I echoed in mild amusement, happy we were no longer talking about maybe killing me. "I'll just run off at that point."
"I agree that there are things that must be changed about this pact," Julius gave Subaru a leveled stare. "If she gets what she wants, she will no longer have a clause to agree to our terms. Perhaps a binding oath is in order?"
"That would be for the best, I suppose," Beatrice nodded. "For now, we need to talk in private about what we want from the Sin Archbishop. She is…" The spirit gave me an odd look. "...certainly more tolerable than the rest, I suppose. If she didn't attack us, Betty would be fine with–"
"You guys attacked me." I interrupted, causing the spirit to flubb.
"That's not–! Hey!" Beatrice stomped her feet. "Don't make it seem like our actions weren't rational, in fact! What's irrational is how you're acting like a normal girl! That's irrational!"
"Whatever~, tsu," I snorted, slumping. "I'm tired. Lemme sleep. You all can shoo."
"Yeah, it's been a day, and I still haven't seen the second trial other than the guy himself," Subaru hopped to his feet.
With a few warnings and parting words, most of the crew left me by my lonesome. They were going to reach the second floor, then realize just how impossible their dreams of conquering the tower were, and then whatever deal they were going to try and force on me would go up in smoke.
I wasn't alone, of course.
To the side were those two very receptive ground dragons, one of which would probably be able to stomp me into the ground if I started trying to break the ice binding me. Not to mention how I wasn't at full strength anymore, and the room was brightly lit, so the Yin Sword wouldn't be as helpful.
That's a good blade, runt. Though, it's a crutch for you right now.
Reid's words filtered into my mind, and I fell back onto the ground with a sigh. I was still a very conditional fighter. I didn't have any real techniques to call my own, and my fighting style was just Beli Hainelga's with a sword. A damn good sword, but its effectiveness was dictated by the things surrounding me.
If the corridor we fought in wasn't as dark as it was, then I wouldn't have stood a chance. The only one whose status I probably exceeded was Beatrice, and when she had adequate mana, she was a bit of a monster.
What helped the most wasn't the bonus to my DEX, but rather the debuff to my opponents stats. Against a 70% capacity Shaula, she almost accidentally killed me. In more ways than one, the sword has saved me.
Reid's words made total sense.
I sighed and opened my gate and began to absorb the ambient mana around me.
[Mana replenishing at 20/min!]
There wasn't much ambient mana here, anyway. I needed to heal, first and foremost.
Subaru sat on the stairs, his knee bouncing.
Everyone awkwardly stared at him.
His frown turned more severe, and he glanced up, "Okay, so who was going to tell me that this guy, Reid, was a rat bastard?"
"Huh~? What are you talking about?" Another voice entered the fray, and they looked to the side to see Meili and Shaula casually walking through the opposite corridor. She blinked, seeing Subaru's frown, "Something the matter, Onii-San~?"
"Reid." Subaru ground out.
"Oh." Meili didn't say anything else, she knew what was up with him. "And Rey?"
"What do you car–" Subaru paused. "Wait, did you know who she was from the beginning?"
Meili blanked, having forgotten the whole thing. "Oops. Uh… You didn't hear tha~t."
"Meili," Subaru's stern voice made her almost flinch. "You need to tell us these things next time. Not that–" He slumped a bit. "Not that I think it would've made a difference this time, though."
"So I'm let off the hook~?" Meili tilted her head.
"No– I mean, yes– I mean–" Subaru groaned. "I dunno."
"Oh, well~," Meili licked her lips. "That's not a big deal, is it? Not compared to the guy upstairs, right?"
"That's true. We're going to need a meeting to decide what to do with Reid."
You can't do anything, master. Shaula chittered, and Meili translated what she said. That guy is nigh-unkillable. Even you can't do anything against him, and he's a jerk and you're my master! So unfair!
"We gotta figure something out, Shaulo," Subaru shook his head. "Otherwise, you'll kill all of us, right?"
Shaulo–?! Yeppers! I'll tear all of you apart if you try to leave!
"In the meantime," Subaru stood. "I'll go see Rem and Ram. I'm surprised Ram didn't want to join up with the Sin Archbishop interrogation."
"You cannot fault her, Subaru," Julius informed. "Her sister has just awoken."
"Yeah, yeah," Subaru waved him off. "Then let's disperse for a bit. We'll meet up at the green room in an hour's time. Try to come up with a few ideas on how to deal with Reid."
As everyone left, Julius silently looked back up the stairs where Reid stood.
"Hmmm~," Meili stood behind him, staring up the same path. "Mister, you should go fight him."
"What makes you think I'm considering that?" Julius didn't turn back to her, his eyes fixated on the stairs.
Meili licked her lips again. "Well~. It's pretty clear you want to, no~? You should stick to your own interests. No one has to fight him if you just get up there and defeat him on your own~, right?"
"...There is no need for goading," Julius' foot already met the first step. "Though I think you already knew that."
Meili smiled as he walked up the stairs. She turned around with a hum and a bounce in her step.
"Wonder how Rey's feeling, tsu. Tsu?" Meili tilted her head, her finger picking at her teeth. "Mm. That doesn't really work here, does i~t? Aw, well. Worth a try."
With a hum, Meili left down the stairs.
The giant scorpion stared.
What the heck just happened? A double badoozle?!
Notes:
I felt my original writing style begin to pick up in this chapter so I had to end the scene there or else I was going to write another 10k words for these two scenes alone
curse my inability to just write normal scenes and chapters
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Rating:
Not Rated
Archive Warnings:
Creator Chose Not To Use Archive WarningsGraphic Depictions Of Violence
Category:
Gen
Fandom:
Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活 | Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World (Anime)
Characters:
Rey Alaraph (OC)Louis ArnebLye BatenkaitosRoy Alphard
Additional Tags:
POV First PersonDysfunctional FamilyThe Gamer Ability (The Gamer Webcomic)Fluff and AngstThe gluttonies are terrible childrenThe Author Regrets EverythingWhy Did I Write This?This was entirely an excuse to fit as many self-indulgent things into one fic as possibleSpoilers for Re:Zero season 3Lots of struggling to change canonDescent into MadnessNot Canon CompliantThere is more than one playeroc is a fourth gluttony siblingprobably the most 'normal' but compared to the others that's not saying much
Language:
English
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Published:2024-10-28Updated:2026-01-07Words:246,117Chapters:58/?Comments:1,238Kudos:848Bookmarks:113Hits:41,077
A Dog in the Cradle of Od Lagna
TheGimbler
Chapter 15: A Reminder of the Walls, Surrounding
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
" This is a rather odd thing, isn't it, Meili? "
"I know~. I didn't think it'd work like this, but I'm glad it did."
" While I would ask what you've been doing while I was gone… I do share your memories. You've missed me for quite a while, haven't you? "
"You don't need to say anything~. We both know that's true."
" Yes, but talking makes it feel… real. "
"Haaaah~, you've really not changed much at all, Elsa."
" Really? "
Meili nodded with a hop down another step. To her side was a woman with a shapely figure, wearing an outfit that showed off her cleavage. A dark cloak of purple was wrapped around her shoulders, but the predatory gaze in her eyes cleared any doubt about her abject danger.
Elsa Granhiert, the Bowel Hunter, was a serial killer who had died over a year ago.
She was also Meili's guardian, who had returned from the dead.
Not– Not quite that, unfortunately.
Memories, personality, perspective, all of it were inside the books of the dead within the library Meili was left alone in. The more you knew about the person whose book you were reading, the deeper into their perspective you were immersed. Meili, who had effectively been raised by Elsa, certainly met the requirement.
For a short time, you became that person, and experienced the totality of their life.
Elsa being marked as a slave. Murdering a man in the snow who attempted to assault her. Being sold as a slave again and again, always returning to the same nice slaver seller, who hardly enjoyed her return, but continued finding new buyers for her. The featherrun sisters, and her father whom she killed on his command. Slicing off her own head to drop into water and be carried down a watering hole to escape. Burning her sister alive.
Mama finding her in that cave.
" Meili, it's okay. " Elsa gently chided the girl.
"No, it's no~t," Meili disagreed with Elsa, something she never would've done on important matters a year ago.
" You've changed a lot, " Elsa noted, her dark, animalistic tendency vanished whenever she talked to Meili, and Meili herself understood those urges herself. " You never would've done what you did if you didn't. "
"Well~," Meili looked up at her foster sister with a plead. "You don't have to remind me~. Once makes sense, two… Even I understand that I messed up."
Elsa's gaze slowly chilled, and she looked up the stairs Meili was walking down. Meili paused, then followed her stare to see nothing.
" I'm here to help you, " Elsa promised, lightly touching Meili's hair, though she didn't feel it.
"Thanks, Elsa," Meili smiled back, deciding to give whatever Elsa saw no extra thought. "I appreciate it, tsu."
The girl slapped a hand over her mouth, hissing lightly.
Elsa narrowed her eyes, " It would've been better if your curiosity didn't get the better of you. 'Curiosity.' "
"Curiosity…" Meili knew that wasn't what it was. "I thought I could maybe have a few options if I read that book too."
Meili licked her lips, "Whatever~. No issues will come of it, so there's no problem."
" If you could leave the tower, maybe, " Elsa smiled, amused. " You must pick the battles you can win, and pick the ones you have to win. You have neither the body of a cursed doll, blood you can control, nor a weapon you enjoy use from. Also, you're a little girl. "
"Didn't stop the other little girl from doing that. " Meili grumbled.
" True, " Elsa admitted.
Meili continued down the stairs, passed by the ground level door, and went down yet another flight.
Rey Alaraph. She might be the only way out for Meili after her stupid mistake. She didn't know it would be such a bad idea! She truly didn't! Yet, now, only a nice Gluttony like her can help Meili.
Elsa's nose wrinkled, keeping even pace with her, " Calling a Sin Archbishop, 'nice,' is going to be difficult for me to accept. "
"She's not like Mama at all," Meili reassured.
" I'm aware. I was considering her as more… a useful ally. But one to keep at a dagger's length. "
"We just discussed how I didn't have that kind of strength~. Elsaaaa~!"
" This is far more difficult than I could imagine. " Elsa admitted, looking down at Meili's whining face. " Far more. "
"Okay, so, it turns out we all suck."
Subaru began with a few words of encouragement.
I listened with a groan, unable to prevent myself from being dragged into this meeting, despite being tied up with ice.
"Us not fittin' the standard of the three heroes isn't much for qualification on that topic," Anastasia gave Subaru a frown, though she understood his sentiment.
"None of you can beat Reid," I said with a bored tone, looking at the ceiling up above. Well, it wasn't much of a ceiling, more like how far up I could see before it became too dark, hundreds of feet into the air. "The only one with the potential is me, and that's if I spent like, three hundred years training." I gave him a look. "I have only about a hundred years of life total."
"You sound real hopeful there, Rey," Subaru rolled his eyes as he spotted someone walking down the stairs. "Hey, there he– No, wait, that's Meili."
"Hello~." Meili gave a polite wave. She shot me a glance, a strange look on her face, then shrugged and walked next to one of the ground dragons and laid down on it.
I cocked a brow, but she refused to look at me.
"Is there a point to this meeting, Barusu?" Ram had her arms crossed, looking bored. "The knight isn't even here."
"Um, sister," A timid voice spoke, and Ram looked over at her sister, who was shyly tugging on her sleeve. She pointed at me, "Why is the girl tied up?"
"Because she's one of the people who stole your memories away," Ram said flatly.
"Huh?" Rem blinked. "Her?"
"'Sup?" I casually nodded at her, and Rem blinked like an owl.
"Oh my god," Subaru groaned. "I said to be back here in a few minutes!"
"Huuh?" Emilia gave him a look of surprise. "I thought you said in an hour! I came down here to check on Rey-Chan!"
"Oogh, please don't call me that." I shuddered as Subaru blustered.
"It's called hyperbole, Emilia-Tan," He sighed. "Okay, yeah. I did say an hour. But what the hell else is there to do here? You don't think he's swinging his sword on the banister, do you?"
Meili giggled, "That'd be funny~."
"Thanks, came up with the idea, myself," Subaru ground out, clearly upset Julius was using the time he set.
That ankle-biter told him to fight Reid, and the dumbass actually accepted!
Shaula's screech was incomprehensible to everyone but me and Meili.
I paused, shooting Meili another look, and the girl met my gaze with tucked lips. It was the very face of guilt and shame, hollowly packaged and difficult to parse through, though I could tell what it was.
"Oh," I mumbled, looking over at Subaru. "He's getting his ass beat by Reid right now."
"WHAT?!" Subaru shouted. "How do you–?!"
He blanked, throwing a look at Shaula.
"Oh, right. The Sage. DAMMIT, JULIUS!" He took off running up the stairs, Emilia in hot pursuit. He very quickly fell behind the speedy half-elf, then looked down at Shaula and said, "Come! You'll listen to me, right?!"
Shaula zoomed up the stairs, snatching Subaru and Emilia, and shot up like a bolt of lightning.
All aboard the Shaula express!
Beatrice and Anastasia stared at where the scorpion left a billow of dust.
"Huh," I followed the scorpion as she disappeared from view. "She is way faster than I thought."
Also means that she could've killed me without any issue.
"You think he's dead?" I asked no one in particular.
"Julius ain't that stupid," Anastasia gave me a glare.
"He saw what Reid did to me , then went back?" I snorted. "Reid will mop the floor with his pretty boy ass."
"Shut up, I suppose," Beatrice snapped her fingers, and I blinked.
I opened my mouth, and no sound escaped from me. I blinked twice, bewildered, then shouted as loud as I could, making no sound at all.
Okay, this is different.
I had to admit Beatrice knew a decent amount about Yin magic and its applications. She didn't even say a word to cast the spell, meaning that this was complete child's play for her.
Honestly, I was a bit envious of that capability. I was still complete trash at Yin magic, despite having the memories of a certain genius.
I needed to study on my own time.
"So?" Beatrice turned to Ram and Rem. "Has there been any progress, I suppose?"
"Not that I'm aware, Beatrice-Sama," Ram admitted. "Rem still doesn't recall any of us. She can feel our sisterly connection, so there's no problems with trust, however…" Her pink eyes darkened. "...she is still very fragile."
"That's mean," Rem piped up. "My body feels fine."
"I meant your mind, Rem," Ram gave her a soft look of protectiveness.
"That also feels fine," Rem looked at me. "I guess I'm just very naive right now. I don't think you can say anything that would… break it."
"We can't be sure of that," Ram turned back to Beatrice. "I've gone over many of my memories that might've included her, but Rem hasn't recalled anything. The only possibility…" Ram's scathing anger scorched over me, and I swallowed.
"I see, that's why you voted to keep her alive," Beatrice nodded. "Betty understands. Better alive than dead to keep the possibilities open. Though if another Gluttony shows up to save her…"
The spirit's eyes darkened, and I felt a bit of anger explode in my gut. "We can always read their book of the dead for information."
Out of their sight, Meili flinched, nervously licking her lips and chewing on her nails.
I looked at her in confusion. That was really strange, I don't think I ever saw her do something like that before.
Meili didn't even notice me looking at her, and her eyes were looking all over the place. No. It was back and forth, like she was… reading something? Watching something?
Oh, god. Was that what I looked like when I was reading the system? No wonder Louis was suspicious of me.
Which meant Meili might also have a system. It didn't look much like reading, instead more like a tennis match, but it didn't help.
I almost wished I could ask her about it, but I'd bring it up when we were alone since Meili was alright in my book.
I continued to sit there as they droned on in conversation, Meili effectively ignored by them.
Eventually, there was a ball of blue light that came down, and Beatrice looked at it in interest.
"...What?" The spirit jolted. "How did that–?!"
"Beatrice-Sama?" Ram had a hint of worry in her gaze, holding Rem's hand.
"The knight is harmed, and the scorpion had one of her pincers severed," Beatrice got to her feet and marched to the stairs. "No one else is hurt, but Betty needs to help with healing."
Ram silently looked at me, then back at Rem, and sighed, "Very well. I shall remain here with Rem."
Beatrice looked at me in suspicion, then snapped her fingers again and began ascending the stairs.
"You sure you don't want to make sure everyone's okay?" I asked.
"If Ram did," Ram smiled wickedly. "You wouldn't be conscious by yourself down here."
"...You think you can knock me out?" I laughed. "Okay. That's funny. I'll admit."
Ram didn't rise to any bait, nor did she seem very impressed. In fact, it wasn't much of a boast on her part, I could probably get the shit kicked out of my face by a grown man enough times and fall unconscious.
"Are you uncomfortable?" Rem tentatively asked, and Ram quickly turned to her with wide eyes. "I'm sure that ice doesn't feel nice."
"Nah, I deserve it," I smiled back at her warmly. "Thank you, though."
"Deserve it?" Rem echoed in confusion.
"She understands her sins are grave," Ram nodded, agreeing with me. "Though she did wake you up, so Ram is willing… to let her live a bit longer."
"What?" Rem turned to Ram in turn. "Why is she tied up when she woke me up? That doesn't make any sense! Sister, that's too much!"
Ram sighed, "Rem, just–"
"That's true, I shouldn't have this kind of treatment," I looked down at Rem with wide eyes. "You should help me."
"Okay, enough of that! " Ram snarled, grabbing Rem's wrist and walking to the other side of the room. "I knew I shouldn't have you around one of them so soon!"
Ram's sequestering of her and her sister left me and Meili mostly alone, exactly what I was looking for.
" Meili ," I whispered toward her quietly, and the girl's gaze immediately shot to me. " Why are you looking around like that? "
She swallowed nervously, looked both ways, then scooted close to me.
" I– I might've… " She looked around again, looking extremely suspicious to those who were watching. Thankfully, it was only the ground dragons and I, Ram was giving Rem a rundown of my supposed crimes. Meili pressed her lips into my ear, " I met your sister. "
I froze, and I looked up at her with a gasp.
" She said to tell you something, " Meili closed her eyes, and I listened intently.
" How've you been, sister, tsu? " Meili grinned, and her tongue lolled out and wiped across her teeth. " Our brothers are on their way, but they're having some trouble getting past that troublesome barrier, tsu. We were thinking, maybe, if you took that sword and slashed it… "
"Louis?" I whispered in disbelief, and Meili rolled her eyes.
" Who else would it be, tsu– Well, no. I'm still Meili~. " Meili placed a hand on her head and she clenched her eyes tight. " Your sister just… said that, 'because it's us, we can do anything,' and now she's…" She made a weird motion with her hands, circling it around the space they were in.
Meili leaned down one last time, " That's all I was told to say, and she gave me that… thing to make sure I did. Go cut the barrier and let them in. " She swallowed, sweat traveling down her face.
Plot Quest!
An impenetrable sand time.
Your actions have changed the Act considerably. Now, some of the villains can't get inside because of a pesky barrier that should've been destroyed earlier. Thankfully, you have just the weapon! Go fix your damn mistakes.
Quest: Destroy Sand Time and allow entry to the Villains outside!
Reward: Addition of Roy Alphard(NPC), Ley Batenkaitos(NPC), to Act VI, greater understanding of your Witch Factor, 1,000 EXP
Failure: Death.
This Quest cannot be declined!
00:10:00
00:09:59
"There, I said what I was told to," Meili looked up and glared at nothing. "Now, please go away~."
"Meili," I felt my heart start beating with adrenaline at the thought of a ten minute timer holding my life.
"What?" Meili looked down, then her eyes narrowed, and she jumped back as I struggled against the ice, her lips licked again. "H-huh?"
There was a roar, and both the ground dragons got to their feet and rushed at me as I powered through the restraints. "Lunar Eclipse!"
[You have invoked your Authority (Lunar Eclipse 24/???)!]
[Your mind swirls.]
[+240% WIS, INT (WIS: 117 → 397.8. INT: 187 → 635.8.)]
"Leaper!" We shouted, and we slipped our bonds immediately.
"El Fula!" We heard a shout, and wind slashed into our leg.
-249HP!
It dug into our skin and cut into a bit of muscle, but thankfully our resistance to damage kept it from crippling our ability to run.
"I won't let you escape!" We heard Ram shout, a wand in her hand as she glared at us. The ground dragons continued to rush at us, and we reached into our shadow, drawing forth the Yin Blade.
"You won't be able to keep us contained at all, tsu."
"Do you think she was telling the truth?"
"Of course, tsu. Our sister wouldn't do such a thing."
"...She did do that once. Twice. Twice, we think. Probably twice. Yeah, it was definitely twice. Wasn't it twice? Certainly twice, right?"
"It was just the two times, tsu. Nothing to worry about, Roy."
There was a pause.
"...Probably."
"Aha, tsu! We knew it! You have no idea what sister is even thinking about! What can she even do when stuck in that place, huh?"
They were sitting in the desert, a deck of playing cards opened and spread across the sands. Surrounding them were completely silent monsters. Bears with bloodshot eyes and flowers draped along their back, giant sandworms that barely twitched, and several other flying rodents and other such things.
Yet, in the midst of their silence, there were two boys playing cards, sitting in the desert.
Dark, sunbaked skin, lengthy brown hair, green eyes, ragged and dirty clothing, they matched in a lot of respects.
"Eight, tsu," Ley, the elder brother, said aloud. A cheeky smile on his lips as he looked up at Roy.
"Nope. We say nope. No, no. Absolutely not, you didn't get it right. Sorry, no. We're telling you it's no. We know you know it's no, now, so~." Roy jutted his chin up, and Ley just stared at him.
After several seconds of nothing, Roy grumbled and handed over an eight.
"Aha! We knew it!" Ley cried out in victory, snagging the eight and laying it down in the sand with an eight of his own. He pumped his fist, "Don't even try to deceive us, brother. We know your tricks!"
"It's a card game, tsu," Roy rolled his eyes with another groan. "Hardly anything that matters. We're bored." He dropped his hand and looked over in the distance.
A great tower loomed, a target of great interest within. Yet, as they marched with the army of mabeasts surrounding them, it never seemed to grow any closer. Eventually, they were given a few words about it from their sister, who possessed Ley to relay it.
We'll take care of it, tsu. Just sit and wait. Something interesting came into the Cradle.
With those words, she left, and now Ley and Roy had been sitting in the sand for several hours.
Ley had been excited, "Well, if she's not playing a mean prank, that means there's a way into the Cradle with our sisters in it, tsu! If we can open it, then we can all be together!"
Roy hadn't been convinced, "You've been looking for this for years, brother, tsu. How could something just walk into the Cradle? Clearly, someone died and she stole the memories before they were cleared naturally."
"That would be a shame," Ley scowled. "A plate like that, dumped into the trash? But if sister got it, then it's no big deal. We'll find that opening, for sure, tsu."
"Whatever, do what you want," Roy began picking up the cards and began shuffling them with a bored huff. "If this takes another day, we're leaving."
"What? No, you can't leave, tsu!" Ley gave Roy a glare. "Our hero is…" He paused, a strange look on his face. "Hero? Mm? Tsu? Huh?"
"What's the matter?" Roy stopped, looking at Roy in confusion. "Feeling sick? Need something to eat, tsu?"
"Huh," Ley scratched the side of his head. "We… Hm. No. No, we don't. Or–" His eyes narrowed with a peculiar tentativeness. "--No, we have someone we have to eat. We lost that plate. Strange. It was here, but now that we're thinking about it, it's gone. "
"That can happen?" Roy stiffened, eyes wide. "No way, tsu. Are you sure you're looking properly? Did you throw it up by accident?"
"No way, tsu, we'd never do that!" Ley growled, his leg started bouncing from here he sat, troubled by the sudden realization of the inconsistency of his memory. "We know who it is. We'll find her in the tower, and we'll be taking our gourmet back, don't worry."
"Well, okay," Roy shrugged. "No issues for us. We'll eat who we want."
"Not her, nor our hero," Ley pointed a finger at him. "Those two are our meals. You can have whoever else you want, tsu. Just don't be an idiot. Don't be stupid. Please stop being stupid. You should understand that you're stupid."
"Our head is empty and our stomach needs to be full, brother," Roy stared at him, eyes half-lidded. "How about we have a contest, tsu?"
"Mm?" Ley tilted his head, interested. "Contest? Of eating? Eating contest? What kind, of what flavor, the quality of what meat?"
Cards forgotten, they began to talk about a different game.
"We eat everyone in the tower," Roy began, and Ley huffed. "Not like that, brother. We eat everyone but your meals, if you're so upset about not being able to eat dishes like that." He rolled his eyes. "The flavor doesn't matter. Recognize this, tsu?"
"It does. Limited quality dishes means all of them should be eaten if possible," Ley argued.
"Whatever, we aren't talking about that," Roy scooped some sand up and threw it over Ley, who hissed like a cat. "We're talking about you reclaiming your dishes, and we eat all other dishes. Whoever does it first…"
"Oooh," Ley leaned forward, opening Roy's waistband and dumping a handful of sand into his clothes. "So some stakes, then?"
"Ye– HEY!" Roy jumped up, feeling the sand scratch against his body. "You stupid– How long do you think it'll take to clean that, tsu?! How annoying! Vexing! You stupid brother of ours! You wanna fight–?!"
"The contest~," Ley sang, bouncing in place.
"Tch, we win? You indulge in our way of eating," Roy pointed at Ley with a growl.
Ley blinked, then smiled back, "Then if we win, we'll teach you the meaning of gourmet, tsu."
There was a pause of silence.
"...That's if we get into the tower, of course, tsu."
"Ugh."
Notes:
meili doesn't have a witchfactor. Louis did some funny shenanigans that doesn't happen in canon.
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