Chapter Text
OH CHANGE WHY IS THIS HAPPENING ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH-
Wait, save your mental breakdown for later. You can scream internally about your problems when you don't have the time for it, because you'd rather waste your precious free time by trying to not think about the Horrors™ and instead just spend it by… standing still.
But your brain doesn’t seem to get the memo and continues to remind you of all the embarrassing moments of your life. At least it's not about Siffrin’s injury-
Andddd you're not going down that rabbit hole of a thought today, thank you very much. Because if you think too long about it you will remember how useless you felt to not be able to do ANYTHING... Quick, think of a thought to distract yourself!
. . .
Hmmm... Do you truly not have anything else to distract yourself with? Wait, SIFFRIN!!! He's probably awake now, right????
You can just check up on them and assign them the task of collecting everyone else for a sleepover at the Clocktower! That sounds like a wonderful idea, so with that as your motivation, you go back to check up on Siffrin once more.
As you approach the field of the flowers, you feel a strange sense of… dread? You start to walk a bit faster(definitely not running, nope nope nope-) to approach Siffrin and make sure they're alright but.
But then you notice something… strange. You see Siffrin lying in the ground, his hands hidden inside his cloak as he stares at the sky. They're Siffrin-shaped, are doing Siffrin things, so logically, they must be Siffrin…
But they look decidedly not Siffrin-like. You can't quite put it in words, but the Siffrin before you doesn't look right. Now that you're looking more closely, you think that you can see mirages of Siffrin drifting from them before disappearing as fast as they appear.
What in the name of the Change God is happening??? They look much shadier than usual, the usually lively expression they always had now replaced with a dead eyed stare. You think that-
And then they bump on your nose and you let out a SCREEEEEEEECH of pure shock and surprise. You swear you can see their mouth move into a smirk, but the next second it's gone without a trace so you're left wondering if you imagined that or not. Wait back up- HOW DID HE GET UP SO FAST???
Siffrin(?) tilts his head as he stares at you, and you're left wondering what to do because. This is. Definitely. Not. Normal??? Since when does Siffrin have different clothes? You thought that he spawned into the world already wearing that light cloak and funny looking hat for Change’s sake!
While you're rambling inside of your mind, Siffrin slowly walks up to you and then…
Well, then they bop your nose yet again and you're just… not. Going to mention that you screeched like a banshee once more. Because you didn't, and if someone says otherwise then they're a liar.
And besides, anyone would get scared from that!..
Probably.
definitely.
hopefully-
ANYWAYS ONTO A DIFFERENT TOPIC- You try to convey to Siffrin that “perhaps he could try not to scare your delicate heart and not try to send you to an early grave”, but it comes out as a stuttered “U-um, Siffrin? Could you please, not scare me to death like that again?.. oh crab I said that wrong-”
And now Siffrin looks saddened, though visually nothing changed, you can feel it in your heart. Call it intuition or whatever. And that makes you saddened and-
Well, the end result is you both looking the most undignified you both have probably ever been ever. You get a weird urge to hug them but resist, knowing that Siffrin doesn't like touch.
…gosh this silence is so awkward- QUICK, SAY SOMETHING!
“U-um, sleepover at the clocktower?” You say with very lackluster confidence. What a great start! “I was wishing you'd go and tell everyone else about it.” Seeing him continue to stare makes you more nervous. “It's alright if you don't want to! I can do it myself-”
Siffrin interrupts you by rapidly shaking his head and then giving a thumbs up, before bolting immediately.
Wow! You didn't know they already knew where everyone else was.
…Five minutes later they come back, a defeated look on their face. Not really since they still have the same expression as before but you can TELL that they're feeling defeated- ANYWAYS!
“Do you want me to… accompany you and show you where everyone else is?” While every fiber of your being wants to just shove your note into his hands so that you can return to your mindless and unproductive brooding, you know that you probably shouldn't leave Siffrin alone. They just Changed after all!.. unlike you-
“Here, let me just take us to Isabeau. He's near the Favor Tree if I recall correctly!” You say to remove the negative, yet truthful thoughts inside your brain, not wanting to annoy Siffrin(they're still called that, right? or have they Changed and- focus, Mirabelle!) any more than you have to.
You lead the way, Siffrin following closely behind. As you go, you hear them start humming a… lullaby?
The language is incomprehensible to your ears and doesn't feel like any that you know, yet the voice is oddly soothing. It resembles Siffrin's voice, but is more high pitched. You unconsciously start humming alongside them, the strange words coming out of your mouth like it's second nature.
You think you can hear nearby villagers start unconsciously humming alongside you. You don't even notice that you're finally near Isabeau until he notices Siffrin and perks up, before becoming a bit confused upon seeing them. Well, time for you to present your terrible idea and hope for the best!..
————————————————————————
Mal Du Pays is wondering. It's been wondering for the entire day.
”Hey there Sif! How are you buddy?”
They are a Sadness. However, if they're a Sadness then that means they're supposed to be a threat to their Party, which is simply unacceptable.
”Oh. That's a great idea then, why didn't you come up with it Shadefrin?”
But they haven't felt any strange urge to just… attack people? Sure, it wants to slice it's own neck just like HE did but. That would make the other Party members… sad? No, not sad.
”There, Siffrin! I see her in the distance with our groceries!”
A more accurate word would be mad. They still need a Rouge, right? Else they'll get stuck at that stars damned House and surely perish which is also completely unacceptable. So, they are still needed, even if they'll be discarded later-
“Mirabelle, behind me.” The Researcher says with urgency, her hand pulling Mirabelle as she stands in front of her. “But madam-” “NOW.”
Mal Du Pays stares as they see the usually stoic Researcher look… shaken? “That… That's a Sadness, no matter how it may resemble our companion.” Oh! Did the others not know you were a Sadness? “We…” The Researcher fumbles for further words, taking a deep breath. Mal Du Pays doesn't think that she ever was this lost for words during their entire journey.
“We need to exterminate it, just like any other Sadness.”
. . .
Mal Du Pays smiles in happiness! Finally, something they can help their fami- Party with! With a grab of its trusty dagger it prepares itself. How did HE do it again? He sliced his own neck in one clean motion, right?
They attempt to do the same and feel a pang of pain rip from their neck, yet they're still standing. Blinding stars, why would it be that easy? They try again and this attempt is much better, their neck now feeling like it's on fire.
Further attempts to slice it prove to be ineffective as the pain doesn't worsen. Hmmmmm, it supposes that it shouldn't have tried a method that THEY used. HE ruins everything he touches, after all!
Mal Du Pays decides to try stabbing itself in the stomach and- STARS. That… hurt. But, hey, that means that they're almost done! Then, their party will be happy!
With regained motivation Mal Du Pays decides to stab the only thing they haven't tried yet. Their remaining eye! They prepare for the deed by holding their dagger right in front of it and take a metaphorical deep breath. They stab their eye and-
…huh? Their hand was. Stopped? It sees it's dagger just inches away from meeting it’s eye, not going further despite their attempts to push it. Yet the hold that The Researcher has on it's hand is much stronger than expected, not allowing the dagger to move any further.
Though it's strange. Her hand is… shaking? She must be cold, Mal Du Pays thinks. The Researcher after all is stoic, smart and uncaring. So she couldn't be shaking in fear, that's very much out of character.
They tilt their head curiously towards her, her face looking shaken for some odd reason… Ohhhhh, they get it!
She wants them to first kill the other sadnesses, then she can murder them! That makes so much more sense in hindsight. They still need it after all! With barely a thought or input, the dagger disappears from their hand and reappears back in their inventory.
Mal Du Pays is a bit mad at itself for not correctly fulfilling her wish, so it starts to walk away to look for other sadnesses nearby but… she's… still holding their hand? The death grip she has on it doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.
“...I believe. It would be wise to go to the clocktower, Mirabelle."