Chapter Text

ACT ???

✧ ✧ ✧

Aaaah…
You're frozen, you're scared, you can't do anything!
Any second now the King and his Knight will have enough, and you will die! You will all die!
The Knight’s cold gaze is directed straight at you.
Now you know, if they willed it, they could give you and your friends a fate worse than death, more cruel than The King ever could.
…
You don’t want to go through that again.
Not now, after you've seen something new!
But you know you will.
Why are they taking so long to kill you all? Why are they delaying the inevitable?
You hope the King will be the one to deal the final strike.
He should just kill you! Get it over with! You don’t want to fight anymore! You don’t want to hope anymore!!!
Please, please, please, please…

The King’s voice echoes through the room. A grueling, desperate cry.
“No… No… NO !!!!!! I cannot allow you to win!!! I can't!!! I won't !!!”
“You poor, lost creatures... Why won't you listen to me? I only want what is best for you! For everyone! ”
“And if you won't listen…”
“YOU HAVE NO PLACE IN MY WORLD!!!”

Ah, finally......
The King is preparing his last move... and looking right at you .
Not for the first time, you see his tearful, wrathful eyes.
He won't miss. He never does.
Finally…
You close your eyes.

“SIFFRIN?!”
The Housemaiden yells out in her confusion. You know she can’t understand your actions. If only she did—

“SIF!!! MOVE!!!”
The King… strikes .
But you don’t… feel— anything?
Shakingly opening your eyes, you see…
...!
Isabeau is… standing right in front of you, protecting you from the King's attack!!!
…ISABEAU!
“Don't worry about me, Sif!!! Just GO!!!”

“Stand up, Siffrin!!! The King is weakened... This isn't over yet!!!”
Odile...!
Odile, Odile, how could you forget, Odile…

“Hey!!! Quick, take this Sour Tonic and GO!!!”
Bonnie…
Bonnie, Bonnie, sweet and caring Bonnie…

…
Mirabelle…
“Come and help me!!! Together, we can finish him off!!!”
“This is our chance! Our chance to end everything once and for all!!!”

...!
MOVE...!
Something changed, finally, something changed!!!
Mirabelle powered you up…
This is it!!!
You ATTACK!

As the powerful wave of craft attacks reaches the King and his Knight, in the brink of a second, you notice…
The Knight—
They’re… smiling?
You feel sick. Something is off, you know it, but dare not question it, for after all—
It’s over… The King is dead… And the Knight is no longer moving…
Which means—
You won!

Your friends gather around you, celebrating victory.
The room grows brighter, warmer…
You missed this warmth. The sun’s rays on your skin.
It’s been so long since you’ve last experienced this.
Tears begin to form as you realise it’s over.
It’s finally over… Finally, after all this time, it’s over, and you can—
. . .
A slight smell of rust taints the air.
Something is wrong.
You feel the sickening scent of sugar blending with the rust.
You reach out—
Just to find yourself back in the field… again.
You’re back.
You’re back at the beginning.
YOU’RE BACK HERE.
YOU WON, YOU FINALLY WON AND YET— AND YET, YOU’RE STILL —

You see Mirabelle, looking down at you.
She is talking to you.
You don’t listen— you can’t listen.
It’s as if her words are replaced by static noise; You can’t focus on anything.
But you know what she’s saying.
You know.
You know, you know, YOU KNOW .
Because you’ve been here before, heard it before, gone through it all before—
You can’t think.
You want to run away, but your body won’t move.
The only thing moving is your mouth, muscle memory taking charge of reciting your script, exactly the same as you remember it.
You know the timing in-between each line.
Even if you can’t directly concentrate on what Mirabelle is saying, you can still say your lines perfectly, and a sign of that is—

Mirabelle is leaving.

You don’t think you can handle talking to anyone right now. Not after—
…
You don’t know what you would do— what you would say.
Despite knowing your lines by heart, you don’t want to be tied to this play any longer.
You don’t want to talk to them. You don’t want to talk to them. You don’t—

You decide to—
[exit stage left]

Hastily sneaking through the trees, you make sure no one sees you.
You don’t want them to see you, not like this.
And just before you know it, you’ve reached the Favor Tree.
You turn your back against it, sliding down into a sitting position. You get a grip of your legs, pulling them into an embrace, something, anything.
At this very moment, nothing feels real.

Isabeau is still in the scene, you know.
He’s right there, behind the tree. Maybe you could tell him about this— about the loops. Maybe he could help you—
You feel like throwing up.
STARS, WHY WOULD YOU EVEN THINK THAT—?!
There’s no getting out of this, you should know!! Why would him knowing matter?!!
At best, all it would do is worry him; He’ll think you’re crazy, deranged, COMPLETELY BLINDING OUT OF IT!!!
…
And at worst— he’d hate you.
Instead, you decide to wait.

. . .

You can hear shouting in the distance, your friends— they’re shouting your name.
You wait for a little longer, until the sound can no longer be heard, and then get up before carefully climbing up the Favor Tree.

Lying down on the Favor Tree’s canopy of leaves, you look up at the sky.
It’s lightless, meaning the night had already taken over the last area of Vaugarde.
By now, the country and all of its people must be frozen; that is, except for your friends, but right now, you are all alone.
It is night-time after all, they must be sleeping back at the Clocktower.
They probably realised you aren’t coming back, and so there’s no use looking for you.
Your friends— your family… You don’t want them to go through that again, and you… don’t want to either.
You breathe in and out, as tears begin to form.
Crying out to the stars, you whisper a wish, hoping the Universe will hear your plea.

You want it to be over.
You want rest.
You wish… for escape .

𖤓 𖤓 𖤓
6.826

You find yourself waking up. Again. The repulsive smell of sugar blends with the air of the same cold, dark, familiar room you grew accustomed to throughout the loops. For the last few thousand loops, you would snap, almost as if from a trance, standing in the Throne Room next to his Majesty, ready to face the saviors, but this.. This is different. You are back at the beginning, just as it was the first few thousand times.

Fingers twitching, muscle memory aching to reach for your sickle, to prepare for the cycle’s beginning once more. But you don’t move. You could get up. You could face them again, hold on to the hope that this time would be different. Like you'll find peace at the end of the blade, or meaning in the calamity, this everlasting play you forced yourself into. But you know better now, don’t you?

Supposing you’ve gone through every given possibility, at this moment, it’s clear to you that it doesn’t matter whether you win or lose. It doesn’t matter if you relentlessly execute the saviors over and over with your own two hands— if you are the one to land the final strike or not. There really is no way out, and what you did, the way it changed you, it never mattered. Regardless of what you do or how you do it, it will always be wrong. So then, why bother doing anything?

. . .

You try to get up, but your body refuses. You’re exhausted. When was the last time you had gotten proper rest? Since the loops would reset any damage done to your physical self, you assumed you needn’t worry about something as insignificant as sleeping or eating. Why would it matter if, by the next loop, you’d instantly feel the same as when you woke up? Besides, after a while, you’ve grown restless either way and long ago reached the conclusion that no amount of sleep would help considering your situation. But it’s okay, right? That means you can keep going, and as long as you can keep going, there is still a chance you can be—

. . .

You don’t want to go there again. You don’t want to see their faces again, hear those same deafening lines as before, nor to cling to that flicker of hope that maybe, just maybe, it would be different this time. It won’t. You want it all to end, in one way or another. You wish for rest. Your body sinks further into the mattress. Maybe the show can go on without you, just this once.

The world outside grows quiet. By now, the flow of time had likely abandoned Dormont, leaving it frozen in the stillness of night. Any minute now, as always, His Majesty will call out to you, reminding you of how the saviors will be arriving soon.

Forcing yourself to get up, you turn toward the window, pulling out your notebook. The pages, filled to the brim with poetry and numbers, stained with the written proof of every time you’ve died, every time you’ve made a mistake, every single time you’ve successfully executed the saviours— Keeping track of the endless flow of numbers would be the only way to keep yourself grounded; something to calm you down. You cross out the last number on the pages, replacing it with a new one. You… scribble over the last number, to a point it’s barely visible. After all, there’s no need to keep count anymore.

You lean over the windowsill and gaze over to the world outside. Even the birds have fallen into eternal slumber. You remember, at some point, you’ve grown tired of their tweets, subconsciously associating them with the beginning of another loop, always there to remind you of the possibility of there being no escape, and now, you are certain of it. You hate how much they remind you of yourself. As soon as they begin to soar, the ceasing of the clock’s ticking will be there to stop them from reaching where they choose to be, there to clip their wings, just for the cycle to start again, beginning in the same point— a glimpse of hope.

Suddenly, a star-shaped beam of light erupts from the Favor Tree — blinding, holy, wrong, mirroring His Majesty’s vision of the future without a doubt as you recall it. You feel your eyes burning. You want to look away. You can’t.

ꕥ ꕥ ꕥ

You wake up. Like always, you don’t remember falling asleep. Time is strange, even for you. You look to the corner of your vision. No messages huh.

That’s not unusual, everyone is tired. Tired and bored. “Might as well pass the time.” You start folding paper cranes. Folding paper cranes once more, how many times have you done that? You lost count, it’s not important. Folding them just keeps your hands and head busy. You fold them until night falls, or at least you think so, again you're not really paying attention. You only stop when a light starts materialising in front of you.

“Huh? Wait, that’s new.” You hadn’t received a task in a long time. The small ones had already been done at the beginning so there was no reason for you all to keep doing them. The others quickly set up a system that automatically completes any task you’ve already completed in the past. So this, this is new! A new task! Something to do!

You reach for the light, a small star. Small, but incredibly dense and bright! As if it was at the end of its life cycle, ready to explode and leave nothing but a spectacle of light and stardust.

As your lightless fingertips touch the star, and you open your mouth to recite your lines, you feel two of your kin do the same, their voices resonating with yours.

"Small star, shining bright at the end of your life
Hear my oath and take it as fact, for we will not repeat it twice
Whether born from Hope and Light, or Darkness and Strife
A Wish is a Pact. For Eternity requires sacrifice

As the Universe hears your plea
In its name, we’ll light the way
A blessing can turn to curse, within the Astral Sea
Follow our flame, lest you go astray

I S̶̰̜̯̫̗̈́ţ̵͇̙̲͍̄̉̅̔͠a̷̡̲͑͜r̴̛̲̻͌̀f̵̱̣͋͆̂́̔͒l̸̡̟̬͓̰̊̓͛͠ͅŏ̵̲͉̭͚̜́̂w̶̥̩̬̻̮̞̽͋e̴͓̺͍̋r̷͖̋̅̿̕͘ hereby vow
As this tale ends with a bow”

The final word barely had time to leave your lips before the star's light expanded before slowly fading. Your own eyes glowing in response to it, the air thick with the smell of sugar.

You breathe in and out. And after a few seconds, you feel the universe answer your vow. You close your eyes, and wait.

Chapter Text

ACT I

𖤓 𖤓 𖤓

You wake up startled, as if from a bad dream. You try to recall it, but nothing comes to mind. Blurry, blurry.. For some reason, the world around you seems more blurry than before you fell asleep.
“What the-”
You blink a few times in an attempt to focus on your surroundings. Nothing. You rub your eyes to no avail. Still blurry.
“...Shit.”
Your head hurts, struck by the feeling of having forgotten something important, but you can’t quite put your finger on it. Just how exactly did your eyesight deteriorate in the first place? Well, you can worry about your vision later. Who knows, maybe the issue will resolve itself on its own?

. . .

Okay, no, you really can’t stop thinking about it. What if it won’t get better on its own? You don’t want to take that risk.

With a heavy sigh, you decide to get out of bed and head toward the bathroom to the left. Looking in the mirror, you notice your eyes— So, you really are slightly blinded after all. If only you knew healing craft. You hope you can at the very least still read and write properly, even like this, but then again, you, like all else, will be frozen in time soon, so why worry about it at all?

. . .

Heading back to your room, you can’t help but wonder when the “Saviours of Vaugarde” will arrive. It has been a pretty long time, after all. Maybe they, too, have been overtaken by the blessing? No, no, that can’t be right— after all, it has been said that the Housemaiden who escaped has been “blessed” by the Change God, making her invulnerable to being frozen, at least until we are to defeat her.

Deciding to check the drawer next to the bed, you notice a stack of papers. You can’t fully make out what they’re saying. You can recognise some words here and there, something to do with “bonding”? You don’t care enough to keep reading, it’s not your business after all, all you need is a blank sheet and— Aha! There it is.

You pick up the empty sheet of paper and fold it into a paper airplane. You don’t quite understand why, but it feels right to do, at this moment at least. You head towards your window, and, leaning over the sill, you look outside, listening in on the calming chirping of the birds. You’ve always admired these creatures, the way they soar ever so freely, trusting the wind to take them where they desire to be. You can see yourself in them, in a way, and once the blessing overtakes them, they will remain just as they are now for all eternity— free. You like the thought of that.

Gently, you hold out the paper plane, intently looking at it, fidgeting with its thin, delicate wings. For some reason, you feel the need to make a wish— for good luck, you suppose. It has been known that people from all across Vaugarde have been making wishes lately, and you’ve seen some of such instances while traveling with His Majesty a while back. That is also how His Majesty managed to gain his powers— through wishing, so maybe doing so yourself wouldn’t be a bad idea. Now the question is, what would you want to wish for?

You could wish for your vision to be back to normal, or— No, no, that would, in itself, be selfish. It’s just a few more days of this if I’m guessing correctly. Maybe something to benefit His Majesty, or the rest of Vaugarde at that… But he’d already wished for that, so I can’t just—
You take a deep breath in, and out, and start counting: one, two, three, four…—
I think I know what to wish for.
You want to be of use, but deep inside—
You wish for a flawless victory.

You whisper your wish into the paper plane before softly throwing it across the air, watching as it flies away into the distance. This feels stupid. You remember His Majesty performed a certain ritual when making his wish, and yet, you can’t recall exactly how it was done. Hopefully, even without a proper ritual, your wish can still be granted.

. . .

You open the door and exit your room, carefully proceeding through the halls, avoiding the roaming collective emotions of the people throughout all of Vaugarde, “Sadnesses”, as they call them. You remember the House wasn’t in such a state before. Despite living here for around a year, you haven't explored much. Didn't see a reason for it besides destroying the Change God statues throughout every single room you’ve come across.

You are heading to your usual spot, the “Poem Room”, as you like to call it; The room you normally use when you feel like writing down your thoughts, whether it’s through poems or short narrative stories. It’s something that always seems to get your mind off things, something that’s always been precious to you.

. . .

The room is blocked off by tears; The tears of His Majesty. You take the star crest from your choker and tap it twice before bringing it closer to the tears, melting through them almost instantly.

Entering the room, your body shivers. It feels.. Cold, as per usual, and bookshelves are scattered all across it, perfectly reaching from corner to corner. To your right, you see a table, the very same table you’ve used many times before, and on it, there is a stack of papers accompanied by a feather pen and ink, a notebook, and a pot of flowers. You pick up the feather pen and decide to start writing. You write and write— You keep on writing until night falls. You let out a tired yawn and—

. . .

The voice of His Majesty echoes through the throne room, and you once again awaken in a jolt. He’s calling you by name.

“CYN.”

By the tone in his grieving, yet imposing cry, you can tell it must be important. You walk out of the poem room, tapping your star crest twice more to bring the tears back to where they originally were, and swiftly start treading through the halls until you reach a gate. You take a deep breath before opening the first gate, then the second one after it. Standing before you is— His Majesty. His eyes, vast and weeping, fixed on you.
“OOOOOOH.. OOOOH… SHARP ONE.”

“THE SAVIORS.. THEY ARE APPROACHING, MOVING WITH PURPOSE. THEY BELIEVE THEMSELVES SAVIORS, HERE TO FIX WHAT THEY PERCEIVE AS BROKEN.”The King's voice resonates off the stone walls, his tears ever flowing.
“YOU… YOU WHO KNOW EVERY WHISPERING CORRIDOR, EVERY HIDDEN ROOM… YOU MUST FIND THEM, AND FINISH THE JOB YOU HAVE FAILED TO DO BEFORE.” You flinch. Right. The time you let that one Housemaiden escape. You know. Not one of your proudest moments. His Majesty gestured to the hallway behind you.
“NOW GO, QUIETLY. OBSERVE THEIR MOVES BEFORE THEY GET A CHANCE TO REACH THE THRONE. DISCOVER THEIR INTENT, THEN, YOU ARE TO RETURN TO ME.”
You nod with understanding of the task you’ve been given.
“YOU ARE THE KEENEST SENSE I POSSESS. DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE NEED FOR YOUR SHARPNESS NOW?”

You bowed low, the command settling on you not as an honor, but as a vital defense. “I understand, Your Majesty.”

“OOOOOH… HURRY.” The King’s tears fell faster, sizzling softly on the cold ground.
“DO NOT FAIL ME AGAIN.”

. . .

You turned, the gates closing silently behind you. Your path was not one of ceremony, but of stealth. You were not a greeter, but a warden. You moved into the shadows of the hall, listening for the unfamiliar step, hunting the dry spot in the weeping air. Come to think of it, you can’t exactly look for the Saviors on lower floors since the previous gates are locked, not unless you climb down from the outside walls again, that is, but ah, alas, that would be too much of a hassle.

Ah, wait! That’s right! You’ve already set traps on the previous floors, and if they work, you might not have to even face the Saviors at all! You could probably just wait for now, maybe write some more, or maybe you could check on the traps you’ve set up on this floor, or—
Your train of thought interrupts as you feel a tug on your heart. Once again, you wake up.
What just.. happened?

ACT II

✧ ✧ ✧

Your eyes snap open, and you can hear Mira walking closer a few seconds before she appears over you. She’s talking about you taking a nap and the fact that you and your friends will fight the King and his Knight tomorrow.

Wait. Tomorrow !?! Weren't you just there ?!? Wait, hold on… DID YOU JUST DIE!?!?

You did, didn’t you! Let’s see, you went to the House, got some tonics, then a key, and then you entered a room Mira called the Death corridor and checked for traps to reassure her, you didn’t find any, and then… then… a big rock fell and crushed you!!! And now you’re back in the meadow in Dormont with Mira waking you up, and what she said was very familiar???

But, aaargh, you idiot, you blinding stupid fool! You got killed by the very first trap of the House!!! You didn’t even get to have a single glimpse at the Knight, never mind the King!!! You did a sloppy, awful, terrible job and you died!!! You put your hands over your mouth and scream!

After a few seconds, your scream dies down, and you take a deep breath in… and out. You put your hands between you and the grass and take a moment to think.

Okay, you died,  you died and now it’s yesterday when Mira came to wake you up from your nap. And you’re alive… Did you… Did you go back in time? No, that’s impossible, but Mira acted the exact same way, so maybe it is possible? The death felt real, so it couldn't be a dream… At least, judging from where you were, no one else got hit, you are really, really glad to always be the one in the lead right now. But, if you really went back in time, how do you make sure that you don’t die again? Back to work, Siffrin. You have a country to save.

(You got a MEMORY OF LOOPING! You’ll always remember this.)

[Memories are a type of item you can equip. Each Memory is specific to one character and gives them special abilities. For example, the Memory you just got can only be equipped by you.]

[When Memory of Looping is equipped, it'll boost your Max HP by +5 per loop.]

What is that voice you've been hearing this whole time...?

After a few more seconds, you finally get up and walk towards the town. Just like last time, Mira meets you at the bridge, and just like last time, she talks about the sleepover. Wait. THE SLEEPOVER!!! You messed up this conversation last time and made her sad! But, maybe you can change that? Maybe say something like “That sounds like an amazing idea, Mira.”

“Yeah? Oh, I'm so glad you think so!!!” Mira exclaims, smiling. “I was thinking it was a little silly, but if you think it could be fun, then great!!!” She does a happy little jump before continuing, “Ah, I can't wait... This will be delightful! I'm smiling just thinking about it…” You love seeing your friends happy!

It takes you a second to notice, but you didn’t mess up this time! MISSION COMPLETE!!! So you can change things, that’s good to know. It might just be a small change, but if things aren’t set in stone… Then… you might have a chance at defeating the King and his Knight!!!

Mira asks you to gather everyone and gives you the reminder note once more. You wave her goodbye as you think to yourself. She acted the exact same way as last time, save for a few differences. She doesn’t seem to be aware of you repeating the day… are you the only one going through it?

[... So. You should come to the Favor Tree when you have a second, stardust.]

Okay, that’s the same voice as before. What is going on? Might as well listen to it. But first, you want to check on your friends!

You decide to go talk to Mira first; she’s sitting in front of the library, looking over some papers. You ask if she’s seen anything weird lately.

“Something weird? U-um…” She freezes as her eyes land on her papers, as if you accused her papers of being weird. “N-Nothing! Nothing's weird! Definitely not my papers!!! D-DON'T LOOK AT THEM!!!” You decide to tease her a little by bringing your finger closer and closer to her papers, before poking them! She stares at you for a second before saying: “...Stop poking my papers…” You stop. “But apart from that, I didn’t see anything.”

You think for a second. That corridor… the one with the rock trap— was it.. Real? Did you actually die? Surely you were just imagining things, and maybe this weird sense of deja vu you’re getting is all in your head, too! You feel the need to ask about it. “So.. um… Mira?” Mira tilts her head, as if asking you to continue. “Soooo.. There wouldn’t happen to be any 'death corridors' around the House now, would there?”

She blinks a few times, confused. You might have asked that a bit out of nowhere? She thinks for a second before answering: “I mean.. There is one… But the trap shouldn’t be activated! At— at least it wasn’t the last time I was there…”

“Okay, okay, okay… just WHY are there traps within the house to begin with?!”

“I— I don’t know?!? Probably as a precautionary measure?? We also have a class within the House where we learn how to make traps.. That corridor is where we test them, I think???”

You sigh. Vaugardians are so weird. Oh, right! There is something you forgot to ask last time! About the Knight! After all, you do need all the information you can get. “...About the last time you were there, did you happen to see the Knight? I’ve heard people talk about them, but as it turns out, not many seem to have seen them. Are you sure there is one at all?”

Mira’s eyes darken at the mention. “That day…—” You listen attentively, hoping to get a hold of any bit of information you can. She looks.. Sad. “The day the King attacked— Everyone was thrown into panic. On that day, I saw the Knight with my own eyes. Her armor, her darkless hair, similar to the King’s in all except for the length.. The way they were seamlessly swinging their sickle at everyone who tried to approach the King, like a bodyguard of sorts.. That’s how they got their name, 'The Knight'.”
The more she talks, you notice there are tears.. Rolling down Mira’s face. You don’t know what to do.
“I just…— I don’t understand.. Why they let me escape..”

You are taken aback by what Mira is saying. “What do you mean by that?”

“After I received the Change God’s blessing— The Knight— They looked at me for a few seconds, they noticed me, with eyes fixed on the idea of getting rid of me permanently, but then— Then they just… turned away?? I don’t understand.. Why..”

That’s.. Weird.
“Maybe they just... Thought they had more time?”

Mira thinks for a second before answering. “Maybe??” You really don’t know. What is there to understand in a deranged person’s reasoning to begin with? After all, they did decide to fight for the King… That, in itself, you don’t understand either. “But it’s good that they did.”

“Yes.. I think so...” You give Mira a slight smile, and she smiles back, wiping her tears.

“Well… now isn’t the time to dwell on it! Tomorrow, we’ll be facing both the King and the Knight! I am a little nervous but… We can defeat them, I know we can!”

“Yeah, can’t wait to see their smug faces after tomorrow!” You giggle.

Mira giggles along, before saying: “Yeah.. yeah!”

“I’ll go grab the others for the sleepover now! See you later, Mira!”
You wave goodbye before going to the store to look for Odile.

. . .

You enter the shop and find Odile. She’s carefully looking over sour tonics and other items. Doesn’t seem to have noticed you walking in.
“Hey, Odile! Mira said we’ll have a sleepover at the Clocktower before leaving tomorrow.”

“Well then, thank you for informing me, Siffrin.” She’s not taking her eyes off the items, looking really concentrated, but there is something you want to ask, and you forgot her answer from the last time you did.

“Soo… Do you think the Knight has any special powers?”

Odile’s eyes shift from the tonics to you. “Pardon?”

“You know… the King can freeze people in time, but from what I’ve heard from Mira, they didn’t seem to hold a special power, unlike him?”

She rubs her hand against her forehead. “Gems alive, Siffrin, how would I know?”

“I don’t know? Just thought of asking anyway.”

“Well, you see, I wasn’t there to witness the tragedy, and, if anything, Mirabelle should know much more about this than I do. However, from what I’ve heard, the Knight doesn’t possess any additional Craft powers, no, and as far as I’m concerned, I am hoping they don’t.”

You feel the same. “Anyways.. Have you seen anything weird lately?”
She squints her eyes before asking you the same thing, so you decide to leave before her perceptiveness makes her figure out what’s wrong with you.

. . .

After exiting the store, you decide to go east to the fields to talk to Bonnie before heading to the Favor tree. They’re looking at the fields and seem annoyed when you go and talk to them. You ask them if they saw anything weird and mention seeing a really big bee, which isn’t very useful. Like last time, you decide to leave them alone. Only Isa left!

. . .

You head over to the Favor Tree, where you can see Isa! You wonder what he wished for last time, or well technically, what he is going to wish for. You call out to him as you walk closer. “Hey, uh, Isa..."

Isa smiles at you, “Hey, uh, Sif? Are you still half-asleep? You should stop taking forever naps, Sif. Naps give you cotton brain.” He says with a smartass look on his face, before continuing. “Anyway, I was just looking at the Favor Tree! Isn't this tree cool???”

Oh, wait, you remember this! "Yeah it is..." you trail off slightly, waiting to see if he’ll notice. "One could say it's a pretty..." you pause for dramatic effects "...TREE-mendous tree." Isa burst out laughing, and you join in! After a few moments, your laughters die down.

“Haa... That was funny. Anyway! The tree feels weird somehow... Or maybe it's just me?” Wait, the tree feels weird? That piqued your interest, so you ask Isa about it. “Yeah! Like, it feels... weird.” He takes a second to think, “But not mean! Like if a lion came towards you and offered you some candy, that'd be weird, right? That kinda weird!”

What… Never mind, Isa said the tree felt weird, so maybe you should go take a look at it.
“Oh, right! Before you go, Mira told me to let you know that we’re having a sleepover at the Clocktower later today!”

“Oh?” Isa’s eyes light up. “So, guess we’ll be sharing beds again, Sif!”

You can’t help but laugh. “Nahh, actually, I’ll be sleeping on the floor!” You stick your tongue out. Isa looks a little saddened by the idea before you add: “Haha, just kidding, of course we’ll share again!”

You are met with Isa’s gentle smile before he turns away, preparing to leave. “I’ll see you at the Clocktower then, Sif!”
You say goodbye to Isa and wave at him as he leaves the area. Now it’s just you and the tree. Time to see what's wrong with the Tree!

. . .

You walk towards the tree, you wonder why that weird voice you heard earlier wanted you to come here. The tree is so big, everything under it is dark as night, but... You feel like someone is here, sitting at the foot of the tree. Looking at you. Cautiously, with a hand on your dagger, you walk towards the base of the tree... Well, uh, you found someone alright. Cautiously, you say, “Uh, hello, stranger." They... look like a star... are... are they a Star?

The astral being brings a hand to their... mouth??? Before giggling. “My, struck speechless at the sight of me, aren't you? That’s adorable! But let's get down to business!” They clap their hands together.
“So! You’re stuck in a time loop! Isn’t that fun, Stardust!”

ꕥ ꕥ ꕥ

As you walk away from your lotus-filled pond, about to seek out your kin to pass the time, a jolt passes through you as a pair of wishes appear behind you.

“Huh? That’s different.”