Chapter Text
The sleepover proceeded almost the exact same way as it did yesterday. Or…or was it today? Maybe yestoday? Ugh, reliving the same day again made telling the time confusing! But spending that time with everyone again was nice! It went by a little quicker than you remember, but it’s probably just your imagination! You try to retell your previous speech, but it was so improvised, and it came from the heart, so you barely remember any of it. Something similar should be fine though! It’s not like the others will know the difference.
Bonnie’s samosas still taste incredible though, you’re glad you could have more of them! Once dinner’s over, you go to bed again, but this time you try to pay attention to any whispering in the room. You’re kind of curious how long Isabeau and Siffrin were chatting before you and Bonnie noticed.
For a good two minutes, apparently. You glance over to Bonnie, who seems to be realizing where all the hush-hush is coming from, then you get an idea.
Grabbing your own pillow, you hurl it at Isabeau just like Bonnie did last time. It felt good! You understand Bonnie a little better now.
.
.
.
You’re at the House again next morning. You don’t even notice, but you’re suddenly faced with the same Sadness as before. You…don’t really need the reassurance anymore, so you could just stay quiet to save time. Or tell everyone to get ready for a fight. You know, like a leader would.
But
You don’t want to.
“Aah! A S-Sadness!” You cry out. You don’t know what you said before, but it doesn’t matter. You don’t have to act the EXACT same every time, right?
“Mira? Are you okay?” Isabeau asks, more confused than concerned.
“Y-yes! Just, uhm…o-okay we’ve fought Sadnesses before. I j-just, uhm…W-well…i-it’s been a while, so uhh-”
“Oh myyy~ Do we need to go over strategy again~?” Siffrin interjects, and you’re really glad he did. You forgot what a terrible liar you are under pressure. You should probably work on that if you want to avoid worrying the others.
“D-don’t tease me, Siffrin!! B-but uhm…that would be nice, yes.”
Madame walks you all through her patented “Odile Combat Tutorial” once more, and you can’t help giggling as she calls on the rogue over and over again. You even appreciate Isabeau’s theatrics more when he gets knocked out, now that you know he’ll be fine. You even clap a little after you win, and he bows in response.
Once you get to the Death Corridor again however, you freeze. Isabeau bumps into you, and even Siffrin notices you all fell behind.
“What’s up, Mira?” The Defender asks, and you hold yourself back from just shouting “No, nothing is okay, Siffrin got crushed here last time!”, but you don’t. Time for some on-the-spot lying practice.
“Oh, uhm- yeah! Y-yeah, but uh, I just remembered! About th-this corridor!” You start, getting everyone’s attention again.
“I uh…I remember hearing the other Housemaidens calling it the ‘D-Death Corridor’! So we should, uhm, check for traps!”
“Smart, smart.” Isabeau nods in agreement, and Siffrin perks up just like last time.
“Traps, huh? A job for me then.”
“It IS your job.” Madame Odile adds, and he goes to check the pillars again.
First pillar. Nothing.
Second pillar. Nothing.
Third pillar. Nothing.
Fourth pillar. Nothing again.
Fifth pillar. Still nothing.
Final pillar. Crabbing nothing!
You…don’t understand. Where is it? Where is it?! There’s a trap here! You know it, you SAW it! Siffrin got CRUSHED under it! You look around frantically, searching for a button or a switch or SOMETHING, because there HAS to be something! There has to be a-
A pillar. The middle pillar on the right, to be more accurate. It’s…glowing? Well, shimmering is more accurate, you think, but…but then it has to be there, right? The light of the torches in the corridor reflects on the middle right pillar, as if it were made of glass instead of stone, and you’re sure that whatever mechanism the boulder is wired to, it has to be on that pillar.
“All done. No traps here!” You hear Siffrin speak up with that same easy smile as last time, snapping you out of your thoughts. Nonono, you took too long, he’s standing in the center again! You will yourself to move before the rock drops.
“See Mira? Everything’s-”
“NO, WAIT!” You quickly pull Siffrin out of the way, staring at the ceiling. No trap door opens. No rock falls. The corridor is as still as it was five minutes ago.
“Belle? Everything okay?” Bonnie asks, and you catch the rest of the party staring at you with a hint of concern in their eyes, the rogue especially. Uh-oh!
“Y-yes! Everything’s fine! I just, uhm, well I…” Come on, Mirabelle, think! Just make something up so they don’t start to ask questions!
You clasp your hands together and steady yourself. “I just remembered something again! Something super important!! I uhm…saw the schematics for the t-trap this room once? I think…I think the switch for the trap is on that pillar somewhere!” You say, pointing at the crumbling pillar on the right side of the corridor.
“Are you sure?” Siffrin asks. “I checked already, there’s nothing there.”
“Yeah, Mira! I mean, I’ll trust you if you’re sure sure, but do you really think Sif would’ve missed that? They’re our trapmaster!” Adds Isabeau.
“Ouch, the betrayal! It’s like a knife in my heart! Mirabelle, doubting me! How will I ever recover~!” The rogue teases. You’re less amused by it this time.
“Oh no, i-it’s not that I don’t trust your skills!” You quickly clarify. “It’s just, uhm- I read about it once! So- so I think you should check again! Just to be safe!”
“While I really wish we could just get a move on already…Mirabelle does know the House better then any of us. Besides, looking over one pillar shouldn’t take as long. Right, Siffrin?” Madame Odile chimes in.
“Alright, heard you loud and clear!” Siffrin sticks his tongue out and does a little salute, going to look over the pillar again. You can see his amused smirk as he looks over the crumbling pillar again, sure that they won’t find anything anyway, before his eyes go wide. “……Oh.”
“Oh?” Madame asks, already wearing her classic ‘I told you so’ face. You hear a click, then the boulder crashes down in the middle of the room like last time, making everybody jump. But this time, there’s nobody under it. Good.
“So, uhm…in my defense, it was very well hidden.” Siffrin pokes his head out from behind the rock with a nervous smile. You and the others get back into formation and finally move on from the Death Corridor. Progress!
“What was that about Mirabelle doubting your abilities, Siffrin?” Madame speaks up while you all walk, earning a huff from the rogue as he pulls his hat over his face.
“Hehe, it’s okay Siffrin! I just want to make sure we get to the King in one piece!” You say, some of the tension leaving your shoulders.
You fight a few Sadnesses before you’re derailed again.
“Floating water!” Bonnie points at some floating water in the middle of the hallway. Huh. You…don’t think that’s normal.
“Floating water.” Isabeau reaffirms.
“Fascinating. Does anyone know what it is?” Madame asks, opening her notebook. Everybody shakes their head, before Bonnie perks up again.
“OH! Oh I know!” They wave their tiny hand in the air until Madame Odile points her pen at them. “I heard about it from the people in Dormont! They call those ‘Tears!’ If you touch one you’ll be frozen in time, that’s what they told me. There were a few outside the village too!”
‘Tears’. Interesting. It’s probably the King’s doing, to stop you in your tracks. And if that’s the case, there’s probably way more around the House. You all back away and continue on, not wanting to be frozen in time.
.
.
.
There’s a whole row of tears, blocking your way from a room. You guess it’s important, otherwise the King wouldn’t have blocked your path to it.
“O-OH! Thanks S-Sif! I should probably watch where I’m going, heh.” Isabeau thanks the rogue, who caught him before he could walk into one, then looks around. “So…now where do we go?”
“Well, there was another hallway we could try. Or turn back and go right at the crossroads, we haven’t explored that path yet either.” Suggests Madame Odile, and you catch a few directions in her notebook while she has it open. That’s…smart, actually, what with how the King twisted your House’s layout. At least you’ll know who to ask if you end up lost in the winding corridors.
While the others try to decide on where to go next, you find yourself staring at the Tears. You could…you could try to pass through it. You’re immune to Time Craft, after all. But are the Tears even classified as Time Craft? They should be. You haven’t seen any before now, so you have no idea how they work, but if the Head Housemaiden’s blessing works as intended, it should let you just walk right through it. Right?
And besides, you can go back, can’t you? Loop said you loop when you or your party members die, it’s not like you can’t experiment with that! You either waltz right through them, or just loop back to yesterday! It might be annoying to get this far again, but you wouldn’t mind. You’re not too far into the House anyway, it wouldn’t be too much of a setback.
But…but hold on, would you even die if you’re frozen? Would it let you loop, or would it override your strange looping powers somehow, leaving you stuck forever?
Wait…how do your powers even work? Why are you only thinking about it NOW?? Change, you’re so stupid, why didn’t you figure it out sooner, or talk to Loop more yesterday?? You had the time! Why do you take every blessing you have for granted, why can’t you just plan ahead, why-
There’s a hand on your shoulder.
“-ra? Mira, umm…you good? You’ve just been staring at the Tears for a bit now.”
Isabea. You breathe in, and out, clearing your head. Okay, you can worry about the practical applications of your powers later. Now you have a mission. And you should get that mission over with as quickly as possible…
“Uhm, everyone?” You call out, and your friends turn to you with a quizzical look. “I was thinking…m-maybe I can just…go through and check the room on the other side?”
That suggestion alone turns everyone from curious to concerned. Well, except Madame Odile, who eyes you cautiously. She takes a guess before you can even continue.
“It’s because of your immunity to Time Craft, right?” You nod. She deflates a bit, humming to herself, much to your dismay. Crab. And now she’s writing in her notebook while she talks. Double Crab! That means she’ll have to be convinced before she’s on board with the plan, which is a very tall order.
“Hmm. It would make sense for the Tears to have no effect on you, based on how your blessing worked so far. But I’m not sure we should be testing your power at such a pivotal moment.”
She makes sense. You know this, and normally you would be very strongly inclined to agree with her. But some part of your brain, an insatiable curiosity keeps nagging at the back of your skull. Before you can start to overthink again, you turn back towards the Tears while Madame is talking.
“So I think we should try our other options before we do anything…Mirabelle?” She looks up from her notebook, squinting her eyes in suspicion. She knows what you’re about to do. So, against your better judgement, you shut your eyes and run.
“BELLE!” “MIRA!” “MIRA, DON’T-!” the others reach out to try and pull you back, but they’re too late. You’re already on the other side of the Tear barrier.
You’re…on the other side. You’re on the other side! You made it! You turn back towards the others with a big smile on your face, because you did it! You feel giddy. Haha! Take that, King!
“Ooooh Change…Miraaaa! Warn us when you do something like this next time?? Please??” Isabeau exhales, but he seems as excited as you.
“WOOHOO! Go Belle!” Bonnie simply cheers after a moment of stunned silence.
“Huh. Nice job, Mira!” Siffrin gives you a casual thumbs up, as if they knew you were going to succeed.
Odile…isn’t cheering.
“Uh…M’dame?” Isabeau ask her, but she’s not answering.
She’s just
staring
at your feet.
You look down, a little confused, but then you start to feel it. Bone-chilling cold.
An overwhelming stillness creeps up your leg, spreading faster every passing second, and when the realization hits you your stomach suddenly drops.
No, that…but the curse, it shouldn’t affect you! You’re not…you can’t be frozen, you should be FINE! You’re supposed to be unaffected!
You glance up at the others, and you can tell they noticed as well. Your stomach is cold.
Bonnie somehow even more still than you are, and Siffrin is just staring at you wide-eyed. You can’t feel your arms anymore.
Madame Odile seems both sad and pained, while Isabeau is visibly distraught. Your face is freezing.
You give the others a shaky smile, icy hands clasped in front of your chest. And as you float in the infinite nothingness of dreamless sleep
You feel a tug on your stomach.
After a relaxing float in the abyss, you open your eyes back in Dormont. The familiar pull doesn’t knock you off your feet this time, but you still need to take some deep breaths to steady yourself. In, and out, in, and out.
Well, that could have gone better, but at least you figured some things out! One, you’re not immune to Tears like you are to regular Time Craft, which is…definitely strange. And two, you should probably learn as much about your powers as you can before tomorrow. You don’t want to have to experiment too much while you’re in the House.
…You decide to go talk to Loop about what you learned.