Chapter Text
The King
“One Month Ago”
Ten Months Ago
(You are so very close now.)
(Finally. You will finish your work.)
(You will save them all.)
(The whole of Vaugarde.)
(This blissful eternity is so close.)
(You’ve managed it with quite a lot of time to spare as well.)
(You look down on the shocked face before you.)
(She didn’t stand a chance, not really.)
(This Housemaiden of Change never stood a chance against the will of The Universe itself.)
(Still… you do feel some pity for them…)
(If only you could have made them understand…)
(They would all have come willingly if only they understood.)
(She needn’t be frozen like this, a look of terror upon her face for all eternity.)
(She could have smiled if she understood, safe in the knowledge that she would never be forgotten.)
(But of course, you could never convince the whole of Vaugarde.)
(What evidence could you even point to that you spoke truthfully?)
(You catch yourself involuntarily reaching for a memory but-)
(Your memories are gone.)
(You feel the sickeningly familiar spike of pain in your forehead,)
(A gentle reminder from The Universe to not let your mind wander down that pathway.)
(Of course, of course, you should focus. You should press your power out now, finish your work.)
(. . .)
(…No, you should wait for just a while longer before you make the final push.)
(You don’t want to be caught off guard by the interlopers in the floors below…)
(You felt the front gate open mere minutes ago and-)
(Oh-)
(-Perhaps you needn’t have worried after all, it would seem that one of their foolish group has already been crushed to death beneath a large rock.)
(You smell something sweet- how odd… you haven’t called upon your craft yet… and yet-)
Mirabelle
265 Days Later
(You step through the doorway into a room you recognize!)
(You’ve made it to the library.)
(Okay Loop said to ‘call’ them when you got here, so you signal for everyone to stop and hold your hand up to your head in the shape they showed you all.)
[Hello again Star-]
(You feel like you hear the sound of an awkward clearing of a throat but somehow just the idea of it instead of an actual sound??)
[I mean, how may I be of assistance?]
“We made it to the library now Loop, you said to-”
[Oh! Perfect, in that case you need to do two things here.]
[I think we should probably hurry though…]
[So let’s ~multitask~, could you put the others on the line?]
“Loop wants to talk to all of us.”
(You watch Bonnie, Madame Odile and Isabeau raise their hands to the sides of their heads.)
[Perfect~ Now that we’re all in the loop here-]
(Bonnie sounds annoyed,)
“Was that a crabbing pun?!”
[~Yes.~]
(Bonnie stares at the floor for lack of a face to look disapprovingly at.)
[Alright, The Kid, Fighter, and Researcher should stay here, there’s a book that contains a key you’ll need.]
[I don’t recall the title, but if you’re standing in the doorway, it’s the farthest shelf on your left against the far wall.]
[You three should try and find it, but The Housemaiden needs to do something else.]
“What’s that?”
[There’s a secret passage, the switch is just to the left the broken statue.]
[You’ll need to go through and sneak by a sadness- assuming he didn’t already come through here that is...]
[Once you make it past, you’ll find a smaller, secret library.]
[Within you’ll find a book on how to craft shields, you’ll need to learn that in order to withstand The King’s attacks-]
(Bonnie interrupts,)
“How come Belle is the only one that gets to go to a secret library?”
(Isabeau shakes his head and gestures towards the bookshelf Loop described,)
“Because we need to find the key Bonbon, come on, let’s get started.”
(You can tell he’s trying to stay upbeat- but his voice isn’t in it… you’re all very worried about Siffrin, but Isabeau seems exceptionally distraught.)
(Loop doesn’t say anything else, so you figure they must’ve told you everything you need to know and you all drop your hands.)
(You start to move towards the wall loop described the switch in, and start pressing your hand to random bricks on the wall.)
(Madame Odile startles you with a light hand on your shoulder,)
“Mirabelle- are you certain you don’t want any help sneaking past that sadness?”
“W-well- I figure if it was hard to sneak past or exceptionally dangerous, Loop would have warned us right?”
(She makes a noise of uncertainty.)
“Maybe… I just feel like there’s so many things they aren’t being completely open about- that doesn’t make me inclined to trust them wholeheartedly.”
“I’m sure Bonbon and I can find the key M’dame, if you want to follow Mira, that’s fine with us.”
(You shrug your agreement, and jump in surprise as your hand presses against a brick, and a loud click sounds as a doorway opens!)
-=-=-=====-=-=-
(Flipping through the dusty tome with the very creative title of “Shields”, it doesn’t take you long to find the basic guide.)
(Change! It’s that simple?!?)
(Huh- well that’s good you suppose, you’re pretty confident you could craft one now!)
(On a whim, you decide to keep flipping through and find a more advanced section.)
(After-all, if having a shield is so crucial that Loop wanted you to go and learn, having an even better shield probably won’t hurt!)
(Seems there’s a way to craft a shield that’s capable of reflecting attacks!)
(You find the guide and-)
(Oh yikes- this one is wayyyyy more complex…)
(You don’t have the time to learn this one.)
(Oh well- you’ll just have to hope the one you have is good enough!)
-=-=-=====-=-=-
“Ummmm- Loop, nothing’s happening.”
[Wh-]
(Their thoughts are harder to pick up now for some reason, ever since you all reached the third floor)
[Where aRe you-? -hat’s not haPpening?]
“You said to ‘just wait for something to happen’ when we found my change god statue- but nothing’s happening…”
[Stars- gReat- Blinding Use-less- G-od UGH- …Okay! We need to hurry up here Mir- Just, try placing youR hand on th- stAtue would you?]
“Um- alright…”
(You reach out to the statue with your free hand… but- nothing happens…)
“What was this supposed to-”
(!!!)
(Everything’s different!)
(You look around frantically- you’re in a bright room- or maybe not a room? A bright place at the very least- the only thing you can see is- Loop??)
(They look at you, clearly just as confused as you are,)
“Oh- um- this is… unexpected…”
Whoopsies! Didn’t mean to bring you in here!
╮ (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.) ╭
(You heard a voice- and at the end of the sentence the sound it made felt like- an emotion???????)
Don’t worry! You wont remember a thing!
٩(`･ω･´)و
Bye! *Table flips you away*
(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
(Loop sounds worried)
“Wait! What?!?! I-”
(Loop flipped backward and was suddenly gone…)
(You look around the bright void- desperately trying not to panic.)
“Um- hello? Voice? Please- uh- please don’t hurt me!”
(The voice comes from your left this time,)
Oh! I’d never hurt you Mirabelle!
（＾ω＾）
Don’t worry ‘bout them, they’re fine!
(You turn to look- it’s… Isabeau?)
“Isabeau??”
*buzzer sound*
(You heard a word but it felt like a noise???????)
(You watch as Isabeau- or the thing that isn’t Isabeau suddenly changes- and now it’s Bonnie- or just looks like Bonnie???)
(They changed shapes?! How did they change shapes?!)
Mirabelle!!! I can’t believe u can’t recognize me againnnn
(⋟﹏⋞)
“Wait- you just- You just changed and-”
(Bonnie makes a motion as if to signal you to keep thinking- and they start to look like Euphrasie?!)
Come onnnn you can figure this out! ლ(◕ω◕ლ) You’ve already done it once before afterall!
“Th-The Change God?!”
Yep!!
•ᴗ•
(They look like Siffrin suddenly.)
Now hold on, before you do your whole crying thing- and just let me say something pls!!
(ᗒᗣᗕ)՞
(What?- Before you do your whole crying thing????)
First of all, I don’t care that you lied about me blessing you!
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
And second, you’re doing great!
(♥ω♥*)
So don’t worry about not changing enough or anything! You’re doing great just the way you are! Promise!
(Oh- you had been so worried about everything that had happened over the last 48 hours that you’d almost managed to forget about all that…)
(Your heart skips and relief floods into you-)
“Wait- r-really? I- but-”
(They look like Madame Odile now!)
Yep! So don’t forget it!
(◕♡◕)
Oh wait- nah I forgot!
(ಥ﹏ಥ)
You’re gonna forget everything I say!
Sowwy!
But I still wanted to tell u anyways!
Anywhoooo- I called you in here to give u somthin!
(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ
(You feel dizzy all of the sudden-)
“Wha-”
(They look like Loop now.)
There! I can’t give the weapon your lost little friend wanted me to- (︶︹︺) cause the other them has it!
(And now they’re Siffrin again?)
But I can give you that! You can use your shield to reflect attacks now!
Using it will have no negative consequences whatsoever!
(´°ω°`)
The author made me promise not to laugh
ʘ ‿ ʘ
(“The Author”????)
“But wait- w-what does that mean-?!”
Sorry! I promised not to break the fourth wall any more today!!
( ͡°ω ͡°)
Alrighty I gotta send u back now!
*beans u away*
*✧♡ (◍•ᴗ•◍)♡ ✧*
Siffrin
One Week After Loop Returned
“Isa.”
(He doesn’t respond, so you try again,)
“Isa…”
(He blinks his eyes sleepily at you- cute!)
(Then he gives you a sleepy smile which is somehow more adorable.)
(His voice is groggy,)
“Mornin, Sif.”
(You ruin the beautiful moment by telling him what you woke him up for,)
“Our tent is being gently attacked by a kite.”
(He blinks some more, this time in confusion, which is fair.)
(You probably could have explained it a little better.)
(But honestly, you’re pretty confused by this development as well so…)
“Sif? If that’s a joke, I’m gonna need like twenty minutes minimum before I wake up enough to laugh at it.”
“Not a joke- There’s a kite with a rope tied to it, and every time I poke my head out, it tries to gently swing a rock or something at my face.”
(You try to convey that you’re not messing with him by shrugging your confusion.)
(You see a look of recognition click onto his face,)
“A messenger kite you mean?”
(You don’t know what that is.)
“I don’t know what that is.”
(He looks confused for a second-)
“Oh, yeah. I guess if you’ve seen one before, it would have been a while ago for you right?”
“Cause there weren’t really enough unfrozen people to run the Vaugardian mail system near the end there.”
(Isa sits up and moves towards the tent entrance and holds out his hand.)
“They’re crafted kites designed to send mail to people!”
“They’re not super fast, but if they catch a good wind, they can be faster than sending a message normally!”
(You hear the soft thump of something falling into his palm and he pulls it inside.)
“The kites take a lot of effort to make and maintain though, so I guess it took people at least this long to start using em again!”
(Isa is holding a small wooden box in the palm of his hand, no kite to be seen, or string for that matter.)
(Maybe it was crafted to let go of the package once Isa grabbed it?)
(He prys open the box and it makes a small popping noise.)
(He pulls out a folded sheet of paper.)
(He reads it for a few moments…)
(You try to be patient, but curiosity wins over,)
“Soooo, what’s it say?”
(Isabeau reads the letter aloud,)
Hello there! I’m not super used to writing letters! So, sorry if this is a bit atypical!
But uh, well if you’re reading this message, you’re hopefully one of the Saviors! Um- so this message is a formal request from the House of Estaires!
(Assuming I crafted this right of course! I’ve never done it before!)
(So I guess if you’re not one of the Saviors, just uh send this back please?)
We’re having a bit of a sadness problem at the moment- and quite frankly our town defenders really aren’t up to the task of getting rid of them.
They did try! But, well, they just weren’t very successful!
If you’re not too busy or far away, we could really use the help!
-Lucien, Housemaiden of Estaires
(The Housemaiden that helped to organize the surprise party!)
(Not sure if you’d remember my name! So I just thought I’d mention it!)
(Isabeau seems bemused the whole time as he reads it out,)
(You tilt your head slightly in confusion,)
“What’s so funny?”
“Oh! Uh, I guess it’s not, they need help! But it’s just really not how you’re supposed to write a letter? Like at all?”
(You didn’t notice anything odd about it.)
(Isa sees the look on your face,)
“I mean they didn’t even put a date on it or anything!”
“It’s just a little silly is all, but we should go and ask M’dame Odile to see the map and find out how far Estaires is though.”
Odile
Three Days Later
“I mean, I wasn’t sure you’d come! But I’m really glad you did and-”
(The Housemaiden, -Lucien, the letter said- is rambling.)
(Mirabelle in her apparently infinite patience, is taking care of the conversation as he guides you past the lake Estaires is built around.)
(Gems, this whole giddy fan thing is getting just a little bit annoying.)
(You give Siffrin a look and let out an exasperated sigh, and to your amusement they smile and nod before rolling their eye.)
(Still, you try and pay attention in case he gets around to any useful information, as you still don’t know the details of exactly what you all came here to fight just yet.)
(Just when you’re considering butting into their conversation, someone beats you to it.)
(Loop sneaks their way to the front and manages to put themselves between Lucien and Mirabelle,)
“Terribly sorry to interrupt, but would you mind explaining to us what we came here for~?”
(The Housemaiden stammers, previous conversation abruptly derailed)
“Oh! Right! Sorry! You’re uh- Siffrin... right?”
(In spite of the fact Loop’s back is to you, you can practically hear the wink in their tone of voice,)
“More or less~”
(You hear Siffrin let out a groan under their breath and they move to get behind Isabeau.)
(Lucien, however, doesn’t question this objectively strange answer,)
“Well- um okay, so a few days after you all left, we had a problem.”
“There’s a local landmark, kids play around it and stuff, a big boat out in the woods!”
“We call it the ‘Forest Ship’!”
(How creatively named.)
“And that was all well and good, but two big sadnesses showed up and started putting anyone who got close in danger.”
“The few defenders our town has tried to go and fight it, but they kinda barely got away with their lives?”
(Lucien lets out an embarrassed chuckle as they finish their explanation.)
(You make sure to take note of the details as you all continue to walk.)
“And where exactly is this ‘Forest Ship’?”
“Oh! I’m taking you all there right now, the path into the woods is just behind that house over there.”
(Lucien points towards a small house.)
“Just follow the path until you reach a fork, then go due west from there, it’s a really short hike!”
-=-=-=====-=-=-
(You’re all a decent way along the path now, and have thankfully left the mildly annoying Housemaiden behind.)
(Though now instead of worrying about battle strategy, you’ve been distracted by young Boniface, who is currently attempting to protest against the “homework” you assigned them.)
“But Dile! I don’t need to learn math! I already know it! Multiplication is dumb!”
(Pétronille gives you an awkward smile before attempting to end the argument on your behalf,)
“Bonnie, if Madame Odile is gonna teach you, then you need to listen to her when she tries to do that.”
“But I don’t need to do multiplication! She could just teach me useful stuff!”
“Like that! Why don’t you teach me how to use that thing!?”
(You turn to them, confused.)
(They’re pointing at the compass in your hand.)
(...Didn’t you already show them how to use-)
(Mirabelle interrupts your train of thought,)
“Madame! I think that’s it over there!”
(You look and see it, a large wooden structure barely visible through the thick trees ahead.)
(Okay, you can finish this conversation later, you need to focus on keeping your little family safe.)
“Alright, just like we discussed, Siffrin, you stay with Bonniface and make sure they stay safe, keep your distance, but stay close enough just incase we need your help.”
(They give a nod and walk over to Bonniface.)
“Alright, everyone else with me, and keep quiet.”
(You take the lead and hear the soft footsteps of everyone behind you.)
(You quickly all step out into a clearing.)
(Gems, that Housemaiden wasn’t kidding, there’s an actual boat in the middle of the woods!)
(Not a small one either, if this boat was ever in the lake back in town it probably would have scrapped the bottom!)
(The sails are pretty torn up, but the structure overall is remarkably intact, aside from a few obvious dents along the lower hull.)
(You wonder how something like this could have even gotten this far inland.)
(You notice some faded writing along the side, but you don’t recognize the language.)
(Something about the shape of the letters gives you a headache.)
(Gems, stay focused. You know there’s dangerous sadness’s around.)
(You motion for everyone to stop, then pick up a small stone from the ground.)
(You give it a throw, channeling a small bit of rock craft into it to accelerate it more precisely than your ageing arms can.)
(A loud thud sounds out as the rock strikes the side of the vessel.)
(Quickly followed by a howl of something that sounds profoundly sad and unsettling.)
“Get ready everyone!”
(You watch as two vaguely human-shaped creatures float out from the inside of the ship and dash forwards with another inhuman wail.)
Pétronille
(You feel a sharp pain claw through your knee as you slide across the rough forest floor.)
(You spare a glance at your leg as you scramble back to your feet.)
(You got scrapped up pretty bad, but you can push through it!)
(Okay! You’ve got this!)
(You somehow managed to keep hold of your hammer through the slide and raise it up for another swing at the sadness.)
(You’re just about to strike it in it’s ugly little face when Bonnie’s voice distracts you-)
(They must’ve seen you slide, it probably looked as nasty as it felt,)
“Nille! Are you okay?!”
(You glance back involuntarily, the distress in their voice enough to override your immediate survival instincts-)
(You pay for this lapse in attention by being shoved backwards into the hard, wooden planks of the ship.)
(The blow knocks the air from your chest, but you manage to pull in a breath to respond,)
“Change!- Yeah! I’m fine Bonnie!”
(The sharp pain in your back disagrees with that assessment.)
(The sadness is a strange thing; it’s got six arms and is floating a few feet off the ground.)
(And rather annoyingly, there are two of these things.)
(But even more annoyingly, this one has decided to focus on you, and is rapidly floating closer.)
(You frantically try and get up before it can bring down an arc of craft onto you but-)
(You’re just a bit too slow and…)
(You feel warm all of the sudden-)
(The light from it’s craft comes down on you like a tidal wave- but to your utter bafflement, it doesn’t hurt?)
(Mirabelle’s voice cries out and you put two and two together, she must’ve shielded you from the blow.)
“Oh!- Sorry! I was distracted!”
(You can’t help but let out a nervous laugh,)
“Better late than never!”
(The sadness is just about to try again before Loop brings down a huge arc of craft down onto it-)
(Or was that Siffrin-?)
(Change, they’re moving so quick it’s hard to tell.)
“You gotta be more careful Nils~!”
(Okay so definitely Loop then.)
(You roll your eyes and jump up to your feet as you feel Mirabelle’s shield craft fade away.)
(You glance over and see her healing Isabeau.)
(He and Madame Odile are actively trying to fight off the other sadness.)
(Siffrin is keeping Bonnie safe on the sidelines at the moment-)
(Honestly you all could probably use his help, but they insisted for some reason.)
(You know Loop’s a capable fighter, so you assume Siffrin must be as well-)
(But everyone seemed adamant about them not getting involved in the fighting, so you tried not to push the issue…)
(You try not to push much about anything really- you’re worried about your place in the group.)
(You’re here because Bonnie loves these people!)
(And that’s great! It makes you happy to see them happy!)
(But you still don’t know most of these people very well and it constantly nags at you.)
(Every inside joke, or weird reference you can’t seem to parse, it almost feels like they’re speaking another language sometimes…)
(They do try to include you! You can tell!)
(You’d prefer if Isabeau tried to include you in some other way than using Loop’s nickname for you though…)
(You haven’t asked to be called anything else though, because you don’t really want to shake the boat.)
(There are enough other things for them to worry about than a mildly annoying nickname…)
(Loop explained most of their connection to Siffrin with you, but there’s sti-)
(!!!)
(-Loop jumps back from the sadness and nearly knocks you over in the process-)
(Change! You need to focus!)
“Whoops~ sorry Nils! I’ll try and watch my footing!”
(The sadness is looking pretty beat up now.)
(Seeing an opening, you weave around Loop and bring your hammer up into the sadness’s face.)
(It lets out a frankly gross sound as large globs of tears fly out from its face.)
(You asked, and the group assured you tears don’t freeze people anymore, but you still dodge them on reflex.)
(It’s visibly stunned, grabbing at it’s face with two of it’s arms as Loop comes in from behind you to deal one last slashing arc of craft into the thing.)
“Crab yeah! We got it!”
(You raise your hand- but Loop just rolls their eyes before sticking their tongue out to deny you your well-earned high-five.)
(You stick your tongue out in retaliation.)
(You suddenly feel like you forgot something…)
(Oh- whoops, you just remembered about the other sadness!)
(You look over to the other side of the clearing, ready to have to sprint over and help, but they look like they’ve got it handled.)
(A few seconds after you look, you see their sadness fall over.)
(You hear Bonnie give an excited whoop of victory while just about everyone else is catching their breaths.)
(Victory!)