It was right when everything seemed like it had been resolved. The black squirming feeling of Gluttony's Authority settled in my soul, signifying their total defeat. The witchbeasts surrounding the tower had been slain or driven off, with the exception of one or two that Meili had requested to keep as assistants for our return trip. Shaula had been completely pacified, and was sleeping off her 'killing machine' form - meaning that Emilia had defeated the final trial, just as hoped.
"...But man, it was really touch-and-go for a little while there." I said with a small chuckle as we dismounted our respective witchbeasts.
"Geez, Onii-san is rea~lly good at understating things, huh~?" said Meili Portroute, the girl responsible for controlling said monsters. "If it wasn't for all of my hard work, Scorpion-Onee-san was seriously going to kill us, you kno~w?"
"Yes, yes, you did an excellent job." I said, tussling her hair - and then, noting the little blonde girl still sitting on my mount beginning to pout, I plucked her from her seat and twirled around with her in my arms. "Beako, too of course! Without my beloved, cute, wonderful, cute, beautiful, cute, genius partner, we would have been in big trouble! "
"B-betty will forgive Subaru for not praising her first, I suppose…" The spirit said with a small smile - and then her eyes widened, and she started squeezing my cheeks. "Wait, Subaru said cute three times, in fact! A-are you sure that your memories are all okay, or are you forgetting things again!?"
"No, I'm fine, I just said it three times because you're cute, cute, cuuuute!" I replied, squeezing her tighter and patting her head.
"S-subaru is correct, I suppose!" she replied, preening in response to my affection even as the tips of her ears went red from embarrassment.
And then, a voice rang out.
It was a beautiful voice, melodic, drifting on the air like music. It penetrated my eardrums, and made my heart feel calm. But the words themselves were like poison. Twisting up my insides in a fit of half a dozen emotions that I couldn't find words to describe.
"My, to be celebrating so earnestly - even though your efforts have caused three children to lose their lives today."
"...What?" I asked, my face slowly turning to take in her appearance.
She was beautiful. There could be no argument about that. Silver hair and eyes like sapphires, with a peaceful-looking smile on her face. An ethereal beauty, completely out-of-place among the blood-spattered Augria Sand Dunes. Despite the wind kicking up sand everywhere, not a speck went near her. Not so much as a grain of dust dared to obscure her face.
"I merely wished to comment on your interesting perspective, that is all." She said, face still gently smiling. "You and your companions killed three children today, Sage candidate. Three orphans, with nothing to live for, and no-one to help them, except for each other. And you butchered them without mercy. And now, you gleefully celebrate it. I wonder, what would your mother and father say, if they saw you now?"
Her smile remained. Her voice was serene. As she drove dagger after dagger into my heart, she did not for a single instant raise her voice.
...That's enough of that.
"...Just who the hell are you talking about?" I replied with a snarl. "If you know anything about those three, you'd know that they're anything but innocent children. Hell, with how many lives they experienced, I'm not sure they even qualified as human anymore. There's no way those three could have been rehabilitated, so…!"
"Subaru, it's fine, I suppose. From the start, this woman didn't come here to have an honest conversation, in fact." Beatrice said, cutting me off. "Besides, whatever children once existed within the Gluttony Archbishops, have long since been overwritten by their authorities - they were little more than sentient stomachs at this point, I suppose."
"Well then. That is certainly one way to look at things!" The woman let out a musical laugh. "Of course, the fact remains-"
"[El Shamak], I suppose!"yelled Beatrice, and suddenly the woman was caught in a cloud of black smoke. "Subaru, Meili, we need to retreat. Immediately, in fact! This woman is-!"
"Pandora, Witch of [Vainglory]." Said a voice behind us.
A Witch. A Witch, in the current era. Such a thing should have been impossible. The only living Witch, was the Witch of Envy, sealed just beyond the Watchtower - and yet!
"When did she get behind us~!?" Yelled Meili.
"I was always behind you." Pandora said smoothly. "Perhaps, your eyes deceived you?"
What the hell. What the hell was this? An authority for illusions?
"Still, it seems as though you are intent on causing me no end of trouble, Sage Candidate." Pandora said with a sigh. "Even after all the effort I took to create that Archbishop of Sloth, after my efforts in bending Regulus to my will, after all the time I spent subverting little Louis Arneb… you truly went and snuffed each of those beautiful lights out. And even worse, you still have yet to become anything particularly interesting yourself. Perhaps, it would be best if…"
Beatrice's body tensed up. I could feel her teeth grinding as she closed her eyes tightly. "...Subaru. Betty loves you, I suppose."
"Wha-?" My eyes widened. Those words, right now, sounded just like-! "Beako, don't-!"
"[Greater Door Crossing], in fact!" Yells the Spirit, and the world stretches.
"...you never came to this world in the first place." Concludes Pandora.
And suddenly, I found myself standing at the curbside outside a convenience store.
Naturally, I didn't waste a second in crushing my own brain with [Invisible Providence].
***
I found myself standing at the curbside outside a convenience store.
...Did I just imagine that I killed myself? Regardless, I proceeded to smash my own heart with [Invisible Providence].
I was standing outside the convenience store.
"No…"
I jumped in front of a car.
I was standing outside the convenience store.
"No, no, no…!"
I jumped off a building. I jumped in front of a train. I slashed my own throat.
I was standing outside the convenience store. I was standing outside the convenience store. I was standing outside the convenience store.
"No, no, no, no!"
And so, just like that, Natsuki Subaru broke.
***
"It seems like a severe psychotic break. We're still awaiting neural imaging, but…"
"...Will he… ever…?"
"All we can do is hope, I'm afraid."
…
"It seems like a severe psychotic break. We're still awaiting neural imaging, but…"
"...Will he… ever…?"
"All we can do is hope, I'm afraid."
…
"It seems like a severe psychotic break. We're still awaiting neural imaging, but…"
"...Will he… ever…?"
"All we can do is hope, I'm afraid."
…
"It seems like a severe psychotic break. We're still awaiting neural imaging, but…"
...How many times, have they said those same things?
My eye twitched.
"...Will he…-"
"Oh my god, shut up! No! No, he's not ever getting better!" I yelled - and then, mom buried her face in my chest, crying.
...
"He got better!?" I yelled after a few seconds.
***
"Mom, Dad… Sorry for worrying you." I eventually said, as we entered the house again.
"...Subaru. You don't have to apologize. For now, let's just… let's just focus on recovery." Dad said.
Incidentally, I had been in a catatonic state for about three days. Although, considering I had heard that same conversation several times… it seems like I died a few times. The question, of course, is how?
...My defective gate. It must be. Beatrice-
Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry.
...Beatrice told me, that if she didn't drain me of mana regularly, I would explode. So in other words, enough time went by and I exploded. Sasuga Shamak-san. You saved me, even now (lol).
Anyway, my parents' expectations of me going to school went out the window. Rather, even if I insisted, I wouldn't be allowed to go to school. Which meant…
"I'll have to teach myself, huh?" I mumbled. And with that, I entered my room.
…Right, I forgot.
There were posters of silver-haired girls from anime, light novels, and videogames covering my walls.
"Those are gonna have to go." I mumbled. But for now, I wanted to get started. I need to find a way back. I must find a way back. That's non-negotiable. So, I sat down on my computer, and began my self-education.
"Multiverse theory, parallel universes, and dimensional sliding… if magic isn't an option on Earth, I'll just use science!" I muttered, frantically typing away.
Of course, twelve deaths later, I finally discover that Magic was indeed a thing on Earth, but that's a story for another time.