Art Source - @k_rezero_fanart
Chapter 7 - Orphe
"I'm sorry."
Two words meant to rebuild a relationship once broken. It was supposed to be an innocent word that not even the evilest people could taint. If you don't use those words carefully, and with intent; it could cause a bigger problem to emerge.
Subaru knew Felt didn't think much when she apologized to him for her thoughts against others in the slums, but she created a far bigger problem than she would have ever thought possible. Even if it wasn't said this time, Natsuki Subaru never forgets.
"Felt..." Subaru said, his voice barely above the music. His mind was trying to comprehend where he respawned, and who he was with. His eyes glanced around the casino, slowly being drawn towards the golden hair child in front of him. Once their eyes locked, nothing else mattered.
"Ya heard m-" Her eyes hastily made an escape from their duel. With her usual pride, a comment about his awkwardness was bound to happen, but in an instant, she felt the embrace of Subaru.
The warmth of a hug wasn't there. Coldness overpowered warmth, while happiness was nowhere to be found. It's a type of hug that none of them experienced before.
"Get off me!" Subaru struggled to keep Felt within his embrace. Subaru could feel the annoyance boiling within her. He wanted to let her go, but his body wouldn't let him move a muscle.
In an instant, she stopped putting up a fight. He was surprised but her sudden willingness to hug him. Does that mean she doesn't hate him?
"Big Bro... why are you crying?"
Oh yeah, he was crying. Why was he crying? Isn't he just inconveniencing everyone around him? His pain was in the past, no, in a different timeline. He knew that, after all.
So, why does it hurt so badly?
I... Hate... You...
Tears refused to stop poring out as Subaru clung onto Felt as if his life were on the line. He refused to make any sound. Suffering in silence, as he was always meant to do.
The people around them started to mutter and stare. Some even ran away. Were the people here just that indifferent to suffering? Choosing to run away from it? Oh well, it doesn't matter anymore. The only thing Subaru cared about was Felt's safety. Even as her words echoed through him, he was too stubborn to back down. It would be best if they talked less, for her sake. If that was how she truly felt about him, then he would accept it, but he would never stop trying to change it.
As the waterfall dried up, Subaru let go of Felt and stepped a few feet back. Farther than usual, and Felt took notice by giving him a concerned look. Her eyes softened, as she tried to speak, but kept stopping herself before she could say her words.
"Sorry about that, something got stuck in my eye." Subaru brushed off what just happened to them. It was such an obvious lie that it could be considered a joke, but the face that Subaru was making had a different story. He couldn't see himself, but if he could, a face of a beggar would be his description.
"Please don't question it, please don't question it, please don't question it." Subaru thought to himself. Subaru knew she wasn't going to let it go that easily, but he could still have hope.
"Must'a been painful, did you know what got into it?" Felt had an unimpressed look.
"It was a huge fl-" A sudden spike of pain surged through him as Felt punched him in the guts leaving Subaru on the floor.
"Big Sis taught you this a million times. Lying ain't worth it!" As Subaru writhed on the floor, Felt decided to help him back up. "Look, you could've just said you didn't want to talk about it. Trust me, I'm the last person to start getting picky with someone's reasoning." Her tone gave a false sense of not caring but was immediately destroyed by her next few words.
"BUT, if you want to use me as a glorified pillow, then you gotta tell me next time, or else you gonna get an even bigger punch! Deal?" Even when Felt tried to threaten him, it was still clear that she cared for him.
"Thanks, Felt. You can count on it." A small smile appeared on Subaru's face. He would've liked to enjoy this moment a little longer, but a harsh grip was felt on his arm. He looked down to see what caused the pressure, and noticed that his wristband was no longer green, but now a deep shade of Red that glowed.
The muttering of the crowd increased as he noticed his red glow, as even more people fled the area. Subaru glanced around and started to get worried about the reasoning behind the commotion. This didn't happen in the last loop, so why now?
"Why did my wristband turn red? Did we violate any rules?"Subaru asked. He shifted his gaze from his band to Felt. She walked towards him and inspected the change.
"I don't know what it means, but only bad news could come outta this. Let's get outta here for now." It was clear she didn't want to stay and find out what it meant. Her eyes started to shift around the room rapidly, and she started to move more purposefully.
They started to escape the casino. As they walked through the hallway, more and more people became frightened at the red light on Subaru's wristband. Some screamed, some ran, and others walked away as if it was just another occurrence. Whatever their reaction was, Subaru knew this wasn't good.
"I have to get Felt out of here quickly. Bringing Wilhelm here to deal with Orphe would be for the best..." Subaru clenched his fist, as a memory of his past life managed to resurface. "The six tongues control about 60% of the kingdom's knights. How do I know Wilhelm isn't with them? He's loyal to the kingdom, so it's not out of the question." Even if it wasn't intended, Orphe's words managed to seep their way into Subaru's head. He even started to doubt those close to him.
He had to ask, were they really close to him? In these few weeks, did he even begin to understand them? He had no way to answer these questions. The answers are only in the minds of the people themselves.
"Get your head out the gutter, Subaru! They are your friends, you need to think of someone that'd actually be connected to them." Subaru thought to himself. He slightly shook his head and regained the trust he had for his friends. Once you start questioning your allies, then everyone becomes an enemy. That was a lesson Subaru learned many times from his world.
Just as Subaru focused back on the real world, he felt a heavy tug of his arm. The force was strong enough to yank him to the ground. His eyes widen as he became more alert. In an instant, the mental fog cleared within him.
He felt chips of wood land on his face. He looked up to see a clean arrow implanted into a wooden column. It was clear that his head was the target. A slight tinge of fear entered into Subaru
"Shit!" Felt muttered. She barely managed to pull Subaru down in time, and now they were being surrounded by guards. She scanned the area for a chance to escape, but the "guests" that haven't left yet, stood up to unveil their weapons. Anyone could tell they were hidden guards at this point.
Felt withdrew her dagger and launched it at her attacker. He had green hair and a large body. He caught the dagger with his bare hands and crushed it.
"Surrender Witch Cultist! We won't stand your meddling in our proud nation." One of the guards said. The rest of the knights wore the standard uniform or a disguise. Unlike the rest of them, the knight that spoke had a full set of armor. He seemed to be the leader of the group.
"Witch Cultist! (?)" Felt and Subaru said. Felt yelled it out, while Subaru seemed to question it. Subaru was still stuck on the basics of the world, so he hadn't studied up on any organization or villains. The only thing he knew about so far was the Witch of Envy.
"Look, I dunno who you are, or whatcha think you're doing, but we ain't Witch Cultists," Felt said, her voice rough, as she clenched one of her fists. The other was itching the back of her neck. She despised Witch Cultists like the rest of them, so why the hell was they accused of being one?
"You're negotiable young lady, that is if you surrender. The young man over there is bound for death, fought or not. The color says it all." The leader raised his hand. As the others saw his signal, they readied their weapon. Bows, staffs, and most importantly swords were all ready to kill their target.
"My family has been secular for generations. I don't know anything about this Witch Cult stuff. Now back off!" Subaru stood up alongside Felt. Most of the life in the casino has been cast away. The music no longer played, the grumbles of drunken men spirited away, as the sound of demands and battles began.
"I suppose you won't make this easy." With those simple words, the guards launched their attack. Projectiles were thrown, and swordsmen made their dash.
"Goa!" Subaru commanded his spirit. A small fireball was launched at one of the guards. The Guard barely managed to dodge the fire.
Now that the Guards moved out of the way, it gave them a path to escape. He preferred to use magic with his bow to save on mana, and to give his magic a little extra power, but he was still way too slow with it to have any effectiveness for now.
Subaru and Felt dashed out of the circle with the new path. They ran towards the exit as they weaved past arrows, and barely dodged magic spells. Besides the leader of the group, most of them were still novices.
Luckily, Subaru's aura-sensing gave him the ability to somewhat accurately predict when and where the arrows were coming.
"It seems the aura stays on the arrow after getting shot. I should note that." Subaru thought to himself. Since nobody taught him how to use his abilities, it was up to him to figure it out.
"Felt, you can use your divine protection to go fast right? Get out of here. Go get some help, I'll be fine." Subaru suggested. He wanted to keep Felt out of harm's way since if he failed the loop, it would make him happier knowing she was safe, but her face scrunched up at his suggestion.
"Ya want me to turn tail, and run? Ha, not a chance. We're doing this together." The determination in her words was clear and invited no chance to change her thought process. Felt suddenly ducked as she dodged an arrow by a hair. Once she put her head back up, she scratched the back of her neck once again. "Once we get outta here, we need to head to the first alleyway we find. It'll be easy to escape after that." Felt knew the alleyways like the back of her hand, so it was their best way out.
They seemed to be doing well as the exit was just a few meters away. A confident smile crept up on Felt's face. She always liked a good chase. As soon as her confident smile set in, she felt pain spiral throughout her body. She slammed into some metal and fell to the ground. As she looked up, the leader of the group was staring down at her. He unsheathed his sword and swung down.
"Not you again." Felt activated her divine protection and dodged the man's attack. His sword was stuck in the ground, which gave Felt the perfect chance to counterattack. She was fast enough to look like she teleported as she appeared behind the man, and punched him in the head. It was the only place that wasn't covered in armor.
"Felt!" Subaru stopped in his tracks and tried to help Felt. He saw her land a hit on the man, but she was sent flying back.
"Heyaaa!" Subaru dived in the air and stopped Felt from slamming into the wall. He rolled once he landed on the ground and checked on Felt.
"Are you alright!?" Subaru said with a worried tone as he looked down at her crimson eyes. She spat out some blood, but forcefully removed herself from Subaru's grasp, and stood back up.
"I'm alright Big Bro, but we gotta get out of here before that guy catches up to us." Felt helped Subaru up and forcefully made their escape. "Hurry up!" She said as they made their mad dash outside, and into the alleyway.
The alley was narrow and had lots of twists, and turns. The walls were made of brick, while the floor was just paved dirt. There even was a brick "roof" over the alleyway that appeared ready to fall at any moment. Subaru made sure to note the doors that connected the casino to the alleyway.
"Stop right there!" A Guard slammed open a door connected to the casino. Their path was blocked, and they couldn't go back now, or else they were dead meat. Their only option was to fight.
"Goa!" Subaru commanded his spirit. A fireball was sent his way, but he charged at Subaru and merely side-stepped the fireball.
"No you don't, Cultist!" The knight swung his sword down.
"Scarlet, shield me!"
A firey barrier protected Subaru from the attack and allowed him to get pushed further back. Subaru could no longer see anything when he recovered from the impact.
"I can't see anything with all this smoke." Subaru put his arms out and started to walk forward. "Is Felt alright?"
"Take that!" Felled yelled. All Subaru could hear was Felt's voice, and fist-to-skin impacts. Once the cloud of smoke finally settled, all that could be seen was Felt's foot on the guard's head.
"You really are a monster child," Subaru muttered
"Wha'ya say about me?" Felt looked back at Subaru.
"Nothing!"
"They went this way!" Some more guards yelled in the distance. Subaru could hear the marching behind them. If things kept going the way they have been, they will most likely get caught soon.
"Shit... what are we gonna do." Sweat dripped down Felt's face, as the tension of the situation started to truly catch up to her.
"We can't beat them, we can't escape from them, and we can't hide from them. What can I do..." Subaru racked his brain for any idea that could help. That's when he noticed a warmth around him. Scarlet once again spun around him to get his attention.
"I really wish you could talk more..." Subaru mumbled, but then focused on his spirit.
It floated up to the roof and spun around. It was trying to communicate something that it couldn't do with words. Subaru started to scratch his head trying to figure out what it meant. Why couldn't he understand his partner better? If only it was a human.
"I got it! Big Bro, you could destroy the roof!" Felt said. Scarlet spun around Felt as a result of her correct guess.
"First it was Wilhelm, now it's Felt. Why does it feel like everyone but me can understand you." Subaru said to Scarlet in a downtrodden tone, but it didn't last for long when the sound of marching grew close, and a voice was heard.
"Over there! I found them!" The leader of the group shouted out. His glee was apparent within his voice.
Subaru and Felt ran to the area of the alley that no longer had a roof. As they saw the men running over to them, Subaru made up his resolve.
"Guess it's now or never. I didn't practice this yet, but I have to try." Subaru took a deep breath and prepared the bow at his side.
Subaru-Dono, do you have a goal?
Those words resonated within Subaru as he thought back to why he was fighting. He fought for himself, he fought to not disappoint his father, and most important he fought for his friends.
The feeling within his heart told him that Scarlet was ready to fire, and all that was left was to call out the incantation.
"El Goa!" Three flaming hot arrows formed on his bow as he aimed at the ceiling. The glow of arrows contrasted with the darkness of the night sky.
"Men, PULL BACK!" The leader yelled out, but it was far too late.
"Bullseye." Subaru shot his arrow. It collided with the roof and caused an explosion of heat to burst out as the roof collapsed onto the guards, most likely killing at least a few of them.
As Subaru saw the fire that lit up the night sky spread in front of him, one question came to the forefront of his mind.
"Did I just kill someone?" He was caught in the heat of the moment when it happened, but now that he had some time to reflect, he just murdered living people. Even if it was in self-defense, he still killed someone.
He wanted to vomit or cry, but all he could do was collapse on the floor. He could feel his gate throbbing as pain pulsed throughout his entire body. Scarlet also dissolved for the day.
"Damn it! We barely had enough mana to do the second stage of an attack with me, and Scarlet. How the hell am I going to protect anyone if I can't use more than basic attacks." Subaru couldn't do much more than bash himself mentally while in this useless state.
"Big Bro!" Felt yelled. "Can you move?" She helped him up and propped his arm around her.
"You look cuter when you're concerned." Subaru snarkily replied. He tried to keep his worries to himself.
"Answer the question before I leave you here." Felt's concern betrayed her words as she tried to fish for an answer.
"Sorry, sorry. Please don't leave me, I can't walk right now." Subaru said with a forced amount of energy.
"Tsh, you're too much to handle sometimes."
Felt, and Subaru traversed through the complex alleyways, hoping that nobody would notice the fire before they made their escape. After a few twists and turns, they arrived at a dead end.
"We can't make it back to Big Sis's place, for now, so we'll stay here for a bit before heading off," Felt said.
"Huh?... It's just a dead end."
"Don't doubt the knowledge of an ex-thief." Felt let Subaru rest on the floor as she pushed the bottom brick on the wall inwards, and eventually, it fell into a room. Felt squeezed into the room and moved the second brick for Subaru to be able to fit in.
"A video game-style secret exit." Subaru thought as he was assisted into the room by Felt. She quickly put the bricks back into position. Sweat dripped down Subaru's face as footsteps hurriedly made their way past them. It seemed the royal knights had made their way here to check out the fire.
"Turn back, just a dead end over here." One of the knights said.
The sound of footsteps slowly got dimmer, and dimmer until they could no longer be heard. They took a deep breath out to celebrate their victory.
"We managed to get out of the mob wave. I gotta give credit to all of the hack n slash protagonists." Subaru looked around the room and noticed it only had two chairs and no exits. He limped to the chair and sat down to rest.
"Spewing more of your weird words, who raised you?" Felt proved she wasn't that tired as she went right back to acting like her normal self.
"Only the best raised me!" No matter how tired he was, he wouldn't let anyone dirty the mental image of his parents.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Felt stood next to Subaru, ready to wait long enough to know they were gone. "By the way Big Bro, there is something on your face. Let me get it for you."
"There is? Thanks for th-"
BANG.
Subaru was socked across his face as the force threw him to the ground. He laid on the ground, dazed from the attack. Felt forcefully pinned Subaru to the ground, and sat atop him. He received a flurry of punches coming from her.
"Wh...at...the....hell...Felt" Subaru managed to say in between punches. He could feel his teeth slowly being knocked out.
There was a small glint behind Felt's neck every time she moved in for a punch. He noticed Felt scratching her neck at the casino, so what the hell was that, and what is happening?! If Felt is attacking him so much, why isn't her aura changing?
"Scarlet, are you there?" Subaru desperately tried to subconsciously speak to his Spirit, but just like his last loop, no response was received. The only thing he did hear was a small laugh behind him.
"Jolly good show! I made her into a beautiful actor, didn't I!?" The voice he wanted to hear least appeared. His energetic tone, exaggerated words, and over-dramatic movement. Orphe was behind the currently downed Subaru.
Subaru finally realized what the glint behind Felt's neck was.
A needle. It was deep within her skin, and only the top part was visible. It was small enough to go unnoticed unless you were looking for it. Felt started scratching her neck when they were surrounded, so does that mean Orphe was there the whole time? Maybe she was attacked before his loop even started.
Hearing the voice of the man he hated the most, Subaru forcefully pushed Felt off him. It took all the energy he had, but he managed to get her off of him. He slowly stood up and stared into Orphe's cold eyes.
"You... You're controlling her?" It was the only theory that made sense. Otherwise, Felt would have been considered a traitor. Subaru also had a more selfish reason for believing his theory.
I hate you.
Those words are still deep within Subaru's heart. If those were Orphe's words, then it would all make sense.
"Wow brother. That's the first time someone figured it out! You're really above average. How did you know?" Orphe's persona stayed intact the whole time. Not letting a single bit of emotion slip.
"Felt would never "act" for you. I know her better than that. Your needles are doing something to her, so spit it out, Old Man!" Subaru's rage intensified, but he knew he stood no chance against him, so he wanted to get some information before he was killed.
"You passed the game! You actually passed!" Orphe started to slowly step towards Subaru. Even though Subaru knew he'd be killed, he let his cowardliness take control and stepped away from Orphe until he brushed up against a wall and slid down until he fell on the floor.
"Get away from me..." Subaru said in a low voice. He couldn't muster up the energy to yell.
Orphe knelled down and rubbed Subaru's chin. All Subaru could do was stare at Orphe's lifeless eyes.
"Perfect."
Those were the last words Subaru heard before blacking out.
-Unknown Amount of Time Later-
Subaru was expecting to spawn right in front of Felt, but fate had a better idea for him.
He felt bound by some sort of steel, as his eyes drifted awake. Even though his consciousness was awake, his eyes had a different story. He was in a void of darkness, completely unable to move.
"I'm... alive." Subaru thought to himself. All the memories of what happened rushed into him as tears began to form. Before he could even begin to cry, the words of a man echoed throughout the room he believed he was in.
"It appears you have woken up Mr. Scary eyes."
Step Step Step
The man released Subaru from his blindfold and allowed him to stare directly at him. Subaru wanted to attack him on site, but he was completely bound to a chair. All he could do was look around the bloodied room and spot the table full of torture devices waiting to be used.
The man once again put his fingers on Subaru's chin.
"Welcome, my name is..."
The man smiled as he looked at Subaru's fear.
"Orphe."
Updated Schedule to match my new life:
-1 Chapter every Monday.
-Side Story Chapter any day of the week, at any time.
Authors Note: 8/21/2022
I hope you guys weren't waiting too long for this chapter. Did you like it? I wrote a pretty big chapter last time, so I tried my best to keep up with my own writing.
Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! I feel infinite joy whenever I receive them :)
Shoutouts to SeasonalWriter on AO3. Your comment made my day!
-TonkaDev