Chapter Text
“What,” he breathes, “Was that?”
“I felt— it felt like I was being yanked?” He lifts up his hand and paces a bit. You miss it.
Well, at least you're grounded now. You guess.
“You felt it too, right? I'm sorry, I know you were freaking out–you did nothing wrong, but–you felt that, right?”
Swallowing hard, you nod.
“Good. Um. Sif. You didn't hurt me, okay? You're fine. I promise. I get it.” You frown. “Seriously. If it means making you feel better, I'd choose to be squeezed a little bit 1000 times over. Okay?”
He kneels, and all you can see is compassion. GROSS!!!!!! He lifts up a hand, and you take it. He pulls you up. “How about a do-over?”
You nod, and realize you haven't talked since your little meltdown. “Y-yes. Please?”
He gently wraps his arms around you, and you think you'll never get sick of this feeling. Gently, so gently, you wrap your arms around him back. He giggles. “You can go tighter, bud. I was just surprised earlier.”
…
…You do so.
After a minute of just standing there, you feel his own arms tighten. You don't make a noise, as to not set him off like you did (like he'd freak out on your scale.) and you feel him tense up. Huh? What-
You feel yourself. Getting. Lifted-? WHOA-
Confused and giggling, you tighten your grip around his waist. He swings you around a bit, and you can't help the laugh that bubbles out of you, and he laughs in response. You kick your feet and he gently sets you back down.
You're still giggling as your feet touch solid ground. You feel a memory poke at your brain, but once you grasp at it, it's gone. Your elated smile turns slightly bittersweet, but you're still happy. He's so???? Strong???????
You giggle a little more, your face flushing. He smiles, a big, dopey thing. You want to hug him more, now that he knows. He basically assured you that you would! You can't wait.
Stars, maybe if you had told him this, at least, back in your first loops, maybe you would have held out, longer. You sigh.
You wonder how the others are doing.
…
…
OH. OH, MIRABELLE. AND THAT VOICE. UM. OOPS. “ISA.”
“Uh, I don't have a lot of time to explain, sorry. Could you head to the Clocktower? I have to have a big talk with you all, but…”
You look back to the Favor Tree. You need to get something sorted. “I need to.. do something. Alone. It's.. personal.”
Despite your guilt, he nods. “Okay, Sif! I'll see you there!” he goes forward a bit, looks back, expression indiscernible, then heads off. You watch him until his form disappears. You sigh.
“Alright, you can come out now, Stardust.”
You hear a snicker, and after a moment, a hand thumping against wood. You turn around, and there he is.
They look… basically the same. Well, you've never seen him do this before. He's agressively patting the root next to him, smiling up at you. You can practically hear him talking to you. ‘Sit, sit!’ Still, you wait a moment to analyze them, and he doesn't relent on his… ‘attack’, against the tree's poor root.
His hair is more tame, but definitely a bit more wavy. You can't see the darker bits in his hair, anymore. Not because of their angle, they're just.. not there?
He's slightly transparent, like a stereotypical ghost. Your eyes crease in worry. Had you…?
You grab your arm, under your cloak.
Speaking of. He's not wearing his cloak, which is strange. His hat, though, he lost earlier, so you can expect that. You hadn't seen them, or even yourself, in underclothes since your original loops. It's a little strange.
And he… glitters? No, it's not glitter, but there is a sparkle to him. You see some stars float lazily around him. Oh. Okay. You get it now.
Sighing, (and refusing to acknowledge the fact they were STILL patting that root) you sit down. He beams. You look away.
“I'm not a dog, stardust.”
“Hehe. But you sat down, didn't you?” His eyes curve up with a beam.
You huff and roll your eyes. They're still smiling, you note. Ugh.
“So!!!!” (you hear him whisper, “oh stars, I've always wanted to do this!”) “Loop! How can I help you, on this wonderful new loop?”
You just. Look at them.
“Whaaaat.”
“That's my line. You can't take my line.” You huff, annoyed.
He pouts. “But I really really wanted to say it!”
“And you did! And now you won't. Ever again. Sooorryyyyy~!” You feign a pout back, poking him on the nose. It's easy to fall back into your old role, despite your switched spots. Literally.
You avert your eyes. “So. You're, uh. Here.”
“I am!” He smiles. Okay, he's either Changed for the worst, or his family really is fine.
Something must be clear on your face. “Oh, no, no! It's not like that!!” They wave their hands around. “I. I don't know. Why I know this? But this is temporary.”
Oh.
.
.
.
You push away any selfish thoughts.
“No, that's normal,” you say, after a moment. “I had… really, really weird information, back when I was your sponsor.”
You won't tell them what. You don't want that burden on him.
You shudder at the memory of a mantis shrimp.
He can never know.
Siffrin, stardust, whatever, seems to think for a second. He looks at you, and blinks. “Oh! Stars, no. Loop! I'm not leaving after this. I'm-” he giggles, and your face squinches up. “Your stardust, here to help you through the loops!”
“No.” You say, sternly. they pout again. “That doesn't work anymore. It literally makes no sense.”
“You're no fun!” He puffs up his cheeks, (‘like a hamster,’ you remember Isa saying) and you sigh, expression softening.
“Alright, alright.” You kick your feet a little, out of habit. “So. Why are you here?”
They seem to think for a second. “Well.. isn't it obvious?” They look at their hands, and around themselves, taking in their appearance as much as they can.
…Which isn't much.
After a second, they look back to you. “I'm like you now, aren't I?” He blinks slowly, and you're really starting to get the cat allegories.
“Yes, well…” Hm. As mortifying as it would be, for him to watch you struggle through your House, yes. It makes sense. You finished up the task the wish gave you, yes? And now…
You blink. “And you're here to help me.” That still… applied? You were thrust into all of this so quickly, you couldn't process any of the logistics of your situation. He tilts his head, but he has to understand.
You lean over in the dirt, drawing two crude Siffrins in the ground. He doesn't say anything, leaning forward as well. “So.”
You point a finger towards the leftmost one. “This is me.” You draw a star above yourself.
“I made a wish to stay with my..” You trail off. Siffrin opens his mouth, but you shush him.
“My party. Specifically, I wanted to see Ka Bue with Odile, but… I don't think that matters anymore.” He blinks.
“I wanted to go to Bambouche with Bonnie,” he interjects. You blink back. That's interesting to know, actually. You weren't there until his first loop, so you had no idea.
“Well… you know the story. And then you came along,” you say, gesturing to their Siffrin.
You point at yours, eyes narrowing. “And as you know, I made a second wish,” You breathe in. “For someone, anyone to help me.”
You don't look at them.
“And then,” you trail on, “I got stuck in your timeline.” You draw a curving arrow towards his Siffrin. Above it, you draw a stick figure with a pointy head. He snorts.
“And I did that, didn't I?” You look over to him, and he nods. “I helped you. And the wish was over. That's how they work.” At least, to your still sieve-like brain.
You look back to your drawing, and draw an arrow from your star form back to the first Siffrin.
“The wish was fulfilled…” you trail off, sticking a gloved finger into the dirt, into your mockery of a portrait, “But I don't…”
Siffrin lays a gentle hand on your shoulder, and you flinch. He gets off his root, sitting on his knees next to you.
“You helped yourself, because that's what the Universe decided to make of your wish, right?” You nod, raising an eyebrow.
“But your first wish never got fulfilled. In making your second, I think it… switched its priority?” They raise up one of their hands.
“I'm just theorycrafting, but… your old wish was still in stasis,” He makes a weird gesture with his hand, drawing a box around your first wish and drawing a new one. “After you fulfilled your second one, the Universe didn't waste any time bringing you back to your first one.” He then erases the new one, and erases the box around the first one.
“So I'm.. back.”
They nod.
“Because my first wish never really got fulfilled?”
“Well, you didn't stay with them, did you? Not your party, anyway.”
“And that's.. why I could still loop back? Back when we fought, I mean.”
He shrugs. “That's about my helpfulness quota for today, I think. Sorry.”
You stick out your tongue, then erase your drawings. “Aw.”
You look back, eyebrow raised. He's frowning. “I liked those!”
“You like it when anyone draws you.” You roll your eyes.
“So? I'm sure you did, too.”
You hop back onto your root, and think for a moment. You did, didn't you? Of course you did! Despite your loneliness and other emotions you don't feel like worrying about, you always loved to see those drawings.
…
You stopped after the Drawing Kid started looking at you with fear.
You look away. They don't say anything.
…
Then, you hear a chuckle. Was he–
You turn sharply around, and he quickly raises his hands. “Not what you think! Just…”
“Hehe. You and Isabeau. Pretty cute, huh?”
Your face heats up, and you splutter. “Excuse me! I didn't expect you to watch the whole thing!”
His smirk softens. “It was cute.” And their face settles to neutral. “I'm… sorry it got rough at the end.”
You shrug your shoulders, burying your face in your cloak. You still got your hug. And another one, after that. Anything else would be asking for too much.
“Hey,” he calls. You look up. “I'm gonna try everything in my power to make sure everything goes right today and tomorrow. Hopefully you won't even need to loop.”
Stars, you hope not. “Do you think I still can?”
They shrug back. “Maybe. Hopefully we won't have to find out.”
They pause, and after a moment, look back over to you. “I'm proud of you, Loop. Or… Siffrin.” You shudder. He pauses to hear your opinion on it. “...No. Just Loop.” He frowns, but nods. “I may be… back in my own body, but.” But I'm not the same. I Changed. “It's not the same.”
They carry on. “I really am proud of you. I know something happened to you, with Mirabelle, and I think you two talked, especially considering what happened with Isabeau,” You notice he's not using his nicknames for them. You're grateful, even if he doesn't have to do that. “and I'm proud. It's a big step.”
You inhale. “Well, you made a promise to me, and, well…” He smiles back, gently. “Thank you.”
You both just sit in silence for a bit. The wind rustles through the grass and the leaves. It's nice.
“Alright, Loop.” You look over, blinking. You had closed your eye for a minute. “Go to your party! Go talk to them! Bonnie will be so upset if you wait any longer. Go, go!” They shoo you away, and you laugh. “Call me!” he calls, and you laugh even harder.
-
You step in with little fanfare. Isa waves to you, Mira smiles, Odile puts down her book, and Bonnie shoots up. “You took FOREVER! What were you even doing out there???” Isa opens his mouth, but you were always the fastest.
“I was thinking of a wish,” a half-truth, because it'd kill you to lie fully. “and I needed a lot of time to think about it.”
“OOH!!” Bonnie shouts, leaning towards him. “What was it?”
You smile. “Can't tell, Bon. If I tell you, it won't come true.” Isa looks at you. “Is that true?”
“Yeah!” you nod, genuinely. “Something about the Universe wanting to know you're serious about your wish.”
Isa blinks, taken aback. “Huh.”
You look around. They're all a bit surprised. Odile sobers up the quickest. “That's very interesting, Siffrin. But, you had something to tell us?”
Ah. Your blood freezes up a bit, and it must show a bit on your face, because Isa grabs your hand. You don't flinch.
None of the others point it out, but Odile looks to your hands, and back to you, and smiles a bit. A smirk, really. Aw, no! You frown deeply and her smile widens. No!!!!
Your face settles back to neutral. Okay. “Okay. Can we all sit down? On the floor, wherever. Table'll work.” You gesture over to it.
“Ohh, this is serious serious.” You nod to Bonnie, although their terminology makes you smile.
Oh! “Are you all uh, okay? To talk about something serious?”
Isa blinks. “Bud, we're all here.” You snort. “Okay~! Just making sure!” You clap your hands together, and sit down. The others follow suit, and you nod. “Alright, so. Uh.”
Where.. do you start?
Your stardust … just kind of told them, didn't they? You don't want to bombard them, but…
You need to get this out now. It'll kill you if you don't.
You set your hands in your lap. “About two years ago,” three, if you count your stardust's, “I got stuck in a time loop.”
Odile straightens up. Of course this would interest her. “A time loop?”
“I was, well.” you snort. “Looping in time.” She sighs. “But this wasn't before we met.” You grab at your arm, nails, although dulled by two layers of cloth, digging into the skin there. “Technically, it happened today.”
You pause for a moment. Not for any dramatics or anything, you just need a second. You look around. Bonnie is.. confused. Mirabelle isn't, but you know she hasn't clicked everything together. Odile and Isa look horrified, but Odile’s is slightly veiled.
“Two years?” Isa asks, blinking rapidly.
“Basically three.” You look away, sticking your face in your cloak.
“Three- Gems, Siffrin.” Her eyes are widened, and she's holding onto the table.
“Wow,” you snort, tone dead. “You already believe me?”
“I don't see why you'd lie.” Her hand goes up to pinch her temples, and the gems on her glasses jingle.
“I don' get it,” Bonnie interjects. “What's a time loop?”
You raise your hand. “Ooh! Me, me!!” Bonnie giggles. “Yes, Frin?”
You place your hand on your chest. “A time loop is, in my case, where an amount of time gets repeated over and over again.” You tap your index finger on your chin.
“Hm. You called it ‘Forever School’, I think? Infinite, maybe? You described it like… School, with no breaks, for a very long time.”
Bonnie's face immediately screws up. “Ew. That sounds awful.”
“It was!” You smile, forced as ever. “It… is.”
“Siffrin.” You smile placidly. Odile looks horrified. You don't like that. “It is?”
“Still going.” You drum your hand on the table. “At least, I think it is. I can still loop.” You think. Oh, well. It's not like they'll know, if you do. You shudder.
Isa leans forward. “Was that what that was???”
You shrug. “Felt like it!”
He immediately leans back.
“So.” you say. “We have been looping for three years. Well, I've been looping for two,” you count on your hands, “You all have been looping for zero, and Something happened in between. I'll get to that.”
“I know why it's happening. And I know how to fix it. But first~!” you chirp, “We have to beat The King.”
Isa grins. “Oh! We win, right?”
You… stare.
“...Sif. We win, right?”
Mirabelle's (who has been dreadfully quiet, you realize) face falls, and you jump up. “No, no, we win! We won.” You look away.
“It took a while. We had a lot of complications. Oh!” You look over to Mirabelle. “Mira, hey! You remembered the CARROT method, right?”
She blinks. “How did you…” You blink back. “Right. Time loop. Sorry!!” You smile gently. “Could you think about that, and also think about a shield spell?”
“Oh! Ohhh.” Aw! Cute!
“Anyway! Um. Where was I?”
You look over, and they all seem fairly dazed. You frown, and sit back down. “...Sorry.”
Isa brings his hands up in a placating gesture. “No, no! Thank you for telling us!”
Bonnie speaks up. “Do you know anything cool?”
Hmm.. you try to think of something each of them will find interesting.
“Well! …Hm.”
“I… know where everything is, in the house!”
Oh!
“Oh! I know how to make a bomb!”
A second passes.
Then, various exclamations of shock. You giggle.
“A BOMB?!”
“WHAT????????????”
“Siffrin-?!”
“YES!!!!!!!”
You snort. “Yeah! Mira, your roommate was making one, actually.”
You see the blood drain from her face. You laugh really hard.
“Um. So. Yeah. There's… more? But. I don't want to talk about it, right now.” You bring a hand up. “Ask whatever, though!”
Everyone's hands shoot up after a moment. You see Odile’s first, and immediately look away. She huffs, but keeps it up.
“Uhh, hm. Mira, you go first!”
“Um…. are you.. okay?”
Oookay. You were expecting, like, a question about spoilers, or Anything else, but.
…No lying.
“As I can be!” You force a slight smile. “A lot happened, you can guess.”
She frowns, but nods, and brings her hand back up. Okay.
Bonnie is starting to shake and wave their hand, visibly annoyed. You try to hide your smile. “Hmmm…. Is-”
“Frin!!!!”
You cover your mouth with your hand. “Yes, Bonnie?”
“You really had no breaks? Really?”
Oh. That was. A bit darker than you were expecting from your Kid. Well…
You nod. “Yup. Well, actually…” You tap your hand on your thigh. “I had a bathroom break, like, every so often? I didn't actually have to go, but. I did get to… breathe alone, for a minute?”
Oops! They're all looking at you!!!!!! “I- I mean, I didn't have to go because of how the loops work. I didn't have to do any sort of… bodily functions?”
Isa blinks, laying his arms on the table. “Why didn't you just ask us for a break?”
You, uh.
Right.
“I….”
You pull down your hat.
“....This…. I…. This is my first time telling you all.” You grimace and curl into yourself.
“Sorry.”
It's silent.
You pull up your hat, a little bit.
They're all… horrified.
You want to run.
“Siffrin…” Odile calls, carding a hand through her hair as she looks at you.
“Sif,” Isa calls, grabbing for your hand. You put yours in his after a moment of hesitation. The stretch is awkward, but you're glad to have it, regardless. Sweaty.
“Why didn't… Not even once?” You see his eyes watering. You can't look away.
“I don't want to talk about it.” He looks heartbroken. You amend yourself. “Not all of it. But I figured…”
“Yeah?” his voice shakes. You hate making him feel like this.
“I figured maybe you wouldn't believe me. That it wouldn't matter. That if I just kept…” You look over to Bonnie, and sigh. You remove your hand from his.
“It doesn't matter, anymore. I've told you all now.”
You hear a sniffle from Mirabelle. You want to hug her so bad. You feel like you should leave it alone. You…
You turn over to her, and she startles, wiping her eyes. You wait a moment, and then hold out your arms, like Isa did, before.
Slowly, she walks over, and falls into your arms, crying softly. “I'm sorry, Mira.”
“You shouldn't–” she pulls back suddenly, and you startle, this time. “You shouldn't be sorry!!” She yells, and then puts her hands up. “Sorry, sorry! it's just…” she wipes her eyes. “If anyone should, it's us.”
You tilt your head. “But I never told you all.”
Odile cuts in, then. “The semantics aren't important. You could have told us, and we could have done more.”
She turns her gaze to you. You shudder. “I assume that this will all be in the past, now?”
You nod. “Yes, ma'am!” and mock salute. She sighs, but you see the edges of her mouth twitch up. “Don't think I forgot about my question, young one.” Oops. Caught.
“Firstly; do you understand how these time loops work? I hate to say it, but this is incredibly interesting.” You shrug. It is!
“Yeah, but it's a long story. Wish Craft and Time Craft, for short.” You give her a moment to process.
“Time Craft… No one has ever been able to harness Time Craft. And.. Wish Craft…?”
“It's a forgotten form of Craft from my country. With the right rituals, you can make anything come true.”
“Anything?”
“Anything. Like freezing Vaugarde in time.”
You get an ‘ohhhhh’ look from your party.
“We'll talk about this, later. Secondly. You said a year was…”
“Something happened.” You grimace. “I made a wish, and then I wasn't in this timeline anymore. Can we talk about that later?”
Odile looks deeply into your eyes. You swallow. “Later.”
You start to sweat under her gaze, and are about to excuse yourself, when Odile stands up. “Alright, I believe that's enough interrogating for one night.” You sigh a breath of relief.
“Boniface, would you mind getting dinner together?” The preteen puffs out their chest proudly and nods. You snort.
Everyone starts to get together, chattering a bit, and you start to tune it out, before you feel a yank at your cloak.
“Heyfrin.” You look down. “Hello, Bonnie.” You smile, gently.
They look into you, staring deeply, and you fidget a bit. “Um.. are you okay with touch now? You and Za… and Belle…”
Oh! “Oh, yeah! I was always fine with it, actually.” This conversation will be easier with Bonnie, you think.
“Um.. so, okay,” You lean down, hopefully not disrespectfully. “So, when I was looping, me and you had conversations, and sometimes, we got a bit more personal.” You hope they take this alright. They're a smart kid.
“And one time, me and you hugged.” No, you never got to hug them, but it's the principle. You try to wrack your brain for the details.
“You told me that your sister liked touch, but you had to warn her first, or else she'd… sumo you…?” It's fuzzy, but you remember laughing a lot at the time.
“Oh, yeah!” Thank the stars that didn't put them off. “Her brain got scared!”
“Yeah, and another thing about me not being used to it. So as long as you warn me…”
“Okay!!!” They smile! Yes! “So if I… Frin, I'm gonna touch you now!” You nod. Was it a poke? You can't remember.
And Bonnie punches you in the stomach. OW???? Despite your high level, the shock and bit of pain made you clutch your stomach, and you laugh. “I didn't think you'd punch me!”
They scowl. “Yeah, well, that's for not telling us.” You frown. Yeah, you deserved that.
“And, um. Frin, I'm gonna touch you again.” You nod, and watch as they wrap their arms around you. Your eyes water. Watching it would never compare to the real thing.
Slowly, surely, you bring your arms around them. You feel them snuggle against you, and your heart melts.
You'll always remember this.