Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“See, Mira? Everything’s fine!” You give her a silly grin. Luckily, your eyes are closed so that you don’t see her horrified expression in the instant before-

Crunch.

You jolt awake from your nap in the meadow. Huh?

There's someone right beside you. You startle and reach for your knife. The movement makes them startle from their own nap and-

Wait.

That's you.

You stare at each other in blank confusion, hands on knives.

“-frin!” Mirabelle calls as she approaches. “Siffrin! …Siffrin?”

You both look at her. She looks at the other you, then back at you. “...Um. Why are there two of you?”

You’re still processing the fact that you DIED, so other Siffrin answers first. “I don’t know??” he says. Helpful.

“I think I just died,” you say, because it seems relevant. They both look at you, now with fear added to their confusion.

“What?!” says Mirabelle. “Are you okay?!”

You look at yourself. “Well I'm not a pancake anymore? So yeah?” This doesn't seem to reassure them much.

“Okay, seriously, who are you?” says other Siffrin. “Why do you look like me?”

“Uh, I think I'm you from the future,” you say. “Like, tomorrow. We miss a trap and…” Mirabelle gasps, hand over her mouth. “It’s okay! I’m okay now! I’ll just look harder this time.”

“Uh,” says other Siffrin. “You’re… coming… with?”

“Yeah?” you reply.

It's at that point that you simultaneously realise that there are two of you and only one set of your friends, and the tension immediately rises.

Mirabelle claps her hands. “Well, with two Siffrins we’ll be sure not to miss any traps! But we should ask Madam Odile about this. And let Bonnie know that they need to make extra tonight.”

You both sigh, and give each other Looks. Yep, there are two of you. Guess this is just the way things are now.

Mirabelle leads the way straight to Dormont’s shop, where Odile was buying supplies yesterday. Today. Odile doesn't look up until Mirabelle speaks up. “Um, hi, Madam Odile…”

Her expression of sheer confusion when she looks up makes the other Siffrin crack up. “What? What??” she says. “What is this?”

“I’m from the future,” you say. “Tomorrow. I died and woke up back in the field.”

“...” Odile stares at you. “How?”

“Um, big rock trap,” you say, burning with embarrassment. “I didn't see it in time.”

Odile pinches the bridge of her nose. “No, how did you travel back in time?”

“Uhhh,” you say. “Dunno?”

“Right,” says Odile, and when she meets your gaze again, you flinch. Her eyes are hard as diamond. “And how do we know you’re telling the truth, and aren't a Sadness somehow taking the form of Siffrin to get our guards down?”

“Oh! Oh! I know this one!” Mirabelle says. “Something that only Siffrin would know!”

You look at the other Siffrin. Other Siffrin glances at Mirabelle and Odile, then pulls you aside. The brims of your hats form a wall.

He takes out the silver coin, and you take out your own. You feel unstable on your feet. You don't like seeing the vulnerable look on your own face. “Heh, croissants, am I right?” you whisper in a forced light tone. He nods stiffly.

You both put it away and straighten up. “Yeah, he’s me,” other Siffrin says. You nod.

Mirabelle and Odile glance at each other. “Well, okay then,” Odile sighs. “I guess you could still be a Sadness and be able to copy memories as well, but if you’re that powerful of a Sadness we’re screwed anyway, so. Welcome to the team, Siffrin Two.”

“Hey,” you say, indignant. “I should be Siffrin One. I’ve been around longer!”

“Sorry, Siffrin Two,” Siffrin Two says. “Madam Odile has spoken. I’m One and you're Two.”

You grumble under your breath.

“Anyway, I've still got to buy items,” Odile says. “You go let the others know what’s going on. I'll meet you at the Clocktower later.”

“Okay!” says Mirabelle. “Oh, um… you two probably want some private time, right? You go tell the others. Bonnie’s in the fields to the east and Isabeau’s at the Favour Tree to the west. I'll be by the library, okay? Oh, and don’t forget to visit the Change God statue in the middle of town! For good luck!”

You both nod. What about the sleepover? Guess all the weirdness made her forget. “See ya, Odile, Mira,” Two says, and you wave goodbye as you leave the shop.

As soon as you two are alone, a voice echoes in your heads, causing both of you to flinch. [So… You two should come by the Favour Tree when you have a second.]

“Did you hear that too?” Two says. You nod.

“Weird,” you comment.

By unspoken agreement you both head immediately to the west. Turning a corner in the path, Isabeau comes into view.

“ISAAA!” shouts Two before you remember to.

“SIII-iiifs…?” Isa replies. He glances between you. “What?”

“This is me from the future!” Two says.

“Hi, Isa,” you say, smiling.

“Huh!” says Isabeau. “That's cool! H-” he blanches. “How far in the future?” What?

“Just tomorrow,” you say. “I missed a trap, died, and got sent back here somehow.”

Isabeau’s relieved expression quickly morphs into horror. “You died?!”

You’re getting kind of sick of this, actually. “Yeah, but I'm fine! Look, see!” You spread you arms out. “All healthy. Fixed by time travel.”

Isabeau sweatdrops. “O-okay… So… There’s just two of you now??”

“Guess so,” Two says. Isabeau looks concerned.

“Well, um, okay…” he says. “Anyway… I was looking at this tree. Isn't it great?”

You nod at Two. They haven’t made the pun yet, so it's only fair. They grin. “Yeah,” they say with an anticipatory tone. “I guess you could say it’s a pretty…”

“Yeah?” Isa says.

“TREE-mendous tree,” Two finishes. Isabeau laughs uproariously. You smile, until you see it. He lifts his hand up as if to place it on Two’s shoulder, and then brings it back. Two watches this and frowns at you. You shrug back at them.

“Yeah… well,” Isabeau says. “Maybe it’s just me, but I was getting a pretty weird feeling from this tree just now.”

Huh? “Huh?” you say. “You didn't say that last time.”

“What do you mean by weird?” Two asks.

Isabeau frowns and rubs the back of his neck. “I dunno, it's just… weird! Not mean, though. Like if a lion came up to you and offered you candy, it’d be weird, right?”

“Sure,” you say.

“Yeah, it's that kind of weird,” Isabeau nods. “Maybe it's something to do with…” he gestures to the both of you.

“Yeah maybe,” Two says, with a speculative look.

“Anyway, I'm gonna go so you can do your thing with the tree,” says Isabeau. “Was there anything else?” You shake your head. “Okay, see ya!” He runs off. Did he leave that quickly before? Weird.

Well, time to investigate the tree. The two of you approach it cautiously, brushing aside foliage and stepping deeper under the shadow of the canopy.

There's someone there. A figure with starry skin and a head that glows so bright you can hardly make out the shape. “Hello, stranger,” you say.

“...Hello,” the stranger replies.

…

“My, struck speechless at the sight of me, huh? You two are so cute!” They giggle, hand in front of their invisible mouth. “I guess one Siffrin just wasn't enough!”

“What-” you say.

“How do you know my- uh, our name?” Two says.

The stranger laughs. “Well of course I know your name! You’re Sif! Siffrin! No middle names, no last name. Just Siffrin. Well…” the stranger tilts their head. “Siffrins, I suppose.”

You look at each other. “Do you know what’s happening?” you ask.

“Well,” says the stranger. “I can tell you why you time travelled. You’re looping in time! Repeating these two days over and over. Every time you die, you'll wake back up in Dormont!” They frown. “I… don't know why there's two of you though.”

You blink. “So… there's not meant to be a Siffrin that doesn’t remember?” Two suddenly looks distressed.

“I know as much as you do, stardust,” the stranger shrugs. “Hey,” they focus on Two, who is beginning to panic. “Breath with me?”

All three of you pause. Innn… and ouuut.

“Alright,” says the stranger. “I should probably introduce myself! Hm, let's go with… Loop! Your ally Loop, here to help you with the loops. Easy to remember. And as for pronouns… You may address me with the Royal We.” They giggle.

“That doesn't make ANY sense,” Two says.

“Nothing about this makes sense, stardust!” Loop replies cheerfully. “But yes, okay. They/them will work just fine. And as for your pronouns…” You open your mouth. “He/they, I know.”

You frown. “How did you know that?”

Loop laughs. “I can read, stardust! Anyway, I'm here to help. I'm sure you must have a lot of questions. So ask whatever your little hearts desire!”

“...What should we do?” Two asks, half to you.

Loop answers. “Well, hm…” they mock-think. “Have you tried not dying?”

Helpful. “Any advice for that?” you prompt.

“Advice, yes. I have advice,” Loop replies. “...Don’t eat pineapple! You’re allergic.”

You stare at them. “Am I??” Two asks.

“You REALLY are,” Loop says. “Don't try it!”

You groan. “Any ACTUAL advice?”

“Okay, okay,” Loop says. “Actual advice. Hm. In the course of the loops, you might find yourself having the same conversations over and over again. If that happens, feel free to zone out. No need to waste your time listening to the same things over and over! You might miss some small things, but that's alright. If you make your party mad, you can just loop back again!”

Hm. “Okay…”

“...” Loop looks consideringly at the two of you. “To be honest, I don't really know what’s going to happen. But… I'll always be here to help, even if that just means having someone to talk to. Okay?”

“...Why are you helping us?” Two asks.

“Because I think you should be helped,” Loop answers simply.

“But… Neither of us asked for your help…” you say.

“Well, too bad!” Loop giggles. “I’ll be here anyway! …That's all I have for you now, stardusts, but come back anytime!”

The two of you walk away. Loop waves excitedly at you as you go.

…

“That was weird, right?” Two asks.

“Super weird,” you agree.

Two frowns. “What’s their deal? They say they’re here to help, but they seemed pretty confused too…”

“They were confused by there being two of us.” You hum. “Apparently the time travel was expected though. So I guess what should have happened is that my mind from the future would be put in my present body, but instead I have my own body?”

Two remains silent. You glance at him.

“... It sounds like I wasn't meant to exist,” Two says quietly. Oh.

“Well,” you say. “I'm glad you’re here. We definitely won’t miss anything if we work together.”

Two nods, although they don’t seem particularly reassured.

You head over to the eastern fields where Bonnie is. Two hangs back a bit while you step forwards. “Hey, Bonnie,” you say.

“...Heyfrin,” Bonnie says, not looking away from the field.

“So, um,” you say. “There's been a… thing.”

“A thing?” Bonnie says confusedly and turns around. “Hey!! You have a twin?! You never told me!!”

“Uhhh, yep,” you say, because you’re not about to tell Bonnie that you died. “This is my secret twin I never told you about.”

“What's their name?” Bonnie asks.

“Siffrin,” you say.

Bonnie laughs. “That's stupid. Why do you have the same name as your twin?”

“Cuz we have the same face, duh,” you say.

“Oh, I see,” says Bonnie, as if that explains it. Hah, kids are great.

“Siffrin is coming with us to the House,” you say. “So you're cooking for six people tonight at the Clocktower.”

“Hm,” says Bonnie. “Okay!” They turn back around. “See ya, Frin, other Frin!”

You wave as you go. Huh, that was easy. Guess Bonnie was too distracted to remember that they don't like you.

-

Two devours samosa after samosa at the Clocktower. It’s strange - you can't bring yourself to eat much at all in comparison. The others notice, of course.

“Frin, your twin isn't eating much,” Bonnie complains to Two. Oh, so you’re the twin if the other one eats a lot?

“I'm just not very hungry,” you say defensively.

“Not very hungry? And you call yourself a Siffrin?” Odile snarks at you.

“Yeah, no true Siffrin would ever turn down food,” Mirabelle giggles.

Isabeau watches your face, and his brow creases a little. “Maybe they just ate something earlier,” he says instead of joining in.

You take the lifeline. “Yeah, I wasn't expecting to have dinner with you guys, so I had some bread earlier,” you say. Two gives you a confused look, but Bonnie doesn't notice.

“Aw,” they say. “Well, next time don't eat any bread!! Okay?”

“Okay,” you say.

As dinner wraps up, Mirabelle makes her speech. It’s the same, despite how different things are. She must have been thinking about it for a while.

Two eyes you, but says their line like you did. You stay silent, not wanting to interrupt. Isabeau, Mirabelle, and Bonnie hug the same as last time, and then it's time for bed.

…Bed. Who’s going to get the bed?

You and Two stare at it, then at each other, then at Isabeau, then back at each other.

“...Rock-paper-scissors?” Two suggests. Yeah that works. You throw paper and Two throws scissors.

Ugh.

Chapter Text

You can’t sleep, of course. You’re buzzing with a nervous energy, the ground is hard and uncomfortable despite all the spare blankets, and besides, now is about the time…

“S-sif. Hey, Sif,” Isabeau whispers up on the bed. “Siffrin. Siffarooni…”

You hear a rustle. “What is it, Isa?”

Stars, you and Isabeau are SO LOUD in the silence of the night. No wonder the others got annoyed.

“Um, so,” Isabeau starts, then hesitates. “...which Sif are you?”

“I’m not from tomorrow,” Two explains.

“Right, okay,” Isabeau says. “Will… will the other Sif be going back to the future?”

“Um,” says Two. “I don’t think… there is… a future…? There’s not multiple universes. It's more like everything got reset. And now there's just… two of us.”

There's the whump of a pillow and Two lets out a little huff. The shouting match starts again, and then everyone falls silent at Odile’s threat again.

You can’t sleep.

In the morning, you don’t feel as tired as you usually do when you skip a night, but you’re still all achy from spending the night on the floor.

You pull out your Orb and then double take as Two pulls out their own Orb. Huh. You put yours back before Bonnie notices that there's six of a set of five unique artifacts.

You trail behind and watch Two act out the exact same conversations you already had. It’s so strange seeing it again from the outside. You remember saying those things, but Two’s voice sounds completely different. Isabeau once mentioned that everyone’s voice sounds different and deeper to themselves because of the way sound travels through your head. It was a fun fact at the time but you kind of hate it now.

Plus, the expressions Two makes… Are you really so… readable?

Musings aside, it's not long before you come up on the Death Corridor again. You stride ahead immediately, ignoring the confused noises your friends make, and begin inspecting a pillar. It’s sparkling, like the circle key did, so that probably means…

Ah, yep, there's a switch. You can only see it from a certain angle. You press it.

Crunch!

You wake up in the field.

Two heaves a breath in as he bolts upright beside you. Then he whips around and glares at you. “You couldn't have checked to make sure I wasn't in the way?!”

“What?” says a voice identical to Two’s from behind him. You lean over and Two turns the other way.

It’s. Another Siffrin. He doesn’t look scared this time so much as utterly bemused.

Stars, stars, stars, you’re so stupid!! Of course Two wouldn’t have known where the rock falls! You've died TWICE to the SAME TRAP and now there's ANOTHER YOU-

“Hey, hey, hey!” Three says, sounding worried. “Breathe with me, breathe with me!”

You breathe. You hear the breathing of Two beside you also start to even out.

“Okay,” says Three. “Okay. Are you two okay?”

You look at Two. “Hhhhhhh,” Two says. “That’s what dying feels like, huh?”

“Yeah,” you say awkwardly. “Sorry.”

“At least we both came back,” Two sighs. “Although…”

You both look at Three. “What is happening?” he says plaintively.

“Looks like every time a Siffrin dies, we all get sent back here,” you say. “And every time we get sent back here, there's another Siffrin.”

“You just killed us twice with the same trap, idiot!” Two shouts. “How many times is it gonna take to beat the King?!”

There’s a pause. “Well, third time’s the charm, right?” Three laughs nervously.

You sigh. “Mirabelle’s coming.”

You and Two straighten out your hats and cloaks and studiously look like people who did not just have panic attacks.

“Siffrin! Siff… rin?” Mirabelle shouts as she enters the field.

Three perks up. “Hi Mira!”

“What’s going on? Why are there three of you?” Mira asks.

“Um,” says Three. “These are mes from the future. Apparently every time we… fail to beat the King, I travel back in time?” That's a good way to phrase it. Why didn't you think of that?

“Oh!” says Mirabelle, sparkly-eyed. “You can time travel? That's so cool!”

“I guess??” Three says. “With this power, we’ll win for sure, so…” So it’s a good thing. It’s definitely a good thing.

“Yes!” says Mirabelle. She definitely seems happier this time, now that you didn't tell her you died like an idiot. “Okay! Um… So… I was planning on having a sleepover tonight! But you already knew that, right?”

“Yeah,” you say at the same time as Two says “Huh?”

“I think she forgot about it last time,” you explain quietly to Two.

“Right, so, um… Could you let everybody know? Along with the time travel?”

“Sure, Mira,” says Three.

“Right, so… Odile should be in the shop, Bonnie went to the fields in the east, and Isabeau is at the Favour Tree to the west. The sleepover is at the Clocktower, over the broken bridge to the east. Um… will you remember?”

You look between yourselves. “Between the three of us?” you say. “Yeah, we’ll… probably remember.”

“Well!” says Mirabelle. “I wrote it down for you! So take this note!! Just in case!!”

Three takes the note.

“So, um… I'll be at the library if you want to talk,” Mirabelle says. “Oh, and don't forget to visit the Change God statue! For luck!! Okay, see you!”

You all wave her goodbye.

“Alright,” you say. “There’s not really enough space in the Clocktower for all of us. Three should go because they haven’t done it yet. We can have a sleepover with Loop instead.”

Three blinks. “Wait, who’s Loop?”

You and Two step back and let Three do their thing with Isabeau. It feels too weird to talk to him again when he doesn’t remember, but it’s still the first time for Three, so…

You’re not really paying attention to what they’re saying, but you notice Isabeau reaching out towards Three’s shoulder, again, and taking his hand back, again.

“Seriously, what is up with that?” Two asks you. “Has he done it all three times?”

“Yeah, I have no idea,” you say.

Eventually Three and Isabeau finish up, and you make your way to the Favour Tree.

“Heya, stardusts!” Loop greets you excitedly. “Three of you now, huh? Wow, you’re multiplying like rabbits! There’s gonna be a horde of you soon, especially if you keep dying to the same trap!”

“Shut up,” you say.

Loop laughs. “Just telling the truth, stardust! Anyway… you’re planning to sleep over with me, tonight? Gosh, we’re already such close friends!”

“No, we just need someone to wake us up so we can go meet our friends at the House,” you say.

“What makes you think I’ll do that??” Loop says. They seem genuinely confused.

Two pipes up. “You seem like a morning person.”

“Ha! Hahahaha!” Loop laughs a little more maniacally. “I guess I am! It’s not like I sleep anymore.”

You and Two give each other a glance. Weird one. “So… you will?” Two says.

“Sure, stardusts,” says Loop. “I’ll be your alarm clock. Just try not to die again so fast tomorrow."

As you part ways, Three says, “I… still don't really understand…”

Two shrugs. “Eh, you’ll get used to them. Now go talk to everyone.”

You and Two watch Three go on ahead. “...So… what now?” you say.

Two shrugs. “I guess we can just hang out?”

You hum. “I wanna get that drawing again.”

“What drawing?” says Two.

You gasp. “You haven’t seen the drawing?? Come on, come on!”

As night falls, the villagers of Dormont start making preparations for the big party tomorrow, putting up decorations and setting out tables. You and Two retreat to the Favour Tree, not wanting too many people to see you.

Two lays down with their back against the trunk and takes out the picture of you and your friends to stare at. You sit on a root and start idly flipping your coin. Loop has draped themself over one of the branches above you.

Eventually they make an irritated noise and roll over to look at you. “Say, stardust, what’s the deal with that coin?”

“It's just a coin,” you mutter.

Loop raises their eyebrow. “Is that so? Weird to be keeping it around like that.”

You snatch it out of the air and stuff it back in your pockets. “It is so.”

“Uh huh,” Loop says. “So it’s not secretly made of gold, or has something secretly hidden inside, or secretly opens a door?”

You look away.

“Hm,” says Loop. “That’s pretty pathetic.” They roll back over.

“We should go to sleep,” you say.

“Hm?” says Two. “I don't feel sleepy though. What time is it?”

“I… don't know,” you reply. “It’s been dark for a while, though, hasn't it?”

Loop lets off a few sparks. “Stardust… do you feel sleepy?”

You frown. “No, not really…”

Loop stays silent.

“I didn’t sleep last time, either,” you realise. “I haven’t felt sleepy since I first time travelled.”

“And we’re not hungry, either,” Two points out. “Does time travel remove the need to eat or sleep??”

You look up. “Loop, do you know something?”

Loop laughs in a concerning way. “I have an idea,” they say, and jump down. “Give me your dagger.”

Two looks confused but complies. Loop takes the dagger and carefully presses the point into their finger. “Hey, what are you doing?” Two shouts, but Loop just shows them their finger. You lean over too. Where Loop’s skin is broken, they don’t leak a dark fluid but instead bright sparkles.

Loop flips the dagger and proffers it back to Two. “Try it.” they say simply.

Two takes it with a confused and worried expression, takes off their glove, and copies Loop. In the darkness of the night, it's obvious. They bleed sparkles too.

You hurriedly take out your own dagger. In your rush, you don’t even bother to take your glove off - you just slash.

Not blood. Stars.

Oh no. Oh no no no no. You’re - you’re not -

You’re not the real Siffrin anymore. You died. You failed . And Siffrin will get as many second chances as he needs, as much help as he needs, but you will never be the one that succeeds -

Loop is laughing, laughing, laughing.

You snarl and leap at them, but are knocked off course by Two leaping at you . You tumble around in a tangle of cloak and sharp metal until you find yourself on the ground with Two holding you down, dagger in their hand. “You killed me!” they shout, tears streaming down their face. “I- I never even got a chance! And now- And now-!”

They drop the dagger and collapse, sobbing, on your chest. You’re hyper aware of your skin in the places they’re touching, but you’re too distracted by the guilt welling up in you to think about it. “I’m sorry,” you say. It's all you can say. Slowly, awkwardly, you bring your arms up and around them.

Two flinches at the touch. Their sobbing quietens to harsh breathing. “Isa…” they whisper. “Mira, Odile, Bonnie…”

Your heart clenches. “They’re not ours anymore,” you reply. Two grips your cloak tightly. “We have to make sure Siffrin lives,” you say. “If we don’t…”

“He’ll lose them too,” Two finishes. They breathe in, and out, and let go of you. “Okay. Okay.”

You sit up. Loop is just… watching you. “What are we?” you ask.

Loop flips a silver coin. Their own silver coin. “I suppose you’re Loops too,” they say quietly. “I used to go back in time whenever I died. But there was only ever one of me. I tried so many times… I don’t even remember a time when I wasn't trying to defeat the King. By the end I didn't even remember their names.

“I was so lonely. My friends were shadows of themselves. Repeating the same things, over and over. There was nothing new. Only death, one way or another, every time…

“I don’t really understand myself what happened. I didn't want to be alone any more. I wanted to escape. So… I destroyed myself. In a way that the time loops couldn’t reset. And then everything… broke.”

They sigh. “Guess I'm not alone anymore now. What a cruel joke.”

You all sit in silence, absorbing that.

“There’s no way Three is going to make it, is there,” you say.

“Don’t say that, stardust,” Loop deadpans. “He totally could!”

“We’ve proven completely blinding incompetent,” you snap.

“ You have,” Two replies.

The non-sequitur pushes a laugh out of you. “We’re the same person??”

“Ugh,” Two says. “Don't remind me.”

You both snicker.

Chapter Text

You and Two make your way to the House at dawn to wait at its entrance. It's not long before Three - the real Siffrin, for now - and their friends appear. You both put away the coins you were practising flipping between the pair of you and stand up.

You can do this. Just don’t think about how they’re not yours not yours not yours. Don't think about it. Not even while they stare at you. 

Confusion. Curiosity. Suspicion.

Two breaks off and grabs the Circle Key while you supervise the party as they gather tonics. Two halts the party at the entrance of the Death Corridor while you hunt down the switch.

The boulder comes down with a massive crash, but it lacks the distinctive crunch of breaking bone and crushing flesh- don’t think about it.

And then you're in uncharted territory. The hallway opens up into an atrium with a large door and hallways to either side. The seven of you easily kill a Rock-type Sadness. “Please don’t pass to me three times in a row again,” Odile groans. “I can’t keep up with attacking that fast.”

The thing that ends up getting this Siffrin in the end isn’t a well-hidden trap nor a powerful Sadness but, in fact, some floating water. It goes like this: Siffrin stops and points out the water. You all, stupidly, crowd around it while Bonnie explains what they heard from the villagers in Dormont: that it’s called a Tear, and anyone that touches it gets frozen in time.

And then Bonnie gets impatient and knocks Siffrin into the Tear. You and Two do your best to grab them, but it’s too late - the inverse light already creeping up their cloak and around their horrified face -

And then four Siffrins wake up in a field.

Well, two of you bolt upright, silently. The other two just crack open their eyes blearily. Whuh oh. Which one’s Three? You need to take them aside to break the news to them.

“Three,” Two says. The two sleepy Siffrins wake up and look around. One makes a sound of fear and realisation, and the other a sound of pure confusion. Okay. 

“Siffrin,” you say to the baffled one. “Come by the Favour Tree later and we’ll explain. Right now we have to talk to Three.” Siffrin nods hesitantly.

“What just happened?” says Three. You and Two look at each other.

“Come with us,” Two says, gently, and dashes off. Three glances at you, so you gesture, and follow after Three, ignoring Siffrin’s stare on your back.

Two doesn’t go far - just enough to give the three of you some privacy. He sits down and nods at Three to do the same. You do also.

You and Two are both unsure how to begin this conversation, so Three does. “Did I just die??” he asks.

“Well, we looped back, so I guess you did,” you say. “How did being frozen feel?”

Three hums. “It felt a bit like dreaming. No thinking or feeling. Just a single thought stretching into eternity.”

“Huh,” says Two. “Good to know. What did you think about?”

“Bananas,” Three says with a silly smile, but his expression drops when the two of you fail to smile. “What’s up?”

“Three,” you say heavily. “We’re… we’re sorry.”

“What for?” Three says. He’s a touch concerned, but you can tell he thinks you’re about to make a joke. 

So you take out your knife. “Give me your hand. Take off your glove.” Three does so.

You carefully press the point into Three’s finger. Three hisses, then gasps. “W-what?”

“Every time Siffrin dies,” you say, feeling the weight of the name on your tongue. “All the copies of him are sent back in time. And that Siffrin also becomes a copy.”

“No,” Three says. “No, no, no…”

“We failed you,” you say, guilt in your heart. Again. “Now… the real Siffrin is back there. In that field. Doesn’t remember anything. I’m sorry.”

You and Two watch silently as he has the same breakdown the pair of you did. Tears leak from their face, and they bury their head in their hands as their shoulders shake. How many times will you have to watch this, you wonder, and then decide to stop wondering.

“We should get to the Favour Tree before Siffrin gets there,” Two says. Three doesn’t respond.

Slowly, awkwardly, you sit beside Three and put your hand on his shoulder. It seemed to help Two. They flinch violently at the touch, but don’t move away. Two crouches down in front of you. “In, out…” they say. 

Slowly, Three’s breathing evens out, and they remove their shaking hands from their sticky face. “Okay. Okay.” They look at you and Two, and take one more deep breath. “Okay, I'm over it. What now?”

They are super not over it, but you are. “We make sure Siffrin doesn’t die again,” you say simply. “So. We avoid the rock trap. We avoid the tears. And then…” 

Three tilts their head. “And then?”

Two shrugs. “And then we do our best. Come on.”

Luckily, Isabeau is still there when the three of you arrive at the Favour Tree. Well, you don't really want to see him, and Three doesn’t either by their sharp intake of breath, but it means Siffrin hasn't arrived yet. You all sneak past him and climb up into the branches of the Tree where he won’t see you and the rustling of leaves will disguise your sound.

Loop fades into existence. How do they do that? You want to be able to do that. They give Three a concerned look and raise their eyebrow askance at you. You wiggle your hand slightly and nod. 

You all wait there in silence. Three has the expression of someone trying very hard not to burst into a million pieces. Eventually, the sound of talking filters up through the leaves.

Isabeau laughs, but it’s also accompanied by Mirabelle’s shriek, Odile’s groan, and Bonnie’s complaining. Loop begins to look distinctly hunted when those voices get closer, and they fade away again.

Oh stars. They’ve all come to get that explanation. You take a deep breath and meet Two’s exasperated expression and Three’s brave face. Then you drop down in front of Siffrin and their friends.

Two and Three follow after you, and you suddenly have the thought that there are now as many Siffrins as there are not-Siffrins here. 

“So,” you begin. “We’re, um, Siffrins from the future. Futures where, um,” you look at Bonnie. “Futures where we don't win tomorrow. And we’ve come back to make sure things go right. Uh…” you spread your hands nervously. “Questions?”

“How did you time travel?” Odile says at the same time as Mirabelle says “We don’t win?” and Bonnie says “All of you are called Siffrin?” Isabeau doesn’t say anything because his mind apparently left his body upon seeing another three Siffrins.

Um. “Time travel,” you say to Odile. “Uh, we don't know how. It just happens.”

“Hm,” says Odile.

“And, um… yeah. The House is pretty dangerous,” you say to Mirabelle. 

She blinks. “The House? What about the King?”

Wuh oh. “Oh, uh, the King too,” you say. “A-anyway. Names. It gets confusing if we’re all Siffrin, so we’ve been using numbers.” You point to yourself. “One,” and in sequence, “Two, Three.” Then you point to the newest one. “...Siffrin.”

Odile hn’s. “How did you pick the numbers?”

“Oh, they're just sequential,” you say. 

Odile does that perk-up that means she’s realised something. “So the timelines are sequential?”

“...Yeees?” Why do you feel like you’ve just said something you shouldn't.

“So,” says Odile. “If we were also to fail…”

“Your Siffrin would travel back in time too,” you say. 

“Ah,” says Odile, and mutters something under her breath. She doesn't say anything else but fixes you with a stare.

“So, so,” says Mirabelle. “Are you coming with us to the House?”

“Yup,” you say. 

“Oh…” says Bonnie. “I gotta make SO MANY MORE snacks.”

“Ah, no,” says Two embarrassedly. “We don’t eat.”

Odile whips her head around. “Don’t eat??” 

“What kind of Siffrin doesn’t eat??” says Bonnie.

“Side effects of time travel,” Two says simply.

Odile doesn't look convinced, but the rest of them let it go.

“Okay,” you say, clapping your hands together. “If that's it, we’ll meet you all at the House’s gate tomorrow morning.”

“Sounds good to me!” says Mirabelle brightly.

“Alright then,” says Odile skeptically.

“Uh… sure,” says Isabeau when all of you look at him.

“Um,” says Siffrin. “You guys go ahead.” Odile and Bonnie make confused noises.

“Oh, you want private Siffrin talks for Siffrins only?” Isabeau says, and winks.

“Uh, yeah,” Siffrin says.

“Makes sense,” Isabeau says. “Come on, guys.”

Siffrin waves them goodbye, and turns back to you. “... So, I’m Four?”

Two winces. “We’ll… try not to let that happen to you.”

Siffrin - Four - takes a deep breath. “We haven’t even seen the King yet, have we.”

“No,” says Three quietly.

“Enjoy being the real Siffrin while you can,” you say darkly.

Four flees.

Two elbows you. 

“Hey! What was that for?” you say.

“Now he's going to have that hanging over him on his last day as Siffrin,” Two says. 

“It's not any kinder to keep it from them,” you say, tilting your head at Three.

Two sighs. “...No, you’re right.”

You stare at Two, and then elbow him. “Hey! What was that for?” they say. 

You shrug. “Wanted to see what it felt like.”

Two doesn't have any response to that.

Rock trap, check. Tears explained from a safe distance, check. You’re making progress. The team seem tenser than normal, but conversations seem to proceed mostly as usual. At least what you paid attention to.

You find a weird locked door with a lock that has no hole. You think you remember seeing this type of lock before, but can’t remember where. Isabeau explains how you open it by saying a passphrase instead of using a key. But, none of you know the passphrase, and you can’t ask around in Dormont now. Odile gives you all a suspicious stare, probably because she realises that as time travellers you could have got this. Siffrin’s gaze is just knowing. You ignore them.

There's a weird sadness in the small storage room at the end of the hallway, but it's actually too small of a room to fit the whole group, so the extra Siffrins hang back. It's getting pretty awkward in general, honestly, most of these rooms are too small. Do every one of you need to come every time?

Siffrin comes back out holding a star-shaped crest with a tear inscribed on it. They figure out that they can use it to get rid of the tears blocking the other path. Still, that path had other tears on it, on both sides of the corridor, and it was starting to get really crowded with all the extra Siffrins. Honestly, you should have expected it.

As you’re filing past the Tears, Two stops suddenly. You bump into them. You stumble back, try to put your hand against the wall, but you feel a numbn e s s  c r e e  p i n  g    u  p    y  o  u  r     a    r      m       -

You gasp in horror at the distinctive tss of someone being frozen in time, and prepare to wake back up in the field. Everyone else whips around to stare at you. No, past you. “SIFFRIN!” screams Bonnie.

You turn around.

One is frozen, mid-stumble. He doesn’t look scared, just surprised. It looks like they accidentally put their hand straight through the Tear trying to steady themself.

So… only the death of the real Siffrin counts? You suppose it’s good to know. 

“I…” says Mirabelle, “I can heal it! Let me through!”

She pushes through the rest of you and frantically waves her hands over the frozen One, Craft fizzling around her hands but not forming into a skill.

“Mirabelle,” Odile says, coming up behind her and touching her lightly. “You don't know how to do that.”

“I- I should, though!” Mirabelle cries. “I just have to figure it out!”

“Mira,” Isabeau says softly. He’s holding a crying Bonnie.

“I just…” Mirabelle says. 

“It's okay,” you hear yourself saying. “That’s not the real Siffrin.” They all look at you. You look at Siffrin. “He's still here, isn't he?”

Isabeau frowns. “Sif…” he says, but he’s looking at you, he dares to let you think for a moment that that name could still be yours-!

You put on a smile. “No. I'm Two.”

“T-Two,” Isabeau falters. "I don't-"

“Guys,” Siffrin says. “... When we defeat the King, all the frozen people will come back, right? So, it’s fine. He’s not dead.”

Mirabelle slowly puts her hands down. “...Okay. Okay. We just have to beat the King, and they’ll be fine. They’ll all be fine…”

“L-let’s keep going,” Three says, looking disturbed.

Chapter Text

You hang back to stare at One some more. It’s fine, of course, since it wasn’t the real Siffrin. In a way, One was already dead.

And yet… you’re afraid. It's the first time this has happened to one of you - a second death. A death that doesn't cause a reset. If there is another reset (when there is another reset), what will happen to One? Will he be fine, wake back up like nothing happened? Will he stay here even as everything else goes back? Or will he fade away like the rest of his failed timeline?

You take their silver coin out of their pocket. You don't actually know if this is yours or his, since you didn’t bother keeping track when you were playing flip-between with him earlier.

You put the coin back and hurry along before everyone else notices. It’s fine. It’s not like you haven’t got spares.

The rest of the floor is, by comparison, unremarkable. Mirabelle picks up a new sword. Odile some new glasses. Siffrin finds the broken egg key and you can finally move on to the next floor.

Everyone is so quiet. Isabeau keeps giving you looks, in the way that he does when he’s about to make you - make Siffrin - talk about something uncomfortable. Odile is far away, deeply contemplating something. Mirabelle is practically vibrating with some suppressed emotion. Bonnie is sullen and shrinks in on themself when whenever Siffrin comes near. Siffrin looks afraid. Three seems barely aware of anything.

You hate it. You hate seeing them like this. It’s awful, but… you can’t wait until next loop, when they’ll all forget about it, and you can try again.

Behind the door to the next floor, there's a powerful Sadness, but the group defeats it without too much trouble. In the next room, Isabeau comments that the room feels safer than the rest of the house, and Odile suggests that you all take a break.

“No!” Mirabelle shouts. “W-we’ve got to keep going, and-” Her stomach growls. “...”

“Belle,” says Bonnie, a smile returning to their face. “What was that?”

“N-nothing!” Mirabelle squeaks. “I-”

“Mira,” says Isabeau. “Are you, perhaps, hungry??”

Mirabelle presses her lips together and shakes her head. “Mmm!”

“IT’S MY TIME!” Bonnie shouts, startling you all. “MY TIME TO BE THE LEADER!”

Odile chuckles. “And why is that, Boniface?”

“BECAUSE IT’S SNACKS TIME, BABYYY!” they scream. “You all wait here while I prepare the snacks!”

You and Three make to sit apart from them, in the corner, but Isabeau gives you a Look, and the group are sitting in a circle with gaps left for you two. Now you have to sit with them.

“We don’t eat…” Three says hesitantly.

Mirabelle gives them a confused look. “...Okay?”

Okay then.

“So…” Odile says, quietly. “What counts as failure?”

“Huh?” you say.

“For the time travel,” Odile clarifies. “You said that it happens when we fail to beat the King.”

Well, this loop is already ruined, and you don't think you can convincingly lie to Odile here. You check to make sure Bonnie is distracted, and reply, “Whenever Siffrin dies or is frozen.”

Mirabelle and Isabeau gasp. Odile just frowns. “So, that Siffrin has already travelled back?”

You shake your head. “I don't know. Last time this happened, we all travelled back as soon as Siffrin got frozen. But that was when Siffrin got frozen, not one of us… copies.” You fiddle with One’s coin.

“Wait, so…” Isabeau looks crushed. “You’ve… died?”

“Me and One both got hit by that rock,” you say. “Three here was frozen.” They all grimace, including Siffrin.

“Oh,” says Mirabelle faintly. “So you’re like… ghosts?”

You and Three look at each other. Three shrugs. “Kind of, I guess??” you reply.

“And the rest of us?” Odile says. “Have any of us died or gotten frozen yet?”

“No,” you say.

“And we won’t let that happen,” says Siffrin, looking at you. “Will we?”

You nod seriously.

“Okay I hope you’re done talking because guess what!!” Bonnie shouts from where they were preparing snacks. They bound over with an armful of food. “It’s SNACK TIME!”

You and Three take snacks even though neither of you feel hungry. You’re not sure if you even have a stomach, but you do still have a mouth, so you can eat a bit. The plantain chips have a satisfying crunch. Three looks happy with their cookies. And Siffrin… He takes one bite of his onigiri, and then stops to stare at it.

Odile lowers her onigiri from her face also. “Bonnie. Did you… put apple slices in these??”

“Yeah!” Bonnie grins. “Dile put a plum in hers before so I thought I'd try another fruit! Is it good?”

Odile purses her lips and looks away. Siffrin flattens his mouth.

“It's okay, Dile,” Bonnie says. “I know you’re old and don’t like change, so I have one with a plum if you want.” They pull it out and hand it over.

Odile slowly takes it. “Thank… you,” she says.

Siffrin looks plaintively at you and Three. You both discreetly hand him some of your own.

Eating food erased some of the gloominess of the party, but the exploration of the second floor was still tense. You, Three, and Siffrin were all just waiting for something to go wrong. And sure enough, it did.

None of you find any key in the Head Housemaiden’s office. When you leave, a rock crashes down in front of the door, barring your re-entrance. Something inside you twitches, and you know . Victory is impossible.

Isabeau suggests breaking down the rock, but it’s frozen in time, and also a giant solid rock. You search the entire rest of the floor top to bottom and find, for some reason, a key with a crying face, but no paper key. It’s practically mocking you.

Mirabelle is beginning to freak out a little bit. Bonnie is tense and surly. Isabeau looks concerned, but specifically about Siffrin, for some reason. Odile is thinking. At this point you’re all sitting around in the atrium, at a loss for what to do.

A look of grim determination has been dawning over Siffrin’s face as he realises that you are truly in a dead end. He makes his way to you and Three and pulls you both aside.

“We have to go back, don't we,” he says.

You and Three just nod.

Four clenches his eye shut and takes a deep breath. “And that means I won't be… Siffrin, anymore.”

“Sorry,” Three says.

“Okay,” Four nods. “So… freezing in time, then?”

“Hurts less than a rock,” you say.

“Just like sleeping,” Three says.

Four takes another shaky breath. “If I say goodbye, they’ll stop me, won’t they.” He gets up, and steps towards the closest Tear.

“Hey-” says Isabeau.

Tss!

“What-” Four says, and stares to his side.

The world stills as you see Odile, touching a Tear, stance deliberate, expression resolute.

Someone screams, but before you can comprehend anything another tss rings out-

Five Siffrins wake up in a field.

“Why did she do that??” one of them gasps. “ Why did she do that! ”

“What?” say two more.

The last one other than you is staring into the distance, breathing heavily.

Five. There’s five. “One?” you say.

Both of the confused Siffrins look at you, but one of their expressions melts into relief. “Two?” he says. You nod and sigh. Thank the stars.

“Okay, I’m assuming I missed some stuff,” One says.

“Uh, me too,” says Siffrin.

Chapter Text

[Two]

You clap your hands authoritatively and say, “Everyone, we need to get out of here and regroup. Siffrin,” you point at the newest one, “Stay here. Act normal, don't tell the others about us. Meet us at the Favour Tree.” 

“Okay??” says Siffrin.

You take the long way around to the Favour Tree this time, because you don't want to inflict the sight of Isabeau on Four so soon. Loop pops out of the foliage in the back of the tree and waves you all up until you’re all perching among its branches like a flock of birds.

It’s not long before Isabeau’s laugh heralds Siffrin’s arrival. This time only one pair of footsteps comes up to the tree. He peers up into the branches, shrugs, and climbs up to take a place among you.

“Hey, stardust,” Loop says. “I bet you’re wondering what the heck is going on here. Don’t worry! I’m gonna explain it all to you. You better make yourself comfortable. Okay!

“So, you’re about to go fight the King of Vaugarde in the House tomorrow. But, it turns out, that’s super dangerous! And, normally, you would have just died!”

“O-oh,” says Siffrin. “But…”

“But!” Loop’s eye-smile gets wider. “It turns out, you already did that! Every version of you that dies is sent back to that field, over and over! You’ll get help from every version of you that failed. And if you die too…” Loop’s expression might be a grin or a grimace. “You’ll become one of us failures, teehee! And help the next Siffrin on his journey. Any questions?”

Siffrin wobbles his head slowly. You can practically hear them thinking questions, questions…

“Are you a Siffrin too?” he asks first.

“I’m Loop!” Loop replies, winking. “I’m special.” You guess they must not want to go through it again.

“Is everyone else called Siffrin? That would be confusing.”

“No, we have a numbers thing going on,” says Loop. “I guess with that scheme, I’d be Zero! Hmm… Think I’ll stick with Loop. As for the rest,” Loop looks slowly around, “It’s a bit difficult to tell you apart, to be honest! We need to start writing your numbers on your hats or something.”

“One,” One says, raising their hand slightly. 

“Two,” you say, and the others sound off.

“So… I’m Five?” says Siffrin.

“You’re Siffrin! For now,” Loop says.

The implication of that line obviously disturbs them. “O-okay… so. How do I not die?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it,” says Loop. “Two?”

You take over. “So, the first thing you need to watch out for is the rock trap in the Death Corridor. That got One. Mirabelle knows where that is. The second pillar to the right has a well-hidden switch. Make sure your friends are off to the side or still by the door when you activate it. One here didn’t check and that’s what got me,” you give One a pointed look and they give you an embarrassed smile.

“Make sure you stay well away from any floating water. That’s Tears, and they freeze you in time. It’s very easy to get knocked into them, and it’ll send you back. Finally, make sure you find a key in the Head Housemaiden’s office before you leave. A rock falls and makes it impossible to get back in.” You put up a fourth finger. “That’s everything, isn't it?”

The other Siffrins nod. “Um,” says Siffrin. “That's a lot…”

“That's only up to the second floor,” you sigh. “None of us have gotten further yet.”

“Ah,” Siffrin grimaces. “Okay. Well… have any of you got a pen?”

You all glance between each other. “You don’t have a pen, why would we have a pen??” says One.

“Uh,” says Siffrin, looking embarrassed. “Okay, I'm gonna go find a pen, and then we can write down what you just told me, because I’m… not going to remember all that.” He hops down and runs off towards Dormont.

“So…” says Four. “Are we not going with him this time?”

“We can’t let the others know about us,” Three says. “Look what happened last time. They need to be focused on fighting the King.”

“What did happen last time, by the way?” One says. “You got stuck outside the Head Housemaiden’s office without the key?”

“Yeah, and Four was gonna loop back with a Tear, but…”

“Odile touched a Tear before Four did. Deliberately,” you say, frowning.

“Huh…” says One.

“My, now why would she do that?” Loop says. “Perhaps the Researcher was testing a theory?”

“Yeah, but…” Three shakes their head. “What was she testing?”

“I know as much as you do, stardust,” Loop shrugs. “Maybe you should ask her!”

“Won’t she have forgotten?” Four says.

“Well, yeah,” says Loop. “But there’s nothing stopping you from telling her everything you did last time.”

“Oh,” says One. “That’s a good point. If we recreated what happened, we could ask her.”

“What? Deliberately get stuck in a dead end again?” Four says. “We can’t afford to waste loops! Every one makes another one of us!”

“We don’t need to recreate it,” Three says reasonably. “We can just explain everything and then ask what her theories would be.”

“Would that be accurate, though…?”

“It’s not really important,” you say. “We need to focus on beating the King, guys, remember? Let’s just make sure Odile doesn’t find out enough to make her do something weird again.”

“It might not be smart to leave little stardust on their own, though,” says Loop. “You know how forgetful we are.”

You all make a chorus of discontented noises.

“Is there a way we could follow without getting caught?” One contemplates. “Loop, you can do that thing. The invisibility thing. Can we do that?”

“Huh?” says Three.

“The what…” Loop says. “Oh! You mean this?” They fade out for a second, and then back in. “That’s not invisibility, stardust! That’s just me… not being there!”

“Wait, so where do you go?” you ask.

Loop frowns and puts their hand to where a chin would be if they had one. “You know… I have no idea!”

“Helpful,” Four mutters.

Loop hums. “I guess you could try it! I have no idea how to teach you, though. I just… do it!”

“Very helpful,” sighs One. “Okay, scratch that. We only need to send one of us along with him. Any more and it gets crowded. They could try and hide normally, or we could come up with a backstory…?”

“With Odile?” says Four. “It’ll need to be a really good one. But there’s just not enough places to hide in the House, especially since the doors between floors lock themselves behind us, so…”

“I’m back!” Siffrin calls. He climbs back up and hands you the Reminder Note and a pen, so you dutifully scribble down everything you told him.

“I think whoever goes should claim to be a time traveller, and then say ‘spoilers!’ whenever anyone asks them anything,” Loop proposes.

“That’s-” you say, then think. “...actually probably better than trying to lie.”

“Funny, too,” says Loop, putting their hand to where their mouth would be.

“Oh, is one of you coming with me?” Siffrin looks relieved. 

The four of you look at each other. At the same time, you, One, and Three all say “Not it.”

“Huh,” says Four. “Okay then.”

“Right!” Loop claps their hands. “One more thing. I just remembered I actually do have something I can teach you! It's inconvenient that we can only all talk together at the beginning of a loop, right?”

There’s a few nods and yeahs.

“So, I'm gonna teach you a secret fourth handsign!”

“A secret fourth handsign??” Siffrin says.

Loop giggles. “Yup! Copy me!” They hold their hand out in a fist, stick out their pinky and thumb, and place it next to their face. You all obligingly do so. “Just make this sign, and then think, wow, I sure wish I could talk to another Siffrin right now.”

Three snorts. “That's dumb.”

“If it's dumb but it works, it's not dumb!” Loop says cheerfully.

“I guess we’ll see if it works,” Four says.

“...Okay! That's everything!” Loop says. “Four will meet you at the gateway to the House tomorrow. Good luck! Don't die!”

“Wasn't planning on it,” Siffrin says, and waves goodbye as he leaves.

The next day, something pings the back of your mind, and you raise your hand to the side of your head. “Two?” says your voice. “This is Four. What's the open phrase for the storage room? The shopkeeper should know.”

“Okay, give me a minute,” you say sleepily. You undrape yourself from one of the Favour Tree’s roots and head over to Dormont. “...Ah.”

“Ah?” says Four.

“Ah.” you say, tapping the forehead of the shopkeeper. “Sorry! Looks like Dormont freezes by now. Guess we’ll have to remember next time, teehee.”

Four sighs deeply.

Chapter Text

[One]

You’re still here.

Stars. For a second there, you really weren’t sure whether you were going to come back. Sure, whenever the real Siffrin died, some sort of copy or ghost or whatever you were appeared, but no copy had died before.

… Maybe One really had died and you were just a copy of a copy. No, that’s dumb. How would you even tell?

It wouldn’t have mattered. It's not like there's a shortage of helping hands for Siffrin. Void above, there's three of you just sitting around napping because there isn't enough room in the blinding House.

And yet… When Two saw you, at the beginning of the loop. When he picked you out of the crowd of identical white-cloaked rogues… He sighed in relief.

What a weird thing to do.

You’re broken out of your reverie by Two reappearing from their trip to Dormont, with a strange little spring in their step. You and Three raise your hands in greeting.

“What happened?” Three asks.

“It’s frozen,” Two says, like a kid that just found a weird bug.

“Huh,” you say, and the pair of you get up, intending to go check it out yourselves. 

Three glances back towards Loop, who waves you on. “I’ve seen it,” they say dismissively.

You wonder what circumstance led to a lone Siffrin seeing a frozen Dormont. You decide not to ask.

There’s a subtle change in the air as you approach the village. Light plays strangely off of frozen surfaces - they seem dimmer, yet glow subtly. The village looks completely different from yesterday - tables set out with food, garlands hung between buildings, and everyone out and about. The warm atmosphere only makes the unnatural silence more stark.

You’ve seen people frozen in time before, in towns and on roads already taken by the curse. But this is different. You talked to these villagers just days ago. You’ve seen them alive.

They seem smaller somehow, as if something more than just movement was taken. It’s because there’s no personal space to be respected, you realise. They can’t see, or react. They’re not people , just… things that used to be people.

You turn away. Suddenly it seems disrespectful to stare.

Two seems to be trying to climb on top of the librarian, who was frozen holding their hands up. You ignore him and go over to Three instead.

Three is investigating the Smug One more closely. His expression was frozen scared. You realise he’s at the edge of the area, and track his gaze to the Stylish One and the Old One, who were apparently frozen mid-conversation.

“He saw it coming,” Three says, softly, when you approach.

You don’t know what to say, so you just stand beside them quietly.

The moment is interrupted by a sudden startled squawk. You and Three whirl around just in time to see Two hanging, midair, above the librarian, face a perfect picture of surprise and embarrassment, before gravity takes hold and - CRACK.

The two of you stare for a long moment at the Siffrin-corpse.

Three makes a bizarre hmph noise. You glance over and realise they’re desperately trying to hold in laughter.

It is pretty funny. You let out a snort, and it’s not long before the two of you are in absolute hysterics. The laughter begins to die down, but then you meet Three's eye again and you're set right back off.

—

[Four]

On the third floor, in the room with the frozen dog (and Mirabelle’s friend), there’s a crack in the wall you almost missed, but Siffrin managed to spot. You had stopped looking since none of them went anywhere, but this one actually did!

You find a bunch of items in there. You can’t remember what you talked about, though.

—

There are three paths blocked by tears on the third floor, and only one crest. Siffrin is looking increasingly nervous.

You sigh and hand them the crest. “You should make this decision.”

Their hand shakes as they take it, but their shoulders set in understanding: that you can no longer help, and what happens next is the Universe’s will.

The Universe’s will is apparently a room with a bookshelf and a half-finished poem. Dead end.

Five takes it as well as any Siffrin would. They hesitate for a long moment, hand hovering over the tear, but the moment Isabeau spots them they end it.

-

The next loop, they’re quiet. Thinking about something.

-

[Five]

It keeps circling around in your mind. You could have said goodbye. You would have needed to explain. But you could never have done that, because you’re a coward. You didn’t say goodbye…

-

[Four]

Yeah, they’re fine.

Meanwhile, One and Three are staring at Two. Eventually Two tells them to shut up, which causes all three to collapse into absolute hysterics. You turn to Loop, who just giggles. What did you miss?

—

[Two]

“Pineapple!” says Siffrin. You blink, remembering something about pineapple, but not fast enough.

Afterwards, you’re grateful that Six doesn’t seem to remember anything past that first bite. They report enjoying it, but you're not eager to recreate what happened afterwards.

—

[Five]

You lead the party to the secret corridor, knowing that there’s a hidden stash of items in that room. You don’t remember what you talked about last time you were in this room, so it must not have been important.

But then, out of nowhere, Siffrin begins telling a story about how he ran away from home… and then stops. You can practically see the memory leaving them. Everyone reacts with confusion and concern.

Did… did this happen to you? It’s completely unfamiliar. Siffrin is looking back at you now, clueless.

…

“F-Five?”

Your head snaps to Mirabelle.

“...You’re shaking,” she says, gently.

“O-oh,” you say. Everyone is looking at you now. You slide your mask back into place. “Haha, well, guess that story didn’t float my boat.” You shrug. “Maybe he made it up?”

“That’s weird,” says Bonnie. “Why would you lie about that? You’re weird, Frin.”

Siffrin just laughs awkwardly.

—

You can feel your party’s gaze on your back. You stare at the offending paper as if it might suddenly tell you it was just kidding. It doesn’t.

“Room 403? Rooms have numbers now?” Isabeau says.

“The classrooms do!” Mirabelle replies. “We’ve only seen a couple, but the House has way more.” Her tone turns contemplative. “Room 403 though… I’m pretty sure we’ve passed it… Ah!”

“Ah?” prompts Odile.

“I-it’s, um… It’s currently on the second floor…”

“The second floor???” Bonnie exclaims. “But… we can’t go back, can we? The big doors close behind us, don’t they?”

The silence stretches. You’re in a dead end.

Seven walks up behind you and hisses, “Seriously? None of you ever looked in that notebook?”

“It’s not like you looked in it either!” you hiss back defensively. “None of them mentioned anything useful would be in there!”

“I didn’t look in it because I assumed you had!” he snarls.

“Um,” says Isabeau.

“Well, it’s too late now, so we’ll just have to start over!”

“ Start over? ” says Odile.

Seven flinches. “I am not going to fail because you blinding idiots couldn’t do your job!”

“What the crab are you guys talking about?” Bonnie interrupts.

You glance at the party and slump in defeat. “Do you want to explain it to them?”

Seven turns his head towards them. Mirabelle looks fascinated, Isabeau concerned, Bonnie confused, and Odile just raises an eyebrow and crosses her arms.

“Stars,” says Seven. “Fine. Let’s go back.”

Mirabelle gasps excitedly. “You’re going to time travel?”

“Sure,” Seven says, a touch hysterically, and books it for the nearest Tear. In the first second, the party is too surprised to do anything. Then, there’s a moment of chaos and shouting, but the timeline ends there.

–

[Four]

You all evacuate the field quickly and quietly before Siffrin wakes up enough to realise anything. It's the easiest way to get Siffrin to come to the Favour Tree alone. Seven was briefed last loop and knows to keep quiet and follow. 

A whispered argument ensues among the branches of the Favour Tree about the latest failure - a failure of communication, this time, as the older copies had known about the crying key, but didn’t mention it because they had never seen the door it unlocked. 

Last loop, Loop managed to teach you all how to watch what Siffrin is doing, so it’s not a problem now, but it’s too late for Seven. Five’s not happy about being made to look like an idiot either.

Not much to do about it now though.

“There was another thing…” Seven says, irritation in their voice making way for a pensive tone. “That secret corridor room. I forgot something, but Five, you remembered what I said…?”

One frowns. “Now that I think about it, I was watching, but I can’t remember what happened in there.” 

“I can,” Loop says.

Hesitantly, you pipe up too. “Uh, so can I.” Six Siffrins and a Loop turn simultaneously to stare at you, Two and Seven having to lean back to see around the others.

Loop squints. “You’re…”

“Four,” you say. “I guided Five.”

Loop snaps their fingers. “Ah, I get it now! A memory of a memory. We forget it the first time we hear it, but after that, well... it's just something someone said. So next time we should all remember it."

Three tilts their head. “Uh... If you say so.”

“I do say so,” Loop says, full of self-satisfaction. Five shrugs.

It’s at that point Siffrin - Eight - shows up, so the chatter stops.

You volunteer to guide again. You don’t mind - you figure there’s less likely to be a screwup if the guide has more experience. Plus, you’re getting close now. You kind of want to be there when Siffrin finally succeeds.

-

In the end, you don't have much time to regret it. After the King spends some time trying to convince you all to give up, he asks you and Siffrin - calling you ‘twins’ - if you remember. Neither of you have any idea what he means, but he doesn’t explain, opting to start the battle instead.

He takes you all out in one hit. 

He lets Bonnie go, thankfully, but -

You’re not afraid of your own death as the shadow of the King’s hand falls over you. You’re already dead, after all. But thinking of what happens after fills you with an intense dread.

You thought you were close to the end. How many more of you are going to die?

The King’s fist comes down. All you feel is a searing, blinding PAIN-

-

[Eight]

You had really believed for a while there that you would be the one to reach the end. It seems so naive now. All those Siffrins - if it had taken so many just to get through the house, why did you think you could beat the King in one go?

Your other self disappears with a horrifying crunch and a jarringly whimsical spray of sparkles.

The King pauses for a moment, clearly thrown, but he must decide it's not that important as he reaches for you next.

You suppose at least when it’s your turn, the timeline will end before your allies have to see the decidedly un-whimsical aftermath.

Not that they’re happy about seeing Four die either. Isabeau is screaming your name. Odile is growling something to herself. Mirabelle is ranting angrily at the King. You barely hear it in the face of your approaching death.

You can’t think of a way out, though, and then it hurts too much to think at all.

Chapter Text

[Eight]

-you wake up.

Your body is wracked with shivers. Your breath is shallow. Skin tingling. Grass beneath you. Sun above you. Wind in your hair. You’re dead. You’re alive.

You breathe.

Movement around you. You grab the grass tightly and push yourself up into a sitting position. Most of your copies have gotten up already, and some are watching you.

The fist comes down. A spray of light-

“F-four,” you say. It comes out as a whisper. You try again. “Four? Where’s Four?”

“Eight!” comes the reply, from the other group. Four stumbles out, easy to tell apart from the way he’s shivering just like you. He drops to his knees and grabs your shoulders. “T-the King… He… Did…”

It’s not coherent, but you know what you would ask. “R-right after you,” you reassure them. Your allies were okay. 

Four goes limp with relief, dropping their head into your chest. Where they touch you, the pressure stops your skin from tingling. Then their shoulders start shaking. “Ha,” they say breathlessly. “Hahaha! Wow, that was awful!!!”

You breathe out. “It was scary . You didn’t tell me dying was so scary!”

“It’s usually less painful than that !” Four says. “One… one hit. He got us in one hit . That’s- just- Stars!” They roll over to sit beside you. “What can we even do against that?”

You don’t have an answer, so you glance around instead. There’s a bit of a peanut gallery watching you with some concern and confusion. Couldn’t they see what happened? A couple of your other selves have pulled a particularly confused-looking one to the side and are explaining something to him in quiet tones.

“That’s him,” you say softly, feeling a little unreal. Four glances at you. “Siffrin.”

Four doesn’t say anything, just watches you carefully.

You breathe. “Okay. Let’s go.” 

-

“So,” says Loop. “You fought the king. And he killed you in one hit.”

You shiver. “Yeah.” 

“Weren’t you watching?” says Four. 

They all shake their heads. “It gets harder to see the further into the House you are,” One explains. “By the time you got to the King, we could barely make anything out.” You’re all loosely arranged in order so that it’s easier to tell who’s who.

There’s a silent moment. “What next?” you ask Loop.

Loop blinks. “Same as ever, stardust! Try not to let Siffrin die this time!”

One rolls their eyes. “Helpful. Did you know the King would be so powerful?”

Loop looks away. “I… I thought it might be different.”

“Hm,” says One. “Okay, so… surviving a very powerful attack. Ideas, anyone?”

“Dodge it?” Two says.

Four makes an unconvinced noise. “It went over a wide area. I’m not sure there was anywhere to dodge to. Someone would have to watch the fight from outside, but…”

“If the craft doesn’t work, one of us could just scale the walls and try and find a window to look through,” Three points out. 

He looks at Two for some reason, who snorts and says, “You’re never going to let that go, are you? Try it yourself.”

Three shrugs. “Sure, I’ll do it.”

Loop hums. “Okay, that’s one thing, but it doesn’t help for this loop.”

“A defensive craft?” Six says.

You shake your head. “It was so powerful, I don’t think any of my- any of Siffrin or his allies’ regular skills would work against it.”

“You could try asking the Housemaiden,” Loop says. “If anyone would know something like that, it would be her.” They nod. “Okay, that’s a second thing.”

“A powerful first strike?” Five says.

“The best defense is a good offense,” Seven comments. “If you can use the bomb...”

“The King is really slow, too,” you say, thoughtfully. “Maybe we might be able to pull off a jackpot before he even attacks.”

Loop tilts their head. “I don’t think that would be enough… the Researcher has very powerful attacks. Maybe she knows something? Well, that’s another thing to try.” 

They wait for a moment, then say, “There is one more thing.” At the others’ tilted heads, they lean back and make a wide gesture.

Silence.

“Oh, for-” Loop says. “Do I have to spell it out? Just overwhelm him with sheer numbers!”

There’s a beat, then several Siffrins try to talk at once.

“Wouldn’t that be-”

“-hold on-”

“-all of us?”

"-but Odile-”

“-really weird-”

“-uhhh-”

“Hey.”

There’s a steel in Four's voice. Everyone shuts up.

“We have to succeed. For Siffrin’s sake. Look, even the guide thing is already pretty weird. It’s fine, if it means that we don’t- we don’t lose to the King. So…” they look around. “So get over it! Even if it only makes it slightly more likely that we succeed, we should do it.”

Loop claps and does an eye-smile. “Well said, stardust! Plus,” Loop says, “it means you can all wander around Dormont now instead of hanging out at this boring tree.”

One startles and blurts, “Dibs pan choco!” as he tries to leap out of the tree, only for Two to grab him by the collar. “-ack!”

“There’s only one of those per loop,” Two says. “You’ve had yours.”

“It’s been a week! ” One says, despairingly. 

“... you know, if we pool our coins together, we can have one each every three days,” Two says.

“Okay, let’s do that then. Come on Three - ack!”

“Wait until Siffrin gets here, at least!”

-

One Siffrin goes to the Favour Tree, and nine Siffrins come back. Mira, across the green in the centre of the village, looks up at the sound of so many footsteps and freezes for a moment.

Most of them wander off in different directions, excited to not be stuck hanging around a tree or a bunch of boring fields outside Dormont. Four decides to go fishing. You follow Siffrin over to talk to Mira first. 

She’s twisting her head around, trying to keep track of all the Siffrins, so she doesn’t even notice that you’ve walked up to her until Siffrin says, with a laugh in their voice, “Mira.”

She jumps. “Ah! Siffrin!” she says. “Hi! Siffrin! …Are you the real Siffrin???”

“I’m Siffrin,” Siffrin says, still smiling. He tilts his head to you. “We’re using numbers so it doesn’t get confusing, so call him Eight.” 

“Oh, I see, that makes sense,” Mira says, then blurts out, “...Wait no it doesn’t why are there clones of you???”

“Time travel,” you say. “Or, um, kind of. We’re… future ghosts?”

“Oh!” says Mira, eyes sparkling. “You came back to help us beat the King!”

“Yeah,” you confirm.

“So, does the King have a secret weakness or something that we need to know about?” she says.

“Well, um…” Siffrin says awkwardly. “The thing is… that… we don’t actually know how to beat the King yet.”

“HUH???” Mira shrieks, looking significantly less reassured. 

You wince. “Each extra Siffrin represents a time that we, um… failed.”

Mira processes that for a moment. Her expression softens. “Oh… Future ghosts. I see.” She pats the bench beside her. You sit down.

“...I need to talk to the others,” Siffrin says. You give him a thumbs up.

Mira says, “Okay, bye Siffrin!” and waves at him as he sets off towards the shop.

-

[Three]

The shop door dings as you walk in. The shopkeep looks up, but you’re clearly here for Odile. She’s browsing the shelves intently.

“Um, hey, Odile,” you speak up.

“Oh, Siffrin,” Odile says. “... You look like you’ve been having fun. Glad to see you’re making most of the last day before the world ends.”

Huh? “What do you mean?”

Odile looks you up and down. “You’ve got leaves in your hair and more scuff marks than usual. Surely that’s not just from napping in the middle of an open field?”

“Oh,” you say. Observant as ever. “I…”

You suddenly realise you cannot even begin to explain this without Odile seeing it for herself. “Gimme a second.”

Odile raises an eyebrow as you dash back outside. There’s a Siffrin that’s just kind of wandering aimlessly that you wave over. Which…? Oh, they look a little confused as well, you bet…

“Three,” you say. 

“One,” they reply.

That cleared up, you pull them into the shop. “Woah, hey-!” One says, only to stop dead as they meet Odile’s eyes.

“Uh,” Odile says. “What?”

“Time travel,” you say. “Sort of. Um, there’s actually eight of us. And also Siffrin.”

“I-” Odile says. “Give me a moment, please.” She turns away. 

You turn to look at One, who looks pained. “Did you really need to drag me into this?” he mutters at you.

“What, was I supposed to tell her without any proof?” you mutter back.

Odile lets out a deep, weary sigh. You relate to that a little bit. “Okay,” she says as she turns around. “You’re not Siffrin?”

“We’re… Siffrins,” you say, awkwardly, “but-”

“Not the Siffrin. Your Siffrin. The real Siffrin,” One adds. “We use numbers. I’m One, they’re Three.”

“Can I see-” Odile starts, but she’s interrupted by another Siffrin entering the shop. You swear her eye twitches. “And which one is this?”

He pauses. “Uh… Nine?”

“You’re Siffrin.” One says.

Siffrin shrugs. “The ninth Siffrin.”

“Well, you still have blood, so-”

“What do you mean you still have blood???” Odile says incredulously. “Are you expecting him not to have blood soon??? ”

“I mean, the King-” One starts to say before you clap a hand over his mouth. “mmph. Okay, yeah, that was a bad thing to say. We should start from the top.”

-

“Hm,” says Odile. “If I had to guess, my previous self was attempting to create a copy of herself that would also remember these repeated days. Clearly, it didn’t work. Only you’re getting copied. …Well, you won’t have to worry about me doing that again, if I know about this.”

She thinks for a moment. “May I see these… sparkles?”

You and One pull off your gloves and palm your daggers. Odile glances at Siffrin. “You as well, Siffrin. For comparison.”

A tiny prick on your finger, and glitter spills out. You look over at Siffrin, who has a dark bead of liquid welling up on their own finger.

“Fascinating,” Odile says. “Your skin still flushes darker as though it had blood underneath. A perfect illusion - until you’re injured. Does it scab?”

One frowns. “It just kinda closes up? One time I cut my glove and forgot about it. It wasn’t cut later on.”

“Hm,” says Odile, finger to chin. “Try taking your cloak off.”

“Ask me out to dinner first,” One says lightly, but obligingly takes his cloak off.

“Alright,” Odile says. “Can I hold it?”

One glances at it uneasily, but shrugs and hands it over to Odile. Odile begins to inspect the fabric more closely when One goes “-Ah!” and snatches it back. She lets it go easily.

They hold it up. The bottom hem has frayed and corroded, as if left hanging into seawater for too long. There’s no staining, though. It’s like it started to just disappear.

“My cloak!” One cries, and quickly dons it again, shooting Odile a look of betrayal. “What did you do?!” 

“Nothing,” Odile says. “It seems that it began to lose cohesion when separated from you. I…” She grimaces. “I did suspect something like that might happen. My apologies, One. I should have considered you would still be attached to your cloak… you are a Siffrin, after all.”

“...It’s okay,” One says, eventually. “Anyway, um… About the King…”

“...A powerful attack, huh?” Odile says. “Well, I’m working on one, but I suspect you’re talking about something a bit beyond that.”

You all nod.

“Well,” says Odile. “You might find a powerful technique in the library or somewhere in the House, but in all likelihood none of us would be able to utilise it in the same day. One of you would have to learn it, and it would take multiple loops. But maybe…” she tilts her head at the three of you. “How good at paper craft are you?”

“Okay, for a scissors type,” you admit.

“So, bad.” Odile says, smirking. “Well, it’s not the worst case scenario. If you can all learn Paper attacks, even weak ones, the jackpots might be enough.”

“Maybe…” says One. “Apparently, the King’s attack didn’t kill immediately, it just knocked everyone out. So as long as at least five of us are left…”

“Scissors would be fine for that,” Siffrin points out. “Let’s call that plan B.” They pause. “I should probably go check on the others,” they say.

-

[Eight]

It’s nice, sitting next to Mira. You thought for a while you wouldn’t get a chance to again.

Mira shuffles her papers anxiously. “I… I’m so curious. But… Are you- Do you want to talk about it?”

You suppress a shudder, and instead tilt your head at her. “It’s fine. What do you want to know?”

She stares at you for a moment, then says, “...What’s the King like?”

“...Big,” you say. “Rock type. He… cries a lot. He tried to convince you to give up and join him. It was kind of pathetic, actually.”

“Pft,” Mira giggles. “Yeah, like that would ever work.”

“Ha, yeah,” you say. “... But, he got us all in one attack. It was so powerful… We were knocked down and couldn’t move after that. Bonnie escaped, but…” You shiver. “So, um. We’re gonna try a few different things. One of them is some kind of defence.”

“...” Mira looks at you. “Oh, Siffrin...”

You wince. “No, um. Call me Eight-”

Mira gasps. “Ah! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to-”

“No, it’s okay!” you wave your hands frantically. “It’s just - I’m not the real Siffrin! I’m a ghost! So don’t- I don’t want to… It’s best if I accept that now.”

“...Okay,” says Mira. “A ghost, huh? Are you intangible?”

Are you what. “I don’t know that word.”

“Um, can you phase through things?”

You don’t know that word either. “I can… cut things?”

Mira giggles. “That’s not what that means! I mean, would it be possible for me to touch you?”

“...Go ahead?” You offer her your arm.

She jolts in surprise. “Huwah???”

What is happening right now. “You- you asked?”

“No, I meant, like, IF I did, would it work, not, I wasn’t asking - wait.” Mira says. “You’re okay with it???”

You falter. “...Yeah? Why wouldn’t I be?”

Mira opens her mouth. Shuts her mouth. Raises a finger. Stares at you. Then buries her face in her hands and goes “Oh, Change… We never asked …”

Um. You lean over. “Are you okay?”

“Yes I’m fine I’ve never been better,” she says very quickly. “You… don’t get a lot of touch, do you?”

UM. "Well, uh, no? But it’s fine? You don’t have to?”

Mira fixes you with a look, and says, very seriously, “S- Eight. Can I hug you.”

“You… don’t have to,” you repeat.

Mira sighs. She sighed at you! “Eight. I want to hug you.”

“Oh,” you say. You feel your face flush. “...Okay.”

“...Do you want to be hugged?”

Stars, what’s the right answer? “Y… yeeesss?”

She opens her arms. You lean in.

…It’s warm.

…

“Eight.” says Mira quietly.

“Huh,” you say, mind currently occupied by the fact that you are being hugged . 

“A… Siffrin… is staring at us.”

Fuzzily, you say, “Jealous.” 

Her grip on you tightens. “...They are?”

“Yeah,” you say. “Hugs from Mira… What more could a Siffrin want...”

Mira giggles. “Aw, Si- Eight!” She goes a bit quiet after that, though, and when you shift a little, she lets go. You try not to seem disappointed. When you look back at her, she’s set her face to a determined expression. “Eight. I need to hug every Siffrin.”

You squint at her. “...That seems fair.”

She nods seriously. “I’m recruiting Isabeau and Bonnie for this quest.”

“Ah,” you squeak. “Okay. That’s okay too.”

As she gets up, you realise you didn’t ask her about a defensive technique. You don’t really want to stop her now, though.