(Non-canon to the fanfic)
Before Beatrice could even react, she had already been pulled by an unholy power. The shape of the world itself around her merged and morphed. Colors, shapes, and sizes expanded and contracted. Her body had started to wobble in ways physically impossible. The pressure inflicted didn't allow her to call for help properly.
"Aagh… aa… eeegh… aein… su… a… u…"
The spirit girl continued spinning in circles for what felt like an eternity. But when her soul and body started giving signs of breakage, the world went black.
The space around her vanished, and she fell from an invisible abyss. She didn't even have the strength to scream anymore; the only thing she could do was wait until she hit whatever floor was down there.
The dark world didn't seem to have an end in any direction. North, south, east, and west were all indistinguishable. Was she even falling? Was she even moving? What on earth was happening?
"You look ridiculous like that."
"Ah?" was the only thing she could let out.
But… wha… I was falling… there was…
Beatrice was lying on the ground. There were no signs of her having been falling up until that moment. Her breathing slowed steadily, and she immediately started checking her surroundings.
"You know… this isn't really a necessary thing, but it kind of works like an opening act. Though I have to say, you really endured that pretty well. Most people break around the one-minute mark; you were five minutes in there. Preeeeetty impressive, if you ask me."
Only five minutes!? I was there for so much time I couldn't even count it.
The presence of that voice was unclear. Unlike the world itself that had disappeared, that voice occupied all space. To Beatrice, who was very knowledgeable in what magic refers to, the most reasonable conclusion was that the speaker was directly connected to her head.
"Where are you, I suppose!? If this is some sort of sick joke, I suggest you stop it this very instant!"
"As if I would reveal myself, hah! I don't think you'd have anything nice to do to me. It's not like you could ever beat me… but either way, that's not happening."
"You won't be getting away wi—"
"My, my, Beako… it seems to me like you're being a little agitated, aren't you? I understand, I understand; trust me, I do. But if I were you, I would be saving all that precious energy for later."
"Be—?" Beatrice's eyes twitched after hearing that. "Who do you think you are calling me that!? Only Subaru can call me that!"
The voice could be heard letting out a long, tired, almost annoyed sigh. "And here I was thinking we could have a talk like in the old times… I guess I was expecting too much from you. My fault, my fault. I apologize."
"Old times… what are you talking about?"
Beatrice furrowed her brow. What the hell was he talking about? What old times? This was the first time ever encountering that person. Someone as sick as him would have definitely left a mark on her memory.
"What's this? It seems like you're finally calmed again! Great! This is just amazing! Finally we can get started. Aren't you excited? I can assure you I certainly am! I feel like a kid when starting a new manga! Let's get started!"
"Excited for whaaAAAAAAGH!?"
And so the world around her began morphing again, leaving her in a spiral of darkness and confusion.
◇
"You probably think you aren't guilty, don't you?"
"You were too busy, weren't you?"
"You were simply waiting. You've done nothing, haven't you?"
After being swallowed by her environs once again, Beatrice found herself in a state unlike anything she had ever felt. The difference between consciousness and unawareness disappeared.
"You did nothing."
To put it into words, Beatrice felt like she was flying through an infinite space where all matter consisted of either darkness or light. Day and night. Sun and moon. The flying sparkles around her only diluted her vision more.
"You are at fault."
And then… she finally woke from her dream-like state. She could barely remember anything from what had just happened seconds ago, but even trying to remember it gave her nausea. When her eyes focused again, she was completely dumbfounded. She hadn't moved, yet she was… in the mansion again?
"Look at you! Looks like it worked! If it hadn't worked, it would have been really embarrassing, enough to die for!"
The voice now sounded ecstatic.
"Tell me, tell me! Did you feel like it was just a dream for a second!? Please, please, I want to know so badly! When you opened your eyes just now and saw the mansion! You felt it, right? Surely! Haha! You really must have felt relieved… until you heard my voice! Too bad, Beako!"
Without giving the voice the attention it so badly wanted, Beatrice tried assessing her situation. What was he even talking about? She was at the mansion, right?
"My body, why won't it listen to me? Eh? How am I talking?"
Beatrice's body wouldn't respond. She could feel her lips shut, yet she was talking; she could hear herself talking. It wasn't her imagination. In the background, she could hear faint sounds, the usual noises around the mansion at midnight. Despite this, she couldn't move. The muscles wouldn't listen to her commands.
"Oh! I should explain this, shouldn't I? Well, long story short, you are there, but at the same time you aren't!"
"Wh–What does that even mean?"
"Hmmmm… put it like this… you are there. You feel everything, but in reality, you're here. Don't give it too much thought."
"You just repeated yourself…"
Here, but at the same time there, easy enough to understand in theory. But she wondered how that was even physically possible. No magic she had ever read about could do something such as that. Nevertheless, there was no time for her to think, because the situation at the mansion was starting to evolve.
The chair she was sitting on smashed into the ground due to her suddenly standing up.
"Agh… What is this…? It's cold. It hurts so much. What… is happening?"
She fell to her knees; her body started effusively trembling.
"It hurts, doesn't it!? Oh, poor Beako! My poor little Beako! Were the books in the library really that interesting? Hmmm… well, I hope you enjoyed them!"
She felt something quickly rising through her body.
I'm going to throw up.
"Gk—blegh—!"
"How truly disgusting! Your hand is covered with vomit now! Yuck!"
"Sh… Shu… Shut up…!" With the remaining strength she had, Beatrice declared that. Her body slowly rose from the ground and started tumbling toward the door. Her vision was blurry.
While leaning on the mansion's walls, she walked through the corridors.
Uuuugh, this won't do. I'm going to pass out.
The stairs appeared before her. Every few meters, she was now vomiting all around the floor, leaving a trail only describable as repulsive and disgusting.
Again.
But this time she swallowed the vomit. Looking ahead, she could see the mansion's long corridor stretching ahead. Where did that even lead to? She couldn't think straight anymore. The place where she had lived for hundreds of years now felt like a maze.
A chain sound echoed behind her.
This is bad, this is very bad… I can't move.
"AAAAAAAGH!" Her body plummeted backwards, leaving a trail of blood all around the carpet.
She could hear someone's footsteps approaching her from her blind spot. Not only that, but she could hear how that voice was desperately trying to hold back his laughter.
Subaru… I don't think I… I don't think I can make it… Subaru… Where are you?
Panting, she started to feel an unbearable pain in her arm. She looked and—
"AAAGH! AAAAAGH! AGH! AGH!" It was gone; her arm had been blown away. "AAAAAAAAAGH! It hurts, it hurts! It hurts so much! AAAAAAGH!"
"Hahahaha, I can't believe this! This is even better than I expected! How amusing; you really aren't letting me down, Beako! Amazing!"
"AAAAAAAAGH, Hk! Hk! Hk!" After desperately going around in circles on the ground, her body started to convulse. Her screaming, however, didn't cease. The pain was the worst she had ever felt.
The fear, the pain, the uncertainty…
"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! AAGH!"
"Don't worry, don't worry. We are almost done here!"
"3"
Her body could feel every single inch of what was going on in the mansion, but she could also feel pain alien to it. The difference between the two was almost none, enough for her not to really give it importance. To be more concrete, her mind couldn't differentiate anymore what was important and what wasn't.
"2"
Her consciousness was starting to fade away. The voice was taking way too long between each number. She could feel as if her sanity was being stolen from her. She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, she wanted to ask for help. Beatrice was—
"1"
"aaagh… eh… ao… augh…"
"And… 0!"
Her whole body was smashed from behind, leaving nothing but the previous darkness.
"Oh? Are we really done here? This is only one; don't tell me you can't take it."
"Ugh… eeek… aaah…eeeel… eeelp…ee—"
Beatrice lay sideways on the ground, her bloodshot eyes wide open, so open one could judge them as about to fall out. Both her arms were covered in blood, likely due to scratches. Her lips trembled, as did her whole body. She hugged herself in search of God knows what… warmth? Self-love?
Her mind had been corrupted beyond recognition.
Beatrice had lost.
"Would you look at that! Your arms are looking really, really bad! That sure brings back some memories."
"Ha… haha…"
She laughed.
And he accompanied her.
"Ha ha ha ha."
They both laughed as the curtains closed, concluding the final act.