Chapter Text
"... aw, don't worry, Stardust. Somehow, I'm sure I'll see you again."
They were almost completely gone now. A strange, flickering hum lingered in the air like a chime, as the last remnants of Wish Craft unraveled.
"You and everyone else... Mirabelle, Isabeau, Odile, and Bonnie. I need to accept their thanks in person, don't I? That's just basic etiquette." Loop chuckled, though the sound came out strained. "A-And I need to give you back your silver coin eventually!"
Siffrin’s expression softened. "You do."
"... Hm. I'll see you all again soon enough, stardust, I promise! I super promise! I super duper promise~!" Loop exclaimed, voice bubbling with giddy insistence.
Only their face remained.
For just a moment, Siffrin thought he could truly see it. Their original face.
It felt like looking into a mirror, but the mirror was cracked, shattered long ago, its reflection splintering as it dissolved into the aether. Despite this, it was melancholic. Even a broken mirror can reflect.
"... So don't forget me, okay...?" Loop muttered, the plea slipping through despite their tone.
Before Siffrin could answer, they were gone, reduced to pale dust, carried off by the wind.
"I won't."
Ah. Here again.
They had expected to return to this Universe-forsaken place. Ironic, considering this was the domain of the Universe. Then again, wasn’t everything? Technicalities and esoteric nonsense aside, they remembered this place.
This was where the Universe did things... Things like sending someone to an alternate timeline to help another version of themselves, all because of an ill-phrased wish.
They would have laughed if they could. Spitefully. But they weren’t sure they even had a body, much less a mouth. Then again, last time, they had spoken and laughed without one just to annoy stardust.
Their sight was flooded with sudden brightness.
How were they seeing anyways? Did they have eyes? Or just the one?
Above them, it floated again, unchanging despite everything. Circles, like orbits, layered within each other in an endless pattern.
They knew what those meant now.
Looping. Hah. What a cute word. They would have vomited if not for their state of being, or spat at the Universe’s non-existent face.
It was to symbolize that everyone is part of something, no matter what. That was the idea, right? The symbol of change. Of Vaugarde.
Did that thought comfort people? The idea that, in the grand scheme of things, they were nothing? Cogs in a machine, running eternally. Some are well-oiled, while others are left dry and struggling, until they eventually gave in.
Stars shifted above in impossible ways, the sky rearranging itself. Space bent and moved where it shouldn’t have been able to. Stars didn’t move that fast.
Well. They knew of at least one star that couldn’t move on.
Hah. Still got it. That was a pun, right? Was it? Eh.
They were still Siffrin, in some way.
They didn't know how to feel about that.
Something burned in their chest, or where it should have been. A phantom ache, like a missing limb, their heart replaced by the searing reminder of what they’d lost.
Fitting.
T H E W I S H
H A S B E E N
F U L F I L L E D.
"Oh, of course~! It certainly was, wasn't it?" They shot back somehow, despite missing voice. The thought projected outward, heard. Understood.
Ew.
"Stars, you’d think an all-knowing, all-powerful Universe would be, I don’t know, all-knowing enough to understand the intent behind an ill-phrased wish? Just a thought. Literally."
...
I T S H A L L B E
C O R R E C T E D.
"Oh, great. Send me into another one of Siffrin’s loops again!" They laughed sharply. "Or send me back to mine! I wouldn’t mind that. I know how to escape now, after all!" They said it sarcastically, but not entirely.
What if it did happen?
They wanted it. Even just a little.
To fix things. To get the ending they wanted.
But even so, they felt... apprehensive.
Maybe they didn’t deserve it. Not after what they’d done. Not after they gave up. Not after they...
Erased them.
Would they even be recognized now? Broken. Different. Changed.
They weren’t Siffrin anymore.
Not the one they knew.
But they wanted to be.
They still wanted to be Siffrin again, even as they rejected the idea.
A contradiction they couldn’t understand.
T O D O S O
W O U L D B E
A N T I T H E T I C A L
T O T H E L E S S O N.
"Lesson? What lesson? Was this all just a class session to you?"
T H E V I R T U E O F
M O V I N G O N.
They flinched. Metaphorically. Or metaphysically. Whatever.
"... Right. Of course."
They had said that themselves, hadn’t they? To stardust.
That didn’t make it hurt less.
"What are you implying?" They questioned.
C H A N G E.
Ah. There it was again.
"... And soooo~?"
The Universe did not answer.
Instead, a white glow approached.
A star.
They reached out, forgetting for a moment that they had no body.
Ah.
No.
They did.
They could feel it now. Their arms, their legs, their head, their body, their hair. Whole again.
They felt the weight of a body again, and yet they felt weightless at the same time.
They could still only see through one eye.
Were they more Loop, or more Siffrin?
This felt familiar.
They had done this before.
They took the star, holding it close.
Should they?
Could they really do it again?
What did the Universe mean by change?
What would happen?
And if they refused?
Would they stay here, forever?
Would they die?
That might be nice.
Rest, at last.
Could they just refuse?
...
Something stirred.
Something instinctive. Primal.
The desire to live.
To see. To breathe. To be.
The fear of nothingness.
At least this was certain.
Something would happen.
They would go somewhere. Maybe far, maybe near.
But they would live.
They would remain.
And they could still keep that promise.
They super-duper promised, after all.
Decision made, swift and sudden...
They ate the star.
And from the darkness came light...
... and it consumed everything.
Daughter of merchants Olneo and Marina Colzione, Tressa grew up in the quaint seaside town of Rippletide, located in the Coastlands of the continent of Orsterra.
Locals would describe her as cheerful, savvy, and perhaps a little too curious and friendly for her own good. Yet, as a merchant, her talent shone as bright as a diamond in the rough.
Having helped out at her parents' shop since she was small, she had become accustomed to handling customers, haggling, stocking goods, and developed general merchant know-how. She had gained a sharp eye for business, easily discerning the quality and value of a product. This, paired with a desire to help her would-be customers, was driven by her determination to do what was right.
And that, most of all, was her.
Driven.
While she had earned a reputation with that very drive—that being the most hardworking and industrious merchant in Rippletide—within her was something else besides that.
A yearning.
A desire for adventure and freedom. To see the world.
She longed for something more.
As for what that is, she didn't yet know.
...
Tressa shook her head, looking down at the bottle of wine in her hands.
"This oughta liven up our little shop!" She smiled. Another day, another deal. Though...
"Our little shop," she muttered to herself. "Just me, Ma and Pa." A sigh escaped her.
"If I don't take over the shop, who will?" She muttered whilst staring at her reflection in the glass bottle, before raising her head.
She looked towards the sea, wondering what it was she really wanted to do. What she really wanted in life. What waited for her out there.
What lay beyond the horizon?
Something caught her attention, stopping that train of thought in its tracks.
There was something by the shore.
Slumped over in the sand was a figure cloaked in white, a wide hat covering most of their face. Did someone wash up?
She tucked the bottle of wine in her bag as she hurriedly ran towards the seemingly unconscious figure. The tides were getting closer. They could get wet, or worse, a strong enough wave could drag them back into the cold, relentless sea.
Tressa walked forward, her steps slowing as she approached, feet digging into the sand. She was a bit hesitant. After all, finding an unconscious stranger by the shore didn't happen every day. Maybe she should've gotten someone to come with her.
Upon further inspection however, now up close, she could tell something was off.
They were... dry?
Well, they couldn't have washed up then. That's strange though. Why were they here?
She shifted to a different angle, where she could see below the brim of their oddly large hat. Ah.
They—she? he? wore a relaxed expression. Almost completely at ease, even.
Were they... sleeping? Their face looked normal enough, save for the eyepatch over their left eye. A pirate then? But their white cloak seems far too warm for this weather, not to mention the strange hat.
Their hair was a stark white too. She had never seen such white hair before. At best she saw a really, really light gray—that mostly came from really old people.
Was it hair dye?
Their white hair turned black towards the ends. But that didn’t quite make sense. If anything, it looked like black dye faded over time, leaving only the tips dark while the roots grew in white.
Should she wake them up? Maybe they were just taking a nap. It would be rude to...
A wave crashed hard against the rocks nearby. It missed the unconscious stranger, but did spray arcs into the small crevice they were in. It splashed across their face.
Oh.
Their expression tightened, irritation flickering across their features.
Uh.
Their eye opened.
Their vision was once more assaulted by a bright light.
Stars, that was... what, the third time they've been flashbanged today? Or whatever time frame made sense. It was doubtful that time flowed normally in the Universe's domain.
They blinked once, twice, before their eye focused. Their vision was still blurry, actually. And they were too lazy to get up.
Were they... outside? Somewhere? They could hear waves, and they felt sand beneath their body. Gross
They must be by the beach or something. And there was some water on their face. Ew.
They continued to glance up, their vision steadying.
Was that the sky?
They recognized the sky, of course. The trip didn't scramble their brain enough that they wouldn't. They could see birds, the clouds, and the blinding sun. Literally, this time.
But...
The sky wasn't the darkless shade they were familiar with. What... What was that, actually? What was that shade?
It was neither darkless nor lightless, and it was not a shade in-between that they could recognize. It could only be one thing, then.
Was that a color? But it was different from the one they remembered. It wasn't r̴̹͉̺̓́̋̏͛ȩ̶̹̺̺̦̫͑̚d̸̨͕̠͈͈͌̄̽̿.
It felt... cooler. Calmer. Not as warm and hot and angry as the color that appeared when something was broken. Almost the complete opposite, actually.
It would almost be soothing, if not for the fact that staring at the strange hue for too long was making their eye uncomfortable. Or it could just be from staring into the sky. Sunlight and all that.
They wiped the water off their face. They should've done so way earlier, if they were being honest. It was pretty salty. Gross! But that did confirm they must be near the ocean.
They didn't need to use convoluted logic and deduction, actually. They could just look.
They sat up, glancing forwards.
Ah, the sea. At least they thought that was the sea. It moved like the sea. It was water, obviously, but it had the same shade as the sky. Well, no... it didn't, actually. They could tell that it was darker, at least. It was not the same shade, yes, but the same... color? Were they using that right?
Their vision strained and they squinted. It was pretty odd. The sky and the ocean almost blended at the horizon. They could still tell they were different shades, at least, but this new level of perception was giving them a headache.
"Um, hi?" a voice called out to them.
They turned around, facing towards the direction of the voice
It was a... girl?
Ah.
Oh boy, what is that?
What were those shades? Er, colors? It was giving them a migraine just looking at her, as well as the rocks and sand behind her. Everything looked a little too distinct from each other.
They must've visibly winced, because she noticed. Her expression twisted into slight worry.
"O-Oh— are you hurt?" She reached out.
They flinched.
"Oh- um- no! I'm fine! I'm fine~!" they exclaimed, slipping their mask back on almost seamlessly. Didn't they tell stardust not to do that, actually? "I'm just, uh, confused? Yep! Do you happen to know where I am?"
She paused, seeming to be contemplating something before she answered. "You're in Rippletide, here in the Coastlands."
"Ah, I see, mhm."
Yep. Mhm indeed. They don't recognize that at all.
At first, they thought they might've been in Bambouche, this being the coast and all. Or maybe they were sent home. If 'home' still even existed.
But then, it didn't make sense in the first place, especially with the colors thing. It still hurt to look at, somewhat.
But more specifically, it felt... overstimulating?
That made one thing certain, though. They were sent, very, VERY far away. Were they even in the same world, still? The same planet? They've only ever travelled between timelines! Though some would say that was essentially the same as traveling across worlds.
"Huh. I don't recognize that," they said, breaking the awkward silence that came. They answered truthfully, at least.
"Eh?" she replied, confused.
"Well, where is Rippletide of the Coastlands, exactly?" they placed a hand over their mouth out of habit.
"... in Orsterra?"
"Which would be in...?"
"The world?"
"I mean. Obviously."
"Then why did you ask?"
Wuh oh. She looked a bit miffed.
"Well, I'm sort of not from around here."
"I mean. Obviously."
Oh? She can bite back? Interesting.
Well, hm... what to say...
"I'm from an island, you see. I haven't been here before." That was true, actually, if only a bit misleading. They were pretty sure they were in a different world at this point, if the existence of colors didn't already tell them enough.
The island they came from didn't exist here. But it didn't exist in theirs anymore either.
"Oh! How did you get here then?" She said, an almost excited curiosity in her tone.
"Well, you see, that's the problem~! I'm a bit disoriented." True. "I don't exactly know how I got here." Half-true.
"Uh-huh." She doesn't look very convinced, but she didn't press further. Still curious, but the raised eyebrow says a lot.
"It's a very small island. You wouldn't know of it. Honestly, most people wouldn't."
"I didn't even ask," she muttered. A bead of sweat dropped down their face. Stars.
"A-Anyways! I'm just a lost traveler, you see?"
"Sure," she said. She seemed to let it go for now, sensing their discomfort. "I'm Tressa. You are?"
"I'm L—" Oh. Actually, that didn't make sense here. There were no loops, so there was no reason for Loop to exist. No one to guide, no script to read, no Universe to follow. It would just be a really strange name.
Huh.
Who were they actually?
"I'm Siffrin."
The words left them before they could think about it.
It felt strange and unfamiliar in their own mouth. It shouldn't have, as they had used that name to refer to their stardust several times. Yet, to claim it as their own was weird.
It didn't sit right. It did, then it didn't.
Were they Siffrin? They were, at some point. But were they still? Did they still have claim to that name? Did it not burn with their body, heart, and soul when they gave up?
But their body was back. If it returned, did their name do so as well?
Siffrin was not their real name either, they remembered as much. Just a name taken from a rather tragic play. But it was theirs, still. Attached to their identity. The same way this face, this body, and these clothes all clung to them.
If those were back, did that mean they were Siffrin again? Could they be Siffrin again? Should they be Siffrin again?
Would they want to be Siffrin again?
"Oh! Nice to meet you Siffrin!" She said, extending an arm for a handshake. Where was that suspicion from earlier now? Haha.
They flinched as they took her hand. The girl—no, Tressa—shook it firmly.
When she let go, they could still feel it. The warmth of her hand through their gloves. It was strange. They still weren't used to it.
"Drop anchor!" A voice suddenly shouted from a distance, followed by a loud thud.
The duo turned around, seeing a large ship dock in the distance.
"Woah. I haven't seen that ship around before." There was that distinct, curious sparkle in Tressa's eyes again. Much in the same way when they mentioned being from an island. It was cute, they think. It almost reminded them of..
...
"Guess I'm yesterday's news already then." They chuckled, hand back over their lips.
"Sorry, did you say something?"
"Ah, nothing important~"
She raised an eyebrow before turning back to look at the ship.
"I wanted to get you to safety, but you seem fine actually," she muttered, turning ever so slightly back to them.
She wanted to what?
"Come on! Let's check out the ship!" she exclaimed before running towards the aforementioned vessel.
Before they could inquire, she had already taken off running. Quite energetic, that one. Hm. Though, she trusted them too quickly in their opinion.
Regardless, this was a good time to think about their current situation. They sat down on one of the flat rocks beside them.
So...
They were in another world—that seemed self-evident by this point. As for the specifics, they were in a place called Rippletide, in a region called the Coastlands, in the... country? continent? world? of Orsterra.
Their surroundings reminded them much of Bambouche, though this town seemed more developed than the Vaugardian village.
Another thing they took note of was the language. They could tell Tressa had a sort of accent, though only very subtly so. It was similar to Bonnie's own coastal accent when they spoke Vaugardian. It was only due to having spent so much time with them that they could tell.
But it was definitely not Vaugardian she was speaking, and neither were the words that came out of their own mouth. But they could understand it. And they could speak it easily too. That was... probably the Universe's doing, most likely. They didn't wish for this, though. So why?
Still.
Tressa, huh?
She seemed like a nice kid.
Kid.
...
Actually. Could they do that still? It wouldn't hurt to try.
They closed their eye, focusing, visualizing. They took a deep breath. In and out.
...? Oh! It was still there! Their profile. It appeared their abilities as a sponsor still remained in some form. They wondered if they could still use the Calling Craft.
Actually there was something else here. Someone else's profile.
It was... Tressa?
Curiously, they decided to view the latter first.
Hm.
They don't know what they were expecting. but it looked marginally different than what they were used to.
Tressa Colzione...
Merchant...?
Equipment, skills, stats... Huh?
What's SP?
Huh???
This was giving them a migraine again, actually. They decided to stop looking at it for now. They could check it later if they needed to. Probably just more of this world's different mechanics and weirdness.
But why could they see her profile? Does that mean she was in their party? Huh?
They shook their head. Something else, something else...
They checked their own profile. It was similar to how it was before. The interface was closer to stardust's iteration than it was to theirs, but there were other differences. They had that SP stat too. Huh. What?
And...
Oh.
They were back to Level 1.
Seriously? After all that time grinding in the blinding House? After their entire adventure with Mirabelle? After everything?
They didn't even have Too Cleaver by Half!
They at least had Knife to Meet You and Make Up The Time, but they were still rather lackluster in the skills department. At least that meant Craft worked normally. Maybe. They haven't actually tried yet.
They opened their eye. They really shouldn't be dealing with that stuff right now. They had much more important problems to deal with. Like where they were going to sleep, what they were going to eat, among other things.
They may have forgotten how to deal with those things, actually. It's been so long that they almost forgot how it felt to travel, to have basic human needs. Weird.
They took another deep breath. In and out. They gripped the silver coin in their pockets. Stardust's.
They had already spent too long ruminating.
Get up, 'Siffrin'.
You have a promise to keep.