The Pleiades Watchtower Expedition was an event that took place roughly one year and five months after the arrival of Natsuki Subaru into the world. It is the primary conflict of Arc 6.
In the wake of the Battle for Priestella, numerous people were left in the Sleeping Beauty state and forgotten, as well as physically altered, by the Sin Archbishops of Gluttony and Lust respectively. With the intent to return those afflicted to normal as well as return Anastasia Hoshin to her body, the Emilia Camp and select members of the Anastasia Camp decided to embark on a journey to the Pleiades Watchtower, where the Sage was rumored to still live, in an effort to potentially glean answers from him.
Though the group successfully managed to reach the tower, a feat even the Sword Saint Reinhard van Astrea failed to accomplish, they were assailed by numerous challenges throughout its conquering: the Star Guardian Shaula, the trials’ caretakers, Subaru’s memory loss, a potential traitor, the Sin Archbishops of Gluttony invading the tower to take Subaru for themselves, an army of witchbeasts being led by the gluttonies who were attracted to the scent of the Witch on Subaru, and even the shadow of the Witch of Envy. Although in the end they managed to fully conquer the tower and even successfully forced Lye to spit up the names he’d devoured, another problem presented itself when Rui manifested, and she, Subaru, and Rem were taken away by the Witch’s shadow.
Background[]
Creation of the Watchtower[]
After the Witch of Envy was sealed away by the Sage, the Sword Saint, and the Divine Dragon after the Great Calamity, Flugel created the Pleiades Watchtower to watch over her seal, which was said to be near the Great Waterfall. Using Reid’s soul, his own knowledge, and Volcanica’s presence, the trials were complete, and he left a certain plaque with the handprints of himself and his friends on the top of the tower. After he left Shaula as the guardian of the tower and asked her to wait for his return, Flugel disappeared completely from history. After his disappearance, the seventh floor of the tower known as Merope was created, and its purpose and location was left known only to Shaula. At some point, thanks to Flugel pushing all of his achievements onto Shaula, she became recognized as the Sage rather than Flugel. Sometime later, Reid died of old age.
Previous Expeditions[]
Over the centuries, numerous people attempted to cross into the Augria Sand Dunes in order to obtain either the help of the Sage or information from him, as it was rumored that the Sage continued to live in the Pleiades Watchtower. All of these expeditions ended in failure, either via the deaths of all who went or their depressing return. One such expedition, as recent as a year before the Royal Selection, saw the current generation’s Sword Saint, Reinhard van Astrea, attempt to traverse the sands and reach the tower in order to potentially save the dying Royal family of Lugunica. However, though the Witch’s miasma and the witchbeasts presented no issue to the man, he could not find a way to overcome the barrier known as Sand Time, and he was forced to retreat back to Lugunica.
Greed and Gluttony’s Attack[]
Following the successful Subjugation of the White Whale, after Subaru set off for the Subjugation of Sloth, Crusch Karsten and Rem attempted to return to the Royal Capital with the injured and confirm the death of the White Whale with the government. However, the party was ambushed by the Sin Archbishops of Greed and Gluttony. The ambush resulted in the deaths of the majority of the soldiers, Crusch being injured and having her memories devoured, and Rem having her name and memories devoured by Lye. As a result of this, Lye obtained an obsession with devouring Subaru, influenced both by his Authority and Rem’s memories.
Battle for Priestella[]
A year after the Royal Selection began, Anastasia invited the different camps to the Watergate City of Priestella in order to boost relations with them. While all of the camps, including the Priscilla Camp who had arrived uninvited, managed to make it to the city, the Witch Cult also made their move, taking over the city for the day. The Royal Candidates ultimately succeeded in defeating the Witch Cult, successfully arresting Sirius Romanée-Conti and killing Regulus Corneas, with Subaru taking the latter’s Witch Factor of Greed for himself. However, there were numerous victims left behind by the attack: many lost their names and memories, Joshua Juukulius losing both while Julius Juukulius lost his name; many were left malformed into giant flies and even a dragon by Capella Emerada Lugunica, with both Subaru and Crusch Karsten being cursed by her, the latter of which was left bedridden; Anastasia locked herself inside her Od, leaving control of her body to Eridna, her artificial spirit. With a need to discover a way to undo the damage, Eridna provided a solution: to go to the Pleiades Watchtower and gain the assistance of the Sage,
With their course set, the Emilia Camp, Eridna, and Julius returned to the Mathers Domain, where they met with Roswaal L. Mathers to discuss the matter at hand. There, they decided to take Meili Portroute with them to handle the witchbeasts, Ram decided to accompany the group, and Roswaal convinced Subaru to take Rem, whose name and memories were devoured a year earlier, on the journey with him. With Emilia tasked to provide Ram with mana in Roswaal’s place, the group set out.
Conquering the Watchtower[]
Sand Time[]
Arriving in Mirula, the town nearest the Augria Sand Dunes, Subaru and Emilia obtained information regarding the regular sandstorms known as Sand Time, the miasma coming from the tower, and the birds that were flying to and from the tower. Afterward, the group began traveling the sands, with Meili keeping the witchbeasts at bay, even keeping a sandworm under her constant command. After a few days time, they were no closer to reaching the tower than when they had originally set out. However, after concluding that the tower was protected by a barrier and that the Sand Time was the moment it was at its weakest, Subaru noticed the birds above, and he asked Ram to connect to it with her clairvoyance. After several exhausting tries over a few days, Ram managed to connect, and the group was able to follow her instructions and push through the barrier.
Unfortunately, after the group came to a stop, they realized that they were before countless courtesan bears, and they could not tread lightly. Having gone through two failed loops, Subaru used his Invisible Providence to pacify the frightened Joseph, and the group retreated to a safe area. There, they discussed the way forward, with Subaru mentioning a deadly light coming from the tower. Soon after, they were forced to confront this light, leading to Subaru and Beatrice’s use of an anti-magic spell. Though they successfully managed to reduce the power of the needle flying at them, they also disrupted the barrier around them, which resulted in Subaru, Ram, Eridna, and Patrasche being separated from the group. Having seen this, Shaula made her way down to retrieve them, though she was disappointed to not find Subaru there. Afterward, she led the rest of the group to the tower while she went to fetch the others.
Shaula arrives to collect Subaru.
Beneath the sands, Subaru’s group was forced to face the tunnels ahead. Having been through another failed loop, Subaru led them down the left path, where he fell and was forced to confront a centaur witchbeast. Attempting to use the monster’s sense of hearing against it, Subaru tried to climb back up to the others, only to be interrupted. Ram jumped down as well to assist him, but she was swiftly pushed back and knocked out. Holding her in his arms, Subaru tried to use Invisible Providence again to crush the beast’s heart, only to feel his Authority’s kickback. Soon after, assistance came in the form of Shaula, who made quick work of the monster, and Subaru passed out with Ram in his arms. With Shaula retrieving them, Eridna and Patrasche followed behind, and they successfully entered the tower.
The Trials of the Tower[]
After entering the tower, the group tried numerous times to speak to Shaula. However, she would not answer them and merely waited in silence for Subaru to awaken. Later, after having placed Rem in the Green Room of the tower, everyone went to check out the first of the trials. None were able to figure out how to proceed forward, as none of them could understand the riddle presented to them. Ram awakened soon after, having been stuck in Subaru’s arms. The next day, Subaru woke up to Emilia sleeping beside him and Beatrice nearby. After emerging from the carriage, Subaru was confronted with Shaula, who finally broke her silence and pounced Subaru, leading to Emilia waking up to a misunderstanding.
After gaining information from the now chatty Shaula, they learned about the rules of the tower and the names of the floors, as well as Shaula believing Subaru to be her master through scent alone, being willing to obey nearly everything he asks of her. Shortly after, Subaru visited Rem in the Green Room for a brief moment. Having Shaula lead the group to the Taygeta trial, Subaru questioned the location of the hidden floor Merope, having already put together the theme of the tower. However, Shaula could not tell him, and warned him not to pry. In the trial room, Subaru challenged the trial but struggled with it. However, upon realizing that the trial was also star themed, he and Beatrice used Murak to jump into the sky, and Subaru passed the trial, much to his irritation, and to the frustration of the others once he explained the trial.
Now confronted with the Taygeta Library, Shaula offered up the true name of the Pleiades Watchtower: the Pleiades Great Library. Looking around, Subaru and Julius found books with the names Typhon and Balleroy Temeglyph, respectively, allowing them to see some of their history. Realizing the books showed the history of those who died, they dubbed them Books of the Dead before moving onto the Electra trial. Touching the sword in the new room, they summoned the soul of Reid Astrea in his youth. Managing to negotiate the success of the challenge to managing to get one strike in on the Sword Saint, Emilia challenged him. Though she had a tough fight, thanks to Reid’s self-caused carelessness, she managed to land a strike. Afterward, Julius decided to step forward, as they couldn’t allow Emilia to take on the final trial alone. However, it took little time for the chopstick-wielding madman to thrash Julius, and even with Eridna trying to back him up, she failed, and both were left unconscious.
With Eridna and Julius brought to the Green Room, everyone discussed how they would proceed. Unable to come to a proper conclusion, everyone decided to take a break. Julius, meanwhile, having awakened, went to challenge Reid again, only to lose just as spectacularly as before. With Subaru retrieving him, he brought Julius back to the Green Room. Later that night, Eridna had left the room. Subaru, who had also woken up and noticed her missing, went to look for her. Led by a bird to a balcony, he found Eridna, and the two spoke to each other. Though seemingly friendly enough at first as they spoke about the birds, Eridna soon questioned Subaru’s identity, having been conflicted and fearful of him over his numerous achievements over the past year, speaking with him repeatedly, knowing things that nobody else does, and witnessing others treat him as though he were a unique existence. Subaru was unable to provide an answer, and their conversation continued. Julius, however, had also made his way there, and he learned of Eridna’s existence from her and Subaru. Though shocked and confused, he still treated her properly, and he and Eridna returned to the Green Room.
Afterward, Subaru, who didn’t know how to proceed, found himself before Ram, who flicked him in the head and gave him advice. After she left, Subaru came up with an idea for how to get past the second trial, and he made his way towards the Taygeta Library.
Satiation’s Machinations[]
After arriving in the Taygeta Library, Subaru searched for Reid’s Book of the Dead, hoping to find a weakness in his history. However, when he found and tried to read it, as it was empty, Subaru was brought to the Corridor of Memories, where he met with the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, Rui Arneb. Though at first she didn’t interest him even after looking through the memories of Rem which she had access to thanks to Lye, after she ate his name and memories, noticing he was still awake, she suddenly became obsessed with his memories and his life, and especially his Return by Death. Coming up with a scheme to take over his body, Rui created a clone of herself with her Witch Factor, implanted her growing feelings for Subaru into it, and attached the clone to Subaru. Locking his memories in the Corridor of Memories, she banished him and began her scheme. In the library, having temporarily taken control of Subaru’s body, she spoke with Meili, whose urge to kill Subaru had flared, and she made her question herself.
The next morning, Subaru awoke without his memories of the previous year. Going through several loops in this way, he began to question himself from the past year, and he was forced to witness various coming disasters: someone wanting to kill him, someone coming to kill everyone in the tower, the arrival of witchbeasts, Reid’s traversal outside of Electra and fight with Julius, the appearance of a deadly enemy, the giant scorpion, something taking over his body, and a large shadow coming to devour the tower. After coming to terms with what he wanted to protect, he decided to handle the tower problems before his memories, as it should take precedence. He also confronted the distraught Ram and spoke of Rem.
Subaru confronts Rui in the Corridor of Memories.
Soon after, with Emilia’s help, they managed to pacify Meili who had killed him twice, and they gained her permanent alliance. Then they headed to the Taygeta Library, where Subaru believed he’d gone before his memory loss. Shortly before entering, however, he confronted Julius and entrusted him with the task of taking care of Reid. In the library, he once again found Reid’s book, and read it. Confronting Rui again, she poked and prodded at him in an attempt to make him question his identity, and if not for the appearance of Rem in the Corridor of Memories, he would have succumbed. Angered, Rui banished him again, leaving him to her brothers.
Back in the tower, conflicts began to arise, and everyone went to deal with it. Being forced to go through several loops, Subaru reconfirmed his enemies: Shaula, who transformed against her will following the tower’s rules being broken, and who he vowed to save; Reid, who would escape the Electra floor; Lye Batenkaitos, who would run away when he became disadvantaged; Rui, who could take over her brothers’ bodies; the army of witchbeasts that swarmed the tower; and the shadow, which would attack everyone while Rui was attached to Subaru.
Unfortunately, after many more failed loops, Subaru exhausted himself and was left to rest in the library. With his Authority of Greed beginning to resonate, Subaru managed to find his own Books of the Dead, left there by the memories trapped in the Corridor of Memories. After catching up, having hoped to find where he’d gotten his courage before, he reached the Corridor of Memories and confronted himself. After regaining all of his memories, the part of Rui that was attached him detached, fearful of him and how he could stay sane after experiencing death so many times. Deciding not to offer his hand, Subaru was banished from the Corridor one last time, leaving the two Ruis to fight each other. Thus, he eliminated the chance of her interference and the shadow coming for the tower.
After awakening, Subaru made his way to Emilia’s whose name was devoured, and providing her with proper assistance, they forced Lye back. Entrusting taking care of him to Ram and protecting Rem to Patrasche and connecting to everyone with his new ability Cor Leonis, he tasked Emilia with ending the trials by taking on the last one, while he went to handle to witchbeasts and the transformed Shaula with Beatrice and Meili.
The Oni and Gourmet[]
On the stairs of the tower, Lye was catching his breath from his previous fight. However, above him, Ram appeared, connected to Subaru’s Cor Leonis and with more access to her power. As their fight started, Ram was able to quickly overpower Lye, despite the vast experience and skill that he had accumulated. Halfway through, she realized what Subaru had done and was annoyed by his decision, and she decided to take care of the fight as soon as she could. Even as he utilized Dorkell’s Leaper, she would always find him and proceed to beat him in order to make him spit up the names he’d devoured. Even using a combination of the skills of Neiji Lockhart, Beli Hainelga, and an unnamed shinobi, he was unable to so much as scratch her, comparing her sheer power level as comparable to Regulus. Using Leaper, he proceeded to make a temporary retreat.
Using Clairvoyance, Ram searched for Lye, and soon, she found him chasing Patrasche, who had Rem on her back, and slashing at the land dragon while being aware of the Clairvoyance connection. As she made her way there, Ram confronted Lye again. However, he’d begun utilizing his Solar Eclipse, and he even took on the image of Rem to get under her skin. Shortly after, when Subaru’s connection was cut, Lye used this and his malforming body’s strength to continuously beat Ram until she knocked her through a wall. Not out of the game, she realized through Synesthesia and Roswaal’s likely intentions for Rem what she could do, and utilizing her horn within her wand, she connected herself to Rem’s unconscious self, and she regained her strength.
Ram kills Lye.
After being beaten nearly to death, Lye used Leaper to escape. With his feelings for Ram having grown, Lye realized that the only name he wanted was hers, and he proceeded to spit up all of the names he’d eaten thus far, as they’d merely become bland side dishes to him. Soon after, he ran into Ram’s final trap: a recreation of the invisible blade technique he’d used earlier. Realizing Clairvoyance was still connected, he cut off his own hands and used the blood to convey his love, shortly before she used her wind to sever his head from his body. After a short rest with Patrasche and Rem, she left Rem in the Green Room, and she and Patrasche made their way up towards the top floor.
The Finest and the Sword Saint[]
Having had a bad feeling, Julius traversed to the Electra floor, where he confronted Reid and Roy Alphard. Though Roy had been thrashed by Reid, the Sword Saint allowed him to devour his name. Unable to contain his soul, however, Roy’s body was taken over by Reid, and he and Julius confronted each other, with Eridna watching the two. Emilia passed them by as they clashed, and Reid allowed it, as she had already passed the trial and he was busy with Julius.
Throughout the fight, Reid constantly had the upper hand, toying with Julius like he had before. When Julius used his cape as a distraction, Reid was impressed, though shortly after, Julius took his cape back. The two had a small argument about how he should handle his chivalric nature. With Julius deciding to maintain his appearance for the sake of others, he undid his contract with his spirits, only to reinvoke it, forging his bonds anew and helping them to evolve from quasi-spirits to proper spirits. Ready to fight again, the two clashed, with Reid wielding a proper sword and Julius even managing to remove Reid’s eyepatch.
Reid defeated.
Seeing how Julius was prepared to reforge his bonds from scratch and regained his confidence, Eridna forcefully pulled Anastasia from out of her own Od, returning her to her body. The two watched on, giving Julius more confidence. Eventually, Roy’s body could no longer handle Reid’s soul, and his soul started to take damage, allowing Julius to land one final blow directly into Reid’s chest. Julius confirmed that it was his loss, but he gained the Sword Saint’s respect as his soul shattered and left Roy’s unconscious body on the floor. When he turned around, he confronted Anastasia again and restarted his friendship with her. Afterward, he left to assist the others.
Maia[]
Reaching the top floor of the tower, Emilia found herself before the Divine Dragon itself. However, due to its senility, she was unable to properly communicate with it. Deciding to get closer to the center pillar atop the tower, she was attacked by Volcanica, forcing herself to defend. After she realized she couldn't defeat Volcanica, even with her Ice Soldiers’ assistance, she came to the conclusion that she needed to reach the very top of the center pillar, and thus, she began her climb.
Volcanica, despite its size, followed after her, flying with intense speed to reach her. Unable to maintain her momentum and defend herself at the same time, she used her Ice Soldiers to fling herself higher. Before she could reach the top, she was knocked off of the pillar by the Dragon, and she was forced to hold on to its scales. However, noticing one of its inverted scales, a scar that was given to it by an old injury, Emilia used her Ice Soldiers to touch it, mistakenly believing that it might provide him comfort. As it howled in pain, she fell from its back and landed atop the pillar, where she found a certain plaque decorated with six handprints.
Volcanica soon returned, mistaking Emilia for Satella and speaking with her fondly. However, when she tried to claim that she was not Satella, using her Witch moniker, Volcanica went ballistic, claiming he shouldn’t have hesitated before, and he tried to attack Emilia again. Knocked off of the pillar, Ram appeared and blasted her with wind to return to the pillar, and Patrasche’s appearance distracted Volcanica, who had called out her name. Back atop the pillar, Emilia managed to place her hand on the plaque, pacifying Volcanica and cementing her role as the tower’s administrator. With the rules completely cleared, the sky around the tower became clear, and the miasma vanished.
The Witchbeast Masters and the Crimson Scorpion[]
Having left Ram and Emilia to their tasks, Subaru took to the balcony, where he and Beatrice assisted Meili in holding off several witchbeasts. Nearby, Shaula was unable to keep ahold of her form, and after seeing Subaru, she turned into the giant scorpion. After knocking her off of the tower with a combination of Murak, his whip, and Meili’s witchbeasts, Subaru had Meili summon one of the centaur witchbeasts that he’d encountered earlier, and the group made their way down and traversed the sands, with Shaula following close behind them. Utilizing Subaru’s scent and Meili’s Divine Protection in combination with Subaru’s and Beatrice’s spiritual arts, not to mention Meili’s sandworm, they were able to keep the monsters and Shaula in check. Unfortunately, however, Subaru soon lost track of Emilia, who had gone up to the top floor.
Forced to keep concentrating, the three kept their eyes forward. However, thanks to Ram being forced to use even more power, Subaru was beginning to feel the kickback. After the urging of Beatrice and Meili, he decided to share the pain that he was taking from Ram with them, causing all three of them intense pain. Eventually, however, after losing control of the beast they were riding, they were kicked off, and Meili sustained a life-threatening injury, while Subaru was forced to disconnect Cor Leonis.
After getting back up, Subaru reactivated Cor Leonis, and he helped Beatrice with healing Meili. Not long after, the air cleared of miasma. However, Shaula was still behind them and transformed. Enraged, Shaula entered her Attack Hue. Before they faced death, Julius, who had just taken care of Reid/Roy, appeared and protected them. Afterward, with his help, they managed to defeat Shaula. Rather than turning back, though, she instead turned into a small scorpion that no longer retained her intelligence nor personality.
Aftermath[]
Following the end of the battle, Julius left Roy sealed in condensed Yin Magic, intending to bring him to the Royal Capital. Fortunately, everyone also managed to remember Emilia’s name. However, Julius remained forgotten, as his name was devoured by Roy rather than Lye. Finally calming down, Subaru passed out, crushed by the exhaustion of his memory problems, his grudge against Gluttony, the kickback of Cor Leonis, and his inability to properly save Shaula. He was left in the Green Room with Ram, Rem, Patrasche, and Meili to recover. Meanwhile, the others moved to the top floor, where they met Volcanica and learned of his senility, as well as Emilia’s new role as the tower’s administrator.
In the Green Room, Subaru awoke, and he spoke with the others in the room about the death death of Lye as well as the workings of the Authority of Gluttony, hoping that those afflicted would awaken. Shortly after, a bright glow appeared in the center of the room before manifesting an unconscious Rui. When he recognized her, he and Ram were put on guard while Meili went to inform the others. Shortly after, the shadow returned and threatened to grab them all. Subaru threw Ram and Patrasche and had them leave the room while he grabbed Rem and Rui to do the same. Unfortunately, Subaru, Rem, and Rui were taken by the shadow. As it flew, Volcanica struck it, and the three were left in Vollachia.