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You wake up in the meadow, the afternoon sun mocking from above.
Stars no nononono Bonnie --
You try to breathe normal again it's fine! It's fine!
It's fine!
You're fine.
...
Bonnie's fine.
You looped back.
Looping resets everything.
They
are
fine.
You have to go see them. Even if you know they're okay, and there's no reason for them not to be - you just have to see for yourself. You have to see them. You have to go see that they're fine that they're breathing that they're not dead that that they're ALIVE IT'S FINE THEY'RE FINE!
They're fine.
Just go see them.
You get up, your legs shaking. You take a deep breath in and out and walk to the star. You're about to reach out when you hear footsteps.
Ah, you took too long. Now Mira is coming to wake you up.
You step away from the light and put on your most convincing smile on. Just greet her like normal.
The footsteps are getting... faster? Is she running? You turn towards dormont, furrowing your brow.
"Siffrin!"
You're startled by the sudden yell as Mirabelle bursts into the meadow, anxious and frightened. "Mira --"
"--Did Bonnie come here??" She looks terrified oh stars no please don't let her remember not this loop no-
Wait.
She asked if you saw Bonnie.
Are they...
You shut down the thought immediately. Don't even think about it.
"...I haven't seen Bonnie. Shouldn't they be near the veggie fields?" You say, concern creeping into your voice. The script is changing.
Mirabelle wrings her hands anxiously. "They were! But then just a few moments ago I saw them run past me and they looked really scared! I tried to ask what's wrong but they wouldn't stop so I told Madame Odile and Isabeau and we tried searching for them but we couldn't find them anywhere!" She looks at you with an expression you can't quite read. "Oh no, you look so scared! It's fine! I'm sure we'll find them- AH!"
You rush past her, running as fast as your body allows you. Bonnie is missing. Everything is different the script is changing and there's something broken, failing, rotting with the loops and you taste burnt sugar and your breathing is quick and shallow and you can't think you can't think you can't think or else the only thing you see is a giant hand closing tighter and tighter and you hear screaming and your gu t fe e l s l i k e i t ' s b u r s t i n g a n d t h e r e' s s u g a r i n t h e b a c k o f y o u r t h r o a t a n d
"Siffrin!"
You startle and hit the ground, the impact sending shocks of pain all over your body but at least you're feeling something and it means you're real you're real you're -
"Siffrin! Oh change-"
Mira is beside you, her face even more scared than before because you made her scared by running off like that you stupid BLINDING idiot can't you do anything right in your life?!
"Did you get hurt?" You jump when her hands brush against your cheek and she yelps. "AH! Sorry!"
"...No, it's fine." You manage to say. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have ran away like that -"
"It's fine! You're worried for Bonnie, we all are!" Do they know then - "Its really not like them to run away and I don't know if anything happened but I promise you Isabeau and Odild will find them! So it's okay!"
You doze off for a moment. She... 'doesn't know if anything happened'. So she doesn't remember the...
That's good. It means you can still save this.
But Bonnie is still missing. And something is wrong and you can't fix it before talking to them and making sure they're okay.
"There's a road just outside Dormont that Bonnie likes." They took you there to train countless times already. "It's likely they went there."
Mirabelle frowns. "What?.. is that where you were running to?"
You pause for a moment. Is it? "...Yes."
"Oh... I don't know how we could tell that to Isabeau or Odile though-"
Without thinking, you put your hand in the forth hand sign and hold it to your ear, and think of Odile when you say "Bonnie will be in the woods, there's a road they like north of the town."
There's a long silence from Odile's end and it takes you a moment to remember they don't know about Call Craft. Eventually, she says "...thank you. We'll go look for them there." And you end the call.
You're going to have a lot of explanations to do this loop.
But it's fine. Because the only important thing right now is Bonnie.
You let Mirabelle take you back to Dormont - apparently you twisted your ankle when you fell - and the two of you walk to the clocktower to wait for the others.
They return shortly after, Bonnie in tow.
They look... okay. They aren't hurt anywhere, that's good. And they're fine.
But they're terrified. They're scared and confused and they keep sending everyone weird looks like they don't know what's going on or how go act.
Isabeau asks them why they ran away.
Bonnie mutters something about a nightmare.
They look right at you when they do.
And you can see in their eyes, that they know. That they remember. And your heart sinks at the thought.
Stars.
"Bonbon?"
Their eyes widen, and their shoulders tense. "...Frin."
"...Was your nightmare about the King?"
They look away for a moment. Then they nod.
Oh, stars.
"...You remember, then?"
They nod again.
Odile is looking between the two of you, her expression unreadable. "What are you two talking about?"
Bonnie doesn't look at her. They stomp forward to the chair you were forced to sit on, and glare at you. "Do you?"
You bite your lip, and nod back.
"...Why don't the others?"
"..."
They're frowning. "Frin. It wasn't a nightmare, was it?"
You shake your head, hiding your face in your collar. "I'm sorry, Bonbon."
They aren't looking at you. They're back to acting like they did before the loops - somehow, knowing the last loop you helped them and they even let you call them Bonbon again, their silence hurts more.
"Hey, uh, Sif? What are you talking about?"
You look at Isabeau. He looks confused, maybe a little scared. Or suspicious. Or both.
"...Can we talk alone, Bonbon?"
They hesitate for a moment before nodding. Then they bite their lip before saying, quietly, "I wanna talk to Frin."
Mirabelle frowns but leaves the room, Isabeau after her. Odile sends you a suspicious look - ah, right, you still didn't explain the talking Craft - and exists right after them.
You're left alone with Bonnie.
They aren't looking at you.
"Bonbon?"
"What did the King talk about then?"
You breathe in and out.
"...You know how you just.." you can't say it. "...the King beat you, and then you woke up here again? And you remember it clearly but no one else does?"
They nod.
You take a deep breath. "It happened to me, too."
Their eyes widen, and they finally meet your eye. "The king beat you too?"
"Yes." Although the majority of times, it wasn't the king. You used tears a lot, and the banana when you were in Dormont, and recently you started taking your life with your dagger, too. But Bonnie doesn't need to know. "Many times."
"...How many?"
72. "More than 30."
"That's a lot."
You chuckle sadly. "It is, isn't it?"
They frown again. "Why does it happen?"
This time, you're the one who looks away. "I don't know. But everytime I die, I wake up again at the beginning of the day. And none of you remember anything."
Bonnie looks at you with shock. "..."
You smile gently. "It's okay, Bonnie."
"...You died more than 30 times?"
You flinch slightly. "...I did."
"Then..." they frown. "If you're the only one remembering, why do I remember now?"
"I don't know." You wish they didn't. Not this loop. "But I have a friend we can ask."
"A friend?" They pause for a moment. "You have friends, Frin?"
You smile gently. "Let's go to the Favor Tree, okay?"
Bonnie nods, and the two of you walk out of the clocktower. You walk past the others, who are talking with themselves but stopping when you walk past. You try to ignore the pain in your leg, it'll pass before you enter thd House.
The walk through Dormont is anything but quiet. Bonnie asks you questions, and you answer them as truthfully as you can without distressing them too much. You wouldn't want them to be more scared then they already are.
"So you've been loo... uh.."
"Looping."
"Looping in time for a month?"
Huh. You never actually thought about how much time it's been. "...yeah, something like that."
"That's a lot. And you never take a break?"
You wish you could. "I don't need to."
"What!"
You smile. "My body gets reset, remember? So I don't feel tired or hungry."
"Still. Break time is important." They cross their arms seriously.
"I know, but it's fine." You smile at them. "You make sure we have snack breaks every loop. So I can always eat your delicious snacks." You don't mention that the taste started to feel all the same to you.
"Oh. That's good then." They look lost in thought. "...and did you train with me a lot, then?"
Ah. "A couple times. Yes."
They look at the ground. "So you already knew what was going to happen?"
You hide your face in the collar of your cloak. "...Yes."
"...Why, then?"
You smile. "Because I want to talk with you, Bonbon. Even if I know what you'll say. Because I want to help you."
"Oh." They smile. "That's okay, then."
There's a short pause.
"So how did you first die?"
"...I was killed by a giant rock."
"Huh?"
You chuckle. "I didn't see the trap disarming switch and the giant rock from the Death Corridor fell on my head."
They're staring at you. "Ow... that must've hurt..."
"Not as much as being crushed by the King must have."
"Oh." They look down. "...No, probably not."
...Stupid blinding idiot, why did you say that?!
"Sorry, I didn't mean to--"
"Did it hurt more than..." they look around for a moment, before pointing at their eye.
"..."
They look distraught. "Sorry."
"What for?"
They look at you with wet eyes. "Your eye, Frin!"
Stars.
"Bonnie, I told you, it's fine."
"No! But if you didn't lose your eye you might've seen the switch! And then you wouldn't be..."
You stop walking and bend down to look them in the eyes. "Bonbon. Look at me." They do.
"I'm not mad at you even a little bit, okay? I chose to protect you back then because I care about you. And I don't want you getting hurt. If I could I would make sure you'd never, ever have to get hurt. I'm so sorry I failed you last time. If I could I would put myself there instead if you, because you don't deserve to get hurt like that."
You hesitate for a moment before resting your hand on their shoulder. Their skin is warm and it feels so good, so true, to feel that you're both here.
"I know you don't want me to get hurt. And I don't want you to, either. None of us want any of the others to get hurt. Because we all care for each other. So we can keep apologising forever - and we basically have forever, now that we both remember - " Oh how you wish they wouldn't, "or we can say thank you, instead."
Bonnie looks surprised. "Thanks? For what?"
You smile. "For always caring for me. For all of us. For taking care of us and making sure we'd eat and rest and that we'd feel good."
They hesitate for a moment before looking down. "...I never thanked you for saving me. From that Sadness. Or when you found me."
You don't say anything.
"...Thank you, Frin."
"It's okay. And I promise I'd never stop protecting you, with everything I have." Now even more than before.
They smile at you. "...Then I promise I'll keep making you snacks!" They beam. "But you have to promise you won't keep secrets anymore! Maybe we can help you not die!"
You chuckle. "I'll try."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"Super promise?"
You smile. "Super promise."
They grin and hug you tightly. "Super duper promise?"
You laugh and wrap your arms around them, hugging them back.
"Super duper promise!"