At the foot of the tower, Reinhard and Beatrice found Crusch and Felix, who had just arrived with several riding dragons. Moments later, Garfiel and Felt drove up in their wagon pulled by Patrasche. Rom and the twins sat inside.
"What happened?" Crusch demanded. "We saw Cecilus and Vincent flee the city, but what happened to the Ironborn?"
"Subaru Natsuki has managed to crush the Ironborn," Julius said at once.
"Destroyed?" Crusch asked in shock.
"I'm uncertain," Julius admitted. "The only person who can tell us more about these monsters is Subaru Natsuki, who was swept downstream by the river. We must hurry to his rescue!"
Beatrice fought to climb into the wagon, but her arms were too weak to lift her, and her magic was still exhausted. Garfiel reached down and gently lifted her into the back of the wagon. Reinhard gently placed Emilia 's sleeping body into the wagon as well.
Rem got out of the wagon. "Sister, perhaps we should find another mode of conveyance. This wagon will not fit any more people."
"A wise decision, sister," Ram agreed, following her sister out of the wagon. She glanced back at Felt. "We will procure a larger transport and rendezvous with you downriver."
"I can help," Rom rumbled, also climbing out. "I'm really good at persuading people to do stuff when the promise of money falls short."
Felt glanced at them. "Alright, but hurry ! Find a wagon, and then find us! Soon! " She said intently. "Subaru wanted all of us to be ready to move fast after all this. I don 't know why he was so worried, but I 'm not going to start second-guessing his intuition at this point."
The trio nodded and then hurried off into the city.
"Godspeed, my friends," Reinhard said in a somber voice.
Garfiel blinked. "Huh? Red, you're… coming too, right?"
"I have no right to be with you," Reinhard mourned. "I've betrayed-"
Felt face palmed. "Oh, for God's sake, Red! Get in the goddamn wagon!" She shouted.
Reinhard flushed. "Miss Felt, I-"
Garfiel reached out and grabbed the startled Reinhard, pulling him onto the driver 's platform beside Garfiel and Felt. Felt snapped the reins, and Patrasche took off for the city gate at a run.
Behind them, Crusch, Felix, and Julius quickly mounted their dragons and rode off in pursuit.
"It's not possible…" Subaru whispered again. "You haven't aged a day…"
Pandora laughed. The sound was smoother than the flowing river. "After all this time, all of your experiences with the unfathomable power of the Authorities, and this is what strains your credulity? My appearance? " She asked in a gently mocking voice. "You disappoint me, Subaru."
Subaru was stunned. "You… You're not Anise, " Subaru said. He tried to sound confident, but his voice was conflicted and uncertain.
In truth, the witch before him both did and did not look like the girl in his memories. Her features, her height, and even her strange platinum blond hair exactly lined up with Subaru 's recollections, but there was something more.
Anise had always been an exceptionally beautiful girl, so beautiful that not a few of Subaru 's peers had told him in bitterly jealous tones that she was way too pretty for him. But Pandora was more than that. Despite looking physically identical to Anise, there was something about her, some presence that raised her flawless appearance above simple beauty into something overpowering, something sublime: a standard of beauty not accessible to mere mortals.
Pandora gave him a mischievous smile. "I'm not?" She asked, sounding amused.
Pandora stepped closer to Subaru, who stiffened but did not retreat.
"Shall we reminisce together?" She asked archly. "Does this river remind you of anything? What about the time that we went on those swan-paddle boats together? The entire time, you looked so terribly nervous. I kept wondering what you were scheming. When we finally docked, you screwed up all of your courage, closed your eyes, and tried to kiss me. But you misjudged where I was standing, and because you'd closed your eyes, you fell off the dock and into the river. Everyone else just laughed at you. But I respected your courage and gave you a kiss when no one else was looking."
Pandora leaned up and kissed Subaru 's cheek before he could react.
Subaru swallowed hard and touched his cheek, her kiss burning like fire and ice on his skin before fading away.
Subaru stared at her helplessly. It 's impossible… There's no way… It had to be a trick…
Pandora sighed. "I know that you must have many questions," She said more seriously. "And I understand that you must be very angry with me. I'm ready to face both."
Subaru shook his head, wondering what he should ask first.
I… should ask her what she knows about the Ironborn, he decided, his mind still spinning. That's the most important thing. If nothing else, I need to know how we can defend ourselves against them. So, that's what I should start with.
Subaru took a deep breath. "Why did you abandon me?! " He thundered in the voice of a hurt child.
Subaru blinked in surprise. He 'd had no idea that he was going to say those words until they had physically forced their way out of his mouth.
Pandora 's face fell, and she looked away with a guilty expression. "Subaru," She murmured. "I… I know that this will come across as cold comfort to you, but I never meant to abandon you. I wanted to stay with you. I wanted to be with you through your whole journey. But I 'm afraid that all I have to excuse my failures is good intentions…"
Subaru struggled to process all this. "Wait. You said that you came back to this world. Are you from here originally? "
Pandora considered her answer. "That's… a more complex question than you think, Subaru," She said, biting her lower lip in a gesture that Subaru suddenly remembered he used to find so charming. "And I don't want us to get sidetracked. But for the purposes of this conversation, yes. I am from this world. I went to your world in search of you."
"Why?"
Pandora gave him a steady look. "I think that you know."
"The Authority," Subaru said, the words like ashes in his mouth.
Pandora nodded gravely. "I'd been searching for you for longer than you can possibly imagine, Subaru. The man who could change this world. The man that I could call King . "
Subaru violently shook his head. His thoughts and feelings were all jumbled up in a tangle that he knew would take time to unravel. It wasn 't that Anise's re-entrance into his life suddenly made him question his feelings for Emilia. That decision had long since been made. But Subaru still thought of the time that he'd spent with Anise as the best part of his 'old' life, and now it had collided with his new life.
Subaru felt like the costume he had been wearing as the brilliant and heroic figure of this world had suddenly grown paper-thin. In Anise 's presence, Subaru felt once again like the bumbler who could not measure up, the failure.
Subaru 's lives were colliding, and he now found himself wondering who he really was.
Subaru took a deep breath. "So… the whole time that we were together, you were constantly lying to me," He snapped.
Pandora 's face darkened, and she lifted her chin. "I take exception to that, Subaru Natsuki," She said in a self-righteous tone. "I never lie. Never. I may occasionally conceal the full truth, but I do not lie. I have never lied to you, Subaru Natsuki, and I sincerely doubt that anyone else in your life could claim as much. "
Subaru looked incredulous. "You pretended to be a normal girl when you were really a witch from another world!"
Pandora gave him a faint smile. "For the record, I still consider myself to be a normal girl. Aside from my magic, " She admitted. "But I never told you a single falsehood about my origins. I was just visiting your land on urgent business, and I would have to go back sooner or later. Everything that I told you was completely true. "
Subaru snorted. "Yeah! True 'from a certain point of view!'"
Pandora cocked her head and studied him. Her eyes widened. "That's a line from that movie you showed me!"
Subaru flinched.
Pandora looked off into the distance with a happy expression. "I remember! We watched it in your room! And then you spilled the popcorn all over us!"
Subaru felt a sharp pain deep in his gut. Calling Pandora a liar had felt like the right tool to use at the time, a shield to hold her back until he could make sense of this impossible situation. But now, with a single comment, the girl that he 'd once been so certain that he'd loved had completely disarmed him. The memories of the times that they'd shared together bit deep, hurting him in a place that had never truly healed.
Pandora chuckled. "That line was when the wizard explained why he'd told the boy that his father was dead when he was really alive. I always thought that excuse was a crock. The movie expects us to accept it at face value, but it's a poor excuse. I would have preferred the boy to dismiss the wizard's explanation. After all, a lie made for a good cause is still a lie."
Subaru took a deep breath. "You… You deceived me…" He said, fighting to recover his footing while the whole world seemed to be shifting around him.
Pandora sighed.
Subaru 's breath caught in his throat. That sound … That's the way she used to sigh whenever she thought I was being stubborn…
"Subaru," Pandora said patiently. "I have never lied to you. But that doesn't mean that I don't have secrets. Did you think that 'honesty' meant that a person must bare their soul to you? No secrets, no dark places where your knowledge doesn't extend? If so, I hate to tell you this, but you have never had 'honesty' from anyone in your entire life."
Subaru felt himself flailing. He knew that there was a simple argument that could refute her words, but his brain simply refused to work.
"But I'm willing to give it to you now, Subaru," Pandora said calmly. "Ask me anything! I'll tell you the truth. No lies and no secrets."
Subaru swallowed hard. In spite of himself, there was a question he 'd been desperate to know the answer to for years. "Why didn't you warn me before you disappeared?" He whispered. "You could have at least said 'goodbye' before you abandoned me! Do you have any idea what that did to me?! " He cried out.
Pandora 's face fell. "I… have a good idea," She admitted with a morose expression on her face.
Pandora paced around, trying to put her thoughts in order. "I… Subaru, you have to believe me. I never meant to abandon you. I spent months all but living by your side! But things were happening here, and I had to come back and check on matters. "
"Then why didn't you just take me with you?" Subaru demanded. His eyes widened, his own question shocking him.
I … I never realized it until now, but if Anise had asked me to run away with her… I would have gone… No questions asked…
For a moment, Subaru wondered how his life would have been different if Anise had brought him to this world all those years ago. The wasted, pointless years locked in his room would never have happened. He and Anise could have explored this world together …
Subaru tried to shake off the strange thoughts. I don 't get it. I love Emilia. Period.
Anise … Anise was just my first love… So why does all of this still hurt so much…
Pandora 's face grew drawn and weary. "You're lucky that I did not bring you here with me. Or you would have been trapped here. And I think you would have rightly resented me for that. "
"You… came back here because you suspected that there was a problem here?" Subaru muttered to keep the conversation moving while he sorted out his tangled thoughts.
"Not really," She admitted. "I was just going back on a routine visit to check on things. If I had thought there was the slightest possibility that I'd be caught up in such a crisis, let alone trapped here, I would certainly have done my best to prepare you for that eventuality. Instead, I found myself thrust into an impending disaster as soon as I returned. An old enemy had gone to war against me in my absence."
"Another witch?"
Pandora 's expression grew sour. "That's… not the term I 'd prefer to use," She muttered. "But yes, you are essentially correct. She took advantage of my absence to wreak havoc."
"How?!" Subaru demanded. "I thought that all the witches had been sealed up for centuries!"
Pandora made a face. "Yes. Well, you can thank the Dragon Volcanica for that. Volcanica would be very disappointed if he ever learned how ineffectual his seals actually were," She said shortly. "He meddled with good and solid barriers, rendering them porous in favor of making them last longer. As it is, in many cases, the witches' power can now seep out from behind the seal. Their true power remains sealed with them but even the small amount of magic they can push through the barrier is sufficient to cause great disasters. I 've been working tirelessly to keep them contained. If I'd been here to prevent matters from spiraling out of hand when my foe first made her move, things likely would have gone better for me, but by the time I returned here, my enemy already had a large head-start on me. I barely made it back here at all before the Doors were slammed shut."
"The what?"
"The Doors," Pandora said simply, "The paths that lead through the Storm from one world to another. My foe shut all the Doors, and in doing so, she trapped me here."
"Why?"
"I'm sorry. You'd have to ask her that," Pandora said.
Subaru rubbed his forehead, trying to put all this information together.
Subaru studied her for a moment. "Are you involved with the Witch Cult?" He asked suspiciously.
Pandora took a deep breath, and she straightened, her face blank. "Yes, I have been involved with them… at times. When I needed help to restrain the other witches, they were able to provide it."
Subaru glared at her.
Pandora sighed. "What do you want from me, Subaru? I 'm not as strong as you! I had no one else to turn to! If you 'd been here to protect me, then I would have at least had someone I could count on, but with the Doors sealed, I couldn 't get back to you. Yes. I know that the Archbishops are evil. I know that they're vile. But what else could I do? I was alone and hopelessly outmatched by my enemy. If I didn't restrain my foe, she might very well have destroyed this world! I did what I had to do to survive. What else could I have done? Ask the Lagunican King to lend me an army? Appeal to the Dragon for help? I would have gotten laughed away if I was lucky and burned to ashes if not! "
Subaru looked away, struggling with a storm of different emotions. "Was any of it real? " He asked bluntly.
Pandora cocked her head. "Any of what?"
"Us!" Subaru roared. "Was anything that we had real, or was it all made up just so that you could manipulate me?!"
Subaru stood there panting for breath. He felt as if his heart was bleeding as he struggled to come to terms with all of this.
Pandora stared up at him, her face expressionless. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Subaru, I…. I don't think that you'll ever… understand just how much that question hurts…" She said with quiet dignity.
Subaru felt her words tug at his heartstrings, but he forced it back.
Subaru heard a loud, bubbling sound from across the river. He turned his head, and his eyes opened wide.
Three amorphous figures, like great blobs, were slowly taking shape in a sheltered pool on the far side of the river.
Subaru stared at them, dumbfounded. That 's impossible! Subaru thought. There 's just no way! The Ironborn and I just went white water rafting without a raft! We were swept down miles of river! I put those things through a goddamn blender! And you're trying to tell me that all those tiny little bits of metal somehow fought the current and managed to congeal together in that same little pool over there? I saw how poorly the tiny pieces move. There 's no way they could avoid getting split up and scattered by the rapids. And not only one reformed here but three ?! This is utterly and completely impossible!
Impossible or not, the trio of figures quickly began to pull themselves together, changing from blobs to recognizable humanoids and quickly regrowing their weapons and facial features.
"The Ironborn?!" Pandora said in surprise.
In perfect sync, the trio turned around and saw Subaru standing there across the wide river.
The Ironborn regarded him in silence for a moment. Then, the machines strode calmly into the river, marching into it as if across a field.
Shit! Subaru thought. They 're still trying to carry out their last instruction! This is bad! I am completely exhausted and out of tricks! I can't even fight one of those monsters, much less three! I can 't run, and I can't fight!
Subaru frantically looked across the featureless plain, searching for somewhere to hide, but it was all open ground, and there was no cover.
"Anise, can you do anything about these things?" Subaru asked Pandora.
Pandora 's eyes widened. " Me ?! " She asked in shock.
Subaru looked at her incredulously. "You're a witch!"
Pandora shook her head. "I… It's not… I can't-"
Subaru cursed and set himself as the three Ironborn surfaced on his side of the river. He placed himself between the monsters and Pandora.
I need to smash these three all at once, Subaru thought grimly. And I need to smash them thoroughly. That will be my only chance to escape. I 'll have to grab Anise and get out of here as fast as we can before these things reform.
It 's a really shitty plan, but I don't see any alternative.
Subaru braced himself, but this time, instead of rushing toward him, the Ironborn spread out and surrounded him. One charged forward while the other two waited.
Shit! Did Vincent reprogram them to know how to handle Indomitable?! No way! There 's no way he figured out how it works already! And he had no time to reprogram them anyway!
The first Ironborn lunged at him, and Subaru desperately triggered Indomitable and shattered the monster into fragments. The creature was already reassembling itself as he charged toward the second Ironborn, waiting patiently for him.
Subaru obliterated it.
Hurry! I 'm almost out of time!
Subaru made a frantic rush toward the final Ironborn and punched it as hard as he could-
And he nearly broke his hand.
Subaru flinched back, rubbing his throbbing fingers.
Shit! I 'm out of time!
The final Ironborn grabbed Subaru in a bear hug and held him immobile as the other two quickly reassembled themselves.
Subaru struggled, but it was like trying to bend steel with his bare hands.
The trio turned in perfect unison and started marching south.
What the hell do I do?! Even if I can smash all three at once, I won 't be able to escape before they repair themselves and come after me again! They'll just keep coming until I black out from exhaustion, and then they can take me wherever they want! What the hell am I going to do?
The Ironborn holding Subaru stopped. It trembled and started to vibrate.
Subaru blinked and realized that he heard singing. Pandora was singing a single high, clear note, making all three Ironborn vibrate violently. Fine cracks began to spread across their steel bodies.
Subaru watched in amazement as the sheer vibrations of Pandora 's song made each Ironborn crumble into powder, dropping Subaru on the ground.
The Ironborn were already starting to pull themselves back together, but Pandora waved a weary hand, and the piles of debris all vanished.
"They're gone now," Pandora whispered, sounding exhausted. "I scattered them. They… won't be back for a… good long time…"
Subaru sighed and got back to his feet. "Well, thanks," He grumbled, brushing himself off. "But maybe next time you could do that a little bit fast-"
Subaru 's eyes widened when he saw Pandora lying crumpled on the ground.
"Anise!" He shouted, rushing to her side.
He gently held her in his arms and touched her face. Pandora 's eyes were closed, and her breathing was shallow.
"Anise! Are you OK?" He gasped.
Pandora 's eyes fluttered open. "Subaru?" She asked vaguely.
Subaru froze. "Are… you OK?" He asked again awkwardly.
Pandora gave a weary nod and slowly got back to her feet. "I… I will be. That … took a lot out of me," She admitted.
Pandora stood on trembling legs, swaying back and forth. Her face was pale, and her eyes were hazy with exhaustion.
"What's wrong? I thought that witches were supposed to be… like all-powerful or something?" Subaru asked awkwardly.
Pandora sighed, brushing herself off. "Subaru, whoever told you that was lying. Especially in my case. I… I'm the weakest witch who ever lived," She admitted, looking miserable. "I'm extremely skilled and knowledgeable about the art, but in terms of total potency, I'm a veritable laughing stock…"
Subaru wasn 't sure what to say to this.
Pandora sighed. "Subaru… I know that you're very angry at me. And you have every right to be. But I need you to understand that , of course, I care about you, " She said, her eyes watery. "I spent years looking for you. I wanted to guide you, to teach you, to protect you. I wanted to be in your life in any way that you 'd let me."
Subaru hesitated. Anise just literally saved my life, but … I'm still really mad at her. I deserve to still be mad at her, right? Even if she did just save my life…
Subaru took a deep breath and tried to seek shelter in his rage. "Did you love me? " Subaru asked in a voice like ice.
Pandora sighed. "That's not a fair question, Subaru!"
"How is that unfair?!" Subaru protested. "You said that you loved me! You said that we'd always be together! And you told me that you never lied to me!"
"Subaru," Pandora said in a very calm voice. "Look at me."
Subaru reluctantly glanced at her. Pandora stood there with her arms folded across her chest. She looked like a priceless work of art. Her eyes were wise, and her face was flawlessly beautiful. Even after climbing out of the wet sand, her body was unmarked. Not a grain of sand marred her dress or even her bare feet.
"I'm not a young girl, Subaru," Pandora said. "I may look like it, but I'm not. I'm old. I've watched whole generations pass by. You were fourteen. I was telling you the truth when I said that I loved you. I just… I didn't mean it in quite the same way that you did," She finished with a sigh.
"So you lied to me," Subaru grated.
"No! Subaru! Be fair! You were fourteen! Of course, you could fall in love over a couple of weeks! I need more time than that! I can't change my whole life, my whole identity, that fast! You're a man now, Subaru. You have an adult's perspective. Could you imagine falling in love with someone over just a couple of weeks?"
"I did it with Emilia," Subaru spat.
Pandora 's eyes lit up. "You did ? " She asked, sounding delighted.
Subaru frowned in confusion.
She chuckled. "You did, didn't you? You were always my little daydream believer. My little romantic. Dreaming of other shores and great adventures. That dirty little world of yours was always too small for you…"
Subaru hesitated and then shook his head, trying to shake out the tumble of confusing thoughts. "Anise! I-"
"Not to mention," Pandora cut him off, "I knew that I shouldn't fall in love with you because you had someone else."
Subaru shot her an incredulous look. "Someone else? Who ?! My mother ?! "
"Emilia," Pandora said gently.
Subaru stared at Pandora in shock. "How could you have possibly known about Emilia?" He asked slowly. He wanted to shake off her words as a blatant lie, but he couldn't quite do it.
Pandora gave him a rueful smile. "Your names were written in the stars, Subaru. I knew about her the same way I knew about you . That 's one of the reasons that I tried to keep our relationship more… casual. The truth is, in a funny way, you're the only man that I 've ever loved. But I knew that one way or another, in the end, I'd be nothing more than a teacher and a big sister to you when all was said and done."
Subaru swallowed hard. "What are you talking about?"
Pandora gave him a sad smile. "Tell me the truth, Subaru," She said fondly. "If I had brought you to this world and I 'd remained your girlfriend, what would have happened when you eventually met Emilia? Which of us would you have picked?"
Subaru opened his mouth and closed it again. For some reason, he felt reluctant to tell Pandora the hard truth.
But Subaru could tell that Pandora knew the answer anyway.
Pandora looked off into the distance. "I understand. She's a wonderful girl," She said fondly. "And after all, I could hardly expect to compete with somebody tailor-made for you by fate."
Subaru swallowed hard. "What… are you saying?" He asked in a shaken voice.
Pandora took a ragged breath. "I tried to protect her, you know. I wanted to keep her safe. I knew that she was in danger. And I spent years trying to find her. But by the time I realized what was happening in the forest…" She shook her head. "You know, after Emilia's… accident… I used to go to the forest regularly to check on her."
Subaru 's eyes widened. "You did?"
Pandora nodded. "Oh, yes. I went regularly to ensure that nothing was happening to the ice crystal that she was trapped in. I even placed sentries around the forest to make sure that she wouldn't be disturbed."
"Why didn't you just free her?!" Subaru asked incredulously.
Pandora fumed. "Because, Subaru, I don't have that kind of power! OK?! If I'd tried to thaw her out, I very possibly would have killed her, and I didn't want to take the chance!"
Subaru hesitated as Pandora looked up at him with tears in her eyes.
"Subaru, you have no idea what it was like," She whispered. "For years, every time I went to see Emilia, all that I could think about was you. And how, because of my carelessness, now the two of you would never get a chance to meet!"
Subaru stared at her. "How… How did I get here in the first place?"
Pandora gave him a shrug. "Well… I don't know exactly," She admitted. "I have suspicions but no proof. I thought that with the Doors sealed shut, it would be impossible for you to come here… But I guess that Fate won't be denied…"
"Are you saying that my coming here was… some kind of prophecy?" He asked uncertainly.
Pandora stared at him, and then she burst out laughing. "Was that a serious question?! Subaru, think about all the things that you 've done! Your accomplishments! Your adventures! Does this seem normal to you? You've shaken the world with your footsteps in a matter of months. "
Subaru swallowed hard, uncertain if he believed her. Or if he even wanted to believe her. When he 'd first arrived on this world, Subaru would have been elated to discover that he possessed a grand destiny, but now the thought felt unnerving and ominous.
I don 't want to be some legendary hero … The truth is that being a hero is really hard. And to be honest, I feel like I've already done my fair share. I just want to disappear somewhere with Emilia.
But if there really is some strange prophecy that involves me … that involves us , then that might be completely impossible. The uncaring hand of fate would drag us out of wherever we try to hide and force us to get involved in some grand quest that could easily get us both killed!
"Then… what is my 'destiny?'" He asked, fighting to sound sarcastic and failing.
Pandora thought about the question. "Not to sound evasive, Subaru, but that is… a very tricky question. I will say that your Authority has been searching for you for longer than you can possibly imagine. The world needed a champion to avert a coming disaster, and that champion is you. "
Subaru licked his dry lips. "I… I don't believe you…"
Pandora gave him a half smile.
Subaru took a deep breath. "OK, Anise, answer me this. Even if… all of this stuff… were true, what the hell was the point of Korë? Why the smoke and mirrors? Why not just walk up to me and say, 'Hi, Subaru! I missed you!'"
Pandora looked pained. "Well, there were a few reasons, " she sighed. "Some of them you can probably guess, but a few you might not have thought of."
"Such as?"
"For one thing, Subaru, I did not intend to tell you everything about myself all at once. I needed to study you first. The enemy has set traps for me before, and you would make exquisite bait. I needed to be sure that you really were the person that I thought you were. But I still told you how to save your wife, didn't I?"
Subaru nodded slowly. "Yeah… but what was the point of making that a test?"
"For one thing, it was extremely unlikely that my foe would ever permit Emilia's name to be restored. It was much more likely that she'd fight tooth and nail against it. Restoring Emilia's name was the best proof I could ask for that you weren't an impostor. For another thing, I needed to test your abilities. If I had exposed myself to you, I could have inadvertently gathered a great deal of hostile attention onto us both. My enemy is desperate to keep me as far away from you as possible. She even placed an enchantment on you, making it nearly impossible for me to locate you. If she sensed that I had found you, she would have done absolutely anything to prevent us from speaking. If you were unprepared to handle your own power, neither of us may have survived that kind of onslaught."
Pandora hesitated for a moment. "And… on a more personal note," She admitted slowly. "I may have hoped that helping you save Emilia might make you think… a little better of me. I knew that you'd be furious with me because of the way that I vanished on you, and you'd have every right to be. But… at least this was a way to prove that I still wanted to be your ally and your friend."
This was a lot of confusing information to process, and Subaru didn 't even know where to start. "Anise, what-"
Pandora looked around nervously and cut him off. "Subaru, it's been wonderful to catch up, but I'm afraid that we should probably talk about more important things. I can't stay here too long, or she might find me."
"Who is 'she?'"
"Someone extremely dangerous," Pandora said ominously. "I can't say any more. A witch can hear her name spoken a thousand miles away…"
Subaru scowled. It sounds like a cheap excuse, but on the other hand, that renegade Witch Cultist I met in Girali did warn me about the same thing …
Pandora 's face fell. "I… I guess I don't blame you for not believing me. But it's true. Saying her name would get her attention instantly. Not that she needs much help to find me right now."
"What do you mean?"
Pandora sighed. "Subaru, when I used my power to destroy the Ironborn, I sent up a flare that can be seen from the Mirula desert to Girali. Everybody and anybody in the world knows exactly where I am right now. My enemy's eye is already combing the area, looking for me."
Subaru frowned. "You mean… you exposed yourself by fighting the Ironborn?" He said slowly. "Did that put you in danger?"
Pandora waved it away. "Don't worry about it, Subaru. You needed my help, and I don't regret helping you for a moment. It was the least that I owe you. I don 't want you to feel guilty about this. I'm very good at surviving. Trust me, I 'll find a way to disappear again before she finds me."
Subaru shifted uncomfortably. Is Anise really in danger because of me?
Pandora gave him a small smile. "Ah. There's the guilty Subaru I used to know. Always ready to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders."
Subaru sighed. "I didn't mean to put you in danger," He said regretfully.
"You didn't, Subaru," Pandora said calmly. "I've been in danger for a very long time. If anything, having you in my corner can only keep me safer."
Subaru wasn 't sure what to say to that.
Pandora sighed. "Subaru, I need to talk to you about something. Before she finds me. Subaru, I need your help."
"Against your enemy?"
"Yes, but more than that. I want to change the world, Subaru. And I need your help to do it," Pandora said earnestly.
Subaru 's eyes narrowed. "Change it how?"
Pandora carefully considered her answer. She started to pace around, looking deep in thought. "Your Authority gives you great power, Subaru," She began.
"Yeah. I know that."
"But have you ever wondered what it feels like to be Felt?" Pandora asked.
Subaru blinked, and then his eyes narrowed. I guess it's no surprise that she knows about all my friends by now. "What do you mean?"
"Being small and helpless," Pandora continued, "Being surrounded by giants that could step on you accidentally?"
Anise better not try to say that to Felt, or she 's going to get stabbed.
…Except that Anise is actually a witch, and Felt is probably no more of a threat to her than a mosquito…
This is all a lot to take in.
Pandora gave him a rueful smile. "It may sound strange coming from me, but as the weakest witch, I get to experience that a lot. All of the other witches are strong enough to push me around. Even some mortals could defeat me if they really tried. "
Subaru considered her comment. "What's your point?"
Pandora looked at him excitedly. "Subaru. I want to bring the magic back."
"Back?" Subaru echoed. "Anise, there's magic everywhere!"
"No, Subaru. This world has very little magic."
Subaru squinted at her. "Anise, I think that you're getting our worlds mixed up."
"No, Subaru," Pandora smiled. "Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Your world actually has magic too, but if this world's magic is like water in a desert, your world's magic is scattered like atoms in deep space, too dispersed to be noticed or useful."
Subaru felt strange hearing that analogy from anyone in this world.
Pandora spread her arms wide with a huge grin. "I want to change that, Subaru. I want to flood this world with magical power! To make it a lush and verdant garden of magic! " She said in rapture.
Subaru thought about it. "What good will that do?"
"It will change everything, Subaru! Imagine a world where magic is at everybody's fingertips, not just mages with some special talent or people who have been blessed by the world! I want to create a real utopia. A place where magic makes all labor obsolete. With so much magic at their fingertips, the difference in power between the strong and weak will shrink to a vanishing degree. Everyone here will finally be on a level playing field! Unless you have an Authority, of course. Those play by different rules. Authority wielders would still be much stronger than the rest," Pandora added negligently.
Subaru realized uncomfortably that he found this information reassuring. The thought of being 'normal' and 'ordinary' again, even in Pandora's imaginary paradise, was… unsettling to him.
"But there's more to it than that, Subaru! By doing this, we could end things like plague and famine. Even aging! We could create a paradise where nobody ever has to die!"
…That's… certainly something worth considering…
Subaru hesitated. "Anise, this is all coming really fast," He complained. "Changing the whole world? That's… that's a pretty big project. I'm worried that there's a lot that could go wrong."
"It is a big project," Pandora agreed. "And it would take us a long time before we were ready to do it. We'd need to be very careful. Working with magics of this caliber can be dangerous. We'd need to prepare and test until we were completely sure that everything would go exactly according to plan."
Subaru nodded slowly. "That would… definitely be a good approach," He said, but his voice still sounded doubtful.
Pandora smiled. "Think about how hard you've fought to protect Emilia, Subaru," She urged him. "Imagine a world where Emilia would be completely safe. No one could hurt her. She 'd never be in danger again. She'd never get sick or die. And I can give you that world, Subaru."
Subaru hesitated, thinking about it.
A world where she 'd never be in danger again?
It sounds wonderful. It sounds too good to be true … And you know what they say about that…
Subaru hesitated.
Pandora stared off into the distance with a dreamy smile. "You have so much power inside of you, Subaru, " She said fondly. "You've barely begun to scratch the surface of what you're truly capable of. But with me as your teacher, you can reach heights that you never even imagined. And when the world is remade, you 'll be the one who did. The hero who conquered death for an entire world. You 'll be a hero not just to Emilia but to everybody . We could even open the way back to your world. Wouldn 't you like your parents to meet Emilia? They'll be amazed!"
…Visiting home again? Seeing my parents? Showing Emilia my world?
Subaru took a deep breath. "Anise… I… I'm sorry. I'm not ready to make a decision about this right now."
Pandora gave him an incredulous look. "Of course not."
Subaru blinked.
Pandora burst out laughing, a sound like silver bells. "Oh, Subaru," She said fondly. "Did you really think that I was expecting to come back into your life out of the blue and that you would blindly follow me on this seemingly impossible quest just on the strength of my say-so? There 's so much to discuss and decide before we can even begin! You 'd need to make a huge number of decisions about what you're willing to do and how you're willing to do it. After all, you're the one with all the power in this relationship. I can't do anything without your cooperation. But I'm offering you the chance to completely reshape the future of this world, Subaru. We can do it together!"
This oddly made Subaru feel more reassured. "That's… That's good . This isn 't something that should be rushed into."
"I know that you have doubts, Subaru," Pandora said kindly. "But just imagine how much good we could do. All of the lives we could save. We could create a world completely free from suffering. Don't you want to make a world where no one ever has to suffer the way that you have?"
Subaru hesitated and then nodded. "Alright. You make several good points, " He admitted.
"I understand that you're uncertain, Subaru," She said calmly. "Just think it over. One way or the other, I'll always be in your corner. I've always been here, watching over you. When the time comes, when the entire world turns against you, you'll know that I'll be here for you. You'll know that you can trust me. It's a big step, Subaru, but I truly think that it's the only way to protect what you love."
Subaru was silent for a long moment. "Alright. Assuming that I did want to do this, and we 're only just supposing here, how would we start? "
"Well… there's a staff near Girali that we'd need to recover," Pandora said.
Subaru blinked. "The staff?" He asked in shock. "I gave it to Vincent."
Pandora 's eyes widened in shock. "You did what ?! " She gasped.
Subaru felt a surge of panic rising up inside him at Pandora 's reaction. "I thought that you knew! You knew about the Ironborn!" He said desperately.
"The Ironborn are one thing! There are lots of ways to control them, but the staff… Oh, Subaru! This was a terrible decision. This is really, really bad!" Pandora said horror.
"Why? What does the staff do?" Subaru asked in fear.
Oh shit! What was I thinking, letting Vincent have such a powerful artifact?!
"It… well, it does a lot of things," Pandora fretted, pacing in a circle. "It's one of the Sun King's treasures. I… I don't think that Vincent could tap into its real power, but… I don't know, Subaru. I have to think about this. This is really, really dangerous, Subaru. You should have never given Vincent the staff! Now, everybody that you love could be in danger!"
"What do you mean?!" Subaru was almost frantic, wondering what kind of horrible mistake he'd made.
"I…" Pandora shook her head. "I need to think about this, Subaru. I need to do some research before I know what we're up against."
"What about the Ironborn?" Subaru asked sharply. "Is there a way to beat them? What about that spell you used?"
Pandora looked pained. "I… Subaru, I'm the weakest witch in the world," She said in a beaten voice. "I barely finished off three without exhausting myself. If I use my power too much, it might even…" She trailed off with a frightened expression.
Subaru shook his head with a sigh. "Great…"
"But there's no reason that you couldn't do it!" Pandora said.
"Huh?"
"I can teach you!" Pandora said excitedly. "I may be weak, but my knowledge and skill with the art is second to none! I can teach you how to master your powers, and then the Ironborn will be like insects to you!"
Subaru blinked. "…Really?" He asked cautiously.
Pandora nodded. "I may be the weakest, but you're the strongest! You have the potential to one day sit on the Sun King's throne! It's almost poetic, isn't it? The idea of us working together?"
Subaru chuckled. "Yeah. Maybe it is." He thought for a moment. "So… you can teach me to face the Ironborn?"
"Well…" Pandora hedged, "Mastering the Authorities takes time, Subaru. Years and years, if I'm being honest. And that brilliant little stunt you played on the Ironborn won't keep them down forever. They'll be back in a few weeks. Maybe a few months if we're really lucky. So we may need another temporary solution in the meantime."
"Like what?"
"I… don't know just yet," She admitted. "The Ironborn aren't easy to stop. Even my sisters feared them."
Subaru shook his head. "I refuse to believe that there's no way that we can defeat the Ironborn!"
"Who said that there was 'no way?'" Pandora scoffed. "All I told you was that we needed a backup plan. Nothing's invincible. We'll find the solution. I was always the most skilled and knowledgeable of all my sisters. I have access to books and tomes stretching back to before the time of the Old Kingdom! I'll find the solution, Subaru. You can count on me."
Subaru studied her. "Well… thanks," He murmured.
Pandora smiled at him fondly. "It's the least that I can do," She said. "But if I were you, I'd try to do your own research too. It'll make us twice as likely to find the solution."
"I will," Subaru promised.
Pandora gave Subaru a serious look. "Be very careful, Subaru. I can feel my foe's eye searching for me, and I can't let her find you yet."
"Me?" He said in surprise.
Pandora nodded seriously. "She wants you, Subaru. She thinks about you every moment of every day. She 's utterly desperate to have you for herself, and she hates Emilia with a passion. She 'd do anything to destroy her. "
Subaru gasped.
Pandora nodded with a somber expression. "You have to stay hidden from her. You 're not ready to face her yet. Not even her shadow. We need to prepare you for when she finally escapes. If you're not ready to face her when she comes for you, then all is lost," She said seriously. "Right now, my enemy is gathering her strength slowly, hidden deep in the shadows until she's ready to make her move. It's essential we keep the fact that I found you a secret from my foe as long as possible."
"Why?"
"Because right now, she doesn't know how much you know! She still thinks that she can hide her true nature from you. If she realizes that you know the truth and it doesn't matter anymore, she'll throw caution to the winds and come after me with everything she has. And as soon as I'm gone, her next target is Emilia…"
Subaru 's face twisted in fury. "I'd like to see her try!" He hissed, fighting to hide the fact that his fear was threatening to choke him.
"No. You wouldn't," Pandora said firmly. "You've done some amazing things since you came to this world, Subaru. But you're not ready to face one of the masters of the Divine Exousia. Especially not her. If she breaks free before you're ready to face her, the world will end…"
Subaru stared at her. "You're talking about the Witch-"
"Don't!" Pandora cut him off. "I already told you! She'll hear you!"
Subaru hesitated. "You're saying that she's going to break free?" He whispered.
Pandora nodded somberly. "When you breached the Sanctuary, you made it inevitable."
Subaru winced. Everything I know about Satella comes from legend and rumors, but they say she nearly destroyed the world once already.
And now she 's fixated on me? Why?! And what could her interest possibly be in Emilia?!
"It's not your fault, Subaru," Pandora sighed. "If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. You came to this world with no idea of what dangers might have threatened you or tried to lure you into a trap. And that's my fault."
"Why didn't you come and find me sooner?"
"I was sleeping," Pandora confessed. "Trying to maintain all the seals is exhausting for me. Especially after Volcanica modified them. Ever since we parted, I've been sleeping for months or years at a time to try to recover my strength. As a matter of fact, the only reason that I'm awake right now at all is because I set a magical alarm to rouse me if anything happened to the seals. I woke up when the Sanctuary was breached. It took me some time to figure out what was going on. It looked like the Order was running a muck all across the continent."
"Why didn't you ever do anything to rein them in?" Subaru objected. "You're a witch! They should respect you, right?"
Pandora made a face. "The Order… isn't what it used to be. Most of the Order either serves the Archbishops or my foe. The ones who worship the witches, and not incidentally you , are an oppressed and secretive minority, hunted down and killed as heretics. The truth is, this is mostly the fault of my sisters. They made some … serious mistakes with their power, " She admitted. "The kind of mistakes that turned the entire populace and even the Order against them. That's why they needed to be sealed away."
Subaru cocked his head. "We heard about Sekhmet's story in the tomb. She didn't seem evil."
Pandora looked offended. "They're not evil , Subaru. I never said that they were evil . They were just … a little misguided," She said in a small voice. "Subaru, the Divine Exousia are literally chaos incarnate. They're fragments of the Storm that washed up on these shores. It takes an extraordinary person not to be utterly consumed and corrupted by the Authorities."
"And they were corrupted?"
"It's not their fault, Subaru!" Pandora said sharply. "My sisters had a terrible time of it. Normally, witches live practically forever. They have centuries to master their powers and to turn them to productive ends. They have entire lifetimes of wisdom to guide and advise the mortal races toward peace and prosperity. Whenever one of us died and a new witch appeared, she always had a half dozen older sisters ready to advise and guide her into mastering her powers.
"But long, long ago, there was a terrible disaster. Somehow, my sisters and I managed to prevent calamity, but it was at a great cost. The Order was decimated. I was the only survivor who held an Authority. Obviously, the Authorities couldn't be expected to remain dormant for long, and they all found new hosts. That meant seven new witches emerged all at once, roaming the world with no one except me to advise or guide them.
"The Order tried to take them under its wing, but it didn't work out very well. After that near disaster where I lost all of my sisters, the public turned decisively against the Order. The people still revered the witches as living Gods, but they'd also come to regard the Order as populated by selfish schemers who were only interested in using the witches' powers for their own benefit. And I must admit, that claim was not entirely unfounded," she sighed.
Pandora shook her head. "As a result, the newborn witches refused to officially join the Order. There was a power struggle between the elders of the Order and the newborn witches. The elders weren't terribly good at negotiating with these young women. They failed to appreciate that with an entirely new crop of witches showing up all at once, there was no social pressure to force a rebellious young witch into the fold.
"The Order fragmented. I tried to help the girls, but there was only so much I could do. I could never force them to do anything. I'm too weak. I tried to turn them toward good causes and even offered them some of my secrets as a bribe, but in time, the Witches grew proud and self-righteous. They worked for whatever goals interested them without thinking about the larger ramifications.
"Look at Sekhmet. She planned to transform the Od Laguna into a Lotus Eater machine just to protect her disciples from the cruelties of the outside world! While bringing all those people into the Od Laguna isn't intrinsically an evil thing, it's still monumentally dangerous. If anything went wrong, the Od Laguna could have reacted catastrophically. The younger witches always thought that they were much more skilled than they really were. That's why the dragons attacked her, trying to stop it."
"And then they were all sealed away?" Subaru asked.
Pandora nodded. "The entire world turned against them, Subaru. I didn't want to see them imprisoned like that, " She said in a grieving voice. "But I had no choice. They were spreading chaos. The people made it clear to me that if the witches didn't stop wreaking havoc, they would find a way to kill them! I had no choice but to show the people how to seal them away…"
"Ordinary people can kill witches?" Subaru asked in surprise.
Pandora sighed. "It's extraordinarily difficult but far from impossible. Even the world itself can turn against us if we abuse our powers too much. The Od Laguna views the Authorities as a viral infection, and it 's been struggling for eons to find a way to contain or neutralize them forever."
"Really?"
Pandora nodded. "In fact, that's why the Od Laguna created the concept of Divine Blessings. They were intended as a way to give native creatures on this world a chance to fight back against the Authorities. Although, the plan really didn't work out all that well."
Subaru 's eyes narrowed. "Wait. Were you the one who told Sekhmet about that spell?"
Pandora blinked. "What spell?"
"The one that would link their souls to the Od Laguna," Subaru explained. "The story we heard in the tomb said that someone called 'the Deceiver' told them how to do it, but then they double-crossed her and sealed Sekhmet away."
Pandora 's face went flat. "I'd certainly hope that nobody would call me that, " She said, sounding quite offended. "I admit that I've done some… very questionable things in my life in pursuit of the greater good, but I already told you that I never lie. That makes it very hard for me to 'deceive' anyone. Sekhmet was actually one of the most responsible of my sisters. I gave her free rein to my library. It's possible that 's where she found this ritual. But even if that were the case, it would seem utterly unfair for her to blame me for the fact that third parties intervened to prevent her from even using it. "
Pandora thought about it and then shook her head. "It's no matter," She said dully. "People often think the worst of me. I'm used to it. In fact, even your own parents seemed to despise me."
Subaru winced.
Pandora gave Subaru a bittersweet smile. "Well. I guess… I should probably get going… I've already been here too long. I can feel her eye searching for me, and I can't let her find you yet."
Subaru hesitated. "Will… Will I ever see you again?"
Pandora just laughed. "You were always too serious, Subaru. It was one of your major failings. Don't worry, I won't disappear this time. Here, take this," She handed him a small statue. It was made of blue and green crystal, depicting a peacock with its tail spread.
Subaru studied it. "What is it?"
"It'll let me find you again," Pandora said carelessly. "My foe is doing her best to hide you from me with her enchantment. She's been pretty good at it too. This will make it much easier for me to find you in the future. But please keep this between us, Subaru. You can't tell anyone I was here. No one else can know about me."
Subaru frowned. "Why?" He asked suspiciously.
Pandora sighed. "Because, Subaru, there have been witches over the centuries who could pick the thoughts out of a person's mind like you would pluck fruit off of a tree," She said, sounding much put upon. "I know that you 're safe, Subaru. No witch, not even my foe, could possibly breach the wall of your Authority to read your thoughts, but my foe is watching you closely. And she 's almost certainly using your friends' dreams to help keep tabs on you. If you put my identity into the minds of your friends, she'll know immediately that I've found you. And then… she'll come after me with everything she has," She finished with a worried shiver.
Subaru hesitated. I don 't want to put Anise in any more danger, but I don't want to keep secrets from Emilia either…
Pandora shook her head. "Subaru, I know that you hate keeping secrets from Emilia. Your faithfulness is one of the things I adore most about you. I can 't force you to do anything you don't want to do, but I may very well be putting my life in your hands here. If you tell anyone about me and my enemy finds out …" She trailed off.
Subaru 's face grew conflicted. He rocked his head back and forth in indecision. Finally, he gave a single violent nod, his expression frustrated.
"Goodbye, Subaru," Pandora said fondly. "I'll be watching you."
And then she simply vanished.
Subaru looked down at the strange crystal bird in his hand.
He could only shake his head in disbelief.