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Chapter Text

~ [ LETS GET CAUGHT UP... ] ~

...

You hear the sound of the ocean gently splashing against the boat, and breathe in the fresh air.

You row your boat out into the water, "This will scare them good..." you say as you laugh.

You put your paddles down and gently lay down on your back.

You stare up at the sky and see all the clouds pass you by.

It had just turned night

You lay there for a couple of minutes letting the smell of the ocean take you away.

Suddenly you feel a ripple in the water and ocean growing restless against your boat.

You get up immediately and worriedly grab your paddles, and as you do you notice..

Your home, ███████. A bright star appeared in a shade you've never seen before and just for a moment, the world goes silent around you, as all you can focus on is...

...

...

The star suddenly grows brighter and your breath picks up in a panic as you start to process whats happening.

As you stared at your home, the island and country, that you were born, raised, and loved in-

A sudden painful spike rushed through to your head. You instinctively grabbed onto your head tightly in pain.

You feel it. You feel it. You feel it. Your memories, slowly falling through your hands like grains of sand.

Your family, your friends, your home, your name.

You breathe heavily, you try to yell but all you do is collapse onto the boat and hold onto your head tighter. The bright shade seen coming from the island pulses into the sky, and as you scream... you fall unconscious.

~ ~ ~

You were on your way passing through this little town and heard screaming.

You, of course, didn't hesitate as you ran towards the screaming and saw a particularly strong sadness, and a woman laying on the ground with her rapier held out.

You immediately jumped to action as you pulled out your dagger and ran as fast as you could, jumping into the air, sliced directly into the back of the sadness.

You slide across the dirt and bend down slightly to get a focus on it as it started to focus on you. You fidget with your dagger, flipping it in your hand back and forth while waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

The sadness tried to strike and you easily dodged it with a quick dash.

The two other people helped the woman up and watched you as you jumped up again and took down the sadness with a slice to the head, making it collapse onto the dirt.

You land, and put your dagger away. You breathe in... and out.

The three other people look at you in awe.

"Wow!!! that was amazing!!" The woman came up to you, and grabbed your hand, startling you and making you flinch.

~ ~ ~

Loop 3251.

You wake up in the-

"BLINDING. STARS."

"IM SO SICK OF THIS!!!!!!!"

"UGH!!!!"

The actor puts their hands on their face and cries.

Sobbing, they put one hand on the grass and get up. The housemaiden will be here soon.

Stars. Stars. Stars.

Putting their hands in their cloak, their hands are trembling and shaking. They try to put them in a fist but their entire body is shaking now.

They grit their teeth and walk down the grassy path to Dormont where the Housemaiden is waiting for them.

The actor puts on a wide smile that hurts.

"Siffrin! You're up!"

(Enter Housemaiden)

"Hey Mira, Have you thought about doing a sleepover tonight?"

"Oh!"

"I-I was actually just thinking about it... What do you think?"

"Absolutely! I'll let everyone know!"

"You're right! We don't have a moment... to lose?" The housemaiden looks at the actor and notices their unusual smile and dead eyes.

The actor doesnt waste anytime. They're tired. They're tired... your tired.

"Talk to you later, Mira!"

"O-okay???"

The housemaiden looks bothered about something but.. refrains from saying anything. As expected.

The actor doesnt bother to tell the housemaiden about the CARROT method. Theyre focused now. Hands trembling under their cloak. Gritting their teeth in an ear to ear smile to keep up appearances. Theyre so used to it its instinctive now.

Making it through town they turn the corner and see the fighter.

"Hi Isa, I need to do the Favor Tree thing!"

"Oh! Sorry, I'm in your way then, aren't I? I'll get out of your hair, see you at the Clocktower..?" His voice falls to hesitance when he notices the actor's wide unnatural smile. "Are you oka-"

The fighter is cut off with "I'm Fine! See you later, Isa!"

He looks hesitant, a short frown appears on his face before letting out a sigh, "See you, Sif."

The actor walks towards the favor tree and waits for the fighter to leave. As soon as the fighter turns the corner-

The actor draws his dagger and stabs it in the tree. Tears welling up in their eyes. Sobbing ferociously. They had just beat the King. For nothing.

Head dropping and their forehead resting on the tree, they cry silently.

They pull away, letting the dagger stick in the tree.

The actor grabs a leaf, and makes another wish.

"PLEASE HELP ME, PLEASE HELP ME, PLEASE HELP ME." The actor screams into the leaf and folds it. They dont care if anyone hears them. IT WONT MATTER!!!

The actor tosses the leaf in the air and lets the wind take it away.

They lay down on the ground beneath the favor tree, back against it. They can't take it anymore.

They look up to watch the leaves blow.

And see,

Nothing at all. An endless, lightless, void.

The... actor... You. You try to pick yourself up. You cant move. Your arms and legs are stiff.

Little sparkles start to appear in the void, stars.

Youre really in it now huh~?

Tears fall down your face like waterfalls. You cant even keep up the smile. Useless. Useless!!!

A pointy star appears before you, as the echos of stars appear around it, this one appears the most bright. Rings of brightness pulse out towards you in a hypnotic motion.

All you can do is helplessly stare as you cry out silently. You scream, you yell, you try to forcefully pick yourself up and get up and try again. You try to make yourself loop. You want to grab your dagger and fight this thing.

But you cant. Move.

The star grows brighter, as you sob silently into the starry void.

It grows brighter.

You beg and cry for help.

It grows even brighter.

~ ~ ~

You feel yourself fade, to where ever you're gonna go now.

Your stardust looks worried, holding your face still. "Loop... Where will you go now?"

"Oh, stardust..."

"..."

"I don't know! I'll join you so we can be one? I'll die? I'll stay under this tree forever?"

"Does it matter?"

Your stardust looks shocked and worried and quietly yells "It does!!!"

"Haha..." You look away for a moment, and back at the successful version of you, "...You're sweet, stardust." and youre quiet for a moment in thought as Siffrin still looks worried.

"...Aw, dont worry, stardust." You put a hand on his face. "Somehow... I'm sure I'll see you again... You... And everyone else." You look up at the favor tree. "Mirabelle, Isabeau, Odile, and Bonnie." and looking back at him with a wink "I need to accept their thanks in person, don't I? That's just basic etiquette." You suddenly remember the coin in your hand, "A-And I'll need to give you back your silver coin eventually!"

"You do." He responds bittersweetly looking at you as you fade.

You feel your hands start to fade as your vision starts slipping between looking up at Siffrin and a starry abyss. "...Hm."

"I'll see you all again soon enough, stardust."

"I promise! I super promise! I super duper promise!"

and with tears in both of your eyes, "So don't forget me, okay...?"

Your final words echo to Siffrin as you're gently pulled into the starry abyss.

You're still crying. But you're here again. Gently floating in a pool of stars.

You let yourself drift.

That star... is there.

You wonder whats gonna happen now~!

Ugh. You're tired.

...

You breathe in.

...

and out.

...

Is this it? You wonder.

...You let yourself rest for a little longer...

...

Finally, after some time, a voice is heard in the milky lightless sea. A voice unrecognizable yet familiar. In accents you've never heard of. A collage of voices.

[ YOU . . . HAVE . . . DONE . . . WELL . . . ]

You shoot your head up in confusion.

Huh??? What?????

You try to speak but nothing can be heard.

Who is speaking????

[ THIS . . . JOURNEY . . . HAS . . . ONLY . . . BEGUN . . . ]

What do you mean??? Its not over????

[ YOUR . . . QUESTIONS . . . WILL . . . BE . . . ANSWERED . . . SOON . . . ]

WAIT!!!!! PLEASE!!!

[ KEEP . . . GOING, . . . OKAY . . . ? ]

You desperately try to move again but youve gone motionless again. You try to speak but nothing comes out.

[ I . . . LOVE . . . YOU . . .]

WA-

You feel a tug on your stomach.

"-IT PLEASE!!" You wake up again. Under the favor tree of Dormont. You breathe heavily, your heart is pumping so fast you might die. You hadn't even realized you've been crying.

ITS NOT OVER? ITS NOT OVER? ITS NOT OVER?

You feel your hands trembling and you want to scream. You ball your hands into fists until your knuckles turn darkless.

Your heart is going so fast you dont-

As you're hidden in the shadows of the favor tree you spot him, always there, but this time.

Its different.

Hes tuning a... guitar. You let this distract you for a moment.

As you take a deep shaky breath in.

...

and let it out. Your heartbeat starts to steady.

So this is different. Maybe a different universe maybe? Is that possible? and who was talking to me??? was that GOD??? THE UNIVERSE ITSELF???????? IT CAN TALK???

Okay. Breathe. One thing at a time.

Goodness me oh my.

You put your hands on your cheekless cheeks and slap your face gently.

Stars, get it together, Loop.

Its showtime.

Chapter Text

You rest on the tree branch. Covered in shadows. You watch Isabeau in the distance. Hes sitting this time, with a guitar in his hands, back against the rock.

He looks almost the exact same as your fighter except now he's wearing cute glasses...

... Gross.

You look away and just try to empty your mind and figure out whats happening.

And then he began to play.

He quietly played to himself, practicing a very beautiful song. You have a deep internal gut feeling you aren't supposed to be hearing it. But still you listen.

You quietly hear him sing lyrics to himself. 

You try to tune it out but...

"...And if you wake up in the middle of the night,"

"I'll run in and turn on the light,"

"I'll run my hands through your darkless hair,"

"...And i'll tell you one-hundred times, I lo-" Hes cut off with a loud bad chord and you can hear him whisper "Dang It..." to himself

You immediately look away in embarrassment as you realize you were entranced. You're disgusting. You giggle to yourself sadly. That's gonna be torture.

Isabeau sees Siffrin come around the corner and starts to approach him. Siffrin looking very focused. Siffrin still looks the exact same as your stardust besides a few differences. He now carries a guitar? on his back and has fingerless gloves.

He fumbles his guitar in panic and his face turning a shade darker, he tries to play it off immediately and starts playing something cooler on the guitar thats fast paced, and very clearly off-tune.

Siffrin puts on a fake smile.

Are they... already in the loops?

"Hi Isa, I need to do the Favor Tree thing!"

"Oh! Sorry, I'm in your way then, aren't I? I'll get out of your hair, see you at the Clocktower!!!" Isabeau says as he stands up and slings his guitar behind his back and begins to leave.

Siffrin watches him go and as soon as they turn the corner, they immediately ran to the favor tree and pulled out their dagger and stab it into the tree.

Oh.

You understand now.

"Hey now, what did that tree ever do to you~?" You say as you reveal yourself from the shadows.

They look shocked and took a step back, tears welling up in their eyes.

"This is gonna be a lot to take in, im sure~!" You put a hand to your not-mouth.

This Siffrin pulls their dagger from out of the tree and points it in front of your face. "WHAT. ARE. YOU."

"Okay..." you dont look at all surprised. You push the dagger out of your face with a single finger. "Just... Try to breathe, okay?" 

They're shaking a lot. They drop their arms to their sides and just cry.

"Just like how you do it. Okay?" You put a hand to your chest, "Breathe in..."

They hesitantly put a hand to their chest and breathe in.

"And out..."

And out.

"See? All better~!" You gesture towards the seat shaped tree root. "Take a seat, st-" You cut yourself off, should you be calling this new Siffrin "stardust"...? you feign a quick cough, "Just take a seat."

Siffrin looks at you hesitantly and confused, but, takes the seat.

"Lets cut right to the chase~!" Holding ur hand out as if you were checking your nonexistent nails, "Im on a tight schedule and I'd like to get out of these loops, rather quickly, so-"

"How do you-" They look shocked and... scared?

You hold a hand up, "Listen." and they go quiet, and slowly nod. "My name is Loop. I go by they/them. I know pretty much everything about you, Siffrin." you stop and think for a second, as you see the guitar on his back. "Well... Mostly~!" You giggle.

They put two fingers on their head in a scowl in confusion.

"Now let me ask, how many loops has it been~?"

They grimace and shyly put themselves deeper into his cloak.. "I think... Atleast 300."

"...only 300?" you whisper to yourself. Only 300 loops and he has already lost his mind...? You frown with your eyes and look away. 

They also look away from you.

You put on a smile again, and giggle. "And you want out, right~?"

They force their eyes on you again and jump to their feet, face desperate and voice raspy; "YES!!"

You laugh a little too hard. "Well~! I still have a couple of more questions before I can help!"

They shake for a moment before taking a deep breath in and out and sitting back down.

Cute. In a way.

"Have you beaten the King yet?" you ask.

They nod.

Okay thats good. That means you dont have to take the time to explain everything. "Good!" you put on a wide smile, "Next Question...!" You sit up straight as you stare directly at Siffrin. "What did you wish for?" You know the answer to this question.

"..." He looks deep in thought... "...I dont remember."

You roll your eyes. Typical.

"Okay." You relax again, "Now how committed are you to not talking about the loops to your party~?" You ask knowingly.

They look up at you but shyly hide back into his cloak, "...Never... They cant know..."

You laugh harder than you expected, "Well~!!! Wanna guess how you get out of the loops~?" You giggle at him.

They look at you, their face drops. Horrified. They begin to tremble as he puts his hands on his own face, breathing heavily.

Oh. Woops! Better dial it back.

"Word of advice, Siffrin..." You look at him and try your best to be comforting. "They will always love you. No matter what."

Hes still shaking, processing. Jeez were you always this pathetic...? "You have to. You have to keep living. You have to tell them, if you want to live and see the end of these loops."

You... stand up and they look up at you, with tears in their eyes. You sit next to them.

They start to stutter, "I-I..."

"I know." You immediately reply. "I know exactly what you are feeling. Not trusting yourself. To hate yourself, to not deserve it." You sigh softly, "I know... but you have to." or else you become me. 

You dont say that last part outloud, but you do look away.

They dont say anything. Sitting in silence as they even try process their own emotions. Letting out soft tears.

You sigh and stand back up to your own branch. Kind of missing the feeling of another person next to you. Boy! Thats probably what hes feeling too!! You laugh to yourself softly. 

"You have all the time in the world, after all. So take the time to muster up that courage. I believe in you, stardust~!" You let out a stardust, it seems fitting. 

Of course they look up at you again but dont say anything and only nod.

You sit in silence for a hot minute before he gets up again. "I... need to think. Ill... be back.."

"I'll be right here under this tree! Don't forget! Bye!!!" You wave at him excitedly.

He... awkwardly waves back as he leaves. You giggle. That sure brings back memories.

...

Well, Loop, back to being alone. Staring at the leaves of the favor tree does bring a small comfort while you rest. You wonder what's gonna happen now. 

Why were you sent to the end of the loops instead of the start like last time?

Who was that voice?

...and why does the party have instruments now??? You were never too interested in instruments, except maybe the piano? Its hard to recall. Dont think about it too hard. But these versions do. So this is definitely a different universe. 

Oh god.

How long are you gonna be travelling..?

The voice said the "journey has just begun"... So theres gonna be more of this. It also said my questions will be answered soon. And You Have A Lot Of Questions.

...You'll worry about it later. You have all the time in the universe afterall.

You'll wonder if this Siffrin will take your advice.

~ ~ ~

Its night. You propped your head up on the soft tree leaves you're familiar with, on top of the favor tree. You rest looking up at the stars. Another soft comfort. You barely sleep these days. Sometimes you do, a lot of the time you dont. 

...And this isnt a sleeping loop.

But you rest either way.

You wonder how they're gonna beat the king this time. If at all this loop.

Well that was until you felt it. A presence under the tree.

A gentle familiar voice is heard, "..Loop?" Its Siffrin.

You get up from the soft pile of leaves and climb your way down effortlessly.

You land very cool-like on the tree root you usually sit. "Hey, stardust~!"

You motion to them to take a seat on the opposite tree root. "Did you give it more thought?"

They seem calm and collected as they sit down. "...Yeah."

"Thats good!! Im sooo happy for you, stardust!" You put on a genuine smile, before realizing Siffrin's own facial expression. "Buuuuuut?"

"...But... Im not ready..." They look disappointed in themselves.

"You never will be." You respond genuinely and they look up at you. You sigh, "Keep biting your time, Siffrin... One way or another you have to."

"..." (...If I stay here forever, they'll still...)

"Give it up, stardust. You really can't stay here forever." They give you a confused look, "No. I cant read your thoughts. You're just easy to read~!" You giggle softly.

He doesn't say anything and just. Sits silently and rests his head down.

You look up at the rustling leaves above you. "I have a question actually!" 

They look up at you again.

"Why do you all have instruments? You and your party?" You ask genuinely.

With a complex confused face, "Wouldn't you know...?" 

"...I dont know everything, stardust!" said with a fake smile. Atleast you could admit it this time. And you're also insanely interested.

"...We're a band... to defeat the King with the power of music?"

Oh! Thats actually! really interesting! You motion for him to continue.

"We've been touring around Vaugarde getting all the orbs and to raise the country's spirits. And. Um. Im the bassist? Mirabelle is the vocalist, Isabeau is the guitarist, Odile is the keyboardist, and Bonnie is the drummer." He points to all five of his gloved fingers as he recounts their roles.

"Bassist?" You ask curiously

"A Bassist provides the rhythm that everyone can follow, so that everyone is on the same track."

"Sounds interesting... You should play it for me sometime!" You said with a smile. They blush slightly and nod. Hehe. Cute. "How did you learn?"

"They... needed a bassist."  ...?

"And you just learned?"

"Well... I was originally the keyboardist, but when Odile lost her finger, we switched, since I knew a bit of guitar." ...???

You sit up appointedly, "The researcher lost her finger?" Maybe you dont know anything at all about this universe.

Hes quiet for a moment as he looks down. "It was an accident..." Sad and disheveled he continued. "A sadness... ...I made her a new finger out of wood." Its very obvious from his face he doesn't remember, and he doesnt want to talk about it.

You frown with your eyes, "Well," sitting back to relax again, "Dont beat yourself up about it." You dont want to talk about it either, or even think about it for that matter. They aren't yours.

Putting on a fake smile again, "And how about that Fighter? Has he played you the song yet?"

He looks shocked and looks up at you again, "How do you-"

"Called It~!!!" You laugh to yourself.

This Siffrin shrinks again. 

"Oh dont look at me like that." You wave your hand to him. "You want to hear the end right?" 

They perk up again and look at you intently...

You eyes smile genuinely, "Beat the King..."

They shrink. They know what youre gonna say but you say it anyways.

"And talk to them about the loops." You're so mischievous. "Ask to continue 'touring' with them, pour your entiiiire little stupid heart out." You sit back to relax.

"I-I.." They stutter out but you cut them off by holding up a hand.

"Go, now." You bring your hand back down. "You've got a long day ahead of you tomorrow. Try to atleast get some sleep tonight this time?"

Hesitantly they shake off their short nerves and take a deep breath and let it out. They nod and wordlessly get up. They walk away and after a couple of steps, stops for only a moment to look back at you, theres a sort of scared and anxious look on their face. Expressionless and without waving this time, you stare back. 

"I believe in you, stardust."

They look at you softly and turn away and walk back into the night.
 
You could've asked more questions, but, you dont care. As soon as your out of this universe you're gonna get the answers somehow.

~ ~ ~

You're resting on top of the favor tree again on the same familiar soft patch of leaves. Arm behind your head watching the House like you usually do. If things go right you'll be out of here soon.

You feel it. They're at the King now. If you closed your eyes you could hear the sounds of song in the distance inbetween the walls of the House. That is if the party raging around the corner is quiet enough.

You relax somewhat. Maybe he'll get cold feet and loop back. We'll see. You let your mind drift off and close your eyes. You can hear them play their music against the King. Unbelievably of course, its working. You giggle to yourself.

You wait to hear the King's roar, and when you do your mind sees... something. 

...and its gone. You dont bother to hold onto it anymore. Like on cue, the party in Dormont immediately drifts into silence.

Now you wait.

...

.....

You hold your breath in anticipation. 

.....

...

...and with a flash at the top of the House, time returns. The dormont party continues again. You let out a sigh.

With resigned eyes, you expect to loop back any minute now as you stare up at the house, slowly returning to normal.

Any minute now.

You rest your head again.

Maybe he'll do it? you ponder to yourself. You laugh slightly. You start counting down in your head. one minute passes, then two, then five. You wait as siffrin goes through all the motions of talking to each of their party members.

...and!! You snap your fingers, Now!

You loop back.

~ ~ ~

Siffrin takes their seat on the tree branch quietly.

You smile so widely in their jest that you have to actively try to hold back your laugh. "So what happened, Stardust? Got cold feet?"

"..." They shrink and look away.

Putting on a fake smile again, "Need I remind you, you will be here forever, rotting away, if you dont?" Putting a finger to your face.

Looking depressed. "I-its... a lot harder than I thought." 

You relax a bit. "Its just asking if you want to keep traveling together." 

"..." (but thats too embarrassing!!! needy!!! clingy!!!!!! horrible-" 

You snap your fingers in front of his face, "Hey."

They look back up at you.

"They'll still love you. Just ask."

"I-I.." 

"You'll survive. You'll get out. You will be happy. One way or another." You tell them sternly as you look away.

They remain quiet again. Using his hat to cover his face. "How are you so sure?"

You debate in your head whether or not to give him a real answer or not. Best to keep up the act, "Really, stardust?" You giggle, "Lets just say I have experience!"

They look like they were going to open their mouth for more questions but you really dont want to stay here longer than you have to.

"Now lets try again, shall we?" You motion him to leave, "Get going, stardust~! Go let out your entiiiire embarrassing heart~!"

They look up at you again and solemnly nods. They get up again and start walking away as calm as they can with butterflies in their stomach. You wave at them as they leave.

~ ~ ~

Take two.

Staring up at the House again, you count down the seconds and minutes until you loop again. 

...Maybe this time. 

You hold up your hand to the side of your head where your ears would normally be, pinkie and thumbs out and the others tucked in. Your secret calling.

All they need is a little push.

"...Tell Them. You can do it, I believe in you."

You didnt tell this Siffrin about the secret hand gesture so they cant respond. All you have now is a gut feeling. You still count down the time, as its one of your little methods of staying sane during these loops.

...but after some time, you realize. This is taking a lot longer than you thought. You rise back up from the resting spot on the tree and put your fingers to your head to try to get a hint of whats going on.

Oh. 

They're actually talking about their feelings? Really??? Wow. Okay. You didn't think that would work.

...I guess it was always that simple.

...

It was always that simple.

It... was... always...

IT WAS ALWAYS THAT SIMPLE?!?

STARS.

HOW COULD I HAVE BEEN SUCH AN-

~ ~ ~

You sit on the tree root gazing at your stardust's coin. You could hide in the tree if you wanted and wait to disappear in there but.. You want to atleast have some final words to this Siffrin before you go. You would want that so this Siffrin probably would too.

...and right on cue, enter this universe's Siffrin.  

He walks right up to the favor tree slowly and takes in the scenery before gazing restful eyes on you. "Loop.." He takes note of the coin in your hand.

You flip the coin and then ball it in your hand. "Hello, Siffrin." You rest back a little bit.

He gestures towards the empty tree root asking to sit and you nod. He takes his seat again on the other side. "Guess you're free now too..." he goes through his own thoughts for a second, "What will happen to you now?"

"Well. Any minute now i'll be taken away again to the stars." You sigh somewhat frustrated.

"Is there-"

"No. Theres nothing you can do."

"..." he doesn't say anything. "Can I ask what happened?"

"...I made a wish. That's all you need to know."

He doesn't respond and only looks at you with a face of sorrow.

"...If I was sent here a minute later, you would've made the same wish."

They look surprised and even more worried as they look down. 

"...You have to keep talking to them. About your feelings... and stuff" They look up at you again. "This can't happen again. You'll have to learn to be okay with them leaving one day. Because you will be okay. Maybe.. not for a while. But, you will be." 

Silence. It's comfortable.

"Thank you." They perk up before looking up at the soft rustling leaves, "For everything."

"...You're welcome." You know you dont deserve this thanks. It wasn't you who figured it out. But you dont say anything.

"What will you do now?" You ask back to them, somewhat resigned.

They relax for a moment. "We're gonna keep touring... And release an album at some point. Mira said I should write some songs as a way to. Um." they fake a cough "Release my emotions."

"That sounds fun." You sigh with a yearn in your voice.

You both fall into a comfortable silence again. Any minute now... something will happen. You noticed this Siffrin's "bass" strapped around his back. It'd be nice to hear him play.

"Will you play for me, as I drift away?" You point to his bass.

They pull the musical instrument around their back and in front of them, "Well... its not really..." they notice you staring intently at them. "Um.. nevermind. Sure."

Slowly they play, a soft and gentle melody. You dont think you've ever heard a bass before. Its tones are much deeper than that of a guitar, but, it sounds nice. 

It begins with your legs slowly disappearing. Siffrin takes note of this and stops playing to check on you. "Just... keep playing. I'll be okay." you reassure him, and he keeps playing.

You let the gentle melody of the end of an adventure overtake you. The deep songbirds wrapping around your head as your body and arms drift into stardust. Your vision now slowly fading from a Siffrin playing to seeing stars once again.

"...What a strange feeling... huh?" You let out as it reaches up to your neck. They stare at you gently and fondly and with a bit of bittersweet sorrow. "Goodbye, Siffrin."

As they slowly stop playing to stare at you... the sound of wind, and distant voices of a party nearby. The tweets of birds and gently rustling leaves. They just stare at you, with slight tears in their eyes. "...Goodbye, Loop."

You giggle slightly. 

...

Now you're back here. Deep in the space time. 

You see nothing but stars. The empty silence of the universe is haunting as it is comforting. Atleast. In this moment. You rest.

You try to speak. 

But nothing escapes your mouth.

[ . . . ]

Then you feel it again. The stars swirling around your stuck body dizzingly. You feel warm in its hypnotic embrace.

And just for a moment, whilest being shot into the next universe,

You saw nothing but stars.

You feel a tug on your stomach.

Chapter Text

...and you wake up!

You groan. How many times are you gonna be doing this? When will you get the answers you seek????

Whatever. WHATEVER.

Another universe. Round and round we go ! ! !

You feel slightly hotter in this universe. Not that you have any capacity to notice. You more take notice of the fact that instead of grass on your feet its sand. You're sitting on a rock instead of a tree root, and the favor tree... Is dried up. The tree still stands up tall. Its branches still spreading up across the sky but no leaves adorn it.

You look over to where Isabeau always is. He's wearing... a cowboy outfit. You think. Wearing a long brimmed hat to protect himself from the sun, dark stylish leather pants similar to your own Isabeau's. He also wears a stylish lightless vest that's tight around him. With a cute dark bandana around his neck. He stands there in thought, head in the clouds.

You've heard of 'cowboys' before. They were a part of an older history of some country you may have visited. Not like you can remember now though.

Although it... may have gotten easier to see your... 'previous associates' you still prefer to not see them if given the choice. Isabeau being the exception. Always there. You do wonder though, what they look like. You do notice above the tree line where the roofs of houses are starkly different as they were before, being made of more rugged wood and houses being much closer together. The Dormont House is somehow, still exactly the same. 

You cant get a good look from here though. You're tempted to climb the tree to get a good look, but, judging from your appearance you would stand out like a sore thumb. You're thankfully still shrouded in the shadow of the favor tree.

You look down to the ground. The sand is hot beneath your feet and its relaxing. You've been cold for a long time so this feeling of warmth around you is comforting for once. Its still technically winter so its not too hot. You relax sticking your feet into the soft warm sand.

Until you're stubbornly reminded why you're here. With a stab to the favor tree. Siffrin, with tears in their eyes, had arrived sooner than you thought while you were distracted. This Siffrin is also starkly different, instead of their normal cloak they wear a big darkless poncho with lightless stars weaved all over the fabric and one big star directly in the center and instead of their normal hat its a darkless cowboy hat similar to Isabeau's but with a big metal star directly on the front of it. Their skin is also a slight shade darker than usual which you can only imagine is because of the years spent out in the sun with it consistently beaming down. They also wear a pair of cowboy boots that go up all the way to just a couple of inches below their knees with spurs at the back of the heels. Their gloves would be the same except a shade darker and the tips of the middle and index fingers are noticeably burned open with small holes.

Time to make your appearance. "Hey now, what did that tree ever do to you~?" You say as you reveal yourself from the shadows.

They turn to you in surprise and immediately takes a step back, pulling their knife out of the tree.

"This is gonna be-" 

You're cut off this time by Siffrin pointing the knife at you, "EXPLAIN YOURSELF, STAR STRANGER." The knife having a pointed edge instead of a curve, trembles in Siffrin's hand as they point it at you, with noticeable fear in his voice. "ARE YOU THE ONE DOING THIS TO ME???"

You cough in surprise. Okay. Different approach this time. "No. Please take a moment to breathe. Okay?" You hold up your hand towards him calmly as you place your other hand on your chest.

They stare at you for a moment in thought, his fighting stance less solid and lets their arm holding the knife go motionless to his side. 

"...Breathe In." you say as he puts up a hand to his chest and takes a shaky breath in.

...

"...And breathe out." He follows your motions and relaxes slightly. "Better?" you ask.

They nod. You motion to them to take a seat on the opposing rock from you.

He lets his muscles relax from being tense as he does so. "Apologies, dear stranger, I was not acting myself." Ha. "Might I know who you are, friend?" This Siffrin's accent has a noticeable deeper twang in his voice than the other Siffrins.

You tense slightly from being called 'friend' as you ball your hand in a fist but soon let it go as you shake it off. "My name is Loop! I go by they/them and I will be helping you get out of these little loops!"

He looks at you suspiciously with a glare in his eyes, "...Im Siffrin. He/they." Although you barely notice, you recognize the movement of his arms moving under the poncho resting right above his dagger. "...And whats your business in helping me, 'Loop'?"

Because I am CURSED to travel the STUPID universe and talk to other versions of myself who ALSO FAILED and I STILL haven't got the answers I-

You cough. With a fake smile, "Because I also want out of these loops~!" You clasp your hands and raise them up to your head, "And I've been given the knowledge to just know how to do that if you're willing to listen!"

They look at you with desperation in their face as they stand up almost immediately and jump towards you, grabbing your shoulders and looking at you straight in the face "PLEASE TELL ME." You flinch at the sudden and forceful contact that you stagger back on the rock. Still being held up by this Siffrin. They realize what they're doing and see the Horror in your own face... "S-sorry, Star Stranger." They let go of you slowly and hide their face in shame as they sit back on the rock.

Your heart feels heavy and the imprint of touch left on your shoulders makes you feel... starved. You're not sure what to think of this. So. You're not going to.

You realize you've been silent too long, with a forced wide smile again, "W-well you need to answer some of my questions first!" You said quickly trying to move on from what just happened.

They nod shyly.

"Number one. How many loops has it been?"

They look up in thought at first and slowly realize in horror, "848. I Think. 848 Star-forsaken Loops." 

Its still less than yours... but you don't say anything. 

"Number two. Have you beaten the King?" 

He nods. "Yes. It doesn't matter, though. I always loop back after talking to The Head Housemaiden.

"Oh It does matter, it means less time explaining things." You say as you take note of these answers. They only look at you in confusion.

"...and now number THREE~! What did you wish for?" You ask with a bedazzle, as they search through their head. You know they wont remember but if they do it'd make things easier.

They put two fingers on their temples as they try to remember. Try to remember. Try to remember.

...But nothing comes to his mind. "I cant... Remember." he said with a frown.

You laugh. "That's okay~! Because I know what you wished for!" 

They perk up at you and stare at you expectantly.

"All you have to do to escape the loops is...." He leans forward, "Talk to your party about your feelings and ask to keep traveling~!!" You say with jazz hands as if you're presenting incredible knowledge and wisdom.

...and they just stare at you in shock and horror.

You laugh pretty hard at their face.

"A-All... this... time..." They look at their hands in horror. Whoops! Tune it back a bit, loop. "848 loops.... ALL THIS TIME!! IT WAS THAT EASY???" They yell out in frustration with hands on his head.

...And you know exactly what hes thinking. Something along the lines of "I'm useless! I'm disgusting! I'm horrible!" He slips off the rock and now sits against it panicking.

You stare at him gently for a moment before you hesitantly pick yourself up from the rock and sit next to them and slowly put a hand on his back and rub it. "You know now. That's what matters." They don't look up at you, only heaving quick breaths. You tell him to do the breathing motions and he does so shakily. "They'll always love you, Siffrin. You know this deep in your heart. You wont be okay for a long time but one day you will be." They sit with their legs now tucked onto their chest with arms wrapped around. Chin resting on their legs with tears in their eyes. 

You lift yourself back up again. "So. Go. Beat the King, and talk to your party... ...And you will be free." You hold out your hand to them as they look up at you.

...They hold it and pick themselves back up. You try not to think about the touch. Although they're still shaking slightly they are more relaxed now. "Thank you, star stranger."

You take your hand back as you sit back down on the rock. "...You're welcome, space cowboy."

They take a deep breath in... and out. As they begin walking out of the shadow of the favor tree. They look back at you as they took their step forwards, you wave back at them, and they tip their hat back at you and continue walking. Wow. That was smooth.

~ ~ ~

As it approaches night time the air and wind around you go deathly cold. Its a more colder feeling than you're used to but not unfamiliar with. Without any clothes though its a little more unbearable. You still wait underneath the dead favor tree just in case this space cowboy comes back to you like the last Siffrin. 

But stars you are cold. The warmth of the sand has now turned annoyingly cold too.

You look above the treeline and see all the rugged house roofs. You think about going back into Dormont. But. Surely you cant, right? I mean you did it before, to help your stardust. And this time you're exceptionally much colder than you were before.

...

It wont matter anyways. And you're cold!!!! for blinding stars sake!!! I deserve a little comfort!!!! 

The sound from the town died only a couple of hours ago. So now would be a good time to go and be quick about finding something warm. You shroud yourself in the darkness of the night and walk invisibly into Dormont.

Dormont. Is different, of course. You knew this, but its still shocking to see regardless. There are a lot more houses here that are all seemingly connected together. You find the Change God statue in the middle of town and use it as a way of grounding yourself. There is a cowboy hat on one of the smaller statues and you pick it up, dusting off any sand and placing it on your head. Fashionable!!! You may be going through hell but you're gonna look good doing it!!!

Okay. Time to focus now. You close your eye and let muscle memory point you the way. You hold up an arm randomly to the right of you and begin to walk forward that direction until you- 

OW!!!

You open your eye again and realize you just ran face first into a light-pole!!!! You're not doing that again!!! Cool!!! You're sure glad no one can see you or that would be incredibly embarrassing. 

You do notice in great white letters the word "LIBRARY" on the top of a building in front of you. You take an even greater notice the bench in front of the building. This is where Mira- THE HOUSEMAIDEN, would sit.

The lights are off on the inside and you do think no one would be there... So... 

You try to open the door but its locked. Which. Is in fact surprising for Vaugarde but it IS a different universe maybe there's different rules.

However since you're still freezing cold you look around the building and see a window. You peek inside and see no one. Its slightly different than you're Dormont library with having more tables and more bookshelves. 

You notice a blanket laying folded on a table in the middle of the library.

That's good enough for you! 

Although this universe's Vaugarde isn't privy to unlocked doors you DO know the skeleton key to getting inside anything.

You pick up a rock and throw it through the window.

It makes a very loud shattering noise that was a little louder than you thought it was gonna be. Better be fast now just in case that woke up any of the neighbors.

You reach through the window to unlock it and you realize... Whoops. It was already unlocked. WELL. A little property damage never hurt anyone~!

Pulling yourself inside and being very careful not to step on any of the broken glass you walk towards the table and pick up the blanket, it has a sort of cow print design on it, and then you wrap it around you.

Stars. Its. So Comfortable. You kind of want to cry. Its been so long since you had a blanket wrapped around you so comforting like this. You feel much more protected against the wind chill now. As you're turning to the door to unlock it, (because frankly you aren't much in a mood of accidentally cutting your feet on the broken glass.) you see a book on the table left unattended. 

An Anthology of Butterflies and Moths. You pick it up and flip through it and there's a lot more pictures than words. Which is good for you because reading sucks. You're somewhat familiar with butterflies and moths as you've once overheard lectures on them being symbols of change. Closing the book, you hide it under the blanket you wrapped yourself in.

Unlocking the door to the library you step out again. You double check to see if anyone's around and see no one. But you do hear someone approaching and yell out, "Is anyone there?"

Instinctively you book it silently. Haha. You are still shrouded in invisible shadows but you don't know how well that applies to the large blanket and the new hat adorning you.

You ground yourself with the Change God statue and then make your way silently to the favor tree easily.

Once you arrive at the tree you take a deep breath to calm yourself and take a seat in the soft sand instead of the rock. Still wrapped in a comforting and warm blanket you pull out the book and begin to examine all the pretty butterflies and moths.

You dont even realize, this is the most comfortable you've been in the loops since...

...

Yikes. A long time that's for sure~!

You tuck your knees more into the blanket and rest reading the book. You notice the wind making a different whistle without the tree leaves above you and the howl of an animal in the distance. 

The light coming off of your head being the only light you have is good enough for you at the moment.

Despite your fleeting comfort as time goes by, as you stare up at the stars, you just want to go home.

But home isn't here anymore~!

And as you're far from home you realize the home you did have with the people you were with... and they're gone now. They're gone now. Now instead of traveling across the earth, you're traveling the universes~!!! Which is a big step up atleast!!!!!

...

You hold yourself tighter in the blanket. Eyes focused on the pretty picture of a butterfly. Trying not to think of anything at all.

~ ~ ~

As the sun rises back up and the cold windy air is replaced with a warmth that envelops the entirety of Dormont. You pick yourself up off the sand and take the blanket off and fold it and place it on the rock you were once sitting to have a little comfort as you sit back down on it.

You spent the entire night reading the book. You didn't learn much from it but you have a new found appreciation for butterflies and moths. 

You rest back as you still flip through the book mindlessly. Its a new thing to do that isn't counting grass and juggling rocks as you wait through the loops.

You notice this universe's Siffrin approaching you in the distance. You adjust your new hat to get a better look at them and they do the same tipping their hat as they approach you.

"Welcome back, space cowboy~!" You say excitedly and a little confused, "Isn't now about the time you should be heading to the House?"

They nod but stare at you. "The Library was broken into. Which hasn't happened before..."

You raise the book up in the air excitedly, "Did you know that there are about 15,000 species of butterflies AND about 200,000 species of moths??"

"...Is this gonna be a recurring problem...?" They ask with narrowed eyes.

You're silent for a moment as you place the book on your lap and look at him. "...Not if you talk to your party and get out of the loops."

They look frustrated and you see them ball their hands into fists. You stare at them calmly.

...and they let it go. Relaxing their muscles. They stare at you deeply. With sorrow in their eyes.

You put on a smug smile, "Don't keep them waiting now, space cowboy. You've got a country to save after all~!" 

They grunt and nod as they turn away quickly. You tipped your new cowboy hat towards them but they never looked back. Which sucks because you know you looked really cool as you did that. They turn the corner and you pick up the book again and continue looking at the pretty moths.

~ ~ In the house of Dormont... ~ ~

You raise your two fingers in the air, and aiming with your thumb you feel the sparkle of craft in the air, as you release a powerful piercing shot at the King.

BANG! The King fumbles to the ground and reaches out in desperation.

You must've done this over 300 times by now. It was satisfying at first, but after a while it became routine as you kept trying to figure your way out of the loops.

But now, your heart is beating out of your chest and your vision is going blurry. Is this it? Is this really gonna be it?

You say your lines as you zone out to focus on your breathing as Mirabelle does the final attack.

With the flash of light, The King, is dead.

Focus. Focus. Focus. Just focus for stars sake.

You say your lines on instinct. "We sure did it, Mirabelle." You say as you put your glove back on.

It. Doesn't. Seem. Real.

You notice... Odile. Staring at you as you shake. You told her you'd talk about whats happening after we beat the king, and. Now.

And... Now...

...

You're here! At the end!!!!

The Head Housemaiden gave her speech to Mirabelle and to everyone else. Time is going by so fast.

You have to talk to everyone now... You... Have to... 

You breathe heavily. You can't do this. You can't do this!!!!

You could loop back,  you could keep going, you could, you start to panic getting the attention of everyone in the room, 

Your heart is inside your stomach.... What does that star know anyways?!?!?! You smell the intoxicating smell of burnt sugar around you. and. you. feel... a tug...

A voice is heard inside of your head. "...Tell Them. You can do it, I believe in you, space cowboy."

WHAT?? HUH???

?!?!?!?

...????

....?

.....

..........Okay.

You take a deep breath in...

...

...and out.

You hadn't realized Odile placed a hand on your back and Isabeau is holding your hand as you breathe. They ask if you're okay. They really... do love you.

You.. shake your head and take off your hat, and manage to stutter out, "I... H-Have a lot to tell you."

~ ~ ~

You wait a little longer than usual for this Siffrin to come and see you. You already put the book away next to the rock you sit on. You have half a mind to kill them. Take their place. 

But you wont. So. You just wait. You inspect your coin again. Every time you get to the end of all the loops you get an overwhelming feeling of checking the coin to see if its still there. Its all you have now.

The space cowboy eventually made their way back to the favor tree, hatless. 

You tip your hat at them and they tried to do the same but forgot they don't have one anymore and looks embarrassed. Hehe. You win this time.

You motion to him to take a seat on the rock and he does so expectantly. They see the coin and his face goes blank. "Nice coin you got there, star stranger." They pull out from under their poncho a coin tied to some string around his neck, there's a hole in the coin where the string is attached. "Got one just like it." The coin is very worn down, the rings are now nothing but a fade due to the constant clutching. Supposedly from even before the loops.

He knows.

But you don't care, really.

"Maybe one day I'll turn mine into a necklace..." You say mindlessly as you then ball the coin into your fist and give the space cowboy a fake smile, "What are you gonna do now?"

"'Well, i'm gonna keep traveling with my family." They shift themselves forward to inspect his coin closer. "Then i'm gonna... become the best marksman in the wild west. I think."

You giggle as he shifts himself backup to face you better, "Whats gonna happen to you?"

"Onto the next universe~!" You say with a fake smile and the space cowboy frowns.

You already feel yourself drifting away starting with your feet rising up to your legs. He took too long to get here. Oh well.

"Will I see you again?" He asks. 

"Who knows~!" You shift backwards to relax and let the coldness of the universe rise over you like a wave. Sticking somewhat to the script, "But hey, you keep going. Keep talking to them, you will be okay..." You add finally.

They still frown with slight tears in their eyes. 

...

"Thank you, Loop." they add finally after a moment of silence.

You tip your hat to him. You still feel very cool doing that. You let out a breath.

He still stares at you. Watching you disappear. 

You give him a wink! "See you, space cowboy!" you say as you wave goodbye and finally drift away into the next universe. With the hat you were wearing falling slowly onto the rock you were once sitting.

...

...

...

Siffrin rises, wiping away their tears they silently pick up the worn hat off the rock where the star had once been and places it on their head... they pick up the blanket and book that were stolen from the library and tucks them both into his bag. 

...and walks away from the favor tree, forever changed.

Chapter Text

~ ~ ~ 

...

...Here again...

You see nothing but stars.

You dont struggle and let your body float in the deep space, it feels like balancing yourself on your back in a pool.

Looking up at the stars does make you recognize how small and lonely you are in the universe.

...

The stars circle around you hypnotically again. You relax and let it happen. You feel the sudden warmth of the stars and...

You feel a tug on your stomach.

You wake up under the favor tree. You sigh out.

There was no voice this time either. No explanation.

This universe seems more normal though. You're back on the tree root instead of the rough rock and the soft sand is back to soft grass. The favor tree is back to being alive instead of dried out. You look over to-

SLAM ! ! !

HUH?? THE FIGHTER. THE. FIGHTER. PUNCHED THE TREE. WHAT.

Without realizing the Fighter had walked over to the tree and punched it incredibly hard. His muscles are tense and his face disheveled but still recognizable. He. looks. 

Okay. Don't Be Weird.

Why is it him??? Why is HE here????? Maybe you're wrong. You have to be wrong.

Focus up. You see him drop his arm in defeat and turn his back on the tree and slide down it backwards onto the grass. He puts his face in his hands.

You finally muster up, "H-hey what'd that t-tree ever do to you?" You stutter out in complete embarrassment. You're fumbling so hard right now loop.

He looks at you in confusion and stumbles backwards in surprise. Hitting his arm on the tree root. "HUUUH??" He points a finger at you, "WHO ARE YOU???"

Your eye twitches in anger. Okay. Let it go. Let it go. "I am Loop!" You say with a smile, "I go by they/them and I will be helping you get out of these loops!"

"Oh.. uh.. I'm Isabeau!!! He/him!!! Nice to meet you loop!!!" He's in shock at the situation unfolding in front of him, "Have you been here the whole time??"

You say as bubbly as you can, "Nope~! I just arrived as I assume you needed help?"

He fumbles immediately and gets on his knees and bow down to you. "YES, PLEASE!!! I'VE BEEN STUCK HERE FOR SO LONG!!!"

Seeing him bow down to you on his knees makes. You. Feel.

It does make you feel, that's for sure !!!

Okay. You're not gonna think about the implications of this. You're gonna put an end to this right away.

"Come on now Fighter, pick yourself back up and take a seat." You motion to him to the tree root. He picks himself up somewhat shakily and wiping the small tears appearing off of his face he takes a seat. "Now im sure you have a lot of questions you're dying to ask, but first!! You have to answer my questions!!"

You straighten yourself up and take a deep breath. You've talked to him before. To help your stardust. But you still remember. The way they looked at you. The way they stared at you like they didn't know who you blinding WERE.

The way he currently looks at you. You hate him. You love him. You want him dead! Why is it him??? Where is this universe's Siffrin??? What did they do to get him stuck here instead?

He's still waiting and staring at you patiently with a frown. It seems like you have a lot more questions than him.

But this is not your Fighter. So you don't care! Why should you after all?

With a definitely forced smile you finally manage to sputter out with, "QUESTION 1!" you clasp your hands excitedly as he gets a little taken aback from the excitement in your tone. "How many loops has it been?"

He's somewhat surprised but ponders the question bringing his hand up to his mouth. After a moment, "Hoooo boy. 86."

...86. "Only 86?" You ask with a more monotone voice than you expected.

"Or! Well! I Think So?? I think I've kept a good track so far..." He replies fearfully.

86. It only took him 86 loops to lose his mind and ask for help. 86 Blinding Loops. 

...

86 loops is a lot of loops. It just seems like such a minuscule amount compared to yours. Your eye twitches but you take a deep breath and continue, back to the happy face, "QUESTION 2!" Hes surprised again by the sudden mood shift. "Have you beaten The King?"

You see his face go a few shades lighter as he begins to shake and with of anger in his voice, "No."

...You examine him thoroughly. You suspect he had a very bad loop last loop. Taking note of his answer you move on. "Question 3." He tries to calm his nerves, "What did you wish for?"

...He studies you. Then shifts himself forward, arms resting on his knees with his hands clasped covering his mouth as he thinks.

You're actually curious if he will know. The other Siffrin's weren't able to. You wonder if he was the one who even made the wish or if Siffrin did. But before you could even ponder that question he interrupts your thoughts.

"I wished..." He puts his arms pointed downwards still clasped into fists. With a bittersweet smile on his face as he recollects, "...To keep travelling with my friends."

There's a long pause between you and the Fighter.

"Sif showed me how to make a wish... but, I think it got me stuck in a timeloop?" He says with a frown. He's lost in thought as he realizes you have been staring with a scowl. "Oh! Sorry! Were there any more questions...?" He snaps out of his thought process.

So it was that stupid travelers fault. You're definitely gonna kill him. But lets just get this over with. Fake smile time, "Do you know about the secret library in the House?" 

Hes at first taken aback by your sudden shift of mood but then that face turns to confusion, "The WHAT??" 

You laugh. "Oh~! Don't tell me you don't know about the secret craft shield that protects you from the King's attack!" 

His posture immediately stiffens and asks you so pitifully "Where is it."

If you had a mouth it would have curved into a genuine smile, holding a finger up, "Its in the library, you press on a brick on the wall to get access~!" You remember this well, actually. It was how you finally figured out how to beat the King. So the Fighter is not too far off.

He lets out a loooooong sigh and wipes his hand down his face disappointingly. "...How did I miss that..."

You laugh a little too hard at his own failures and he takes notice and glares at you, "It's not that funny, Loop."

You wince just a tiny bit, but immediately recover, hes not yours. "Oh you have nooo idea, Fighter." You say with a wicked look in your eyes and laugh.

He goes silent as he stares at you with... 

...Worry.

Ugh. How gross.

He finally manages to speak up, "Is that all your questions...?" he genuinely asks.

"Yep! That's it! You are now free to go defeat the King and escape the loops~!" 

"Can I ask you questions now?" He looks at you with intrigue.

You narrow your eyes at him and weigh the possibilities. One. Hes not your fighter, so you don't care about what happens. Two. What questions could he possibly ask that you would be even remotely willing to answer. Thirdly, you dont want him here!!!

You put ur hands together up to your face and suck in a deep breath..... "Nope!" 

He looks a bit upset. "Well that's not fair! I should be able to ask questions too..." He looks away.

You tense and ball your fists in anger digging deep into the palms of your hands. "FAIR??" You sit up and yell out. He flinches back holding a hand up to cover his eyes from your glowing head. "Don't talk to ME about 'fair' FIGHTER."

You see him go quiet, breathing softly and just staring at you in not fear, but worry.

You. Calm yourself. Letting go of your hands and taking a seat again, and taking a deep breath. In and out.

He lowers his hand onto his lap and clasps it with his other hand. He mutters out, "...I'm sorry."

You put a hand up to your head as if you are rubbing away a headache. Stars this is embarrassing. Can't he just leave me alone already. You look at him in the eyes. 

And.

You. 

Cant. 

Feel.

Urgh. BLINDING STARS WHY IS THIS SO HARD. ITS SO EASY TO NOT CARE!!! HOW ARE YOU SO BAD AT THIS!!!

You finally manage to stutter out, "I-its fine. I'd like to be alone now." You look away, folding your arms in on yourself.

He looks at you sorrowfully and stands up. He doesn't say anything at first when he turns to leave but does manage to say, "I'll see you later, Loop."

You look at him and nod. Trying not to express emotions but judging by the Fighter's face it didn't work.

As the Fighter is halfway through the valley of the Favor Tree hes interrupted by this universe's Siffrin. You were wondering when he would show up. Thankfully its now when you're alone again. You just hope he doesn't stay too long if he decides to make a visit to the Favor Tree.

You make shroud yourself in shadows once again as you watch them both from a distance. 

Siffrin as always doesn't fail to make The Fighter laugh with his terrible puns.

And suddenly you feel sick! So you look away. After a while of talking they both walk off.

You stew on your own feelings for a while. Stars this is awful. You just hope that The Fighter doesn't take too long getting out of the loops. Because last thing you need right now is to see that stupid look on his face. The confusion, the worry, the drama!

Stars!!! He's so annoying!!! And of course YOU have to help him!!! That's your job loop!!! help these blinding idiots get out of the loops~!!!

But when YOU ask for help you get THIS!!!!!!! THIS BLINDING BODY. WATCHING THE ECHOS OF MY FAMILY GET TO LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER!!!!! STARS. You feel like crying!!! But!!! You!!! Can't!!! UGH!!!

You fall motionless to the back of the tree root and just lay your head in defeat. Annoying!

~ ~ ~

Okay. Loop is definitely Sif. You take a seat on the grass edge of town watching the House.

You rest your arm on your knee with a fist up to your chin in thought. There's a lot going through your mind right now. For one, you've just been given the answer to solving the loops on a silver platter but then also??? Loop??? Just appears out of nowhere to help you??????

You place the facts in front of you. They have the same voice and accent although its much more cheery, their similar mannerisms, and the two different eye colors which could only really relate to one amazing person in your group. You sigh. You do nothing but just take in the House. 

You're gonna find the secret library, find the secret spell, and FINALLY kill that crabbing KING!! You let out a disgruntled grunt as you close your heavy eyes. You're not necessarily sleepy, but tired. You can't get much sleep with Sif sleeping so beautifully right next to you. 

The sound of his heartbeat close to yours.

The sound of his slow and melodic breathing as he sleeps.

You grip your arm as your face turns several shades darker.

You're doing it again! You slowly let go of your arm and take a couple of deep breaths in. You can't think of him like that... not right now. It gets a little harder to ignore the yearning in your heart but you must. Persist.

Moving. On.

You managed to turn Sif away from the Favor Tree to give Loop some space. The conversation was different this time with him saying a different pun that makes you laugh so hard all over again, atleast more genuinely this time! Hearing the same joke over and over again does unfortunately get a little tiring so its a little refreshing hearing something new.

You wonder if you should tell your friends about the loops in this loop. You always did when you started but it got tiring to keep explaining. However, with the new introduction of this new... Star? Person? You did learn about stars more from Siffrin although it makes your brain a little fuzzy you still recall 'what' stars are. Is that what Loop is? Okay this is besides the point. 

THE POINT BEING. Now would be a good loop to talk about the loops again especially with the new introduction of Loop.

Wow you've said the word 'loop' so many times its starting to sound weird! You giggle to yourself.

You let out a soft sigh. You still have time, of course. You know beating the King and talking to your friends about continuing to travel together will end the loops. Maybe you should try to talk to Loop one last time before you go? Its been about an hour since you did and you're gonna have to be heading to the clocktower soon.

...

Yeah, okay. 

You pick yourself up and stretch out, taking a deep breath. Phew. Okay! Lets... Try this again. You begin moving back to the town of Dormont.

~ ~ ~

You rest back. You sit crossed legged with your feet out and arms around your head. You listen to the rustling of leaves and the distance sounds of small critters running around. The sounds of the people of Dormont in the distance are mere echos but still calming nonetheless. 

You know. If you ignore the existential horrors of your situation spending the rest of your eternal life here is not half bad. It IS in fact horrifying to think about how you are immortal, by technicality. Time to ignore it and never think about it again and just close your eyes.

Listening to the sounds of birds chirping. The sound of gentle leaves again, and the sound of footsteps approaching- oh my blinding stars. 

You open your eyes again. You're still shrouded in the shadows but you see the Fighter approach the tree and ask, "Loop?"

What. Does. He. WANT!

You dont say anything. You look away! Ignore the ache in your heart!!!

"...Are you still here?" He says very sadly with the face of a sad puppy.

AGH! PSYCHIC DAMAGE!!! FINE WHATEVER.

You reveal yourself slowly from the shadows and now get up from your resting spot and stare at him, "Yes Im still here, Fighter." You roll your eyes, "How can I help you?"

He's slightly taken by surprise with your sudden appearance but relaxes with a smile. "Hi, Loop!" He's very anxious as he continues, "I just wanted to... check in, on you. Before I go. And. Maybe talk?"

You narrow your eyes at him but then put on your typical smile. "Im doing wonderful, Fighter! Thank you for asking~!"

His face gets subtly sadder but still carries a smile. "May I sit?"

UGH!!! NO! TELL HIM NO AND TELL HIM TO GO AWAY!!!!!!!!!

...You nod and gesture hesitantly to the opposing tree root from you. 

AUGH! YOU FOOL!!!!! WHY ARE YOU SAYING YES!!!

He sits down and smiles genuinely at you.

Its silence for a moment as you feel the echos of your heart beat loudly within you.

He looks up at you and just stares for a moment before speaking up, "...Can I ask you questions now?"

You let out a sigh. Fine. Whatever. "Yes. Fine, just to satisfy your thirst of knowledge, Fighter~" You put a finger up to your mouth and sit forwards slightly, "I'll only answer what I want, though~!"

He looks a little embarrassed at first then begins to think about what to ask with a "Hmmm.." He decides to test the water with, "So... How are you... you know, Here?" He gestures to you.

Your eye twitches and you resist the urge to kill him. "Wow~! You want me gone already, Fighter?" You giggle putting a hand up to your head dramatically.

He flinches and gets very anxious putting his hands up defensively, "N-no no! Im just! Curious!"

Hehehehe. You calm yourself, "Relax Relax" You smile with your eyes mischievously, "Really had you goin' there huh?" You laugh again and he blushes with embarrassment, "And to answer your question." You pose dramatically with your arms out imposing, "I'm a star cursed to roam the multiverse." You go back to your original pose of sitting cross-legged with a straightened back. "Pretty neat, huh~?"

He looks nothing but worried with his mouth in a straight line. "...You're cursed?"

Fake smile, "In a way, yes! Its such a tragedy, isn't it?"

"Will the loops ending... make you free?"

Up until this point, No. You do ponder for a moment though. If you will ever be free. If one day you can escape the universe's strings. But the feeling in your heart says, "Nope~!" You try to change the conversation topic, "Is there anything else you'd like to know?"

He goes silent for a moment and just looks at you. You hate it. He looks sad and worried. Hes so pathetic you could just crush him.

Okay. Pushing those thoughts out he takes the bait and moves the conversation to something else but something you very much weren't expecting, "...Are you who I think you.. um... Used to be?"

Your heart sinks. HOW HAS HE ALREADY FIGURED IT OUT!!!

The OTHER Siffrins only found out because you cant help but to look at the stupid coin you keep in your celestial body. BUT HIM. HE FIGURED IT OUT.

Your face looks pained and serious. As you stand up in frustration to yell at him, "I-"

He winces and looks at you with his hands up defensively and apologetically. 

You take a second and just. Sit back down. "I am not that person anymore, Fighter."

"I-I'm sorry!!! I... I didn't mean to upset you, Loop." He stays patient and calm as he apologizes. "I definitely overstepped."

There's now a very uncomfortable silence between you two. You close your eyes and take a deep breath. "Its fine. Is there anything else you'd like to know, Fighter?" You say tiredly.

He doesn't say anything and just sits as calm as possible. Before finally asking, "...Why do you call me 'Fighter'?"

You just stare at him. You don't know what you're feeling. Hatred? Fear? Anger? 

...Guilt?

"...Can you call me by my name...?" He asks anxiously.

...

Can you?

Its been a long time since you did and now hes asking you to. 

The way hes staring at you, this time. Its not of worry and fear. Hes anxious.

The way his eyes look at you are pleadingly. He loves you and wants you to be okay. How disgusting.

Fine. Whatever. You look away embarrassed.

"Isabeau."

He smiles at you and laughs slightly, "Thank you, Loop."

The sun is setting now. Its about time he should head back to the clocktower. You watch the shadows of the trees slowly expand beautifully. 

He stares too and mindlessly asks, "Its about time I should be going now!"

You nod and hum an affirmative. 

"Time to finally kill that stupid crabbing King." he gets up and stretches and looks at you. "...See you after?"

You nod embarrassed. "...Yeah. Good luck, Isabeau." 

You cant bare to look him in the eye. You're disgusting.

He smiles at you and begins to walk off.

You wave at him and he waves back.

You really are such an idiot.

~ ~ ~

Resting on top of the Favor Tree, you flip your coin mindlessly. 

Heads. Tails. Heads. 

The Fighter- I mean, Isabeau. Yeah. Isabeau is in the House.

Heads. Tails. Tails.

Hes smart and capable. So with only my little push he'll get through the loops quickly. Lets hope that stays consistent.

He's amazing, though. So he probably didn't even need my help.

...

Heads. Heads. Heads.

You do miss your own Isabeau. You want to be able to say everything to him one day.

...If he even exists anymore.

...

Heads. Tails. Heads.

And this Isabeau isn't the one you know.... But... You'll treat him all the same. I guess. With kindness. How generous! This universe's Siffrin has no idea what hes missing.

...

Tails. Tails- and. With a roar from the top of the House memories enter your mind but leave just as quickly. The coin sits mid-air in a flip.

You look up to the house sorrowfully and hold your breath.

You really hope he found that book. 

You hope he talks about traveling. 

Even when he's not 'yours' you still want him to be okay.

...

.....

...

...And finally with great anticipation, time returns. 

The coin falls back into your hand. Heads.

You let out a looooooong sigh.

You put a hand to your head and rub it gently. That roar may not be noticeably painful anymore from here but it sure is annoying.

You stare at the House from here and your heart beats loudly in your not-ears.

You look back to the coin. It's not yours. One day you'll see him again.

...You look at the House again. You could spend more time with him. Keep the loops going. You want him to keep looking at you. In ways you haven't felt in... Years.

You don't want to leave yet.

But.

You look at the coin again. I have to keep going, don't I? To one day find answers?

...

...You decide not to call Isabeau. Its up to him.

You flip the coin.

...And time continues to pass.

~ ~ ~

You rest on the tree root again. Legs out and arms crossed staring at the coin. Its weird. You're drawn to it like a moth to a lamp. The feeling you get is how you know the loops are over. Like the stars themselves are telling you.

You almost don't notice Isabeau coming around the corner.

You're shrouded in the Favor Tree's shadow.

You sit and wait for him to arrive.

He calls for your name worriedly. 

You don't reveal yourself this time. Not because... you don't want to. But because you just. Cant.

You cant bare it.

He's not your Isabeau. Not your Isa. 

Hes not an imposter, hes just not him. And you cant stand it.

The wind softly blows and rustles the tree leaves.

You could stare into his eyes forever, sure. You stare into them now. A sad and worried expression plastered on his face and those stupid hopeful eyes!

You're nothing more than a ghost. You were here and now you're not. A trick of the light. If Isabeau never saw you then you never would've existed at all.

He calls for you again. "...Loop?"

And you still say nothing, despite the ache in your heart. You have to move on.

You do notice your body disappearing. Like stars slowly fading away on a sunrise.

You see him approach where you sit. He slowly reaches out a hand. You freeze. Haha... and... right on cue, he slowly takes it back.

...

Tears stream down his face as he wipes them away.

Hes right in front of you and you still refuse to appear. You only stare into his eyes.

He takes a deep breath and mutters out, "Thank you, Loop. You have no idea..." he pauses, "Just. Thank you."

The words twist in your gut like a knife. Its a pain worse than a thousand deaths. 

You finally manage to say, "Goodbye, Isabeau." as your heart stings. 

He looks at where you're sitting. A sorrowful expression. "Goodbye Loop. I'll miss you."

Your heart cries its pitiful whines and you're nothing but a coward. You reveal yourself, but you're already so far gone. Only your arms and head remain.

Isabeau is taken aback from your fading appearance but remains steady. With resigned eyes you hold out your hand to his face and gently rub it. He puts his hand on your hand. It is a nice face. The one you're so familiar with. 

But its not the one you know.

You hate how much it hurts. You wish letting go didn't hurt.

He cries gently as you finally disappear. The touch of his face on your hand and his hand on yours. Will gently linger into the starry abyss you enter. 

...

You dont think you'll ever get over this eternal torment.

You still feel him but he's gone now.

You did it.

Right?

...

You drift aimlessly once again. The touch is still felt on your hand. Still there.

Like a reminder of what you had to give up.

You had to.

. . .

You can now atleast say his name.

...

Its so silent here.

Its calming.

You rest before you get sent again.

...

...

...

...But its taking longer than usual.

Finally, a static is heard. Slowly fading in. The tone of several voices trying to find the perfect pitch until finally,

[ HELLO . . . ]

Your heart beats out of your chest and you try to yell but nothing is heard as you scream into the starry void.

[ NO . . . TIME . . . ]

[ WILL . . . HAVE . . . TO . . . SEND . . . YOU . . . BACK . . . SOON . . . ]

[ THREE . . . QUESTIONS . . . I . . . CAN . . . ANSWER . . . ]

Suddenly you feel like your throat has been unclogged. Like you're breathing in fresh air for once.

You try to speak, "I-..."

You. Think carefully about what you say next. You don't know how finicky this could be.

After you think about it you ask, "W-who are you?" Your voice unsteady and frightful.

There's a silent and slow pause in the static. As if its thinking. Before it returns again in a million voices.

[ I . . . AM . . . EVERYTHING . . . AS . . . I . . . AM . . . NOTHING . . . ]

[ I . . . EXIST . . . AS . . . I . . . AM. ]

[ A . . . BIRTHDAY . . . CAKE . . . ]

[ I . . . AM . . . THE . . . ENTIRE . . . CAKE . . . AS . . . I . . . AM . . . ANY . . . EMPTY . . . SLICES . . .]

[ THE . . . UNIVERSE . . . ]

Your heart beats loud in your ears. Your breaths are shaky. You feel an intense shiver that courses into your bones. Into whatever you're made of. You knew, but having it confirmed is insane! You feel insane!! You're really in this now.

You never had any choice in this. 

You manage to get out shakily and raspy, "W-why are y-you doing this to me???" You feel nothing but fear. You're scared. You're scared. You're scared.

Suddenly you feel a touch on your hand and you flinch. Its being held. By. What.

An invisible hand holds yours. You freeze. It squeezes your hand softly and a warmth is felt.

[ TIMELINES . . . UNSTABLE . . . BREAKING . . .]

[ AND . . . ROTTING, . . . FADING . . . AWAY, . . . WITHOUT . . . HELP . . . ]

[ THEY . . . WISH . . . FOR . . . HELP . . . ]

[ AND . . . YOU . . . ]

You feel another invisible hand on your face, warm. It caresses you softly. You're still frozen and shaking.

[ ARE . . . THE . . . HELP . . . ]

[ A . . . VESSEL . . . ]

A vessel.

A blinding vessel.

More like a blinding PUPPET.

THE UNIVERSE'S PUPPET!!!!

A rage boils over in you and you scream, "AND WHAT ABOUT ME?" The invisible hands are shaken off of you. The warmth receding. "I ASKED FOR HELP!!! WHAT ABOUT ME???"

The static, slowly goes silent again before returning a moment later.

Your hand is held again with the warmth returning. You dont flinch this time.

[ THERE . . . ARE . . . EXCEPTIONS . . . MADE . . . ]

[ I . . . PROMISE . . . YOU . . . ]

[ YOU . . . WILL . . . GET . . . HELP. ]

[ YOU'RE . . . MORE . . . SPECIAL . . . THAN . . . YOU . . . KNOW . . . ]

[ YEARS . . . OF . . . TRYING . . . ]

[ NEVER . . . GIVING . . . UP . . .]

Your mind is empty. You feel like a leaf blowing in the wind. So small and fragile. In over your head.

[ TIME . . . HEALS . . . ALL . . . WOUNDS . . . ]

[ YOURS . . . ARE . . . DEEP . . . ]

[ BUT . . . ARE . . . NOT . . . BEYOND . . . HEALING . . . ]

You feel numb. Your rage long gone now.

Then suddenly you see it. Stars shifting and moving to form visions and images.

The stars shift around to form an image of a Siffrin playing bass on stage with all of his party with a big smile on his face, Isabeau playing guitar, The Researcher playing the keyboard, The Kid playing the drums and a Housemaiden singing softly down the mic. The stars contort again into a Siffrin laying in bed with Isabeau with arms wrapped around each other in a messy room.

[ HELP . . . YOURSELF . . . ]

The stars dance around all over again shifting into places and jumping up and down to form the next image of a Cowboy.

He takes a drink of whats suspected to be alcohol and takes aim with his fingers to fire off 3 craft shots and hitting 3 bullseyes. He blows the smoke off his fingers and looks at the Kid who, although no sound is heard, is definitely screaming in excitement. The stars contort again into the Party surrounding a campfire singing a tune on a starry desert night.

[ . . . TO . . . HELP . . . YOURSELF . . . ]

The stars shift and contort once again dancing around to form the image of Isabeau.

In the clocktower, he sits at a table and eats a bowl of rice surrounded by the party laughing, with a new sketchbook that contains the details of a cloak he is designing. The stars jump around again to him sitting in a field with Siffrin holding his hand tightly and staring at the stars above.

And although faint and almost unnoticable. A small star sits on his cheek. Your mark on him is unmistakable. 

[. . . AND . . . HELP . . . WILL . . . COME. ]

The stars begin to drift away and towards you.

You feel a hug. A warmth that surrounds you so intensely. A love so unimaginable, holds you tightly.

[ TIME'S . . . RUNNING . . . OUT . . . ]

You try to speak, but your voice is clogged again.

This time. You don't try to fight it.

You hold onto the warmth of this hug for as long as you can as the stars surround you.

[ I'LL . . . SEE . . . YOU . . . SOON . . . ]

Two invisible hands pick up yours and squeezes them softly.

[ I . . . LOVE . . . YOU . . . ]

The stars warm your celestial body and.

You feel.

A tug.

On your stomach.

Chapter Text

~ Then ~
~ Loop 1113. ~

You got up and walked into the Dormont forest.

You just kept walking.

Somewhere to just get some blinding peace and quiet.

Its hard to see their faces right now.

You failed them.

Again.

That loop was especially painful. You got so close to killing that BLINDING KING! But as always, You fail spectacularly!!!

You hear their begging.

You hear the sound of bones crunching

The King had decided to make a point to kill you last

...And he did it slowly-

You stop. Your heart is beating out of your chest and you're hyperventilating. You hold onto the tree next to you in a tight grip as you place a hand on your chest. Oh stars you're breathing so fast, its hard to catch it.

You try to think of Isa, but then see him frozen in time, scared.

You breathe harder. You try to catch your breath.

You try to think of Mira, then see her collapsed with a slash into her chest from a sadness.

Stop It. You have to stop it.

You try to think of Odile, then see her layed out back against the wall with her leg broken as she bites down on a cloth in pain.

You cant breathe, you cant breathe!!!!

You try to think of Bonbon, and-

STOP!!!

Don't think of them! Don't think of them! Don't think of them! 

DON'T THINK OF ANY OF THEM!!!

Once was enough!!! Once was enough!!! Once was enough!!! 

You fall to your knees on the grass. You clutch your heart. Breathe.

You have to breathe!!!

You finally manage to take a deep breath. In...

...

...

...

...and out.

Its shaky. Your shaky. Your heart is pumping so fast you don't know how much longer it can take.

Don't think of them. You cant think of them.

You take off your glove and toss it to the side. You grab your dagger and put the blade directly in your hand shakily.

Are you even real? Is any of this real? Is this your own personal hell? Its been so long in here that you're forgetting anything before it. You're forgetting that you're forgetting and then you'll forget that too!!

You slice your hand open.

The blood gushing from your hand spilling all over the grass. The blood stains your cloak.

Once a upon a time you would've felt something, pain, guilt, remorse, SOMETHING!

...

But you feel nothing. The pain is there, sure, but your brain can no longer process it.

You're not real. Just an actor in a play.

Say the right lines in the right order at the right time. Over, and over, and over again.

This is what you deserve, you monster.

You hold the dagger up to your neck. Blade gently meeting your soft skin.

You're horrible.

But you have to free them. One way or another. You have to keep going.

You cant give up until you free them. No matter what it takes.

Your life is over, but theirs can keep going.

With tears in your eye and falling down your face, you slice.

~ Now ~ 

...You wake up.

For some reason you should feel like screaming.

But.

A mysterious calm has washed over you.

Breathe in the fresh air.

You're here.

Under the Favor Tree the wind blows the leaves. You still feel a tingling of feeling on your hand.

The air in this universe is moist. A smell of petrichor lingers in the air. The wet grass indicates it had just rained earlier.

You put a hand out to catch any rain droplets... and catch nothing.

Slightly disappointed you sit back again.

You try to reflect on what you just witnessed.

...

YOU SPOKE TO THE UNIVERSE.

WHAT. WHAT. WHAT.

You. Take a deep breath in.

...

And let it out.

Okay.

So lets organize this.

You met with The Blinding Universe and that you are basically a puppet for it to fix timelines. Well that's certainly nice. You definitely asked for this. You asked for help and this is how it decides to do that. Helping yourself by helping yourself.

How stupid~!

You went in with questions and came out with even more questions.

Like when will this end!!!

When can you go home!!!

WHEN WILL YOU SEE YOUR-

Ugh. A tightness in your chest suddenly appears. 

Deep breaths, Loop.

Stars. You feel bad.

Why do you always feel bad?

...

Okay. 

Deep breaths taken. Its showtime.

Lets see what this universe has to offer!

You look over to... Isabeau. Feels weird to say his name again. You're not even sure if you're allowed anymore after what you did.

But he asked you to so you will.

You see him standing in thought. He doesn't look too different from a normal Isabeau but with only a couple of exceptions, his hair is dyed completely lightless and you notice his earrings, they're circular instead of rectangular.

...Which are interesting changes. But not too different, you suppose.

And right on cue Siffrin comes around the bend.

His appearance is also different, he has fully lightless hair like Isabeau and their cloak is also lightless instead of darkless along with his hat. His face is determined until he walks up to Isabeau which his face promptly changes to a smile as he talks to him. The eye patch he wears is also reversed in shades along with the eye that's been lost being the right one instead of the left. You get a good side view of him and see the clothes under his cloak are darkless.

Something you almost don't notice is the little star ear piercings that sits comfortably in his earlobes.

Once Isabeau walks off and away, he makes his way to the Favor Tree and stabs it.

You don't flinch this time as you expected it.

You go through the motions of him pointing a dagger at you, yelling "WHAT ARE YOU!" and giving your own introductions, then talking to him and calming him down. You rested a hand on his back and they flinched pretty hard but still accepted it. You take a good note of this.

You gesture to them to take a seat on the tree branch as you do the same. "Feeling better?"

They nod.

This Siffrin is a little different, they seem more jumpy and paranoid, like a gust of wind will make them completely crumble over.

So you take good care on not upsetting him when it comes to the questions.

"I'm sure you have lots of questions, but first you have to answer mine, okay~?" You say with a smile.

He looks hesitant but still trying to calm himself he holds his own hands and says, "...Okay."

"Good!" You fake the motions of putting on a pair of glasses and unfolding a piece of paper, he looks at you confused which you think is hilarious. "Question 1! How many loops has it been?"

He sits quietly for a moment before responding just as quiet, "655"

You fake the motions of writing something down on the invisible paper, "Interesting. Okay. Question 2; Have you beaten The King?"

He nods quietly. This Siffrin is still in thought for the most part. They've stopped trembling as much which is good.

You do the motions of crumbling an invisible piece of paper and toss it behind you, you then take off your invisible glasses and smile at their confusion, but then look at them very seriously, "Question 3, do you know what you wished for?"

They start to shake again and shakily mutter out, "...No."

You expected this response but that's okay. You ask him to take a deep breath for what you're about to say as he does so.

You tell him how to get out of the loops, talking to their friends about their feelings and asking to keep traveling together.

He does not take this well.

He starts to shake and sob. He doesn't say a word but you know exactly what hes thinking and feeling.

You see him reach for his dagger.

You jump up immediately and grab it out of his cloak.

He looks at you intensely and pleadingly. 

"No." You glare at him seriously.

You walk away from the Favor Tree and stick the dagger in the ground far enough away and out of sight and come back. You will do him a favor and not talk about it.

Hes crumbled up into a ball sobbing and breathing heavily.

You sit with him and tell him directly, "I'm going to hug you now."

He doesn't say anything as he sits silently as he cries.

You pick him up and he flinches but still doesn't say anything. You hold him in your arms with his head resting on your chest. He cries harder.

Its kinda gross honestly. But you refrain from saying anything. This really is what your life is now huh. Babysitting pitiful Siffrin's from other universes because they're soooo pathetic.

He clings onto you and wraps his arms around you tightly and you flinch.

...You're not really used to this type of touch either. You've had some practice in your own loops but...

You hold onto him a little tighter as he cries.

This is completely foreign territory. 

You feel his heartbeat, you feel the tears rubbing off onto you. Their face close to the star on your chest.

You feel your heartbeat beat a little faster as his finally starts to slow down. You really like this for some reason.

You feel a little gross.

...Maybe they were right. They kind of are like a cat.

Hes stopped crying now. He looks up at you and his face immediately turns into embarrassment, "...I-I'm s-sorry..."

You put on a hopefully reassuring face, "Uh. Its okay?" You pet his hair. Their hat had fallen off as they fell onto the grass. "You feeling better, Stardust?"

He takes a deep breath in and out and picks himself up off of you and sits back on the grass on his knees. They reach for their hat and put it back on. Your sitting criss-cross on the grass and you lean back on your arm. "...I'm okay... Thank you..."

Its pretty obvious that you are both missing the feel of touch. "If you want more of that you're gonna have to talk to them."

He doesnt say anything and only looks down at his trembling hands. He nods.

You look at your own hand. The feeling from when you touched Isabeau on the face has finally gone away.

...

You look at his trembling hands.

Hmm. "Can I see your hand?" You ask curiously.

You see this Siffrin immediately look confused. Seemingly going through every single stage of grief and then holding out his hand.

You grab his arm carefully and he flinches but then relaxes. You're not sure what you're trying to do. You hold his hand and look at the gloves. They're also reversed in shades, being darkless. With a rehearsed motion you take off the glove with ease. 

You look at Siffrin's face and see its gone many shades darker as he finally speaks, "U-uh what are you-?" 

You finally realize what you're doing and. "Uh. Just trying to test something if that's okay?"

He looks at you curiously as he hides their face in their cloak and nods.

With one hand holding up his arm and then placing your other hand in his. You hold hands. Skin to skin contact!

You close your eyes and you count to 3. 

...1

...2

...3

You open your eyes, then you let go of his hand slowly and look at your own. The feeling is still there? It feels as if you're still holding his hand.

You watch your hand carefully, no visual changes. But the feeling and echo of another hand in yours is still prevalent, but you very slowly feel it washing away.

...Weird.

Then you realize this universe's Siffrin is staring at you with extreme blush on his face with his arm still held out without you holding it up.

You realize what you were just doing. You just held hands with this Siffrin. You look away in embarrassment, "Uh-h. Thank you, stardust." 

He doesn't say anything and just nods. You hand him back their glove and he takes it and puts it back on carefully.

He asks, "W-what were you trying to.. test?"

You look at them and put back on your fake smile, "Nothing too important, Stardust~!" You sit back up and lower a hand to Siffrin, "You have a King to kill dontcha?"

They look up at you. His face is relaxed as much as it can be. He grabs your hand and picks themselves up. "...Thank you." he mutters out.

You nod to him, "...You're dagger is behind the rock where Isabeau usually stands."

He takes a deep breath, and nods.

He begins to walk away and you sit on the tree root once again.

He looks back and you wave and they wave back.

Once they grab the dagger and turn around the bend you let out a breath.

You look at your own hand.

You use your other hand to rub it down. To feel it.

And you do.

You feel it.

You're real again.

You feel your hand caressing down your own hand.

You exist...

~ ~ ~ 

You lay on top of the Favor Tree once again. The tree is wet from a recent rain but alas you persist.

You're still staring at your own hand.

Its beautiful celestial physique. Your hand is crawling with stars thats expands upon your entire body. 

Sometimes when you stare hard enough you can see who you used to be. The bloody hands that appear for only a moment before returning. 

The feeling of holding this Siffrin's hand is still ever present.

You had a lot of time to get over your... 'problems' with touch. Too much time. Sometimes if you were daring you asked to hold Isabeau's hands. For only a moment. 

And then seeing his flustered face... Your hands in his.

...

Now you're here.

You put your hand down and rest it behind your head propping it up towards the House.

This Siffrin seems like a bit of a nervous wreck. You hope he can follow through.

Don't get cold feet now, stardust~!

You hear the roar from the King and time in Dormont freezes.

Time for the show's grand finale~!

...

...!

...!!!!

!!!!!!!!!

Woosh! With a flash of light, time returns!

You clap your hands! Woohoo! Stardust did it!!! 

Now its time for the part you're really curious about.

If this universe's Siffrin can be emotionally mature about talking about their feelings!! Yay!!!

You wait as time continues until you get that feeling.

You could be evil... Never give them that emotional support and stay in this universe forever to SPITE the universe itself!!!

...

You hold up your hand in your not yet patented secret call sign and repeat the lines that seem to work best,

"...Tell Them. You can do it, I believe in you."

You put your hand down.

...

You're certainly not doing it for them.

...

Suddenly, you feel it. The smell of burnt sugar in the air.

...No.

You are NOT getting away that easily!!!

You hold up your hand again and try to be as reassuring and serious as you can, "Deep breaths, stardust. Keep going. Talk to them."

...

"...Talk to them... Please."

You put your hand down again.

The smell of burnt sugar. Dissipates.

...Hah. What a pathetic creature. Read like a book.

You rest your head back again.

Read like a blinding book.

~ ~ ~

You stand right outside the Favor Tree.

You stare at the sky. You lean on one leg with the other crossed around it. With a hand holding up your own arm as you flip the coin mindlessly.

It's cold and cloudy. Its not a sight you get to see usually... Or atleast, anymore.

The cold wind that blows all around you. It manages to catch you off guard as you almost drop the coin. You catch it just before it goes flying away and you hold onto it more tightly.

You relax.

You wonder when you'll get to see rain again. You almost did in this universe it seems.

...

Soon you'll be onto the next.

Hm.

The sky looks nice atleast.

You're not shrouded in the shadow of the Favor Tree, you're completely visible. If you get caught you get caught who cares.

You then see a lightless figure coming around the corner. You almost didn't recognize the fact it was this universe's Siffrin.

He locks eyes with you.

He immediately runs at a full sprint towards you.

HUH?!?!?

You take a step back holding up your arms defensively.

You're ran at and get hugged tightly by this Siffrin.

??????WHAT?????

You're face is in complete shock and confusion with your hands held up high.

"LOOP!" They yell.

You put your arms around him?? In a hug too?? "Hi?? Stardust??"

Why is everyone so into hugging? Whens the last time you even had a hug?

...Huh?

Recently right?

..Hm. Oh well. Not important right now.

"TH-THE LOOPS!!! THEY'RE OVER!!!" They look up at you excitedly

"Congratulations, Stardust~!" You say happily.

They let go of you and look embarrassed. "I was so worried... that..." He trails off, and looks away... but looks back at you after a moment, "Th-thank you for helping me!!"

...What is wrong with this idiot.

You smile with your eyes and take a step back giving them a thumbs up.

"Are you gonna... leave, now?" They ask with a pitiful look on their face.

"I don't have much choice i'm afraid!" You go back under the Favor Tree and take your designated seat on the tree root.

He follows behind you and sits on the opposing tree root.

"I'm onto the next universe, where ever it might take me this time!"

"...Will I see you again?" He asks looking at you sadly.

You think back to your original stardust. You made the promise to see them again.

But every universe you visit makes it a little harder to imagine.

...

...You know atleast one question to ask the universe, now.

"I don't know." You say with full honesty.

They look sad, on the verge of tears.

...

"Can I see your hand again?" You ask pointing at his hand you held earlier.

He looks hesitant but complies, holding out their arm to you.

You sit forward and examine it. You take off the glove to reveal skin and...

...A star, sits right in the palm of his hand. Its almost unnoticeable. It appears holographic and only appears at a certain angle where the light hits it.

You have to motion to Siffrin to look at the star in the middle of their palm because he was looking away embarrassed. Once he notices he looks at it in shock.

You finally manage to say, "...I don't know if I'll ever see you again..." You look at him and smile genuinely with your eyes, "...But I'll always be with you, okay?"

With tears waterfalling out of their singular eye, they look up at you with a real smile.

~ ~ ~ 

~ Somewhere In Another Universe... ~

~ Loop 3252. ~

Enter a Housemaiden. 

She walks down a narrow path between the sounds of birds and trees to a meadow. Where she thinks a Traveler would be resting.

She calls out to them. 

No reply.

She enters the meadow. 

And right in the center of the meadow...

...Was no one

~ Loop 3253. ~

Enter a Housemaiden.

~ Loop 3254. ~

Enter a Housemaiden.

~ Loop 3255. ~

Enter a Housemaiden.

~ Loop 3256. ~

Enter a Housemaiden.

Chapter Text

Drifting aimlessly in the deep space.

Leaving each universe is harder than entering them. 

Its like fostering a kitten, you feed it, you play with it, you raise it...

Then you have to let them go. To let them find their own family.

How could you possibly grow close with these alternate Siffrin's knowing you will have to inevitably let go?

You don't have time to answer that before the stars surround you once again and warm your body.

As you then feel a tug on your stomach and-

You wake up!

New universe time.

You rest back and stretch. First impressions, its not too different from a "regular" universe. The Favor Tree is normal and lively, the grass on your feet is familiar, and you hear the same birds chirping.

You rest your head back on the tree and slowly look over to Isabeau disinterestedly and. 

...

Isabeau is very different.

He stands idly leaning against the rock. His appearance is drastically different. The two sides of his head are shaved off leaving a strip of longer hair that's raised upwards in the center of his head that reaches to the back of his head. He wears lightless sunglasses and piercings that dangle tiny little skulls. His clothes are that of a clean leather vest on top of a worn lightless t-shirt and a pair of baggy lightless pants that the ends are tucked into big leather boots.

His arms are revealed and noticeably a tattoo of a flower you cant recognize sits just right under where the t-shirt armhole ends.

If you recall correctly, tattoos were a bit of a taboo in Vaugarde due to their unchanging nature, but maybe that's different in this universe.

He is currently sketching something on a small notebook as he leans.

He looks. Cool. 

That's the only thing that comes to mind, really. You do recognize this type of style though, in a country you cant remember, Poteria maybe? You remember seeing them in small groups in the underground shows you remember going to. Wearing all lightless clothing, with chains and leather. You try to remember whatever else you can but... nothing else comes to mind.

You remember them being cool, though.

You wonder if you're own Isabeau would wear something like that if you told him about it.

...

You put an arm on your knee and to hold up your head in boredom. You wait for this universe's Siffrin to arrive.

After a while you hear the almost silent footsteps of your stardust and look towards their way.

They are also extremely different. For a moment you thought it wasn't even them.

Under their darkless cloak they wear a pair of boots with their lightless pants tucked into them. Their pants also noticeably have different cloth patches on them. Their shirt is tucked lazily into their pants with some of the shirt hanging out. There's some detail on the shirt that you cant make out from this distance. Instead of their normal hat they wear a miner's helmet? The decoration of the helmet is a ton of stickers that some are visibly aged. Their hair is lightless and spikey as it pokes out from under the helmet. Instead of an eye-patch they wear A pair of thick goggles that obscure their eyes entirely. The darkless cloak itself has seen better days. Its been visibly repaired with patches. 

The safety pins on the cloak are missing.

You've never thought about it before, but that... seems like a big deal.

You see them walk up to Isabeau and this Siffrin seems to softly smile genuinely at their presence. 

...Or they're a good actor.

You see them chat but you don't bother to eavesdrop. You do watch them chat though. Isabeau lets off his typical laugh... blah blah blah... 

It really does get blinding boring after a while.

Then suddenly as they're saying their goodbyes Isabeau bends down and kisses Siffrin on the cheek as they hold hands.

HUH??

Okay. Ew. PDA. 

Well actually is it PDA if its not public?

STILL. GROSS!!!

Whatever. You grimace in another direction away from them. You're not gonna think about this.

After a couple of moments the chatter finally dies down and you look over to see Isabeau leaving and Siffrin watching him go.

Once Isabeau goes around the corner you see Siffrin take a deep breath in and out.

They put a hand to their head as they begin muttering to themselves as they turn to walk towards the Favor Tree.

You get a better look at them as they approach. Their shirt say the words "The Dance Moms" with a woman yelling into a microphone. The stickers on their helmet are a range of variety, the newest ones being a rainbow and pony sticker, which you can only imagine the Kid placing, and the oldest one is a big faded star sticker, with the tiny words that were on it have long been scratched off. The rest of the stickers are mostly related to what you can assume to be bands or plays.

...And or musicals?

You're interrupted from your thoughts as they mutter loudly.

"Stupid blinding..." They mutter as they walk over to the tree you watch them with curious eyes. "Something, something, maybe all those stupid bells...? Urgh. No..." They walk up to the Favor Tree and rubs their hands down their face before pulling out their dagger, "Maybe its that stupid bell pendant.." They surprisingly stab the tree tiredly and not at all in blind rage like other Siffrin's.

They actually look over to you for a moment while they're muttering. "You know that blinding chain is too damn big too!!" You're completely visible to them, but they don't seem to acknowledge this fact so you just give them a curious look. They look away before they even process the fact that you are here. "GOD!" They yell before taking the dagger out of the tree and waving it around, "NOTHING GOES RIGHT! THAT STUPID BLINDING BELL...pendant..." They finally notice you.

You wave shyly.

They stop dead in their tracks and look at you in a little bit of shock. They take off their goggles and attach them to their helmet. You notice their left eye is completely blinded. They rub their eyes and squint to look at you. 

"Oh my god. I'm seeing visions." They rub a hand slowly down their face and then completely disregards you, "Okay. I don't have time to unpack this." They put away their dagger and bend down to pick up a leaf.

They hold it in their hands shakily.

Your eyes open wide. You know what they're about to do. You get up immediately and jump towards them and knock the leaf out of their hands, "NO!" you yell out as they stumble back completely spooked.

"GAH! OH MY GOD YOU'RE REAL!" They laugh hard as they fall to the ground in a stumble. They look up at you, and their laugh slowly fades away as they look at you standing above them.

You're determined and firm. You glare at them. They look up at you in worry.

You calmly relax. "Sorry. You were just about to do something really stupid."

They relax too and lets out a sigh and looks away. "Probably."

"I'm Loop, by the way. They/them."

They look at you with a smile and hold up a hand towards you. "Frin. They/them too."

Frin? Just Frin? ...Thats different.

You grab their hand and help pull them up. "Nice to meet you, Frin."

They nod back as you both take your seats on the tree roots. They are... taking this quite well. Which is a shock. Usually most Siffrin's just start bawling.

They look at you, "So why are you here? Have you always been here and I just hadn't noticed?"

...

Okay so they're just gonna jump right into asking questions? "I just arrived. Sent by the Universe itself to help you escape the loops~!"

Their smile fades immediately. "The Universe, huh?" They roll their eyes and pull out a lighter and a pack of cigarettes, pulling one cigarette out and putting the pack away in one of the cloak pockets.

They smoke?

You notice their quick demeanor change. 

But decide not to question it, and start asking the questions you know. "Can I ask you some questions?"

They start flicking the lighter mindlessly, "Yeah, why not."

"Question 1, how many loops has it been?"

They stop and look at you with a smirk, "This is my first one" They smile at you.

You narrow your eyes at them incredulously.

They let out a sigh, "I don't know. I stopped counting after 100, otherwise I had gone insane." A frown appears on their face. "...And 100 was a while ago."

You empathize with them. You try to continue with your questioning but you get immediately distracted by them flicking the lighter to no flame. "Do you have to do that?" You ask.

They stop, "Is that part of the questioning?" They smirk at you but look back at their lighter. "Probably pointless anyways. Its one of the only things to not get reset in the loops. So all the lighter fluid is probably goooone." They shake the lighter and then continue to flick at it anyways right up to their cigarette.

"You know smoking will kill you." You tease them with sarcastic eyes as you point at them.

They look up at you incredulously before a smirk appears on their face as they look back down continuing to try to light their cigarette, "...Hah. I'm not really too worried about that anymore..."

You notice, for only a moment, a frown appearing on their face as they stop flicking the lighter. Before returning to a neutral face.

...

...You wont say anything.

They let out a long sigh and ultimately give up as they put the lighter away in one of the cloak pockets.

Finally.

They then sit back with a cigarette in their mouth staring at you. They then narrow their eyes at you. "Hey... you're like... made of fire, right?"

You stare at them in complete disgust.  "No. I'm not finished with my questions."

"Aw. Please?" They give you big puppy eyes. 

"No."

They suck in a deep breath through their nose before letting go and a smirk appearing on their face. "Ill only answer your questions if you light my cigarette." They grin at you with a single missing tooth in their mouth.

You look at them stupefied. "...Fine. You can try. It might not even work."

They immediately jump up excitedly and walk over to you. You sit back as they pull the cigarette from their mouth to their fingers as they close the distance.

They get real close to you and slowly bring the cigarette to your starry face. "...Wow. You're like. Really pretty." They say nonchalantly.

If you could blush you would be blushing intensely as your heart pounds. You close your eyes as they push the cigarette into your face and you feel a small spark on the spot that's pushed into.

They pull the cigarette back and see that its lit. They look at it in shock, "Wow that worked!!!" They take a drag of the cigarette and begin walking back to their tree root. They let go of the smoke in their mouth and blow it away. "You know I actually tried to quit while in these loops. Lasted like, I don't know- a hundred loops? But since I automatically return with a full pack and a lighter it was pretty easy to fall back into it after a particularly bad loop. But still, that's like 3 months! That's pretty good." They relax and let out a sigh, "I'll quit when I'm out, that's for sure..." They seem to realize they were rambling, "Uh anyways. Thanks Loop."

You watch them closely as they relax with an expressionless face. You nod as they talk. Usually its you doing all the talking... but its nice to be able to sit back and let someone else take over.

You relax, "Question 2, have you beaten the King?"

You see a frown appearing on their face. "Nope." They take another drag of their cigarette. "That bastard. Stars I hate him. If I ever figure out how to kill him I will probably spend 100 more loops killing him over and over again before leaving."

You relate. You nod and take note of the answer.

"Lastly, question 3, What did you wish for?"

You see them tilt an eyebrow up at you in confusion before their eyes widen in recollection. "Ah. I didn't wish for anything."

You look at them unbelieving of course. "You didn't?" You ask sarcastically.

"Nope. But Isa did."

Your eyes widen in shock and confusion.

They take another drag of their cigarette before puffing it away. "He wished to keep me safe." They laugh softly at the recollection "How romantic, right? And when I tell him about the loops you can actually pinpoint the moment he figures it out, too! He makes this adorable face that means he knows hes in trouble." They let out a soft sigh, "I've forgiven him a while ago. It was my fault for even telling him about how to make wishes in the first place."

You grimace slightly at the story but ultimately relax. You look away for a moment in thought. How come Frin didn't make the wish...? You also remember their disdain for the universe when it was mentioned to them. You should... ask.

You take a deep breath and let it out, "I noticed the disdain on your face when I mentioned the Universe sent me... do you...?"

They look at you annoyed. "No. The Universe no longer guides me." They flick the cigarette ash away and look back at you, "The Universe leads and we can only follow." They laugh sarcastically. "That's bullcrab! All the universe did was bring me to dead ends and false hopes. The only reason I'm still here is because I held on for dear life by the skin of my teeth. The Universe never helped me, I helped me. My FRIENDS helped me." They grit their teeth as they look down in pain and sorrow. "The Universe doesn't guide me anymore. I severed those ties a long time ago."

You try to say something as you look at them. But nothing comes to mind. You don't know what to say. You don't know what your face looks like but you see them staring daggers at you.

...You agree. You hate the Universe. But still you cling on. You still let it guide you. Its uncaring... But you can only follow.

...But that inevitably brought you here.

They seem to acknowledged the absurdity way before you ever did. So they cut those strings while you...

.....Held on.

...Its nice to have someone to relate to, for once.

Frin continues as they relax, "...The Universe doesn't care. People do. People care."

You look at them fondly, "...In the end all those paths led us here, didn't it?"

They scoff and look away. "Into hell? Yeah."

You also look away. "...Yeah."

There's an uncomfortable silence between you two.

You have a question lurking in the back of your mind, now.

"...What were you about to wish for?"

They look over to you with a frown. They take one last drag of their cigarette and then tosses it onto the ground and stomps it out with their boot. They blow out the smoke and reattaches their goggles to their face.

A soft grin appears on their tired face, "...I was gonna give up. Something along those lines. Go out on my own terms."

You stare at them directly and firm. Your posture shifting to serious. You look at their eyes and see nothing but your reflection in their goggles.

They wave their hands, "To end this eternal ennui, to finally die- TRULY, die. Something the loops cant bring me back from. Maybe have my death be the sacrifice to kill The King too. I don't know. I'd let the universe finally take me."

You look at them with very worried eyes and try to relax. "...I'm sorry..."

They scoff, "Don't give me that, Loop." They point at you, "I know what you are, and you are not any better than me. I'm not an idiot. You don't think I can't recognize the sound of my own voice?"

Your eyes widen in shock before quickly narrowing in anger, "How are you so sure about that?"

They laugh and then cough into their fist as they clear their throat, "How are you so sure about that?" they mock in a voice that's extremely close to yours.

You're shocked backwards as they laugh harder. "I'm not the same person and I'm not you." You tell them with gritted not-teeth.

Their laugh dies down into a smirk as they look at you. "Oh I know. Clearly." Gesturing to your body.

You somehow find it in yourself to relax. Taking a deep breath in and out. You have to be patient. "You're different from the others. You don't go by the original name. You're the first I've met to do so."

They tilt their head at you in confusion.

You look at them a little surprised, "...Siffrin? Does... that ring a bell?"

You see them immediately prop up, "Oh! Wow. Yeah. That's... I haven't heard that name in a long time." They reminisce on their past, "I started going by Frin because it sounded cooler. It's cool to know I'm different!"

Their laugh eventually dies down and there's a silence between you two again.

...

"What made you... finally give in?" You ask hesitantly looking at them.

...

They look at you sorrowfully. "I'm just tired." They lay back and relax on the tree root. "...Ive spent so long in these loops... The last loop, before this, I said 'screw it!' and decided to pretend i've never entered the loops. I talked to Mira. I talked to Isa, he tells me all the things I love to hear, I talked to Odile, I talked to Bon. I pretended like I wasn't going through hell. I put it all behind me. I usually tell them about the loops but this time I didn't. This time I walked into the clocktower and ate Bonbon's food. And for the first time in a long time I actually tasted it." They sit up and look at the ground in front of them. "We walked to the House, we beat the sadnesses, we found the keys, we laughed, we fought, we cried!"

You sit back and watch them closely as their hands begin to shake.

They put their hands into fists and calmly let go of them. "...But in the end, the same result happened. With my friends yelling for Bonnie to run and a giant fist, falling down onto me." They look up at you with sorrow. "I'm tired, Loop... I'm just tired."

You don't say anything and only listen. You... Relate to them. You get up slowly and walk to the other side of the Favor Tree and sit down next to them.

They don't flinch or move away, they just stare aimlessly onto the ground.

You say softly, "I... Know. What its like. I was in these loops for... years, 3000 or so loops."

They finally look up at you, shocked their mouth slightly agape, "...Loop-"

You hold up a hand. "I know." You put your hand down and continue, "I kept going. I had to. It wasn't for me anymore, It was for them. For my family, to free them from the loops no matter the cost." You look away from them and look onto the ground. "...I failed. And now I'm here." You take a deep breath in... and out. "Now with you, I have to ask. To please keep going. Get out of the loops. If not for yourself, then for them, because they love you." You pick up their hands in yours.

They look at you with sorrow. The outer shell of their persona finally cracking with tears falling out of their eye. They pull you into a hug and you flinch only slightly. You hold them close to you and they squeeze you softly. The fabric of their cloak rubbing against your starry body. "B-but how am I supposed to continue... There's no way to beat the King.. I-I've tried everything."

you instantly come to the realization. Whoops. You forgot to tell them about the secret library.

You pull away from the hug hesitantly and look at them. Your arms are on their shoulder as they put their hands into each other resting on their lap. "I... Uh... May have forgot to tell you right away but... do you know about the secret library?" You ask slowly.

They tilt their head at you sadly, "The... secret library?" 

You move your hands down to theirs and hold them in yours. "It contains the craft shield spell that makes defeating the King... easier." 

You cant see their eyes but you see their mouth quiver as their hands begin to shake in yours and you hold them tight. They look down and only whisper, "...A-ah... t-that's good to know..."

"Can you breathe with me?" You ask to them gently. 

They nod to you and you slowly let go of one of their hands as you place yours on your chest as they follow the motion with their free hand.

Breathe in...

...

...And out.

They follow and let out a sigh after. "Better late than never. I guess." They look away at nothing.

You look at them softly. "...Are you okay?"

"No. Not really." They let go of your hands and slap their own face softly to shake themselves off. "But we gotta get going, I wanna kill that blinding King now." They get up off the tree root and stretches their back and arms. "Getting out of these loops is gonna make me feel a LOT better."

Wait. "..W-We?"

They look at you confused, "...Yes? You're here to help me aren't you? I'd like some help killing the King."

Your eyes widen in shock and horror. "U-uh. I don't... Think..." You fumble the words in your head and are taken aback. You take a deep breath and let it out. "You don't need my help, Frin."

They fully focus on you now and come closer to you and hold out their hand. "Hah. I may not need your help but.. I want your help. I want you to come with us."

You look at them seriously. "...Frin... When the loops are over in this universe, I'll be sent to the next one." You look at their hand. "I don't want to... intrude."

You see them visibly frown at you as they put their hand down. "...You wouldn't be intruding, and I'd still like for you to be there. For as long as we have."

You laugh slightly, "You just met me." You tease at them.

They don't laugh. They look at you through their goggles. "I'm serious."

...

"...Can I think about it?" 

They look at you sorrowfully. But nods respectfully. "...I'll wait for you in front of the clocktower. If you don't show up then..." They don't continue and they adjust their helmet.

You nod back.

They take a deep breath in and let it out before beginning to walk away, waving a hand up "I'll see you, Loop!"

"See you later, stardust." You wave back.

They smile at the nickname as they walk away. They turn around the corner and you're left alone with your thoughts.

...

...You have a lot to think about.

~ ~ ~

You mindlessly sit in front of the clocktower on the steps. You draw a smiley face in the dirt with your dagger in boredom while you wait. The sun is falling out of the sky and slowly the stars creep their way in.

...They still aren't here.

Suddenly the door slowly opens behind you. Odile.

"Hey Frin." she casually says to you.

"Hey Odile." You look up to her as she walks out and the doors shuts behind her. 

Shes in her more casual clothing. Her flannel shirt is tied around her waste, she wears a tank-top and jeans, and her bag is somewhere inside. "You comin' in soon? You've been out here for a while."

...

...You've waited long enough. They can still knock, if they want. You're a little disappointed... But...

... 

You sigh. "...Yeah, I'm coming in right now" You push yourself up and adjust your helmet. "Just needed some fresh air, I think." You notice the feel of a pack of cigarettes pressed against your side in your cloak pocket.

You take out the pack of cigarettes and hand it to Odile, "I'm quitting, you can have these if you want." 

You see a tiny smile appear on her face, "Oh, score." She grabs the pack of cigarettes and puts it in her pocket. Her face then morphs into worry as she looks at you, "...You feelin' alright?"

You let out a small laugh, "Nope! Feeling pretty terrible actually. I'll tell you about it inside."

You see a small smile appear on her face as she lets out a small laugh. She opens the door and walks in and holds it open for you.

You follow through and into the clocktower, you're about to close the door when...

...

...For a moment, in the bushes ahead. You might've saw them, but when you take off your goggles and attach them to your helmet,

...No one is there.

You close the door.

~ ~ ~

You run away as fast as you can.

Don't look back. Don't look back. Don't look back.

You've seen them before, you thought you could handle it but you cant!!! YOU CANT!!!

You saw her and your heart began to race!!!

What were you even thinking? How could you possibly even entertain the idea of speaking to these clones? They aren't your family.

You're such a monster~!!! Horrible~!!!

You laugh and laugh as you run away. Deeper and deeper into the Dormont forest. You don't care. You don't want to see this universe's Frin ever again. How could you even let yourself get attached?

You know it'll all go away!!! Nothing ever lasts for you does it??? 

You should know by now. Poor little loop. You're so tragic. Running away from your problems, that'll always help. 

You don't care. You're gonna go so far into the forest and STAY there. Frin can beat the loops themselves. They don't need you anymore from here on out.

You know your place. You know your job.

Help Siffrin's escape their loops.

Nothing more than the Universe's puppet.

You try to think about what the Universe said. 

BUT.

NOTHING.

COMES.

TO.

MIND!!!

BECAUSE WHY THE STARS WOULD IT.

You trip on a rock and fall face first into the grass.

What a familiar feeling.

You try to pick yourself back up. 

But. You. Cant.

You simply roll over. There's an opening in the trees above you.

The full moon and its stars are all you can see.

They laugh at you. You're a joke.

You hope the Universe is entertained.

...

The ground is cold. The trees are frozen around you.

You must've run so far that you've entered King's territory.

...How far was that... again?

...

Whatever. Who cares. Not you that's for sure~!

You close your eyes and ignore everything. You don't think about anything. You think about nothing at all.

At some point the sun makes its way out of the sky.

At some point you start to hear the roar of the King.

At some point you hear the trees start moving and the birds making noise.

You finally open your eyes after a while.

They didn't need you.

You feel the urge to reach for your coin but... you don't. You don't deserve it. Not after you left them on their own after they asked you for help. After they asked you to come with.

You're a blinding fool.

You lay in the middle of nowhere on soft grass. You did your job. That's that. Nothing more. You know one thing now. You'll never get attached again.

You'll go back to your cheery demeanor. You'll shove those feelings waaaay down. Hehe...

...

You finally start to feel yourself fade away, returning to the Universe.

... Urgh.

You hesitantly raise your hand up in your secret call sign. What are you even doing.

"...I'm sorry I couldn't... be there." You finally speak up. "...Keep going, for them. Please. "

You let your own guard down. That's your own blinding fault. Now you're stuck with these residual feelings.

"...It seems I am needed elsewhere... So... Goodbye, Frin." with your final words said, your hands dissipate into nothing. You don't even know if they heard.

Followed by your chest. Then your head and vision.

...

And finally you're here.

You never truly even have time to mourn.

You think of the Universe, and it all comes flooding back to you.

...Why can't you remember properly, when, you're not here?

I guess that's another question to ask. When the time comes. Whenever that might be...

You reach for your throat and its clogged by the vast emptiness of space.

Now you drift aimlessly.

...You feel your hand being held. Your eyes resigned.

...

...You don't know if you can do this for any longer.

Chapter Text

...You wake up.

...

Okay then.

You stare aimlessly at the ground.

You try to think of the Universe. You remember, only at first. You try to think of every detail. What it said to you. The feeling on your hand.

...

The feeling on my hand?

Oh its gone. It was just there. It was just there...

You try to remember, but its like you just entered a new room, you simply just. Cant.

It was there. IT WAS JUST THERE. YOU REMEMBERED, BUT NOW YOU CANT.

You keep trying, you keep trying. Your head is dizzy and spinning. You try to hold onto your head. It just doesn't work.

The details are getting more fuzzy. You remember it talking to you but not remembering what it said. It talked. You remember the beginning but it falls between your hands.

Every time you think about it, the more it goes away.

You're breathing heavily now. Panicking, your head is so dizzy, something boils up in the back of your throat, you feel like puking. 

You. You. You.

[ . . . ]

...A birthday cake?

You feel nauseous. 

Breathe. Loop.

You place a hand on your chest and take a deep breath in...

...

...And out.

Pheeeeeeeeeeew..........

You feel better. Its best not to think about it now, there isnt any point and any time you do it just fades away even farther. Only vague notions remain now. It all goes away eventually.

You let out a long sigh. You've had a lot of time to grieve that. Now you just feel empty. Its annoying. You get it already.

...

Gosh! So melodramatic~! Pull yourself together already idiot!

Okay! Lets see what fresh new loop awaits me~!

You finally look up and check your surroundings, its all the same as before, thankfully. You look over to Isabeau and hes normal! Good! Nothing too crazy!

A normal sad Siffrin! You can handle that! STARS! What you wouldn't give for a stupid blinding pathetic Siffrin right now.

You let yourself relax, head resting back against the tree. Taking the time you need to compose yourself as much as possible.

Then you spot a figure in the corner of your eye coming around the corner.

You turn to face this universe's Siffrin... but.

Its the Researcher.

Your heart immediately starts beating faster and it feels like its gonna explode!! Why her!!

WHY HER!!!

WHY WHY WHY!!!

You immediately stumble off the tree root and onto the grass. You try to breathe. Oh god oh god oh god-

You see her face is in a frown until she talks to Isabeau which perks up into a small smile.

You're running out of time!!! Get it together! Get it together!!!

It's just one thing after another huh!!!

You grip the tree root and pick yourself up, and toss yourself onto the tree root again.

Breathe! Breathe! BREATHE!

You finally manage to take a deep breath in...

...

...And let out a very shaky breath.

The Researcher is walking over to the Favor Tree now. You hope the universe is entertained. You hope its having fun tormenting you like this.

You glance at her as she walks right past you.

There is anger in her eyes. Not like anything you've ever seen.

She stares at the Favor Tree's trunk. You see her fall to the ground to her knees. With a look of desperation in her eyes and anger on her face.

...Now's a better time than any, you suppose.

You reveal yourself, "...Hello, Researcher..." You say with your best smile as you can. "Having trouble?" You accidentally say in a mocking tone.

She immediately stumbles back in shock at your appearance before settling on narrowing her eyes at you. She doesn't say anything. There is a suspicious look on her face, observing you.

Keep it simple, "I am Loop! They/them, and I was sent by the Universe to help you escape these loops~!" and get it over with.

She immediately gets up, she grabs her book from her coat and raises a hand at you, ready for a craft attack. "What do you know." She gnarls out from under a shaky breath.

You dont react. You respond back with a smile through your eyes. "...I know enough~!"

She stares right through you. "Who are you." You smell a powerful smell of paper craft wavering in the air towards you. She's always been so suspicious of you. Its almost nostalgic. 

You smile with your eyes. You don't respond.

"TELL ME!" She says with desperation in her voice. Hands shakey.

You still only smile, "Don't be fooled by your rage, Researcher. I thought you were better than that~!" You tease

You see her freeze up before yelling and releasing a powerful paper craft attack. You immediately jump up off the tree root and out of the way. You don't even flinch as it passes right by you to a nearby tree.

You laugh, and she lunges towards you with her book, and moving like water, you step out of the way and she misses. "Try again~!" You tease at her and she becomes more furious.

You know you're not in any real danger. You could end this fight immediately if you wanted to. But you think she needs this.

She attacks you again, holding her hand up in a scissors sign and shooting off piercing craft towards you.

With years of practice, you dodge. You move quickly around her, and slap her arm and she drops the book she was holding onto the grass and you kick it away out from under the Favor Tree. You smirk. She immediately reacts, turning around with a fist towards your face which you catch in your hand and drag both yours and her hand down. It takes two to tango~!

She finally gets an upper-hand on you, as she lifts a leg and kicks you back off of her. You let go of her hand to not drag her with you. You stumble back and quickly regain your composure. She stands steadily. You are not gonna hurt her. No matter what. You do try to convince her to not fight, "I can answer any questions you have-"

She cuts you off with another fist thrown at you, which you dodge. You quickly move away from the Researcher. Far enough to where she cant throw a hand. "Do you think this will settle anything?" You ask to her.

She doesn't respond, but falters for only a moment before putting her hands back up and only staring at you, as she inches closer.

"...Fine." You raise your arms out. You surrender. You'll let her attack you and you wont fight back. 

She launches towards you, surprisingly stronger and faster than your own Researcher. You're really curious how long shes been in here. You only stare at her as she approaches and lifts a fist up and.

She stares into your eyes. Two different colors. Your accent. Your skilled combat. The Researcher freezes, in total shock and realization. Maybe she figured it out, sooner than most, per typical.

You don't react. "...Hm.. did you realize something, Researcher?"

"...You...!" She lowers her hand and trembles from the pressure. The anger in her face immediately turns to guilt from your familiarity.

"Can we talk now?" You ask her genuinely and she winces in guilt. "Have a seat, Researcher." you motion from her to the tree root.

She takes a moment to acknowledge what you just said and then does so. She sits down on the tree root and takes this moment to compose herself. You look over to outside the Favor Tree and see the book she was using.

You walk out from under the Favor Tree to pick up her book. Its her personal journal. You don't take a peek because that's rude, and you walk back under the Favor Tree and hand her the journal.

She eyes you for a moment, up and down, before taking the book and slowly putting it away into her coat. You finally take your seat. You stare at her for a moment. You feel nothing but guilt and pain. Why does it have to be her.

Still, you persist. You have to help her, one way or another. Talk to this echo of an old friend. 

Right as you are about to speak and ask your questions, she guilty coughs up, "...I sincerely apologize, Loop, for not thinking straight and... attacking you."

Wow. Your eyes widen. You kinda didn't expect that. The Researcher at her lowest! What a sight!!!

You wave a hand in the air, "Its fine." You look at her as reassuringly as you can, which, for once, is genuine. You can't remember the past as well anymore, but you know you had to fake a smile, saying 'It's fine!' but she always saw right through you, didn't she? "You wouldn't be the first, actually... Well, not you, but..." You trail off, "Yeah. Its fine."

"Its not fine." She sits up straighter. "I could've really hurt you. I am most definitely not in a good head space-" Shes interrupted by your laughter and she stares at you confused, "What?"

You stifle your laugh, "You really think you could've hurt me? Teehee~! That's so adorable, Researcher."

You see her eyes narrowing at you in slowly boiling anger. "Gems alive. Maybe so but that's not the point, the point is the intention. I tried to."

You stare at her. You should tone it down. Ugh. You take a deep breath and form as neutral a face as possible, "I apologize too. May we start over?" You ask politely.

She hums affirmatively.

You clap your hands together, "Okay! Starting over! I am Loop~! They/them, and I have been sent here to help you escape the loops!"

She began to make her own introduction but was swiftly cut off by you, "Don't worry, I know who you are, Madame, and mostly everything else too." She decidedly, doesn't comment and remains silent. "Question 1, How many loops has it been?"

She stares at you... and then pulls out her notebook and combs through it. She lands on a page and responds, "490"

...

You only stare at her with remorse, and as a rare sight for you, she doesn't stare back. She closes her book and keeps it resting on her knees with her hands folded on top of it, looking down.

She doesn't deserve this, why couldn't it have been Siffrin, or... or.....

...You suck up any emotions on your face with a deep breath and you do her a mercy and move on. "Question 2, Have you beaten the King?"

A long pause as her eyes shift from her folded hands to you, "Yes. Once."

You nod. "Last question, what did you wish for?"

You see a small and nostalgic smile appear on her face as she reminisces, she adjusts her glasses, "...I wished... To keep them safe."

...

...To keep them safe...

You stare at her, wide-eyed.

She waits patiently for you to speak again. 

"...If you wished to keep them safe... and you've beaten the King... then... why are you still... here?" You ask, almost hesitantly, worried about the answer.

She looks at you, defeat in her eyes, "The only reason we beat the King... Is because Siffrin sacrificed themselves against the King. Therefore, presumably, I loop back because of it." Her eyes look distraught but her face remains neutral and professional. "It seems we cant beat the King without his sacrifice."

That. Blinding. Fool.

You're face turns to anger. SHOOTING STARS! WHAT IS IT WITH THESE SIFFRINS!!! Way to go! You're unintentionally trapping Odile in a time loop! GODS!

...The Researcher. You're unintentionally trapping The Researcher in a time loop. Okay.

...She's staring right at you. Almost hopeless.

She said they cant beat the King without his sacrifice, so, you're curious if she ever found that secret shield spell. You take a deep breath in and calm yourself. Maybe you should have a 'word' with this universe's Siffrin. Ultimately you let it go.

"Did you ever find the secret shield spell?" You ask.

A moment of silence followed by, "...The... what?"

Thank the stars. You kindly tell The Researcher about the secret library of which the spell resides and they follow along with nods.

After telling her this vital information, she slowly takes off her glasses and rubs at her eyes, She then leaves the hand on her face as she thinks. Her eyes are completely full of sorrow of which you've only seen once before.

You don't know what she's thinking about but you can make a guess. "You never found it, did you?"

She lets out a very long sigh and puts her glasses back on. "No. I didn't."

You give her as reassuring a smile in your eyes as you can, "Don't worry, I didn't either."

She looks at you worriedly and is slightly taken aback. Mistake. You're an idiot. "...What? What do you mean you-"

You tense up and immediately cut her off, "Lets not get into it, Researcher." You ease back. "I'm here now, helping you, and that's what matters, kay~?" 

She only stares at you worriedly. Annoying. You see her open her mouth but then close it. Questions are definitely brewing at the tip of her tongue.

"Yes?" You say almost mockingly.

...She takes a moment to look you up and down. "...Are you okay?"

You want to curl up into a ball and scream. "No. Thanks for asking."

A frown plasters her face. 

You tease her, "What did you expect, Researcher? What were you going to do with the information I just provided?"

She seems slightly annoyed now. You giggle, you completely got her.

"Who am I to you, Loop? Why do you keep calling me Researcher? Don't you know my name?"

Ouch! She's got you there. You intentionally remain silent and look away.

"Loop." she says determinedly.

You relax a little, you didn't even notice you were so tense. What do you do. What do you say? Will it matter anyways? You'll be leaving soon.

...You'll be leaving soon, so, it doesn't matter does it.

You let go of your own arms and put your hands folded in your lap to stop them from shaking. You might as well be honest. No point in hiding it if its not gonna matter is it? Maybe it'll get her to go away, and stay away.

"...You're just... an echo of an old friend. A stranger who shares the same face as them. I... You..." You let out a frustrated sigh. "Whatever. This doesn't matter, when you're done here I'll be sent to the next universe."

...Silence.

"...It matters to me, Loop. Im staying in this universe." She makes it a point to look at you completely focused. "And if this spell... works, then... I'll forever be in your debt."

You feel like crying, but you don't show it. "It'll be better to forget about me, Madame."

Focused on you and you only, "I wont. I don't think I can." She sees you. 

...You stare at her with resigned eyes. She does too.

After a moment of long silence, "Its best to get going now, Researcher. You've got a King to kill."

She looks at you. "Odile. Please."

...

"Odile."

"Thank you, Loop." She says as she begins to get up and opens up her book and pulls out a pen. "...I'll see you again. When I'm done here."

"...I know."

She looks at you and smiles. You... smile back hesitantly. She begins to walk away and you wave as she goes. She waves back as she turns back to write in her book.

...

...

...

...Whoops. You forgot to tell her about the familytale. Oh well. You'll tell her later, or, she figures it out herself.

Probably the latter.

You take a long sigh. You don't know this... feeling inside of you. Its pain. Its relief. Its guilt. Its...

...

You miss your Odile. Its nice to say her name again.

As you wait for nightfall you attempt to think back on memories of her. Its hard. At first only the version of her in the loops remain. But slowly one, then two, then three different memories come back to you. From before the loops. You hold onto them desperately and repeat them in your mind. A memory of Odile genuinely laughing at your pun, A memory of Odile placing a cup over a bug to put it outside, and a memory of you giving your wooden figure to Odile and seeing her face light up in a way you've never seen before.

Another memory shows up. One of you laying on your back, blood crawling down your face, you had just lost your eye. She used a wet rag to wipe the blood off your face, and her own face, was filled with sorrow.

...You cant remember much else from that moment.

...

You repeat the memories in your head, slowly some of them come back as they connect.

~ ~ ~ 

~ Then ~
~ Loop 2899 ~

You take the fishing pole and then throwing it into the water, you sit down and wait.

...

You're exhausted.

You let your mind wander.

Its resting time.

You wont catch anything, you know that.

You look over to the Fishing One. You asked her for her name once, but you've already forgotten it.

You've sat here hundreds of times by now.

...You enjoy the silent company of the Fishing One. You don't have to talk. There's no pressure. Only fishing.

There's only fishing.
 
One time. You remember. You told the Fishing One everything. You're not sure what compelled you. You just started talking and you couldn't stop spilling your entire guts out.

All about the loops, the deaths, the King, the party, the House... Everything.

She looked back at you, 

horrified. 

She never had a chance to respond as you looped back immediately.

You didn't fish much after that. You could never forget the look on her face.

...

...But for now you fish. You can forget everything, for just a moment, in this moment.

~ ~ ~

~ Now ~

Come nightfall, you shroud yourself in the shadow of the stars and make your way towards Dormont.

...Its exactly as you remember it. There's no one out, this time of night. 

You walk calmly, with extreme practice. Its a nice night out.

You arrive at the river. Where the Fishing One would sit and fish. There's no one here now though.

You open the barrel and find a spare fishing rod. You take it out and sit down by the river and throw your hook in. You can't really see too well so you make the executive decision to not shroud yourself. If they see you they see you.

Your bright head lights up a small area around you.

You take a deep breath in...

...

...And out.

It really clears your head. You listen to the sound of the river, flowing by softly.

It feels like forever since you did this.

You kinda wish the Fishing One was here. She had a very comforting presence. Even if neither of you talked much, you'd consider her the closest friend you had not counting the four people who aren't here anymore. It was probably one-sided. But it was nice.

...

Now you feel lonely.

Though that feeling doesn't last long, when you hear footsteps behind you. You turn around to see who the night crawler is and-

Of course. Its Odile. You're not surprised.

"Loop." She says plainly. "What are you doing out here?"

"Fishin'" You say casually, you then narrow your eyes at her. "What are YOU doing out here, sneaking out this late? You should know better than that young lady."

You see a small smile appear on her face. "I was coming to see you."

You turn back around towards the river and gesture to her, "Well. Have a seat, this isn't my usual meetup spot but I am quite bored of sitting under that tree."

She stands there for a moment contemplative, before you hear the footsteps approaching and you see her sit down on the soft grass next to you. "You know, Siffrin would always come here to fish during the loops."

You don't even look at her. "What a coincidence." You finally turn to her with a fake smile, "Now how can I help you, Madame Odile?"

She doesn't say anything for a moment. "I was hoping you could answer some of my questions?"

You sigh. "I'll answer whatever I want."

She takes note of that. "Why are you... fishing?"

You look at her with suspicious eyes. Before returning your eyes to the fishing pole. "It helps clear my head. Its the one thing that brought me comfort."

"Did we?"

You look at her confused. "What are you asking?"

"You know what Im asking. I just want to know if... The feeling is shared."

...

Yeah she knows. That's not really a surprise, but to what extent is the question. She doesn't know how long you've been in these loops. Waaaay longer than her. That's one thing you should probably keep secret, but what else?

You ponder for a moment. Is it worth keeping secrets here anyways? Whats the point of hiding anything if you'll be leaving it all behind in the end? Hiding and stuffing down your feelings brought you here.

"...Maybe in the beginning. But after a while... Well. I can't remember much from that time, anyways."

She listens dutifully. "I just hope that changes when I'm out. I hope that I'm still human."

You laugh. "I guess I'm a different case then?" 

You see her face scrunch up, "...Are you... Not human anymore?" She looks at your starry body, and glowing head.

You actually don't know. What even are you anymore? You've gotten kind of used to this body.

...Maybe that's another thing you should ask.

You wave a hand, "Oh who knows. You definitely wont."

"How long were you in there for, Loop?" She asks almost worriedly.

...

You turn to her with a big smile, "Wouldn't you like to know, teehee~!"

She frowns as she crosses her arms. You both sit in silence as you fish. You rub at your own eyes before realizing, wow. You're tired. Whens the last time you really slept? The moving water is hypnotic and relaxing.

"Sleepy?" She asks.

"For the first time in a while actually." You look over to her, you notice her eye bags. "Guess that's something for you to look forward to now." You laugh, "Well, after you pass out from craft exhaustion."

She looks at you confused. Oh! Right! You kinda forgot about that. "Oh right. Its Wishcraft that's keeping you in these loops, and when you're out of them you're gonna have a looong sickly nap." 

She lets out a hum and pulls out her book to write in. "Wishcraft?"

... "Yep. Don't bother looking for anything about it. Its all in the headache language, and I never read the books."

You see her stop writing and look at you for more. You shake your head, and she goes back to continue writing.

As you stare into the water. You're feeling sleepy for the first time in... a long time. Its an unfamiliar feeling now. You look over to Odile and... all you're reminded of is your own. You wonder where she is, now. You left her, you left them all.

...You hope they're doing okay. They probably will be, without you.

You begin to reel in the lure of the rod slowly. Since you're feeling sleepy for the first time in a long time, better not waste this chance.

You stand up and she follows after a moment. "Well. This has been nice. See you tomorrow, Odile." You open the barrel and place the rod back inside. "Good luck with the King tomorrow."

You see her tuck her book away, "See you, Loop."  She fidgets with her pen.

You begin walking away and you immediately turn around as you almost forgot, "By the way, the Boulangere has a familytale you can borrow~!" You turn back around and continue walking like nothing has happened.

Odile, is completely shocked. Mouth agape. She stops fidgeting with her pen as she stands there under the night sky but you're already out of sight.

After finally getting to the Favor Tree you turn left into the forest.

Its a small little opening. Surrounded by trees is soft patch of grass, almost perfectly made for you. 

You lay on your back and look up at the night sky that's opened up by the trees. The stars look down upon you. Watching. Its always so pretty.

...And haunting.

You close your eyes. Your entire body goes limp with fatigue. As you drift off into a deep sleep.

~ ~ ~

You dream of a vision of the future.

You watch from a third person perspective.

Its you and another person. Both faceless. The dagger flashes in your hands as you bring it up.

You sit on top of the person. They hold out their hands, you cant see their face but you know its one of fear. Pleading, begging.

A whisper, "...A wolf in sheep's clothing."

A yell, "WE'RE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN!"

The cold wind pushes the hand.

The skies are cloudy.

You can do nothing but watch.

As this version of you, jagged and bright, raises the dagger,

and plunges it. 

Into a Siffrin, with a scar on his face. His face is scared and full of pained anger.

Your face, one of remorse and guilt.

Everything immediately goes silent.

As you fall into the ground, into an empty void.

You fall.

You fall.

You fall.

~ ~ ~

You're abruptly waken up to a flash of coldness. You sit up immediately as your heart beats fast.

What was... what were you dreaming?

...

You take a deep breath in and out.

You cant remember anyways.

You look around to a silent and frozen forest. Oh. Odile must be at the King already. How long were you asleep for? You let out a big yawn and get up.

You begin making your way back to the Favor Tree and take your seat on the tree root. After a long moment...

...

Time returns.

That's good. Seeing as she hasn't looped back, you're done here.

...

On instinct you pull out your coin to inspect it. Now you wait!

...She takes a little longer than you like to get here.

You wonder if you should hide again like you did with Isabeau. But that doesn't solve anything. Running never solves anything. You're still here after all! No. You'd rather face her head on. Who's keeping track anyways.

You hate being so self-aware of your own flaws. You know now. You know what the problems are. Why you're like this. You hate it. You hate all of it. Because no matter what it feels like you can't fix these problems. It feels like you can't get better and you're always stagnating. You want to shove all these feelings so far down deep and never feel anything ever again but you know that's stupid and wont solve anything.

But. You are. Still like this.

...

Finally after some time, you see Odile appear around the corner. You can tell from here her face is worn and tired, but happy.

She approaches the tree and you raise yourself up straight and tuck your coin into your fist. "Congratulations, Odile~!" You gesture her to take a seat. "What are you gonna do now?"

She silently takes her seat. "We're gonna keep traveling together, for a little longer."

...You smile, "Correct choice!"

"How much time do you have left, Loop?"

You think for a moment and look at your wrist to an invisible watch and look back at her, "Hmmm..." She looks at you with a little grin at your improv. Before you feel your feet start to tingle and turn invisible. "Ah! Not long it seems."

She frowns. "Im sorry."

... "...There's no reason to be sorry. Nothing we can do now."

You feel the sensation crawl up your legs.

She watches closely. "Thank you for your help, regardless."

You smile at her. "Always."

You raise your hand before her in a handshake.

She gladly accepts.

You both shake hands and when you pull away its already reaching your body.

"Well. Im afraid I must have to bid you adieu. Madame Odile."

She looks troubled, but puts her focus on you. "Au revoir, Loop."

Your body slowly disappears, with your arms, then hands. Crawling up your neck and fading your vision. "Good luck." You mutter your final words to her as she watches...

...and...

...

...You're here.

...

...You'd hope for more time with her.

You put your hands on your face and scream. and scream. and scream.

You feel the pressure in your vocal cords when you scream, but not a single sound is heard. Your throat is clogged. You scream and thrash in the void. Surrounded by beautiful galaxies and nebula's.

But no one can hear you scream in space.

Finally. You calm down and just drift aimlessly.

You feel all the memories of this place come back to you. You remember.

You hear static calling from the stars, before turning into the sounds of a thousand voices that turn into one.

[ WELCOME . . . BACK . . . ]

You feel a comforting hand on yours. The clog in your throat is now gone, but you aren't sure what to say.

[ IM . . . SORRY . . . IT . . . TOOK . . . TOO . . . LONG . . . FOR . . . YOU . . . TO . . . GET . . . HERE. ]

[ I . . . CAN . . . ATTEMPT . . . TO . . . ANSWER . . . YOUR . . . QUESTIONS . . . ]

[ IF . . . YOU . . . SO . . . DESIRE . . . ]

...

You think back on the questions you would ask. One prominently comes to mind, as of recently. 

In a shaky voice facing something so familiar yet distant. "Why cant I remember?" 

[ . . . ]

A long pause from the Universe.

You feel a tight ethereal hug surround you. Hugged by the Universe itself. 

[ YOU . . . WONT . . . BE . . . ABLE . . . TO . . . HEAR . . . THE . . . ANSWER . . . ] 

[ YOU . . . CANT . . . KNOW . . . ]

[ I'M . . . SORRY. ]

You're hugged tight and your hand is squeezed simultaneously.

You feel nothing but the heartbeat inside of you. You feel tears in your eyes, for the first time in a long time, you cry. The tears silently drift off your face into space. You feel a hand on your face, wiping them away. A long forgotten familiar head is placed against your own forehead that stays there. You don't ever want these feelings on your body to go away. 

[ I'M . . . SORRY. ]

The apology is genuine as you're clutched in the many arms of the universe.

You work up the courage after a while, to continue asking. "Will I ever see any of these Siffrin's again?"

Another long silence from the Universe as it seemingly contemplates. It holds your hand softly.

[ YES . . . ]

[ YOU . . . WILL . . . HAVE . . . ONE . . . OPENING . . . ]

[ BUT . . . YOU . . . WILL . . . ALWAYS . . . BE . . . WITH . . . THEM. ]

[ AND . . . THEY . . . WILL . . . ALWAYS . . . BE . . . WITH . . . YOU. ]

The stars on your body flicker brightly, for only a moment, before returning to normal. You're shaken.

Only... once... you begin to shake slightly, confronted with everything all at once.

You feel the hugging embrace grow tighter as your own body feels lighter.

The touch makes you feel real. This is happening.

You feel like screaming but... you...

Feel... nothing but the universe, holding you.

Its telling you, 'It's okay. You're okay.' Its all you can feel.

You relax enough to ask your final question.

"Why this body?"

Another long pause from the Universe before returning.

[ IT'S . . . THE . . . ONLY . . . BODY . . . I . . . KNOW . . . ]

[ MADE . . . IN . . . THE . . . IMAGE . . . OF . . . THE . . . STARS. ]

[ I . . . HOPED . . . FOR . . . IT . . . TO . . . BE . . . A . . . GIFT . . . ]

[ DOES . . . IT . . . BRING . . . YOU . . . TURMOIL? ]

This time, it asked you a question.

And the question,

"I don't know."

Maybe this is you now.

But... who are you? Are you who you were before? Are you someone completely different?

Is this body... you? If you returned to your old skin would it also be you?

Would it be wearing a costume?

[ IN . . . TIME . . . YOU . . . WILL . . . CHOOSE. ] 

You feel a soft and gentle invisible caress on your arms.

You feel your body propped up by many hands. 

The stars begin to circle into each other like a spiral and shift into a Siffrin.

A shaky nervous Siffrin, with a lightless cloak and hair, and darkless clothing underneath. being held by an Isabeau and a Housemaiden as they sit and watch the stars under a tree. Held tightly and lovingly together. You envy him. The stars dance and spiral around again into the same Siffrin, holding the hand of The Kid as they walk through a public marketplace. They stop at a booth and order a number of vegetables.

The stars begin to spiral into themselves again and pulsate out into a new scene.

In a forest, surrounded by trees is Frin and Isabeau. They're both locked into a fighting stance, the hair on a now helmet-less Frin sticks to the sweat on their face. The hair on Isabeau sticks straight up but with many loose hairs. Frin jumps forward to Isabeau and Isabeau throws a punch, and misses. Frin dodges and gets behind Isabeau. They jump on his back and puts their arms around his neck, and pulls him down to the ground with a slam. Isabeau is strong but Frin is faster. Before Isabeau can fall on them they quickly jump off and jump back around onto the now fallen Isabeau's chest. A glint of light goes across Frin's goggles, they both lock eyes at each other with scowls. Frin pulls their hand up into the air into a fist and begins to descend it onto Isabeau's face with shocked eyes. Then...

??!?!?!

Boops his nose. To the immediate fluster of Isabeau. Odile joins the scene and looks upon them with unamused eyes. The stars move around again, and shift into Frin, Odile, and Isabeau, sitting on a couch lazily whilest listening to a record being played on a record player. Frin lays their tired head on Isabeau's lap.

The stars spiral into themselves again. Shifting and moving around. They dance to their new positions.

A pair of glasses and a book are set on top of a bedside table, An Odile, lays fallen asleep in many blankets in a bed in the clocktower. Besides her is a Siffrin, who has fallen asleep in a chair next to her, watching her. The stars dance around again into a new scene. An Odile sits in a chair at a table with all of her family. She takes a drink of a cup of supposedly coffee. As they all talk around her, she buds in occasionally. Within her open book is a sketch of you, sharp edges and starry, as best as it can be.

As she holds a pen, within her hand, almost unnoticeable, is a star, left behind, by you.

The stars spiral back into themselves and begin to move towards you.

They surround you once again.

[ TIMES . . . UP . . . ]

The universe holds your hand tightly and wipes your tears off your face gently. You feel a hand rub against your head as you feel pushed into someone. Lovingly embraced. You want to always have this.

You don't want to leave yet.

[ ILL . . . SEE . . . YOU . . . SOON . . . ]

The stars grow more bright and warm as they are placed upon your entire body.

[ I . . . LOVE . . . YOU . ]

A small kiss, is placed against your forehead as your held.

...Good touch.

Then you're finally stripped away from the comfort,

as you feel.

A tug.

On your stomach.

Chapter Text

...

You wake up.

You wrap your arms around yourself and bend down forward.

The touch of the universe slowly fading. The memories of the universe slowly fading.

You feel sick as you feel the memories fall out of your head.

You pull yourself back up and take a deep breath.

In...

...

...

and out.

You feel great! Not worried about a thing!

You cant even remember what you were so worried about!

Not! At! All!

Might be better that way anyways!!! You know you just lost a part of yourself that is rightfully yours! You feel it in the touch that engulfs your body!!! When do you never feel this way!!!!

In and out. 

New universe time!

You look at your surroundings, no unusual changes. You look over to Isabeau.

He's missing his right eye. A stylized eye patch covers it up.

Your breath hitches as he stands there with his head in the clouds. What could have possibly happened?

You feel like clawing at your own face. Maybe take out your other eye and putting it where it should be. You almost bring your hand up to your face before stopping it on your chest.

You take a deep breath in and out.

You see this universe's Siffrin come around the corner. Two eyes. Hat tucked down to cover his face and his expression is lost. His clothing is all darkless and his cloak and hat are just a little smaller. You notice bandages wrapped around his forearms.

His face immediately lights up in faux happiness when he talks to Isabeau, and as expected they brush him off as being fine, and as soon as he leaves they make their way to the Favor Tree.

He walks up slowly shakily. A fake smile appears on his face as he starts to laugh.

You watch in anticipation. 

He puts his hands on his head and laughs harder. Tears waterfall out of both eyes.

Even though you've had two eyes a majority of your life its still a surprise to see you with both again.

He slowly takes out his dagger and raises it up.

You ready yourself for anything, just in case. 

He jumps and stabs the tree. Hes stabs it over, and over, and over again. He finally sticks it into the tree and falls to the ground in exhaustion, and screams into the grass as he cries. You take note of the dagger, it doesn't have its usual curve and instead points straight.

You were a little distracted with him trying to destroy the tree you forgot your cue.

You finally speak, "...Hello Siffrin." You approach him slowly.

He lifts his head up off the ground and up to look at you. His eyes, plural, shake in fear. You kneel down next to him and look at him closely.

"Relax. You're not in trouble. Please take a deep breath in, and out." You try to say as reassuring as possible as you place a hand on your chest.

He sits back against the tree, and mimics your motions. 

In and out.

"...Good job." You analyze him for a moment, "Do you wish to stay seated here or on the tree root?" You motion to the empty tree root.

He grabs his cloak, "I'm-" His voice is raspy as he coughs. "...I'm fine here."

You nod. You get up and take a seat back to your tree root. You fake your own cough and finally put on the show! With a huge smile on your face, "Now! I am Loop! They/them, and I will be helping you get out of these loops!"

You see his face turn to immediate confusion at your abrupt shift of mood as he grabs tighter at his cloak. He only stares at you steadily.

"I've got some questions I have to ask if you can be so inclined."

He... nods.

"Good! Question 1! How many loops has it been?"

A moment of silence as he looks down contemplative. "525"

You whistle, "Quite a while!" He doesn't respond. "Question 2, have you beaten the King?"

Another silence as he doesn't move an inch. "...Yes."

They probably think if they don't move an inch you wont be able to see them. But you do unfortunately. "Final question! What-" 

You immediately cut yourself off and look at the dagger above Siffrin, you both notice It moving ever so slightly, and then,

falls out of the tree and starts to head blade first into Siffrin.

You jump up off the tree root and by instinct grab the dagger by its hilt right before it can stab into him. Siffrin does the same, instinctively reaching out to stop the blade but only managed to grab onto your wrist.

You look down at him, his eyes are wide open in fear. You only look at him in a little bit of shock. He immediately takes their hand off your wrist as soon as they realize they've been holding onto it for a little bit too long. 

They fumble backwards looking up at you while you remain basically motionless in the same position.

You pull yourself back and hold onto the dagger. You stare at it for a while as this Siffrin starts to let out apologies. You flip it in your hand, inspecting it. Its different but familiar. You must've bled oceans by being on the other end of this thing. You finally look over to Siffrin who waits hesitantly with a little bit of horror on his face.

"You're cute." Is all you manage to say as you touch the tip of the blade with your finger. You walk up to him and bend down to his level. You grab his wrist and he immediately flinches, but you hold onto them, not letting go, he relaxes only slightly enough. You bring his hand closer and open it up. You hover the dagger above his hand and snap your fingers to bring his attention off their hands and to you. 

You stare at him dead in the eyes and put on your biggest smile, "No funny business, okay~?" You softly place the dagger into his hands as he watches you. "I'll be watching~!" you say deadpan. You wont be, but they don't need to know that.

He hesitantly nods.

You finally pull away and sit back on the tree root. That was fun! You wonder if you should start asking these Siffrin's if they've used the dagger, but the answer would probably depress you, so you wont. 

It takes a moment before he puts the dagger away and gets up off the ground and to the tree root that was offered, and then finally returns their attention to you. 

"...Now where was I... Right! Last question!" You cross your legs and lean forward only slightly, "What did you wish for?" 

You see their eyes go hollow. As they slowly tighten the grip in the middle of their cloak. If they gripped harder maybe they would reach their heart... or just rip their cloak. They take a deep breath in and out before responding. "I dont remember."

You clap your hands together, "Great! Dont worry, I know exactly what you wished for." They lean in closer with their eyes shaky. Now finally here comes the punchline, "So the only way to escape the loops is...  talking to your party about your feelings and asking to continue traveling together!"

...You kinda zone out for this part. Siffrin obviously doesn't take it well, you sit by him and hold him close as he sobs on your shoulder. You pat his back softly and whisper reassurances.

Its not that you dont care about this Siffrin... You're just so used to zoning out whenever things become recurring, and you've experienced this in atleast 5 different ways.

You do manage to stay focused enough to help Siffrin out with their internal dilemmas.

You're not a burden! They love and care about you! Yes they will still love you even after all this! No they wont leave you cause they love you! 

...Something along those lines.

Though something finally snaps you out of it when this Siffrin cries gently with his face tucked into his knees. "It should've been me. Not Isabeau." He tucks his face deeper completely covering it now, "...Its my fault he got hurt. Its always my fault. If I had just... gone with Bonnie instead..."

You're sitting next to them criss-crossed. You try to remember back to that time.

Almost nothing comes up except vague notions of a yell and a lot of pain.

"If you had, you would've lost your eye too."

Siffrin rises their face up from their knees look at you almost puzzled. You're not gonna say anything about it. He'll probably figure it out eventually.

"...You don't understand" He mutters sadly.

"Im the only one who does, stardust." You look at him very closely, "Just be glad it was Isabeau and not..." You hesitate and look away, "The Kid."

This makes Siffrin's breath hitch before going quiet. He looks at you teary eyed, you motion to him quietly to take a deep breath in and out. He does so. You sit in silence for a while. 

"...Will it really be over this time? If I..."

"Yes." You say deadpan, not even looking at him. You sit back watching the leaves move.

He covers his face with his hands. "...Okay." You recognize the lie, you dont blame him. He wipes away his tears and looks at you, "...Can I sit here for a little while longer?" He takes a deep breath and looks away. "I dont know if I can be surrounded by too many people right now."

"Sure. We've got all day until tomorrow." You let out a sigh. Sitting here with this Siffrin is as fun as it gets to pass the time anyways. 

"...Tomorrow?" They ask confused.

"You... Fight the King tomorrow, right?"

They give you an even more puzzled expression, "...No? We go into the House in an hour."

"Oh!" Different universes, right, "Wow. Unlucky. You don't even get the offer to sleep~!"

He looks slightly distressed and annoyed as he looks away. "I guess." Is all he mutters.

You hum. 

In the comfortable silence between you two, in the quiet you hear the residents of Dormont in the distance. Kids yelling, music playing, and a very faint smell of different foods as the party rages in the distance.

You usually tune it out whilest on top of the Favor Tree on the off-chance that your stardust actually made it to the end. Its a little harder to tune out here though, for some reason.

You look over to Siffrin, they stare aimlessly onto the ground. Two eyes. You feel sympathy for them. You put a hand over your blind eye. If it wasn't you... You also wouldn't know what to do with yourself. You'd do it over and over again if you could. To make sure they didn't get hurt.

...

HA! You're really bad at your job huh. You suddenly feel sick. If you don't move maybe it'll pass. It can't see you if you can't see it. 

You calmly take a deep breath in and out.

Siffrin notices you and gives you a worried look.

"I'm fine." You say with gritted not-teeth.

They don't say anything and scooches just a little bit closer to you, shoulder to shoulder. How daring~! You hide your stupid expression as Siffrin goes back to staring aimlessly.

You just close your eyes and wait. You've seen these surroundings long enough. You feel the sizzle of touch on your shoulder that Siffrin leans on.

You imagine little scenarios in your head. You imagine yourself wearing a dress and dancing hand in hand with someone. The scenario immediately fades though as the pressure in your heart builds from thinking of something you will never have.

Instead, you imagine eating a burnt malanga fritter. It doesn't help with the ever-aching hunger in your stomach but instead serves as an everlasting reminder of the place you could never escape.

Now you think of nothing. Nothing at all. Should've done this from the start. The Siffrin right next to you is probably doing the same.

...

Some time passes.

You see the Siffrin next to you take a deep breath in and out. "I guess its time." You see them get up and you watch them. You see them steady their body and prepare for the oncoming horrors.

"Good luck, stardust~!" You wave as you lay backwards on the grass.

They look at you and nod. "Thank you, Loop."

You mindlessly give them a thumbs up.

They take another deep breath and begin moving out from under the Favor Tree. As they go you can hear them muttering something under their breath. "...This time. This time. This time."

...

...And off goes the little wizard. Seems like you aren't gonna stay here long as they're already off to defeat the King.

Which is fine.

Hmph. You pick yourself up off the grass and stretch your body.

You look over to the damaged tree. Siffrin did a real number on it, with many slashes and gashes forever scarring it. The tree sap oozes out from its injuries. You put a hand on the tree and trace a finger down one of the freshly opened gashes.

You almost feel bad for the tree.

But its also half the reason you're here. 

You wipe the tree sap on your finger off against the bark of the tree and pull your hand away.

You stare at the tree, expecting some sort of response. Maybe an apology, maybe anger, maybe remorse.

But its just a tree.

Just like the other half of the reason you're here, it doesn't know the damage its caused to you, and never will. Atleast it had the decency to apologize. You think.

Right?

Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. 

You don't do anything else. You sit back on your tree root, and wait.

This is all you know now.

...but on the bright side you could really get used to this!

Traveling to other universes and helping out other Siffrins... and... others.

The Universe has paved you a path and now all you can do is follow it.

~ ~ ~

You wait on top of the Favor Tree. Its almost time.

A loud roar, a flash, a cold quiet...

...and then time returns.

This Universe is a little different so you're off your balance when it comes to timing so you can only hope you nail it.

You put up your hand to call this universe's Siffrin. You give them plenty of reassurances.

Putting your hand down again you wait.

Time continues.

You let out a deep breath and lay down on the leaves.

For a moment in the corner of your eyes you thought you saw something move.

You look over to cure your curiosity and see a Siffrin with two eyes. The same one as this universe's. But they're different, almost ethereal. You can see right through them.

A ghost.

You're completely stunned and have locked eyes with it.

You see it silently mouth something, before looking at it's hand and then bringing it up to it's ear to mimic your secret call sign. 

You hear the words very restrained and distant, "Thank you." It reverberates and echos into your head. There's a static as its said, that's familiar to you.

The Ghost puts down its hand, and bows to you.

Then slowly fades away as it smiles, disappearing into the ether.

...

...Weird.

Feeling only slightly uncomfortable, you decide to get down from the top of the Favor Tree and sit back on your tree root.

You pull out your coin and fiddle with it and wait for the return of this Siffrin.

You think back to the ghost. This must be what your stardust saw in the House. There's something eerie about failed versions of yourself that forever haunt their final resting place. You're kinda glad you never got to see them in your own loops.

Or... Maybe you did?

You laugh. Its not like you'd remember something that important~!

Hehe...

...

Okay.

You're okay.

You're here.

...

Wow! Here comes Siffrin! Right on cue! 

You take one long last look at your stardust's coin before putting it away. Once they see you they almost start running but you see them hold themselves back. They walk up to you and look at you with shaky breaths.

You're a little surprised and wave at them silently.

"I DID IT!!!" They yell at the top of their lungs as they pump their fists in the air and scream, "AHHH!!!!"

You're startled back as they run up to you and grabs your shoulders. "THANK YOU!!!" They shout.

AH???? "Y-you're welcome?" They're very rightfully excited about escaping, actually.

They let go of you and fall onto the tree root on the opposing side, slumping back exhausted. "Aghhh" They groan out. Their face turning into a sad frown, "...It really took me too long... ha..." Their small laugh is hallow.

You look at them cheerfully. "You're out now, though! Just keep being honest about your feelings, stardust~!"

They turn their tired face towards you, sore eyes resting upon your starry head. "...Do I have a choice?"

You don't know. "Nope~!" You giggle cutely.

Siffrin listens to your words carefully and lets out a sigh. They rest back defeated. "...What happens now?" They ask.

You think for a moment and... You dont know! For better or worse you want to keep it that way. "Don't know! That's up for you to find out." You lean back putting your hands around your head. "I'll probably be sent to the next universe."

Siffrin looks almost sad about this but you roll your eyes.

"Something interesting happened though, I saw a ghost of you after you beat the King. That's never happened before."

They look at you, shocked. "..Huh? Really?" He pulls himself up from his slumped position to look at you. "...A ghost would always appear whenever I talked to the Head Housemaiden." He looks away wistfully and goes silent before continuing a moment later. "...When they didn't show up... It's how I knew I was finally out of the loops."

A silence returns between the two of you. You watch him carefully, his face narrowed in thought as he looks outside the Favor Tree.

You look down to the ground.

You wish you knew when you'd be free. You wish for a lot of things. 

But you wont wish for anything ever again.

You notice your feet slowly fading and crawling up your legs like overgrown vines.

This Siffrin also takes notice and is knocked out of his thoughtful stupor and looks at you worriedly, "...Are you-?"

You cut him off. "Yep! Off to the next universe!" You rest back easily, lifting one leg over the other and hoping for an easy transition. 

He looks even more worried and slightly frantic, "Will you be okay?"

You close your eyes and wave a hand towards him mindlessly. "Don't worry about me, Siffrin." You put your hand behind your head again. "You got your friends to get back to."

Its reached your torso. Siffrin looks even more worried and frantic. "Will I see you again?"

You open your eyes again to look at him and hold up your right hand to point at your wrist. "Your wrist."

Siffrin holds out his hand and looks at his own wrist as instructed and sees a small holographic star, directly under his hand resting upon his wrist. Almost invisible. He looks at it shocked and looks back at you.

You giggle. "Don't worry. Ill always be with you." You close your eyes again and not even bothering to read his expression, but you know its one of compassion.

You feel your chest and arms, to hands, feel light.

After a moment. "Thank you, Loop."

You open your eyes again one last time to look at him... and smile, "Good luck, Siffrin."

Your vision begins to slowly shift from a Siffrin watching you disappear into one with trillions of stars watching you reappear. It all slowly goes silent.

...

You're here.

Chapter Text

...

It smells like petrichor. Fresh moisture still lingers in the air from a previous night of rain.

You look up and around and see gray cloudy skies, wet grass, and water droplets slowly dripping off of flowers.

You look over to where Isabeau usually is.

He's leaning up against the rock and inspecting his bag. You notice his appearance is slightly different with him having a dark jacket tied around his waist and his face is noticeably worn-out and tired. He looks focused inspecting into his bag.

You look away again and wait. Soon any minute a Siffrin will come around.

You fold your hands together and wait patiently.

...

You're distracted looking at the grass move in the wind.

Until you heard a THUNK, A stab into the Favor Tree once again. 

You didn't notice Siffrin come around the corner. You're getting pretty tired of this aren't you? Siffrin's face is tired and worn, boots are dirty, his travel bag missing from his back, and a single card is stiffened into his hat.

He looks at both of his trembling hands, the noise of his shaky breaths cuts through the wind. A wild sob strikes his face as the tears begin to flow. He grabs at his cloak and hunches forward.

In a trembling cracking voice, "...I don't know!!! ...I don't know!!!"

You have to comfort him. Jump into action already.

Your body seems to move on its own. You wrap your arms around them. This Siffrin doesn't seem to care, or even notice who's hugging them. You hold them very tight.

After a while of uncontrollable sobs. You let the interview begin. In the calmest voice you introduce yourself. You're tired but you persist still.

They seem to be freaked out at first but then accepts it almost immediately wrapping arms around you in an all too familiar embrace. They say nothing at all so far.

You kinda wanna get this over with. The feeling is nice but you feel hollow.

So lets get it over with. "Siffrin," You pull away, almost having to rip them off you, "Are you able to answer some of my questions?"

They nod, and you both sit on the grass across from each other.

Finally! You clap your hands in a clasp, "How many loops has it been?" 

They look in thought. "Around 100?" They shrug sadly.

Not too bad, you think. Could be worse couldn't it? 

"Have you beaten the King?"

Silence, followed by a nod.

And....

"What did you wish for?"

Their face, suddenly morphs into a cacophony of emotions, mostly of grief. They probably figured it out instantly, just from the question itself. "I wished... for more time with them."

You laugh to yourself softly, and they stare at you incredibly upset.

And you stare back. 

"Then... Do I have to spell it out for you?"

They're only slightly confused.

"Ask to keep travelling with them, and you'll be free from the loops."

Instantly they get up forwards to you frantically, "BUT!!! THEY DONT.. KNOW ME!!!" They look down at their trembling hands. "...And...And... Im not supposed to know them."

???

This is mildy interesting. You motion for them to continue. They get the idea.

"We only met in the bar last night... and now were fighting the King." They fall down back-first onto the grass, crying. "I just... I cant..."

You move yourself to kneel above them and grabbing their shoulders. You stare directly into his eye. "You have to ask. I promise you this, you will leave these loops."

A teary-eye silence looks up at you.

"You will be okay."

You grab his hand and put it onto his own chest. As you put a hand on your chest. "Now breathe with me, Okay?"

They follow your lead, A deep breath in...... And a deep breath out.

You stand up from your kneel, and offer a hand out to this Siffrin laid out on the grass. They take it and pick themselves up.

You go ahead and take your seat on the Favor Tree root, and let out a sigh.

They stare at you.

"Now get goin' Stardust!~" You give them a thumbs up, "You've got a country to save!"

They... stare at you a little longer... But inevitably shifts their hat more comfortably on their hand and begins to move forward...

...and out of sight.

You take your own deep breath in and out, and sit with your arms on your knees, looking at the grass once again, where a Siffrin once lied. 

~ ~ ~

You get up from your tree root after the Saviors of Vaugarde entered the House. You walked around the almost empty town of Dormont. You can't tell what time it is due to the gray clouds covering up the sun. 

You're invisible still, yet you still explore around and notice all the small little differences around. Usually people would be out and about on their final day but in this Universe people have a different approach of staying inside their homes.

Fine by you.

You do notice a bar in a small clearing. You remember this Siffrin mentioning it. That was never there in your Dormont.

...

Hehe... Maybe that was for the best!

You might've become an alcoholic if that were the case. You giggle to yourself and make your way to the bar.

You take a moment to examine the door... and open it slowly.

Empty. You notice bags of luggage in the booths. Familiar.

You ignore them and sit down on the stool. Bartender must be out. You look enticingly at the glass of undrank alcohol sitting almost on the edge.

Since no one is here... You take it.

You take a sip of some of it.

Its pretty bad.

You're not sure what you expected! 

You groan in frustration, and land your face directly onto the bar.

...What are you even doing here? Just leave. None of this blinding matters anyways. They'll disappear like the rest.

Yet.

You still think of holding them in your arms comfortingly.

You're doing your blinding best here!!!!!!

You take another sip of alcohol. Bad.

That's enough of that then! You slide the alcohol glass away from you.

WELL! This was a fun field trip. You go to get up off your stool, before the door to the back of the bar, opens abruptly. Out comes the Bartender, who looks at you, and you look at them.

Wearing a top hat, a lightless vest over a darkless shirt, both tucked into a dress. Their face is unrecognizable yet familiar. Almost changing everytime you look at them. When you look at them you know exactly what they look like... but if you were to look away, it becomes so ever distant.

They approach you and you're almost mesmerized, as you stay seated.

"Hello. How are you doing?"

...

Why are they asking that?

Their voice changes and shifts from one to another inconveniently, but somehow its just as natural as one would be talking to anyone.

"I'm... Fine?" You give a somewhat unsure thumbs up.

The Bartender goes silent for a moment as they examine you. They then pull out a deck of cards from their vest pocket, and places it on the table.

"You seem troubled?"

You stare at them intently. You try to examine them but the harder you look the more it melts in your mind.

"What are you?"

They don't say anything at first and pull out the cards from the sleeve and shuffles them. They then put two cards in front of you face down and does the same for themself, and places the rest of the cards to their left.

They look at you, with maybe a glare, "Doesn't matter, does it?"

...

"I guess not." You feel yourself relax, not having to explain anything. "What are we playing?" You've immediately accepted this game, because there's not much else you can do for the next hour or so.

"Blackjack." They respond.

You remember how to play this. Whoever is closet to 21 wins, go over 21 and you lose.

"Are there any stakes in this?" You say as you flip your cards over. 4 of Hearts and a 2 of Spades.

The Bartender flips only one of their cards over. 8 of Clovers. They think for a while. 

"How about your life?" They ask nonchalant.

You look at your cards and back at them. You don't even flinch and just stare at them.

"Sure. My life." You tap the bar for another card. You've accepted this long ago. You can never die. So who cares? Maybe this time... Maybe... Haha... What a nice thought.

The Bartender stares straight at you, like looking into your soul. They pull a card from the deck and swooshes it towards you.

5 of Hearts. 

"I see it in your eyes, you know."

You look at them confused.

"You've felt it. You've experienced it over and over and over again. Death a thousand folds." They take a deep breath before continuing. You shift in your seat but pay attention appointedly. "Your body... Disfigured beyond belief, without relief. And now? Here you are. Body still mangled, and... not yours, I presume?"

You don't say anything.

"..." They adjust their glasses. (Did they have glasses before?) "Even though your body remains physically unharmed... It still remembers the trauma... of everything you have been through."

You stay silent, focusing on only them.

"How many times has it been?" They ask.

"..." You think for a moment. "...You wouldn't believe it if I told you."

The Bartender stares at you in thought, scratching the small tuft of chin hair. (Did they have that before?) You tap the bar again for another card.

"Then answer me this, universal traveler." They pull another card from the deck and places it face down in front of you. "Do you still feel lucky... to be alive?"

You feel your heart begin to race as you stare at the card. You think back to everything all at once, of friends you made, friends you once had, and all the people you've met. These thoughts slowly morph into the horrors you experienced, all the pain and heartache. The cut throats and broken bones.

You're still travelling, in a way, aren't you? What are you running from? Where do you want to go? You can never go back to your country, and you can never go back to your... Friends.

Atleast...

Not in the same way.

...

You don't know if you're lucky to be alive.

You look at the face down card. You slowly flip the card over.

King of Diamonds.

You stare at it for a while. Blackjack. You win.

"No." You answer honestly. "But there's nothing better to do than to keep living~!" You snap your fingers at them, index finger pointed at them.

The Bartender looks at you and nods. They collect the cards in front of you and their own. For only a moment you spot total lightless skin akin to your own, with tiniest stars decorating their hands up to their arms.

When you try to look at their hands again, they've changed back to what they were before. Atleast, you think. Staring at their face you see circles descending into circles descending into circles, deeper and deeper impossibly into their face, unmoving and focused on you.

... What were you thinking about? Your heart is racing all of a sudden.

The Bartender speaks to you again, "Times up. Good luck." They put the cards back into the sleeve and puts the deck back into their vest. Before they leave they snap their fingers and the King of Diamonds appears inbetween their fingers and places it in front of you. 

When you look at the card and back at them, they're gone.

...

...Strange.

You take the card, and finally get up from your stool and leave the bar. When you look outside it looks like hours has passed with the clouds getting darker. 

You finally notice, time is frozen.

You take a deep breath in and out and slowly begin to walk back to the tree unnoticed by any frozen townsfolk. You focus on the card and what it could mean. 

Maybe it means nothing at all. Maybe another reminder of that blinding King.

As soon as you turn the corner to the Favor Tree, time returns. You see it in the distance from where you stand.

A calm breeze washes over you and against your not-skin. You take a deep breath in... and out.

And bring up your hand to your ear.

~ ~ ~ 

You flip the card inbetween your hands as you wait. You ponder your own death. Looking at your own hands you can see blood so vividly upon them. The feeling of blood gushing from your neck. 

You're shaking. Calm down already jeez!!!!!! Its what you had to do. What else could you have done?!?!?

...

Urgh. 

The pit in your stomach grows heavier. You're so BLINDING tired of this. Maybe you'll never be okay!!! Maybe!!!!

Maybe- Maybe-

......... UGH! WHATEVER!

You wish you could die already.

...

You stop flipping the card in your hand as you spot a figure in the distance.

...

But there are things to do. You'll end the torture of this eternal ennui soon enough.

"Welcome back, stardust~!" Your heart hurts.

... (Something something, who cares.)

"You're finally out, how does it feel?" Must be nice. Your full of nothing but contempt.

... (You've heard it all before.)

"They're great people! I have a feeling they're gonna change your life, Teehee~!" If only you could go back to those days.

. . . (What?)

"H-huh?" You're knocked out of your script from a sudden question you couldn't quite catch.

"Are... you feeling okay?" They sit across you, looking at you worriedly.

Right. This isn't working. Get it together. You take a deep breath in and out. Which they notice in familiarity. 

You decide to be honest, "No, not great. Im off to the next universe after all!"

They're sad. You get up and ruffle their hair. Their hat is missing, the Ace they had up there is now firmly slotted inbetween a pocket in their bag.

You hold out the card to them. The King of Diamonds. They look at you confused.

You're feet are already disappearing. You pull grab their hand and open it up. You place the card in their hands. "You've earned it. Keep it, it's a good luck charm." You step away as they stare at it. You sit back down.

"You get to live another day. Lets keep it that way, shall we~?"

They look at you nervously... and nods. "Thank you, Loop."

75% gone now. "No problem, stardust." You give them a thumbs up with your eyes closed. "Good luck."

"I... Hope I get to see you again."

You don't say anything.

You drift away in silence. Not a bang but a whimper. You wonder if that's how you'll really go out one day.

You hang your head back from your body in this small respite that you've been given, floating in the space time.

You contemplate your own death. There's no answer that will ever be satisfying for the trauma you endured. You died. You died. You died. 

And for what, anyways? The answer was always there, always present to you. You refused to ever take it. You selfish monster.

You'd rather die than ever open up about your feelings.

And you did.

Thousands of times.

You ball your hands on your face, and cry. Tears flowing off your face and into the nethers of space.

Two invisible hands are placed on your shoulders softly.

You're such an idiot.

~ ~ ~ 

The Bartender stares at Loop as they leave the bar. So dramatic. They let out a soft sigh as they put both arms resting on the bar. They of course, weren't warned of a universal visitor. It's not like they mind, though. Anything to spice up this show a little bit more. They pull out their deck of cards once again and sifts through them. They pull out a new King of Diamonds out of seemingly thin air and shuffles it back into the deck. 

Usually anomalies like them are ripped to shreds atom by atom by the sheer amount of craft presence. But this one has seemingly earned its life. They are here for a purpose.

What a fascinating creature. They will think about them a lot.

...

Well. It's time for the grand finale. The Bartender snaps their fingers and is now seated facing Siffrin and their new found friends. Popcorn in hands they watch in anticipation.

And in an unexpected turn of events, as soon as Siffrin freezes up from having to talk to their new friends, a voice could be heard. Only to Siffrin.

"Ask them. You can do it. I believe in you, stardust."

Tears immediately begin to waterfall down Siffrin's face as he falls over nervously. He holds himself up by a single arm. Everyone immediately turns to them.

They ask, in each their own ways, "Sif?! Are you okay?!"

Siffrin cries. "I'm- I'm so sorry!!!" They try to wipe their face, "I've... I've been stuck for so long and, I'm so tired!!! I'm just so tired!!!!!"

They are immediately hugged without any question.

"I wished... To stay with you guys a little longer. I'm so sorry... Please forgive me..."

They get hugged tighter, and are told its okay. Even if they don't know the true scale of Siffrin's actions.

"Can we... stick together? All of us? A little longer? I'd like to travel together."

The ragtag newly found friends all immediately agreed. They've all been alone for so long, running from the Curse. But now there was no more running, and finally they fought head on and won. They did it.

They all loved each other for it. They picked each other up, never letting anyone behind. Siffrin saw it each time. Every single time.

They all loved each other. Despite the horrible circumstances.

They all love each other, and wanted to learn and know more about each other.

So in this moment, and many moments after that, they are loved.

They are all loved.