Re:Zero - The King of Pride

Sunrise found Subaru sitting on some old, rotting straw which was nonetheless the absolute cleanest part of the cell that he could find.

He 'd been racking his brains all night, trying to come up with some sort of plan to get out of this cell.

What the hell am I supposed to do?! In video games, they give you tools to break out! A screwdriver, a file, hell, a sharpened bone!

I don 't even have a stick in here! How the hell am I supposed to break out of this pit with nothing to work with?!

Subaru heard footsteps coming down the hall and he stiffened.

A guard appeared outside the cell and he indifferently dropped a small saucer of slop outside of Subaru 's cell door.

He then turned and slowly walked back down the hall, not sparing Subaru a glance.

Subaru leaped to the door. "Hey! Do I have a trial date?" He shouted.

The guard looked back at him in surprise and then he started to chuckle. The guard continued his walk back down the hall and was laughing uproariously by the time he left.

Subaru had a sour look on his face. Right. And we say that the justice system in my world needs work.

And I don 't have any ideas on how to get out of here at all! If I had Reason and Judgment, I'd be able to just glance at that guard and realize by the holes in his belt that he's an ex-soldier whose wife is cheating on him with the baker and I'd be able to send the guy out of here in a rage but not before I managed to sneak the keys off his belt!

I 'm completely helpless here! Felt hates me, Emilia resents me, I have no prospects facing Sycorax or getting back to my own time, and I'm about to be interrogated which around here almost certainly means tortured!

Being interrogated is no fun on its own but I have no answers that I can give these guys and any answers that I did give them would make them think that I 'm either messing with them or completely insane!

That means that their means of questioning me will probably just keep getting more and more painful until I give them some kind of answer that they can believe.

And what will they do to Felt …

No! Knock it off! I need to remain focused right now!

Subaru inspected the food with distaste. It looked to be a thin porridge, so thin that a spoon wasn 't even provided.

Subaru tasted it and gagged but he forced himself to drink the thin, watery mixture.

Subaru nearly vomited the foul mixture back up but he finally finished his thin meal.

Subaru sighed and sat back down on the rotten straw. "Great. Now what?"

The next morning, Subaru was desperately trying to break his manacles by stepping on the short chain that linked them. He had no expectation that this would work but continuing to just sit there and wait was intolerable to him.

I have no idea what the hell to do. I need a hint! An option! Something!

I have painstakingly tested every single bar in the cell door and even that tiny window and none of them had the least bit of give!

I don 't know what to do. Sit here and pray that somebody comes to rescue me?

I mean … Emilia warned me about those demi-human detectors. If she tries to come into the city, she'll probably set off all the alarms and either need to run or end up joining me in here.

What about the Witch Cult? This would be the first time in my life I 'd actually be happy to see Lye. Come to think of it, what is the Witch Cult doing in all this mess?

My prospects don 't look good.

Subaru leaned back against the cell wall and closed his eyes.

The next morning, Subaru was awoken by a guard fumbling with his cell door.

Subaru quickly got to his feet. "Do I have a visitor?" He asked not quite sarcastically.

The guard grinned at him. "Good news! The inquisitor is finally here! And guess what? You get to go first! You don't look like you'll be all that much fun to get information out of but I bet you can hit those high notes with a little bit of encouragement, just like the rest."

Subaru 's heart stopped.

Oh shit.

I 'm out of time.

Wait a second. This means that he 's here to take me out of my cell.

This is good. This means that I might find an opportunity to escape. He might give me an opportunity.

OK. He might give me an opportunity. If he doesn 't, he doesn't but I might have a chance.

I need to focus. I need to see the chance when it comes and capitalize on it.

The guard opened the door and stood away from it, holding a heavy club in one hand.

Subaru slowly emerged from the cell. He glanced down both sides of the hall and looked questioningly at the guard.

The guard instantly slammed his club into Subaru 's shoulder with bruising force.

"That way, scum!" The guard snapped.

The guard shoved Subaru forward and followed closely behind him.

This guy knows what he 's doing, Subaru reflected ruefully. He 's not going to give me any chance of getting behind him.

The guard led Subaru to a long and winding wooden stairway.

Subaru obediently started to climb them.

I need to think of something before we get to wherever we 're going…

As they climbed, Subaru noticed something. The guard walked fairly slowly on the stairs. Subaru even heard him grunt almost imperceptibly every other breath.

Subaru 's eyes narrowed. He wasn 't having trouble walking until we reached the stairs. That means that the problem is with his knee. It only hurts when he bends it too far. It's minor but it's a weak point.

I just need to find a way to exploit it …

Subaru glanced at the guard out of the corner of his eye. His left knee. He grunts when he uses his left knee. And by luck, that 's the knee closest to me.

Subaru looked up and he could clearly see the exit to the stairwell ahead of them.

I don 't know how much further we're going but I doubt that there'd be any more stairways on our trip…

Time to go for broke.

Subaru slowed down, starting to pause between steps. The guard scowled at him and raised his heavy club. OK. Brace myself. Here it comes.

Subaru felt a staggering blow smash into his shoulder a moment later.

Subaru flinched dramatically and then fell forward onto the stairs.

Subaru lay there for a half second, groaning before he started to groggily get back to his feet.

As expected, Subaru felt himself jerked up off the ground. "Hurry up, dog! If that little tap makes you quail, just wait until-"

As soon as Subaru felt himself lifted up by the burly guard, he desperately kicked out at the back of the guard 's bad knee.

He connected and the guard 's legs buckled under him. The guard fell forward, opening his mouth to scream for help.

Subaru flung the chain from his manacles around the guard 's neck and pulled back hard.

The guard gurgled and got to his feet, jerking Subaru off the ground so that he dangled helplessly down the guard 's back, suspended by the chain around the guard's neck.

Subaru dug his knee into the man 's back and pulled back hard to keep the chain taunt.

I need to keep a grip! This guy is twice my size! If he breaks free-

The guard fought desperately, trying to get his fingers under the chain but they found no purchase.

In desperation, the guard flung himself backward, down the stairs.

Subaru felt the guard 's weight shift. For a moment, Subaru's foot was on the ground again. Before the guard could come down on top of him, Subaru sidestepped so that the guard fell backward and then jerked Subaru after him.

The guard rolled over in mid-air, desperately trying to catch himself but failed. The guard caught the stairs with his face and then started to slide down them. Subaru hung on desperately, riding the guard to the bottom of the stairs like a toboggan with his manacle chain still clamped around the guard 's throat.

The guard crashed onto the bottom floor with a crash and lay there, limp.

Subaru waited but the guard didn 't move. Subaru couldn't hear him breathing.

Cautiously, Subaru stepped off the guard and lifted his head. The guard stared straight ahead, unseeing.

Dead.

Subaru took a deep breath.

OK. Don 't panic. You have a lot to do and no time to do it.

Subaru grabbed the keys off the guard 's belt and quickly unlocked his manacles. At the same time, he scanned the area near the bottom of the stairs.

There was a small desk that was littered with paperwork and there was a huge closet behind the desk.

There 's a closet over there. No idea what's inside but it looks like a great place to hide a body!

Subaru struggled to drag the immense body over to the closet.

Oh my god, this guy weighs a ton!

He opened the closet door which was full of clothes hanging from hooks.

Subaru lifted the body up and shoved it onto the floor of the closet.

As Subaru started to close the closet door, he looked at the clothes more closely.

Guard uniforms?

Subaru hesitated.

Alright. It 's a crazy plan. It's a stupid plan. Unfortunately, it's also my only plan.

Subaru quickly started to strip.

A few minutes later, Subaru had found a uniform that more or less fit him.

He folded up his clothes and his hooded robe and placed them inside a small bag.

He also found a long knife that he stuck in the bag.

Subaru scanned the desk and found a list of prisoner identifications.

Felt 's name isn't on the list. She must have given them a fake name just like I did.

But there are arrest dates. And there is one female prisoner who was captured at the same time that 'Lucas' was so…

After a moment 's thought, Subaru quickly scanned the desk, looking for an envelope.

He stuffed it with a random scrap of paper that looked like a duty roster and then sealed the envelope with wax from a nearby candle.

He jotted down some wavy lines on the paper that looked like illegible writing.

Most folks can 't read in these parts anyway.

Subaru then bolted down another passage, counting cell numbers as he went.

Near the end of the hall, he found a small cell with a tired blond girl inside it.

Felt didn 't even look up as he unlocked the door.

She sighed. "Yeah? What do you-" Felt's eyes widened when she saw who it was.

"Subaru!" She hissed, "What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Escaping," He said flatly. "You want to come or you want to stay here and take your chances with the inquisitor?"

Felt hesitated. "Well gee, when you put it that way, " She grumbled.

Subaru pulled her out of the cell.

"Aren't you going to unlock me?" Felt demanded.

"Not yet. You're going to be my prisoner," Subaru said brightly.

Felt sighed. "Oh, yeah. This plan is going to work …"

Subaru marched a sullen Felt out of the dungeon and up the stairs.

Watch your speed, he warned himself. You want to look like someone in a hurry and slightly confused.

A rookie guard that 's worried about screwing up, not an escaped prisoner who's worried about getting caught.

Subaru and Felt emerged from the stairs into the heart of the prison and he quickly looked around.

Subaru found himself on the second level. Below him was a wide courtyard guarded by a portcullis. A few guards were talking in the courtyard and looked to be goofing off.

Subaru 's heart sank. I can 't see any other way out of the prison besides that big portcullis.

Not too surprising, a prison doesn 't want to have lots of exits. But this is bad. I'll need to get someone's attention to open the gate for me before I can leave and they'll want to know where I'm going and why.

Subaru took a deep breath. Alright. I play the cards that I was dealt then.

"Now what?" Felt muttered.

"We bluff," Subaru said.

Felt whimpered.

Subaru marched down the catwalk on the second level, toward the stairs that would lead him down to the courtyard.

Subaru watched all the guards like a hawk. How do the guards behave? Do they salute when they encounter each other? Are they formal? Casual?

I need to blend in.

Subaru saw several groups of guards. Some seemed to be busily attending to various jobs and some stood around in groups, casually joking to one another.

Subaru hurried down the stairs and walked to a small guard house beside the portcullis.

Subaru shoved Felt into the shadows next to the guard house. "Wait here," He whispered.

As luck would have it, Subaru arrived just as another guard went in.

The guard house was little better than a shack and an older man with a mustache sat behind the desk, doing paperwork.

"Lieutenant," The guard saluted the man behind the desk, "I have that paperwork you requested."

The lieutenant nodded absently and took the paper. The guard saluted again and exited the shack.

The lieutenant looked up at Subaru speculatively. "I don't recall seeing you here before, rookie."

Subaru snapped a salute. "Brand new, sir! Guard Lucas, at your service!" He did his best to sound like a nervous and eager-to-please young man.

The lieutenant absently scratched at his poorly shaved cheek. "What can I do for you, Lucas?"

"I need to make a delivery, sir," Subaru said.

The lieutenant blinked. "A delivery?! For who?" He said, extending his hand for the envelope which Subaru handed over.

"Captain Heikel, sir," Subaru said smartly as the lieutenant inspected the illegible writing on the envelope.

"Captain Heikel wrote this?" He asked skeptically.

Subaru nodded. He put a worried expression on his face and dramatically glanced over his shoulder to ensure that they weren 't going to be overheard.

Subaru leaned in toward the lieutenant and whispered, "Sir, I don't want to be telling no tales, sir, but I think that there's… just a chance that the Captain was drunk," Subaru said in a guilty voice.

The lieutenant face-palmed.

"I didn't know what to do, sir!" Subaru confessed. "The captain seemed to think that I was someone else! He told me to bring this to the 'idiot' and when I tried to remind him that I was on duty, he flew into a rage! I tried to ask him who this 'idiot' was but the Captain became most agitated! Lieutenant, I'm afraid that if I don't deliver this parcel…" Subaru trailed off, looking as if he was on the verge of bursting into tears.

The lieutenant shook his head in disgust. "I remember the days before Heikel wormed his way into being Captain of the Guard. We used to actually do work around here. Not just play nursemaid to an angry old drunk that can't even remember that his son is dead!"

Wow. I knew that Heikel would still be calling somebody 'the idiot' but I never thought...

Subaru forced his face to look shocked at this disrespect issued toward the captain.

The lieutenant noticed his expression and gave him a patient look. "Do you know where the Astrea estate is?"

"Yes, sir!" Subaru said.

"Bring the parcel there," The lieutenant grumbled. "Tell the staff that it's for Reinhard van Astrea?"

"Sir Reinhard?!" Subaru yelped in surprise. "The Sword Saint?! The idiot is-"

"Trust me on this, son," The lieutenant said calmly. "Just make sure that the package gets where it needs to be and stay out of it. The Captain can make your life miserable if he thinks that you were fond of his son. That's just the way that things are around here."

Subaru put a guilty look on his face and nodded reluctantly.

The lieutenant banged on a pipe in the wall a few times. "Hey! Open the gates! Somebody's coming out!" He shouted up.

A moment later, Subaru heard the clinking of chains being drawn as the gate slowly opened.

The lieutenant gave Subaru a stern look. "You get the parcel to the Astrea estate and get back here triple time, son, " He said firmly. "No matter what nonsense the Captain might put you up to, you've still got a shift to finish."

Subaru snapped a salute. "Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!"

The lieutenant gave him a sloppy salute of his own and Subaru hurried out of the gate, no longer concerned with looking like he was not in a rush.

He grabbed Felt and quickly pushed her out the gate. A few guards looked curious at Subaru escorting a prisoner out of the jail but nobody said anything. If the lieutenant had OKed it, that was enough for them.

Subaru took Felt and darted into a nearby alley.

We 've got to move fast.

Perhaps five minutes later, a bell began to peel in the prison. The gate opened and dozens of guards poured out.

"Find them! Now!" Heikel barked out.

"Split up into teams of five!" The lieutenant yelled, trying to provide the guards with something resembling actionable instructions. "Spread out and search street by street! Remember, our man may have already removed his uniform!"

One team of men darted into the same alleyway that Subaru had entered. They emerged onto a crowded street full of peddlers, beggars, and people just walking from place to place.

"Freeze!" One guard shouted desperately, addressing no one and everyone.

Nobody froze. A few peddlers and pedestrians even laughed.

However, a few people did run . Since the guards had never said whom they were looking for, nervous people on this street with something to hide, panicked and took flight. The guards quickly chased after them.

After a minute, the street was again clear of guards.

Sitting by the alley exit, a beggar in a gray hooded robe with a drunken blond girl who appeared to be sleeping it off, began to quietly chuckle.

"Let's wait a few minutes," Felt whispered, still feigning being drunk and unconscious.

Subaru nodded and they waited for the hapless guards to get far away while chasing random people whose only known crime was being stupid enough to draw attention to themselves. Then the pair before got up and walked away.

"Now what are you going to do?" Felt grumbled.

Subaru sighed. "Get out of town as fast as I can, I suppose. I still need to find the other pages."

"Yeah. Guess I'll be getting out of here too," Felt muttered.

"You're leaving?" Subaru said in surprise.

Felt glared at him. "A demon just ate my home, stupid!"

Subaru sighed. "Well, getting out of here could be tricky. I'm sure that Heikel warned the gate guards to keep an eye out for us."

Felt snorted. "Don't worry. Guards are stupid. There's always another way out."

Subaru and Felt waded across the fetid, smelly river and onto dry land.

"Nobody watches this area?" Subaru asked skeptically.

Felt shook her head. "Like I said, guards are stupid. They watch the roads. They never seem to realize you can make your own road any time you want to."

"Hey, Felt," Subaru said slowly. "Did anything seem… weird about that demon?"

"You mean besides the fact that it's ending the world?" Felt rolled her eyes.

"No, that is what seems weird. This monster is supposed to be destroying the world. It killed Puck and Red and thousands of elite warriors and sorcerers besides. Then it backs down because of a couple of guards? It makes no sense!"

Felt didn 't answer right away. "I had a similar thought," She admitted. "It was nothing like the Last Battle. That monster was terrifying. It fell on us like a tidal wave. It wasn't even a battle it was a slaughter. Now it appears in the capitol after all this time and does crap all?"

"So what do you think that means?" Subaru asked.

"No idea," Felt said brightly. "Hey, Subaru, you're supposed to be the amazing genius, right? How about you figure it out!"

Subaru sighed as he scanned the area. "This is good," He muttered. "Emilia was waiting right up there. If… she's still there," He said in a worried voice.

"Hey," Felt muttered.

Subaru looked at her.

Felt glared at him. "I just want to tell you one thing. I don't give a rat's ass which way you go. But don 't you dare try to follow me."

Subaru looked hurt. "Felt, I-"

"The world is ending, Subaru," Felt snapped as she walked away. "The least that you can do is let me spend my last few days without needing to clean up after you!"

Subaru sighed and turned his attention back to the woods.

I wonder if Emilia waited for me or if she just went back to the forest.

I guess it 's not too likely that she waited for three whole days.

Subaru heard a scream.

He snapped around and his jaw dropped in horror.

Felt had been seized by the claws of the demon. The skeletal wraith emerged from the soil of the muddy riverbank as if it was crawling out of a grave and now it was dragging Felt back with it.

"Subaru!" Felt screamed, reaching desperately out to the person that she now loathed the most in the world.

Subaru raced to Felt but the demon began to sink back into the dry ground as if it was water, dragging Felt with it.

"Subaru!" Felt screamed as the soil 'flowed' up over her head and then she was gone.

Subaru 's head exploded with pain. He crashed to the ground and skidded through the mud. He wasn't sure what the demon had done to him but it was suddenly a struggle to even keep his eyes open.

I have to help Felt! Subaru thought, powering through the pain.

Subaru desperately threw himself forward, thrusting his hand into the ground where Felt had vanished but it was now solid dirt and he nearly broke his fingers on impact.

He grabbed a small stone and desperately used tried to use it to dig Felt out of the mud but no matter how deep he dug, there was nothing under there but dirt and more dirt.

After a few minutes, he dropped the stone in defeat.

Subaru took a ragged breath. "Felt," He whispered with tears in his eyes.

Subaru forced himself to move.

I can 't just sit on the riverbank, Subaru thought numbly. I 'm too easy to find here. I need to go check and see if Emilia's still here and then move onto the manor.

I need to find the other pages.

That 's my only chance to get out of this mess.

That 's my only chance to bring Felt back…

Subaru walked up into the forest on the same path that he 'd taken into the city. With a heavy heart, he left the path and slowly walked over to the mossy glade where he'd left Emilia.

To his shock, Emilia was lying there, sleeping.

"Emilia!" He shouted in joy.

Emilia jerked awake. "Oh! Subaru, where have you been?! I was so… worried," She said awkwardly, realizing with a flush that she'd been fast asleep.

"We need to get moving," Subaru said, pulling her to her feet. "The city is looking for me."

"What happened in there? Did you find Felt?" Emilia asked.

Subaru swallowed hard.

Where the journey from the forest to the capitol had taken a few hours, the journey from the capitol to Arlem was now just a walk across town.

"I don't get this," Subaru sighed as Arlem came into view. "Why and how are the distances between places… shrinking like this?"

"It's probably best not to waste time thinking about it," Emilia murmured, "So. Now that you have one of the pages, what are you going to do with it? Make a campfire?"

"Very funny, Mili," Subaru sighed.

The village of Arlem looked completely deserted.

"Is there anyone left living here?" Subaru asked.

"I don't know," Emilia replied. "But I know that most of the residents returned to the Sanctuary in hopes of escaping Sycorax."

"You said that Alpha restored the barrier," Subaru recalled. "Will that actually keep out the demon?"

Emilia didn 't answer right away. "I don't think that's best tested yet," Emilia replied. "Sycorax hasn't gone there so far. The barrier might keep it out! But… honestly, I doubt it."

Subaru nodded. "Alright. Well, let's head up to the manor. And let's be careful. We don't want to blunder into anything."

That evening, Subaru and Emilia stared up at the manor from the safety of the bushes.

"Do you think that anyone is still here beside Beatrice?" Emilia asked. "If not, we could just walk in."

"There's definitely someone else here," Subaru grumbled. "Those hedges are nicely trimmed. Someone is here taking care of that."

"The twins?"

"Could be," Subaru replied.

He sighed. "I'm not sure how to do this," He admitted. "It's doubtful that anyone inside would be happy to see us."

"Do you think that we'd need to fight to reach Beatrice?" Emilia asked.

Subaru raised an eyebrow. " Can we? Remember, my magic is gone. I 'm sure that you could fight Rem if you really had to but do you really think you could actually fight Roswaal ? "

Emilia didn 't answer.

"Maybe my best bet is to wait until it gets late and then try to sneak in," Subaru muttered.

"What if they have an alarm?" Emilia murmured.

Subaru glanced at her. "Do you have a better idea?" He asked calmly.

"I might. What about a diversion?" Emilia whispered. "What if I distracted everyone and let you sneak in?"

"Are you crazy?! I'm not going to use you as bait!" Subaru said at once.

Emilia gave him a stony look. "Subaru. I don't know if you've noticed this but you're completely helpless right now. It only makes sense for me to take the risks this time."

Subaru turned his face away with a snarl of frustration.

"Subaru, the world is ending," Emilia repeated. "We're all likely to be dead within a few days, one way or the other. If there's any chance for you to ensure that this hell never happens, I have no qualms about risking my life."

Subaru took a deep breath and bowed his head. "This would be extremely dangerous, Mili, " He criticized. "Even if you can draw the others out, they're all going to be coming after you. Are you sure that you could get away?"

"Subaru, we don't have much time," Emilia said flatly. "If we don't find the pages soon, it won't matter. The demon will just destroy this entire world regardless."

Subaru made a face. "Alright. What do you suggest?"

Emilia gestured off to their left. "I'll head into the woods over that way and start using magic. The twins will sense someone conjuring up magic near the manor. And Roswaal will definitely feel it. So they 'll come out to investigate. I'll keep them moving for as long as I can so that you can go talk to Beatrice. Then I'll slip away and meet you down on the road that leads to the Sanctuary."

Subaru mulled it over and finally sighed. "Well… like you said, our options are awfully limited, " He muttered.

Emilia nodded. "I'll meet you on the road later tonight," She said before slipping away.

Subaru sat that and waited.

Emilia probably wants to get some distance away before trying to get everyone 's attention. Meanwhile, I sit here, safe and comfortable in the bushes while my wife turns herself into bait! Subaru thought grimly. Maybe I could ask Rem to bring me some tea and cakes while I wait!

A moment later, Subaru watched as the twins burst out of the manor doors and flew down the steps and off into the woods.

Rem had her chain mace in hand and Ram was carrying a stick that looked like a magic wand.

Subaru tensed. Alright, the twins are gone … But there's no sign of Fredericka or Roswaal. They could still be in the house…

Subaru waited for a second and then two.

Subaru took a deep breath. Alright, here goes nothing!

Subaru entered the silent mansion and quickly stole up the stairs.

I don 't know where Beako's library is right now but I guess the smartest place to look would be on the third floor. That's where it was the last time and most folks don't go up there.

Subaru found the library right where he 'd remembered it.

Subaru stepped through the door and found Beatrice sitting on her futon, staring at a closed book with a morose expression on her face. A standing candelabra burned nearby, providing light to the room.

"Beako," Subaru whispered, fighting back a wave of loneliness and despair.

Beatrice 's head snapped around and her eyes widened.

Beatrice got up off her futon. "Subaru," She whispered.

Subaru knelt down on the floor to put himself on Beatrice 's level.

"Beako," Subaru whispered, feeling absolutely useless. "I'm… I'm so, so sorry that I was gone for so long."

Beatrice 's eyes filled with tears and she flung herself toward Subaru with an inarticulate cry of grief and rage.

"Why!?" Beatrice screamed, punching Subaru's face with her tiny fists. "Why did you leave Betty all alone?!"

"Ow!" Subaru moaned.

Beatrice didn 't pause in her attack, "You promised ! You promised Betty that Subaru and Betty would be together forever. You promised Betty that you would make her happy! You promised Betty that you would free her from her pain! Why did you abandon Betty?! "

With each desperate question, Beatrice slammed her fists into Subaru 's face with pathetic strength.

His eyes filling up with tears, Subaru mutely accepted every blow as his due, almost wishing that Beatrice 's punches would hurt more but Beatrice hit like a small child.

A few moments later, Beatrice was panting for breath and she swayed unsteadily on her feet. "Why…" Beatrice whimpered in anguish. "Why did you abandon Betty?" She leaned heavily against Subaru, her strength utterly spent by her desperate attack.

"I'm so sorry, Beako," He whispered.

Subaru leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her. Beatrice stiffened and jerked back.

"No!" Beatrice shrieked. "Betty is not for hugging!"

Subaru swallowed hard. He thought that he could feel his heart breaking.

Beatrice sighed, her childish face somehow looking old and used up. "Why did you come back here again?" She whispered. "What more could you want from Betty? Betty already gave you… already gave you everything…" She whimpered.

Subaru 's face twisted in despair. "Beako, I'm so sorry-"

"Betty doesn't care," Beatrice said savagely. "Betty doesn't care if you feel bad! Betty is happy if you feel bad! You abandoned Betty and Bubby and now Bubby is dead!"

Subaru flinched. "Betty, I swear that I didn't abandon you. I went through a portal in time and I just emerged from it a few days ago."

Beatrice looked incredulous.

"I know that you hate me, Beako, and… honestly, you have every right to," He admitted. "But I'm trying to do what I can to fix this."

"Fix it?" She spat. "The world is ending, Subaru! What can you do to fix that, I suppose?!"

Subaru took a deep breath. "I think that if I can gather together the pages of your Mother's Book, maybe I can find a way back to my time and prevent all of this from ever happening."

Beatrice stared at him. "You want the page from Mother's Book?" She demanded incredulously.

Subaru nodded.

Beatrice sniffed and looked away. "Garfiel gave Betty the page before he died fighting Sycorax, in fact," She said.

Subaru flinched. "Beako, I know I have no right to ask you for anything. But please, if you can help me get back to my own time then maybe all of this misery doesn't have to happen."

Beatrice stared at him, breathing shallowly. "You want the help of the Great Spirit Beatrice, I suppose," She whispered. "Everyone comes to this library hoping to take advantage of Betty. But you were the only one who ever succeeded…"

Those words hit Subaru like a slap across the face. "Beako," He whispered.

"Here," Beatrice said, handing him a sheet of paper while refusing to look at him. "Take it. Take it and leave Betty alone!"

Subaru took the page. It looked just like the page that he 'd gotten from Felt but on this page, the white space was organized into the shape of a triangle.

Subaru took a deep breath. "Beako, I know that we found a few pages in the rubble but how long was your Mother's book? How many pages?"

Beatrice still refused to look at him. "Four pages, I suppose," She murmured.

Subaru carefully put the page into his pocket and then he stopped short.

"Uh, Beako? Did I mishear you? Did you mean to say four hundred pages? Or four thousand?"

Beatrice gave him a glance of annoyance. "No. Four pages."

"What the hell?!" Subaru exclaimed. "I thought that this was supposed to be some kind of book of ultimate knowledge! Four pages isn't even a book! It's a pamphlet!"

Beatrice glared at him. "You are very, very dumb in fact."

Subaru nodded in resignation. "So I've been told," Subaru sighed.

"Mother's Book does not contain the knowledge! It simply links to it! Mother's knowledge would have filled hundreds of libraries otherwise! The Book draws its information from the churning chaos beyond this world. It draws its knowledge from the heart of all possibilities. The four pages simply define the spell that it casts in order to do so!"

Subaru frowned, digesting that.

I mean … I guess that sort of makes sense…

Especially considering how much data I 'm used to dealing with back home. Maybe some peasants on this world would assume that the sum of all knowledge could fit in a big book but in the digital age, we know there's a lot more information out there.

My cheap old laptop had a hard-disk size of one terabyte and that was considered seriously low-end. I think that I remember reading that Google scanned forty million books and it only took up about forty terabytes. How big was Koushiro 's PC? Five terabytes, I think?

I wonder how big the witch 's storehouse of knowledge actually is? A google of bytes? I read once that that's more numbers than there are particles in the universe.

And how many worlds did she study? She must have known about my world in some way if Alpha found the Greek alphabet in Echidna 's library. So she must have spoken to someone who came from there. But was that the only world that she knew about or were there many? How many worlds did Echidna study? How much did this witch really know?

And could I learn from her writings …

Subaru shook off the thought. "Beako, do you ever remember your mother talking about time travel?"

Beatrice lifted a finger to her lips and seemed to mull that over. "Betty remembers several books that her Mother wrote about temporal mechanics," She murmured.

"Huh? You mean like 'time magic?' That's great! Where are they?" Subaru asked excitedly.

Beatrice turned and marched unwaveringly to a specific bookshelf. Subaru followed her.

Beatrice snapped her fingers imperiously and pointed to the top shelf. "It's the book with the midnight blue binding in fact," Beatrice said. "Make yourself useful for once."

Subaru chuckled as he reached up and took down the book. It was the size of a math book and any writing on the cover was so badly faded as to be illegible.

Subaru opened the book and he flipped through the pages in growing confusion.

He couldn 't read the book.

For a moment, Subaru wondered if maybe the book was written in some strange foreign language but only for a moment. He flipped through the pages in mounting astonishment.

This book is gibberish! I recognize all of the symbols that the book is using but the book is mixing together the English alphabet, kanji, and the symbols that I 'm used to reading here in Lagunica! The words are a mix of three alphabets scrambled together like an omelet and sometimes the symbols are even written backwards or upside down! Nothing on these pages is even written in a straight line!

The book looks like someone made a collage of letters cut from different magazines but didn 't have any intent to link them into words or a larger message.

Subaru glanced at Beatrice. "Beako… you've read this book?" He asked skeptically.

Beatrice looked offended. "Of course, Betty has read this book! Betty has read every book in the library a hundred times over, I suppose!"

Subaru hesitated. "Beatrice, I don't think this book makes any sense," He said slowly.

"Betty is not surprised," Beatrice asked loftily. "Betty expected that the concepts would be beyond your understanding in fact. Give Betty the book. She will decipher it for you."

Subaru swallowed hard and handed Beatrice the book.

Beatrice glanced down at the book and gasped, her face contorting in horror. " No ! " She screamed.

"You didn't know about this?" Subaru asked gently.

"Betty's library has been desecrated!" Beatrice screamed with tears standing in her eyes. "How could this have happened?! Who defiled this book?!"

Subaru frowned and grabbed another book at random from the shelf and flipped through it.

It made no more sense than the first.

"Beatrice," Subaru whispered, showing her the book.

Beatrice 's face became a mask of horror.

She grabbed the book out of Subaru 's hands, tears running down her face. "What has happened here?!" She wailed. "How did Betty fail her mother?!"

Beatrice grabbed a random book off of the shelf and she flipped through it. Subaru watched as she began to calm down. "This book is fine in fact," Beatrice said in an unsteady voice.

Beatrice handed the book to Subaru as she then proceeded to check all the other books on the shelf, one by one. She was seemingly poised to do a thorough inventory.

Subaru opened the book that Beatrice had handed him.

It was complete gibberish.

"Beako," Subaru said incredulously. "What are you talking about? This book doesn't make any sense either!"

Beatrice 's head snapped up and she ripped the book out of Subaru's hands. She stared at the pages in horror. "No! How?! It was fine just a moment ago in fact!" She screamed.

Beatrice 's face suddenly became very still.

She turned toward Subaru, her eyes blazing with naked hate. " You , " She hissed.

Subaru blinked. "Huh?!" He said in surprise, recoiling from Beatrice's rage.

"The books were all fine until Subaru touched them in fact!" Beatrice screamed. "It was you! You came here to defile Betty's library! You came here to destroy Betty's library! Betty will kill you!"

Beatrice made a throwing gesture and dozens of long, purple spikes that crackled with lightning appeared. They flew through the air right at Subaru 's face.

Subaru tried to run but he slipped and fell, the spikes barely missing his head as he scuttled backward toward the door.

"Beako! I swear I didn't do it!" He shouted.

Beatrice stalked toward him, her eyes ice cold.

"Mother said," Beatrice whispered in a deathly voice. "That someone who destroys knowledge deserves a slow death in fact!"

Desperately, Subaru grabbed a book from a nearby shelf.

"Don't touch that!" Beatrice shouted, gathering her magic for another spell. "You might corrupt more books!"

Subaru didn 't hesitate. He took the book and threw it in Beatrice's direction with all of his strength.

Beatrice blinked, having no trouble side-stepping the book. "What is the vile cur doing-"

Beatrice was cut off when she heard a loud clanging sound behind her. She looked behind her and saw that Subaru 's throw had knocked over the burning candelabra and that it had fallen against a bookshelf.

The books on the lowest shelf went up in flames like dry kindling.

"Nooo!" Beatrice screamed in unspeakable horror.

The little spirit raced to the burning bookshelf, desperately using magic and her own tiny fists to beat the flames out of existence and save the priceless tomes.

In seconds, the fire was out but her hands were badly singed.

Beatrice heard the sound of breaking glass from outside the library.

The tiny spirit raced out to the hall. At the end of the hall, she saw that the window had been broken and the curtains streamed in the breeze. She bolted to the window and looked out at the dark forest around the manor.

There was no sign of which way Subaru had gone.

Beatrice took a deep breath between clenched teeth.

"You tried to defile Mother's work," She whispered venomously to nobody. "You tried to trick Betty. You tried to destroy Betty's contract. Betty will find Subaru. Betty doesn't care how long it takes or where she has to go. Betty will find Subaru. She will teach him a thousand, tender shades of pain before Betty permits the twisted monster Subaru to surrender his miserable life!" She screamed.

Beatrice leaped out of the broken window. The tiny girl 's magic let her effortlessly fly toward the dark forest. She floated high above the trees, using her magic to illuminate the paths with purple spotlights as she studied the forest intently, looking for any trail or evidence of Subaru's passage.

Beatrice faded into the distance and was gone.

A moment later, Subaru emerged from inside a darkened bedroom where he 'd been hiding.

Subaru took a ragged breath.

Oh my God. Beako. I 'm so sorry… He thought in despair.

Subaru found himself struggling to breathe.

I didn 't… I never meant to…

Subaru squeezed his eyes shut tight. Beako could come back at any time. And I won 't be able to escape her again.

I need to get going.

Subaru took a deep breath.

I need to get moving now, Subaru thought firmly but his trembling legs wouldn 't move.

Subaru fell to the ground and cried.

After a few minutes, Subaru forced himself to his feet and sneaked out of the manor.

He encountered no one.

He reached the road out of Arlem easily and he started walking down it toward the Sanctuary.

Mili and I should have picked a better meeting place than just 'the road.' What was I thinking?

Subaru 's head exploded. He felt as if a red-hot stake had suddenly been driven completely through his skull. The ground rose up to meet him and Subaru passed out.

"Subaru!"

The voice came to him as if from deep underwater.

"Subaru! Wake up!"

Subaru slowly opened his eyes and flinched as his head started pounding again. He was still on the road through the forest and it was still dark. He was laying in Emilia 's lap as she stared down at him fretfully.

"Mili?" He whispered.

"I got worried when I didn't find you further up the road," Emilia said. "You barely left Arlem! I'm just glad that I found you before the twins did."

Subaru groaned.

"Subaru! What happened?" She asked as he very slowly sat up.

Subaru shook his head. "I don't know what happened. I just… My head started to kill me and then I just passed out."

Subaru 's gaze sharpened. "Emilia! Are you OK?! " Subaru exclaimed.

Even in the dark, he could see that Emilia looked as if she 'd been roughed up. Her face was dirty and her clothing was tattered. She had a scrape on her cheek.

Emilia nodded. "I'm fine, Subaru. Just tired," She muttered. "It was harder to escape the twins than I thought. And… I have some bad news," She said hesitantly.

Subaru took a deep breath. "What is it?"

"Beatrice came out looking for you, Subaru," Emilia said gently. "She was… she was very angry and she came out to help Roswaal and the twins, thinking that you had something to do with the disturbances that I was causing. Then… Sycorax appeared…"

Subaru 's heart stopped. "Beako?! What happened-"

"The twins got away, Subaru," Beatrice whispered. "But… Roswaal and Beatrice…"

Subaru buried his face in his hands.

Emilia held him close. "Subaru, let's… let's find a place to spend the night. We'll go to the Sanctuary tomorrow."

The next morning, Subaru and Emilia continued down the road.

I need to find a way back. I 've already lost so many people in this craptastic future.

Puck, Beako, Felt, Garfiel, even Red. I have to find a way to fix all this.

I need to fix this.

Subaru could just see the valley of the Sanctuary in the distance when he stopped. "Alright, Mili, you wait here," He said.

"Huh?"

"The barrier is up again, Mili," He reminded her patiently. "And I don't want to risk you getting trapped inside again."

Emilia digested that. "Maybe the demon can't come through it either," She suggested.

"Maybe but I have my doubts. And if the demon can come in, you really don't want to be trapped inside with it. Just get off the road and hide here. I'll go talk to Ryuzu. I should be back soon."

"Hide?"

"In case the twins figure out where we're going and decide that they want to get even," Subaru explained.

Emilia sighed. "Don't take any chances in there," She said. "Remember, you don't have your power anymore."

"Yeah, I'm not likely to forget about that," He muttered, walking away.

Subaru approached the road into the misty valley of the Sanctuary and then he dove for cover in the bushes.

He saw a blue-haired girl in a maid outfit standing by the path.

Rem! I guess she does want to get even. And where there 's Rem, Ram won't be far away.

Subaru stopped to consider his options.

OK. There 's only one road into the Sanctuary.

But I 'm not coming here in a wagon or on a dragon this time. So really, there's no reason that I can't just make my way down into the valley some other way. The valley slopes are steep but they look passable as long as I pick someplace with a gentler curve and take my time during the descent.

Subaru slipped into the bushes and started to make his way around the valley rim.

Subaru spent the morning slowly creeping down into the valley from the surrounding hills.

This probably wasn 't my best plan , Subaru thought ruefully as he struggled to make his way down the steep, rocky slope. He saw the tree line of the valley hundreds of feet below him. I haven 't seen any sign of the twins since I left the main road but I might still break my neck during this descent. Maybe if I'm lucky, I did throw off all my pursuers. Maybe the twins were here for reasons that had nothing to do with me.

Subaru heard a sharp buzzing in the air and saw a flash of green out of the corner of his eye.

He leaped aside on instinct and a magic blade of green energy slammed into the ground near where he 'd been standing.

Subaru skidded across the steep rock face and barely managed to regain his balance.

He looked back up the slope and saw Rem and Ram looking down at him with hard expressions.

Ram had her wand out and Rem had her mace in hand.

Huh. So that 's what Ram's wand does…

"Shit!" Subaru hissed.

Alright. If I stand here, I 'm dead. Going down the slope quickly might kill me. Therefore …

Subaru swallowed hard and then took off running down the slope as fast as he could.

Need to keep running and watch where I put my feet! If I trip and fall, I 'm going to break my neck!

Subaru ran, slid, and skidded down the rocky slope. He saw a huge stone in his path the size of a milk crate.

I can 't turn!

Subaru desperately leaped over the stone. He landed unsteadily on the other side and skidded across the stone, somehow keeping his feet under him.

More blades of wind magic crashed into the landscape around him as he fled into the trees.

Subaru heard screaming. Subaru came to a halt and dared to look back.

His jaw dropped. He saw Rem racing down the slope as if it was flat ground, her chain mace swinging over her head and her face fixed in a bloodthirsty scowl. Even more shocking, a large horn that blazed with purple light had appeared on Rem 's forehead.

Ram trailed far behind her sister navigating the steep slope with clear difficulty.

"Sister! Stop!" Ram shouted.

Shit! Time for plan B! I sure hope that this works!

Subaru took off into the trees, running as fast as he could.

"Sister!" Ram screamed. "Don't!" Her voice sounded more distant but Subaru heard the sound of running footsteps steadily closing in.

He heard the clinking of chains just behind him.

Oh shit!

Subaru flung himself to the side and went rolling across the ground. He felt a chill wind on his neck as he sensed the heavy mace slicing through the air just above his head.

With the strength born of desperation, Subaru pushed himself back to his feet and kept running, darting behind a tree.

Subaru started to zigzag through the dense forest.

I can 't just dodge Rem's mace! She'll keep whipping it in a circle until she smashes me into bits. I need to keep moving through this dense forest, somewhere that's too crowded for her to use her mace.

If she tries to swing it in here, it 'll just get snagged on a tree limb.

"Rem! Stop!" Ram screamed in terror. "You can't go any further!"

Subaru heard savage crushing sounds from just behind him.

OK. Sounds like my theory that Rem couldn 't use her mace in here was way off! She's just powering through and probably ripping the branches off whole trees with every swing!

Am I there yet?! If it doesn 't happen now, I'm history!

"Subaru!" Ram screamed sounding desperate. "If you don't surrender right now, my sister will kill you!"

Ram doesn 't care if I surrender or not, Subaru thought at once, fighting his way through the trees. His heart ached and his lungs burned. Frankly, I 'm not sure if Rem would stop even if I did surrender. I 've never seen her like this. She's gone completely berserk.

Ram obviously knows what 's about to happen if Rem keeps following me but I don't think Rem has put it together for some reason.

Something crashed into Subaru 's arm and flung him hard to the ground, skidding out along the grass. The mace had barely touched him but it still hit him hard enough to send him flying and Subaru screamed in pain as he felt the chain mace slice open a long, shallow cut along his upper arm.

Subaru rolled over to see Rem standing less than a foot away from him, sporting a slasher smile. Her eyes and horn both glowed with crackling magical light.

Subaru 's eyes darted everywhere but he couldn't see any way out of this.

Rem raised her mace for the killing blow but before it could fall, Ram caught her arm.

Ram paid Subaru absolutely no attention. "Sister!" Ram screamed into her face. "We have to get out of here, now!"

Rem stared at her as if she 'd never seen her before.

Subaru looked around in confusion. It was subtle but it looked like the green trees and grass around him had suddenly become 'greener' as if they were glowing faintly. The glow intensified and a wild hope leaped up in his heart that was matched by the look of horror on Ram's face as she desperately tried to pull her sister away.

The entire world seemed to glow bright green for a second.

Ram 's eyes rolled up in her head as she collapsed to the ground.

Rem screamed. She dropped her mace and clutched at her chest as if she was having a heart attack.

She fell forward, barely catching herself from landing on her face.

Rem looked up at Subaru with such naked loathing that he desperately skittered back on all fours.

Rem fought with all her strength to crawl toward Subaru, looking ready to strangle him with her bare hands.

She made it one pace and then another, fighting tooth and nail for every inch she crawled.

Suddenly her glowing horn flashed like a light bulb about to burn out and the horn spit out a torrent of tiny purple sparks.

Rem cried out in anguish and collapsed on the ground with her eyes shut. Her horn stopped glowing.

Subaru panted for breath. His heart slowed but even then, for a long time, he didn 't dare approach the obviously unconscious twins.

Subaru started to laugh: shrill, hysterical laughter. "I… I thought that the barrier was closer than this," He whispered with a shell-shocked grin.