Droplets Cast to the Sea

Behold an Unthinkable

Notes: I hope that you enjoy and that it's not super confusing. This assumes you are aware/have read the Pride If Ayamatsu. I wasn't always sure who was saying what so I tried my best. For the sake of the story Subaru is assuming that Ayamatsu Subaru only diverged from him after failing to save anyone during the sanctuary loops and then getting a save point after the fact, thus him making incorrect illogical guesses into motivation.

Also thank you to my wonderful beta Pidgey(TranslatorError) who made this possible and gave me the confidence to finally post this, you should check out their work All for Nothing at all. You are a lifesaver thank you so much. Many thanks to Suffaru41 also for helping me during this whole process.  They wrote an amazing Pride If fanfic 'ashes, ashes, we all fall down'

Also thank you Witch Cult Translations for making this possible by translating the Pride If Ayamatsu which I used for direct character dialogue.

Subaru writhed on the floor of the decrepit trial chamber letting out small gasping hiccups as his limbs flailed around him. Burning pain like no other had taken over his whole being. Unfathomable agony roared up from deep within, searing his innards, leaving no part untouched, unmarred. It clawed at his heart affronting his resolve. Tore at his flesh, ripping and peeling his skin back layer by layer, not unlike an onion, voraciously burrowing into his innards -twisting. Shattering his already fractured mind as it whispered to him treacherous condemning thoughts.

Vomit flowed from Subaru's mouth in erratic cascading streams, the stench of bile temporarily overriding the stench of mold and dampness. 'Please stop' He begged, asked, pleaded, with all his being to something, anything, anyone, as warm tears descended down his face mixing with the crusty bile that caked his face. Semi-congealed blood trickled lazily out of wounds clinging to him like a ghoulish amalgamation.

<Behold an unthinkable future>

His voice whispered into his ear devoid of any discernible emotion. Subaru tensed at the familiar words, a jolt caressing his spine.

"No." He weakly rasped, reaching his arm out in an attempt to hail salvation, as if that would change anything. His devastated body began to fall prone to the constant prodding of unconsciousness vying for embrace.

Desperately, he struggled against the encroaching sensation. Thrashing wildly against the intangible force, letting out strained gurgles in a pointless attempt to cling to the waking world as it faded around him.

---

-Crack! That was the first thing that Subaru heard in whatever cruel machination that was forcefully being depicted this time. The second thing that registered in his mind was the thick hazy plume of smoke lingering in the air. The third thing that drew the attention of the nigh catatonic mess that was Subaru's consciousness was the pale fiendishly yellow and amber glow that ambiently bathed the whole area.

'Fire' his brain supplied.

Had Subaru had eyes they would have been egregiously bulging out as he soaked in the nightmarish scene. Flames curled ferociously as they danced and flickered letting out boisterous cackles. Ravenously, indiscriminately engulfing man and beast, beast and man, homes, shops, entire livelihoods; all just gone in a flash. Soot and ash rained down from the sky like a black blizzard, as if hell had come crashing down. It was a horribly beautiful sight to behold, an entrancing whirl of awe-inspiring colors that gorged on the cityscape below.

Panicked screams and cries of anguish permeated the air translating straight into Subaru's mind combining into a dissonant sorrowful cacophony. The howls of savage mabeasts rang out from the distance.