Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Just Like That
Darkness enveloped Natsuki Subaru, making him drift endlessly. He could not feel any of his limbs, or any sense of presence. It was as if his consciousness had split from his body, and all around him, there echoed three words.
“I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.”
“Enough already, will you?” he murmured, “That phrase has become a bit of a landmine for me lately.”
So far, everyone who had ever told him that they loved him…he had been unable to save them in some way. Whether it was Shaula, the hell he had been through with Emilia, and most importantly…Rem. The people in his life that had shown love for him all suffered in some way, irreparably.
Even so, those words continued on, heedless of Subaru’s worn out rejection.
“C’mon…just swallow me up already. I’ll go back if I have to. It’ll be a pain dealing with Rui again, but this time…”
“I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you…”
But then, a ray of light pierced through the darkness.
“I am Volcanica. In accordance with the ancient covenant, the will of thou, who hath reached the top of the tower, shalt be questioned…”
“Sorry, but that’s not how this is going to go. Gimme that.”
The light changed, becoming tinged with green, before expanding to encompass everything.
It changed.
It changed.
It…changed.
“For your sake, Natsuki Subaru…I will give a better ending to your journey.”
With a gasp, Subaru’s eyes snapped open, and he looked around. He couldn’t see much at all…but it was different from the darkness he’d just experienced. A dim light slowly illuminated everything, and his eyes widened as he realized where he was.
“Is this…a theater?”
As he took it in, he could only acknowledge that that was what it was; he was sitting in the plush seat of an enormous movie theater, something that absolutely didn’t exist anywhere in Lugunica. No, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that it didn’t exist anywhere in the world he’d been in for almost two years now. It was an enormous space, with tiered layers, and dominated on the back wall by a truly massive screen, and instead of individual seats, he realized that the room was lined with rows of comfortable sofas. Glancing around, the black-haired man saw that there were doors leading out of the theater.
“Right you are, Natsuki Subaru,” said an unfamiliar voice in response.
Subaru jumped, instantly on high alert. Sitting a few rows down, leaning over the back of a seat was a figure. It took him a few seconds for his adjusting eyes to recognize what he was seeing. Whoever this person was, they were wearing a truly enormous, pointed hat, with a brim so large it hid their face.
“Wh-Who are you?” asked the black haired knight, not sure if he could trust this person. Were they another Archbishop?
“I am the Monarch of Plagues, hailing from South Korea…Do-Jae Collins!” The man said dramatically, before he began to burst out into laughter. “Damn it, I couldn’t hold it in while doing that, hahahaha!”
“Monarch of…wait, South Korea? You’re from my world?” asked Subaru, relaxing partially.
He nodded, relaxing. “Yeah. Don’t worry about that title, I’m not here to hurt you. Far from it, actually. I’ll hold off on further explanations until the rest arrive, but since you were already being teleported, you were easier to bring here. Just had to redirect it. Well, you and her.”
Before Subaru could ask who this Do-Jae guy meant, he suddenly became aware of a presence beside him. He glanced over…and froze.
Sitting in the seat beside him, slumped over and seemingly fast asleep, was a familiar girl with a sky blue bob-cut, dressed in traveling clothes and a pink cloak. The Oni maid who had called him her Hero: Rem. She had been brought with them, even in her comatose state, to the Tower of Pleiades, where they hoped that they might find a cure for her condition, after both her Name and Memories had been eaten by the Archbishop of Gluttony, Lye Batenkaitos.
While Lye had been killed, Rem still had not woken up.
So why…?
Why was she stirring now?
“Your efforts have not been in vain,” said Do-Jae, causing Subaru to turn his gaze towards him. The Korean man lifted his head, revealing a pair of green eyes beneath the shadowy brim of his hat that showed utmost sympathy, as if he knew all the trials and tribulations that he had gone through. “All the pain, all the suffering, all the deaths…all of it has not been in vain.”
He trembled. “You…you know?” he asked, his voice shaking, “This isn’t like Echidna, right?”
The man shook his head. “It isn’t. I have seen everything in your journey thus far…maybe even a little further.” He smiled wryly. “I couldn’t help but want to tweak things a little.” He glanced at Rem.
The blue haired maid began to stir, her eyes fluttering open as she began to wake up. Subaru’s line of thinking cut off as he turned to her immediately. “Rem? Rem!” he asked her, reaching out to touch her shoulder…but hesitated. Could this really be happening?
“This is all real. I told you…your efforts have not been in vain. Well, I did have to change a few things, but you won’t find anything bad.”
“What do you-?”
“Subaru…kun?”
That soft voice, slightly sleepy, once more cut across his consciousness. Rem had sat up in her chair, rubbing her eyes as she looked around. But then she saw him. “Subaru-kun!” she gasped, smiling brightly.
Before he could think or do anything else, Subaru’s arms were around her and he was holding her tight. “Rem…Rem!” he cried, tears overflowing, “I’m sorry…I’m so sorry that I took so long…I had no idea what to do when I found out that you were…!”
“Wait a moment,” Do-Jae said, waving his hand. A glass of water materialized in the cupholder in one of the chair’s arms. “She probably needs some. She has been asleep for a long time, right?”
“Asleep…yes, I was sleeping,” murmured the Oni, even as she hugged Subaru back, warmly, “The last thing I remember was encountering two Archbishops, along with Crusch-sama…”
“Yeah,” said Subaru thickly, nodding, “That bastard, Lye Batenkaitos, he stole your name and memories, so you fell asleep…i-it was some kinda suspended animation, so you were fine even though you were asleep for so long…”
“And you…you woke me up, Subaru-kun?”
Grimacing, he shook his head, glancing at Do-Jae. “No…this guy…well, a lot of things happened, and we suddenly ended up here. He says that he woke you up.”
“Nah, it wasn’t me that woke you,” he corrected him, “She was already going to wake up. However…for some reason, her memories would not have returned to her. I fixed that, at least.”
Subaru’s eyes widened, while Rem held her hero tightly. “I see…Subaru-kun saved her again…Rem’s hero saved her while she couldn’t do anything…Rem is glad.”
Do-Jae smiled. “Well, I figured the two of you could use a moment alone, after everything.”
Whoever this guy was, Subaru thought as he held Rem’s warm, soft body in his arms, he would at the very least hear him out. Unlike Echidna, Do-Jae had already done more for him than she ever did while trying to make him sign that damn contract with her.
“Ah, and let’s get one thing straight here,” the man said, holding up a finger, “No matter what, you will be able to leave here once things are finished, without giving up the things I might give you. That’d defeat the point of giving ‘em to you, after all.”
“Alright…so why are we here?” asked Subaru.
“Like I said, I’ll let you know once everyone gets here. Which should be right around…now.”
Suddenly, flashes of light poured into the theater, blinding both Subaru and Rem. A moment later, the large space was filled with a cacophony of voices, all raised in surprise and shock.
“Wh-Where are we, in fact?!”
“Weren’t we…at the tower?”
“Master?”
The theater was suddenly filled with dozens of people, all of whom he recognized. He was relieved to see Emilia, as well as his contracted spirit, Beatrice. But most shocking was…
‘Wait, ‘master?’’ Subaru’s eyes widened as he realized that one of the voices belonged to a woman he’d recently met during his journey to the Watchtower. The brown haired girl who wore nothing but a small bikini top, short shorts and a cloak. Her name was… “Sh-Shaula?”
The girl’s head immediately swiveled to lock onto him. “MASTER!” she cried, bounding towards him. Shaula wrapped her arms around Subaru in a tight hug, nuzzling her head against him. “Do you see? I’m somehow okay!”
“H-How…you were…?” Subaru glanced over to Do-Jae, who waved with a shit-eating on his face. “Damn, I’m racking up a serious debt to this guy out of nowhere…”
“Free of charge!” laughed the Plague Monarch.
“Subaru…” He heard Emilia murmur. The silver haired half-elf made a beeline straight for him, accompanied by the rest of her camp. Not only were Beatrice and Ram, Rem’s twin, with her, as they’d all gone to the Watchtower together, but he even spotted Otto Suwen and Garfiel Tinzel running towards them.
“Subaru, do you have any idea what’s going on, I suppose?” asked the Great Spirit who had the appearance of a small girl, her golden hair done in drills. She regarded him with an expression of mild irritation, which failed to hide the look of both worry and relief in her blue and pink eyes for him.
“Well…” As Shaula broke from the hug, Subaru pointed at Do-Jae. “Not exactly…but I do know he has something to do with it.”
Everyone started in surprise, their mysterious host having completely escaped their notice until now. “Um…excuse me, but…who are you?” asked Emilia directly.
“An’ don’t think you can worm your way out of answerin’!” declared Garfiel, the young, rather buff blond boy glowering intimidatingly at the man in the wizard hat.
The merchant and camp internal affairs officer Otto, on the other hand, tried to take a more diplomatic approach. “I don’t know if you can threaten him, Garfiel. Look, we don’t have to fight. We just want to know where we are, so if you could please tell us, mister…?”
“My name…well, I expect that most of you lot might have a bit of trouble pronouncing it, so just for the sake of making things easier, you can just refer to me as Douji.” Do-Jae extended his hand. “Nice to meet you, Otto-san.”
The merchant blinked. “You know my name…?” he asked, shocked.
“Isn’t that nice, Otto? Someone finally knows who you are!” said Emilia, bracingly.
Ram would have most likely replied with a scathing comment, but her attention was completely taken up by the girl who was her blue-haired mirror. “Rem?” she asked quietly, “You…you are Rem, right?”
“Nee-sama!” Rem smiled warmly, quickly bracing her older sister in a tight hug. There was a tiny bit of hesitation, before the pink-haired girl gave a tentative smile of her own and hugged her back.
“You’re Rem, right?” Rem glanced over at Emilia, who was looking at her with wide eyes. “It’s ever so nice to finally meet you.”
Both the blue-haired girl and Subaru paused, Emilia’s words registering in their minds, before he shot a questioning look at Do-Jae- or Douji, as he was calling himself now.
The man shrugged. “Unfortunately, her Name still hasn’t returned to her with the death of Lye Batenkaitos,” he said apologetically, “Restoring her memories is a relatively simple matter, but the loss of a Name goes far beyond that.”
“If it’s so simple…can nyou give Crusch-sama her memories back?” asked someone else.
Subaru’s eyes widened as he realized that the Emilia camp were hardly the only people now occupying the theater. “Felix…!” he spoke up, surprised.
The effeminate, brunette catboy’s body language was nervous, but there was a hunger in his eyes as he gazed at Douji. “Please…Ferris doesn’t knyow who you are, but if you can really help Crusch-sama, then…!”
“I can do it easily.” Douji answered immediately. “Ailments are my domain, after all.”
‘That tracks, with a guy who calls himself the Plague Monarch,’ thought Subaru. He didn’t voice that thought, however; no need to unnecessarily freak people out just yet.
“If you really can, I implore you to help her.” A new voice was heard. This one belonged to an old man in a butler uniform, straight-backed as he stood beside a young woman. Crusch Karsten, with her long, dark green hair, clearly had seen better days; her hair was dull, she had half her face wrapped in bandages, and seemed barely conscious, let alone able to sit up on her couch. “Of course, there will be compensation-”
“Do you people not listen to me? That’s free of charge,” sighed Douji, “Whatever, it’s clear I’m gonna be repeating myself.”
“Ain’t nothin’ free in this world,” drawled Anastasia Hoshin, a bitter expression on her face. She was accompanied by her Forgotten Knight, Julius Juukulius, and currently being swarmed by her three Kitten Demihuman children. She held onto her scarf tightly as the final member of her camp, the wolf demihuman Ricardo, was the last of her camp to come into the theater. “You wouldn’ta brought all of us here just to hand out gifts. You want somethin’ from us, don’tcha?”
“Mineself agrees with the vixen. One who claims to have that much power would not waste their talents without acquiring something in return.” The so-called ‘Sun Princess,’ Priscilla Barielle, stood at the head of the room with a red and black fan over her face, glaring daggers at Douji. “I demand that you cease entertaining the ceaseless chattering of these commoners and elaborate on what exactly you have in mind for us!”
“I hate to agree with that broad, but c’mon, you can’t just pull us all away from what we were doing and leave us in the dark like this!” asked a petite girl, lounging off to the side. She had blonde hair and scarlet red eyes, and wore typical thief’s clothing, all topped with a blue scarf. “You got all the answers, so spill!” The former thief, Felt, was accompanied by her own Knight: the tall, red-haired, blue eyed Sword Saint, Reinhard van Astrea.
“Now, now, I’m sure aaaaaaaaall will be revealed in due time~” came the familiar, unwelcome drawl of one Margrave Roswaal L. Mathers.
“Why ‘da hell are you here?!” growled Garfiel, “Oi, big-hat! What’re you tryin’ ta pull, bringin’ this snake here?”
“Big-hat, huh? Very new. Completely original.” But the mysterious man shook his head, raising his hands. “Well, now that everyone’s here and getting themselves settled, I might as well explain why I’ve gathered you all…well, while I see to Crusch-san, at least.”
“Can you really help her?” Subaru asked, Emilia nodding to emphasize the question. While Crusch was her political rival, the half-elf certainly didn’t want her to suffer as much as she had. And Subaru had grown to develop a form of fondness for the duchess, which had only made things all the more devastating when she had been left bedridden after the Archbishop of Lust had infected her with Dragon’s Blood.
Douji shrugged, even as he stood up and walked towards the Crusch camp’s area. “Like I said, ailments are my specialty. Of course, that includes curing them. Ah, speaking of, I could get rid of those curses you have as well, Subaru.”
Beatrice’s eyes widened. “But…not even Betty was able to get rid of them…the curses inside his body are the only things keeping him alive, I suppose!” she protested
“Because they balance each other out, yes, I’m aware. However, the laws of magic in your world are not the laws that I abide by.”
He said it so casually, but there was an unmistakable weight to his words that had everyone within earshot on guard.
“So…you’re super strong, right?” asked the lone girl of the Pearlbaton siblings, Mimi, directly.
Douji smirked as he passed her. “Not the strongest…but I’d like to think I’m up there.”
“You can’t be that much stronger than Rein.” Felt deadpanned as she looked over to her knight.
“My combat prowess isn’t important here and can be boasted about later. Right now, I have a patient, and you all need to see something.” He knelt down in front of Crusch. “Crusch-san? Are you aware of what’s going on?”
The woman stirred, her lone eye opening, hazy with pain. “...Yes,” she said quietly.
“I’m going to remove your Curse from you and restore your memories. Are you alright with that?”
She blinked slowly. “You’re asking me that, seeing the state I’m in…?” she asked, a hint of incredulity in her strained voice.
Douji snorted. “If you’re cognizant enough to answer clearly, then you ought to be able to choose for yourself.”
Crusch eyed him for a moment. “...Please,” she murmured, closing her eye.
He nodded seriously, and held out his hand. As everyone watched, he curled his fingers and pulled at something.
“Be Cured.”
It was just the two words, but they thrummed with power, vibrating through people’s bones. The duchess let out a gasp, stiffening, but moments later, her back straightened. “That’s…it’s gone. Just like that?” she asked, looking down at her hands, her skin now completely unmarred by bruising and pulsating veins. Reaching up, she unraveled the bandages around her face, wincing as her other eye was exposed to light (as dim as it was) for the first time in a while.
Simultaneously, Subaru’s eyes went wide as he felt two forces within him suddenly fall silent, dissipating like smoke in the wind in the face of that single command.
“Just like that,” agreed the mysterious man, smiling. “Now for the other part.” He put his hand on Crusch’s head. “Remember.”
The green haired woman went still, her eyes widening, before going distant. Douji released her, standing up and backing away. “It might take a moment, since she has to re-integrate the old memories alongside her new ones,” he commented, “How she handles that is up to her.”
“But…she’ll be okay, right?” asked Emilia, looking at the Plague Monarch with hope.
“Well sure, physically she’s right as rain.”
“F-Ferris thanks you!” The catboy knight declared, bowing deeply to him.
“It’s no problem. She’s someone that I believed has been dealt a most unfortunate hand by fate. And, I’m sure Subaru doesn’t mind either, right?”
“Of course not,” replied the black haired young man, shaking his head, “I’d have taken all of that Dragon’s Blood Curse if she hadn’t stopped me.”
“Hmm…knowing how things go, if you had, most likely it would have unbalanced the Curses already inside you and thoroughly screwed you over.”
He grimaced. “I can’t even deny that that’s how things tend to go in my experience.”
Douji smiled grimly. “And on that note, it’s finally time for me to explain why you all are here!” There was a flicker, and suddenly he was gone, reappearing at the foot of the room, beneath the big screen.
“Pardon me…what is all this?” The red haired knight of Felt, Reinhard van Astrea, finally spoke up. “I’ve never seen any sort of place like this before…or rather, it feels like a theater, but far more sophisticated than anything I’ve ever seen.”
“Ah. Well, this is about a hundred or so years worth of technology does for you in my world. I’m sure Subaru would be adept at explaining all this.”
Beatrice huffed, tossing one of her enormous ringlets over her shoulder haughtily. “Naturally, Betty’s Subaru has told Betty all about his homeland, in fact. This is a ‘movie theater,’ I suppose?”
“Homeland?” Otto asked, raising an eyebrow. “Natsuki-san tried explaining it to us, but…we couldn’t really understand it.”
“We’ll get into that shortly,” Douji replied, “After all, seeing is believing.”
“What’s a movie theater, Beatrice-sama?” asked an orange-haired young girl, dressed in a maid uniform.
“Allow me, Petra!” began Subaru, perking up with a grin, “In my homeland, while we still have traditional stageplays, our ability to tell stories has grown to the point where we can capture images in motion and then display them over and over again!”
Everyone else in the room looked at him in a mix of confusion, amazement, and skepticism. Douji stifled a laugh, but did not contradict him.
“Wow! A glimpse of lost technology from a hitherto undiscovered land?! This Liliana simply must see it with my own eyes!” cried out a petite, tanned girl with blonde hair, her eyes shining with wonder.
“I’m very sorry, Subaru-sama. It is not that I doubt you, but it is very difficult for me to grasp,” admitted a blonde woman in a maid costume, similar to Petra. She had green eyes and the same straw-colored hair as Garfiel, standing much taller than most of the other people in the room.
“I’m likewise having trouble wrapping my head around this,” said Ram, looking flatly at the strange mage, “Are you telling us that you pulled ALL of us, all of these people, away from what we were doing just so that we would, what? View a story?”
“That about sums it up, yes,” agreed Douji.
“Come on…there’s gotta be something else to it, right?” asked a blue-haired girl, around Petra’s age.
“Umm…why is…Meili here?” asked the young maid slowly, eyes wide as she regarded her former friend with apprehension.
“Any good father would want to make sure his daughter is safe and sound, right?” replied Douji, giving Subaru a knowing grin.
“Exactly!” Subaru replied with a nod, before he paused. “Hang on, you even know about that?!”
“I know many things. Which brings me to the topic of what I will be having you all watch! Ah, don’t worry if you have something urgent going on back home; once this is all over and done with, I will be sure to return you to the exact point in time that you left.”
“But…shouldn’t something like that be impossible?!” asked Crusch, who had been quiet for quite a while, finally recovering from her stupor. She was absently patting a crying Felix on the back.
“Quite sooooo. There isn’t a spell like that in existence.” agreed Roswaal.
“Can you people listen properly? I told you before: I’m not bound by your world’s rules of magic.” Douji sighed, shaking his head. “Now then…what you will be viewing will not be an ordinary story. What you will be witnessing…is the full, true story of Natsuki Subaru.”
Subaru froze.
“About Subaru…?” Emilia tilted her head in confusion. “I mean…I don’t mind, but…why?”
“I’d quite like to know that myself,” said a new voice, belonging to a lovely young woman with long, blonde hair and blue-violet eyes, “More importantly…why am I here?”
Emilia gasped in delight. “Sylphy! Hi!”
The young woman gave her savior a small smile. “It’s nice to see you again, Emilia-sama…though my question still stands.”
Douji shrugged. “I thought you might like the opportunity to make new friends?”
“I gotta ask,” said the more logical brother of the Pearlbaton siblings, Tivey, adjusting the monocle on his face, “Why would we need to view Subaru-san’s story? We already know what he’s accomplished since the royal selection started.”
“Mmm…” nodded the final member of the triplets, Hetaro.
“Barusu’s journey shouldn’t be so important that we have to be dragged all the way here to view it,” scoffed Ram, “He is a man with strangely good timing, that’s all.”
Rem, however, sat up straighter. “Rem wants to see it,” she protested, eyes shining much like Liliana’s had, “Rem has missed out on…so much, since I was last awake. There are so many people that Rem has never seen before, who all seem to know Subaru-kun…Rem wants to see how Subaru became a Hero for them.”
“My divine self hopes you have something more entertaining to show. That commoner’s achievements have already been displayed and shown to us.”
However, the amusement on Douji’s face faded away. “What you know is only the results,” he said, his words bearing that terrible weight again, making everyone squirm a little. “Not one of you truly knows the effort that has gone into achieving them. Some of you may suspect it, but in reality, you know nothing of the heroism of Natsuki Subaru.”
“...Show them.”
Those within earshot looked at Subaru, confused, as he uttered those words in a hoarse voice. His head was bowed, as if bearing a great weight himself. “...Douji-san. You really know about it, don’t you? All of it?”
Douji nodded. “That’s right. My intent is to let them see the full truth. The full story.”
The black-haired young man bit his lip. “Is that alright?” he asked, looking around furtively, “Are you able to deal with…her?”
While everyone else wondered who he could be talking about, their host replied, “Don’t worry. I guarantee, on my title as a Monarch, that she will not interfere. Not now…and not in the future.”
A shudder ran through Subaru. Could this really be happening? Was the burden he’d been forced to bear in silence for all this time finally about to be shared? “I dunno about all that stuff about ‘true heroism,’ but do it. Let them see everything,” he replied, raising his head to look into Douji’s glowing green eyes, his own eyes narrowed in determination. “Whatever comes from it, I’ll take it head on.”
Ricardo gave a whistle. “Damn, Nii-chan. Those’re some nice-sounding words!” he laughed.
Emilia smiled. “There have always been a lot of things I’ve wondered about you, Subaru,” she admitted, “Are you really alright letting us see your secrets?”
“Well…I guess there’ll be a few things that’ll be embarrassing to have Emilia-tan see,” he answered, wincing, before grinning, “But the fact that you wanna learn about me fills my heart to bursting!”
Rem gave a giggle, even as she squeezed his hand. “Rem is excited to witness her hero’s journey.”
Subaru smiled…but there was an edge to it that suddenly made her uneasy. “...I’ll enjoy that excitement while it lasts.”
“I’m very sure there are trials you have had to overcome,” said the purple haired knight of Anastasia, Julius. “But it is nothing that should be too hard to witness.”
As the black-haired young man opened his mouth (what would come out of it, even he didn’t know), Douji caught his eye, and shook his head. “Please keep the spoilers to a minimum, as a favor,” he said, “The best anime experience is watching completely blind, you know.”
Grimacing, Subaru leaned back in his seat…then blinked. “Wait, an anime? Is this one of those scenarios where my life’s story is an anime in another world? Who the hell would wanna watch an anime about me of all people!?”
“That’s what we’re here to do, Nii-chan!” laughed Ricardo.
“I find myself agreeing with the half-wit’s knight, honestly,” sniffed Priscilla, hiding her face behind her fan, though her red eyes looked particularly bored.
Ram huffed. “Whether we like it or we hate it, we have no choice but to watch the events of Barusu’s life up until now in the form of…whatever an anime is.”
Their host snorted. “Well, some like it, and some hate it…but those who dislike it are because of you,” he admitted, before his expression softened. “But those who love following the story do so because of you as well.”
“Ha! Anyone would love to see the story of a pure and lovely maiden like myself!” The pink Oni boasted proudly.
“I don’t get halfa’ this shit, but count me in!” Garfiel followed up, “The Cap’n’s always been one hell of a guy, so I’ll always be up for seein’ how things went before he came ta Sanctuary!”
“Not only that,” Douji began, his eyes on Anastasia and her camp. “But, you will also get to witness technology from Beyond the Great Waterfall and even play around with it some.”
The purple-haired woman could not suppress a twitch. “...Damnit,” she muttered, seeing his smirk, “I trust that it’s all real? You’re not tryna scam a gal like me, are ya?”
“Nope. I don’t need to, and I’m also not smart enough to convincingly fake technology.”
Anastasia turned to her knight. “Make sure you write down everything we see, Julius.”
The purple haired knight pulled out a pen and paper from thin air, ready to go. “Of course, Anastasia-sama.”
“Then shall we proceed, Moooooooonarch-san?” asked Roswaal, sitting apart from the Emilia Camp but just behind them. They gave him foul looks, especially Garfiel and Petra, while Subaru just made a face at being reminded of his presence. Ram bit her lip, looking from her master to her sister, not sure who she wanted to sit with for the moment.
“I don’t understand any of this,” Felt declared with a nod of her head as she crossed her arms, before grinning. “But, that doesn't mean I’m gonna miss out! Watching Onii-chan’s journey could be really cool!”
“For once, the street rat says something I can agree with,” said Priscilla loftily.
Beatrice huffed. “Betty already knows that her Subaru is the greatest…however, Betty will not say no to watching a story about him, I suppose.”
“It seems we have reached an agreement?” Douji asked, only to notice a raised hand from Petra. “Yes, Petra-san?”
“This won’t take very long, right?” asked Petra. “I would love to watch Subaru-sama’s story too, but we all have duties…”
“Not to worry. As I said, I will return you all to the moment that you left. Time runs very slow here. What takes hours, or maybe even days in this dimension will take only a few seconds in your world.”
“That’s the type of outlandish claim even Barusu wouldn’t make,” replied Ram doubtfully.
“He’s…not lying,” Crusch uttered, her eyes wide. “But…surely that would beg to question your state of mind…” Her amber eyes landed on the Sword Saint.
Reinhard shook his head. “He’s perfectly sound and sane.”
Douji laughed. “Thank you for the assurance, Reinhard.”
“Even besides us returning to the moment we left,” said Sylphy, “You imply that we will be here for a long time. What about food?”
“Don’t worry, there will be plenty of food, as well as boarding. There are facilities beyond the theater for you to peruse at your leisure, in between episodes.”
Anastasia frowned. “Even so, I don’ think I’ve ever heard of a play lastin’ so long the audience had to watch over multiple days.”
“Oh, if we did nothing but watch, you could probably finish within a day or so,” admitted the man, shrugging, “But we won’t be going that route.”
“Why not?” asked Felt reasonably.
“Because even besides the fact that this is not merely a story, but a true retelling of events…this series will be a lot to absorb, on many levels. You will be limited to a few episodes a day, for the sake of your emotional and mental health, not to mention Subaru’s.”
“Thanks for your consideration,” deadpanned Subaru.
“Now, then…take your seats.” Douji clapped his hands, and the lights began to dim. Everyone gathered in their own groups, sitting in the couches. “Oh yeah, also, a treat from my world.”
Appearing in the compartments of the couches the camp members were sitting in, were medium sized buckets of popcorn. To their shock, there were also bottles of water with the popcorn as well.
“What is…this?” asked Emilia, staring at the bucket in confusion and curiosity.
“That is called popcorn, Emilia-san,” Douji replied, “A staple of moviegoers everywhere.”
“Ha. This food can’t possibly compare to my steamed potatoes!” Ram huffed confidently, even as she took a piece and tossed it in her mouth. “Hmph. As I thought…” She took another. And another. Her eye twitched, but she raised no further objections.
“Mmm!” Petra smiled happily as she took a bite of her own, crunching on it. “This is really good!”
Soon, the rest of the group each took a bite of the popcorn, and all of them were amazed at the new combination of flavors that they had never tasted before. It made sense, as far as Do-Jae was aware, they hadn’t had this type of food before.
“Man, I remember stuffing my face with this stuff when I went to the movies,” Subaru said to himself, a small, nostalgic smile on his face.
“Now, are all of you comfortable?” Douji asked. “Then it’s time to begin. It is my privilege to present to you all…Re:Zero.”
And with that announcement, the screen lit up, and began to play.
NS: Kept you all waiting, huh? To be honest, we’ve had this and a big ol’ chunk of episode 1 sitting in a doc for a long time. Things stalled out for a while though, because transcribing Episode 1’s scenes and dialogue, and writing everyone’s reactions to it all, is an absolutely Sisyphean undertaking.
However, we had this initial part written up and decided, what the hell? Why not give you all a prologue? That being said, DO NOT EXPECT AN UPDATE ANYTIME SOON. That’s not to say that this project is dead, but it is going to take a while to finish episode 1.
HK: Watching an episode while doing reactions, and trying to cross reference with details from the WN and LN is quite the process, but if that’s what is required to give the best project possible, that’s what we’ll do. It’ll just…take some time.
NS: Also, as can be inferred, Do-Jae Collins, known henceforth in this fic as Douji, is an OC of ours, originally from a Solo Leveling fic we started…which has also stalled for the time being.
…Ahem. <_<’
Anyway, unlike most ‘host’ characters for these fics, he has the characters’ (mostly Subaru’s) best interests at heart, and is not doing this out of sadism. More frustration at how, if left alone, no one will ever be able to understand the lengths Subaru has gone to for their sakes.
HK: Admittedly, we grew tired of that same trope over and over again. Even if the hosts are not ‘supposed’ to be that, there’s nothing else you can interpret it when you have host characters sit back and do fuck all as people reach shitty conclusions, or seemingly go out of their way to torture the cast.
NS: Another thing we’re sick of, as we talked about at length in the comments section of Zero P, is the trope of Subaru being rendered unconscious/comatose by the host, and thus unable to interact with the rest of the cast and address their reactions himself. To say this is a grossly wasted opportunity is an understatement, and something that we can squarely pin the blame on WHDAAA for starting as a trend. Of course, the one time a react fic had him be awake, they still had him…be unable to fully interact with the others, and also terribly mischaracterized him by treating him like an invalid or child whose opinions didn’t matter. Not naming any names here, but if you know, you know.
HK: It gets fucking worse when you also remember the harem plot lines in some of the fics as well, or at the very least, the growing relationship between Subaru and Rem/Emilia out of fucking nowhere from his perspective. Can you imagine how many emotions dude would have to process, even though he’s been knocked for GOD KNOWS HOW LONG?! Instead, I don’t know, have them processed while he’s awake?!
NS: Oh, and let’s not forget the ‘post-reaction’ fics where everyone unanimously decides to keep the fact that they know Subaru’s secrets FROM SUBARU. You know, the one person who has the biggest right to know out of any of them?
It doesn’t help that I’ve never been a fan of excessive secret keeping in isekai series. Sure, sometimes it’s warranted, but if you keep things like that a secret even from your closest allies, never trusting them with the truth…it makes it hard to buy that they’re all that close. Like, shit, HOW many movies and TV show episodes did we watch growing up that showed how bad of an idea keeping secrets was? So why do anime and web novels get a free pass on that shit, huh??
HK: Hoo man, that’s a rant for another day…but for now, hope you enjoyed the prologue. See you all for chapter 1…whenever that comes out.
NS: We hope it will tide you all over until the day we finally finish episode 1. Anything beyond that…only god knows.