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Waking up this morning was great! The sun was shining, time was moving forward, both for Vaugarde and for Siffrin, and soon, the family would be on the road to Bambouche to reunite Bonnie with their sister!
… or at least, it would be a great morning if Siffrin didn't feel like… well, it was hard to describe how they felt, but not good, that's for sure. Their head ached, their hands felt tingly but they weren’t sure on why, and their body felt like it was screaming at them not to get out of bed when they tried. It wasn't too hard to listen of course, be it the call of sleep, or the warmth of the bed itself.
Although, once Siffrin opened their eye, they noticed they were the only one in the room. Even Isabeau, who had shared the bed with them again, wasn't there.
The brief, worried thought that they were left behind crossed their mind, but they shook it off. They agreed to stay together for a while longer after all! There’s no reason to worry, right? Right!
And their worries were proven wrong, when they heard footsteps approaching. Mirabelle stepped into the room, softly calling out “Siffrin!” before realizing he was already awake.
“Oh! You're up already?” She asked with surprise.
‘Up’ isn't the word he'd use, since he's still in bed. He felt like staying there, honestly. “Not really.” They replied.
“Oh. I'm sorry to drag you out of bed, but… I thought I should tell you, if you want to do anything before we leave tomorrow, you should.”
Hmm… they can't think of anything they want to do. Visit the favor tree one last time, maybe? Truthfully, they'd rather leave Dormont as soon as possible. No offense to the town itself, it's nice, even if it's a little bit weird, they just… stayed here for way too long. They wanted to see something other than Dormont for a change, even if it's a place they’ve seen already.
“Unless you don't have anything to do?” Mirabelle asked. “Maybe see everything before we leave?”
Siffrin gave a judgemental squint. They doubt there's anything they haven't seen here in their many loops.
Mirabelle shrunk a bit under his stare. “A-ah right, you probably have already… sorry.”
Okay, they felt a little bad there. “It's fine.” They said calmly, lightening up their expression. Admittedly though, if they didn't feel like crap, they probably would have tried fishing at the river again, maybe to try to catch something without the interference of a time freeze. That was surprisingly one of the things they never got sick of. It was always restful, even if they never usually caught anything.
“Okay… well, I have my own things to do before we leave, so I should probably do that… you can sleep for a while longer, but at least get out of bed eventually?” Mirabelle said with a laugh, likely noticing that Siffrin didn't look like they were planning on getting up anytime soon.
Siffrin nodded, a bit hesitant but he tried not to show that.
“Have good dreams, Siffrin!” Mirabelle wished him as she began to leave.
He began thinking to themselves after she left. Should he have told her he wasn't feeling well? Maybe. But they don't really want to burden her or anyone with their problems.
… well, that's one of the things they told themselves when they started looping through time, and that didn't go well at all. But this was nothing compared to that, so it's probably fine. They'll probably feel better before tomorrow.
Probably.
… they felt sleep calling them again and answered, laying their head back down and closing their eyes.
—
Siffrin’s rapid footsteps echoed as they ran through the halls of the House alone. Their heartbeat fast, and their mind raced even faster. They had an iron grip on their dagger.
And yet all Siffrin could think was “No no no no no…”
They beat the King! They broke out of the loops! They were going to stay together with their family!
SO WHY WERE THEY BACK?!
He ran past a tear but paid it no mind. He couldn’t stand the thought of looping again. What was past that was a sadness, which Siffrin slashed with their dagger in their panic. The last thing he wanted to worry about was a blinding sadness.
Why were they back? Why were they back?! Why was their family not with them?? Why did the universe have it out for them?!
They lashed out at the next couple of sadnesses he came across. It was the only thing he could really do to feel something other than his rising panic. Not that it gave them satisfaction, he just wanted them to get out of his way.
They didn’t go into any of the rooms they sped past. In fact, the House didn’t look like how it was the many times they went through before. It looked more like how they saw it when they went through it for the last time; Twisted, repeating itself, many more tears in his way than usual. Only now, there weren't any doors to go up to the next floor. Instead, it just felt endless.
“This can’t be real!” They wanted to scream. It can’t be real! There had to be a way out of whatever hell this is! But no matter how long they ran for, all Siffrin could see was endless hallways.
A faint voice could be heard, but Siffrin couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. The voice became clearer soon enough though.
—
“Sif? Siffrin?”
A familiar voice managed to drag Siffrin out of their slumber. They were a little okay with that, actually. He found himself trying to catch his breath as he opened his eye, seeing Isabeau enter the room. He was hoping Isabeau didn't catch that, but his warm smile shifting to a concerned expression told him he had.
“You alright?” He asked, walking over to the bed.
Siffrin's head and body still ached and the tingly feeling remained in their hands. Not good. They should… probably say something.
… on second thought, though, it's just some body aches. It's not a big deal. They'll be fine.
“Yeah.” He nodded.
“So we're ignoring the way you woke up then?” Isabeau asked like he already knew the answer.
“Yup.” Switching the topic before Isabeau could continue, he asked, “What time is it?” Which was… a funny thing to ask in a clocktower, now that he thought about it.
“It’s noon.”
Noon? Huh. “Um… do you know when Mira came up here earlier?” They asked curiously. How long have they been asleep for? Their sense of time wasn’t the best since their time loops messed it up.
“Around 10 in the morning, I think.” Isabeau answered thoughtfully.
Only 2 hours. Eh, not that bad, they supposed. Still, they shouldn’t sleep the rest of the day away.
“I’m not that surprised. You were really tired after last night’s celebration, huh?” Isabeau laughed.
Siffrin nodded, an amused smile forming on his face as he remembered. He didn’t really engage too much in the social part of it all, but he definitely ate a lot, the events of earlier in the day leaving him starving. Even drank a little, mostly because of Odile offering.
… he was pretty hungry now, actually.
He let out a groan as he began trying to force himself to get out of bed. “Okay, I guess I'll-” He stopped mid-sentence, feeling lightheaded, and felt a bit of pain shoot through him. It wasn't bad enough to force him to lay back down immediately, but he did sway a bit.
“Whoa!” Isabeau quickly came to their side, concerned. He kept them from falling onto the floor.“Sif?! Are you alright??”
“Yeah, I’m fine, I just- give me a minute-” They tried to pull away, but it seemed to only make the lightheaded feeling worse. They would have been swaying a bit more if it weren’t for Isabeau’s hold on them.
“Let’s um… let's get you back on the bed, alright?” Isabeau said nervously, beginning to gently guide him back. This time, Siffrin didn’t fight it. “Guess the fever isn’t completely gone, huh?”
Siffrin let out a small, annoyed huff. Doesn’t seem like it is. They could walk just fine yesterday though- after everything at least. Maybe they pushed their luck a little too much during the celebration?
“Well, sorry Sif. Guess you gotta stay in bed. Maybe for another day or two, just to make sure you’re all well and good.” Isabeau suggested.
No, no that’s not what they wanted. Their eye widened hearing this. “Wh-what? No, I-”
“You need to rest, Sif, or you're never going to truly get better.” Isabeau advised. “If you're not going to do it for yourself, at least do it for everyone else?”
There wasn't much point in arguing with Isabeau about this, but… stars this sucks. They didn't want to be the one to hold everyone back. They didn't want to be stuck in Dormont for much longer. But of course, the universe forbids them having good luck for a change.
“Fine.” Siffrin grumbled, laying back down.
“Sorry, Sif! Really!” Isabeau apologized. He looked down in thought, before sitting down in an empty spot on the bed. “Would you feel better if I stayed for a bit?”
“You don't have anything else to do?”
“Not really!” He shook his head.
Well, Siffrin didn't mind his company, or anyone's really. He smiled a little.
For the next half hour, the two kept each other company, coming up with many puns and jokes… at least until Siffrin's stomach growled loudly, reminding him of his hunger.
Isabeau got up from his spot and began heading out of the room. “I'm gonna see if Bonbon can make you something.”
Siffrin gave him a thumbs up, a soft smile on his face. Isabeau nodded and left the room.
Being left alone again didn't feel good, but they guessed there was nothing else to do other than go back to sleep.
Once again, they closed their eye, finding it easy to drift off to sleep.
—
Siffrin exchanged blows with the King, their hand in the paper position as they casted ‘tear you apart’ over and over again without mercy. They were going to make sure the King was gone for good, by their hands.
But at some point, the King managed to strike him with a strong blow. He was strong enough already, but this hurt, even more when they were Scissors type. They couldn’t lose! They couldn’t! All of Vaugarde was counting on them!
They struggled to stay on their feet, their legs shaking. Quietly, they muttered “done heal” to themselves to cast their healing spell. But… it wasn’t working. Why wasn’t it working? Why wasn’t it-?!
He spotted the King’s next strike coming, if only because it wasn’t on his blind side. Flight managed to kick in before they could freeze, and they dodged the strike. They tried to heal themselves one more time. It didn’t work.
The only thing left to do was attack. If they beat him fast enough, he wouldn’t die, right? Relentlessly, despite their panic, they struck him with fast blows.
They weren’t paying attention enough. The King managed to slow him down, again and again, despite their efforts to reverse the effects. Soon, they could barely move.
So it was no wonder that they froze when the King brought down his hand to strike them down. Siffrin closed their eye tightly.
—
“SIFFRIN!”
Siffrin was startled awake by the sound of their name being shouted. Panicked, they looked around before their gaze landed on Odile, who he didn't know was in the room. She looked very worried, a hand held out towards them.
“O-Odile?” He asked. He realized he felt significantly worse than when he went to sleep earlier. Weaker. Colder. “What's wrong?”
“You just-” Odile started, before choosing her next words carefully. “You just attacked, Siffrin.”
“What?” No, that can't be right, they were asleep! “I can't have, I-”
“You did.” Odile reiterated.
Siffrin just looked at her, horrified, then at one of their tingling, shaking hands. “Did… did I hurt anyone?”
“Well I was the only one in here so-”
“I didn't hurt you, did I?!” They asked. They sounded more panicked than they'd like to, but they couldn't quite control their voice right now. Odile taking a second to answer didn’t help either. They did, didn’t they?
Their heart beat faster out of fear of this thought, their headache worsening considerably as their thoughts spiraled out of control. They did! They did hurt her! They did yesterday, and they did just now! Stars, they didn't learn anything, did they?
“Siffrin!” Odile called out firmly, snapping Siffrin out of their spiral. “I said you didn't hurt me. Mostly because I countered your spell, but still…”
But they would have otherwise.
“It wasn't aimed at me at all, actually, just a wall.” Odile continued. “We can’t really afford any property damage though.”
Most of Siffrin's worry faded when she added that, and all that left them was, “O-oh.” Odile doesn't look hurt at all, when he actually took a moment to check. “Well, that's a relief, isn't it?” They said happily, attempting to shake off any remaining nerves.
“Yes, but…” Odile crossed her arms, her face now more of a mix of curious, but serious. “Interesting that you were sleep-crafting just now. A rare thing to happen to someone, at least that’s what I’ve read.”
“Huh?” Is that what they were doing? They glanced at their hands again. The tingling feeling makes sense now.
“You were muttering ‘Done heal’ over and over to yourself, even though there were no wounds to heal.” Odile explained. “And that was before you attacked.”
Immediately, Siffrin’s mind flashed to the nightmare they had.
“But… hmm… how… are you feeling right now, Siffrin? Isabeau mentioned you were feeling pretty awful before.”
The way she asked this, it seemed like she wanted to test something, so to be helpful for once, Siffrin easily answered with, “Cold. Everything hurts. My hands feel like they’re about to go numb.” He laughed to himself. Stars, he felt like this was a check up at the doctor’s or something.
“Ah. That last one is an effect of using Craft spells nonstop. The rest is probably the fever. Of course, you're not supposed to be using Craft spells for a while, so it's no wonder you feel awful.”
“It's not my fault though…” For once, they can say something wasn't their fault. They didn't have control over this.
“Sleep-crafting usually isn't.” She paused, a thoughtful look on her face as she tried to recall something. “From what I've read, it can be caused by extreme stress and a lack of sleep.” She looked directly at Siffrin, silently pointing out that they had both… which they did. Not that they liked admitting it though, but they were getting less and less sleep throughout their loops.
They don't really like thinking about it, actually. “Pft, the whole ‘lack of sleep causes problems when you go to sleep’ thing doesn't really make much sense, does it?” They asked in a poor attempt to change the subject.
Odile gave a slightly exasperated sigh. “It does, but if I tried to tell you why, I doubt you'd listen.”
Nope. Sounds very technical and boring.
“What am I supposed to do then? If I can't control it?” Siffrin asked. What if they just get sicker? What if they end up being a danger to everyone else?
Odile paused again, before she closed her eyes. “We both know feelings aren't my strong suit, nor your’s. But Mirabelle is busy preparing to leave Dormont and Isabeau is helping Boniface cook. So… maybe you could talk about this nightmare you had? I know you wouldn't want to, but I think getting it off your chest might at least prevent you from attacking everything in your sleep.”
On one hand, no, they don't want to talk about it. But they don't want to accidentally hurt others either. Though they doubt it'd actually work, but what the hell, right? “Either this, or I go back to sleep.” Siffrin reasoned to themself, and they really don’t want to go back to sleep right now.
“I was fighting the King by myself. And I was… losing. Healing wasn't working, so I panicked and started attacking.” Siffrin explained begrudgingly.
Odile gave a slight nod. “It lines up with what I saw and heard… but we’ve beaten the King.” She stated flatly. Her neutral expression fell to a frown as a thought crossed her mind. “Unless you still feel like you’re stuck in the time loop somehow.”
They’re… not really sure. But it's only been one day. They’re not used to time passing anymore, nor not having to fight near constantly. “Not… not really?” He softly laughed to himself, if only for his own comfort. “It’s just… hard to believe it's over for real. No more looping.” The thought filled him with both happiness and dread. He tried to ignore the dread part.
“Are you sure, though?” Odile raised a brow.
“I… maybe my dreams make me feel like I am.” They glanced at one of their hands. “I get the feeling I’ve been sleep-crafting all day. I just woke up before Mira and Isa could notice.”
“That also lines up. Isabeau seemed worried about you.” Odile smiled a bit. “So worried he suggested making soup for you.”
Siffrin was so hungry, they could honestly go for anything, or at least they felt like they could, so they didn’t mind soup at all. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to have when you’re sick anyway?
Ah, but… “Oh really? That’s fine. Just… make sure Bon doesn’t put potatoes in there?” They could go for anything BUT something with potatoes in it.
Odile laughed, Siffrin’s face scrunching up in response. Did they? Or is she just laughing at his specific request for no potatoes? … probably the latter. They hope it's the latter.
“I don’t think they’re planning on it, but I’ll make sure, just this once.” Odile reassured them as she ruffled their hair a bit. As soon as she removed her hand, Siffrin swiped a bit of their now slightly messier hair away from their face.
She turned around to leave, and before Siffrin could have a second thought, he blurted out, “Wait.” Odile turned back towards him, looking at him curiously.
… unfortunately they couldn't find the words they wanted to say at the moment. Oh for universe's sake…
They know they still don't want to go back to sleep, and they don't want to be left alone either. But they needed to say something, their silence was probably awkward enough. “Don't leave.” Was the first thing that came to mind.
Odile smiled. “I was going to come back, I'm just checking on Bonnie and Isabeau.” Her smile turned from a teasing one to a sympathetic one. “Don’t want to go back to sleep, huh?”
Siffrin shook their head. He knew he needed the rest but… but he can’t. Not right now.
“I understand.” Odile nodded. “I'll be right back.”
She left the room, leaving Siffrin alone again. As he waited for her to return, he found that, despite not wanting to go back to sleep, his body didn't seem to get the message. While they thought that was fair for the little amount of sleep they had, they still cursed it for this.
He fought to stay awake, even slapping himself once to make sure he would. That didn't quite work, all it did was cause him a small amount of pain.
They felt themself nodding off longer and longer, until finally they couldn't fight it anymore. They just hoped that whatever dream came next was pleasant for once.
—
The next time they woke up, they noticed out of the window that the sky was a little darker now. How disappointing. They slept the day away after all. Well, at least their dream wasn't horrible. And by that, they meant they dreamt of nothing, but they'll take that over the nightmares.
The next thing he noticed was that everyone was in the room now. Mirabelle had returned from her preparations and was currently playing a game with Bonnie, Isabeau was sitting next to them on the bed again, and Odile was by herself reading a book.
And… Siffrin could smell food? They couldn't tell immediately with their dulled sense of smell, but they already knew Bonnie was making soup for them. They did smell something else though, they think.
Naturally, Isabeau was the first to notice he was awake. “Oh hey Sif! Slept well this time?”
Considering every other time they went to sleep their dreams were horrible? Yeah. Giving a drowsy smile, they nodded.
“That’s good!” Isabeau smiled right back.
As Mirabelle and Bonnie approached them, Odile asked teasingly, “What happened to not going back to sleep?”
“Went to sleep against my will.” Siffrin answered with a shrug. They managed to get themselves to sit up.
Mirabelle, caring as ever, seemed concerned for the traveler. “How are you feeling now, Siffrin?”
They feel… a little better than before. “My hands don't feel as numb anymore.” They said with a smile, which Mirabelle smiled back in response to.
Bonnie grabbed a plate which had the bowl of soup on it and malanga fritters beside it. Ah! So that was the other thing they smelled! A small wave of excitement went through Siffrin, but they controlled themselves, partially because the loops let them have them more than once, and partially because they didn't have enough energy for a more excited reaction due to the fever.
Lifting their head proudly, they said, “I made some soup for ya Frin! It’s not hot though, Dile and Za and Belle said we should let you sleep.”
They didn’t mind that. Though… “With malanga fritters?” He asked, unable to keep himself from smiling.
“Yeah, in case you're still hungry after! I had these yesterday for snacks, but uh…”
Ah right. They wondered if they still had time for snacks on their way through the House. Probably not- no, definitely not.
Not wanting to make Siffrin sad by reminding them about their stunt, Bonnie quickly moved on, handing Siffrin the plate and a fork. “H-here! Eat, so you can feel better sooner!”
Well, they didn’t need any convincing. Bonnie was right, it wasn’t hot, but it wasn’t too cold either. Not that he cared of course. He dug into the food, taking a few hungry fork-fulls. He heard soft laughs from Mirabelle and Isabeau.
“So?” Bonnie asked enthusiastically. “Did I do good?” They looked up at Siffrin, eager for his opinion.
While it probably would have tasted even better if it was hot, the traveler nodded. “It’s great Bonbon.”
Bonnie gave a proud chuckle.
A thought did cross their mind though, remembering that because they were still sick, in part because of their sleep-crafting, they would have to stay here longer. Bonnie would have to wait a bit longer to reunite with their sister. They felt a pang of guilt for that.
He must look sad now, because all of them seem concerned.
“Is something wrong, Sif?” Isabeau asked.
“... I’m… sorry you all have to wait to leave Dormont because of me. Especially to you, Bonnie. I know you want to go back to your sister.”
For a moment, Bonnie looked saddened. Then they walked up to him and climbed up onto the bed, sitting on his other side. “I do miss Nille. But I want you to get better first, Frin! So you can meet her and I can tell her you helped me! So I don’t mind!”
“I don’t think anyone minds, Sif.” Isabeau added.
“I don’t! You don’t have to worry about slowing anyone down, Siffrin!” Mirabelle reassured them.
“We’re not going to be mad at you because you got sick.” Odile then gave a soft, sweet smile. “And if it makes you feel better, it's not like we’re on a time limit anymore. There’s no curse slowly freezing Vaugarde in time. Take all the time you need.”
Siffrin glanced around at all the sincere looks their family gave them. Ha, he was stupid to worry. They care for him, of course they’re willing to wait. They were right. They had time.
“Thank you.” They said with a relieved smile.
They all continued to chatter away into the night as Siffrin continued eating his soup and fritters. They couldn’t help but feel safe. Warm. Loved.
And despite being sick right now, they couldn’t be happier in their family’s company.