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vulpixisananimal · 9 days ago

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[A:3 C61] [TW for: imagery of mutilated, bruised, and bleeding body] (Odile)

(It was sundown on the third day Ramos was out. No change.)

(You were sitting in the living room. Research notes splayed in front of you. You scoured every inch of your writing for anything that could help. Siffrin was asleep on Isabeau on the couch in front of you. Poor Siffrin had been having panics, but had been getting better. Although, it was concerning who it actually was you talked to.)

(Mal, Asterion, and Saffron. Only those three came out.)

(Asterion would stick to himself, talking silently, eating, and keeping in sight of you all. Any time any of you asked about what happened he froze up. It was clear, honestly, that the only reason he didn’t hide in his room was to alleviate all of your worries for him.)

(Mal would disappear for hours a time, only to return and drag Isabeau away. You asked him what that was about, but his lips were, for once, sealed. You had your suspicions, however.)

(But Saffron. . . They were the worst of all of them when it came to communicating. Getting them to admit they're saffron was pulling teeth. Getting him to admit he needs food was agony. And, you could see behind his smile.)

(“Persecutors need love just as much as anyone in order to heal.” That’s what the booklet Vixul gave Siffrin said. You could confirm it was true, but that didn’t make their biting remarks any less hurtful.)

(. . . Tension was high. If you could figure out how to help Ramos out of their catatonic state then. . . You took your glasses off and rubbed your eyes.)

(The issue is simple: Ramos’ catatonia was caused, indirectly, by mind craft. And the only one who knew mind craft was Ramos themself. So, what do you do?)

(You could continue to hope and pray for conventional remedies to work. You could look for an expert in psychology, or maybe even acupuncture. But you might as well wish to win a coin flip at that point! Ha, ha. . .)

(. . . Even with a grand library in your mind you couldn't think of anything.)

(Except. . . One thing.)

(. . . . . You didn't want to consider it.)

(You were considering it.)

(. . . . You finish considering it, and stand.) “I need a break.”

(The half asleep Isabeau opened an eye.) “Hmm?”

“I'm going to the library.”

“M’kaaay. . .”

(You've got your notes, coat, everything you need. You waste no time and leave the house, headed directly to the library.)

(You go over the plan in your head. Merlon is back, so there is no truce. Attempt to talk to him. Keep your distance. Look out for any surprises from Merlon, talk politely. Appeal to his soft side, and look for a way to keep him distracted so he can't read your thoughts. He's fast, and your craft type is at a disadvantage, so direct combat is a bad idea. What about a trade? Information for assistance?)

(You couldn't trade any old thing you knew, he's a historian. Perci would know about the Expression of Search’s Elaborate Dance of the Guide. No, it would need to be something more. . . Exciting.)

(You continued to walk. What about What Loop looked like? Call craft? The fact that your party has met gods multiple times now? The fight with the king?)

(. . . Siffrin’s cosmic temper tantrum would be best kept quiet.)

(You made it to the library, you'll check here first. You walk up the steps and into the lobby. The librarian from a few days ago was here, sleepily sipping a cup of tea. They waved.) “Madame Odile, good to see you again.”

“Hello, same to you.” (You walk up to the counter.)

“. . . Tea?”

(You paused, then smiled.) “. . Please.”

“Camomile or ginger.” (They ask, getting up.)

“Ginger, please. No milk, no sugar.”

“Perfect, I just boiled the pot.”

(You watch them go. A cup of tea would be perfect. Something to calm your nerves before, whatever happens happens. A moment later they were back, and handed you a cup. You thank them, then move into the library proper.)

(It didn’t take long. Perci was sitting at the center of the library, at a grand table. Books to either side of him. A chessboard to the left. You could hear the familiar scribbling of a pen. Your steps echoed through the silent building as you approached.)

(You stopped a few feet back from him, and waited.)

(There were a few moments where the only sound was that pen, before he finally stopped. He looked up, then back down again.) “. . . Madame.”

“Percival.”

“To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“. . .” (You walk around the table, place down your tea, and take a seat.) “I have come to strike a deal.”

“Have you now.” (He’s smiling, the face of a man truly absorbed in his work.) “I thought we weren’t all buddy buddy now.”

“You know why, Percival.” (You glare at him.)

“Haa. . . That, I do.” (He clicks his pen and puts it to the side.) “Three days already? That is worrying, but what do you want me to do about it?”

(You sip your tea, and stare directly at him.)

“. . . You’re very good at hiding your thoughts, Madame. And I must say, after the inn, I would sooner ride a bull off a cliff than try and tame your mind.”

(You keep your face neutral.)

“. . . . . That is to say, I should be giving you some more respect.” (Perci looks at you, then turns and grabs the chessboard, and starts setting it up.) “Chess? It’ll keep my mind wandering to yours.”

“Thank you.” (You huff.) “I’m no idiot, and while I can respect your mind games, I, for one, like cutting straight to the point.”

“Very respectable.” (He finishes placing the last pieces. Darkless on your side, Lightless on his.) “So, after you, madame. Light before shadow, after all.”

“Of course.” (You pick up a pawn, forward two.)

“So.” (He moves a pawn to match.) “You would like help with Ramos.”

“Yes.” (Pawn to cover.) “Either you help them recover, or teach me some form of mind craft to do it myself.”

“Ah, well that’s an issue, isn’t it?” (Knight forward.) “I will not teach you mind craft, and I doubt your companions will let me into Ramos’ mind.”

“That is an issue.” (Pawn forward.) “Why can’t you teach me?”

“And give you a dagger to stab me with?” (Knight takes a pawn.) “You would have to give me something good in return.”

“I see.” (Pawn takes the knight.) “Then how about what I found on our travels?”

“Hmm, tempting.” (Bishop forward.) “Very tempting, madame.”

“The ascent through the Dormont House of Change?” (Pawn forward.)

“Getting there.” (Pawn forward.) “Dormont is a nice little town, isn’t it?”

“Hmm? Have you been?” (Pawn takes a pawn.)

“Oh no no.” (Bishop takes a pawn.) “I’ve just heard so much about it when researching you all.”

“Really now?” (Knight takes a bishop.) “But of course, rumor can only tell you so much!”

“Ah of course, of course.” (He thinks, then moves a pawn up.) “After all, you tend to hear the strangest of rumors.”

“. . . Like?” (Knight takes a pawn.)

“Oh nothing too strange, just. . .” (Queen takes a knight; advantage to Perci.) “Giant cracks in the sky of an unknown shade, a cloaked figure dozens of stories tall, small things like that.”

“. . .” (You move a rook.) “Just silly rumors.”

“Oh? Is that the same with the rumors of the king?” (Queen takes a pawn.) “That he was an islander too?”

“. . .” (Move the king.)

“An islander just like my bonded, just like your traveler.” (Queen takes a rook.) “I wonder, do they share some other connection? Perhaps even a family member?”

“. . . Whoever Siffrins family was, they weren’t like the King.” (Knight takes the queen.) “If anything, the King's family would have been like your own.”

(Perci is stunned, looking at the board. He glances up, then back. He castles his king.) “And what would you know about that?”

“Quite a lot.” (Bishop takes a pawn; advantage to you) “Percival Monet, the youngest of the Monets, who destroyed his own family.”

“. . . That’s nothing-” (Knight forward.)

“Oh it’s everything.” (Bishop takes the knight.) “I did not recognize that swear you use, Perci. So, I got curious.”

“And what does that have to do with anything?” (Pawn forward.)

“I looked it up in a teenager's book about swears.” (You chuckle, pawn moved up.) “It’s Poterian.”

“. . .” (Pawn up.)

“A Poterian swear that’s only really used in very old, rich families.” (Knight takes a pawn.) “And from there, there’s only so many families to check.”

“But there isn’t a book in the library about the Monets.” (Pawn takes pawn.)

“And the House of Change library?” (Bishop takes a knight.) “The secret library? Each house has one, after all.”

“I. . .” (He pauses, looking over the board, eyes wide. Rook forward.) “. . . What do you know?”

“The Monet family. One of the oldest and well known in devoted Soleanist society. Old money. And old corruption.” (Bishop takes a pawn; Perci is in check.) “The last Monet’s were disgraced, the two house leaders at the time.”

“. . .” (Move rook.) “What else?”

“Just that the only Monet with any reputation left, is a historian.” (Bishop forward; Perci is in check.) “And that historian, is you.”

“. . . . . . Hah. . .” (Perci lowers his head.) “Ha, HA! HAHA!! Oh yes! Madame, I knew you were brilliant. From the moment I touched your mind, I knew, I just knew, you were something else.”

(His rook takes your bishop.)

(You lean forward. Something was wrong about this board. You had been counting moves ahead, but there were errors. You didn’t take into account some pieces, pieces that were there but you just, didn’t focus on them. They were out of the way, not a problem. He took your bishop, and you could see the next moves clearly. Next, your knight, then rook, then queen, and then. . .)

(Checkmate.)

“. . . . ha. . . Haha!!” (You sit back with a sigh.) “. . . How.”

“Ah, took you long enough.” (Perci looked at you with a smug smile.) “It was the tea.”

(You look at the cup of tea, then shake your head.) “You took control of the librarian, and spiked the tea with some sleep or relaxation agent. Not enough to be noticeable, but enough to graze my hand without me noticing.”

(Exactly.)

(In a motion, the tables and chairs melted into the floor. The bookshelves expanded, the ceiling disappeared into a thick fog miles in the air. Lanterns lit the endless halls. Perci seemingly disappeared. You stood in your headspace.)

(I don’t think vast is an accurate enough word to describe your mind, Odile. Your voice echoes through the library.)

(A better word for it would be private! You turn, where are you?)

(You pull a book off a shelf. Why, I’m just over here!)

(The hallways shift once again as you glide towards his voice. You can see him! Get, OUT-)

(Your breath catches.)

(You can only begin to imagine what form of hell Perci must have gone through to end up looking like a walking corpse. No, not a corpse. A corpse could at least rot.)

(He had scars, bruises, pinpricks, lines that look as if someone was sewing something into his skin. He had rashes from shackles, his nose was broken, one eye droopy. His clothes were torn and now looked more like a university uniform with the crest torn out.)

(He looks at you, the look he had, it was. . .)

(Hello, Madame. She looks so similar to how she does in reality, except for the fact she floats ever so slightly off the ground. Are you so tied to your own self image to not experiment a little, Madame?)

(Gems alive. Something hits you in your soul, some emotion, some fear. You take a step back. Why do you-)

(Look like this? Oh, Madame~ You close the book, drop it, and turn to her. Please, allow me to show you!)

#HEHEHEHHEHEHEHE HAPPY CHRISTMAS EEEEEEEEEVE #isat #in stars and time #isat art #isat au #art #siffrin system au #isat fanart #sifstem #isat spoilers #gonna take a break and then work on carrion might not get back to this in a while~#joke #isat fanfic #isat oc #isat odile #isat perci #perci

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traumaboyexo · 6 months ago

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CARRION!Sif Anti/Alt Friend quest

[[This is for a set of alternate friend quests that each trigger from each family member watching Siffrin have a small emotional breakdown, as well as...seeing something else.]]

(You're shaking.)

(...why? This isn't the first time you've done this...and yet...)

(You can barely feel your hunger right now. Just fear. You don't want to hurt them. You don't want to hurt any of them.)

(...everything is wrong. You shouldn't be doing this. You're not...even...)

"Siffrin?"

(You jump. Mirabelle's voice shakes you out of your trance.)

"Sorry, Mirabelle."

"I-it's alright, I know you can get a little sleepy sometimes. So, um, do you have time to help me with these papers?"

(...you have to make her happy.)

(Stop shaking, idiot.)

"...yeah I do."

(Mirabelle beams. You take your seat beside her.)

(Time to take the lead.)

(...you open your mouth.)

(...Huh?)

(Nothing is coming out.)

(Come on. You know you're next line.)

(Just ask. You have to. Ask what the papers are.)

(Why won't you say anything?! You've done this several times already, haven't you? Just say it! Don't have want to make her happy?! Don't you want them to love you?! You-!)

"...Siffrin, are you okay?"

(...you didn't even notice until now, but you're panting. You feel short on breath...and you're sweating badly.)

(You quickly bring your head down.)

(You can feel Mirabelle still staring at you intensely. You can barely look back at you. You can't make her worried. You're supposed to help her. You HAVE to help her. Stick to the script. Stick to the script. Stick to the...)

(...Mirabelle places a hand on your forehead...she's checking for a fever.)

"Okay, it's not a fever, s-so...uhm..."

"...Siffrin, c-could you look at me, please?"

(...you muster what energy you have left and look at her.)

"Siffrin, are you stressed or anxious about anything? O-oh! Was it me, d-did I accidentally make you anxious about these papers and-!"

(NO!)

(Can't make her worried about you!)

(You find your voice has returned.)

"No! It's not you...and I'm just..."

"I'm just...thinking about stuff, haha."

(...is she buying it?)

"...are you thinking about...something really bad?"

(...she did, kind of.)

(She can't know. She can't.)

"...we should talk about your papers."

"I had a suspicion...but they're...bonding papers, right?"

"O-oh! That's...actually a good guess?"

(She isn't as surprised as she usually is.)

"But Siffrin...I don't want to talk about that if... if something is going on with you."

(There's nothing wrong with you.)

"There's nothing wrong with me."

(Liar.)

(You ignore the growling in your stomach.)

(You ignore the uncomfortable feeling of your sweat dripping down your face.)

"...I think this is important for you. We can worry about me later."

(Mirabelle looks concerned.)

"Well, okay then..."

"Well, I-I'm not planning on getting bonded just yet, these are just dating profiles."

(You try to look surprised but your face feels numb.)

"They came from a dating company I asked before The King happened, and I haven't had a chance to properly look through them...and..."

(...you wish she'd stop looking at you so worriedly.)

(...you have to keep it moving.)

"Go on."

(She nods.)

"W-well, since it is someone I'm meant to spend the rest of my life with, I'm thinking I could use another pair of eyes. Your eyes!"

"Or rather, your...uh...one eye."

(She sighs, and only now you notice it seems like she's trying her best not to cry.)

(You're horrible.)

"...Siffrin...I-I don't think I can just-"

(Please.)

"Mirabelle. Please."

"...you're doing this as a distraction from tommorow, right?"

(You can barely hold back your shaking anymore.)

"Please. I need this distraction as well."

"...Let me help you."

(...there's some slight relief in her eyes, but still full of the same concern.)

"...alright Siffrin."

(She gives a small smile.)

"You can help me."

(She pulls out the massive folder of papers from her dress pocket.)

(...Maybe if she told you she was carrying this, you could have carried it for her.)

"O-okay, let's start with this."

(It's the picture of that strong buff man.)

(Tough muscles. Hard to chew probably.)

"...boring."

"Besides, they look like Isabeau."

(She gives a light snicker.)

"They kind of do. Next one-"

(You can't do this. You can't do this you can't do this you can't do this you can't you can't you can't you can't.)

"I'm sorry Mirabelle. I can't talk about this anymore."

(Your breathing is heavy and hard. Your sweating is getting worse. And your stomach won't stop growling.)

"...I...I'm sorry."

(You can't look at her. You can barely focus on anything. It feels like you could explode any second.)

"...I'm worried that...I'm..."

(If you say how you feel, will she hate you?)

(Even so, you can't stop yourself anymore. It feels like the exact opposite of before. All the words are spilling out. You hold back as much as you can. You try your best not to cry. You try your best not to scream or shout.)

(You feel horrible.)

(You feel hungry.)

"...I won't ever be bonded. I won't ever find a partner. I-I'm, I'm a freak. I'm a monster. I'm not worth a single notice. I'm...I can't..."

(It seems like everything is going dark.)

(You can't stop. Your stomach growls.)

"I can't be loved, no matter how many profiles I look through myself and I can't help myself and I'm always hungry and I..."

(...you try to continue but you can barely feel your own voice or mouth of face.)

(Everything feels so...out...of reach...)

(...)

(...you hear a sharp gasp from Mirabelle.)

(You feel everything snap back into view.)

(You're breathing eased up. You've stopped sweating.)

(...what happened?)

"...Siffrin?"

(Slowly, you turn to Mirabelle.)

(...)

(...you made her worried.)

(How could you do this to her.)

(You were supposed to help her.)

(...)

(You're stomach growls. You're hungry...at a time like this.)

(You really are a freak.)

(...you bury your face under your hat.)

(You can't even look at her properly.)

(You...)

(...someone puts a hand on your shoulder.)

(MIRABELLE puts a hand on your shoulder.)

(Even as you look away, you can hear her voice. She's not being afraid. Or angry.)

(She's being kind.)

"Siffrin..."

"...I have something to tell you too."

"The truth is...I don't really want to be bonded. Or...even date anyone at all."

(You already know this.)

"The truth is...I'm been scared too. I've been trying to force myself to change...and I've been worried I'm not strong enough to do it."

(You already know this.)

"And I'm worried that I'm supposed to do these things, because I have to show my faith, and I have to show...I have to show that I can do this."

(You already know this.)

"But...another reason is because...I'm worried. I'm worried that...it's possible I'll be alone, forever."

(...)

"When The King attacked, I was worried I lost all my friends. Everyone I thought I could ever count on...but...I was wrong."

(...)

(You slowly look up at her.)

(She's smiling. She's relieved you're finally looking at her again.)

"Siffrin. I don't know what happened to you. Or why you would think like that...but..."

"...I'm not worried about being alone. I've got you, and Isabeau, and Madame Odile, and Bonnie."

"And...I'm glad I can talk about these things with you. Because you're my friend. And I care about you. And I know you feel the same way."

(...you do.)

"So don't ever feel like you'll be alone when we're around, okay?"

(...you stay silent. You can barely find the words.)

(This time she shouts.)

"Promise me!"

(Woah!) "I promise!"

(She's smiling so widely it's nearly contagious.)

"Good! A-and if you're worried whether you wasted my time or anything dumb like that, I think you've helped me."

"I think...I don't have all the answers I need just yet. But I think...I may not need to change everything about myself."

(Clever. She's always been clever.)

"When I figure it out, I promise, I'll tell you about it."

(...you should say what's on your mind.)

"I'm glad I met you, Mirabelle."

"...me too, Siffrin."

"...I'll see you later, okay?"

(You nod and smile.)

(You're really smiling. You feel refreshed. You feel relieved.)

(...and yet, as she walks away, she looks back and glances at you for just a brief second.)

(She's nervous about something.)

(...but what?)

(...you can feel it again.)

(Your growing hunger.)

(You got a MEMORY OF UNCERTAINTY.)

(You'll always remember this.)

[Whatever happened there, Stardust? Well, in any case...]

[When equipped, Memory of Uncertainty boosts all your Housemaiden's stats by 25...but by giving her your turn, all her stats double temporarily! Woah!]

[Your Housemaiden also learned the skill 'Loyal Loving Barrier'!!!]

['Loyal Loving Barrier' not only absorbs all damage, but gives your family a buff depending on how much damage was absorbed! Just like your other shield, it's only for one turn though!!!]

[Seems like you'll only get this skill when you have this exact same conversation. Though, it's not easy to fake an emotional breakdown, is it, Stardust??]

[If only you had something that could trigger that awful fear when you wanted to…]

#in stars and time #isat spoilers #isat siffrin #carrion #carrion!sif au #isat au #isat fanfic #writing #isat mirabelle #Cw: emotional breakdown

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traumaboyexo · 3 months ago

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CARRION!SIF: ANTI-FRIEND QUEST (LOOP) [PART 1/2]

[[[Did you miss Carrion Sif? I don't know, but here it is! Just a short one.]]]

(You climb out of the bed, making sure you don't wake Isabeau up.)

(The growling is so much worse. So horrible, so violent. Have you grown even hungrier throughout the loops?)

(...maybe. You've always been starving anyways, haven't you?)

(Slowly, you open the door as quietly and carefully as possible. Not a creak, not a click.)

(You can't even be bothered to change into your cloak. Your pyjamas will be enough. You won't be gone for long.)

(You pass by the dining room where you and your family had eaten just a few hours ago. Where you had been gorging on your food like an animal. Shamelessly, disgustingly.)

(You open the front door of the clocktower, standing unflinching in the cold night air.)

(In the midst of the trees, you spot very slight movements, a collection of several small blurs.)

(You're starving. There has to be something to eat out here.)

(And so you step into the woods.)

(You run as fast as your legs can move, chasing every slight rustle and footstep that isn't your own.)

(You can barely think. You just know what you need to move. To find something to eat. Something that you must catch.)

(You must have scratched yourself a few times. Slight stings come from various points on your body. Yet, they hardly feel as though they matter. They all feel small and fleeting.)

(They'll all go away once you find your prey.)

(And you've found it.)

(Is it a horse? A deer? Either way, it's here, and it will be yours.)

(Your knees are burning, feeling as though they should've given out a long time ago. Yet, you ignore it and continue to chase.)

(You move faster, and faster and faster, quickly closing the gap between the creature and you.)

(And now you see it in range. Not fast enough.)

(You pounce and draw your dagger.)

(STAB.)

(The animal screeches in pain. It yells out, struggling and snaking.)

(You remove the dagger with a violent pull, tearing into the flesh. With one last yelp, it falls over.)

(The hunt has ended, and you barely take a second to stop as you tear into your prize.)

(Your jaws break apart the bones with ease, digging into the corpse and chewing down on the soft yet sturdy meat, while splashes of blood splatter across your face, staining your clothes as your face contorts in hunger.)

(You continue to bite, and chew, and bite, and chew.)

(You're so hungry. You can't stop. You have no reason to stop. You must not stop. You must eat. You need more. You need more.)

(Disgusting disgusting disgusting-)

(And yet you can't bring yourself to care.)

(You lose yourself in your gluttony, you can barely feel your arms, your legs, your face, your body...)

(You growl as you take in a massive mouthful of the carcass.)

(The sound is wet, gross yet satisfying, as blood continues to drip down from your own mouth.)

"...Geez, Stardust."

(You flinch and look towards where the voice came from. The bright glowing star making no effort to hide itself from you.)

(It's Loop.)

"You really don't care for table manners, huh?"

(Despite the joke, it's clear they're not in a positive mood. They're concerned, maybe even scared.)

✨("What exactly are you doing here?")

"What do you think?"

"..."

"How about we talk about this somewhere... more familiar?"

#in stars and time #isat spoilers #isat au #isat siffrin #carrion!sif au #isat loop #isat writing #carrion #Carrion!Sif #in stars and time spoilers #In Stars and time Siffrin #cw gore

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traumaboyexo · 24 days ago

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CarrionSif as in the video game carrion?

As your payment from answering this I give you the greatest GIF

Yes!!!! The idea is that Siffrin is basically the Carrion Monster, and results in him constantly having a beast like hunger of sorts. It basically started when I was thinking of giving Odile a parasite similar to the Carrion, then it turned into making Siffrin the Carrion monster instead.

Very fun stuff

a lot of Sadnesses get eaten

#in stars and time #isat spoilers #carrion!sif #carrion!sif au

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traumaboyexo · 7 months ago

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CARRION!Sif Memory of Sadness

[[Immediate new post! But that's just because I already had this written.]]

(Your stomach growls as your family enters the familiar first hallway.)

(It's the same sadness. Every time. Annoying. Frustrating.)

(...)

(You're. So. Hungry.)

(Perhaps...perhaps payback is due.)

(It's almost breakfast, isn't it?)

"A Sadness, huh? The House must be crawling with them..."

"O-okay everyone, let's, um, uh--"

(You pounce.)

(Your prey is almost immediately within your grasp. You don't waste a single moment and anchor it to the ground.)

(STAB!)

(Your dagger has pierced straight through the sadness and into the floor. It screams and struggles in agony. Music to your ears.)

(Feasting time.)

(You can barely focus on anything else. You're so hungry. You stare and tower over the Sadness, wrapping your tentacles around it, making sure they're tight enough to cause more pain.)

(It begins struggle faster. Good.)

(You rip the Sadness off the floor. Your jaws are already open, excited, anticipating the sweet meal.)

(You bring the sadness closer, and closer.)

(The tears are flowing. The screams continue.)

(You're starving.)

(CRUNCH.)

(You chew. Your hunger is satiated as the salty sweet taste and prime meat texture churns around within your mouth.)

(It's amazing, delectable.)

(It really is better to make your own food.)

(You chew and chew and chew, making sure the taste lingers for as long as possible.)

(You finally swallow.)

(For the time being, you are no longer hungry.)

(...)

(You concentrate.)

(You feel your hands and fingers and legs and toes return to you.)

(You turn to your party.)

"I'm full!"

(...they're horrified.)

(That's to be expected.)

(You really are unlovable.)

[REWIND]

"A Sadness, huh? The House must be crawling with them..."

"O-okay everyone, let's, um, uh--"

"I'm hungry."

(Everyone looks at you in surprise.)

"Already?" (Isabeau says with a confused smile.) "Right now?"

(Bonnie digs around their pockets.)

"Hold on Frin, I might have something here--"

"Hehe." (Mirabelle giggles)

"Thank you Siffrin."

"...oh!" (Isabeau snaps his fingers.) "Were you trying to calm Mirabelle down, Sif?"

"Ohhhh. That's pretty clever!" (Bonnie says with a point.)

"Indeed. A joke before battle. As though you don't say them enough DURING them." (Odile says, a smirk across her face.)

(...you give a laugh of your own.)

(Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.)

(You can't lash out like that again.)

(You can't let them know.)

(No matter how much your stomach growls.)

(Stick to the script.)

#in stars and time #isat spoilers #writing #isat au #isat fanfic #isat siffrin #carrion!sif au #carrion #in stars and time spoilers #cw: gore

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cyten0 · 3 months ago

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A Symphony In Crimson

Act 1: A Movement in Black

Chapter 16

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...You cry.

What else can you do but cry?

You killed one country, and now you’ve trapped another in a paradox!

They’ll all be stuck in here with you, because you broke the wish that carried their hopes and dreams!!! Their salvation!!!

… No. No, you owe it to them to keep trying. To save them, SOMEHOW. You CAN’T let this happen again!

THINK. If you can’t complete the wish, you have to shatter it! Break it, even if it breaks you!! You weren't planning to live after this anyways.

But you also have to defeat the king. Wish or no, you owe it to them to do that. If only you could stop the loop there. End it… Freeze it…

...That’s it! You remember. You came to this conclusion a while ago, that if you could collide the kings wish with yours directly, they’d both shatter. Stop the reversing, and reverse the stopping!! ...But he’d never do that. Never give up his wish. He’d rather kill everyone then do that…

...But

…You don’t need him for that, do you?

You just need his heart.

You’ll have to keep it beating, to take it’s power. But if you eat him, or infect him, that’s a simple thing, isn’t it? Simply assimilate him into yourself, and make his heart yours!

You said you’d never do that to a human but he doesn’t count anymore does he? He’s just a monster! Just a monster...

Yes. Of course. You’ll kill the monster yourself. Take his heart, save the country.

But. You’ll need to be alone with him for that. You can’t do something that monstrous in front of your family. Nonononono you absolutely cannot! You need them to trust you enough to let you face him alone.

That trust. You need to help them again. Like you did that one time! They trusted you then, right? You don’t… remember how it went. Not exactly. It’s a little hard to think! You didn’t eat flesh the last loop, Odile’s been too suspicious lately. No nutrients for the brain! But you’ve eaten plenty of sadnesses, so you won’t be tempted, right?… right?

… You’d best keep it quick. Just in case. Surely, you can do this quickly, right? Surely.

...Get up Siffrin. You have. A country. To save.

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You’re looking over your dating profiles. Change, you really aren’t getting far at all with this. You need to so something else. You probably should go check up on Siffrin, they have napped for a bit! Maybe-

Oh, there they are! Oh. Change, they don’t look good at all! Like a walking corpse! Y-you can’t really say that to them. Um. Just uh.

◉ “Hi Siffrin? Um. Are you okay? You look like you had a really bad nightmare.”

✦ “I’m fine Mira. Do you want help with your papers?”

◉ “What! Oh, n-no of course not, don’t worry about them! They’re-”

✦ “Bonding papers, right? You seem like your struggling.”

How did he-? ...N-Nevermind, you guess you can’t hide that anymore.

◉ “I-I. Um… Yes.”

They take a seat down next to you.

◉ “W-Well they're more dating profiles, but yes. I suppose I could use a hand with them. It’s something I was looking into before the king, but… I am choosing a potential lifelong partner, and I’m… not sure what to look for.”

✦ “Do you have to?”

Wait WHAT?!?

✦ “You don’t need to be with anyone. Clearly you don’t want to. So why even bother?”

Don’t want to- How does he!?! Change he shouldn’t just assume he knows you like this!

✦ “Better to accept it now then later. Better to stay the same then make yourself suffer.”

Oh that's it, Now he’s thrown change into it! You just!

You slap him in the face.

Crack

O-Oh No! What! How did! His neck just! Their head is almost backwards! You didn’t slap them that hard! Oh no oh no you didn’t want to hurt them you just wanted them to stop, you-!

...You hear. A strange sound. Like something wet ripping. As their head. Rights itself. Their body doesn’t even move. And you hear their bones snap into place… What…

◉ “S-Siffrin?”

✦ “…”

◉ “I-I.. Just. You can’t act like you know me like that, and then throw change into things, this is really important I-”

✦ “No. You’d know best, wouldn’t you Mira?”

They turn to you, their face grim, unfeeling. You can feel yourself shake. Something is wrong!

✦ “You’re strong. You care about things. And no one knows you better then yourself, right? You’ve always been so strong. Always trying to be better. Which is why you should know. That strength? That will, that lets you get through anything? It means NOTHING when you try and fight yourself.”

They stare at you. There is this strange shade glowing from the dark of their eyes. You can’t move. Change, what is-

✦ “You can try and break through, but it’ll just hurt yourself. Hurt those around you, as you rip yourself apart trying to claw out that piece you think is wrong. You can’t fight yourself. You can’t run from yourself. No matter how much you try.”

Their every word strikes at your fears. Your fear that you'll be unable to change, your fear that something is wrong with you, your fear that your wrong in trying. It feels like they tower over you. This isn’t like them at all! It’s like some dark part of your mind come to life!

✦ “We never can.”

Wait… No, something is VERY wrong!… You aren’t letting this stand!

◉ “I… Siffrin, I don’t know what’s happening with you. But that doesn’t let you talk to me like that!”

They shrink back into their cloak, hiding their face under their hat. You! Change, now you’re angry at them! They shouldn’t have said ANY of that! No matter WHAT’S happening!!!

◉ “Is that REALLY what you think? That I can't Change?! I can't believe you!!!"

◉ “I don’t know where you got the idea that you know me all of a sudden, but I’m not having it! I thought you better then this! Better then running around poking at my worst parts! And… I'm not going to put up with it!”

You. Are. Furious!

◉ “You’ve teased me before, but I thought you better then to try and actually hurt me! But now here you are! You don’t get to talk about me like that, and you DEFINITELY don't get to talk about Changing like that!”

Change, you can’t talk to them right now!

◉ “...I’m going to go to the clocktower. I don’t want to see you until tonight.”

You storm off.

...For a brief bit. You turn back. What was that? That wasn’t… You don’t know what that was… You’ll have to talk with the others. Maybe talk with Isabeau. Something is up.

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You… Why did you do that. That wasn’t the right way to talk about it at all. You got caught off guard and just started talking and… You couldn’t help it!

Stars, you should be better then this!! Better at keeping yourself at check, even now!! Better at keeping all your worst thoughts back in a little bottle at the back of your mind, better at keeping the monster you are from ever seeing the light of day, and...

...It’s fine. You’ll just… Have to talk to her later. Explain what you meant. You… can’t afford to loop right now. Not that you have a way before tomorrow without stabbing your own heart out, but.

If you did, you’d struggle more to be human. You might even have to resort to that blinding corpse again, and you don’t want that. You’d dig yourself even further into this pit.

After all, look what taking too long did already! Could have lasted long enough to hunt and recover if killing the king didn’t take so long! Could maybe have granted your wish! You can’t afford to make more mistakes, you’ve made too many. You have to make this work.

You can’t fail them. Not again, you refuse to fail them again. You have to do something right by them, you have to make it up to them somehow after all this!! HAVE to leave them better then when you started.

Even if she doesn’t get it now, it’ll help eventually right? After you're gone, she’ll get to figure out what you meant. But you’d rather she knows NOW, because she was happy when she did, and after all she did for you, you just-!

You’ll just. Try and salvage this. It should be fine.

Maybe. Odile next? Get that out of the way. Before Mira tells her anything. So that she’ll already trust you some before. Give you a chance to explain yourself. Odile doesn’t trust easy, so it’s best to do that now.

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You’re currently shopping, getting ready for tomorrow. Got most of the ingredients Boniface needs for snacks tomorrow, including some dried meats for Siffrin. Now you just need to look into anything else that might help.

Oh. You notice Siffrin approaching out of the corner of your eye. Gems, they do not look good. Like someone on their deathbed from illness. Perhaps their mysterious condition is causing issues? It may be worth getting them food earlier if so.

◆ “Oh, Siffrin. You look ill. Is everything alright?”

✦ “I’m fine Odile! Actually-”

◆ “No, something’s clearly wrong, what-”

✦ “Have you heard of a familytale?”

Wait. What.

...Hold on. Why did they know to mention that?… They're clearly trying to change the topic, but they know more then they should.

◆ “...I may have. Why?”

✦ “I heard someone might have one! Had a feeling you might want to check.”

Hm… You do want one, but. That reasoning feels. Flimsy. And you still notice that he’s avoiding their poor state… Let’s see where this goes.

◆ “Lead the way, I suppose.”

They nod, and begin to head out. As you follow them, you notice their stance. They're not walking like normal. The way they seem to glide across the ground, the way their movements seem on instinct, the way they move to their destination without a single pause…

It reminds you of their more feral combat stance. The one they take at their peak. But their clearly not at that peak. And they're certainly not in combat.

You enter the boulangerie. Siffrin approaches a small girl near the side.

✦ “Excuse me, I heard you have a certain book?”

“Oh, um. Only book I have is this one!”

She holds up a book labeled ‘Paperase Familytale’. Their father speaks up

“What? You had it Charline? Hm… I suppose you must be looking for it?”

✦ “Yes, if it’s alright for us to borrow it? We’ll make sure to give it back before leaving.”

“Well, I suppose there’s no harm in that.”

The little girl nods in agreement, and hands Siffrin the book.

You did catch that. The boulanger didn’t know their daughter had it. Yet another thing Siffrin seems to know out of nowhere…

Siffrin turns to you, with a smile on their face.

✦ “Do you want to go somewhere quiet to read?”

◆ “… Sure. Have a place in mind?”

They nod. And you follow them.

>>>

...You know this clearing. Found it earlier actually. It would be a nice reading spot. You thought as much when you first saw it… And yet. It’s Siffrin who led you here. Like they're taking a page out of your own brain.

You’d look at this book. But. Right now. Siffrin takes priority. You look them over, trying to see if you can��t glean anything else.

✦ “… It’s a really interesting book, right? You know. Culturally.”

◆ “… Siffrin. How did you know that girl had a familytale?”

✦ “Oh uh! Just. Heard it. Around.”

◆ “...Sure. Just... Around…. Better question then. How did you know I wanted to read one?”

They don’t respond. Glancing around nervous.

◆ “And why here? I literally found this spot yesterday. Odd that you’d bring me here…”

They still say nothing. Hiding their face under their hat.

◆ “… I don’t mind people keeping secrets, Siffrin. But I do NOT appreciate Secrets about myself, or when friends keep those secrets from me. Especially if those secrets are important.”

You notice the stress on them visibly.

◆ “And something tells me this is important. Gems… You're literally shaking. You look so tense you're going to snap… I was already worried, but now I’m VERY worried. What’s wrong, How can I-”

✦ “STO̵͓͝P.”

They freeze. And start to rise. Wait. Their eyes… What is that strange shade…?

✦ “Don’t mind secrets, Odile? That’s not what it looks like from here. You can say that all you want, but every time something goes ever so slightly off, you just HAVE to pry, HAVE to look further in. HAVE to know, Don’t you?”

There is this glare in their face. Blank, yet their voice drips with displeasure. No, there’s more to it…

✦ “What does it take, Odile? What does it take, for you to just TRUST that someone has their secrets in check? No matter what I do, you keep prying, keep searching, keep looking into things you shouldn’t. I do EVERYTHING to keep myself safe, to be a good human for you all. Try and get away from the corpses. But You. Just. Keep. Prying.”

Safe? Human? Corpses, PLURAL?… This is bad. This is very bad. Gems alive, what is happening to Siffrin? What HAPPENED to Siffrin?

✦ “You just can’t get yourself to trust others can you? CAN YOU? ...Why would you? You’ve had plenty taken from you.”

What. Nonono Gems what do they know? How do they-

✦ “You can’t trust family to not hurt you. Your dear mother proved that, didn’t they?”

!!! You won’t take that! You grip his collar and stare daggers at them. They do NOT get to talk about that!

… The shade in their eyes fades. They… look distressed… Like they didn't mean to... Gems alive, you are not able to have this conversation right now. You let go.

◆ “… Thank you for the familytale. I’m sure you must be busy. I’ll see you at the clocktower.”

You head out of the clearing.

◆ “Don’t come by for a bit.”

… Gems. You know they're in bad shape. SOMETHING has come to haunt them. But you’re too angry to deal with it. Let Isabeau know, and move on. He’s good at handling emotional situations.

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… Blind it all. You got frustrated. Lost it. Why. Why is it so hard. Why is just being a normal, good person so BLINDING hard. Why can’t you just get yourself together for A FEW BLINDING MINUTES, at least for Odile!

...She was so angry at you. You thought she would kill you, then and there. You’d deserve it. You shouldn’t have said any of that. You hate making her mad.

She’s so nice normally. She understands, at least a bit, what you go through. Makes everything a bit lighter. And now, instead of doing that for her, everything just feels heavier for both of you. And you hate it. You ruined it again…

… She definitely won’t trust you now. Not at all. And the others probably won't either now. But.

It’s fine. You weren’t planning to live past this day. If you just have to stop them from joining you against the king by force, then It’ll be fine. She can kill you after for it, or maybe you’ll already be dead. As long as she at least comes to the house, it’ll be okay. She might not trust you, but you don’t need her trust to protect her.

But… You’d like to do a good thing for someone at least. Even if some of them hate you. You deserve hatred. You ruined everything. But you want to help them.

Bonnie. You can at least do well by Bonnie, right? You have to.

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You’re just kinda waiting. Dunno what to do. These look like good veggies, so if Dile got food around here, you should be able to make dinner good. You hope she got those malangas.

Oh, there’s Frin!… Wow they look really crabbing bad. Like. BAD bad.

✿ “...heyfrin. You… you okay?”

✦ “...Yeah! Um. Is there. Anything you need?”

… You wouldn’t ask normally, not to Frin. But they don’t look good, and they asked to help, so they must REALLY want to help for some reason. So…

✿ “Um… you sure? Anything?”

✦ “Of course! Anything.”

✿ “… I have an idea. Come on!”

You grab Frin’s hand, and start draggin them out of town. You notice they're… not movin right. And they keep lookin at you funny. Maybe they had a real crabbin bad nightmare or something?… Should be okay. You’ll just make extra food for them later!

>>>

Okay! You see some sadnesses in the distance. This should work good!

✿ “Okay. Frin. I want you to teach me how to fight!”

✦ “Okay!”

✿ “Wait really!?”

✦ “Sure, you did say anything!”

Frin looks off to the side, and fishes something out of their coat

✦ “I actually have something that should work really nicely for you! You’re probably going to have to stay in the backline, but this should help you fight even from there!”

Frin pulls out a strange device, and hands it to you.

✿ “Wait really?!?”

✦ “Yes. This is called a craft revolver. It let's you shoot craft like Odile, as long as it’s charged up beforehand. Now, you do have to be careful, it IS a weapon. So let me tell you how it works first.”

Frin explains the craft revolver. This is so crabbing COOL! You make extra sure about the safety thing. Don’t wanna hurt anyone… But you think you can do good with this! You’re really good at noticing stuff, and that's all this is! And keepin your hands steady, which you can do real good!

✦ “Alright. Let’s give it a test run. I’ll go distract that sadness over there. You stay here, and prepare to shoot it. I’ll keep it still as I can, so take your time.”

O-Okay…. Frin’s lookin a little sick, but they wouldn’t be fightin a sadness if they weren’t sure about it. So It’s fine!

You watch Frin head out. They start going around the sadness. You start aiming… Gotta be careful. Don’t hit Frin. He said to take it slow, so you can make sure you only hit the sadness.

They're fightin quite a bit. Frin isn’t movin much, probs to make it easier for you. But… the sadness is also movin funny. It’s not movin like a normal sadness. You guess it makes aiming a bit easier but…

!!!You saw Frin trip on a branch! They're on the ground like-! You gotta-!

BANG

Nonononono You panicked, you hit the sadness, but-! You also hit Frin!!!! You run to them, you gotta make sure their okay, please be okay, please be okay!

✿ “FRIN!!!!”

You get close to Frin! Nonono their covering their main eye! Nononono!!!

✦ “I-It’s okay Bonnie! I’m fine! Just got some sadness in my eye!”

No they didn’t!!! You saw it! You saw the blast go right there!!! Nononono!

✦ “I’m fine, see!”

They lift their hand and-!!!!

Their eye! It’s… there’s still blood around it but! Their eye!

It’s black, with some kind of strange X shape in a weird shade…

They flinch, and cover it up again.

✿ “...F-Frin?”

✦ “S-sorry. Um. Just. Give me a second… it’s fine, I’m not hurt, just-”

! Their using that stupid face again! That crabbing voice! When they lie about things being fine!

✿ “No it’s NOT! What’s going on Frin, why did your eye look like that?!? A-And why was it back!?! I saw it get hit! Why did-”

✦ “It’s fine! It’s fine it’s fine!”

Frin’s being dumb, they need healing, You can help! You check your pockets for a sour tonic. Found it- OW! You think you broke a vial earlier. Crab it, it’s just a little cut, Frin needs the tonic-

!!! Frin’s scared! Their panting and shaking! No!

✿ “Frin, It’s okay, I got healing, Lemme-”

✦ “St̵̖̒ay̸̨͂ ̴̡͘Bac̵̙̔k!!̵̖̎!̴̗̈”

Frin starts backing away from you, suddenly! They stop covering up their eye, and start covering their mouth for some reason? Their eye still looks weird, but now it’s… shaking?!

✦ “Nonononono not now not now-”

✿ “F-Frin? What’s going on?”

Your starting to get scared. You’ve never seen Frin scared like this…

You hear something. Something further ahead is coming close, fast! You turn your head and see a sadness running straight at you!!!

✦ “D̵̬͙͌̿͝O̵̧͎̺͊́N’T YOU̵̼̅ ̶̬͉́͒DAR̴̪͇͐̿E̴̖̊!!!̶͎̯͆!̴̘̰̊̿͠!̵̖̟̤̅̚”

Before you can blink, the sadness is stabbed through the heart by… some kind of fleshy, toothy thing?!?

Frin leaps at the sadness, as he starts to turn into some kind of monster, and starts ripping it apart!!! And… He starts….

Eating it.

F-Frin. Is eating the sadness…

Nonono this is all wrong!!! this… Frin…

The sadness. Is gone. And Frin. Starts to. Turn back. To normal….

They look at you. And their eye. Is normal. But that weird shade. Is still glowing under it.

✿ “Ḅ̴͠o̴̩͑n̷͖̏n̴̠̈i̶̠̐ẹ̷́…”

That voice…. They're still…

…

You run.

…

You get back to town. Frin’s not here yet. Must not have followed. You… Za. You gotta see Za!

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… You cry. Blind it all. BLIND IT ALL!!!!

You… You forgot. To help them be steady, and then they shot you on accident, and.. and it takes energy to heal stuff like that. And then… You couldn’t think. Your body was screaming for food, and then it smelled Bonnie and… And you couldn’t stop thinking about that time and….

… You scared them. Stars, you scared them. Seeing them scared like that. You never wanted to see them that scared again. Especially of you. You just wanted to help them, why does it have to go so wrong?!? Why can’t you ever do something right ONCE IN YOUR WHOLE BLINDING MONSTER LIFE!!!!

You… You don’t know what to do now. You don’t know what to do. You can feel the scent of sugar but you force it back. If you go back, you’ll make this worse. You just…

… Isa. Isa. Isa is nice. Isa can help you be calm. And If you can help Isa, in any way. Maybe. Just maybe. You can go in peace. You owe it to Isa to make things better.

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...You’re worried about Sif. With what everyone has been saying, Something very bad is happening to them. Mirabelle was upset, Odile was frustrated, and poor Bonnie couldn't even make a full sentence! You just. Hope they’ll talk about it with you. Maybe.

Oh. There they are… Yeah. They look bad. Like they’d fall apart in the slightest breeze. In every way.

✦ “Hey Isa!”

There’s this half hearted smile, planted over their face. Trying to cover up the despair they had when they rounded the corner.

▲ “Oh. Sif… You… You doing Okay?”

✦ “...I’m fine.”

▲ “You sure? The others mentioned you were… not doing so good today. What’s up, is it something you can tell your buddy Isa?”

They stay silent. You don’t want to push them on this, but you kinda have to.

▲ “… Look, I get it, something is up, and you don’t want to talk about it, but it’s okay! Just. Please? I want to help the others understand what’s going on, and I want to understand as well, we’re all worried about you.”

They start to shake. You're a little nervous, but you're sure you can diffuse this whole mess.

▲ “Please?”

They freeze. And turn to you.

✦ “...You're scared, aren’t you?”

H-huh?

✦ “I can hear your heartbeat. You're scared. Scared they're right. Scared I’d hurt people. Scared of me.”

▲ “W-Wait just a-”

✦ “You’re always so blinding scared. You put up such a brave face, but deep down you’re a scared little rabbit. Always scared of something going wrong, Always scared that you’ll mess something up again. You’ll always hide your emotions behind your strong, silly persona, hoping the fear will go away.”

You don’t know how to react. Their eyes are glowing a strange shade. They stare at you. The frailness gone.

✦ “But what’s worse is the idea that someone you like could be bad. Someone close would be a danger. Because that would hurt far more. I-”

They put their face in their cloak, the weird aura vanishing.

✦ “… Just go Isa. They were right. So just go. Tell them what you want, it won’t matter.”

You….

▲ “Sif, I-”

They turn their face up, furious.

✦ “I said-”

Siffrin’s face rips apart as their mouth opens up across their entire body into a fanged maw. They morph into a towering creature, looming over you. Their eyes turn into an unnatural darkness with a strange shape in that violent shade. Lengthy hands grip the earth around you, holding them up. Twisting, black, fanged protrusions of flesh leech out of their cloak. Their eyes cry blood.

✦ “Ǧ̶̮̙̯̙̖͕͈̓̇̀̉͊͒͗̕͝O̷͕̫͓͓̻̻̻̿̏̕!!!”

You… You don’t know what to do. You freeze for a bit.

And then run.

You… Sif… What was…

...You get out of sight of the favor tree. Catch your breath. Whatever that was was straight out of a horror story!!

But. You realize. Whatever that was. They did it to push you away. Whatever is happening. They're just as scared as you. And… You don’t know what you can even do about that. You just.

You need to talk to the others. Maybe one of them will have ideas. Find out what you can do. Your friend. He’s in pain. And you don’t know what to do.

...You don’t know what scares you most right now.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

You watch as Isa flees. And you turn yourself back…

...Now they won’t have to worry about you. Now they know what you are. And then he and the others can hate you. And then when you’re gone. They won’t be hurt, at least.

… You might as well talk to Loop. Fill them in on your plan.

✸ “That… went poorly. With all of them, really.”

✦ “It’s fine.”

✸ “It clearly isn’t.”

✦ “It won’t matter, this is the last loop.”

✸ “Hm?! You have a plan? Even after that conversation with the Head Housemaiden?”

✦ “We can’t fufill the wish. Not my part at least. But we can still break it.”

✸ “How? Exactly? You don’t exactly have the time and resources to counter the wish. Nothing strong enough for this, and barely the knowledge how.”

✦ “I don’t have to. There’s a perfect counter wish already here. And it just so happens to be the main objective.”

Loop takes a second to process that.

✸ “The kings wish…. You know already he’s not going to cooperate. You kinda need him to in order to collide wishes. Last time you tried that, it didn’t go well at all, Stardust.”

✦ “I don’t need him. I just need his heart.”

✸ “… No.”

✦ “No?”

✸ “No, you are not eating him. You are not assimilating him. You swore never to cross that line.”

✦ “He doesn’t count, he’s a monster.”

✸ “A monster of a person, but still a person!”

✦ “The entire Country wished for it! No one will care what methods I use! Especially if I die for it!”

✸ “BLIND IT ALL, Stardust I didn’t Kill a man so you could be a murderer!”

…

Loop….Killed…

✦ “What.”

✸ “I-I…”

✦ “… Loop. Where. Did you get. That body.”

✸ “… It was a desperate situation.”

✦ “YOU-”

✸ “There wasn’t a better option!”

✦ “I TR̷̪̕U̴͈̐STED̵̼́ ̸̢̉YOŨ̸̡!̵͍͆!̵͖͘!!”

Loop flinches.

✸ “I… I’m sorry.”

You!!! All those times!!!!….

✦ “… I know better then to trust sorry from monsters.”

✸ “…”

✦ “We’re done here. Goodbye Loop. And don’t worry. You won’t be seeing me here again.”

… You go. And hide in the woods. Until nightfall.

>>>>>>

… It’s dark out. The family. Is all in the clocktower… They must have all had dinner already… Your stomach hurts… You’re so hungry… You sneak in. Through the roof. So they won’t see you. So you can listen in.

▲ “...And I came back here. I didn’t know what to think…”

◉ “… I don’t get it, what’s happened to him? He was fine earlier, and then-”

◆ “No. Whatever this is, it’s been around for a while. I told you, Siffrin practically admitted as such when talking to me.”

◉ “S-Still…”

◆ “… Look, everyone. There’s a chance Siffrin might come back. So we should talk about what we’re going to do tomorrow.”

▲ “You don’t mean going without him?”

◆ “I mean making sure he stays here in Dormont until we take care of the King. Until we have time to deal with this.”

▲ “Look, I get what you're talking about, but It’s still Siffrin! Scariness and… distress aside, we can’t just leave him."

✿ “I don’t wanna leave Frin like that! It’s gotta be why he said mean things to you all, right?”

◉ “Yeah, madame, we can’t just-”

◆ “LISTEN to me! We will be fighting the KING tomorrow, everyone!!! Do you think we can TRUST Siffrin right now? After they’ve been hiding THIS?!?…"

Odile goes quiet. The room goes quiet

◆ “...They could be a danger, to us and themselves, and we don't have time. This is a critical moment. We need to be a team. Could you do it?… Could you trust your lives to them right now?”

No one can answer her.

◆ “...Because I don't even know if they trust themselves."

…

You knew this would happen but…

It hurts. To hear it.

… So this is how you’ll leave them...

You cut your arm open. And dip a tendril in the wound's ink. Then write your final message to them outside the door in blood. Your epitaph. The last words of a monster.

...

And then. You leave.

…

You begin to sing your song. As your many parts, writhing inside the house, begin to rise to the stage, ready to join the melody, you head towards the building that shall serve as your stage, ready to take the role of conductor, for this final, bloody act. Your Swansong.

But not just yours. No. After all, your songs have always been good for one thing. And only one thing.

...It’s time.

You have. A king. To kill.

#in stars and time #isat #isat au #carrion!sif au #SymphonyInCrimson!au #From good intentions was harm done #Thus does the song Crecendo.

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cyten0 · 4 months ago

Text

A Symphony in Crimson

Act 1: A Movement in Black

Chapter 8

✸ “Welcome back stardust! So, how can I help you this time?”

✦ “Hm… Let’s see… So, I assume you saw the chat with the king?”

✸ “Of course! Always keeping an eye on things~ Sadly, I’m afraid I’m drawing a bit of a blank on anything about Wishcraft! Well, besides that term.”

Ugh, just talking about it hurts your head a bit. But it’s critical information, so you endure.

✦ “Right. I guess it’s a way to… Craft wishes? But that’s about it. Harder I try, more it pushes back.”

✸ “Right, so that just leaves either seeing if we can’t spark that memory somehow, or find information on it! Both seem tricky, but not impossible~”

✦ “Guess talking more with the king could help with that first angle. He wants to remember for his own reasons.”

✸ “True! Just make sure he doesn’t find out about you! Wouldn’t want him dropping your secret, now would we?”

✦ “I’ll be careful. Oh, on a side note, you mentioned something strange earlier?”

✸ “Yes! Thank you for remembering~ So far, you’ve looped for two reasons. Dying, or talking to the head Housemaiden. Until just a bit ago! When Odile found you, You didn’t die.”

Huh?!? Wait, they're right, you didn’t!

✸ “Once is an outlier, twice is something to investigate! If death isn’t the only reason you loop, then finding out the other reason, or reasons, seems rather important, wouldn’t you agree? It’s just a theory right now though, so if you have any ideas...”

Wait, there was one other point that almost was one, you think.

✦ “When Isa confronted me, I nearly looped that way too.”

✸ “Oh! Now isn’t THAT some juicy data! Hm… Well, The Head Housemaiden doesn’t seem like she found you out, but it’s worth keeping an eye on. I’ll keep theorycrafting and see if I have any ideas. Meanwhile, feel free to help your friends! Who knows, just might do something!”

Right! Your looking forwards to that! Might as well use these loops to do something nice!

You grab a meal from loop, grabbing the powerful duo from the second floor to get yourself a little extra. Stars you're so hungry you devoured it in seconds and it’s not enough it’s never enough-

Stop. Clear your head. Breathe. And head out.

>>>

Right! Mirabelle. She should be first, given she kinda started this whole thing. You greet her, talk for a bit, and then-

✦ “So, which will you choose?”

You point to the pile of papers, to clarify.

◉ “Wha- WHAT?!?!?!!!! HOW! WHAT DO YOU KNOW!??? ANSWER ME!!!!!”

!!! She has her hand on her rapier!!! She’s going to- QUICK!!!!!

✦ “Y-your choosing someone for something, right?! It seems important, maybe I can help?”

She pauses, and pulls her hand from her rapier. Oh thank goodness. You never thought she’d pull a sword on you unless she found you out! All your survival instincts flared up, you're glad you kept calm!

◉ “I...I guess… You most likely have more experience then I do. Alright, I’d like your help, if you’ll give it.”

Hm? Experience? Uh oh, now your worried! What if it’s something Siffrin is good at that you can’t mimic?

You guess you’ll just have to improvise if it is, and hope for the best.

✦ “Sure!”

◉ “Okay, but this might take some time!! So, Um…”

✦ “Don’t worry, I have time!”

Honestly too much time… And too little… You feel your stomach ache... Ignore it, you have time. You can eat at the bathrooms later, and that will help. This is important.

You take a seat next to Mira. She looks nervous. Hm… You're not good with stuff like this. Um. Maybe. Asking a question will help?

✦ “So… What are those papers?”

◉ “Oh! Um…. Their… Bonding proposals?”

!?! Wait, you remember bonding, you saw a thing about that earlier! It’s… Kinda like Marriage? You're not quite sure of the nuances of... either of those really? So, does that mean Mira’s looking for a partner?

◉ “NO WAIT THAT’S NOT EXACTLY IT PLEASE STOP LOOKING AT ME!!!! ...It’s… more like dating profiles? I-I’m not looking to be bonded just yet.”

Oh, Okay that makes more sense! Dating is still not your forte, it kinda confuses you, but it wasn’t really Siffrin’s strong suit either so you're not too worried!

You like the idea enough you’ve looked into it, sort of a false hope, but you should be able to help a little? Maybe? Still you're a little surprised Mirabelle is interested in that. She never seemed to care before?

◉ “Okay so… Before all this started with the king… I decided I wanted to, uh, try! To date someone. So I asked a company that does that sort of thing, and they sent a bunch of profiles, for people I could date…"

◉ “I haven't gone through them yet, and I figured now would be a good time. Keep my mind off tomorrow! But, I could use a second pair of eyes. Or just the one eye. As long as it’s not my eyes doing this alone!”

Right. Hm. You have no idea what Mirabelle is into, and she seems to be struggling as well... So, time to do testing! Scientific method, just like Siffrin! Just gauge her reactions, respond in ways to probe for more information, and go from there! You’ve got this Siffrin!

✦ “Alright, let’s take a look, see if we can’t figure this out.”

She pulls out a HUGE folder, and hands it to you.

◉ “Ok! Here’s a few of them, we can take turns! You can go first, and I’ll go after. So uh… Here!”

She grabs a profile of a big buff masculine figure. Plenty of muscle, probably very tast- WOW Okay you need to focus.

Hm. She seems to be the same mount of nervous as before, so not a big reaction. Let’s see…

✦ “Kinda looks like Isa.”

◉ “...Ew yeah, nevermind.”

That Ew kinda boggles your mind, but oh well, she’s got her own preferences. So perhaps not into more masculine types. Hm…

✦ “Well, let’s try someone more effeminate, see if that works. What do you have?”

She shuffles some papers around and hands you a lovely gentle lady. Likely tender and- Focus. Hm…

✦ “Kinda looks like you.”

◉ “...You're right, Ew.”

Again with the Ew? You don’t have much to work with here. You might have to get a bit more blatant.

✦ “Any ideas what kind of person your into?”

◉ “Oh I don’t have a type, I love all people equally!”

✦ “...That’s… Not much to work with…”

◉ “I um… would like someone… Nice?……. And…. Pretty?…….and….. Who… likes me?”

✦ “……. Mira.”

◉ “Nononono let me think a bit more!!!…. I…. want…. Someone who……”

She thinks for a while.

◉ “W-Well, what are you into?”

OH STARS you are NOT getting into that! You have no idea if Siffrin had any interest, and yours are EXTREMELY weird and messed up!!

HONESTLY, why does your brain mix up attraction and TASTE together?!? It doesn't happen all the time, but sometimes if one's high enough it can add to the other, Isabeau being prime example! And that is just NOT OKAY!!!

And past dating you have no idea! You’ve specifically avoided any form of dating because of it, you are NOT telling her that, what would she even do with-?

… Wait a second.

✦ “Wait. Are you just going to copy my answers?”

◉ “I-! Um!…. Okay. You got me. I… Really don’t care about dating.”

Fantastic. Well that solves that issue you guess, but then?

✦ “Then why are you worrying about it?”

◉ “…… So…. Siffrin. You know the Change belief means a lot to me… It’s all about changing, becoming better, and most importantly… trying new things. It’s why the house offers so many different classes, you know?…

◉ “So… I’m trying something new! Sometimes, doing that is something fulfilling, and easy, but you can’t just do that kind of stuff forever. That won’t help you change much. Sometimes you have to do things that are scary, or make you… Uncomfortable… Things you don’t want to do at all.”

… You know that when she faces the king, she’s committed to accepting the bad of life as well as the good. But. If she doesn’t like this that much, it seems unnecessary?

✦ “And… Dating is a part of that?”

◉ “Yes! Romantic love is supposed to be the biggest way to change! It’s supposed to change you, give new experiences and…

◉ “And I have to, right? To be a good Housemaiden? I have to bond with them, I have to do things with them, I have to get bonded and have children and love them in this specific way and… and…”

✦ “And it’s not working…”

Like woodcarving, like crafts, like talking, like your body under your skin, like the small details of your face and body, like the gnawing hung̷̯͝er always clawi̵̻̿ng at ẙ̶͈our b̶̡͊ody̸̪͌ and mi̶̯̊n̷͓̄d!

... You understand that feeling more then you’d care to admit.

◉ “...And it’s not working… I can’t, Siffrin, I just can’t! I can’t get myself to feel right about it, no matter how hard I try! I don’t want to do any of it, but I need to do this right? To change..”

...But… The idea of this being so needed for this faith…

You remember the Keyknife. How even YOU were accepted. Believed in. By the Change god themselves...

No. You aren’t okay with this. You don’t care if it’s what the faith said, it shouldn’t! If even Siffrin wouldn’t feel welcomed by this, then…

✦ “...Do you think the change belief is unaccepting? Of anyone?”

◉ “h-HUH?!?”

✦ “I don’t know about the romance, but I’ve never cared about doing things with people.”

Siffrin wasn’t, and right now you're speaking for them. And while you aren’t good evidence, you don’t think you’d want to either, probably.

✦ “There must be a bunch of people who don’t. The change belief should accept that! Because if any part of being alive isn’t allowed then… What’s the point?

✦ “That’s… Something I really like about it. That anyone, and everyone, is accepted.”

...She’s looking at you in surprise. Oh! You just realized you kinda just tried to argue faith to a Housemaiden! Um!

✦ “A-At least that’s what my thoughts are. I get it’s complicated a-and messy but…”

◉ “Y-You mean it? I… I wasn’t even sure there were others like me at all! With how much pressure gets put on us Housemaidens to do that, I… The fact that someone understands at least that!”

You nod in agreement. The relief is plain on her face, before being swallowed up by more anxieties.

◉ “...But. Still, there’s pressure to change in every way you can. I mean, we have yearly festivals for showing yourself as a new person!! Every Housemaiden has changed at least once!"

◉ “Except me. I... I find comfort in being myself! And we really are encouraged to change in EVERY way, from clothing to hairstyles to bodies to personalities and… and… Sometimes I wonder if the Change god understands that sometimes, I’d like just just stay the same…”

...You had no idea Mira thought this way about the change belief… If only you knew what to tell her… Something stirs at the back of your mind.

✦ “...This might seem a bit… weird… to say. But someone once told me… That if..."

That if...

✦ “That If everything changes, nothing really does.”

Mirabelle looks at you in confusion. Stars, it hurts your head to remember this, so much more then normal, but…

✦ “In order for a change to matter, it has to make a difference. Otherwise, it’s barely a change at all. But if everything changes, then it makes no difference how much it changes. And…”

In the end…

✦ “In the end, we are always ourselves.”

You release the memory. The pain subsides. But. You think the words were worth it. Whoever said them. Thank you.

◉ “… That… I’ve never heard that angle before. To make change better by keeping some parts the same? It feels so far away from what we're taught, but... Hm.”

She smiles at you.

◉ “I like it! Hehe! It. It feels like whoever said it understood change really well."

A wave of relief washes over her again, even while she smiles.

◉ “I guess... maybe I can let some things stay. To make the parts I do change matter more. I’ll just… have to make up for it!”

✦ “I’m sure you will. Besides, Less things to change just means you can focus more on what you do! Sounds like fun.”

◉ “hehe! I guess your right!"

She looks you over again, a question on her mind.

◉ “…... Siffrin, do you have… Something like this? Something that makes you happy, but also that you struggle with?”

… Humanity.

It’s hard, playing this part. Putting yourself back together in the right shape. Maintaining it just right so it never looks uncanny. Figuring out what people mean when they say things. Trying to figure out their emotions. Making sure you're expressing your own correctly...

But every time they look at you as a friend, it’s worth the effort. Every single moment.

✦ “...Yeah. But. I’m glad I stuck with it. I wouldn’t have met you all if I didn’t.”

◉ “Oh! Do you want to talk about it?”

You can’t tell her it all but…

✦ “Just. Talking to people. It’s always been a bit tricky for me, but. I’m glad I’ve kept trying. It would have been very lonely without you all.”

◉ “Really? A bit like me too, huh! Well, I’m glad we met you too… Thank you, Siffrin. Thank you, for talking to me.”

You nod, and both just kind of sit there for a half second. Before she notices the time on the clocktower

◉ “Oh, wow, look how long it’s been! Sorry, You probably had other things to do, didn’t you? Don’t let me keep you any more!... I could stand a little alone time. I have a lot to think about!…. I’ll see you later, OK?”

You nod, and head off. You're so glad you did that. It felt nice, to get some of that off your chest… And that memory… You felt something warm from it… You're glad you got to have it, even if just for a second.

...A-Anyways, you should go help Odile next! That book seemed important to her.

>>>

It was quite a mess getting this book! You were half tempted to bite a few people on the way, for more then a few reasons.

But here you are! Odile found this nice clearing to read in, which you're happy about, less smells to worry about. But. She’s just looking at it while closed?

✦ “Aren’t you going to read it?”

◆ “… They said I could have it until we had to leave Dormont, so I have time, but…”

She just continues to stare at it… It clearly matters a lot to her. But it’s intimidating as well, you suppose? That must be why she’s hesitating.

Hm. Time to deploy the old reliable for diffusion! Jokes! And the most reliable joke for something Odile being focused on something is...

✦ “Is it related to your research?”

◆ “… Sorry, What?”

✦ “Is the book related to your research?”

She gives you this look of contemplation…. Wait, it wouldn’t actually be, right? Not something this mundane?

Hm... Well you guess it’s working so… Success?

◆ “Ah, well… I suppose I’ve kept it secret long enough. Don’t tell Isabeau, alright?”

You nod.

If she’s willing to tell you now, you figure you have a pretty good idea what it is. Had your suspicion it was either highly dangerous and secretive, or….

◆ “There is no research. I’m not researching anything.”

✦ “Heh, knew it.”

◆ “Really? You figured it out?”

✦ “Kinda. A normal researcher wouldn’t be able to resist talking about it otherwise. It was either top secret, or you were making it up.”

◆ “Clever. But yes, when Isabeau suggested I was here to research something, I figured it would be easier to just play along.”

✦ “Huh, yeah, that does leave the question. If not to do research then…”

◆ “Why leave Ka Bue and travel for years? Well… I’m here in Vaugarde, to find out more about myself, I suppose… It must not be very obvious to you, but… My mother was Vaugardian.”

Oh!

◆ “I’ve lived my whole life in Ka Bue. My father was Ka Buan, my mother Vaugardian. I have no idea how they met, he never told me, but all I know is she never wanted a child. She left very early on, and I never saw her again. Good riddance, as far as I’m concerned.

◆ “But… she didn’t leave anything behind. Not a single thing. It was alright, my father was a good man and raised me well. Ka Bue was my home.”

Nothing left huh. You understand that. Painfully well. There’s nothing to get back, no matter how hard you try. And it stings you, every single time you notice something missing.

◆ “But one day, a Vaugardian merchant came by, and I saw a book that she wouldn’t sell. A familytale. And she explained what they were. Stories of generations of family members, recorded for their descendants."

◆ “And halfway through, I found out I was crying. I never knew I cared about my other side till then but. I knew. I wanted it. That connection to a history that should have been mine. But was stolen from me. And I’d never have a link to it, ever.”

✦ “Unless you chose to make one.”

You made your link to there. Carved it into your body with your own bare hands. Hoarded what little pieces drifted up in your wake. Held tightly to every memory you could scrounge…

Oh. She looks at you a little surprised!

◆ “I… Yes. The king took over shortly before I arrived, which made things difficult. But While traveling with you all, I got to see more and more of Vaugarde. Got to learn more about the country, the people, it’s faith…"

◆ “And. Half of me is from here. It should be like looking in a mirror but… I felt no connection. It feels awful. Like I should have a place here, and I don’t. My roots were cut without my consent. Like I don’t belong anywhere.”

… Not belonging anywhere… You get that… You nod at her, in understanding.

◆ “But… I found that’s okay. I’m not the only one. Vaugarde is filled with people from other lands. Sure, my features may look off in Ka Bue, but no one minds here. I’m still other, but I am accepted none the less. And have found many who are in similar positions. And I’m very grateful for that.”

She’s lucky. To be able to see that herself. You sometimes wish you could go there, but… Even thinking about trying hurts.

◆ “What about you, Siffrin? Are you learning more about yourself here? It’s alright if you’d rather not tell.”

✦ “… No. And… Yes.”

She gives you an odd look?

✦ “I don’t have ties to Vaugarde like you. But. I do have a place I’m trying to connect to. It’s just. There’s nothing left of it. Just scraps.”

◆ “Nothing left?”

✦ “The island to the North…”

She pauses for a moment, contemplating, before she stops in realization.

◆ “Ah, I see…. that… Oh gems. I can’t even imagine…. At least I still have Ka Bue…..”

A memory surfaces. Something that means something important here. Something you didn’t even realize has been helping you, even as it hurts your head to remember.

✦ “Someone once told me…"

✦ “We tell people who we are with our actions. The rest doesn’t matter in the end.”

She looks at you, surprised.

✦ “If I keep moving, It gives my history some life. What pieces I have might inform my choices, but… It’s what we do that matters the most in the end. And… Traveling through Vaugarde. I might have only learned tiny pieces about my home. Scant scraps I could dig up or barely remember."

She nods, a grim understanding on her face.

✦ “But… We’ve done so much. With each other, with others, with the very places we’ve gone. I’ve left my mark. Even if my home isn’t remembered, I might be. And in making that path, I got to rediscover myself. So in some way, in Vaugarde, in traveling, I learned more about who I am then I could have anywhere else.”

You played the part of Siffrin so long, you started to learn more about how they would act. What mattered to them. And even if sometimes the differences feel glaring, you still cherish what bits of them you’ve kept alive, even if it’s just how their memories affected your own path…

You notice she’s just looking at you. And starts to chuckle.

◆ “I guess in a way, you came to the same conclusion I did, hm? Different route, different words, different methods. But. Yes. Where you're from doesn’t determine who you are. It’s who YOU are that matters most."

◆ “To be fair, It does matter, but mainly in how they’ve formed you. I might be both Ka Buan and Vaugardian, but in the end, I am myself. And that matters far more then anything else.”

You nod. You're glad Odile is who they are. You wouldn’t have it any other way.

◆ “Hehe… I feel so much lighter now.”

✦ “Glad to find that familytale, huh?”

◆ “Maybe. But more then that, I’m glad we talked... Thank you. For listening to me. And finally opening up."

◆ “It’s funny, finding out how similar we are, yet how different as well. It’s nice to know you a little more. Maybe some point, I’ll help you a little finding out about your own roots?”

You nod, and smile. It felt good to talk about that. Even just a little.

◆ “… Now get out of here! I have a familytale to read before we meet up for our sleepover!”

You chuckle a little, and head off.

Okay. Time to help Bonnie!

>>>

Okay, so you got the foods right, and Bonnie brought you out of Dormont to help them. But. Why? And Why towards the castle? What do they need out here?

✿ “….Frin you… You said I could ask for anything, yeah?”

Right… You're getting more worried by the second. But. You’re sure you can handle it.

✦ “Of course! Whatever you need!”

✿ “Okay, well…. I-I need you to teach me how to fight!”

OH! Uh! Okay! That’s, Uh!

✿ “I know Dile’s gonna say I can help tomorrow, but It’ll be from far away, right? I wanna help! To actually help!!! And… for that I’m gonna need to fight! And you're gonna help me!”

Stars okay you don’t know how- How are you- this is-

WAIT NO they're running towards a sadness!!! You start moving as fast as you can!

✿ “L-Look, I’m not scared! COME ON!!!”

Bonnie starts muttering under their breath, you're still trying to close the distance!!! The sadness strikes! Before it can deal any real damage you tackle into it, and crush its throat under your bare hands!!!! BLINDING-

✦ “WHAT WE̸̺͑RE YOU THIṈ̴̎KING???̸̤̅?”

You instantly get to healing the wound, you can smell the blood in the air, it’s driving you mad, you hate hate hate hate smelling that it gives you all the worst thoughts, especially from Bonnie, and you are NOT having any of that, what were they blinding thinking-

✿ “i-i’m sorry.”

...They're shaking, and scared. You… You probably shouldn’t have yelled like that. You make sure the injury is fully healed first, so you can have a clear head.

✦ “...Sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled, but…”

Oh okay softer voice isn’t helping enough, they're still shaking. Maybe…

✦ “Breathe with me?”

They nod, and you both begin to breathe, in and out. In. And. Out…. The smell of blood is gone, Bonnie doesn’t feel like a scared animal. It’s fine.

✦ “...Ok… I’m willing to teach you, but you need to not rush ahead. Otherwise I can’t keep you safe, alright?”

✿ “O-Okay. I’ll listen. Teach me.”

Alright. That’s better. Step one... there’s another sadness nearby. Hm. To properly train, You need to make it so that it feels like a real fight, but remove the danger…

You have an idea. The king has some control over the sadnesses, so this should be believable, if you're careful. It’s also not nearly as effective on sadnesses as it is living beings, but it should be enough to force it to pull it’s punches.

✦ “Alright. I’m going to go to that sadness over there, and use a very special craft skill. It’ll let me have a little control over it, so we can fight it safely.”

✿ “Wait you can do that?”

✦ “Yeah. It’s not as good as what the king does to them, but it’ll keep it from doing anything really bad to you!

✦ “Once I’ve got it, you can come in and fight it properly, okay? I’ll still be by your side, and give advice, and if it goes wrong, I’ll be ready to take care of it. Sound good?”

Bonnie seems a little surprised, and nods in agreement. Good.

Okay. You head towards the sadness. It tries to take a swing, and you dodge to it’s side, circling behind it. You then thrust your claw into the back of it’s neck, and reach for what mimicry of a spine it has. You leave a part of you in there, as it fuses itself to the sadness’s false nervous system.

You then sing in the special voice no-one can hear. And watch as the sadness starts to stumble and twitch, as the piece of you in it’s brain puppets it’s thoughts to your melody. Good.

✦ “You’re up, Bonnie!”

Bonnie, who was just staring in awe this entire time, shakes their head, and starts charging in.

Meanwhile, you try and focus in on Siffrin’s memories. They were trained professionally, much like the rest of their family you think. You try and focus in on memories of their training, see if you can’t guide Bonnie.

You keep singing your song to keep the sadness from attacking before it’s time. It’s trying to fight you, but you don’t give it an inch.

✿ “O-Okay, what do I do?”

✦ “First, check it’s craft type. It’s hands are in a scissors sign, so it’s weak to rock. Looks like we got lucky, that’s a perfect matchup against you!"

✦ “Now. Steady your breathing. Focus. Keep a firm grip on your weapon, and watch it’s movements. Keep your feet firmly planted, and make every movement count. Ready?”

They nod, and you let the sadness loose a little. It takes a swing, but Bonnie dives to the side, out of the way. It tries to take a swing as they're tumbling, but you stop it dead in it’s tracks.

Bonnie turns up just in time to see the shaking sadness inches away from their face. They seem shocked, but you expected this.

✦ “I did say, Feet firmly planted. Step, jump, or run. You can even block, your pan’s tough enough for it. But big moves like that can leave you open. Now. Back on your feet, I’ll let it go, and this time, keep your footing!”

Bonnie nods, still a little nervous clearly, but not nearly as bad as last time. They get up, and when the sadness swings, this time they step back, just out of range! It stumbles a bit, perfect!

✦ “Attack!”

Bonnie swings and thwacks the sadness on it's side. Unsteady as it was, it fully falls over!

✦ “Good! Make use of when your enemy messes up. As you saw earlier, one bad move can leave you open, and that goes both ways!”

Okay. This takes a bit of focus and energy, but you have this down pat.

You keep going, slowly easing up the control as Bonnie gets more confident, until they land the finishing blow. The sadness dissolves, your little fragment falls, but with a single note you have it dissolve too, so Bonnie doesn't notice. It leaves a bit of a bloodstain, but it’s otherwise unremarkable.

You watch as they take in the victory.

✿ “I… I DID IT!!!! I DID IT!!!”

✦”Well done, I barely had to do anything by the end of that!”

✿ “Really? You mean it?”

✦ “Of course! You’re a genuine fighter now!”

✿ “CRAB YEAH!!!!"

They look really excited, before a thought pops into their head.

✿ “…. Um. Hey Frin? Why aren’t we allowed to touch you?”

OH! Uh. That’s…

✿ “Dile and Za and Belle said it’s cause it makes you jump, and you do jump! But I was wondering why, cause it means we’re not allowed to high five or anything.”

Ah. Right. You always get nervous when it comes to touch. Getting that close makes you worried you’ll act up, or they’ll notice something’s wrong. You wish you could feel safe like that, but you just can’t. And at this point…

✦ “I’m not used to it. I’d like it, but just... I get worried. And. Scared I’ll mess something up.”

✿ “How to you mess up touch?… Well, if you're not used to it, we can do what me and Nille do!”

✦ “Nille?”

✿ “My sister! Her names Petronille, but that’s dumb so I just call her Nille. Anyways, she also jumps at touch, but if you tell her first she’s okay!

✿ “She’s really cool and tough, but gets scared really easily. One time I touched her shoulder when she didn’t know I was there, and she screamed really loud! Like UGHYARGH!!!! But she told me after to let her know first so she doesn’t hurt me on accident.”

Oh! That! You get that!… That works? Huh! That… Makes sense! Why does that feel like it’d work? You can keep steady if you know it’s gonna happen, probably?

✿ “It’s also why I wear big shoes, so she knows where I am! Heheh… heh…. I don’t want to talk about my sister anymore.”

✦ “You don’t talk about her often.”

✿ “She’s frozen in time and she’s not here, so I don’t want to talk about her. She says talking about people behind their backs is bad. Also, talking about her makes me sad.”

✦ “Understood.”

They seem happy to drop the topic. You get that, you wouldn’t want to talk too long about those you're missing. Sure, They’ll get Nille back, but that doesn’t make it easier.

✿ “Anyways, if you can see me, and I tell you I’m gonna touch you, then it should be fine, right?”

✦ “Yes! That should work.”

✿ “Okay then! I am going to touch you!!!!”

Bonnie pokes you in the stomach. It’s a bit strong of a poke? And even if you're a little nervous at Bonnie being this close to you, it’s nice! You're being touched! Like a normal person! Yay!!

✿ “Okay! Let’s fight another Sadness! I’m ready to learn more!”

Alright!…

Hm… You just realized something. Bonnies fighting style isn’t very mobile. They're fast, but they're pretty defensive, and that doesn't work in the backline. So…

✦ “I just realized, you might want a ranged option, since you’ll be in the back a bunch. Fighting up close is good to know in general, but you’d have to actually get up there for that to matter unless things go wrong.”

✿ “Oh. Yeah but... I don’t know any crafts like that.”

✦ “Good thing I’ve got just the tool for that!”

You pull out your old Craft Revolver. Guns aren’t well known in Vaugarde, so it’s probably an islander device, but you remember what it does!

Good weapon, can stay in the backline, and doesn’t take a lot of effort from the wielder except steady hands and good eyes! Both of which Bonnie has plenty of! Besides, you weren’t using it yourself. You're much better at fighting up close.

✦ “This is a special device called a Craft Revolver! You charge up the little chambers with craft energy, and when you pull the trigger, it’ll release it in one blast. You just need to focus on aiming it, and can charge it up when we aren’t fighting."

✿ “WOAH. That’s cool! So I can shoot stuff with craft like Odile! That’s super cool!”

✦ “Yep! And it’s accurate even from pretty far”

Oh and most importantly, gotta teach them basic safety!

✦ “Oh, and very important, make sure this little switch is off when not in combat, and on when we are. It keeps it from firing on accident!”

✿ “Okay, Gotcha! I'll be careful!"

You look around. Perfect! A sadness not TOO far from here.

✦ “Okay, see that sadness over there? You can stay right here, and I’ll distract it. Take your time aiming, keep it steady, hold it tight with both hands, and be prepared for it to jump back a bit when you fire it. Take your time, and we’ll see how long it takes to get the hang of it.”

✿ “Okay!”

You head over to the sadness, and start fighting it. You don’t put any effort into your attacks, and you try to keep the sadness in place, so Bonnie can shoot it.

But… You're not used to fighting out here. You’ve been fighting in the house for quite a while. And… You trip and fall over a branch. The sadness tries to go for the opening!

BANG

The sadness crumples to the ground and dissolves, a hole right through it’s head. A perfect shot! And on their first time! You turn to congratulate them when-

✿ “FRIN!!! FRIN!!! ARE YOU OKAY!?!!!”

Oh Stars, they have tears in their eyes! And they're panicking!

✦ “Y-Yes Bonbon I’m fine! I just tripped!”

✿ “R-Really? You promise?”

You nod. Oh stars, you didn’t mean to worry them! You can tell they're scared.

✿ “okay…. I… you haven't called me bonbon in forever… only Za calls me that now…”

✦ “Oh uh, sorry, I don’t know if that’s okay.”

✿ “nono it’s okay you can…. You promise your okay? It just… reminded me of before…”

Before?…. Hm. Likely a sadness fight, but that’s happened a lot.

✦ “Which before are we referring? We’ve fought a lot of sadnesses.”

✿ “What? You- THE ONE THAT GOT YOUR CRABBING EYE STUPID!!!!”

Oh right. That was a little messy!

✿ “AAAAAAHHHH You stupid crabbing- See!! I told you!!! You're so crabbing stupid!!! You think it doesn’t matter!!! You keep getting hurt because of me and you don’t care!!!”

Right… You were the only one who could do anything. Bonnie was in danger. You can fix injuries like that no issue, but healing an entire eye isn’t exactly believable. So you played along, made a scar like any other notable injury they saw, and moved on.

But. You guess it mattered to them.

✦ “It’s fine! It was worth it.”

✿ “It’s not fine!!! You got hurt because of me!!! And I don’t like it, you should have just let me get hurt!”

✦ “You would have died!”

✿ “It doesn’t matter!! If I had died, it would have been fi-”

✦ “NO. It would NOT. It would NEVER have been fine!!!”

You can’t believe they would say that! Never! Never in a thousand years are you going to watch someone die again!!!

✦ “STARS Bonnie, I could NEVER just leave you to die!!! What would I tell your sister? The others? MYSELF??? If I let you die I’d regret it every day of my life, always thinking about what I took from you!!!"

✦ “Just letting you die is no better then doing the deed myself!!!!! And I'd choose your life over a stupid blinding eye any day!!! I just…”

You look at them. They're sad. They're lost. They're alone.

That guilt. You know that guilt so BLINDING well. The guilt of someone getting hurt because of you.

✦ “I know it hurts. It hurts seeing people hurt like that, because of something you did. But it’s exactly the same for what you don’t do. And if I’d let you get hurt like that, I’d be the one in your position. Hurting every time I remembered what could have been.

✦ “An eye you can move past. You can manage with, eventually. But... you can’t bring back the dead, no matter how hard you try.”

You’ve tried. So very hard. Every day. Every second. Every step. But you can only settle for this.

Another memory starts to come forwards. More words from those you’ve forgotten. Those you killed. Couldn’t protect from yourself. Coming to help you even now.

✦ “Someone once told me… Ignoring those you could save is never the better choice. You’ll always regret it.

✦ “So… We just have to make sure we can all protect each other.”

Bonnie looks up at you.

✦ “I’m stronger then back then. And so are you. And we can make sure it doesn’t happen again. I can protect you, and make sure nobody gets hurt. And you can help make it easier, and help protect them too."

✦ “Together, Okay? So nobody is lost. So nobody is hurt. So we don’t have to regret a thing.”

Bonnie thinks. And then quietly responds.

✿ “...promise? Promise you won’t get hurt?”

✦ “Of course! I promise! Super Duper Promise!”

You'll stop even death itself before anyone gets hurt.

✿ “...Okay. Then… As long as you promise, it’s fine! And… I can help! I can protect!”

✦ “You certainly did a good job back there! First time and you got a perfect shot!”

✿ “Wait. I DID!! OH CRAB YEAH!!!! Yeah! I can protect people!!! And you can protect me! And… and we can protect everyone!!!”

You nod, and ruffle their head.

You do take a quick second to check… They did! They remembered to put the safety back up after! That was the one thing you were worried about, really. And given they didn’t do it while you were talking, they must have done it right after the sadness was dead. That’s good!

✿ “hehehe! You see me right? I’m gonna touch you now!!!”

They jump at you and give you a big hug!!! You freeze, not expecting that! You don’t know how to hug right! You…

Okay. You gently, and carefully, hug them back. They look up at you.

✿ “See? You do know how to hug!”

✦ “I-I guess I do!”

You smile, hug for a little longer, before you both head back to Dormont.

Just one person left!

>>>

Isa takes you to this open field.

You hope whatever they have for you won’t be too much effort. You’ve spent a lot of focus today. You're tired, hungry, and still nursing a headache from all those memories you’ve been having. And with Isa, you really don’t want to have anything go wrong.

But you can pull it through. Just a little longer. And then you can eat, and sleep, and recover. You can even slip out during the night for a bit if you need to. Loop can’t get proper food then but you at least wouldn’t be tempted. Just. See what Isa needs.

✦ “So, what do you need me to do?”

▲ “Huh? Oh, um… Lay down with me?”

You lay down, and he lays down with you. You look at him, confused.

▲ “And now, Look up!”

You look up.

Oh. Oh. The Stars.

They're… They're so clear. All around you. Stretching forever. It’s… You… They're so….

▲ “When you asked me what I wanted earlier, I couldn't think of anything. Had everything handled. But then I saw you helping everyone out, and I thought it seemed fun! So… I decided maybe we could just hang out!”

You… You don’t know what to say… He just… wanted to be with you? Nothing else? You…

✦ “I… And… the stars?”

▲ “Right! You often mentioned them, and I didn’t know what that word meant at first, so I took some time trying to figure it out, and someone told me eventually! And then I realized you talk about stuff like this a bunch, stars, planets, the sun, and so on. And that you’d often take time to look out at the night sky."

▲ “So uh. I figured you’d like a nice place to look at them together!”

He… he did this…. For you…? You… Can’t help your tears… It’s….

▲ “Oh crab! Is it okay? I didn’t mess it up, right? I-”

✦ “Thank you.”

▲ “Huh?”

✦ “Thank you! So much. Isa. I… I don’t know what to say…”

He stops, and starts to laugh. Stars, you love it when he laughs. You started making jokes just because it made him laugh. It was the first time you realized you could be human right. And every time you hear it, it brings back that memory.

As the laughter subsides, you just start to drink in the view. He really found such a perfect stargazing place. Away from all the lights, nothing to fade away even the smallest dot. You feel them so closely now. Hear their faint melodies that you’ve always heard. The song you weave into every melody you sing.

You were... worried. That it would be something you couldn't do. But. This? This is something you both can enjoy. He really is amazing.

▲ “By the way, I heard some people can see patterns in the sky. Not sure about what they're called. Conste-something?”

✦ “Constellations! They're very special.”

▲ “Really? Do you know any?”

You think. It’s hard to remember any at all. But. You do know one. It was very special to Siffrin for some reason… You grab a leaf, and craft it’s pattern into it, then hand it to Isa.

✦ “Yes, this one. See if you can spot it!”

Isa takes a bit, before pointing up at the sky.

▲ “Oh! There it is! It kinda looks like a tree!”

✦ “Yep! In fact, it’s where Favor trees gain their strength from.”

▲ “Wait really?”

You're starting to unearth this memory just a bit. It hurts a little, but it’s just too interesting not to talk about!

✦ “Yes really! Those stars together like favor trees, and if you know how to call their attention, and believe in what you want strongly enough, they can help give you the extra push needed to grant your wish.”

▲ “That… huh. I suppose I have to thank them then. I’ve asked for quite a few favors.”

✦ “We repay them in kind, even if we don’t know it. We’re a star in the sky to them, just as they are to us. And what tiny bits of strength we don’t use can be called by them when they need it.

✦ “Nothing on it’s own, but with all the stars in the sky? We’ve probably helped grant hundreds of wishes we never knew about.”

▲ “Wow… How do you know all this?”

You have to fight through a little more headache for that…

Oh. So that’s what Siffrin’s field of study was! No wonder you find it so interesting!

✦ “I think I studied it a bunch when I was younger. It’s not common knowledge anymore, and I don’t remember the details. But… Once I learned even a tiny bit, I had to know all there was!”

▲ “I can see why! It’s really interesting! And. Kind of compelling…”

You both sit for a bit. It’s nice to remember that… You look at Isa. They glance at you a few times. Stars! You shared all that, and didn’t ask them anything!

✦ “Well, I’ve said something important about me! Your turn!”

▲ “OH!! Uh… Hm. Well, you know how I’m from Jouvente, right? Lived there my whole life, big city, way more then Dormont… Anyways, you might think it’s surprising but when I was Bonnie's age, I was the nerdiest kid around."

Huh, really? Doesn't seem their style.

▲ “Massive smarty pants. Like, really, imagine it! Big glasses, neat braids, always knew the answers to any test or question the teacher would give, perfect grades all that. Always too shy to even make a friend on the playground.”

Hm. Now that he mentions it, you did realize he was pretty smart. But he always hid it. Why? What changed?

▲ “Yeah. I… Didn’t like myself. Cause I was smart, but I hated being shy. Being alone. Not even being able to ask a classmate for a pen because I was so paralyzed with fear. I would have lived the rest of my life like that."

That. You remember you were like that for a while.

▲ “But. One day, I looked at myself in the mirror, and thought… Is this it? Is this who I want to be?… I decided I didn’t. Made a wish on a favor tree, come to think of it. That I could be a better person. That I could change."

Didn't want to be... what they were...

▲ “Day after, I headed to a house of change, and got started. That’s what they help you do, you know? Learn new things, do Bodycraft, practice being who you want. And when you come out, nobody will bat an eye. I threw myself into it, just like I did anything else I learned. Lifted weights, practiced my confidence, changed my body to be bigger, stronger, louder! Told myself in the mirror that ‘I’m the Coolest!’.”

So that explains it. Hearing their heartbeat like you do, you notice their far more nervous then they act. So often they feel like a rabbit, but it’s only in small moments. But it happened enough.

Nobody else would notice it. But, you always knew there was remnants of someone else under who he is. Just like you.

▲ “...Change is destruction, you know? To bring change, you might hurt people. Might hurt yourself even. So you always have to be careful, make sure it’s worth it. So, I decided. The person I was... I made them disappear. Killed them with my own bare hands.”

✦ “...So the person you became could live. And the one from before would never come back…”

▲ “… You understand?”

… You… You shouldn’t say it. You can’t. But…

But… It’s Isa. You can’t help it...

✦ “I… Promise you won’t tell a soul?”

Isa looks at you firmly, and nods. You… You trust them. Enough to...

✦ “...I… I wasn’t always a good person. One day, Someone died. If it wasn’t for me, they’d probably still be alive. And... I was the only one left left who would remember them."

Isa stares at you. Not really scared, not upset just...

✦ “So… I took their name. Gave them a second chance. Took up everything they knew. Borrowed every piece of them I could. Learned everything they would have known. To save at least part of them. And bury the one who let them die…"

You grip your cloak tight to yourself.

✦ “I... still worry the old me will come back. That someone will get hurt because of me…”

▲ “Sif...”

Isa doesn’t know what to say to that for a while.

… It’s fair. Even if he only knows one kill, it’s still more then most humans would ever have. You’d get it if he judged you for it.

▲ “… Sif… I don’t know who this person was. But I hope you know. I still care about you. You might not be them, but… They kept you alive. Helped protect your old you from themselves."

You... You guess they did. If it wasn't for Siffrin... You would have...

▲ “Your new self is like armor, shielding the old one. I still know that little shy kid from before is still in me. And they're still an important part…”

A memory surfaces. Something simple, but important. It hurts again but… One more time today.

✦ “...Someone once said… Strength comes in many forms. But the strongest is from those of others.

✦ “I guess we both found people to cover our weaknesses, didn’t we?”

▲ “Heheh… Guess we did… One day, I’ll balance it out, be a mixture of both. Be smart and strong. Because they both matter. They're both a part of me…"

He looks at you smiling, happy, and hopeful.

▲ “I don’t know where you are on this, but… I hope, whenever your ready, you’ll get to do that too. Because I know that every single thing about you has been worthwhile.”

You… He… You weren’t wrong, were you? At the end… He really does…

He wouldn’t though, if he knew what you were. Not really. Maybe what bits peak out seem okay for now but… He has no idea… But still…

✦ “… Same here Isa. I have always been glad to know you. The way you laugh, the way you talk about things you like, the way you can make everyone around you at ease, the way you get all nervous at times when you think no one can tell. The way you notice all the little details about people’s feelings. Just…”

You don’t know what to say. You… You can’t say it.. You want him to say it… To make it real, because if you say it now, you don’t know if you’ll believe it when he does… Even if it’s just once, even if something happens and he forgets it, you need to hear him say it.

▲ “I… Sif… I… I also…”

Something catches your attention, in the corner of your eye, as does his.

✿ “AHAH! See, I told you all they’d be here!”

◆ “More like you heard Isa mumble to himself about it earlier. Nice spot, by the way.”

◉ “Hi Siffrin, Hi Isabeau! We figured you’d be here! Can we join!”

Oh! Everyone’s here!

...You were kinda hoping to see what he’d say, but that can wait till tomorrow.

✦ “Sure! We just finished talking.”

✿ “I brought food! So we can eat here!”

◉ “A nightly picnic!”

▲ “Oh, I can smell the Samosas!”

✿ “Here Frin! I made extra for you! As thanks!”

You smile, and grab a few.

◉ “Siffrin sure was busy today, weren't they? Thank you!”

◆ “Yes, thank you for earlier. You’ve been a great help today.”

You feel glad to be praised! It was worth every bit of effort.

✿ “Frin taught me how to fight earlier! So I can help you out tomorrow!”

✦ “Yep! Turns out with the right tools, they're a natural!”

◆ “High praise, coming from you. Consider me intrigued.”

◉ “What about you, Isabeau? Did Siffrin help you out today too?”

You both look at each other. He smiles. So do you.

▲ “Heh. Yeah. I think we both helped each other.”

… That he did. They all did. You trust them. And… and they trust you…

You're glad you did this. You know it might not last but… You're glad you did it all the same. And maybe. Just maybe…

No, you doubt this would stop the time loops, but… You guess you can hope a little. Surely like this you won't lose them, right?

...It's fine. You will try and hold them tight.

>>>

You’re at the clocktower, getting cleaned up before bed. You make sure to clean up normally, then open up your disguise to clean the undersides, just in case. Never know for sure. You put yourself back together, then check the mirror.

Blind it. That damn horn. It’s poking out of your head again. Ugh. Why is it so hard to keep hidden? It’ll just pop out of the right side of your head if you don’t pay attention to it long enough. Stars why don’t you just-

You reach to pull it out but stop.

You can’t. That stays. You promised.

...You promised? Who would you have ever made that promise to? Who would even care?

But… You know you did. And… Y

our head hurts so BLINDING much thinking about this.

… You just push it back in. It’s fine.

Your having a harder time keeping Siffrin together. You only managed this long because you always get put back in place at the start of the loop. You don’t even know if you’ll be able to heal damage right for long. You’ll need to start getting creative… It’s fine. You can mange for now. You’ll just have to see how it turns out.

#in stars and time #isat #isat au #carrion!sif au #SymphonyInCrimson!au #isat spoilers #Freindquests done! way faster then expected. Biggest chapter so far!#They're rather different then normal. tbf we aren't dealing with a normal 'siffrin'.#I wonder is people familiar with the AQW material can figure out who 'Siffrin' would have been?#just a little bonus if you do :3

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cyten0 · 3 months ago

Text

A Symphony in Crimson

Act 1: A Movement in Black

Chapter 14

Finally. Back at this storage room. It took a while, you made sure the party got through without a scratch on them. The scent of blood isn’t as bad anymore, you can control yourself, but it still feels horrible to smell, for many reasons.

The ONE thing you nee to do right now is keep them safe, that matters more then anything else, even a drop of blood makes you feel like a blinding failure. What’s the point of all of this if they get hurt? You’ve already failed them before, you won’t let it happen again if you can help it.

It makes them a little nervous, seeing you puppet the sadnesses about, making them flee, or tear each other apart. But it’s fine. As long as they're safe.

This is now YOUR lair, not the kings. And you’ll never let them get hurt here.

But right now, they're trapped here. And it’s past time to fix that. Your family watches as you grab the book about wishcraft from the shelf and flip it open, searching for answers.

◉ “What do you have there Siffrin?”

✦ “A book on wishcraft”

...Oh they probably want to know why your looking into it. Hm.

✦ “… It’s likely how the king got the power over timecraft.”

▲ “Oh Crab!”

◉ “T-That seems important!!”

◆ “Mind if we take a look?”

They can’t read it but they don’t know that. So you just show them the book. As expected, they look at it frustrated, before handing it back.

✿ “Those were bad letters.”

◆ “Honestly surprised you can even read it.”

Perhaps you should go into detail. They might have insights.

✦ “I’ll translate, and explain. Take a seat.”

▲ “Awfully serious huh? “

◉ “Reminds me of the teachers here… I guess that makes this an extra class!”

You nod. Teacher angle makes sense. You’re a little tired to make all the normal expressions, but you’re frankly excited to teach this again! Properly this time!

✿ “Do we have to? I don’t want to do school again.”

✦ “You sure? You’d learn how to do real miracles. But I guess if you aren’t interested...”

✿ “I am now very intepid.”

◆ “Interested.”

✿ “That.”

▲ “Wait, hold on a second, you said actual miracles?”

You give Isa a grin. You have everyone's interest!

✦ “Take your seats, and we can begin.”

They sit down around the nearby table, while you skim the book quickly to make sure you’re ready.

◆ “Very well, professor Siffrin. Whenever you please.”

Alright. Best start with the basics first.

✦ “Now then. Wishcraft is, as the name implies, the ability to craft with wishes. Specifically, it is the art of turning raw belief in a desire into real force by drawing from elsewhere. This is done through any number of rituals, which help translate and amplify your intentions to the stars in the night sky. Then, your will to see it done sways them into granting that desire.”

▲ “The stars? They can do that?”

Ah, you should explain this again. You briefly explain the stars, other worlds, their craft energy, and so on.

◉ “Wow, that’s… So, every time we make a wish, we’re taking from hundreds of other people?!?”

✦ “Billions, but... No, it’s more complex then that. Like I said, We’re also a star to them, and they can draw from us. It’s more like sharing, on such a wide scale we can't tell. But more importantly, it’s normally borderline impossible to draw anything meaningful normally. That’s why rituals need to be designed for this.”

◆ “And what do these rituals involve?”

✦ “I’m glad you asked! Every star has affinities for certain actions, desires, objects, and so on. In order to contact several, you have to find stars close enough to each other that work together. But, since we don’t have a say in what these affinities are, the rituals can get… Unusual.”

✿ “I wanna know one! Tell us, tell us!”

Well, you know one like the back of your hand, so...

✦ “Well then, let’s go for something you’re familiar with. Favor trees.”

▲ “WAIT WHAT!?!”

◉ “THEY CAN GRANT WISHES?!?”

✦ “Yes! They can. It’s not the strongest ritual, but it can work small miracles. Like learning a skill effortlessly, giving good luck, or with strong desire, even stuff like transformations and small bits of magic-like abilities.”

▲ “I-It can’t be as simple as just clapping your hands can it? We would have known by now!”

✦ “Right. Visiting the tree is just one step. The actual ritual goes as such: First find a leaf that represents yourself, whisper the wish into the leaf a number of times significant to you, or just three if you want, fold it closed, and then set it loose in the wind.”

They all just take a second to process that.

✿ “That’s so weird.”

◉ “Kinda complicated. And nothing like what we were taught…”

You feel a little annoyed at that, for some inexplicable reason.

✦ “Hey, designing rituals is tricky. Finding a specific combination of stars that even respond to favor trees took MONTHS of work, and after that you just have to work with what’s available to make something even doable at all. The fact there even IS one is a borderline miracle.”

◆ “No need to get upset Siffrin. It’s not like you designed it.”

… Wait

… Oh. That’s why it’s so clear in Siffrin’s memory. And why you know so much about this from them.

...AND they could tell from your silence.

◉ “...Oh Change.”

✦ “I tried, okay?”

▲ “Hey it’s a good ritual, you did your best.”

✿ “Yeah, but why’d you never tell us! I would’ve totally used it yesterday!”

✦ “...I forgot.”

They have a bit of a chuckle at that. Oh stars, that’s really embarrassing…

Siffrin wanted it to be a gift for their neighboring country. You barely even remembered it. It would have been the perfect thing to share.

◆ “So, these rituals contact the stars. But that leaves me with a few questions. For example, how do they make sure it goes to the wish, and not something else? And what about contradictions, such as if two people wish for opposing things? And also, what kind of ritual did the king use for their powers? Is there a way to disrupt it?”

Huh. You can’t quite remember. But it seems important. You start flipping through the pages…

✦ “Hm… Not getting much. It seems those first few points are handled by something called an Arcanum, but it doesn’t mention much about them. And this book doesn’t actually list many rituals, more just how Wishcraft works.”

◉ “Then we should keep an eye out! I’m kind of invested now!”

✿ “I really wanna know more magic stuff!”

You nod, and everyone gets up. Alright. That’s a new insight! You might have talked a LOT there, but the recap was important, for them and you both. The headache is mild, since you were mostly reading for that knowledge. Worth it.

And it served as a bit of a distraction. The reality of you being in the house suddenly comes back to you in full force. Right. You have to keep them safe till the next book. Now you need to make extra sure you don’t loop until the end, or else you will have to do all that over again.

You walk out the door, and see a sadness. NO. You sing, and it rips itself apart. You stab it for good measure, before the others even get out the door.

◆ “...Gems, that never gets any less unsettling.”

You hear Isa whisper under their breath.

▲ “(Back to cold Sif, I guess… Hope their okay.)”

...Oh. You… haven't been putting effort into being expressive lately, have you…

...It’s fine. Save your energy for the parts that matter. Even if you have to go a bit monster in between.

>>>

Second floor. You ended up having that talk at that diary in the library, and… let them know that that’s where you, and wishcraft come from. It felt important to mention this time.

It was. Nice, how they comforted you afterwards. But, you assured them it was fine and moved on. You can’t accept comfort for that. They’d never forgive you if they found out the truth. No one would.

Still, you made your way to the secret library. And searched the shelves for that book. You hope it has what you need… Perfect!

✦ “Guess what I found! A book on constellations, their rituals, and it has a section discussing Arcanums!”

▲ “CRAB Yeah!”

◉ “Yes! Please, tell us all you can!”

✿ “I wanna know if there’s any magic wish stuff I can do!”

◆ “Yes, if you would be so kind?”

You nod, and start skimming through… Hm. This is rather interesting.

✦ “Okay, so first off, the Arcanum is a construct of sort, that helps focus a specific constellation to our world. But it also says here it… ‘Puts wishes in the hands of the patron star’.”

◆ “What does that mean?”

✦ “Can’t see what this stars name is, gives me a headache trying but… Apparently they act as some kind of. Controlling force? They sort of manage the wishes, make sure they go right.”

Wait, something catches your eye.

✦ “Apparently this involves fixing contradictions, increasing efficiency, and… even merging similar wishes together?”

▲ “Huh. That makes sense. If a bunch of people want the same thing, it makes sense to just bundle it into one.”

… That might be it. Your wish wouldn’t have done this, but if it got mixed into another, bigger wish, then maybe THAT is what’s causing this? But what wish could be doing that… What wish could have enough power to repeatedly turn back time?

◆ “Interesting. Still, if this Arcanum is important to the efficiency, then disrupting it would weaken the king, yes?”

✦ “Maybe? But unless he made it himself, it’s probably back on the island. Still, a wish this intense typically comes with a caveat or two.”

◉ “… Is there a way to check that?”

Hm. That would be useful. You skim through the pages a bit.

✦ “Apparently if we can find an Orrery, they come with ways to trace wishcraft to their constellations. I’ll take the book with us in case we find one, and can cross reference.”

▲ “Sounds like a plan!”

✿ “...Okay, that’s cool and all, but can we get another cool magic ritual?”

Oh yeah, fair, that would be nice! You flip through the pages, seeing if you can find anything interesting...

✦ “Let’s see… Oh, here’s an interesting one. Who here knows how to make a paper crane?”

Nobody except Odile raises their hand.

✿ “...You better teach me, Dile.”

◆ “Sure. Now then, what do you do with them?”

✦ “Apparently, if you successfully fold one thousand paper cranes consecutively, without tearing or damaging a single one, and whisper your wish into each one as you do, on the final one, your wish will be granted.”

◉ “That sounds… Difficult.”

✦ “Maybe, but this is a strong wish! It can do some crazy things. Stuff normally impossible. Like learning a complex skill instantly, Create things from nothing, Gain the power to control the elements, and so on.”

✿ “… I am SO gonna do this one.”

✦ “Interested to see you try! Let me see if I can find another… Oh hey, here’s the favor tree one! Discovered by-”

You freeze in place. That. That can’t be right. You can barely stand straight.

◉ “Siffrin! A-Are you alright?!?”

As you stumble, Isa grabs you. Holds you upright.

That...That was Siffrin?!? You… You killed… You pretended to be… You can’t breathe…

▲ “Sif! Take deep breathes, buddy, in and out, like you always do, come on.”

You-! You-! You…. In and Out. In. And out. In. and. Out.

You're still shaking. You can’t… You absolute monster. You can’t believe….

✿ “What’s wrong Frin? What scared you like that!”

✦ “It-It’s nothing! Just… M-Might have been some backlash from… memory stuff! It’s fine! It’s fine.”

Odile looks at you suspiciously.

✦ “…Just... shouldn't have read about myself... I’ll hold onto the book for now, but I think we’ll save reading until relevant.”

Your family reluctantly accepts, and you start to put yourself together. Those words burning in your mind.

You’d known Siffrin was important, but you never had any idea it was anything more then maybe some notoriety in a field.

If you had known, you’d never have pretended to be him. Masqueraded as him. Dragged his corpse around as a common traveler. Let the scant few survivors you’ve met, even if only in the depths of their subconscious, think that he was still alive...

Discovered by Crown Prince, Siffrin Polaris.

… You really are an absolute monster.

>>>

You are on the third floor. Your family is a little nervous, since you’ve been a little tense since the secret library. And have been taking that tension out on the sadnesses. You’ve started getting a little creative with how you make them kill each other or themselves, and aren’t exactly letting them run away. Or at least, if they do, you make sure they're dead within seconds of leaving line of sight. You don’t let it get in the way though, your family is as safe as always.

Oh. This door.

You’ve seen this odd, star shaped door before, but never gone in. Couldn’t read the text. But. You can now.

The name of the Star Blessed kings shall always be welcome.

… You don’t deserve to say it. To stain that name any more then you already have, by letting this twisted mimicry of it’s last member speak it.

But… There might be something important in there. It feels horrible but...You speak it, barely above your breath.

✦ “Polaris.”

The door opens.

▲ “Huh? Did you say something Sif?”

✦ “Don’t worry about it. Let’s head in.”

You walk in and. Oh! Guess you were right.

✦ “Well that’s lucky. Found our Orrery.”

▲ “Oh, okay! So that’s what that is.”

◉ “Hehe, it’s fun seeing Siffrin be the expert for once!”

✿ “It looks kinda weird. I don’t get it.”

◆ “Agreed. Care to show us how it works?”

You nod, and take a closer look. Even if you didn’t have Siffrin’s memories, mechanical stuff like this is your forte!

✦ “So, it can be used in two ways. The first is to map out how our world looks from the outside in, which is used for a lot of star based things. For reference, this ball here in the center is the sun, and this tiny ball here is where we live.”

✿ “WHAT!! That’s so small!! Why is the sun so big!”

✦ “It's actually scaled down quite a bit. It's much bigger, We’re just really far away from it. If it was accurate, with the sun at that size, the earth would be a pebble, and the distances would make this thing bigger then the entire house!"

▲ “That… Wow. That’s... Way bigger then I thought. I can't even picture that in my head.”

✦ “It puts things into perspective doesn’t it? We’re really just a tiny speck in the scale of everything.”

◉ “It’s a little overwhelming…”

✦ “Really? I find it comforting... Anyways! Let’s move on to the reason we need this… Hm…”

You look around a little bit, find a loose rock frozen in time, and place it against a scanner at the base.

The machine whirrs to life, spinning into the right position, matching when the constellation would be most visible. Then the room grows dark, as a misty circle of shadows forms around you all. You watch as you all go slightly transparent within the crafted illusion, and a series of lights is highlighted against the edge, lines connecting the phantom stars like dots.

▲ “CRAB!!!”

◉ “WHAT?!?”

◆ “GEMS!!!”

✿ “WOAH!!!”

You give them a second to adjust before explaining.

✦ “Look like this ones pretty fancy. Normally it’d just be a projection around it, but this is much cooler!”

You point to the highlighted stars. The whole is overall shaped like a heart with a dagger. There’s a lot of stars in it too!

✦ “There’s the constellation! Let’s see if it matches up to anything in here…”

▲ “This is actually really crabbing cool….”

◉ “It’s really beautiful!”

✿ “I can see through my hands!!”

You search through the book, going through the high power constellations first.

✦ “Oh, yeah, here it is, let’s see if there’s a caveat or something… Oh… That’s…”

◆ “Hm? What is it?”

This… Dear goodness. You knew the king was insane but this is just…

✦ “I’m going to give a warning ahead of time and say this ritual is… Gruesome. The king is clearly messed up to even attempt this.”

The others take a pause, look at the constellation, and nod. You take a deep breath in, and out.

✦ “Take a piece of iron. Mix your own blood, freshly spilled, into it’s metal every day for one hundred days. Then, on the one hundredth day, forge it into a dagger, and then pierce your own heart. Should you survive unaided from dawn till dusk, without removing the blade, it will fuse into your heart. So long as the blade remains and your heart still beats, you will be given the power to see your wish granted.”

…

Your family is left speechless.

◆ “...Gems alive…”

◉ “That’s horrible!”

▲ “How desperate was he?”

None of you know what to say to that.

✦ “… Guess that means killing him really is the only option.”

◉ “I… I guess.”

✿ “… But we know it’ll work, right?”

!?!?

✿ “I-If the magic stuff only works while his heart's working, then when he’s dead, it’s gonna stop, right? Everything will go back to normal, right?!”

Bonnie is on the edge of tears.

◆ “I… Yes, Boniface.”

✦ “Yeah. It will. And… If they're willing to go that far, then we don’t need to feel bad about it. Someone like that… Would kill to get his way.”

You know that from experience…. Can still remember how they…. You look at the constellation on the wall. Such a twisted ritual. But…

✦ “It says here… that this ritual was once used by the most loyal knights, dedicated to protecting the world itself. Only those willing to risk everything for the people. To bleed and die for the ones they care for..."

A faint memory scratches the back of your mind. Someone you looked up to?

✦ "It’s sick, seeing him twist something like that into this.”

Mirabelle looks at you, determined.

◉ “… We’ll put and end to it.”

...Monsters, twisting what few bits remain of your home into nightmares. The King. And You…

You’d best check your own wish, while you’re here. You place your hand against the monitor. And the device shifts and spins, highlighting the favor tree constellation. You suppose your wish IS involved then. But…

◆ “Checking your own wish, hm?… Why does it look… Cracked, I guess?”

It does. The stars and it’s patterns are leaving cracks on the display. They're also far brighter then it should be. That means it’s likely under considerable strain. Could be a result of the wish going wrong.

But more notably, the stars at the center seem the most strained, and no other stars are highlighted at all... Which means...

The wishes bundled into yours were also done at favor trees. Otherwise, other stars would have been at least somewhat highlighted. And the favor tree isn’t a strong constellation. To pull this kind of power from it, so focused, it would take an absurd amount of will. Which means it was done by many people. But what wish...

✦ “No idea. Still, that’s enough for now.”

That’s a lead to look into. You turn the device off, and the illusion fades.

▲ “Guess we learned a lot, huh?”

◉ “… We did, Didn’t we? Thank you Siffrin.”

You nod. You’re glad they were here to help with this…

But what now? You guess you need to figure out what people wished for at the favor trees. See if you can find a consistent theme, something that would work.

You guess it’s time to head to Dormont… You lead your family out of the room first though. You don’t want to die in a room like that.

◆ “...Before we go any further, Siffrin... Is there something you aren’t telling us?”

Huh?

▲ “Madame?”

◆ “You’ve been acting off since yesterday, have known how to navigate the house nearly on instinct, and clearly have far more understanding of the king and his methods then beforehand. I doubt you learned this Sadness control craft overnight, but it’s not the only thing that’s off. So. Mind telling us what’s happening?”

✦ “… Don’t worry about it, it’s fine.”

◆ “… Oh really. So, you’re not dealing with any timecraft yourself, HM?”

Oh. Oh no.

◆ “I had my suspicions for a while, but the way your wish looked back there practically confirms it. You’ve established that Wishcraft can alter time, and you’re practically an expert on that field. If anyone could craft a wish that could turn it back, it would be you.”

◉ “H-Huh?!?”

◆ “Which would explain a lot of things. Your sense of calm, even to traps, your knowledge of where each key in the entire house is, and several other things. How else would you know all this, unless you’ve done it before?”

▲ “That… would explain some things.”

◆ “I don’t mind secrets, but this is VERY important to us. And the fact it looks damaged means that something is wrong, correct? You even admitted a favor tree wish couldn’t do that. But Clearly yours wasn’t normal. So tell me. What. Is Happening?”

… Blind it. She’s angry again. Of course she is. You’ve kept them all trapped here for so long. You greedy monster. This is all your fault. It’s YOUR wish that went wrong.

✦ “… I’m sorry. I didn’t want to trap you all here….”

The others react in surprise, as you confirm her suspicions. And you turn towards a nearby tear.

✦ “...But it’s alright. I’ll fix it soon. And you won’t have to remember any of this.”

◆ “What?!?”

You unfurl your body, grabbing the tear before they can react.

《《《

…Blind it all. You HATE them being upset with you. You KNOW you messed up, seeing them also be upset at you is horrible. You’ve turned this final adventure into a horror story for them.

But it’s fine, right? You’re a very gentle monster. You won’t hurt them. You just need to help them out before you can’t keep up the lie. Then their story won’t be tainted. Then they can have their happy ending, never fearing the monster they escaped.

You just need to fix this, and it will be alright. You just need to fix this, and then they’ll be safe.

✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸

Oh, dear researcher, too clever for your own good~ But it doesn’t matter! This whole terrible affair will be over soon.

… Royalty, then? You guess that make sense. Where else would you have gotten the ability to summon something like yourself? Probably stole that power from his corpse in your gullet, back when you were Stardust. A power like that could only be used by those blessed by the red star.

… Hm. A little input from your patron. How interesting~ Guess that confirms it!…

You wonder what kind of nation it was, for their kings to have craft as bloody as that. Combined with that ritual Stardust found, and you’re getting the impression your former home had a turbulent history.

You guess it makes sense if you and Stardust came from there! Where else could such abominations be born?~

...Not that it matters in the end. You both are getting close. Close to finding the answer to this issue. Close to the ending. You can feel it.

#in stars and time #isat #isat au #carrion!sif au #SymphonyInCrimson!au #The threads start to unravel #revealing the truth #A very informative chapter! :3

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cyten0 · 4 months ago

Text

A Symphony in Crimson

Act 1: A Movement in Black

Chapter 7

Okay. First floor of the house, the librarian mentioned candles, and you know the candles are here. Just need to get that key and focus on the enemies until then, so you don’t focus on your party. It’s been working so far...

◆ “Are you alright, Siffrin?”

Huh?!?

◆ “You’ve been in that odd stance this entire time. The one you sometimes use in combat.”

▲ “Right! The feral stance! It’s kinda cool, seeing you move like a graceful panther or something, but you don’t do it often. And the way you fight in it is honestly impressive!”

◉ “It’s kinda cool seeing you use it more!”

STARS of course, you reverted back to hunting instincts! You try not to use those too much, since if your not thinking through your moves, you can act weird an a little inhuman.

But with so much of your focus on not hurting them, it’s kind of the only way you can fight right now! You need to think of an excuse…

✦ “I mean, we’re about to fight the king! Gotta get serious.”

◉ “It’s time to get serious!”

▲ “I’ll show the king my true power!”

◉ “And then… I’ll rule the world, with adorable lullaby songs!”

Wait what?!? You know you sing yourself lullabies before sleep, but you didn’t know they heard that!

✦ “Wait you NOTICED THAT?!?”

▲ “Course we did! In fact, Bonbon uses them to fall asleep themselves!”

✿ “ZA!!! How dare you! That was secret!!!”

▲ “O-Oh! Sorry!”

You chuckle a little, before moving on…

So you guess your just gonna be in hunting mode this entire time, huh?… It’s fine. They’ve already seen it, they think it’s just a technique. And as long as you can keep your focus, that’s all it’ll be to them!

Just don’t let it get out of control, don’t hurt them, don’t do anything too weird, and it’ll be fine. You can let the instincts do the fighting, and your focus can be on keeping it under control.

>>>

◆ “Ah, bathrooms...So, does anyone need to go?”

The others raise their hands, but you don’t.

◆ “Really Siffrin? With how much you’ve been eating?”

▲ “Yeah, you’ve nearly eaten Bonnies entire backup supply, both times we had snack breaks!”

You admit, you’ve gotten a bit ambitious with the snack breaks so far, but every bit counts right now.

✦ “Nope! I’ll just stand guard!”

▲ “Well, alright, if you're sure!”

Odile gives a strange look at you, then heads in with the others.

…Right. Loop said they could get you something decent if you bought them time, and you’ve made an opening. You wait till they're all inside and out of sight, before whispering.

✦ “(Loop? What do you have?)”

✸ Well done on that opening, Stardust! For today’s special, we have fresh venison! Coming right up!

◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆

You wait a little before peaking out.

SOMETHING is off with Siffrin today. He’s eating way more then normally, fighting oddly, and yet somehow still looks ever so slightly ill. You tend to keep tabs on it, as you were hoping you could maybe help out after the king if you had the opportunity, but this hardly makes sense.

They don’t use that stance when their hunger is acting up, or if they do, only in emergencies. Which means it’s been an emergency all day today. Whatever is happening, it is very bad.

You hear something in the hallway, and a strange shade illuminates the walls! Time to take a look. To your surprise, there’s a deer in the hallway? And-

You don’t even get a moment to think on that before Siffrin grapples the creature. His hands are twisted into bestial claws, as he plunges them into the back of it’s spine! And then…

Something is entering into the deer. It suddenly stops thrashing, it’s face grows cold, and it begins to move like a puppet. Gems Alive, what did Siffrin do to the poor thing?

You… You watch as Siffrin’s body snaps like a twig, and begins to unravel, as the deer begins to bleed across the floor. As Siffrin’s form grows larger and larger, you suddenly watch the deer get pulled into his form a single sudden move!

As you watch the cloaked ball of flesh and teeth writhe, you hear crunching and tearing coming from within, slowly becoming quieter and quieter, until they slowly shrink themselves back down, their form's withdrawal leaving streaks of blood upon the stone floor…

… That... goes far beyond what you were expecting!! This isn’t some condition, this is… What even IS Siffrin?

…No, You can’t ignore this. Not right now. The king is barely a floor away, and they were hiding THIS? You already knew they were doing bad, but if they're eating entire creatures alive, then it needs to be addressed IMMEDIATELY.

Whatever his intentions, they could be a liability. And you aren't accepting some excuse about it being fine! You aren’t going to let stubborn pride endanger you all.

◆ “Siffrin.”

He turns to you, horrified. You just get straight to the point.

◆ “I thought it worth checking up on you, CLEARLY I was right to do so. Mind explaining what THAT was?”

✦ “Uh, I, uh!”

◆ “Something was up with how much you were eating, and apparently it’s not even the start. So. Tell me. What. Was. That?”

✦ “No no not again, no stars no I thought I-I-”

Wait. Do you smell…. Burnt suga-

《

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

◆ “-does anyone need to go?”

!!!

You. You raise your hand. And enter the bathroom with the others.

As soon as you're in a stall, you try to think. STARS! You were so close! You finally, FINALLY get to have a halfway decent meal, even if it was just a drop in the bucket, and then… And then!

Stars, if there’s one person who would just KILL you the second she found out you were dangerous, it would be her! She wouldn’t hesitate, and you wouldn’t blame her.

And you could tell! She was staring at you with hatred! You could feel her body temperature rise, and that means anger. You LIKE Odile, you don’t want her to hate you!

...It’s fine. Just. Find a different spot. Or. Something. You don’t know.

✸ Also stardust, I noticed something... odd there. We should discuss it, next time you're free!

Huh? Okay. Worth noting.

>>>

Alright, you all settle into the third floor snack room. Bonnie’s searching through the snacks, and you are waiting patiently. It’s hard to make yourself do so, because you know what’s in there, and you can hardly resist.

▲ “You seem excited Sif! Something got your attention?”

Bonnie perks up, and you feel embarrassed.

✦ “I uh! I just. Smelled something. And might. Be a little excited!”

Not technically a lie, you can smell them. You just weren’t thinking about it the first time, distracted by the conversation.

✦ “Plus I’m also really hungry so-”

◉ “AGAIN?!?”

Uhoh!

◆ “Siffrin this is the third time today you nearly ate Bonnies entire stash! How are you STILL that hungry?”

✿ “Yeah, Frin! I know I pack extra just in case of this, but I can only carry so much!”

Stars, did you really eat that much? ...That explains Odile’s suspicion earlier. You know every bit counts, but you might have to tone it down in future... IF you can hold yourself back.

✿ “Well. Since you smelled them already, and want them so much, we can do these first!”

You make a high pitched noise of excitement as Bonnie pulls out the Malanga Fritters! They smell SO GOOOD!!!!! You have to hold yourself back from literally tackling Bonnie for them. You sit there, practically vibrating in place, as Bonnie hands them over to you.

The somewhat nutty, fried smell washes over you, as you instantly devour them. You try and savor the taste for as long as it’s in you mouth, even though it isn’t long at all with how much you want to eat them.

▲ “Wow, you tore those apart!"

You sure did! You wish you had more, but it’s ok, you’ll get some later. For now, you just soak in that flavor…

The vague memories from Siffrin’s life waxing back into some clarity. Sitting at a table in a spacious room, surrounded by loved ones, that meal in front of you, someone you think is your mother enjoying your reaction…

You can’t remember the details, trying just hurts your head. The only way you can get as much as you have is by remembering them through the lens of the monster. That degree of separation, and a LOT of practice, are the only reason you can remember as much as you can.

No idea who those people were, you can only even guess the mother part really. But. It’s an anchor. A way to hold Siffrin at the forefront. Because in that moment, you’re remembering it as he did.

✿ “Frin?! Are you crying!?”

Oh stars, you are, all over again! Every time!

✦ “Sorry, it’s just been a while since I had them! Thank you so much!”

You suppose it’s technically a lie... But it feels like it’s the truth. Like it has been forever.

Bonnie seems pleased with themselves! The others pick out their snacks, as you make do with a second helping of fritters. Despite eating that deer earlier, it doesn’t feel like it did much at all. Probably because you looped right after.

OK. Time to recap.

On the front of helping your friends, you found the familytale for Odile in the secret library, or hopefully have. If it’s not with the boulangerie, it should be SOMEWHERE in Dormont still.

You figured out what Mirabelle’s papers are, sort of, so you’ll ask her more and that should help.

And you found out one of Bonnie’s favorite foods is rice. You already knew about the other two, they really like samosas, and you literally cannot forget the pineapple incident.

You shudder a little. Only thing that comes close to that in terms of pain is fire, and you’ve only experienced death by one of those two.

… Anyways, That just leaves whatever Isa has in mind, which you guess you’ll find out when you do the others.

On the other front, you learned some about Timecraft, and found it’s supposed to be literally fatal to most. It not killing you is somewhat unsurprising, but the fact that it’s barely taxing at all, the specifics of how it’s working for you, and the lack of control you have over it, indicate there’s another force at play.

Meanwhile, you’ve confirmed most of what you knew about the king. He’s definitely from the northern country like Siffrin, and that nobody is quite sure where his power is from. The Head Housemaiden's office was mostly a bust. But did let you find out the king chose his title! Might be interesting to ask about, but finding out what’s giving him the power to use Timecraft is more important for now…

...Something in the back of your mind itches. As if there is a possible connection there. But you can’t remember why. But you're not sure how. Something Siffrin knew…

It’s fine. Thinking too hard will give you a headache, and given you’ll have to face the king soon, you need to be able to think clearly. Especially since you need to use your new voice to maybe have a chance of asking some questions.

…Alright, Time for the king.

>>>

Once again, you face the king. Your party members talk before you, responding to the question he has posed. Your turn.

✦ “We can’t afford to let you win.”

He does not turn like before. Success!

♔ “How unfortunate…… Are you sure? Your hopes…. Your joys…. You would let them flicker and fade with time?…. Let your lives burn away…?”

You all simply stare him down. Determined.

♔ “oooohhhhh….. Then so be it…… But first….. Bright one…. Do you remember?”

✦ “Do you?”

You know the answer, but hearing him say it now, when he thinks your human…. You feel it’s important.

♔ “ooooohhhhh…. No… So they are lost to us both….”

The king pauses, and looks over you all.

♔ “….. Do you have any more words for me?….. before we begin?…..”

Hm. Decidedly more merciful now. But you suppose now’s the best time to ask…

✦ “What’s giving you the power to use timecraft?”

♔ “ooohhhh?…..Timecraft. I suppose I am….”

◆ “Right, it’s supposed to be impossible to control, and require power well in excess of anyone’s capabilities. So…. How?”

♔ “...Hah! You are right…. I could not on my own…. So. I had some help…..”

◉ “Help?!? Who would…?”

♔ “What else could? But the Universe…. I simply had to make my wish known to it, and it answered….”

◉ “The Universe? What is that?”

▲ “It’s… Hm, it’s on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t seem to remember.”

…. Wait. Wish. The universe. Your head hurts but... You remember something. Something you studied a lot as Siffrin?

✦ “Did you use Wishcraft?”

▲ “Huh?”

♔ “Ooohhhh? So you know of it….. You are correct… Then you know the Universe believes in me?”

….The Universe leads… but...

✦ “We’ll see about that.”

...It takes strength to follow. And he has already given up on the future.

You let the idea go before it cracks your skull, but you stay strong. It’s time to take them down.

>>>

The fight goes much smoother this time, but a lot slower. He is not nearly as desperate as last time. Breaking the tears was a little tricky without your cheap maneuver from before, and he was a lot more focused, weaving slowing and time stopping magic in with defensive moves. But his attacks were less dangerous, so it was just a matter of whittling him down before you did, and that was simple enough.

You celebrate with your party, head over to the head housemaiden, and listen to them talk. When they split up, you sit there for a second.

If you talk to her now, you might loop back, without getting another chance to talk to the party before going back. You know that, maybe, talking to her now could buy you time but.

No, might as well take this chance.

Most of the conversations don’t really matter, you're content to leave them as they are. Just say what you did before, focus on not eating them, and move on. But, before you close on Bonnie's conversation, you point out they still have snacks on them.

✿ “WAIT I DO???? Oh wow! I would have thought I’d be out with how much you ate, but I do! And most of it’s pineapple too, Crab yeah!”

There. That should keep them from interrupting your chat with Isa. You… You really want to know what they have to say.

▲”Sif! We did it! We stopped the King! We can finally go back to our normal lives! Isn’t it great?”

✦ “It is!”

▲ “Yeah!…... I uh. I said. Do you remember what I said? At the Clocktower?”

✦ “I remember! What did you want to tell me?”

Please. You need to hear.

▲ “Yes. Um… Yes. Okay. Phew…… Sif. Siffarooni…. Siffrin….”

▲ “...I… I… I lo-”

◉ “OH! We should do a group hug!”

✿ “Yeah!!! Group Hug!”

◆ “Pass.”

▲ “…….sureiguessit’stimeforagrouphug”

STARS Ok. Of course some other interruption occurred. You watch as Mira, Bonnie, and Isa all do a group hug, with you and Odile standing back. Odile is just like that, and you REALLY don’t trust yourself to be that close to them all right now.

Isa comes back. He’ a little silent. You suppose you could try again but…

✦ “What were you going to say?”

▲ “…. Doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter! It wasn’t that important! I have to think about some things anyways. Just. Say hi if you’re ever by Jouvente?”

You nod, disappointed. But, your tuned ears can hear him mumble under his breath…

▲ “(There goes your perfect moment, Isabeau. King is defeated, country saved…. If they come to Jouvente, I guess can confess there. It’ll have to do.)

….Oh…. Are they?… Is?… No. There’s no way….

If… If you come back here. You HAVE to hear them say it. You. You can’t be sure unless…

It’s fine. Later. For now. You need answers from her.

You go up to the Head Housmaiden.

◎ “Traveling one! I’d like to thank you for accompanying Mirabelle this far. I’m very-”

✦ “No time, we’ve done this before. You said last time something was broken? What was it?”

◎ “Done this before? Broken? What do you?…….!!!”

Suddenly the air starts to shift again! Already?!?

◎ “Oh… Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no… I-I’m so sorry! There’s no way we can stop it now…!”

Wait but…

✦ “PLEASE just tell me!”

◎ “You're going back! Back to when it all started!”

BLIND it, she’s just saying the same things! Is the Timecraft affecting her?!? You have to get her to talk! Anything!

✦ “SṆ̸̏AP OU̷͓͊T OF IT̸͍̿!!!”

◎ “I know you thought your quest is over, but it can’t be! Something is broken, failing, rotting!!! I can’t fix it on my own, not before it all ends… If I had noticed it sooner!!! I should have seen it, prevented it!!!”

WHY???? BLIND IT ALL WHY???? WHY IS SHE LIKE THIS????

◎ “It’s my fault you have to suffer like this. I just hope that one day, you might lea《rn to f《or《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《

《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《

《《《《《《《《《《《

《《《《

….. Back again….

So… Can she just. Not hear you?…

To be fair, this method of looping always feels different, so perhaps she’s just not looping correctly?…

You guess that makes her a bit of a dead end, unless you can get something particularly notable that will shock her out of that state….

You wonder what it must feel like. You… You hope she’s not conscious during that...

… It’s fine, you can make it up to her by breaking these loops. You can do it! There’s still other leads to go down.

#in stars and time #isat #isat au #carrion!sif au #SymphonyInCrimson!au #Next chapter might take a bit since it's all the freindquests

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cyten0 · 3 months ago

Text

A Symphony In Crimson

Act 1: A Movement in Black

Chapter 17

… You can’t sleep. Still worrying about Sif. They're alone right now, dealing with… whatever is happening to them. Crab. You wish you had stuck it out a little longer, saw if you couldn’t get through to them. Helped them, somehow. It’s tearing you up inside, thinking about it.

You tried sleeping, and ended up with a nightmare. Sif crying blood, as something rips them apart from the inside. Crab. Nightmares aren't usually that close to reality. Guess your brain couldn't come up with anything worse.

Maybe you need some fresh air. You quietly get out of bed, so not to wake the others. And head out- Huh?!!!

You’re greeted with a message written in blood right outside the door!!!

I am sorry.

The king will be dead by morning.

My final act.

Farewell.

Oh. Oh No. Crab NO.

▲ “Everyone wake up! We have to go, NOW!!!”

✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸

You’re resting at the tree. You don’t need sleep, but your mind still wants it. At least rest. Trying to process this. Trying to figure out what to do now. You haven't even checked on Stardust. Why bother? They won’t want your help anyways. Not anymore.

You don’t feel bad about doing it. Never did. But blind it all. They shouldn’t have had to know. Not yet. Not till it was over.

You’re awoken from your musings by a familiar voice, approaching the tree.

▲ “Sif?! SIF?!!! Where are you!!!!”

The fighter? Up this early? They look desperate.

✸ “Oh my, What has dear Stardust done now?”

▲ “H-Huh?!? Who’s that?!”

You shift yourself outside your realm, right in front of them.

✸ “A friendly helper of our local white cloaked Traveler~”

▲ “W-What the!... Wait really?!?”

✸ “Of course! Was quite frankly made for that purpose~”

You take off your mask, briefly, showing the fighter your face. He seems surprised! You suppose wearing the same face as stardust has SOME perks! No need to spend time convincing them of your relationship~

✸ “With that in mind, I assume they’ve gotten into some extra trouble, if you're searching so frantically!”

▲ “I-! He left a note, outside our room and-!”

✸ “Oh? Let me see really quick~”

You shift your otherworldly eyes towards the clocktower… Oh. That. Is not good.

✸ “Oh dear, quite dramatic of them! They’re probably already at the house then~”

▲ “Crab, I thought so. I better get the others. We have to do something.”

You can’t sit idly by at this point. It’s all coming to a head! And if Stardust's mental state is this bad, the house might be...

✸ “Allow me to help! I’ll round up the others quickly, and I’ll help guide you through the house. You’re going to need it~”

▲ “Alright, I’ll start heading over!”

You suddenly have an idea. Yes, This could change things.

✸ “...Actually, could you do something first? Something that might give us an edge~”

▲ “Huh?”

✸ “You want to save Stardust, right? With all your heart?”

They look at you. And nod.

✸ “In that case, Let me teach you a ritual! To make the favor tree help grant that wish…”

◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉

You’ve been searching around for a bit when the strange person showed up, and told you where they are. So now, You’re just waiting for the others. Oh, Siffrin…

You can’t leave them to do this. Can't leave them alone. Not when they're going to risk their life for you all…

Oh! There they all are!

◉ “O-Okay! We’re all here! It’s… Earlier then expected, but we were planning to fight through the house anyways!”

✸ “I’m going to stop you there, dear housemaiden~ Don’t be expecting this to be ANYTHING like what you were preparing for!”

◆ “What does that mean?”

✸ “Stardust's unique nature can do quite a bunch! They've likely reshaped the entire house! Even worse, there's some extra timecraft thrown into the mix~”

▲ “More timecraft? Did the king do something to them?”

✸ “Nope! I will explain as we go, but Stardust has done this day a few times now~ But during those attempts, they made some changes to the sadnesses”

Changes? Siffrin can change a sadness?

✿ “Wait… Is that why that sadness before was movin funny?”

✸ “Very observant, Kid! Yes, stardust can control any living thing he puts a piece of himself inside, like a living virus~”

◆ “Should we be worried about infection?”

✸ “Oh no, don’t worry, you don't! I honestly don't think they will, not even a reason to bother! Besides, It's a fairly obvious transfer, and easy to clear out, at least early on~ Honestly a bit of Pineapple juice works just fine, and the Kid has plenty!”

✿ “...Why pineapple?”

✸ “Stardust is Allergic!”

✿ “Oh okay!…. Crab, that means I can’t make pineapple stuff for them.”

Hehe, kind of relieving a little to hear such a normal answer to something scary like this! Just allergies! Helps remind you this is still Siffrin…

Feels bad, thinking about that? You've barely seen anything, and you're still struggling with all this.

✸ “Regardless, the problem is control isn’t all they can do~ If they just eat the sadnesses for strength, we should be fine. But if they changed them further, put them fully under his influence… be prepared for this house to be far, FAR more horrifying~”

Okay, so you’ve read enough horror stories to get the idea. Kind of a zombie hivemind thing? Um.

◉ “I-I mean! If Siffrin’s controlling them, we should be fine! They’d never hurt us!”

Right? They shouted a bit yesterday, and got upset, but never actually hurt?

✸ “Yes, that was the reason they infected the sadnesses in the first place~ But they ARE still sadnesses, and stardust’s not consciously controlling them right now… So, keep on your toes?”

◆ “...The warning is welcome, thank you… I’m afraid I didn’t catch your name?”

✸ “Call me Loop! It’s not a very creative title, as you’ll find out, but it’s what I have!”

You nod. And head towards the Houses gate. It’s been closed behind itself, but not locked. You use a little craft to activate opening systems for the massive door and…

…You stare down the corridor. The walls are darkened with the King’s curse, yet living flesh seems to creep through the cracks of the stone, growing out of it like mold, yet beating like a heart. You see eyes stare out at you from the growths, looking around erratically but with the majority focused directly at you all, staring you down. The air seems to shudder within, with a rhythm you can feel but not hear.

You feel the others shaking. Even you need to take a second and steady yourself. But. You can’t afford to hesitate. You HAVE to press on.

◉ “… Let’s go. We can do this.”

The others steel themselves, and you march in.

… The strange growths continue, all the way inside. The eyes follow your movements, and it kind of makes you worry a little. But then… You hear singing?

You look for the source of the sound. And see something moving up ahead, in the darkness.

✸ “Looks like I was right. Get ready everyone.”

The creature starts shuffling towards you. As it approaches you can see it more clearly.

It looks like a sadness at first. But… There is a pale white mask, fused onto it’s face. The openings for it’s eyes are a lightless void. And it’s body… dark tendrils seem to peek out from it’s edges, it’s limbs seem skinned the way flesh has fused itself onto it’s liquid body, it’s hands are formed into cutting blades of bone and sinew, and it moves like it’s being picked up by invisible strings.

Yet it doesn’t stop singing. A perfect, unnatural voice, rings out from it's body in time to the unheard rhythm you feel in the air.

You ready your rapier. The others follow suit.

You charge forwards, piercing it’s heart, and filling it with craft power. You watch as it barely flinches, even as the injury rips it apart. You back off, as it takes a swing towards you. It’s blow cracks the ground as it hits, but Isa takes the opening to knock it off it’s feet. It falls to the ground, unmoving for a few seconds. But then lifts off the ground, and it’s body twists around towards him. Odile then fires off a paper craft to blast it into the wall.

◆ “Please let that be it.”

You watch as it doesn’t move for a bit.

Before it suddenly raises it’s head and charges at you all like a feral beast! It’s so fast, you don’t have time to-

BANG

A hole pierces through the creature's mask, and it stops dead, before dissolving into water and blood.

You turn, and see Bonnie holding a strange device.

✿ “… Eyes glowed funny whenever it got up. Gotta be a weak spot.”

◆ “...Huh. Good eye, Boniface. But also, more importantly. What was that?”

✿ “Oh, yeah, Frin gave it to me. Said it’s a craft revolver. I wanted to help fight, so...”

▲ “Huh. Sif gave you that huh?”

✸ “That they did. You’re a good shot, Kid.”

✿ “H-Huh!? No, I… I hit Frin last time I used it. I didn’t wanna use it but…”

✸ “You only did that because you were scared!… Look, you might not know it, but you have a very good track record! You once went through the entire house without ever missing a single shot~”

✿ “Huh? What’s that mean?”

✸ “Like I said, Timecraft~ This day has happened a few times!”

Bonnie looks at the craft revolver.

You look at the stain where the sadness was. You've read a lot of horror stories but. It's usually just walking dead, or ghosts, or serial killers. This... This is way beyond anything you could have come up with on your own...

◉ “S-Sorry to change topics but… Did Siffrin… Really do that? Did they make that... thing?”

✸ “Yes~ I hope you’ve gotten used to it! There’s almost CERTAINLY more where that came from!”

▲ “Well, at least we know their weakness. Hit them in the face!”

✸ “Fire would also probably work. Stardust had that fear for a reason, after all!”

◆ “Not that we have much access to that right now. But worth knowing, I suppose.”

You nod. Alright. You have a plan! So. Let’s keep moving.

You go a little further, and- Wait, something’s moving above you!

A sadness drops down next you you, and starts to make a swing!

…? It. Stops. Inches from your face.

It stumbles backwards, and starts to twitch and writhe. It’s singing devolves into screeching!

And then it… stabs itself. Over and over. Until… it drops dead….

✸ “… It seems Stardust is still subconsciously controlling them. Good!”

▲ “Holy Crab... That was… brutal.”

✸ “Still, too close for comfort! Best not drop your guard, anyways~”

You can’t move. You… heard something. While screeching. Just for a second… it…

◉ “It sounded. Almost like Siffrin…”

✸ “… At this point, I’d say these things are basically half Stardust… Don’t let that stop you! They’ll still try to kill you, even if part of them will try and hold back~”

You… Nod. And keep moving on… What could have pushed things this far?

>>>

◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆

You all have been making good progress through the house. The deeper in you go, the more odd growths there are, and the more twisted the sadnesses. You’ve even seen entire hands and maws growing out of the walls. This... cannot be healthy.

Moreover, that eerie rythmic feel in the air just keeps getting worse. The sadnesses singing seems to keep to that invisible tune.... But despite everything, Loop has been guiding you through the paths well.

Loop. Strange character, they are. Oddly cheerful during all this, or at least faking it. They know far more about all of this then you. Best get information, while you all are making your way towards Siffrin.

◆ “So, Loop. You said you were here to help Siffrin? I presume with this?”

You gesture at... Everything, really.

✸ “Sort of! I wouldn’t need to exist if the monster deal was the only problem~ They've been handling it very well so far! But a different issue exasperated it significantly~”

▲ “Really? Mind telling us?”

✸ “Of course! First of all, I should mention the forces at play~ The first being wishcraft! It’s the power to turn desires into reality, with the right rituals~

▲ "Like that favor tree thing you asked me to do?"

✸ "Correct! There’s more to it, but The king used a different ritual to gain their powers over time. But they're not the only one! Another desire gave stardust the power to turn back time in desperate situations~”

✿ “Woah, Really?!?”

✸ “Yes! Stardust knew the rituals of course, they were born in the land that made wishcraft~ But a simple wish they made on a favor tree acted as a lightning rod for a much, MUCH bigger wish!”

◉ “W-What wish was that?”

✸ “Why, The wish of all of Vaugarde! To be saved from the king~ A desire as strong as that was MORE then powerful enough to rewrite history! I think we’re a little over a hundred attempts at this point?”

A hundred?! Awfully casual about that!

▲ “That many times?!? Did we never beat the king?!?”

✸ “That’s the Issue. You did! Rather early on, actually! But, things couldn't go that easily! By that point, a little flaw in this time traveling turned the whole situation on it’s head~”

◆ “What would that be?”

✸ “Two things. One, Stardust's hunger carried over attempts. They're not very human, and need flesh to survive~ And without hunting, Bonnie's snacks just couldn't cut it!"

✿ “What! No wonder they were a crab!"

✸ “I could cover their food somewhat, pulling in prey for them from elsewhere, even if options were limited~”

Loop rounds a corner, and snaps his fingers, as a sadnesses falls down, it’s head vanished from it’s shoulders, only to appear at Loops feet, who promptly crushes it. Efficient, aren’t they?

✸ “Sadnesses aren’t nutritious, but it’s not exactly like there was a lot of wildlife in Vaugarde to hunt~ Which led to the other issue! By the time Siffrin beat the king, they were too weak to keep up their human disguise for much longer.”

▲ “Disguise? Wait... Were they always like… this?”

✸ “Indeed! Since as far back as they can remember! Their face and name is borrowed from before they swore off their more… Disastrous tendencies.”

◆ “Disastrous? Compared to this?!...How bad was it?!”

✸ “Well, Their old home was a certain Island north of Vaugarde~”

You all take a moment. Hunting your memory for anything… Wait. You. DON’T remember it. But. You remember that’s a thing, isn’t it? That everyone forgot?!...Were they-?

✸ “I see it just clicked~ They didn’t make people forget, probably! I'd guess that was the survivors doing~ ...But what we do know is that, from what little they remember..."

Loop turns towards you all. Eyes grim. Voice cold.

✸ "Everyone there is dead. Every. Last. One.”

T-that... no way!!!

◉ “Change!”

▲ “Crab!”

◆ “Gems!”

✿ "...h-huh?"

No wonder Siffrin hid this! They're a walking Calamity! An entire COUNTRY wiped out overnight?!?!!

✸ “They don’t remember why they did it. But they’ve held that guilt ever since. Trying to make up for it.”

...None of you know how to respond to that. It’s terrifying, thinking little Siffrin is capable of that. Would ever do something like that. You'd suspected they had SOME kind of bloodied past but. Gems, this is something else.

You remember your mother. How when you were younger, you sometimes felt it was your fault they left. Your fault you lost those roots. You can’t imagine how that must feel for them…

✿ “...But Frin wouldn’t hurt anyone now, right?”

✸ “Not willingly, no~ And it would take a LOT to push them past that point!"

You figured not, but it's still a relief to hear.

✸ "Again, over a hundred loops, and only NOW are they even willing to do anything like this, even to the KING! They’d rather just be human… Which gets to the issue we’re dealing with now.”

◉ “O-Oh, right. You said… they were weak, after the king? What happened then?”

✸ “Stardust’s own wish kicked in! I can’t remember quite what it was! It wouldn’t be my place to say even if I did~ But they believe they’d need to be human after this all in order to do it. And because that wasn’t an option, The wish forced Siffrin back, to try again~”

'Believe' they would? Worth looking into. But you can see how that turned out.

◆ “I see. Since they only ended up like that because of going back so much…”

✸ “You catch on quick, Researcher! For the past two days, Stardust has been in an unending loop of the same two days, slowly starving to death~ We only recently figured out the cause!"

Just recently? Not a lot of time to test options then. Meaning you have a chance to help.

✸ "And now? ...Stardust is desperate. So they're making a last ditch effort to end things.”

▲ “Does it have something to do with the king? Is that why they came here?”

✸ “Correct! The king can stop time, prevent it from going forwards. And potentially, backwards! What would happen if Stardust stole the King’s wish, and shoved it into their own?”

Hm. There’s a certain logic to that. You aren't sure how this works, but colliding opposing crafts CAN cancel each other out, if done correctly. Though it's more likely to just blow up in your face.

◉ “Can that even work?!?”

✸ “Maybe! It could also permanently kill them, since they're doing it by force! Which I suppose solves it either way~”

What!?!… So that’s what they meant by their final act! They aren’t planning to live through this!... Gems, your head is running a mile a minute.

◆ “… This is a lot to take at once. And we barely know you…”

Loops cheerful demeanor gives way to dead seriousness.

✸ “I was based on stardust. I showed you my face. I have a share of their memories. I was sent to help them through this mess, and I’ll happily die to get them out... But I also understand these actions. The alternative is far worse…”

✿ “No it’s not! Nothin would be worse then Frin getting themselves killed! That’s dumb!”

You’d like to agree. Everything aside, Siffrin shouldn’t have to die for this. Not when they've tried so hard for your sakes.

✸ “You sure? Because if they kept going, eventually there’s only one food source left. Like I said, sadnesses won’t cut it, and there are no animals. Normal food isn’t enough, not unless supplemented with something bigger. Tell me, what do you think that leaves?”

You think. It’s a given it needs to be a living creature, given what you know of their diet and how meat based it is. But the only unfrozen things living at this point are…

◆ “… People.”

The others stare at you. Not knowing what to say. You know who would have been on the menu eventually. And the very idea of that...

✸ “...You get the desperation now, don’t you?”

None of you know how to respond to that…

...They’ve been looking at you all this whole time, their body telling them to kill you all. Fighting it every second. For hundreds of versions of today. Yet..

◆ “… They never did it though, did they? The way you talk about it, they’ve had ample opportunity. Not like we would remember.”

✸ “But They would remember. They'd know. They’d happily die before that. Before ever losing someone again.”

You look over the twisted house… Siffrin is willing to die to protect you from this…

You would do horrible things for your allies here. But. It seems you're not the only one. This twisted horror show that you stand in, it’s always been there, this entire journey. But Siffrin threw themselves through this hell for you all. And kept it all bottled up inside them, so you would never see.

...If they’ve taken things this far… What can you do at this point?… They understand it far more then you do. Even if you stop this timecraft, this will still be there. And… They’ve already accepted death...

◉ “… We won’t let it come to that.”

You look at Mirabelle.

✿ “Yeah! Frin don’t gotta get hurt for this! T-They aren’t a bad person!”

▲ “Yeah! We aren’t letting anything happen to Sif!”

...Heh. Gems, despite everything... You believe them.

◆ “I daresay we can think of SOMETHING.”

You look at Loop... Hm? Are they… Crying?

✸ “… Stars, I half believe you when you say that... Well then~ First we have to go save them from the king!”

Right. Best pick up the pace! No idea how much time you have left. You start searching through your notes as you move, for any crafts that might help.

◆▲✿◉◆▲✿◉◆▲✿◉◆▲✿◉◆▲✿◉◆▲✿◉◆▲✿◉◆▲✿◉◆▲✿◉

You'll get Siffrin out of this! You WILL save them!

#in stars and time #isat #isat au #carrion!sif au #SymphonyInCrimson!au #The truth is learned.#The horror seen #Yet they have the strength to continue

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