Chapter Text
⊱ ─── ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ ─── ⊰
1.1 – Anchor: Wise Arna
At first it starts like any normal day; packing in the morning since his little family is going to move to Waifei Peninsula; checking through their inventory and training Heddy, Travis, and Sjal on how to manage the store in the afternoon; and enjoying a final meal at Waterfall Soup alongside Belle in the evening. In the night, he returns to his bed, bidding Belle a small goodnight, anticipating what tomorrow will bring.
Then, when he woke up, he found himself holding a stack of tapes, walking into the staff room like muscle memory.
Eous chirps out a bunch of Ehn-na’s, pointing at the TV screen. “Wise, come check this out,” Belle says, resting her head on the sofa.
Hasn't this exact scene played out before?
“Wise?” Belle calls out when he didn't answer her, turning around to see if her brother’s ignoring her but he only stared at the TV intensely.
“S-sorry, Fourteenth Street… didn't the news mention that there’s a scuffle going on between two gangs before?”
“Yeah, Public Security said it already breached the level-three control.”
Oh , he belatedly realises, this is back to when our Phaethon account got hacked .
He immediately checks the H.D.D. and Fairy is nowhere to be found, just the sound of Ms. Arna’s assistant fills the void of Fairy’s constant chattering.
So he’s not going crazy. This has happened before. And Wise doesn't like that implication, because it means that he’s been thrown to the past and he has to go through this all over again.
Wise let it all play out, enduring 10 months of the same problem, same outcome, and same knowledge, like he hasn't gone through this once, feigning innocence as if he doesn't know what would happen around him.
Then he went to sleep after bidding Belle goodnight, hoping that tomorrow will fix whatever is happening with him.
He wakes up to find himself holding another stack of tapes, the news droning on and on about Fourteenth Street.
Okay, if it wasn't as easy as playing along with the timeline, then he’ll just change some tiny things here and there. Things that Belle wouldn't notice even if he knew the girl doesn't experience the time loops (or some freaky shit) like he does.
Wise lets himself be charmed and date Lighter, taking a much more careful approach to the auction, being much more confident towards Hartman, even Lycaon raises an eyebrow at his behaviour because it’s not like him to be overly confident with negotiating.
But then it starts all over again—the same damn beginning with the stack of tapes and Belle asking him to watch the news about Fourteenth Street. The same fucking problem all over.
He wastes no time in making a new Inter-knot account just to be safe and to stop Nicole from nagging, speedrunning the mission, even Belle was blown away by his efficiency. A given because Wise has gone through it two times already (or maybe three?).
He allows everything to unfold: the same formula, the same outcome, the same emotions, the same stories. The same madness that gradually accumulates.
The fourth time, he felt physically sick and had to step away from Proxy work, letting Belle shoulder being Phaethon whilst he kept her sane in the background, occasionally helping out.
The fifth time, he suggests that they should work 50/50 so it wouldn't burn them out, and Belle immediately agrees with it. Fairy grumbling about having to call them both Masters instead of picking a favourite.
On the sixth loop, he drops his tapes and goes upstairs, not wanting to listen to the news anchor drone on and on about Red Fang Gang and Cunning Hares any longer. But it was a mistake, a poorly crafted excuse that made Belle follow him upstairs and corner him in his room.
“I think we’ve been experiencing the same shit over and over again.”
What?
“I don't know what you’re talking about,” he slowly replies, taking his sweet ass time to respond because Belle can't stand him being vague. “I’m just a bit tired, you can work on the commission if you want.”
“What fucking commission, Wise?”
Oh, of course he just had to fuck it up by slipping up. Now she’ll call him crazy for experiencing the same damn timeline for the sixth time. Ah fuck it, it won't change anything too much. “Nicole’s gonna call us for help, needing a Proxy to lead them out of the Hollow.”
“...How did you know?”
“Because I’ve experienced this shit six times already.” There, he said it. He let it out and now Belle is going to call him a nuthead, all of his brain screws in the wrong place and he’s going to be sent to a psych ward.
For a while, it’s silent, just the pinging of their phones fills the air as Wise lets out a shaky breath, trying to find the right words to get him out of this situation.
He didn't get to do that, though, because Belle puts a hand on his shoulder and stares right into his eyes. “I’ve been going back in time six times, too.”
1.2 – Anchor: Belle Arna
For being a movie buff, the trope of time loops never appealed to Belle. Such a simple concept is enough to scare her in such an uncomfortable way.
To Belle, being stuck doing the same thing over and over again until you lose all meaning of your journey wigs her out in the worst way possible, and to find that there’s no way to reverse the loop so you’re just stuck doing it for all eternity, is just something she can't afford.
But then it happened.
The moment she woke up, she could tell something was amiss. Instead of waking up on her warm bed, she woke up sitting up on the couch, watching the TV intensely.
“A Companion Hollow suddenly appeared on Fourteenth Street…”
Fourteenth Street? Why the hell would the news anchor talk about the area when the Companion Hollow was dealt by the Cunning Hares (and them) already? Did they run out of information to dish out to the viewers?
Yet, the more she tuned into the news, the more it sounded familiar, like she had heard of it before.
“Fourteenth Street, huh? They mentioned it before, let me check…”
“Yeah,” she automatically said, widening her eyes because she definitely did not want to say that, but her mouth continued to talk anyway. “They said that it already breached level-three controls.”
Oh.
Oh, she knows what’s happening.
Damn, why the hell would the time loop trope happen to me?
Whatever is happening, at least she knows the outcome of the future. So she wasn't as surprised when Fairy invaded her mind like a pest or when Wise introduced her to Fairy, their rivalry banter brings up nostalgia of when she would talk shit about Fairy because the AI keeps on calling her Second Assistant.
She lets time pass quietly, never straying from how she did it the first time to keep the timeline from going out of control. Maybe it’s also to ensure the fact she can get home safely and out of this time loop.
The 10 months ended, and she fell asleep in the comfort of the bed, knowing that tomorrow she would finally be free from the loop. It’s her wishful thinking because when Belle wakes up, she is sitting on the couch again, and Eous is begging her to watch the news, again.
“Of course… It wouldn’t be that easy,” she whispers to herself, acting as if she’s immersed in the news, only to roll her eyes. Wise walks into the room and asks her what’s happening at Fourteenth Street, which she dutifully supplies the information to him.
She decided that it was better to let Wise be Fairy’s master again in this loop. Maybe she’ll fall back a bit and just observe the situation, then insert herself when Wise needs her help. Easy peasy.
It starts again, the third loop now, and Belle is losing her damn mind already, though there’s a twinge of eagerness inside of her to see how far she can push the bounds of the loop until Wise notices.
So Belle slowly works out, getting a question here and there from Wise, since he knows that she never truly worked out before. Then she forced the garage door to open up and built a small living space there so they wouldn't have to get takeouts all the time. Still, Wise wasn't deterred by it, only encouraged her to keep a healthier lifestyle. And then, she tried to fix the H.D.D. codings so it could fix their ocular implants problem, therefore kickstarting their in Hollow services immediately, though with little success since she forgot some of the codes at the end.
It was fun. The most she ever had for the first time since the loops started.
The fourth and the fifth, she tried it again. Though this time she forced Wise to do the same, even if her stubborn brother grumbles about it. Hell, she even asked Lighter to coach Wise for it, giggling whenever the former would blush at the latter. A worthy gossip to keep for herself.
By the time the sixth loop starts, she’s practically enjoying it already until the clatter of tapes takes her attention away from the news, Wise zipping to his room, and she follows.
This was different. Wise never acted this way for the past five loops, so why now? What the hell is going on?
“I think we’ve been experiencing the same shit over and over again,” she starts, scrutinising the way the older Arna freezes in place, he turns around looking at her like he saw a ghost instead of his sister.
“I don't know what you’re talking about,” he drawls out, making a show of sitting down slowly on his bed like he’s physically weak to stand up for ten seconds. “I’m just a bit tired, you can work on the commission if you want.”
And oh, wasn't that interesting?
The fact that Wise already knew about Nicole’s commission for retrieving the stolen goods—or rightfully taking back what was their clients, in Nicole’s words—planted seeds of suspicion in the man. “What fucking commission, Wise?”
He fully froze at her words, mouth gaping and eyes wide like she just caught him in the biggest web of lies known to mankind, and in a way, she did.
Wise went through a myriad of expressions before settling on an exhausted one, like the thought of explaining to her is something that she wouldn't understand. She does.
“Because I’ve experienced this shit six times already,” Wise spat out bitterly, eyes darkening when they met their gazes and Belle suppressed a shiver.
Did he went through something traumatic that it fucked him up mentally? Or is it just because he’s looping a bunch of times that he just got tired of it?
The pinging, pobably Nicole, that came from their phones fills the air, an unfinished conversation waiting to end. But no one could end it.
Or, at least, Wise couldn't end it.
She puts a hand on his shoulder and, with a determined gaze that wouldn't falter against her brother’s awfully scary gaze, says, “I’ve been going back in time six times, too.”
1.3
The seventh loop started earlier than their usual starting point. Wise glanced at Belle, who was fussing over Eous before trudging towards her slowly. “Hey, did we loop six times into the past?”
Belle gave him a side eye, nodding at the question before going back to their Bangboo son.
Okay, good to know that he’s looping with Belle this time. Maybe they can do something fun than just following the basic timeline like he always does to keep order.
“Alright,” he starts, grabbing Belle’s arms and dragging her away to their back door. “Time to go fishing and wait for Nicole to call us.”
“And accept their commission?”
“Well, we can always update the H.D.D. now, if you want to.”
“What, seriously? You remember all the codes for it?”
Wise shrugs, he’s not one of the best coders and hackers in Helios for nothing. Even almost on par with their teacher and her assistant. “I wasn't given the title for nothing, you know.” Belle scoffs at his response yet doesn't fight it, letting her brother drag her around the house like a ragdoll.
When Nicole rings them, they only answer with a simple, “Give us a few minutes,’ then hang up, go back to their H.D.D. and put it back together to do their job.
“I feel better already,” Belle sighs happily, her mind fresher than a newborn baby’s. “I’ll go inside the Hollow, you stay calculating the path. I’ll also just snatch Fairy immediately.”
“Don't make too much of a problem, we don't know how it’ll bode well with the timeline.”
[ ]
His head hurt less when Fairy overloaded him with information; he didn't even pass out like he did in the original timeline. That says something about his mental development. Or maybe the problem always lies with the unpolished H.D.D. codes; that’s why they feel like killing themselves whenever they enter a Hollow in the past.
“You good?” Belle asks, looking at Eous—him, with big teal eyes like a freak would.
“M’fine, it doesn't hurt as much as the first time.”
“Oof, tell me about it…”
“What are you both talking about?” Nicole asks, raising an eyebrow at them both, trying to pry secrets out of their hands. “This isn't you guys scheming about our downfall, right?”
“No… We’ve been friends for so long, why the hell would we do that?”
“I dunno… You stride in here like your aptitude isn't a problem; that’s something to keep an eye on. Billy, keep an eye on them!” She barks out, the android nodding frantically then stares at Belle, Eous, and Wise by extension.
Belle sighed, feeling a headache forming because she had forgotten how good the Cunning Hares were at giving them a headache in Hollow missions. “I told you we fixed the H.D.D. codes so we can enter Hollows now.”
It’s easy to tell that everyone from the Cunning Hares didn’t believe them, since they had never gone inside a Hollow until today. Well, whatever, the siblings aren't there to entertain them, they’re there to finish the mission and get their sum of money.
“Let’s just finish this commission quickly so we can get out already.”
1.4
There isn’t much they could do to make the loops much more interesting than try something new each time they went back; unfortunately, they ran out of ideas to deviate from the timeline after the tenth loop.
“This is getting so boring, don't we have anything else to do?”
Wise glances at Belle slumped on her seat, fishing pole fidgeting in her arms, yet she made no move to reel the fish in. “Sorry, don't think that there are more things to do now that we've done almost… everything,” he answers, taking the fishing pole to reel the fish in lest they come back home empty-handed.
Wait. There’s one more thing they haven’t done yet in the loops they’ve overlooked.
“We could… try to become a renowned cook?”
“What? And give up our secure line of work with a great income just for the sake of food?”
“Huh? No, no! I was thinking that maybe we could try cooking for ourselves instead of relying on takeouts all the time, and General Chop too…” he whispers the last part out to avoid Belle's ire. It’s not like they’re going to forfeit their job being Proxies, more like trying to sustain their life further by being able to cook actual food and not charred omelettes.
At this, Belle looked as if she were thinking about it before nodding at the idea, albeit with less enthusiasm than he predicted.
Alright, let the start of their culinary journey commence because he knows damn well he’ll end the loop by becoming a great cook for their friends.
[ ]
“What.. is this?” Nicole queries, poking at the plate of food in front of her with her cutlery.
“We’ve decided to make garlic butter salmon!”
“And you’ve decided that we’re your test subject?” At the question, the siblings freeze immediately; and it would've been funny if it was under any other circumstances, but right now the entirety of Cunning Hares—sans Billy—are the test subjects to their newly acquired hobby. “You.. didn't accidentally put sugar in this, right?” Wise shakes his head, urging them to take a bite from the salmon before it gets too cold to be good.
Well, here goes nothing. She prays to every god above that she won't die from the dish. Nicole still has more work and dennies to accrue before dying in Random Play for fuck’s sake!
Then, her taste buds were tackled by the overwhelmingly crisp texture and delicious umami from the salmon dish. She feels herself squealing in delight before hearing it, swallowing another forkful of the dish until there was none left on the plate; Billy looks at their food solemnly since he couldn't taste it for himself. Both Anby and Nekomiya were pleased with the dinner, even the latter asked for seconds. And so did Nicole, but that one doesn't matter.
“You’ve outdone yourself this time, Managers!”
“I honestly did nothing!” Belle sheepishly admits, scratching her head, “I only cook it till perfection. Wise did all the prep and the seasonings.”
“Still! These are really good, I didn't know you guys are getting better each day!” Nekomiya happily praised.
“Then, we can confidently say that our path to becoming a culinary master is successful! Wise, let’s whip up some strawberry cakes later! Oh, oh! Or maybe a milky crêpe cake, or–”
Save to say the loop ended with all of their friends and acquaintances spoiled with their cooking, even Random Play got an upgrade courtesy of the mayor to fuel their cooking passion.
1.5
This time, instead of reliving the days of acquiring Fairy for the first time, the siblings had to model for their line of magazine called Proxy. Interestingly enough, their magazine is fairly renowned, with multiple famous people vying for a chance on one of the pages.
Maybe “fairly renowned” is an understatement for how crazy their popularity is.
Both of them—mostly Wise—also realised that this was a life, or loop, in which the Hollows never existed and that their teacher is still alive and well. Hell, in this loop, she’s their biological mother.
As of now, they’re currently shooting with Section 6, dressed like they’ve just finished a banquet.
There’s ether crystal on the table, and while Belle was ready to pounce on it knowing damn well the Hollows doesn't exist, Wise pokes at it to find that it’s just a clay prop. “Well, I’m not about to ask as to how they know about these things…”
“I thought for sure that the Hollows were about to erupt!”
“Keep your voice down! They’re gonna think we’re crazy now,” Wise chastises, flicking his sister’s forehead for good measure. “Anyway, this shirt is uncomfortable to work with… Does it really have to be tattered like this?”
Belle giggles at his misfortune since she’s dressed more appropriately than her brother’s scruffy outfit. “Even the tie is messy,” he whines, tugging at his choker with displeasure that he accidentally choked himself on how hard he tugged it.
“You’re an idiot!” she snickers, “But look at how cool your piercings are!”
“D’you think Lighter would have a heart attack if I got piercings in the original timeline?”
It was nothing new that the siblings would talk (read: gossip) about Lighter’s very apparent attraction towards Wise, or even Belle sometimes, with how much the man pays attention to little details about him. Without a doubt, in every single loop, Lighter would make passive comments lamenting about their budding relationship, smiling at him more than normal because the man doesn't really smile with how reserved he is.
At first, Wise never thought much about it; they had things to do after all in the original timeline, and there was no use in getting into relationships when he needed to search for the truth and keep his little family safe.
Then the loops started happening, and he started relaxing. Only then did Wise truly take into consideration how much Lighter acts differently towards him, like the man’s timidity in seeking further yet somewhat stepping over the line of platonic subconsciously.
“You do realise that he’s not here, right? And stop thinking so much about your boyfriend! I can hear it from here!”
Busted.
Belle always seems to know whenever he’s thinking of the Undefeated Champion. And anyway, he’s not his boyfriend in the loops, or ever for that matter.
Actually, there’s one instance at the start, but he’ll ignore that for the time being.
“Let’s just go back to the set, I’m sure the director wouldn't like it if he finds out that his two stars are loitering around the doorway.”
“Fine, fine, let’s talk about Lighter and you later!”
Oh hell no, there would not be a damn later and Wise will make sure of it.
1.6
The Arna siblings were going through the timeline as they normally would before their reality shifts. They found themselves in a cozy greenhouse, sitting on a couch while someone stood in front of them, scribbling some nonsense on a whiteboard.
“...Hello?” Belle meekly calls out to the person. They turned around in surprise, standing still because they had been caught off guard by their presence.
“You’re not supposed to be here yet.”
Wise is not about to question what that even means because the guy immediately swiveled back to scribble more gibberish on the whiteboard like a crazy person. And maybe they are.
What the hell is Yggdrasil? Null Loops? Variant Loops? Anchors and Co-Anchors… and a whole jumble of mess that makes his head hurt.
Unfortunately, he has an overtly curious woman for a sister, shaking his body around whilst she revels in the new knowledge. “Dude! I knew it would lead to something bigger!” She could be very well lying, and he’d know, but for now, Wise will let her have her fun.
Seriously, he had hoped that this loop would be a vacation by breezing through their commissions since they’ve been doing this about 30 times now, so he has more than 30 years of experience under his belt. “Hope this ends quickly so we can go back to lazing around.”
“Gahh! Have the loops made you lose your edges?”
“30 loops of the last 10 months accumulate to 25 years, and we’ve been a Proxy for ten years before the loop. Can you even blame me? It’s usually the same thing, except for the times we’ve been in different situations.”
“But we still have to be careful about the Hollows and dying! We don’t know how it’ll end if one of us dies!”
“And she’s right!” the person in front of them claps their hands, having finished their writing with a blithe smile, markers magically disappearing, which is the least of his concerns, but it’s a detail he chooses to focus on. “I’m sure you both have questions as to what’s happening and why you both are looping.”
Oh? Okay, he’s intrigued now. “So, it took us 30 loops to meet you? Couldn’t you have done this way earlier?”
“I would, but I had to transfer from another branch to yours, and it’s easier said than done. Can’t exactly overlook two branches at the same time.”
Branches?
“Right, you both wanted an explanation, correct?” They nod at the question, warily glancing at each other, focusing on their overseer (?) after. “Ah, where are my manners. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Helios. Titan god of the Sun.”
…
What?
Helios merely grins at their confused stares, going on a spiel on the irony that their old institution was called Helios Academy and their lost Inter-Knot account was called Phaethon. “Honestly, there’s still some debate on whether Phaethon’s my son or Apollo’s, but anyway–” And another spiel about his background.
At least it’s good to know that the God is comfortable enough with them that he went on a long rant about his weird family tree that he and Belle definitely did not ask about, or did they want to know about it.
“R-right! Can we go back to the fact that you’re going to explain about our situation? Not that it’s a pressing matter! We just want to know!”
“Oh shit, sorry!” Well, he knows when to stop, even if Belle had to remind the God about it. “Alright, where should I start…? Probably Yggdrasil.”
And explain the man did, giving them more details than they needed as to what’s happening. “It was out of our control that your Branch started looping, especially being a new Branch. I do have to thank Haphaestus for looking into the coding. Tsk.. those pesky MLEs…”
“Oh, right, you probably don’t know what MLEs are. To put it in simple terms, they’re malicious entities that loops to wreak havoc everywhere.”
Odd.. why would there be malicious entities that would want to wreak havoc to prolong the looping? It doesn’t make sense, but nothing does anymore with how extensive the outer universe seems to be. That’s another thing to ruminate about because right now, he’s gonna numbly process the overwhelming information.
So their universe is nothing like what he thought it was anymore. Instead of hypothetical concepts about the universe, a divine tree is the one that runs reality across the multiverse. Which is something he still couldn’t wrap his head around.
He glanced at Belle to see her face scrunched up, gears loudly overworking to make sense of the knowledge she had gained in the past half an hour or so.
Another thing to take note of, time works differently in this greenhouse reality or whatever (a pocket dimension if he has to put it into simple terms).
“When will this looping end?” he finds himself asking, Helios looking at him with a raised eyebrow like he’s challenging him if he wants to know the answer. “Surely it has to end at some point, right?”
“That’s the thing. We Admins ourselves don’t even know when Yggdrasil will fix itself. Some constant crashing makes it harder, and we are trying our best to prevent it, but well…” he trails off, brows furrowing and eyes narrowing. “If you’re curious, we’ve been doing this for about an infinity ago or so.”
That’s…worrysome.
An infinity ago? That’s practically endless, and he wants to go back to how it was before without having to stress about their Branch destroying itself. “So, there’s no certain time frame as to when it’ll end?”
“It’ll end when Yggdrasil wants it to end. Fortunately, your Branch starts looping in the middle of the pre-restoration era. That doesn’t make it better, does it?” Belle shakes her head, Wise following suit as he tries to get himself to breathe. Helios gives them an apologetic smile, apologising for the fact that they started looping, never again will they taste the normality of reality, and be blissfully unaware of the multiverse.
“... What do we do now?” his sister whispers, taking a shaky breath. “Do we just do what we’ve been doing? Or do we do anything we like?”
“That’s up to you to decide, but your brother has been showing some symptoms of the Setsuna Syndrome at the start, nothing too major. It just means that he’s less likely to deviate from baseline since his mind thinks that it’ll help him go back to baseline,” the God explains briefly as a last once-over. With that in mind and a copy of a guide to the infinite loops, Helios allowed them back to their room to relax their mind and not overthink what’s happening.
So overall, they just need to have fun with the loops, yet never lose their morals as a human, even if their ages are closer to being immortals (were they ever mortals to begin with?). Something they can manage slowly over time because this’ll definitely need to be processed for about ten loops and another read of the guide.
“Oh, by the way! I forgot to tell you both,” Helios pops out of nowhere, scaring 18 who was manning the counter and the siblings who were loitering around their shop. “Your friends can start looping, so wait for those times to come! Good luck!”
“What the fuck…” Belle and Wise mutter out at the same time, flopping onto the floor dramatically, Eous giving them the stink eye for their lack of manners.