Chapter Text
Subaru looked around in confusion. He thought he'd be surging with power, but he felt indifferent.
"Huh? Is the contract really done?" he asked, looking at Echidna for answers.
"Indeed. I feel our Ods have connected," she replied.
"That's weird," Subaru sighed, gazing at his hands. "I don't feel that different from before." He looked at Satella for confirmation.
The silver-haired beauty nodded as well. "This warmth I feel inside of me can only come from my beloved. I am certain."
"Is the company of seven beautiful maidens not enough for you?" Echidna wondered, somewhat disappointed that he'd react in such a way.
"N-No, that's not it…"
"Perhaps you're even greedier than I am… In certain fields, that is," Echidna teased the boy, making his cheeks turn beet red.
"Enough about that, Echidna. Stop teasing him!" Satella exclaimed, pouting at the witch whose greed knew no bounds.
"I-I agree. We have ch-children here. They shouldn't s-see such l-lewd acts," Carmilla barged in, forcing the two witches to stop their trivial remarks.
Subaru cleared his throat. "So… How do we get out of here, anyway? Is there some secret code? Do we just go in one direction and we will magically appear in the real world?" he questioned Echidna who was master of this Dream Castle.
The white-haired woman shook her head. "Closing our eyes will suffice. The surrounding world will dissipate and get replaced by the real one," she explained while proceeding to shut her eyes, showing off her peculiar, bushy brows.
"That easy, huh?" Subaru wondered, "it truly is a magical place," he added.
Typhon approached the boy, Sekhmet holding her hand to make sure she wouldn't run off. "Let's go, Baru. We need to help make the world a better place, right?" she smiled, beaming with childish innocence.
Subaru smiled as well. He ducked down and looked at the little witch. "That's right, Typhon. But we need to make sure the world doesn't hate us because of our ways of doing things." Subaru had to be really careful about how he worded his sentences when speaking to Typhon, especially with Sekhmet—her mommy—present.
"What do you mean, Baru?"
What he was about to do was very risky, and perhaps he'd regret it by the looks he was given from the rest of the witches.
Nonetheless, he slowly grabbed Typhon by her shoulders. "I need you to promise me that you won't use your Authority to judge others." He was well aware what touching her meant. However, if he wanted his words to get to her, he needed to establish trust between the two.
"I shouldn't judge them even if they're a very bad person?" she asked, innocently putting her finger on her chin as if deeply thinking.
"We're a team now. We need to depend on each other. And your Authority is… very individual. It only affects one person at a time, and if someone takes notice and reports this, it could mean our days of freedom are over. And I'm sure you don't want your mommy Sekhmet to keep fighting just for some sleep for the rest of her life."
Typhon was just a little girl, Subaru was aware of that. Her long-gone parents—whoever they were—did an awful job with her upbringing. And it didn't seem like Sekhmet was good at parenting either. Which is why if he wanted to make a real change to the Witch of Pride's behavior without intruding on Sekhmet's ways of teaching, he had to go slowly and carefully.
Subaru looked at Sekhmet, squinting his eyes in fear that he had gone over the line. The Witch of Sloth was currently towering over Subaru, proudly standing at over two meters tall. Her gaze was judging him, but not in the way Subaru thought.
"Huuh~ he is right, Typhon, haah~," she told the little girl before gazing back at Subaru, "but huuh~ don't call me mommy. That haah~ is reserved for her huuh~," she retorted.
Subaru almost choked on his saliva. "T-That was an accident. I'm sorry!"
The slothful Sekhmet barely nodded, thus acknowledging his apology.
Typhon looked at the pair. "Alright."
Subaru sighed in relief. He was glad Sekhmet agreed with him, otherwise who knows if Typhon would agree. They are still pretty much strangers, after all.
"But I want a piggyback ride!" she exclaimed at the last moment.
Subaru gave her a thumbs-up. "You got it!"
With the last issues finally out of the way, everyone closed their eyes and relaxed.
A second before being transported, Subaru heard Sekhmet's breathing calm down. 'Did that woman seriously fall asleep right as she closed her eyes?! Even while standing up? Insomniacs would give everything for such an ability…' With those thoughts, he felt his body get lifted from the ground. It was as if someone shoved him in a very fast elevator. But that feeling—along with his lightheadedness—disappeared as soon as it appeared.
When Subaru opened his eyes, he found himself lying on the ground of the monument that brought him to the Witches in the first place.
"Here again, huh?"
He looked around the familiar place, making sure everyone was with him.
"Fascinating." He heard Echidna breathe out excitedly. When he looked over his shoulder, he saw the greedy Witch gently touching the walls, fawning over their texture.
Subaru grinned at the sight. "Your dream world is almost perfect, but nothing beats the real thing, right?" he laughed out loud, making the usually serious witch pout.
Her out-of-character expression made Subaru burst into a laugh resounding throughout the entire tomb.
"W-What's so funny?" She crossed her arms and gave Subaru a look of annoyance, as if she was a mother expecting an answer from a naughty child.
"It's just…" Subaru wiped a tear from his eye, "...this is the first time I'm seeing you show actual emotion. Genuine curiosity and excitement."
"I'm always curious and excited," Echidna rebuked, returning to her usual, neutral facial expression to please the boy.
"Not like this though. I actually like you more when you're honest with your feelings. You don't have to force this 'nothing can phase me' persona anymore," he said while attempting to imitate her voice.
"I don't sound like that!" Echidna said in exasperation, but Subaru acted like he didn't hear her and moved on.
"Phew," he breathed out. He wasn't sure if it was just him, but it was progressively getting harder to breathe. "The air here is getting stale. We should get out of here," Subaru proposed and started walking towards the exit when a hand reached out to him and grabbed his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.
He turned around to see Echidna shaking her head. "There's just one more obstacle before we can truly celebrate," she said with a serious tone, making Subaru put on a thoughtful expression.
"What kind of obstacle?" he questioned. It must be fairly dangerous for Echidna herself to reconsider their options like this.
'If it's a wall—break it. Sekhmet's really good at that.' A stray thought entered his mind.
"It's Garfiel. A confused boy who calls himself 'The Shield of Sanctuary.'"
'So this place seems to be called Sanctuary, huh. Good to know.' Subaru was a stranger to these lands, so he had to note every bit of information coming his way. He has seven powerful individuals at his side, all of whom are native to this world and country, that is true. But he can't depend on them for everything. After all, it has been four centuries since the time they walked freely. This world is a blank slate for all eight of them.
At the mention of Garfiel, Carmilla squirmed in the back, hiding her face behind her fluffy green scarf. Subaru took notice of this, so he looked back at Echidna.
"This Garfiel… How much trouble is he?"
Echidna closed her eyes. "He is afraid of the outside world. He'd tear apart uninvited guests without hesitation, especially if complete strangers simply walk out of this tomb without his knowledge," she said while raising both her hands, making it obvious that she's talking about their current situation.
Subaru scowled. "What's his deal?" he clicked his tongue. "Isn't he protecting your tomb? Why don't you just tell him you're Echidna in the flesh?"
The white-haired witch sighed. "I wish it were so easy. I doubt he'd listen to someone who appeared out of this place while calling themselves Echidna, the Witch of Greed. The inhabitants of Sanctuary have rules and superstitions about my tomb."
Subaru shook his head. "Great. Just great." He scratched his chin and turned around to see what the others were doing while he and Echidna were going over their options.
The first one his eyes fell on was Sekhmet, who was being her usual self—in deep sleep. Satella and Minerva were desperately trying to wake her up, the blonde took the situation more seriously while the silver-haired half-elf was just barely touching Sekhmet's shoulder with the tip of her fingers so as to not anger the giantess in case she actually wakes up.
"Typhon please stop giggling so much and help us wake her up!" Minerva called out to the green-haired girl in hopes that she'd join them. After all, if Sekhmet's adopted daughter was among those waking her up, maybe she wouldn't behead them and only slightly scold them.
"Hmm, I don't know. Maybe Typhon's voice will coerce Sekhmet to wake up?" Satella said matter-of-factly.
Minerva looked at the half-elf with an angry expression. "Stop supporting her in bad habits!" she moaned.
"Ghh!" the Witch of Wrath groaned in displeasure.
"Did Sekhmet seriously fight with Volcanica to get a peaceful sleep? Right now I doubt even a pack of dragons could wake her up!"
Having had enough of this, she decided to use a more… aggressive approach.
"Wake. Up!" She gently kicked the sleeping witch, but not hard enough to hurt her. Well, hurting someone was impossible for Minerva either way. While soft, these kicks activated her Authority of Wrath and hearts started flying around the liminal space of the tomb.
With that, Sekhmet was definitely awake now, and she's surely not pleased with how it was done.
'Well, shit.' That was the thought surely going through everyone's mind.
Subaru saw the Witch of Sloth's magenta eyes open and twist into a scowl that could kill many a man.
Just then, the entire room started quaking, almost making everyone fall to the ground.
"M-Minerva! Apologize immediately! That was way out of line, even for you!" Subaru shouted at the blonde, knowing that Sekhmet probably doesn't discern friends from foes when her sleep is interrupted. In short, everyone was about to lose their damn heads.
For the first time since he has met her, Subaru saw Minerva lose her confident yet angry look, replacing it with genuine worry.
"Sekhmet, I apologize! I know how sleep is important to you, and yet I went over the line and… kicked you! Please stop this, I'll do anything!" she pleaded with the Witch of Sloth.
Sekhmet slowly blinked and turned her head towards the blonde. "Huuh~ I am not a monster as to haah~ endanger my daughter and huuh~ friends. I am not haah~ doing anything. Yet," she said, putting an emphasis on the word 'yet.' Her commanding voice made everyone straighten up, even earning the respect of Satella herself.
Her words also received a few looks from Echidna and Subaru.
"If it isn't you, then it has to be Garfiel," Subaru said bitterly.
"Garfiel." Echidna had the same thought as Subaru. She sighed as this problem has developed too fast for her liking. "I hoped we'd get to walk through the Forest of Kremaldy unannounced, but it seems that the Shield of Sanctuary doesn't plan on giving us that chance," she added.
Even though it has already been a minute, the tremors continued. A piece of stone has even fallen very close to Subaru's head, and it would've hit him hard if it wasn't for Satella's elvish strength pushing him away.
"Huuh~ you said you'd do anything, haah~? Then get rid of this pest huuh~ before he hurts Typhon," Sekhmet said as she stood up and grabbed her daughter so she'd be in her warmth.
"Agreed," Satella growled, already angry at whoever it was that disturbed her peace with her beloved. Sword Saint be damned, she—they will protect Subaru.
The Witches of Sin and their companion Subaru were finally united. Together, the Sinful Company would defeat their first foe.