A/N: Bzzt! Bzzt! This fanfiction uses several elements from future arcs. I apologize, but this is mainly for light novel/web novel readers. I'll be using elements from arcs four, five, and six.

Return to Zero

"You have to be shitting me," Subaru cursed under his breath as he clenched his fists.

Fate had been especially cruel to Subaru this day. Even though he was previously pitted against an Archbishop of the Witch's Cult, he was still able to come out of that predicament unscathed. It was thanks to what Subaru called the 'Reinhard button', but he was still proud of the fact that he was able to hold out until the Sword Saint's arrival.

"What a fortuitous day this is, ~tsu! To finally meet our hero."

But now Subaru had to face yet another Archbishop in the same day mere minutes after Reinhard disposed of Greed.

As the appearance of a warped child stood in front of him, Subaru grit his teeth. "'Hero'? There's already been a time where someone thought I was in league with you guys, so I'd appreciate it if you stopped singing my praises."

The Archbishop's tongue crept out of his wide smirk. "No, no, that won't do. After all, our feelings for you has nothing to do with your stink, ~tsu. You're the only person to blame for our pure and earnest feelings for you. Perhaps a repeat of our affection is in order." the Archbishop chuckled as saliva spewed everywhere.

In anticipation of the Archbishop's assault, Subaru clutched his chest with his hand to ready himself to counter. "Again, you're not making any sense. Are you sure you're not mixing me up with somebody else? One of your own already made that mistake with me."

Mimicking 'her' voice, the Archbishop continued, "There's no way that we're the ones in error. Just by looking at you, you're obviously our beloved Subaru-kun, ~tsu."

It felt as if Subaru had been punched in the gut as he stared wide-eyed at the Archbishop. "What… did you just say?" he asked slowly.

Licking his lips, the Archbishop asked sinisterly, "Tell me, ~tsu. Has big sister been well?"

His composure quickly crumbling, Subaru demanded with bloodlust, "Who the hell are you? Which sin are you?!"

"Have you truly forgotten about us? That is a shame, but it's fine. All that means is that we have to start from square one. No, from zero, ~tsu!" taunted the Archbishop, his lips curving into an impossible smile.

"GLUTTOOOOONY!" Subaru roared from the top of his lungs as he charged the Archbishop.

Despite developing a cool head after braving the horrors of this world for over the past year, Subaru abhorred Gluttony, perhaps even more than he despised Betelgeuse. Once the Archbishop mimicked his beloved, Subaru's rage won over his wits.

With his provocation bearing fruit, Gluttony lunged out towards Subaru. "Gotcha, ~tsu."

Once Gluttony was less than a meter in front of him, Subaru quickly realized his fatal mistake and clutched his chest. "Tch! Invisible Pro—"

But it was too late. Gluttony had already placed his hand atop Subaru's chest. As everything started to fade to black, Subaru heard the Archbishop's next words.

"Thanks for the meal, ~tsu."

…

"Despite it being natural that the common riffraff sleep on the floor, I once again ask that you wake up. You're dirtying the streets."

"Dorwazu!" Subaru let out a strange cry as he felt a sharp pain somewhere on his face. After he bolted up from the ground, Subaru quickly discovered blood trickling down from his nose. "Is that any way to wake somebody up?! If this happened to me back home, I would sue you for assault—" Subaru's protests finally died down once he laid eyes upon a woman wearing an extravagant red dress which caused a sigh to escape from his lips. "Oh, I should have known. I honestly don't know how Al is able to stand you."

To shield herself from the boy's repulsiveness, Priscilla protected her face with her fan as she berated him. "Is that any way to show gratitude towards someone who went out of her way to wake you? I realize you're a peasant, but perhaps I should force some manners into you." Recalling the name the boy spoke, Priscilla questioned, "Are you an acquaintance of my personal knight?"

Once he got back on his feet, Subaru spat back, "Hah? Don't play dumb. I know I leave too much of an impression to be forgotten, even by you."

Priscilla quickly lost interest in the boy as she turned away from him. "Regardless, I don't have time to chat with a commoner. Spare me from your unattractive sight and begone from here."

Not having the time to dispute with her, Subaru merely let out a sigh as he went the other way and turned into a nearby alley. Before allowing himself to vent, Subaru checked both ends of the alley to make sure nobody was around.

"Damn it all!" Subaru cursed as he punched the wall with every ounce of his strength. Pulling back his damaged hand, he admonished himself. "If Emilia-tan were here, she'd call me a dunderhead. Beako is going to heal me in the end, so I'm only causing her more problems this way. I really am a dunderhead..."

He pressed his forehead against the cold wall. As tears started to take shape in his eyes, Subaru lamented. "Damn it. God dammit! That was my chance to get Rem back, and I blew it. Gluttony was so close that I could wring the life out of him, but I lost my head."

As he ran his hands across his own body in an attempt to find any clues, Subaru wondered, "What the hell did he do to me? Did he try taking my memories like he did with Crusch, or did he try to erase my existence like he did with…"

"Well, I'm not comatose and I clearly still remember who I am. I could see Betelgeuse's Unseen Hand, so maybe I have a way of fighting off Gluttony's authority," Subaru concluded after seeing that nothing was visibly wrong with himself.

With a strong desire to face against the Archbishop once again, Subaru's hand subconsciously went for his knife. "Maybe I should go back and… No, I have to see how things are with everyone. Maybe someone managed to capture or kill Gluttony."

After he spent a full minute ruminating the idea of using Return by Death, Subaru reluctantly set aside the idea of turning back the clock for now. "I probably shouldn't get my hopes but, so I'll start by meeting up with Emilia-tan and Beako." Subaru muttered quietly to himself.

What followed was the most harrowing experience Subaru had ever experienced.

"Who are you?" Emilia questioned as she tilted her head to the side.

"...Huh?" Subaru gawked in response.

Drawing closer to Emilia's side stood a little girl with blonde hair that was swirled into drills. Through eyes that could be described as butterflies, she gazed at the boy. "Don't stare so foolishly at my contractor, I suppose. Also, as a person of the opposite sex, I won't allow you to get too close to Emilia."

Still baffled by their response, Subaru could only utter in response, "Beako...?"

"Who is this 'Beako' person, I wonder? I sincerely hope you're not referring to me," Beatrice questioned, her arms crossed over her chest.

In front of Subaru stood two of the most important people in his life with one of them being the person he wanted to marry, and yet they gazed at him as if he were a stranger. "Who else would I be talking about? D-Don't joke around!" Subaru desperately pleaded.

The conversation she had with an unfamiliar purple-haired knight fresh in her mind, Emilia delicately asked, "Umm... Excuse me, but you wouldn't happen to have been attacked by Gluttony too, have you?"

Emilia's question was like a punch in the gut for Subaru. Despite the answer being an obvious "yes", Subaru protested what the half-elf implied, "I… I was, but I still have my memories and I'm still awake. Whatever he was trying to do to me, I don't think it worked."

With her hand pressed against her chest, Emilia somberly replied, "But even though you seem to know me, I honestly have no idea who you are."

After he received another heavy blow to his crushed spirit, Subaru turned his gaze to the ground as he slowly asked, "You mean… like with Rem?"

"E-Eh? How do you know about her? I thought everyone besides Beatrice had forgotten her," Emilia nervously asked. She was surprised to hear that name spoken.

At the mention of that person's name, Beatrice narrowed her eyes on the boy and warned her contractor, "Emilia, this one is dangerous, in fact. The only people in the entire world who should know about the younger maid are those who I've told and those who belong to the Witch's Cult. Naturally, you can only belong to one of these categories, I suppose."

"Hold on a second! Are you accusing me of being in league with the Witch's Cult?!" Subaru snapped. Turning in desperation towards the half-elf, Subaru took a step closer to her as he rashly spoke, "Emilia! You believe me, ri—"

The next thing Subaru knew was that his world was spinning. Of course, he had experienced this sensation before, but never this violently. After being blasted off of his feet, his face made an intense impact with the concrete wall.

Even though the boy in front of her wailed in pain, Beatrice kept her palm aimed at him as she threatened the boy. "I already warned you not to step any closer to Emilia. If you make the same mistake again, you may end up losing your life, I suppose."

As Emilia continued to watch the boy writhe on the floor in agony, she noticed blood trickling from his head. Several seconds later, after the blood fountained down from the wound and dripped onto the floor from his chin, Emilia became petrified with her hand covering her mouth.

"Beatrice! You went too far! You should never hurt someone that badly because of mere suspicion!" scolded Emilia as she took a step closer to the injured boy.

Beatrice positioned her arm to prevent her contractor from going to his aid. "He'll live. More importantly, your top priority should be staying away from that man. Did you not hear my warning, I wonder?"

Once Subaru's pain died down to endurable levels, he heard someone speak to him. "That must have hurt quite a bit. I apologize for my inability to catch you in time."

Though he was still reeling from the pain, Subaru opened one of his eyes to find that familiar knight standing over him. "Reinhard…?"

Once he wrapped a bandage around the boy's head, Reinhard turned to the Great Spirit. "Miss Beatrice, allow me to apologize on this person's behalf if he has done anything to offend you. That being said, wounding him like this is going too far."

After she lowered her hand reluctantly, Beatrice justified herself. "Sword Saint, I have reason to believe this boy is conspiring with the Witch's Cult, I suppose."

In response to Beatrice's warning, Reinhard's eyes widened. "That's quite the assertion. Please forgive me for questioning the wisdom of a Great Spirit, but would you mind stating your reasons for believing such?" Reinhard inquired.

As she continued to scrutinize the boy, Beatrice informed Reinhard, "Like the cultists, that boy remembers those who have been erased from existence, I suppose."

Everyone forgetting about him had already ruined Subaru at his core, but to be labeled as a cultist by quite possibly the person he trusted the most sent him further into a spiraling rage.

Subaru had lost another part of himself. Perhaps it was the last sliver of his sanity or goodwill. "Like hell that's enough to accuse me! We already have a special case like you that still remembers Rem! Before all of this happened tonight, I was close to you! So naturally we've talked about Rem—! "Subaru vehemently defended himself.

Beatrice pinched her nose. "Adding to that, that boy has the stench of the Witch. Frankly speaking, I can't stand that ghastly odor for much longer, I suppose," Beatrice continued nasally, her whole face tensing up from the smell.

"The Witch's scent…" Subaru uttered who couldn't think of a retort.

"Understood. I'll take your accusation seriously then," Reinhard conceded to the Great Spirit. He helped the boy sit up straight against the damaged wall, then the Sword Saint started to question him. "Forgive me for suspecting you, but I would like to ask you some questions. First and foremost, are you aligned with the Witch's Cult?"

Still in a blind fury, Subaru shouted, "Of course I'm not! I want all those bastards dead even more than you guys do! They're the reason why you can't remember me! It's Gluttony's fault!"

With his gaze turning apologetic, Reinhard continued to press the boy. "It seems you're rather passionate about the matter. I further ask for your forgiveness, but I'm afraid I cannot dismiss Beatrice's warning just yet. If you wouldn't mind—"

"Don't bother, Reinhard. Interrogation doesn't suit you."

Once Reinhard turned around to face him, Felix added with a hollow voice, "Just leave that to me."

In response to the clear frustration on the fellow knight's face, Reinhard gently argued, "Felix, such a task shouldn't fall on your shoulders at this time. You might come to a rash conclusion."

After he bit lip as to repress something from coming out, Felix spoke in a chillingly quiet voice that betrayed his unrest, "After all the casualties we have suffered today, we don't have anything to show for it. If this man knows anything about the Witch's Cult, we have to pry it from him no matter what."

"Even so, it would poorly reflect our sense of justice if we take such action with little evidence. Forgive me for my discourtesy, Miss Beatrice," Reinhard countered as he looked to the Great Spirit apologetically.

Once he finally lost his calm facade, Felix snapped. "Stop getting in my way, Reinhard! If Beatrice says he's a part of the Witch's Cult, then that's good enough, right?!" Not bothering to appeal to the Sword Saint, Felix turned his attention to the cultist in question and demanded, "You! If you don't want to be considered an enemy to us all, you better prove it to me right now!"

Unable to remain quiet in the face of their distrust, Subaru smacked his fist against the pavement as she roared back, "Prove what?! Isn't it supposed to be 'innocent until proven guilty'?! How the hell do I prove it to you?! Was helping you guys defeat the White Whale and Betelgeuse not enough?!"

"I don't remember any of that!" Felix shouted back as he drew closer to the boy.

In response to Felix's hostility, Reinhard quickly rose to his feet. "Felix, calm down. It would only be natural not to remember such things if Gluttony really did attack him," Reinhard pleaded.

As Reinhard restrained Felix, Beatrice let out a sigh as she drew closer to the boy. "If you two are going to continue your petty squabble, then I'll be taking over, I suppose."

"Don't you dare kill him!" Felix roared, unable to wrestle himself out of Reinhard's grasp.

Uninterested in the rioting knight, Beatrice scoffed. "Do you take me for an imbecile? I would have already blown him to smithereens if he couldn't be useful to us, I suppose."

"Bea…trice…" Subaru painfully uttered.

As she glared down at the boy at her feet, Beatrice entertained his pleas. "If you claim to have been a part of our faction, what exactly was your position, I wonder?"

"I was… Emilia's knight," Subaru answered slowly.

Although she was momentarily stunned, Beatrice's lips eventually curved into an amused smirk. "Her knight, you say? Your jokes could use some work. While Garfiel is rather crude, he has proven himself quite capable. You're telling me that Emilia chose you, someone who's even lower than Otto, over the likes of Garfiel, I wonder?"

For the first time tonight, Subaru dryly chuckled. "Man, Otto can't catch a break, can he?"

Once she lost the smile on her face, Beatrice listed off her pieces of evidence. "There's no doubt in my mind that you are one of them. Adding to my previous points, it makes sense for you to try and get close to Emilia since she's an objective of the cultists. The way I see it, you're in cahoots with Gluttony by using the confusion his authority is causing to approach Emilia. You should just give up, I suppose."

Although his chances of remaining unscathed were slim, Subaru held onto the hope that he could find the words to turn everything around; however, the situation was truly unmendable at this point. "And I thought things couldn't get any worse knowing Gluttony got away. This really is a 'bad end'. "I'll just have to prove my innocence to you guys another time." Subaru gently smiled as he rose to his feet.

"What are you saying, I wonder?" Beatrice questioned cautiously as she aimed her hand at the boy.

"I'm saying goodbye," Subaru spoke, his voice turning hollow. It was time for Subaru to use his last resort. Using the remainder of his strength, Subaru quickly reached for his pocket knife. Once it was in his grasp, he thrust the blade towards his neck—

"Hrk!" Subaru let out a groan as he felt a sharp yet fleeting impact not to his throat, but to the back of his head. The next thing he knew was that his world had gone black.

…

"Ugh…" Subaru groaned out in pain. After he gazed around at his surroundings through his blurred vision, Subaru winced. "Where the hell am—"

"...This is bad," Subaru muttered gravely as he took in the white walls and metal bars that surrounded him.

"This is bad. This is bad. This is bad. This is bad!" Subaru mentally panicked. Realizing that he was in a jail cell, Subaru desperately shouted, "Crap, I have to go back now!"

Subaru realized he couldn't end himself in one blow after he noticed that his pocket knife was taken. The only alternative…

With Beatrice absent, Subaru understood that he wouldn't be obstructed this time around, so he prepared his teeth. "I'll have to chomp my tongue off again."

Right before he resolved himself to kill himself that way, Subaru had an alternative idea. "Wait, I can also…!"

"Invisible Providence!" Subaru exclaimed as the shadowy hand protruded from his chest. Forcing the hand to loop back around, Subaru extended it back into his chest until his heart was being lightly touched.

As he felt Invisible Providence caressing his heart, Subaru closed his eyes and forced the hand to close into a fist until his heart burst. It was a quick and relatively painless death.

…

Unfortunately, the first sight Subaru beheld was the same white walls. Even after Returning by Death, he found himself in the jail cell once more. He went back in time by only by a mere few seconds.

The strength in his legs quickly left him. "You… can't be serious. This has to be some kind of bad joke," Subaru uttered in denial as he collapsed to the floor.

Subaru was faced with a situation in which he had no hope of escape, nor could he go back to a time to fix his current predicament. Even with the power to rewind time, he was stuck.

BAD END.

Even as he was sinking into despair, Subaru pondered a way to escape his cell. The two scenarios he came up with was to either use his Invisible Providence to try to either forcefully break out or by snagging the keys from the guards. Despite his scheming, Subaru quickly abandoned those plans. If they figured out that he could use Sloth's authority, that would only worsen his position.

"Oh? It seems that you're finally awake."

A person's sudden voice snapped Subaru out of his fruitless brainstorming. "Julius," he emotionlessly spoke once he faced the familiar knight.

After a fleeting moment of weakness passed him, Julius took a deep breath before he spoke. "It seems that what Miss Beatrice said was true. You can remember those who aren't remembered by anyone else."

At first, Subaru was merely baffled by the fellow knight's statement; however, it slowly dawned upon him what Julius was implying. "What are you talking about? You're not another victim of Gluttony, are you? You're still awake, so everyone should still remember you. Do you have amnesia then?" Subaru questioned who was still in disbelief that a knight as powerful as Julius was bested by the Archbishop.

"No, thankfully my memories were not taken. It seems that I've caught something in between the afflictions grieving Lady Crusch and this 'Rem' person that Beatrice spoke of. I am a person who has been forgotten by the world, like Miss Rem, but I am also a person who kept his consciousness like Lady Crusch. In my particular case, my memories remained intact," Julius corrected while leaning his back against the wall.

"'Forgotten by the world', 'kept his consciousness', 'memories intact'," Subaru repeated with a glint in his eyes. "That's exactly what happened to me," Subaru realized once he pieced together the facts.

It was such a simple conclusion, and yet it took Subaru just now to realize it. That there could be a third set of symptoms involving Gluttony's authority.

After he crossed his arms over his chest, Julius accused the prisoner, "Don't think you can fool me into believing that we're the same. You only retain your memory of me because you're conspiring with Gluttony."

"You're wrong! That's not—! Why is everyone saying that?!" Subaru snapped as he succumbed to his unrest once again.

Julius was completely unfazed by the boy's emotional outburst, so he continued with the interrogation. "Tell me, where exactly is our logic flawed? As a Spiritualist, I have high regards for the opinion of Lady Beatrice, and she said you have the Witch's scent, a trait exclusive to the cultists."

"Just because I smell a particular way doesn't mean that I'm aligned with them! Where do you people get off on deciding all of these things just because I smell like the Witch?!" Subaru shouted. He took several seconds to catch his breath. "I bathe everyday just like the rest of you," he said in a more quiet, almost meek voice.

After he brushed off the prisoner's assertions, Julius revealed the most damning piece of evidence. "Even I wouldn't accuse you just because someone prestigious says it, but I must ask of you, what was the purpose of drawing your knife?" Subaru's eyes widened in shock as he was reminded of that mistake. "No, you're wrong! I wasn't trying to hurt anyone!" Subaru pleaded desperately, fearing he was misunderstood.

"For once, we've come to an agreement, but Reinhard informed me that you pointed that knife towards yourself as if you were about to commit suicide. Thankfully, he managed to knock you out before that could happen," Julius explained.

"…"

When the captive finally quieted down, Julius attempted to rationalize his suicide attempt. "The conclusion we've drawn from that is you were trying to silence yourself. I doubt any of the Archbishops are self-sacrificing to the point where they would dispose of themselves to prevent any leaks of information, so you must be the likes of a lowly henchmen. Or perhaps you are comparable to the 'fingers' the Archbishop of Sloth used."

"…You're wrong," Subaru weakly murmured. It was all just another colossal misunderstanding. Of course, Subaru knew that he made some rash decisions, but even so, he truly believed that the fault goes to everyone who recklessly branded him a cultist. So what if he smelled like the Witch? So what if he remembered Rem? So what if it tried to kill himself?! What do they know?!

"What the hell do you know about me anyways?!" Subaru shouted using the culmination of all his feelings.

It seemed like the captive glared at him without pause for a whole minute before he slowly turned away. Julius took that as his resignation. "Regardless of what you say, you've already been branded a member of the Witch's Cult. Naturally, there will be no trial for you. If you would accept your fate and divulge your secrets to us that would lessen the burden on everyone, including you. Your death could be swift."

That wasn't an option for Subaru who had no choice but to hold on tightly to his beliefs. "Sorry, but if I let you kill me now, I'll only get myself stuck in an infinite loop. I have to last until at least Gluttony's authority comes undone so you all can remember me."

"If Reinhard were present, I'm sure he would urge for your torture to be postponed until Gluttony's authority comes undone. Much to Felix's relief, Reinhard isn't here." Julius sighed in response.

In anticipation of what's to come, Subaru shuddered as he let out a dry chuckle. "I've got some rough days ahead, huh."

"Which is why I said it would lessen your burden too," Julius continued to urge. Forgotten from the world and with the Witch's Cult to blame, Julius desired any kind of advantage over the Archbishop of Gluttony. If it meant he had to grant mercy to a cultist, then it was a small price to pay for information.

His lips formed a shaky grin, Subaru said, "Sorry, but I'm sticking to my innocence. I don't know anything about the Witch's Cult that you all don't already know."

Once again coming to an impasse with the captive, Julius decided to ask one more question. "Then you leave us little choice. Tell me your name, at least."

Having decided to withhold as much as possible, Subaru retorted, "My name's honestly not all that important. As I am now, I'm just a self-proclaimed knight. Kinda like you, I bet."

After his expression flared up momentarily, Julius shrugged his unrest off as he made his exit. "I'm used to such uncouth words, but I must admit you have a gift for making me lose my composure. I've given you my warning, so I'll be on my way now."

Julius opened the door to leave, but Subaru still had one last question he wanted answered. "Hey, I have to ask you something. How is Joshua doing? Did he believe you when you told him you were his older brother?"

Before he closed the door to leave, Julius remained calm this time as he blankly asked, "Who is Joshua?"

"...You have to be shitting me," Subaru cursed as his face lit up with disgust.

In the end, Julius completely dismissed Subaru's words as an attempt to further agitate him and closed the door without another word.

Despite Subaru's acclimation to pain, the next several weeks were a hell that Subaru couldn't have possibly prepared himself for.

It started with torture comparable to the pain Rem put him through in the loop where she cut of his leg and beat him with her chains. Despite the white walls around him getting stained red with his blood, Subaru would later wish to return to such simpler times.

As his cries of agony grew quieter, the usual torturers stopped making their appearance for a single knight took their place.

"Greetings. I hope you enjoyed your little warm up. Things are going to be much rougher from here on out, so I hope you can endure it before your mind gives out," Felix spoke with venom dripping from his voice

Broken on the floor, Subaru couldn't even move as he groaned in pain. "'Warmup'? The guys from yesterday said they were going to give me a nice and relaxing back massage and they ended up breaking my back. As someone who calls it quits for the day if he stubs his toe in the morning, I have to say that I'm definitely going to crack if you pressure me too hard."

Felix's lips curved into a sinister grin as he placed his hand on the captive and replied, "I suppose I'll have to keep that in mind then."

Right as Subaru felt something touch his shoulder, he was immediately assaulted by a wave of agony. "GYAAAAA!" Subaru immediately screamed out. How could he have forgotten? His body was possessed by Betelgeuse at the time, but Subaru definitely remembers this sensation. The feeling of his body fighting against him from the inside.

"Tell me how to cure Lady Crusch, and while you're at it, spill everything you know about Lust," Felix coldly demanded as he gave the captive a brief moment of reprieve for him to answer.

Of course, Subaru didn't know the answer to such things. Although Subaru managed to maintain a strong front until now, that quickly crumbled as he discovered a new level of misery. Before he was driven to madness, Subaru's final thought was that he probably wouldn't be able to call Felix a friend by the time this was all over with.

"We… We did it!" Emilia cheered as she thrust her arms into the air in celebration.

The accomplishment in question was the slaying of Gluttony in their entirety. Roughly one month ago, Emilia and her group set out for The Watchtower to find a method for undoing Gluttony's authority, but in a stroke of incredible luck, Gluttony made their appearance. While several problems arose from this, Reinhard's absurd battle power secured this victory.

"Rem… I remember my little sister," Ram breathlessly spoke. As an overpowering feeling took over, Ram bolted away from the group as she screamed, "I have to go to her now!"

"Ah, Ram, slow down, I suppose!" Beatrice warned as she and Emilia chased after her.

Once everyone save himself and one other person departed the room, Reinhard turned his attention towards the Sage and bowed to her. "Even if you haven't spoken a word to us, you have my thanks for your hospitality."

"It was nothing," the Sage sighed as she brushed off the Sword Saint's gratitude.

Until now, the Sage hadn't spoken a single word to any of them. If fact, the Sage treated them as if they didn't exist, so to hear her suddenly talk surprised the Sword Saint. "Oh, so you do understand me. I must confess that I thought a language barrier was separating us. If you don't mind my question, were you the one who attacked us out in the sand dunes?" Reinhard smiled from relief.

"Yep, sure was. I had very specific instructions to not let anyone near this Watchtower," the Sage nonchalantly replied as she gazed nonchalantly down at the sand dunes below.

In preparation for the worst, Reinhard moved his hand to the hilt of his blade as he cautiously spoke, "If so, I must ask of your intentions once we leave this watchtower."

The Sage didn't even bother to turn around to face the world's strongest knight as he reached for his weapon. "I'm only supposed to prevent anyone from entering. I was never given orders about what to do once people actually enter the tower or if they decide to leave," The Sage informed the knight.

As the tension dissipated, Reinhard placed his sword-hand behind his head and smiled. "Ah, that's truly a relief. Thank you for giving me peace of mind. It must be lonely to reside in this tower all by yourself. I apologize for dispatching the one other person residing here, but he granted me little choice."

In response to the Sword' Saint's apology, the Sage stuck out her tongue in disgust. "Bleh. It's not like I'll miss that guy. You actually did me a favor by killing him since he was going to break the rules."

Although he was startled by the Sage's reply, Reinhard's smile persevered as he spoke his goodbye to her. "It seems this is where we part ways. Farewell, Sage of the Watchtower. I sincerely pray that you encounter the person you're waiting for."

Despite being indifferent to the knight, the Sage finally turned around to question him; however, he was gone. "How did he know that I was waiting for someone? Oh, I was probably giving off that 'princess waiting for her prince' vibe that master talked about," the Sage wondered aloud.

As she gazed out longingly towards her star, the Sage whispered to herself, "Master…"

Back with Reinhard, the knight went to meet up with the others in the Green Room. Once there, he was met with a sight that moved his heart.

The twin sisters embraced each other as tears raced down their faces while they sobbed out each other's names. Emilia wrapped her arms around the two sisters and joined them in their hugging. While Anastasia's seemed to be smiling, the expression on her face seemed somewhat troubled. Lastly, Beatrice stood several feet away from the three crying girls with tears of her own racing down her cheeks.

At first, Reinhard was truly relieved by the heartwarming reunion between sisters; however, even more so than Anastasia, the Sword Saint couldn't help but feel troubled by the look upon Beatrice's face. "Forgive me if I'm wrong, Miss Beatrice, but does something ail you?" he asked.

Once she heard Reinhard's question, Emilia turned towards her spirit and worriedly asked, "Beatrice, what's wrong? Do you want to come hug Rem too? It must've been hard to be the only one to remember her until now."

It didn't take long for the Great Spirit to collapse to the ground. With her hands pressed against the cold floor, Beatrice gazed blankly ahead of her as she uttered in despair, "What… What have I done, I wonder?"

As tears raced down the Great Spirit's face, Anastasia's smile dissolved as she stared forlornly at the floor. "I reckon I know why Beatrice is makin' such a face. It seems we've left behind some important people." Biting into her lip, Anastasia whispered to herself, "I'm so sorry, Julius, Joshua."

Troubled by the two girls' distress, Reinhard questioned with a hint of desperation in his voice, "For you two to make such faces, please tell me, did we somehow make an error? I simply don't under—" In the middle of his questioning, Reinhard came to a complete stop as his eyes widened in shock. His hand pressed to his tense face, the Sword Saint grit his teeth as he murmured, "This… can't be."

With yet another person afflicted by anguish, Emilia looked around at the three and anxiously asked, "W-Why do you guys look so upset? Didn't we win?"

"Lady Emilia," Rem spoke once she broke free of her sobbing. As the perplexed half-elf turned to face her, Rem hesitantly asked, "Where is Subaru? Why isn't he with you?"

"Suba—?" Emilia blurted out as if she didn't recognize his name, but just upon hearing it caused her to finally remember him.

She remembered the boy that she left behind.

Still in denial, Emilia looked over to Beatrice as if seeking confirmation; however, all she found was the sight of a little girl sobbing on the floor.

With tears starting to build up in her eyes, Emilia uttered in bafflement, "We… forgot him."

"'Forgot him'?" Rem uttered, baffled by the half-elf's explanation and by the dreadful expressions of those around her. To hear such a thing about her darling Subaru, Rem's confusion quickly turned into anger as she shouted, "What is that supposed to mean?! How do you forget someone as audacious and as wonderful as Subaru?! You're not making any sense!"

Once she finally pried her face from her little sister's shoulder, Ram explained through her tear-stained face, "Rem, Gluttony's authority can erase a person's existence from the world. I didn't even know who you were until Beatrice— No, until Barusu explained it to me."

Unable to process what her big sister was saying, Rem blankly replied, "Huh?"

After she triumphed over her hesitation, Ram looked to Emilia and Beatrice and asked, "That man you two met in the capital. The one you said was part of the Witch's Cult. You were talking about Barusu, weren't you?"

Her face pressed to the floor in remorse, Beatrice sobbed out, "I-I'm…! I'm so sorry, I suppose!"

"Big sister…?" Rem looked to Ram for any kind of explanation, but all she received was her apologetic gaze.

In a rare display of genuine remorse, Ram brought her sister close once again. "Forgive us, Rem. We branded your hero a traitor. I have doubts about whether we'll receive a warm welcome from him," Ram weakly apologized.

Anastasia was tempted to join in on the self-deprecation; however, she realized that Julius was waiting for her return. "We can stand in a circle an' blame ourselves until the sun goes down but that won't solve anythin'. We gotta go back and face the people we've left behind," Anastasia urged the group.

Despite the fact that her own face was wet with tears, Emilia focused her attention on her... No, on Subaru's contracted spirit as she placed her hand on her back. "Beatrice, please get up. We have to get Subaru out of that place. H-He's probably still locked up," Emilia weakly spoke.

Once she finally lifted her snot-filled face up from the floor, Beatrice fearfully choked out, "I… I don't know how I can face him. He was my precious Subaru, and I lashed out at him and condemned him. W-What if he's come to hate me, I wonder?"

In the end, Emilia couldn't find the words to comfort Beatrice because she harbored the same fears.

Author's Notes: Howdy, folks. It's me again.

This is definitely an experimental work since I'll be diving pretty deep into the lore of Re:Zero. Hopefully I don't butcher everything. Oh, and sorry about glossing over arc 6. It would take forever to give my own take on the arc, and quite frankly, it's not what I'm interested in this fic since I'm mainly interested in the repercussions of forgetting and being forgotten.

I didn't take a break from writing for long. I thought I was going to be gone for at least half a year, but then my mind demanded more Beako, and by extension, more Re:Zero. This is actually a scraped idea for A Beako Story that I never wrote about because it was too spoilery.

The wait for Re:Zero is honestly killing me. It's been eight months since the S2 announcement and we haven't gotten anything since. I was like 70% sure that we would get more information with the most recent OVA, but alas, we got duped. Back into Re:Zero hibernation for me. I'm honestly worried S2 won't come out in 2020 (don't think I've heard anything officially stating it's coming out next year).

Sorry about Felt not making an appearance. I originally included her among those who went to the watchtower since Reinhard went, but it was hard to give her any spotlight since she was hardly affected by Gluttony's authority. I mean, she's cool with Subaru, but she wasn't there to condemn him like everyone else.

So, information regarding this fanfiction. It's (probably) going to be three chapters in total. Also, the theme for this fanfic will be reconciliation, as you've probably guessed. I won't be delving into Re:Zero lore much more than I already have in this chapter. From here the plot will mainly revolve around Subaru licking his own wounds and him restoring what was lost. I'm not going to throw any crazy stuff in here like trying to guess what arc 7 will be about.

Well, that about does it for now. See you in the next one.

Buh bye.

Other butt les import-ant persons' note (E/N): Sup. I baet teh writr b0i Ovre heed dis thyme, pleaz review; Renember to keep it constructive, and not destructive frens. fEEl FrEe too inzult me tho. [bonus points to anyone who can correct this]

This story is fittin to get real interesting, so I hope yall stick around. 3 have a wonderful day/night. I bid you adieu. :)