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Re: Cursed Doll by OreosAreYummy

Anime » Re:Zero Rated: T, English, Fantasy & Angst, Subaru N., Emilia, Reinhard A., Elsa G., Words: 62k+, Favs: 266, Follows: 311, Published: Mar 9, 2023 Updated: May 11, 2023

121Chapter 5: Vampire

Re: Cursed Doll | Chapter 5: Vampire

The forest around them was silent, dreadfully so. The only sounds that could be heard was the shallow breaths of a blue-haired maid who had long lost her strength, and the heavy breaths that were bordering on hysteria from the man who sapped said strength away.

"WHY?!" He repeated himself, his voice trembling with anguish and anger, his once bright amber eyes that held excitement only minutes prior, were now dilated and stained with tears, the amber color almost shimmering into red.

Hearing him demand an answer yet again, forced her mouth to open. A choked sound came from her lips as her hesitation was still prevalent, looking into his eyes a small part of her wondered if she was truly correct in her assumption. But then she smelt it, that fucking scent. The mark of the witch, the miasma. Her unsure eyes twisted into anger, clenching her open mouth shut, her teeth grinding against each other as she remembered everything those with that scent had done to her, memories from years past flooding her head.

Her own angry eyes met his own, and she finally opened her mouth to speak, or rather snarl.

"You dare ask such a thing to Rem…" Her voice started off as a whisper, carrying a resonance that set him on edge, the way her voice trembled with raw emotion and disgust made his own anguished heart beat faster.

Trailing on, her voice began to rise in volume as her voice was laced with anger, distrust, malice, and hatred. It was as if she herself was in anguish that he could not understand.

"You came into my home and spread your venomous presence throughout the halls… infecting Nee-sama, Roswaal-sama and even tricking the esteemed great spirits… but you won't trick me. The miasma of the witch, her love. It's all over you. Do you take me for a fool? DO YOU?!"

Rem managed to bring herself up to her feet, her legs trembling, barely having the strength to hold herself up. Her head was hung low as she continued to grit her teeth, her breathing becoming erratic. She looked up at him and he only saw eyes filled with hate staring into his own, the dim light of the night and the blood on her form made her look like an angel of vengeance, or rather a demon.

"You damned witch cultists came and took everything from me, from us. Nee-sama lost her horn because of you. We lost our home as you all butchered my family, my mother and father. And you dare waltz in here and come to try and corrupt the last thing I have left?! I'll kill you. I swear upon it, I swear upon my life, I'll slaughter every last one of you!"

Subaru clenched his teeth and slammed his hand into the ground, causing it to crack beneath the force. Pushing himself up, barely able to keep himself standing. His knees were bent and he seemed off balance. His dark amber , bordering on red eyes glared back into hers with an angry confusion as he swept his arm to the side.

"I don't understand what you mean by any of that! What do you mean the miasma of the witch lingers on me?! I don't know what this 'witch cult' is in the first place! A cult dedicated to a witch? Do you mean The Witch of Envy, Satell-"

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY HER NAME!"

A primal scream erupted from Rem's throat, a guttural, hate filled scream that sounded like it would tear the throat of the person yelling, a scream that came from her heart.

Rem's blue eyes blazed a glowing blue once more, as her forehead erupted in an explosion of energy. With strength he didn't realize she was still capable of, she grabbed ahold of her morningstar, and threw it with incredible force towards Subaru.

"Ghk –"

Subaru barely managed to bring his arms up in a cross to block the blow, it hit his forearms and caved his bones in as he went flying back into the cliff that was behind him, rocks flying off from the impact as he let out a cough, falling onto a knee.

He felt the bones in his arms resetting themselves back in place, fixing any fractures as if they never happened.

Subaru glanced back up at Rem who's legs were still trembling, energy pouring off of her in waves, when he bit her and drained her, he drained not just her blood but her strength as well.

But her sheer hatred, and anger for everything relating to the witch, the cult kept her standing alone. Giving her the strength to oppose him once more, even when she had nothing left to fight with but fumes.

Her eyes were pale blue, her pupils dilated and a snarl on her face, he could see her horn had come out once more, glowing a dazzling pink.

He didn't really have the chance to properly evaluate it earlier, and gave it no thought. But now that he had fed on her, as disgusting as that was. He felt rejuvenated, his mind was no longer hazy or pre-occupied with trying to survive.

Was everyone in that damned mansion not human? A half elf, a flying cat, a clown mage which held so much power, metaphorically and from what he's heard, physically as well. Ram was Rem's sister, so he could assume she was just like her… And Beatrice who admitted to not being human when they first met. If he counted himself, a cursed d- no.

A vampire.

There was no more denying it, that is what he was. And with bitter resignation he accepted that fact, it disgusted him to no end.

Everyone in that mansion, everyone who congregated in the Mathers domain was a freakshow in some way or form, non-human, like a circus.

Subaru couldn't help but chuckle in a resigned anguish at the irony of that realization, this world was really something else wasn't it.

Rem did not know what he was thinking, but seeing him brush off that attack and then chuckle sent her over the edge, she forced her broken and battered body to move, launching herself towards him.

But before she could reach him, a Wolgarm crashed into her from the side, biting into her arm, sending her tumbling away from Subaru.

Subaru found himself shocked at seeing her get tackled by a Wolgarm, of course how could he forget. He was so pre-occupied with everything happening that he forgot this was an infested forest he was meant to clear out.

He watched as Rem let out a guttural scream as she brought her fist down upon the creature, crushing its skull in an instant. She got back up and glared at Subaru, taking a step closer towards him.

But fate was determined to deter her it would seem.

All around her she was surrounded by Wolgarms, from all angles they bared their teeth at her and snarled, she let out her own back at them.

Subaru saw a few Wolgarms circling around him as well, but it wouldn't be an issue. He was feeling rejuvenated, no perhaps even stronger than he was prior before getting attacked by Rem.

It was if the blood was giving him a power boost, he felt alive.

He could easily get away or deal with the problem if he needed to at this point. He looked back towards Rem who was now attacking the Mabeasts, swinging her mace around in a frenzy, her horn glowing brightly.

One of them managed to swipe its claws along her back, causing her to let out a grunt of pain, turning around to look at it with a mad smile, she cleaved it in two with her morningstar.

Subaru looked at the scene playing out before him, he had not forgotten the events that had transpired here, his heart was still pumping with betrayal, the tears in his eyes had long dried, and the only sign that they had occurred as well, was the stains on his cheeks, but those were covered with blood.

He could help her out, but why should he? She had tried to murder him, she tore his arm off and declared that she would kill him.

He hadn't done anything, she spouted off about things he didn't know and placed the blame on him, as if he had anything to do with the events that had happened to her.

What would he tell Ram? He left her sister to get overwhelmed and abandoned her to possibly die in the forest alone?

He grit his teeth and shook his head in exasperation, bringing a hand up to cover one of his eyes as his eyes twitched, a confused and troubled grin on his face.

Would it matter? She attacked him, tried to murder him. If she had a problem with him doing the only logical thing and leaving her, then he would deal with her as well. If anything, she was most likely in on it, wasn't she? Rem mentioned "us" most likely referring to her sister.

If Rem had apparently detected this 'miasma' on him or whatever, and blamed him for her past trauma, what's to say Ram hasn't as well?

Was this all planned from the start?

Subaru grit his teeth and gave one more look towards Rem, who was in a frenzied state as she battled the Wolgarms around her.

Making up his mind, he gave her one final glare and jumped away, scaling the cliff in an instant.

Rem noticed the movement, and she let out another scream, making a vow that came from the most deepest parts of her soul.

"Don't run from me, witch cultist! I won't rest until you are dead!"

Subaru heard her scream in the distance and grimaced, this isn't what he wanted. He wanted to spend time with Emilia and strive to be a knight, her knight. But as things were looking now, that might not be a possibility, not here.

Subaru thought back to his initial week in this world, not counting the looped days. Spending time in the Astrea manor might have been the most fun, most enjoyment he had felt in years.

Watching Reinhard constantly try to tend to and correct Felt, who would always get pissed off and yell at him. Flam and Grassis teasing him and being little troublemakers when their Carol wasn't looking.

It was an atmosphere that was pleasant, an environment that was nurturing with Reinhard helping him study and train, and the kindness they had shown him wasn't fake.

Not like the 'kindness' Rem had shown him.

Was it a possibility to go back? Was that even an option at this point? If he were to leave now… wouldn't Rem go back to the mansion, battered and bruised and claim that he was a cultist? Distort his name and image to one of a bad person?

Emilia is a royal candidate, and having her camp make such accusations might put a stain on his record… would anyone believe his side of the story?

Reinhard would, wouldn't he? Reinhard had that ability to tell when someone was speaking the truth or not or whatever, surely that could come into play.

But did he want to push his problems onto someone else again?

Subaru grit his teeth at that thought, he didn't want to have to rely on others again to fix his problems for him. It reminded him of his time on Earth, with his parents.

It was settled then, if this situation was helpless than he would go to the mansion and explain what happened, even if nobody believed him and even if they became his enemies. He'd rather be upfront about what happened and leave, rather than have the story be twisted.

Return by Death was an option as well. But as if he would willingly do that to himself, for someone who didn't even trust him in the first place.

Even if he liked Emilia, and wanted to be by her side. It was not worth the turmoil and pain that came with death, he wouldn't do that to himself. Never.

As Subaru sped through the forest his ears caught onto the sounds of a twig being broken, as if being stepped on to his right.

Subaru immediately slammed his foot into the ground halting his momentum and causing all the kinetic energy from his forward motion to be put into his legs. He leapt high into the air and looked down upon the area where he heard the sound and saw a little girl, a little girl with dark blue hair, and green eyes.

"Meili?"

The young girl in question was one of the children he had met at Arlam earlier that day, she gave off a shy and introverted demeanor. Her long blue hair was tied into a braid that ran from the back of her hair and over her shoulder, she was wearing a blue gown with a white collar which had a yellow ribbon connecting it to the fabric of her gown.

She looked up at him with a frightened gaze, trembling as she looked up into his eyes with her own tearful ones.

"Onii-san? Please help me." Her soft voiced wavered, the chill of the night affecting her ability to speak.

Subaru landed on the ground and ran over to her, getting onto a knee and getting a better look at her. She had quite a few sticks in her hair, and she looked to have fallen down based on the dirt on her clothes.

"Meili, what are you doing out in this forest? It is incredibly dangerous out here; you shouldn't be here!"

"I got lost! I didn't mean to come here! Please onii-san! I'm scared!"

Subaru's eyes softened at the little girl in front of him, she had tears forming in her eyes. Did she truly just make a mistake and come out here? Was she curious? How did she even make it this far without a single mabeast attacking her.

Subaru wouldn't question it any further, he was lucky to have found her before anything else did.

Subaru stood up and turned around, before kneeling back down.

"Hop onto my back, Meili. I'll take you back to the village. We have to be quick. I have… someone chasing me down. If we run into them, make I'll try and make you space to run alright?"

Meili climbed onto his back, and he held her by the back of her knees to secure her onto his position.

"Is it a bad person, onii-san?"

Subaru hesitated as he recalled what he thought of Rem. Over the past few days at the mansion, he had enjoyed her company, even if their time was short. He recalled how her and her sister whispered to each other with a teasing smile on their faces at him just earlier today.

But he also remembered how she brutally tore off his arm with her weapon, sending him through an entire forest, cracking his skull open and lacerating him during their fight.

The hatred in her words, and the force behind her blows. She fully intended to murder him, and with that he let out a soft sigh, a tired breath he didn't realize he was holding and finally got let out as he responded to the innocent question of the little girl who was on his back.

"I thought they weren't… but it turns out they were."

Meili stayed silent hearing his tired sigh, he stood back up and tilted his head back slightly in her direction.

"Hold on tight, okay?"

Meili nodded and brought her arms around his neck loosely, locking her fingers together to maintain a hold on him.

Subaru got back up from his kneeling position with Meili on his back, and decided to double-time it back to the village.

He was already naturally fast, being able to keep up with a ground dragon if he pushed it, but with a bit of mana reinforcement, he should be able to go even faster.

With a blast that echoed throughout the surrounding forest, Subaru shot forward down the path that led to the barrier that surrounded the forest, heading towards where him and Rem had originally entered the forest.

He heard the sounds of trees breaking behind him, he tilted his head back and saw Rem following him closely behind, an insane look in her eyes and a smile that resembled more of a crooked grin on her face.

She threw her morningstar directly at him causing his eyes to widen in shock. She saw the child on his back and she still chose to attack?!

Subaru leapt to the side, grabbing Meili from his back and tossing her in the air causing her to let out a yelp. Subaru just narrowly avoided the attack by twirling in the air, managing to catch Meili in his arms, before setting her down.

"You need to go! The barrier is not far, get home and make sure to stay inside."

Subaru said to Meili in a firm voice, his eyes never leaving the direction of Rem, who had finally stopped and was standing several feet away from him.

"What about you? Are you going to fight her, onii-san?"

Subaru grimaced and nodded, his eyes narrowing with resolve.

"I didn't want to, but the second she launched an attack at my back, even though you were on it. I realized that this is something I can't run from."

Subaru turned back to Meili for a moment, and gave her a smile. His eyes softening.

"Don't worry about me, alright? It's up to those older to protect children who have their whole lives in front of them. I promise I'll make sure you get out of here."

Meili's eyes widened at his resolve, they had only met earlier that day but he was still willing to put himself on the line to make sure she could escape.

She could see why Elsa had taken interest in him, it was as if death was something he was already accustomed with. It was one thing for someone to put their life on the line to protect someone, or something… but.

Meili remembered the conversation she had with Elsa the night of the events at the loot house.

"Why did you do that?"

Elsa let out a soft hum as she looked at Meili, who was cleaning her wounds for her in the dimly lit room. Taking a wash cloth wet with water, Meili wiped the blood off of Elsa's arms.

"Hmm. If I had to say it was the look in his eyes~."

Meili paused and looked up towards the woman who she viewed as an older sister.

"Throughout the fight, he had been a thorn in my side. He was able to warn of my attack as if he knew about it, and while he wasn't skilled at all. He knew where I was going to strike several times and managed to block my swings. Even if I was playing around with him, I hadn't expected it."

Elsa paused for a short moment before continuing.

"But above all, the entire time… every time I nearly sliced him open, there was a look in his eyes. Even in death he looked at me with a look that told me this wasn't over. And when I charged at him the final time, in his eyes there was resignation, but as if death would be a mere inconvenience for him. And it irked me a little."

Meili looked at her with bewilderment.

"So, you decided to make him just like you?"

Elsa giggled as Meili finally finished wiping her off. Bringing a hand into her dress and pulling out one of her signature kukri blades, she gazed into it and looked at the reflection of her eyes, the shimmering purple looking back at her.

"He spoke about the situation being unfair, and with his lackluster attitude about dying, it made me a bit interested. Consider it a personal investment, it will surely liven things up a little, seeing how he turns out."

An amused smile formed on Elsa's face as she said those words.

'As if death would be a mere inconvenience for him' those were the words that Elsa had used to describe him, and looking up at him now, she could see that those words were truthful.

Meili let out a smile that slowly turned into a grin.

"You really are a fool, aren't you? Onii-san."

Subaru instantly turned back to her with an incredulous look on his face, his voice raising several decibels in volume.

"Huh? Is that really what you should say to someone protecting you? Kids these days are pretty bold!"

Meili gave a small laugh at his words, the look on his face was comical. But she made up her mind.

"I'll help you out, onii-san."

Subaru's incredulous look turned into one of confusion, his eyes widening slightly at her declaration.

"Help me? Meili, I get the sentiment but this situation is no joke. You need to get back to the village."

Meili continued to smile, it was as if her shy demeanor shifted completely. She raised an arm into the air, letting it hang there for a moment. Subaru watched her in confusion. Eventually she brought her arm back down just as Rem was getting ready to attack once more, pointing directly at her causing Rem to pause in confusion.

"Attack!"

Suddenly, several Wolgarms came dashing out of the darkness of the night, launching themselves towards Rem who was taken by surprise, leaping back and swinging her weapon around at the mabeasts.

Rem landed and glared at Meili.

"I should've known. That's why he was protecting you, you're with him."

Subaru was about to deny that accusation, but Meili beat him to it. Her voice held a mocking tone as her eyes narrowed with a childish arrogance.

"You're wrong. I've just decided to help out this foolish and hard headed onii-san out. You could also consider this payback for attacking even though I was in the way."

"Don't lie to me, you controlled those mabeasts just now. Only someone associated with the witch should be capable of such a thing. Even if you are a child, being a cultist is a crime that will be punished with death."

Subaru grit his teeth, staring back towards Rem, he voiced out words lowly to Meili.

"Meili, while I don't like this… I know how to drain her of her strength. I don't know how you're able to control those things, but I won't ask. If you can keep her distracted, I'll hopefully settle this without the need of bloodshed."

"It would be easier to just kill her, you know."

"It makes me feel bad hearing a child say such a grim thing, but even so… I'd rather not take a life, especially from someone that I know. I wouldn't want to do that to her sister either, so please –."

"Alright, onii-san. I'll go along with your way of doing things then." Meili cut him off, her smile not wavering.

Rem readied herself, her horn glowing brightly as she launched herself towards the two of them, having had enough of them stalling. She swung her morningstar widely towards the left, grabbing onto the chain causing the head of the weapon to suddenly shoot towards Subaru.

Subaru couldn't dodge because it would hit Meili behind him, so instead he took it head on, reeling a fist back he punched the spiked ball head on. The spikes dug into his fist, but his fist prevailed and punched the morningstar back towards Rem.

Rem stepped to the side and let it fly past her, before pulling on the chain causing it to fly back into her hands.

Two dozen Mabeasts burst out from the bushes behind Subaru and Meili, running past the both of them and launching themselves towards Rem.

Rem swung her morningstar down onto the one on the right first, pulverizing it's head sending brain matter all over the ground, grabbing higher up onto the chain and spinning the morningstar and shooting it to the left, hitting another one of the beasts in the ribs, crushing them and destroying its lungs causing it to crash into the side whimpering in pain.

As Rem continued to battle the Wolgarms that launched themselves at her, Subaru leapt into the air with his sword drawn, spinning several times into the air to generate force, and as he descended towards her he channeled his mana into his sword causing it to crystallize with makeshift Minya crystals, before finally slamming it towards her with a downwards swing towards her head.

Rem noticed his movement, and channeled her own mana into her weapon reinforcing it. She swung her morningstar upwards and intercepted the blow, causing sparks to fly off as steel met steel.

Subaru would stay suspended in the air for several moments, as he continued to try and push his sword into her weapon, but Rem would not budge and after a moment she pushed back, causing Subaru to be throw back into the air, he flipped backwards and landed on the ground a few feet behind her.

The second his feet touched the ground he rocketed towards her back, tossing his sword to his left hand and swinging at her in a diagonal upwards arc, looking to hit her in the hip and to slice upwards toward her shoulder.

But his slash would not connect, as she yelled out.

"Huma!"

A chunk of ice formed above her head, shaping itself into a sharp spear shape, before launching itself towards Subaru, causing him to backpedal and leap to the side, to avoid it.

He glanced up to see Rem rushing him, her fist drawn back. She was too close to react and her fist struck him in the stomach, causing bile to rise in his throat as he got launched back several feet.

Subaru swallowed down the bile that threatened to escape his lips, coming skidding to a halt as he rested one knee on the ground. He glared up at Rem with a crooked smirk, this really wasn't going as well as he wanted it to.

Rem matched his glare with her own.

"Just give up and die, cultist."

Subaru let out a chuckle as he raised himself from his knee, and got back into his usual stance, his sword dangling in his right hand, with his left arm raised and bent.

"Sorry, but I have no plans on giving up, Rem. This really is a misunderstanding, and I plan on making you see that."

Subaru took a step towards Rem and feigned an attack, causing her to swing her morningstar pre-emptively towards him. Subaru quickly parried her morning star to the side, and stepped closer to her with a upwards slash.

But he underestimated her resilience, using the momentum from her attack being parried to the side, she spun in the direction that it got re-directed to causing the morningstar and chains to wrap around her, generating and building force as she struck her arm out downwards at the sword, causing the morningstar to be sent flying towards it and hitting it to the side.

Subaru let go of his sword letting it get sent flying away, catching her off guard. Weaving into her defenses, he hit her in the stomach causing her to stumble back, he followed up with a hit from his other hand, hitting her in the face causing her head to snap to the side, before spinning his entire body and giving her a roundhouse kick that sent her skidding back into a tree.

"That was payback for hitting me in the stomach just now, especially when we had dinner just an hour prior!"

Rem growled out as she wiped some blood from her lips, getting back up she ran towards Subaru who was picking his sword back up from where it landed.

"Woah!"

Subaru just barely managed to stumble out of the way of her swing, falling to the side. Rem quickly followed up while he was disoriented, raising her weapon up and swinging down towards his head.

A wolgarm suddenly came from the side and tackled her to the ground, biting deeply into her arm.

Subaru looked over to Meili who was standing off to the side with a smirk on her face, her nose was bleeding slightly.

"Thanks for the save! You're bleeding a bit though, you didn't trip while I was fighting, did you?"

Meili gave him an annoyed look at his teasing, before shaking her head and regaining her smile.

"Even if I did, I'm much better off than you are right now, onii-san."

Rem managed to kill the wolgarm which had tackled her, and was glaring towards Meili.

"You're becoming a problem."

Rem launched herself towards Meili suddenly, which caused the young girl to become startled, throwing her arm out towards Rem's direction causing more mabeasts to launch themselves towards her.

But Rem swung her morningstar with ease at the mindless beasts, killing every one of them, causing Meili to panic.

Rem was right on top of her now, and just as Meili was about to cry out, Subaru rocketed towards the two of them, shoulder checking Rem aside and into a nearby tree.

"Thanks for all the help, Meili. I got it from here, get back to the village now!"

Meili nodded towards him.

"Stay alive, onii-san!"

Meili began to ran towards the direction of the village, eventually her form faded in the distance.

"I plan on it…" Subaru whispered to himself, before looking up at Rem who was picking herself off the ground once more.

"You keep getting back up no matter what I throw at you, you're as resilient as a demon, Rem."

Rem's glare hardened as her eyes narrowed at him, her horn released energy that shimmered around her in response.

"Are you mocking me by referencing demons?"

"Oh? Did I hit the nail right on the head?"

Rem didn't respond with her words, and instead launched her morningstar at him. Subaru responded with side stepping it and grabbing onto the chain and pulling it before she would have a chance to solidify her stance.

Rem flew towards him, but this time she was prepared and let go of the chain pre-emptively, still flying in his direction she rolled against the ground, sliding under the swing of his sword, before launching herself up towards him with a punch in the chest.

Subaru flew upwards, high above the trees coughing up blood at the blow.

Subaru looked down and saw the morningstar flying towards him, it would be hard to dodge in the air.

He had only managed to do this with his sword as a catalyst, but he had to try, it was his only option.

"Minya!"

Subaru pointed his open hand towards the head of the weapon which was approaching him quickly, a shimmering purple crystal formed in front of his hand, it was deformed and unshapen but it was better than nothing.

It launched towards the morningstar and managed to hit the side of it, causing it to change directions and avoid Subaru completely. As he began to fall towards the ground he noticed part of the morning star crystallizing, it spread to a part of the chain and shattered, causing the chain and morningstar to become disconnected from one another.

Letting gravity take hold of him, he found himself falling towards the ground head first, he raised his arms out and reinforced his body with mana, he managed to grab onto a nearby branch of a tree, causing his whole body to jerk as he barely kept grip on the branch, his head was spinning from the sudden jerk of his body.

"Ugh –"

He let out a groan as he let go of the branch and fell towards the ground, landing on the ground and falling to a knee to catch his breath.

He could feel the strain on his gate, he could probably do one more spell before he would have to stop or risk damaging it.

He got back onto his feet as Rem entered the surrounding area, an annoyed expression on her face as she looked at her chain which no longer had her morningstar attached to it.

"It's time we end this, Rem."

Rem looked up towards Subaru and said nothing merely scowling at his words, but it would appear she agreed as her body tensed up.

A moment of silence filled the area, the two of them waiting to see which would move first. Subaru's amber eyes which bordered on red glistening in the moonlight, as Rem's pink horn illuminated the area around her.

A crystalized fragment of the chain which was hit by Subaru's makeshift Minya came flying down to the ground. It hit the ground with a ringing sound, and suddenly both Rem and Subaru shot towards one another.

Rem and Subaru both swung and hit each other in the face, pushing both of them back. They quickly launched themselves towards each other again.

Subaru crouched low and tried to sweep Rem's legs from beneath her, but she jumped above his leg and returned it with a punch to his jaw. He grimaced and moved to the side avoiding her follow up swing, he jabbed her in the stomach causing her to double over, he brought his knee up and hit her in the chin causing an audible crack to be heard as her head snapped back upwards.

Rem grit her teeth as Subaru and her continued to trade blows like this for a while, neither of them gaining the upper hand.

After a few moments Rem finally managed to knock him back, he slid against the ground and Rem launched herself towards him, her fist flying towards his head hoping to crush it.

'Finally.' She thought in relief, but her relief would not be something that would last.

"Shamac!"

With an explosion of shadow magic, a dark cloud enveloped the both of them. Rem's senses were sucked into a void, her vision, smell, hearing and touch all vanished in an instant, leaving only her panicked thoughts.

She tried swinging her arms, but she could not feel them move. It was as if she lost every sensation and she was just a mindless thought swimming in a void.

But words of a man she loathed broke through that silence.

"I win, Rem."

Her senses returned to her, as she felt pain in her neck. Her eyes widened as she felt Subaru's hands on her shoulders, pinning her to the ground, as he straddled her.

His fangs were in her neck again, sucking her blood. She couldn't see it from her position but he had a look of disgust on his face at what he was doing, but he had to.

He would never admit that the taste wasn't half bad.

She felt her strength fade away once more, as she tried desperately to push her off of him, hitting his chest but her blows weakened with each passing moment, before finally she had no strength at all to move.

Her pink horn had retreated back into her head, and Subaru finally let go of her, releasing his mouth from her neck, and sitting up still straddling her waist, as she laid with her back against the ground.

From her position his eyes were glowing, and his lips and fangs were coated with blood. She watched as he licked his lips clean, although he seemed to suddenly spit it out as he realized what he had just unconsciously done.

He was breathing heavily, as he gazed down towards her.

Rem did not even have the strength to glare back at him.

Subaru had Rem on his back, walking back towards the mansion. He had tried to find Meili to make sure she was alright, but she was nowhere to be found.

He knows she wouldn't be in danger since she seemed to control the mabeasts, and it made him wonder why she had made them act out in the first place.

He shook his head, as long as she was fine that was all that mattered. If she had disappeared than it's likely to say that the mabeasts would stop being so restless.

"Let Rem go this instant, you filthy cultist."

Subaru sighed as Rem piped up once more from his back, and he tilted his head towards her.

"Think for a second, if I dropped you right here, how would you get back to the mansion? You would just be laying here for who knows how long until you had enough strength to move."

"Even so. Let go of me."

Subaru shook his head and scowled at her.

"You're going to have to deal with it, do you think I want to carry the person who tried to murder me on my back? Just shut up and wait until we get back."

Rem scowled at him but didn't push any further than that.

The remainder of the trip was in silence, both Subaru and Rem were dealing with their own thoughts.

Subaru was wondering if he should stick around after all of this, he could probably become a knight under Reinhard's tutelage. He didn't have to be by Emilia's side to support her. But he didn't want to needlessly rely on Reinhard, even if he was his friend.

He would deal with that problem when it came to the time of making that decision.

Subaru sighed lightly causing Rem to glance at him from his back, she couldn't understand him.

She didn't like him, and that was putting it lightly. He smelt like the witch, and she loathed him for it. She didn't find herself ever getting along with him, and if she had enough strength right now, she would snap his neck. Nee-sama had told her not to act rashly but how could she not?

They had finally made it back to the mansion. Strolling through the garden and walking towards the entrance of the mansion, he noticed Beatrice standing in an upstairs window staring towards him, his enhanced vision could see her puzzling glance even from this distance.

The both of them were covered in blood all over, his tracksuit was ruined and was missing a sleeve, and Rem didn't look much better than him. The both of them were bloody, and had much of their clothing ruined.

Subaru didn't have any real wounds on him, his regeneration had already dealt with most of the problems, and when he drank Rem's blood again it put his powers into overdrive for a short while, causing him to be in perfect shape, albeit entirely exhausted.

Rem on the other hand still had cuts all over her body, and was quite injured.

As he approached the doors to the mansion, they slammed open and Ram ran up to the two of them, worry evident in her face aimed towards her sister.

"Rem!"

Subaru gently brought Rem off his back, and put her into Ram's arms, who had quickly grabbed her and brought her inside.

Roswaal, Emilia and Beatrice stood towards the entrance of the door, as Subaru walked in.

"Subaru! What happened out there? You both look horrible!" Emilia's voice rung out in worry, but Subaru could not bring himself to answer, instead he shook his head and redirected the conversation.

"Let's get Rem somewhere she can rest."

They were all in the lounge room, Rem was laying down on a couch with Ram hovering over her and tending to her. Roswaal stood nearby the door, his back against it with a small smile adorned on his face.

Beatrice sat down on a miniature version of a couch which held a single cushion, lightly holding onto Puck who was yawning, not expecting to be up this late.

Emilia stood close-by to Subaru who stood on the opposite side of the door from Roswaal, a grimace on his face as he watched Ram tend to Rem.

"Rem! What happened? Who did this to you?" Ram's voice came out, worry and anger in her tone. She hated seeing her sister in such a state.

Rem let out a growl as she raised her gaze towards Subaru, an angry look in her eyes.

Ram followed her gaze and looked towards Subaru with confusion and shock.

"He did."

Ram's eyes widened as she suddenly shot up, a strong gust of wind forming around her as papers and books flew all around the room, a cold glare in her eyes as she stared at Subaru.

"Barusu, what is the meaning of this." Her words were sharp, laced with a dangerous tone that would have normally put him on edge, but he was too exhausted to truly care at this point.

Emilia and Beatrice looked up towards Subaru as well, shock and worry on Emilia's face, not sure if she could believe that Subaru would attack Rem.

Beatrice merely gazed up at him with a neutral look, she had an idea on what happened but she would wait to see what he had to say.

Roswaal's voice suddenly drawled out in amusement, although his voice had a subtle underlayer of danger underneath his words.

"It would appeeeaar that something had happened between the two of you, I would hope these accusations are not true, Suuuubaru-kun."

Subaru tilted his head towards Roswaal, glancing at him. He could see the look in his eyes, he was waiting for a proper explanation, but at a moments notice he would not hesitate to become hostile.

Subaru tilted his head back towards Ram who was losing her patience.

"Answer me, Baru – "

"She tried to murder me."

Ram's gaze did not waver, but she was stunned into silence with the rest of the occupants.

Nobody noticed the smile forming on Roswaal's face.

Subaru let the silence sit for a few seconds before continuing on.

"She attacked me when I least expected it with the intent of killing me. Her current state is a result of her own actions, I defended myself."

Ram's eyes wavered but she grit her teeth at his choice of words.

"Are you saying she deserved to be put in such a state, Barusu?!"

Subaru threw his arm to the side, his eyes dilating as an angry scowl finally formed on his face, the frustration and feelings of betrayal he had felt from earlier making a return after he pushed them to the side earlier.

"YEAH, I AM, RAM! She tried to fucking murder me, and you're telling me that it would be wrong of me to say I think she deserved that? She tore my FUCKING ARM OFF."

Subaru stepped towards her twice, stumbling as he roared out at her in frustration, Roswaal stepped towards Subaru as he began to approach the twins but stopped when Subaru stopped, still keeping a close eye on him.

Subaru pointed to the ruined sleeve of his jacket.

"Look at me! Look how much blood there is staining my clothes compared to her! You have the audacity to tell me that I shouldn't say she deserved to be put in that state after she brutalized me?! You're lucky all I did was disable her ability to move."

Subaru snarled out, causing Ram to widen her eyes at the sheer amount of anger radiating off of him, taking a closer look at his face she could see dried stains on his face, as if he was crying at one point.

She grit her teeth and began to respond to him.

"You have your arm, do you expect me to truly believe that?"

But to her surprise, Rem was the one who responded to her.

"It's true, nee-sama. I managed to tear his arm off, but he regenerated it."

Ram suddenly spun around to look at Rem, who was looking at her.

"Rem? Is he telling the truth? Did you truly attack him?"

Rem nodded at her.

"Yes, I attacked him, and I do not regret it at all."

Roswaal let out an inquisitive and drawn out "Oh?~" at the situation escalating, Emilia on the other hand stepped forward.

"Why would you do such a thing, Rem? Subaru saved my life! Why would you do something so terrible? And then say you don't regret it at all?!"

"It's because he's a witch cultist, Emilia-sama."

An accusation like that is not something that could be easily ignored, it made the room go silent.

Emilia slowly turned towards Subaru, but before she could say anything he spoke up.

"I didn't even know what that was before today, and I still have questions about it honestly. She's basing this off of my smell or whatever."

Emilia had a worried gaze on her face, but tilted her head and looked up at him.

"That's strange, you smell normal to me."

Beatrice finally had enough information to confirm her suspicions.

"Maid. Are you basing these accusations based off the miasma that lingers on his form, I wonder?"

Beatrice's sharp voice suddenly grabbed the attention of everyone in the room, aiming her question at the blue haired maid who was still laying on the couch.

Rem nodded her head, confirming her words.

"That is correct, Beatrice-sama. He has the scent of the witch on him, and a huge abundance of it. Which makes me believe him to be a high-ranking member of the cult."

"You can't be faulted for that line of thinking, however. I had already confirmed that he wasn't a threat to the mansion."

Beatrice cut her off before she could continue, looking directly at the maid.

"When he had first arrived here, I drained his mana to determine whether or not he was a threat. Having the scent of the witch cling to your form, does not automatically make someone apart of the cult."

Rem grit her teeth and forced herself to sit up on the couch, causing Ram to hold onto her and support her.

"But – "

Puck cut Rem off as well, piping up to agree with his sister.

"I can also confirm that Subaru holds no ill intentions, his intentions never changed in all the time I've spent with him, I would have sensed it if he was planning something bad."

"Great Spirit-sama's please listen to reason! He's tricking the both of you! He is a danger to everyone here, why would someone who has the love of the witch, want to become the knight of a silver-haired half elf? Doesn't that raise any suspicions at all?"

Emilia winced at those words.

"It did raise suspicion, but as Betty mentioned we both checked to see his intentions, and sensed nothing. Are you saying our word and abilities do not matter?" the air chilled in the room as Puck said this, causing everyone minus Emilia and Roswaal to shiver.

"O-Of course not! Rem is jus –"

"Then it should be obvious to you then, that Subaru is not a cultist." Puck finished off.

Rem scowled, did they not all see the danger that this man posed? Her thoughts begin to run rampant, but the touch of her sister made her snap out of it.

"Rem, why didn't you come to me with these concerns before you acted so rashly by yourself? We could have brought it up to Roswaal-sama who surely would have enlisted the help of the spirits to get to the bottom of it."

Roswaal smiled and nodded, crossing his arms as he looked at Rem.

"Ram is correct, my dear Rem. If you had brought up those concerns to me, I would not have taken those accusations lightly. But you acted on your own and attacked an innocent man of your own accord."

"Roswaal-sama…" Rem trailed off looking down, she couldn't believe this.

"Rem, I'm putting you on probation until we can come to a decision what to do with you. You will be sent away for the time being."

"Roswaal-sama?!" Ram's voice suddenly shot out in concern.

Rem looked up suddenly in shock at Roswaal, she was about to open her mouth but she was beat to it.

"There's no need for that."

Ram looked towards Subaru who had suddenly spoken up, his angry gaze now a neutral one although she could see he was bothered by everything that happened tonight.

"From what I understand… something happened to the two of you because of the cult, right?"

Ram's eyes widened ever so slightly, how did he know that? Was he -

"Rem mentioned something along the lines of a massacre when she was attacking me earlier. I don't know what happened to the two of you, but I can see that the mere mention of cultists would set her off because of it. If I truly smell like this witch, then I can see why it would set her off."

Rem could only clench her teeth and look down towards the ground, did he intend to pity her? Him of all people?

"However, I have no intention of forgiving her. I don't think her and I will ever get along. I can't forget the pain she caused me, that betrayal is something I won't get over. I'll loathe her for the rest of my days here, and I can tell she intends to do the same with me. But I don't believe she should be sent away for it. I am willing to co-exist with her if need-be."

Ram looked up at him with a softened gaze, as Roswaal looked towards Subaru with his signature smile, closing his left eye he looked at Subaru and inquired.

"If you're willing to say such a thing Subaru, what do you think should happen?"

Subaru let out a breath and looked towards Roswaal.

"I've dealt with the mabeasts, there was a little girl who was controlling them but she had disappeared after the events of what happened. It's safe to say that I've passed this little test of yours in the end, right?"

Roswaal gave him a slow nod, his smile widening.

"That is correct, Subaru-kun."

Subaru looked back towards Rem.

"I've thought about just leaving after this, but I'm not gonna let your distaste for me ruin what I want to achieve, so I'm willing to co-exist with you, even if I don't like you if it means staying and becoming Emilia's knight. If you're able to do the same with me, then I don't see why you should be sent away."

Roswaal looked over towards Rem and clapped his hands.

"It would appear that Subaru-kun is willing to give you another chance, do you have it in you to apologize to him and accept it, Rem?"

Rem raised her gaze, and they could see the disgust in her eyes. Ram gently touched her shoulder, causing Rem to finally let out a breath she had been holding, as she masked her disgust for Subaru and nodded.

"I'm sorry for the events of tonight, thank you for giving me another chance… Subaru-kun." Rem nearly growled out his name, just saying it filled her with disgust.

Subaru nodded and let out a tired sigh, as he looked at his ruined clothes, he'd have to repair them.

"You will be placed on probaaaation for the time being, but you will not be sent away, Rem. You will not be around Natsuki Subaru alone, and you will stay by Ram's side while you do your duties for the time being."

Roswaal said to Rem, before noticing Subaru glancing at his clothes.

"Do not worry Subaruuuuu-kun. We will have your knight outfit prepared for you soon, in the meantime we have plenty of clothes you can wear in the meantime."

Subaru nodded appreciatively as he turned to exit the room.

"Subaru?" Emilia's voice gently coaxed him to look at her.

Subaru looked towards her and gave her a smile.

"Sorry, Emilia-tan. We'll talk tomorrow alright?"

Emilia could only glance at him worriedly but eventually nodded.

"I'll hold you to that, Subaru."

Subaru looked at the door, before turning back and walking near Beatrice, whispering lowly.

"Beako, I know you don't owe me anything, but could I spend some time with you after I freshen up? Perhaps I could tell you about some of the stuff in my world like we agreed on?"

He offered her, but she could hear the pleading tone in his voice, the way his voice trembled. He was barely holding himself together, did he wish to confide in her?

Beatrice let out a sigh and lowly said something back to him.

"Honestly… you are quite the annoying pest, in fact. Very well, meet me in my library when you're ready. I'm sure you can use your infuriating 'gay-me mah-ster' abilities to find me again."

Subaru chuckled lightly and nodded at her in appreciation before finally walking towards the door and stepping out.

As he walked down the hall, he heard rapid footsteps approach him as a voice called out to him.

"Barusu!"

Subaru stopped walking, but did not turn to look at her.

Ram was behind him, breathing somewhat heavily having chased him down. She re-collected herself before speaking up again.

"Barusu… thank you. You had every reason to send Rem away but you chose not to. I'm grateful, thank you for not taking my sister away from me. That was your true intention for not sending her away, wasn't it?"

Subaru didn't say anything, but he tilted his head towards her and gave her a small smile.

Subaru turned back around proceeded to walk down the halls of the manor, with a small frown on his face and glistening eyes that threatened to spill once more.