LinieBaru: ObsessionIF: Chapter 07: LinieBaru VS Stark (Patreon)

In the noon Subaru and Stark set out from the village under a clear sky that offered little shade along the dirt path leading north. Subaru had spoken to the priest earlier that morning in a calm and careful voice that left no room for argument. She told him that he must say nothing about their presence to anyone who asked. She explained that if word spread about a demon living inside the church for several days the people would lose faith in the safety of the holy place and in the strength of the god the priest served. The priest had nodded with a pale face and promised to keep silent. He stood at the edge of the village now and watched them leave without raising a hand in farewell.

The children gathered near the last houses and refused to let Subaru walk away without protest. A small girl with braided hair tugged at the edge of Subaru’s skirt and spoke in a high voice full of disappointment.

“Do you really have to go Subaru? You still have not taught us the next exercise move.”

A boy with scraped knees crossed his arms and added his own complaint.

“You said you would show us how to make the victory shout louder. You cannot leave yet.”

Another child hopped from one foot to the other and asked if they could come along for a short distance at least. Subaru crouched so that her eyes met theirs at the same level and gave each of them a gentle smile. She spoke in a warm tone that carried across the small group.

“I am sorry little ones. Stark and I need to start a fresh life somewhere alone. The village has been kind to us but the road calls us farther north. You will practice the moves I taught you and remember to shout victory with strong arms every morning.”

The children groaned together and a few of them wiped at their eyes. One boy asked if she would return someday with more strange food. Subaru only patted his head and stood up again. Stark stood a few paces behind her the entire time and listened to every word. He said nothing while the children crowded around her for final hugs. Their small hands clung to her sleeves until she gently pulled free and turned toward the path.

They walked past the last wooden fence and left the village behind them. Subaru moved a few steps ahead of Stark and carried herself with light energy. She looked back over her shoulder every short while and offered him a bright smile that showed how pleased she felt to travel at his side. His own axe rested across his back for the moment because she had insisted he hold it while she adjusted the turban that still hid her horns. The weight of the weapon did not trouble him. He knew he could take it from her at any moment if the need arose. The road stretched ahead through open fields that slowly gave way to scattered trees and rising ground. The air smelled of dry grass and distant pine.

Stark decided the long walk offered the perfect chance to keep her mind busy. He lengthened his stride until he walked close enough to speak without raising his voice.

“Tell me more about the place you came from. You said you lived as a human before. What did ordinary days look like there?”

Subaru’s face lit up at the question. She turned her body halfway so she could talk while still moving forward and began to speak with animated gestures that made her hands cut through the air.

“Oh it was so different from this world. I woke up every morning in a small room filled with posters of heroes and games. I spent hours watching stories on a glowing screen and sometimes I stayed up far too late because the next episode refused to wait. Food came in packages that heated themselves and tasted of salt and oil. I had friends who lived far away but we talked through messages that arrived in an instant. My parents worked long hours and I often ate alone but the quiet never bothered me much.”

Stark nodded once and answered with a short sound.

“Hm. I see.”

She continued without pause and her voice grew brighter with each new detail.

“There were machines that carried people across cities faster than any horse and lights that turned on with a simple switch. I used to collect small figures of characters I liked and arrange them on shelves. Some days I practiced moves from the stories I watched and pretended I could fight the same way. The air always smelled of rain on concrete after a storm and the nights glowed with so many colors that the stars almost disappeared.”

Stark kept his eyes on the path ahead and offered another quiet reply.

“I see.”

He did not believe a single word about body possession or other worlds. The story sounded like the confused invention of a mind that had broken under the weight of whatever power demons carried. Still the conversation served its purpose. As long as she talked her attention stayed on memories instead of on the quiet calculation happening behind his calm face. He asked another simple question about the food she had liked best and she launched into a long description of soft breads filled with meat and strange sweet sauces. He nodded at the right moments and let the words wash past him while his hand rested near the handle of the axe.

They walked for a long stretch under the noon sun. Subaru kept glancing back with that same hopeful smile and sometimes she slowed so their shoulders nearly touched. Stark waited until the last houses of the village had vanished behind a low hill. The ground around them held only scattered trees and open dirt. No one else walked the road. He stepped closer still and began to speak of random things that meant little.

“The weather feels milder than the storms we left behind. Do you think the nights will grow colder as we move farther north?”

Subaru answered with cheerful agreement and added her own thoughts about possible campsites. He spoke again about the condition of the path and the need to watch for loose stones. She nodded and offered ideas for how they might share the watch once evening came. He listened to the sound of her voice and measured the distance between them. When the moment felt right he moved without warning.

He planted one foot and drove the other forward in a hard kick that caught her squarely in the side. The force lifted her from the ground and sent her body flying across the open space. In the same motion he reached out and snatched the axe from her loose grip. She had no time to recover or to speak. He lunged after her while she still tumbled through the air and swung the heavy blade in a clean arc aimed at her neck.

And…

Her form disappeared in a sudden puff of gray smoke that drifted apart on the breeze. 

Stark stood frozen with the axe still extended. He stared at the empty air where she had been and felt a sharp jolt of confusion. Was this the way a demon of her kind died or had the attack triggered some hidden trap?

A bright burst of laughter reached him from above. He spun and looked up into the branches of a nearby tree. Subaru sat there with her legs dangling over the edge of a thick limb. Her face was flushed a deep red and the laughter spilled from her in loud uncontrolled waves that made her shoulders shake. She looked down at him with eyes that shone with wild amusement.

“What...”

Stark jumped upward and swung the axe toward her without hesitation. She did not move from the branch. Instead she closed her eyes and tilted her head back with a soft smile. Her free hand lifted in a small inviting gesture as if the idea of the blade reaching her brought real pleasure. The axe passed through her body and she vanished once more in another puff of smoke that left only empty air and the gentle sway of the leaves.

Frustration burned hot in Stark’s chest. He landed on the ground and scanned the area with sharp eyes. Subaru stood a short distance away on solid earth this time. Her posture had changed completely. She looked very nervous and refused to meet his gaze. Her fingers fidgeted against each other and her body swayed from side to side in small restless motions. When she finally spoke her voice came out soft and stuttering.

“I do not m-mind getting hit by you Stark-kun. Be gentle though.”

Stark answered the request by hurling the axe straight at her. The blade spun through the air and struck the place where she stood. Once again her shape dissolved into smoke before the metal could touch her.

He straightened and looked around with growing disbelief. Multiple versions of Subaru now occupied the clearing. They stood or sat or reclined in different places among the trees and open ground. Each one wore a different expression and carried a different attitude yet every face belonged to her.

One Subaru stood with fists clenched at her sides and yelled across the space in a demanding tone.

“Come and strike me already. Show that you are a real man and stop holding back.”

Another version stood with her back straight and delivered a formal speech that mixed righteous words with clear excitement.

“I have the right to be killed by your hand. Justice demands that you finish what we started. Deliver the final blow without delay.”

A third Subaru sat on a low rock and picked her nose with an idiotic expression on her face. When she noticed him looking she pulled her finger free and waved at him with cheerful energy.

Yet another form lay stretched on the dirt with eyes closed and soft snores rising from her open mouth as if the entire situation held no interest at all.

All of them shared one clear demand that rose from every mouth in overlapping voices.

“Kill us.”

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Stark moved through the clearing with the heavy axe in both hands and no longer wasted time on questions. 

The first Subaru who had yelled for him to prove himself as a real man stood with open arms and a wide grin. He swung the blade in a hard horizontal arc that should have taken her head clean from her shoulders. Her body burst apart into a thick cloud of gray smoke that drifted away on the afternoon breeze and left nothing behind but the smell of burned mana. The righteous one who had spoken of justice and the right to die by his hand waited calmly a few steps farther on. He stepped forward and brought the axe down in a powerful overhead cut. She smiled as the edge reached her and then vanished in the same sudden puff of smoke. The “idiotic” version still sat on the rock and waved at him with the same vacant expression. He hurled the axe this time and watched the spinning blade pass straight through her chest. Smoke exploded outward and the rock stood empty. The snoring form on the ground received a simple downward thrust that pinned the empty air where her body had been. More smoke rose and faded. He walked from one remaining copy to the next without pause or mercy. 

Each swing or thrust produced the same result. Gray clouds burst into existence and then thinned until the clearing held only drifting wisps and the sound of his own breathing.

When the last of them was gone he stood in the middle of the open ground and lowered the axe. His arms felt heavy and his mind felt heavier. The repeated disappearances had drained the sharp edge of his anger and left only a dull exhaustion. Movement at the edge of his vision made him turn. Another Subaru stepped out from behind a thick tree trunk. Her face was flushed a deep red and her eyes shone with unshed tears that made them look watery and bright. She walked toward him with slow steps and made no effort to hide or defend herself.

Stark did not raise the axe again. He was far too fed up for another empty swing. He spoke in a flat tired voice.

“Just. Just how strong are you?”

Subaru ignored the question completely. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back as if the memory of every vanished copy still played behind her lids. A soft sound of pure pleasure left her throat.

“The memory overload is so good. Every time was new. Kek. Still—”

She opened her eyes and looked straight at him.

“I think two hundred times is enough for now.”

She closed the remaining distance between them and stopped close enough that he could see the fine tremor in her hands. A wide smile spread across her face.

“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

Stark swung the axe one more time out of pure stubborn refusal to accept the situation. The blade stopped inches from her neck as if an invisible wall had risen in its path. Subaru’s smile turned cheesy and soft.

“That will not work again.”

His eyes widened as the meaning of the single word settled over him.

“Again? Do you…. Can you…. See the future?”

She blinked once and then broke into loud laughter that bent her forward at the waist. She  laughed as if he had just told the greatest joke in the world.

“See the future? Darling I am the future.”

Stark’s legs gave out. He dropped to his knees in the dirt with the axe still loose in one hand. Subaru sat down neatly beside him and reached out to pat the top of his head with gentle repeated motions. Her smile stayed warm and steady.

“You do not need to run away. I am here. We will live together you and me.”

He forced the words out while his throat felt tight.

“But…. But… I do not love you. I… I like Fern.”

The smile on Subaru’s face vanished in an instant. Her hand shot forward and closed around his throat with surprising strength. She leaned in until her face filled his vision and her voice came out low and hard.

“How dare you say something like that?! You will only love me. You will only hit me. You will only think about me. Say it!”

Stark struggled to draw enough air for the reply. The pressure on his neck made every word difficult.

“I… I will.”

She released him at once. He fell forward onto the ground and dragged rough breaths into his lungs while black spots danced at the edges of his sight. Subaru rose to her feet and the bright smile returned to her face as if the entire exchange had never taken place. She spoke in the same cheerful tone she had used when they left the village.

“Now… let us go. I bet we can find some nice place somewhere; only you and me.”

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So... Can anyone explain what just happened here? I think two very important and crazy things happened here. Maybe three.