Chapter Text
It has now been a few months since you defeated the king properly. Autumn came soon after you did so, then winter and winter passed. Now you’re on your way into spring. You and your family are traveling through a coniferous forest. Nille has joined you too by now. You’ve been to so many places. Of course, you got to pick up Nille from Bambouche, then you went back through Dormont and by now you’re here, at the southern end of Vaugarde. There aren’t many forests like this one in this country, but still you’re in one, so it feels a little special. Maybe it being here has something to do with the nearby mountains. Or are you in the mountains? You’re not sure, you remember too little from Isabeau’s geography lessons.
Either way, you’re not far from the rest of your family right now. You’re just off to the side, at the top of a hill looking over a clearing. The trees on the other side of the clearing are tall enough that despite your elevation you can’t see the horizon.
The clouds over you are ominous, but you know they’re already passing. It’s rained not long ago. And anyway, you won’t have trouble returning to safety if it does rain again.
You let yourself lay down, just looking up at the clouds.
You think back to the loops and to... Loop. Your guide. You still know so little about them, but you hope you’ll meet them again one day. Who were they? Why were they helping you? You really can’t help but wonder...
But, that thought aside, it’s nice. Getting to lay down like this, enjoying the fresh cool mountain air. All while still so close to your loved ones.
You take the time to think about another thing, something that happened recently. It was about a week ago now, that you and Isabeau have finally agreed, that you want to formally consider one another your partners! It was a little bumpy, since you realized, that your love for him isn’t quite the same as his love for you. His love is... deep, visceral, emotional. Yours is more akin to that, which you feel to your other family members. Still, though, you feel so much more of that to him, than to anyone else and you want to spend the rest of your life with him, if you only can. You feel a little worried, that you can’t reciprocate the deep romantic love he feels for you, but... but surely, it’s fine. He’s said as much. You’ve had many conversations about this by now. You’re still not sure how things are gonna continue to go. Getting bonded remains a complicated topic. Do you want to get bonded? Or is that something you’d rather stay clear of? You know you want to stay with him, even after the whole family stops traveling, but where? You’ve been traveling for as long as you remember, so it would feel weird to finally settle down.
You decide not to think about all these difficult things for now. You’ve got time and you’ve got people who can help you through everything. So it’s fine.
You enjoy this. Being here, laying here, thinking about the good things happening in your life. You almost dare close your eyes and nap for a little. Almost, before you notice... something in the clouds. Something reflecting or almost glowing through the blanket covering the sky.
It’s a strange shade. A strange shade that is bringing back no good memories.
You stand up and ready your hand over your dagger. You feel your breathing speed up. You continue to stare at the shade, it appears to grow brighter.
You try to get ahold of your thoughts, but they keep slipping! Bringing you back!! Which deity is bringing this upon you? The Change God? The Universe? Someone else entirely? You try to do a breathing exercise... Maybe it’s just one of those weird images again, like the ghosts you saw in the house... Maybe... The Universe is still yet to completely correct itself...
In... and out.
It’s still there. Still brighter. Stars, what do you do?
You’re holding the dagger now. You don’t know what it will do against whatever cosmic horror awaits beyond those clouds, but you don’t care!!!
Then, you see something emerge... It looks... Weird.
It keeps growing, coming out from under the clouds... There’s something resembling a head. It’s covered with that shade... it’s glowing. You see little hands grabbing the clouds as if the creature is trying to stabilize itself. And, on its head, you see massive eyes, staring directly at you.
Your breathing quickens again. You try to look around. It’s okay. It’s okay. You’re still close to your family. You can go back to them if anything goes wrong. You’re not on your own this time.
The creature, which has descended from the clouds, speaks.
“SIFFRIN!!!!!!!!!”
It knows your name. And it really is talking to you. You specifically. You take a step back. Its voice is loud, booming. Makes sense, given the size. This is a cosmic being. A cosmic talking directly to you. Should you pray? Should you hope? Should you ask it anything? Should you...
“Wha- What are you?!” You shout up at it. You stutter at the first syllable. You have to catch your breath.
“OH!!! OH!!!!!!!!! DON’T SCREAM!!! DON’T SCREAM!!! YOUR FAMILY MIGHT HEAR YOU!!!!!!!”
“B- But you’re screaming!” You lower the volume of your voice a bit, but not much.
“YEAH!!! I AM I AM SCREAMING!!!! BUT I CAN’T BE HEARD!!! ONLY YOU CAN HEAR OR SEE ME RIGHT NOW!!! MHM !!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!”
“And...” You lower the volume of your voice to that of regular speaking. “And you can hear me if I talk quietly?”
“I’M THE UNIVERSE UNIVERSE, SIFFRIN!!!!!!!!!!!! OF COURSE I CAN HEAR YOU!!!!!!! I KNOW EVERYTHING HAPPENING AT THE PRESENT MOMENT!!! ALWAYS ALWAYS!!!!!!!!!”
Then, without saying another word, the creature descends beneath the clouds. They then appear to float in place, but as you walk backwards, you notice... that they is really aren’t floating in place. They’re moving directly towards you, yet they don’t appear any larger in your vision. You move your head side-to-side to see them approaching, trying to compensate for your missing eye.
Finally, they get to the ground and then simply settle on a nearby rock... and stare at you with some weird joy in their eyes.
You stare back at them. What... what a weird creature. And that’s... the Universe. The very Universe that brought you into being, that lead you where you are, that you can only guess you used to worship before your roots were torn from beneath your feet. The very one.
“YUP!!! YUP!!!!!!! YUP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT’S ME, SIFFRIN!!!!!!!!!! YOU’RE THE FIRST MORTAL I’VE SPOKEN TO IN A THOUSAND THOUSAND YEARS!!!!!” A thousand thousand years? So... a million? “NO!!!!!!!!!!!! I JUST REPEATED THE WORD, STUPID STUPID SIFFRIN!!!!!!!!!”
“Wait-” You interrupt. “You can hear my thoughts?”
“I TOLD YOU TOLD YOU!!! I KNOW EVERYTHING HAPPENING AT THE PRESENT MOMENT!!! THAT INCLUDES YOUR THOUGHTS, SIFFRIN!!!!!!!! YOUR THOUGHTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“So... am I really the first mortal you’ve spoken to in-” You begin
“YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CAUSE THIS IS MEGA MEGA MEGA MEGA IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!!” They interrupt you, shamelessly.
“Did you...?”
“I REDUPLICATED THE WORD TWICE THUS SAID IT FOUR TIMES!!!!!!”
You decide not to pay mind to whatever they’re on about.
“So... why are you talking to me? Have you come to punish me for trapping the world in a timeloop?”
“WHAT??? NO!!!!!!! WHY WOULD I DO THAT WHEN I LITERALLY HELPED YOU MAKE THE LOOPY!!! AND YOU KNOW YOU’RE NOT THE FIRST TO ACCIDENTALLY USE WISH CRAFT TO TIMELOOP FOREVER!” You’re not... there’s others who... That’s a thought you’d rather ignore. “BUT I NEED YOU FOR SOMETHING, SIFFRIN!!!!!!!!”
You decide to sit down. Your own god, the Universe themself is talking to you. Stars, what do you even do here?
“Am I gonna forget this like Mira?” Mirabelle forgot her meeting with the Change God...
“NO!!!!!!!!!! BUT YOU’RE GONNA GO ON A LITTLE ADVENTURE WITH ME!!!!!! YAY!”
“What...? But I can’t, I... I have to stay with my family and...” and they’ll get worried if you just disappear suddenly.
“DON’T WORRY!!!!!!! I’LL PUT YOU RIGHT BACK BACK HERE IN SPACE AND IN TIME SO YOU CAN GO BACK TO THEM AS IF NOTHING EVER HAPPENED!!!!!!!!!!!”
But...
“BUT!!!!!!!!! DO YOU REMEMBER THE ISLAND???”
The... oh. Right. You do... well, you don’t. You remember finding out about it, which is about as far as it went. You remember nothing of the island itself. You’ve even forgotten the language again. You’ve encountered some books written in it and they’re giving you a headache again. It’s mild and you can try to read it if you really focus, but... it’s been getting harder.
“NO!!!!! EXACTLY!!!!!! YOU DON’T!!!! SO! I BRING YOU BACK IN TIME TO WHEN THE ISLAND EXISTED AND THEN YOU STOP THE GUY WHO WISHED FOR IT TO DISAPPEAR AND BOOM!!!!! ISLAND FIXED!!!! BACK FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Huh?! What? What? What?! Can they really... is it really... What?!
“COME ON!!!! SIFFRIN! THEN YOU CAN REMEMBER ITS NAME, ITS SANDS, ITS WHATEVER ELSE I DON’T KNOW!!!!!!”
“But you...” ...are omniscient.
“I WAS USING A PHRASE!!” Right... uh huh.
“SO!!!!!!!!!! ARE YOU READY, SIFFRIN?!”
You don’t really know if... but you feel something tug on your stomach, now so much stronger than ever before and then suddenly you see entire realities flash before your eyes as you are pulled and you don’t even know where and it lasts for what feels like a decade before... You can barely stand on your feet. You’re back. Back on... Back in...
Back in Polija, your home country.