A Terrifying Existence

Castle of Dreams,

Samuel POV,

Samuel took a deep breath before putting on a calm face, surely Echidna was about to say something outrageous that would still somehow make sense and he was certain that if he heard it, he'd be calling bullshit. He stared at the white haired girl in front of him in silence, "I can see you want something from me. If I find that you withheld something, you can kiss that goodbye." He said with a close eyed smile, true he was in no position to say something like this but still, he had to do it.

"Ah don't worry about that, I'll tell you everything." Echidna slightly waved her hand trying to dismiss the doubt, she had more to lose if she did lie here. She looked up rubbing her chin in thought, "Where to begin, where to begin."

"I've got it, first we'll start with the boy that can restart everything at a moment's notice. His clothing is something not of this world though, that in itself isn't nearly enough but rather adds up. He possesses a 'metia' as he calls it but such a thing does not exist in this world, I'm quite confident in my knowledge regarding this." Echidna spoke calmly, sipping her tea from time to time with Samuel doing the same, so far it made sense but wasn't enough, though.... why did he feel like he was forgetting something here?

"Next, the boy is of completely unknown origins, even Roswaal being unable to find anything about his past. His mannerisms are similar to the people of Kararagi but at the same time, not, they appear to be from a different era or perhaps world entirely." She narrowed her gaze near the end, her smile slowly growing wider.

"He does not think like the normal people, he dresses in a way never seen before in the history of this world." Even if she were to be made useless with everything, knowledge was the one thing Echidna didn't lack with records of all she knew being a seemingly endless number of books.

Samuel chuckled, scratching the back of his head, "You sound like a child with a conspiracy theory." Indeed, what Echidna said did make sense however again, to conclude that he arrived here from another world would be a bit too much of a stretch but, then again, she was the Witch of Greed. For a witch, unorthodox and random thinking like this wasn't really surprising.

"....." Echidna stared at Samuel in silence... What did he mean by she sounded like a child? "*Ehem* Anyway, finally, he seems to be head over heels for that half elf girl but at the same time, panics at the mere sight of blood, has breakdowns quite a lot and overall seems desperate meaning he does have a place to return to but can't."

"Maybe he could just be from another country?" Samuel proposed slightly tilting his head, that would also explain all the points she made wouldn't it?

"Yes, yes he could but such a country simply doesn't exist. There is no place in this world I do not know of." Echidna proclaimed with slightly raising her head, keeping all this in mind, it was safe to assume that he wasn't a resident of this world or perhaps some different dimension, maybe some place (As improbable as it was) she didn't know of. Each of these possible scenarios were more than enough to entice the witch, couple that with the potential a person who could reset the world held and no wonder she had been obsessed later down the line.

"There's the possibility of another country but I follow you so far, why not call him then?" If she knew this much about Subaru, then she should have called him not Samuel.

"But you already knew that he's from another world didn't you, Samuel?"

"How did yo-..?"

"Your reaction just then, a normal person would have called it crazy and you are a normal person." She answered with a sweet smile, perhaps slightly different but not enough to be an abnormality. Samuel sighed, placing down the empty tea cup, this is why he didn't like dealing with intelligent people.... they were, a pain.

"So then, as for calling you. You have the same mannerisms, to some extent the same kind of clothes, you possess the same metia too..."

"I can sense a but." Samuel mumbled as Echidna once more poured him tea, a soft glint in her eyes.

"But, you are far calmer, you moved as if you already knew most of what this place had to offer, you act as if you know me, you interacted far too normally. Perhaps that was an attempt at blending in but the preset has already been set, for you to not even slightly panic and make knowing movements would imply that you do in fact, have a method or medium which would allow you to return to your place of origin with great ease and also that the place you come from already knows about here. I choose to believe that would be a new world entirely for me." This time, her words were far faster than before, crazed to some extent, the smile nearly reaching her ears as Samuel physically recoiled, how the hell did she even? It made sense but how was he even supposed to avoid something like this? Who the hell would... Samuel was completely speechless.

Echidna, though, was now too absorbed in what she was saying to even notice, "You are an immortal, forget resets, you will walk this or another or perhaps some other plane for eternity lest you be brought down. Eventually you'll stop being human, that body of yours is something I've never seen in my life. It responds and adapts to any and all stimuli in a matter of moments! Potential in a restart? No! This is far far greater!" She raised her hands to the sky, yes this was far more intriguing, new worlds, an immortal, a body like that and most of all, the unwavering mind.... Wouldn't it be a sight to witness the moment it breaks?

"You will become something far beyond everything I know of! You asked why I called you? A contract! I offer everything I hold to you, my tools, my knowledge, my intelligence and even my body if you want! I offer my everything in aid of whatever goals you might have! All I want in exchange, is the right to witness what you do and what will become of you. A taste of what your future holds!" By now, Echidna was no longer calm but rather was in some strange stupor.

Samuel looked at her in silence, yeah he understood why she was a witch now, the woman was nuts.... but, what the actual fuck? He wasn't even here that long! How the hell did she manage to? And what was she saying about his body? Wasn't his growth stunted? Didn't she pretty much describe reactive regenerative adaptation?

Though... At the same time, he whistled, this level of thought was something else and he was damn sure there was more to it than what she said, maybe what Echidna understood or derived conclusions wouldn't even make sense to him if she said it directly.

"Most of all, what separates you from him is..." Echidna raised her hand, pointing it at Samuel who tilted his head in curiosity just before falling on the table.

And then, a sharp explosion rang out as the ground nearby cracked, an oppressive aura rolling off in waves from the person that had just arrived.

"Move, Dona." A short girl that looked to be ten years of age said in a mix of anger and seriousness, she had large red eyes and messy deep green hair that reached her neck, she only wore a simple white sundress with blue linings.

"I can't do that I'm afraid.... Typhon." Echidna smiled walking over to and standing right in front of Samuel with her back to him, her fingers somewhat jerked as if ready to fight. The one person that would never accept the presence of Samuel. The Witch of Pride, Typhon, an unhealthy obsession with upholding justice and a tendency to see the world in black and white were her defining characteristics and Samuel... was a very bad man.

"Wait wait, calm down." Another presence made itself known, a somewhat short girl with blonde hair tied up in a pony tail to the side. She wore a short fitting purple one piece dress, a purple bodysuit, long white gloves, similar shoes and a sleeveless white coat. "We saw that he didn't really do it on purpose and he's trying too. Isn't that what matters?"

Typhon slowly tilted her head towards the new girl, "No." her words were simple, any that do bad deserve to be punished for doing so, reasons didn't matter to the witch of pride. "Then I'll side with Echidna here! What now?!" The blonde girl appeared next to Echidna, the Witch of Wrath Minerva.

"Theeen, I'm with Tyu-Tyu." The clanking of metal rang out making Echidna and Minerva grew wary as a tall black coffin with eight crab legs made it's way over to them, within it was a young chained girl with shoulder length ashen hair. Her eyes were covered by a blindfold, the Witch of Gluttony Daphne.

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Share your thoughts please.

What do you think would be wiser? Accepting or rejecting the contract?