Chapter Text
You find yourself in the store again when Siffrin approaches you. Distantly, you wonder if this was how long they took the first time. You have no idea how you'd determine that.
The sleepover is pitched, and Siffrin asks if he'll be at the front tomorrow. You clear your throat.
“I was actually thinking I'd lead tomorrow. You're very good at leading when we need to be fast, and while we can't necessarily slouch tomorrow, we also need to be… careful. Disciplined. It'll be difficult to even reach the King, I imagine.”
“Oh, okay,” Siffrin replies, they even look relieved to hear it. You might not be good at reading him, but you're fairly certain that relief doesn't hide anything else behind it. They are just glad the pressure isn't there anymore. Maybe you should do this more often.
Then they ask their last question:
“What will you do after?”
You smile. “I'll celebrate, I think.”
“...And after that?”
You falter somewhat, not expecting a follow up question. It’s fair enough— your answer was vague— but Siffrin doesn’t often ask follow up questions. They really are curious about this.
“Well, I suppose I’ll be saying my goodbyes… Once I’m sure this country won’t crumble without me, of course.”
Siffrin chuckles at your joke, though they seem distracted. “Do you have more research to do somewhere else?”
“Oh, no. I’ll be going home to Ka Bue. I’ve been gone for years at this point,” you explain yet again.
“And then finally you’ll be done with your research… your research into… finishing-ology?” Siffrin guesses.
“Ha!” you laugh. “What sort of field of research would that even be?”
“Well, it's the field of research you spent your whole life trying to create, so if you don't know… maybe you do need to do more research after this.”
Silly, silly… You play along. “Oh gems, at this rate I’ll never finish.”
Siffrin responds with an exaggerated frown. “You’ll never finish?? How are you supposed to be an expert in finishing-ology like that???”
“It’d be an uphill battle towards the finish line, I’m sure,” you smile. “Thankfully, finishing-ology is not what I’m studying.”
“Aw,” Siffrin pouts.
You chuckle, and Siffrin is off. You collect the ingredients for dinner Boniface requested all that time ago, and then leave for the clocktower.
You’re already reconsidering your decision to not tell the others about the time loop as you suffer through dinner. You aren’t particularly skilled at hiding when something is off, and while your party is kind enough to let your strange mood go unquestioned, part of you wishes they would question. It would make things a lot easier for everyone. But this is what you chose for this loop.
Sleep comes as difficult as it ever does these days, and you grit your teeth through the mid sleep interruption. Gems, you should’ve at least talked to Isabeau, come up with something to dissuade midnight confessions, but you didn’t think of it.
In the morning, you mindlessly go through the motions of waking, eating, brushing hair… by the time you’ve approached the house, you haven’t said a word to the others. They respect your uncharacteristic silence with slight distance, not a single curious word. If you act like you’re ready for the day, they follow along. And you are ready, you are, but it makes you think of Siffrin’s casual suicide. A party just politely trodding along, full of assumptions. Siffrin is fine, you are fine. Even if you weren’t, it’s not like you have time to fix it.
Mirabelle doesn’t need a tutorial, and since you’re leading, the first battles are quickly completed without issue. You continue.
Right. The death corridor. You should be able to run across without anyone being crushed… the boulder has never fallen within the time it'd require your party to cross the room, so clearly there's some sort of delay. If you never even need to stop in this room, there'll be no need to embarrass Siffrin.
You look back at the party to make sure that they're following, and begin walking through the corridor. Nervous at first, but you're fairly certain in your assumption, and even if you were wrong—
It's only for a moment, but you feel your head caving in. You feel your legs buckle and crack, your spine crumple, and you can't even react before you've been reduced to
LOOP 4
someone who has just given her favor to the Favor Tree. You fall to your knees. That was the first time you've actually, properly died. You doubt it'll be your last.
You heave forwards, mouth open. You're still dizzy, you still feel it. Your face is numb, but all that leaves your mouth is your desperate panting and a sickly string of saliva. Is your vision gone? Has your vision gone? You're barely paying attention, it's not like there's a lot to see, staring at the ground underneath the Favor Tree.
There are a pair of hands on your shoulders, gripping them. You start listening to the world around you when your name is called.
“—dame Odile??”
You blink up at Isabeau. “I… died,” is all you find yourself saying.
His hands move down to clutch your own and he looks you straight in the eye. “You are not dead, Madame Odile. You are very much alive right now, okay? It's okay.”
You hum, his attempt at grounding isn't especially helpful, you're well aware that you're alive now. That's not the issue. You squeeze Isabeau’s hands lightly.
“I am,” you agree, “but that doesn't mean I didn't…”
His face pinches in confusion. “...What just happened?”
“I clearly have no idea how the trap in the Death Corridor works…” you mutter absently, this doesn't help. “I'm in a time loop.”
Isabeau looks a bit sick at that revelation. “So you… so you did die.”
You nod.
“Change.”
You sigh, looking up at the branches above the both of you. “But you were right, I'm alright now.”
“You're alright?” he asks.
“I'm alright,” you confirm.
“...Was it the King?”
You frown at his question. “What?”
“Did we uh, lose the fight?”
You sigh bitterly. “...It was the very first trap. One we’ve survived before. I was being reckless.”
“...How many traps are there?” Isabeau asks, uneasy. “It's not like we weren't expecting them, but that's also never really been something we've been super worried about, huh? Especially with Siffrin with us.”
“Only two so far, strictly speaking, and one forking path that can lead to a dead end if we choose the wrong direction.”
“...I'm glad we've got more chances then, M'dame.”
You nod in silent agreement. You're still shaken, but at the very least, you are alive. Impossibly, you are alive.
Gems, you’re miserable, aren’t you? What an absolutely miserable loop. At least Isabeau already knows, you have no reason to hide the loop this time around, and the shock of sudden death has dislodged the most noxious part of the mood you were in. But you need that to never happen again. You need to know how that trap works.
You reassure Isabeau that you’ll be alright, and he helps you up as you leave the Favor Tree. You make your way past a napping Siffrin, down to the cave, and before you can get a word in otherwise, Consequence scoffs at you.
“It's a trapped corridor. Why did you ever think that running straight through it like that would work?”
You don't have any clever rebukes, but you don't really appreciate that this is how she decided to start the conversation. You stare at her, frowning.
“Just figure out a nicer way to get your Rogue to find the way to deactivate the trap and you'll be fine. Maybe you'll even get to know where the switch is for yourself.”
You huff. “And you think me walking up and finding it myself would make them feel any better about anything?”
“If you actually tell everyone you're in a time loop, that's just time loop stuff. You're just saving effort for everyone.”
“I just… don't understand how that trap works,” you mutter. “I can find the switch later— I just don't understand how it works.”
Consequence narrows her eyes at you. “You already have a way past it! Do you really need to know how it works? How many loops are you going to waste on trying to figure it out?”
“If I do it now, I'll never have to do it again,” you argue, absently wringing your hands. It killed you. It wasn't supposed to do that. You had a plan.
“It's— it's too early for this!”
You ignore her.
“You haven't even seen the King yet! What use is there in finding out how this single trap works? In the grand scheme of things?”
“It's a time loop, there is no time to be wasted, is there?”
Consequence rolls her eyes. “Sure, no time to be wasted. I’m sure you would’ve loved to hear me tell you that after your sleep was interrupted last night.”
You exhale, you aren't exactly sure why you’re even arguing, you doubt she'd ever do much to actually stop you. Perhaps you know it's unreasonable… Perhaps she is right.
Consequence clears its throat, drawing you out of your thoughts. “...Right, well. If you're so determined to experiment, I think it's about time I teach you how to contact me remotely. It might be useful.”
You blink. “Excuse me?”
“I've been able to contact you while you've been in the House this entire time, right? That's not an ability exclusive to me.”
You are… intrigued. Almost by instinct, you take out your journal and flip it to a new page, absently noting that your notes from the first loop are gone. Of course they are. Consequence chuckles at your silent frustration.
“Alright. All you need to do is put your hand up to your ear like this,” it extends its thumb and pinky finger and presses its hand… vaguely around where its mouth and ear would be. “And then you think, ‘I would like to speak with Consequence now.’”
You copy her hand positioning. “And what, this is the Craft sign…?”
Consequence nods seriously. “The secret fourth one, even.”
Silly. You'll see if it works later, you have a feeling having it speaking in your head while she’s simultaneously right in front of you would not be particularly pleasant.
“Is that all you have for me?” you ask.
“I have some more complaints you'll just ignore, so yes. That is all I have for you.”
You nod and leave the cave, hoping your plan is smarter than Consequence thinks it is… what does it know? Not much, clearly.
The party is downcast as they enter the Clocktower for the night, Isabeau must’ve told them all… something.
“I’m gonna make special dinner tonight!” Boniface announces as soon as they see you, “special just for Dile.”
Instinctively, you grimace slightly. You’re not absolutely sure they’re planning on making onigiri, but you know they have the ingredients for it. Or at least they think they do.
“Could I watch you work?” You ask, and you see Boniface’s determined look immediately screw up at that.
“I know how to do it!! I don’t need help! I know what I’m doing!”
Gems. Ever since you told them they wouldn’t be participating in battles within the House they’ve been quick to assume that you doubt their ability to do just about anything. You’ve been their favorite adult ever since they started distancing themself from Siffrin after the loss of his eye, but sometimes you’re surprised you’ve been able to retain that status.
“I’ll just be there to watch, not to help,” you reiterate, “you’re already much better in a kitchen than I am anyways.”
“You always complain though,” they mutter. “You're just saying that.”
Ugh, and that always comes back to bite you, doesn't it? You bite back a sigh. “I have particular tastes, but that doesn't mean I'm an especially good cook… at least not for anyone other than myself.”
Boniface mutters something you can’t hear under their breath and turns towards the kitchen.
“...Was that for me?” you wonder out loud.
“I said Nille wouldn’t let me be so stupid and mean and picky as you!” they yell before running into the kitchen.
After some internal debate, you decide to follow after them. You're glared at when you take a silent seat to watch, but Boniface doesn't say anything, so you stay.
Your instincts were correct, the special meal they planned to prepare for you was the apple onigiri.
“I have plums, so you don't even have to worry about it,” Boniface mutters as they bring out the fruit.
“I don't imagine you'll be able to pickle them for tonight,” you comment.
“I… huh?”
“The plum in onigiri is pickled, typically.”
“How'd you know I was making oni- ogin- uh, how'd you know I was making that??”
How to explain. You've been able to explain the time loop to them before, but for something like this….
“I haven't talked about enjoying foods with plum as an ingredient much otherwise.”
As Boniface’s face puckers in response to that, you're almost certain they don't think the explanation adds up. They don't press farther though.
“...Pickled plum is super different.”
“It is,” you nod.
“I… um. Crab. Would fish work?? It's just some river fish, I dunno what it is specifically, so maybe not what you're used to but—”
“Fish would work much better, I appreciate it.”
Boniface is silent for another long while, staring at the uncut fruit placed on the cutting board in front of them.
“...I was gonna crab it up. And you knew that.”
“I had some assistance,” you admit.
“Why did I get so mad at you?” they ask, tears welling up in their eyes. “You were just- you weren't even being that picky or mean or anything. I was just gonna make one of your foods super wrong. And I yelled at you about it and…”
You sigh. “Do you know why I comment on how your food tastes so often?”
“Because you… I dunno.”
You’ve never told them, so it makes sense they don’t know. “...I probably should've made it clear when I started doing it, but it's because I know you take pride in your work as a cook and in providing for us as a group. I know you want to take steps to improve, which is why I always try to be specific about what I don't like.”
Boniface doesn't look very comforted by that, but that's alright. You're not done talking.
“But of course… cooking is not just a hobby for you, Boniface. You are doing extremely important labor for our party, you are literally feeding us. You are providing yourself and the rest of us with the means of survival. It makes sense for my comments to be frustrating at times, sometimes you're just trying to make a meal so we can eat, and sometimes you just want to be able to make me something that will make me feel better. This was meant to be a gift, it's not especially polite for me to be commenting on how you're making it.”
“...But you would've hated it if you didn't do anything,” they mutter. “It would've been a crabby gift and would've made you feel way way worse.”
“And that's why I decided to help,” you agree. “It may not have been polite, but I think you know by now that I am not always polite when I think things will go wrong.”
“‘Dile, I think you're getting weedy with your words again,” Boniface wrinkles their nose. “Why's this supposed to make me feel better?”
‘Getting lost in the weeds,’ you catch yourself almost correcting them. There's a time and a place.
“Because I was rude to you and I pushed the issue even though you were getting upset. Even if I had my reasons, that's not… pleasant. I don't think it's wrong for you to be upset, especially if my comments have been a bit too much in the past.”
Boniface nods slowly, and sighs.. “You're so weird, ‘Dile. Just tell me not to put fruit in onrigiris next time.”
You give them a puzzled smile. “Would that have worked?”
“Uh… I dunno.”
You chuckle, and watch as Boniface starts preparing the fish.
“...‘Parently the fish in the river are basically all gone,” they mention as they transfer rice from a pot on the stove to a more manageable bowl, “so this is an extra special dinner now.”
You do remember there being a fisherwoman in town. She would know about the status of the river’s population, and while Boniface isn’t usually overwhelmed by the reverence and generosity sometimes shown to your party, they always want to make sure no one is “being stupid” about how much they give.
“And it’s not just ‘cause rivers are small, but it’s because fish from the rest of the river can’t swim over here… because it’s all frozen.”
They grow quiet for a moment before continuing. “And I think it’s okay I took this, because when we beat the King tomorrow, everything will unfreeze and the fish’ll come back!”
You nod. “I’m glad the river hasn’t run out of fish before now.”
Boniface nods back in agreement, and turns back to start shaping the onigiri.
Dinner lifts everyone’s moods somewhat, though not much is said between everyone before you start explaining the time loop. Reactions are more subdued than they were the first time you told them, but that’s to be expected since they already were aware something was happening. You get a full night of sleep that night, you suppose Isabeau was a bit too preoccupied to attempt to confess his crush.
There's a bell hanging from a tree outside of the House, one of the unlabeled Ka Buan shrine bells that lets you “save progress” and such. Was it there a second ago..? Did Consequence do something?
You glance at your party members, all with their orbs in hand, waiting for you.
“...Give me a moment, I just have to…”
You step aside. You awkwardly hold your hand up to your ear, fingers extended like Consequence showed you. You think, ‘I would like to speak with Consequence now,’ and…
“What do you want.”
She sounds even more exasperated than usual. And maybe pained..? Is that heavy breathing you're hearing in the background?
“This bell wasn't here before,” you state.
“That's because I added it.”
“You can do that?” you ask, genuinely surprised.
“Apparently,” she mutters. “Go appreciate all of the time I've just saved you and do your stupid little experiments. Leave me alone.”
The connection severs, and you’re left reeling somewhat. You ring the bell, obviously. Consequence clearly gave a lot in order to manifest it— that was Craft exhaustion, most likely. Only the riskiest forms of Craft manifest exhaustion like that after a single usage.
You still… you aren’t sure how you feel about her. She’s frustrated with you, and yet. You were under the impression that it has no interest in learning how the strange extraneous bits of the loop works, but here it is, putting a fair amount of its own energy into giving you a way to save some small sliver of time.
You purse your lips and approach the door to the House with your orb. You’ll have time to sort all of this out later, surely. Your party members glance at you, but no questions are asked. This is infinitely easier than keeping the time loop a secret, gems.
You quickly down the tutorial Sadnesses once again. All that is left before the next bell is the Death Corridor. You take a deep breath.
“Alright, this is the Death Corridor, as I was explaining last night. The trap isn’t timed, so I’m thinking there might be some sort of weighted element to it.”
Mirabelle titters something, but as you glance back at her, she quiets… You don’t let this get to you.
“The first time we encountered this trap, we were able to wait for a long time on one end of the corridor while Siffrin was able to travel the entire length without issue. So we’ll enter…”
You lead everyone into the corridor, and then hold out your arm, keeping anyone from getting further than a third of the way through. You swallow.
“And now, we'll go through one at a time. Or maybe…” you frown. “Boniface, you and Isabeau make your way through first. Isabeau in front.”
Boniface looks up at you, skeptical. “...Are you sure you've made it past this trap?”
You wipe your palms on your jacket. Part of you is screaming that you're basically sacrificing Isabeau like this, but you want to make sure everyone else gets through before you make your attempt. Siffrin was able to get to the very end of the corridor by himself with no issues in the past, this should be… fine.
“I have,” you confirm, and because Boniface has run out of things to say, the two of them are off.
Your vision wobbles slightly as Isabeau and Boniface walk further and further away from the rest of you, spots dancing in your eyes. But before you begin to consider maybe sitting down or something… they're through. They're safe. They've made it. You exhale.
“Mirabelle, you go next,” you mutter, lightheaded. You're not sure how long this will work.
Mirabelle glances back at you with a weak smile before nipping across the corridor, practically leaping into Isabeau’s arms as she enters the next room.
“Siffrin?” You prompt. You don't want to see them die again, but you're fairly certain you're leaving yourself in the most vulnerable spot as the last one to cross the corridor.
Siffrin just nods, and runs to the other side of the room, seemingly unbothered. Your heart is still hammering.
You catch your breath, close your eyes. It's your turn.
“You can do it, M’dame!” Isabeau’s distant voice calls, sounding further than it actually is.
Right. There's no need to panic, if anything goes wrong, you're still in a time loop. If you die, you'll loop back immediately, much better than having to press forwards to the nearest Tear.
You begin walking across the corridor. It's… normal. It's fine. As you near your party, as you see their smiling faces, the overwhelming sense of dread seems to lift off of you. You can be with them, they're right in front of you. You could leap forwards and—
LOOP 5
(The House, again.)
(You turn back to the entrance, and return to life.)
[See? Useful. Now you don't even have to sleep on it or anything.]
Isabeau is by your side again, noticing your unfocused gaze as you gather your thoughts again. It’s amazing how much… less it is, the second time. You’re still standing, you shake your head and continue on.
This time, you do not permit anyone to follow you into the death corridor. You want to see if you can survive by simply not going to the far half of the corridor. No need to get anyone else involved.
“...I don't get it. We're not going through? At all?”
You turn around and sit down on the floor of the corridor. Might as well get a bit comfortable as you wait.
“Well, eventually, yes we will. But you will not remember any of this waiting when we do.”
Boniface does not look convinced by your explanation. “But what's the point then?”
“I want to know how long someone can remain on this side of the corridor safely.”
“What if you're just waiting there forever though?? It's a weird trap, right? Maybe just sitting and waiting won't ever get it to even do anything!”
You sigh. “Perhaps it won't, but considering previous experiences with the trap, I have a feeling it’ll go off eventually.”
You had no reason to believe Siffrin was in danger that first time. The memory makes you nauseous. There's a version of the World where Siffrin remained dead in this corridor, completely convinced he had been safe. A version of the World where you were so upset at their death that you became frozen in time doing the stupidest thing imaginable.
Isabeau seems to realize something. “Hey Bonbon, wanna play a game with me while we wait?”
Boniface turns away from you, skeptical. “You have games?”
Ah. Right. Good man. He gives you a purposeful look and you wince. Even if they wouldn't remember it, you do not want Boniface to witness your death. Not again, two times is already enough.
“Sure, I've got some cards…” he continues, something you were aware of already.
Soon, Isabeau and Boniface are engrossed in some card game whose rules you didn't manage to absorb. You wait, you wait what feels like a very long time, enough time for a couple of games. Enough time for your mind to wander, for your waiting to become less anxiety fueled. You think, for a moment, that you're almost bored, and then…
LOOP 6
It doesn't make any sense. It makes absolutely zero sense.
“It doesn't make any sense,” you say out loud, because it doesn't.
“What doesn't make sense?” Isabeau asks from behind you, and you startle.
“The trap, the death corridor trap, I can't figure out how it works. It almost seems to be triggered at random.”
Isabeau grimaces slightly. “But you don't think it actually is random?”
No, no you don't. It still hasn't hit anyone immediately yet, and you haven't managed to get the whole party through safely. If it was random, you would expect it to have a chance to drop as soon as you entered the room. It does always land on someone, after all.
…You think you know what you'll try in this loop. You've only attempted to quickly cross the corridor once, that's not nearly enough tests to be conclusive at all, and it's probably the easiest test to do.
You realize you never answered Isabeau's question. “If it were truly random, it would be less deadly,” you reason.
“...Right,” Isabeau's grimace grows.
“I'll just walk across briskly this time. That will be easily replicatable.”
“How long have you been in this time loop?”
You hum. “Not long, this is the first trap, after all.”
He doesn't look the most convinced as you turn away from him, but he doesn't say anything else. On you go.
You don't let the others follow you into the Death Corridor, you’re experimenting alone here. You attempt to steel yourself before you enter, but your palms sweat. Your legs shake.
You briskly walk across the corridor, bracing for a now familiar death. You make it to the other side… in one piece.
“…Do we come over now?” Boniface yells from the other side of the corridor.
“No!” you snap back, eyes wide. “No, no, it could activate on any of you, I just need to find the pattern.” You aren't sure if any of them heard any of your rambling.
You could walk back, see if that activates the trap.
…It’s not like there’s not much else you can test, not without having any of them join you. The risk should be on you alone.
When you rejoin the party, everyone is anxious to cross. Surely it must be safe, you can imagine them thinking. You shake your head.
“I’m not risking anything until I know how this works,” you mutter, and then you cross again.
The 6th time you cross, you start to wonder if the trap will ever activate. You die.
LOOP 7
Because it took six individual crossings for the trap to activate last time, you figure that you can get the whole party across safely if none of you wait in the corridor itself and cross one at a time. You first, of course.
…You’re crushed almost immediately.
LOOP 8
You don’t know. You can’t know. The trap makes absolutely no sense. You’ve run out of ideas, you’ve run out of patience.
Wearily, you sigh and turn to Siffrin. “I can't figure out how the trap in this next room works, but there is a lever hidden somewhere on the second pillar to the right. Once you find it, could you please point it out for me? I haven't been able to find it on my own.”
Siffrin nods, looking a touch nervous. You realize that your growing fatigue is probably fairly obvious, they're worried for you. Considering his reaction to things last time you actually made progress through the House, this worries you slightly, but at least there's not much of a reason for him to be feeling like he's messed up yet. Finding the trap should be enough, especially if you don't mention how they've missed it before.
One look over, no switch found, but Siffrin just frowns and looks again, making sure to take his time, and…
“I, uh, it's right here,” Siffrin calls eventually, fingers ghosting a slightly rounded looking knob in one of the pillar’s cobblestones.
Once you're properly looking, Siffrin pulls the knob out to the side, revealing subtle seams between it and the stone and a metal shaft that was hidden within. The boulder falls, and Siffrin jiggles the switch back and forth in its slot to show the sudden lack of tension.
…You were looking for a much more classical lever sort of switch, weren’t you. You were looking for a handle and a groove for the shaft to travel through. This is more like a holding pin, much more subtle and suitable for a hidden switch. You’re impressed that Siffrin only needed a second look to find it, but you suppose he’s done similar in the past. It’s why you’re able to trust them with this job, after all.
“...I see, thank you,” you finally manage, mouth dry. “We'll keep going, then.”
And you leave the Death Corridor.
You technically know more, now, you know a lot about how the trap doesn't work, but that's it. You gave up. But there’s always next time, you suppose. And you should be alright with that. Further progress into the House will do you some good.
Progress through the first two floors goes smoothly enough, even if the others are watching you warily. You know where to go, and when you make it back to the two rows of tears, you easily guide the party down to the right.
This is a traps room. Large, intimidating boulders sit behind some low stone railing on your right, and to your left is…
“Scissors key,” Siffrin announces as they pick it up. Just sitting out in the open, easy. At least there won’t be another round of searching.
At the back of the room, you notice a lone book resting atop an otherwise empty table. At a glance, the title says something about traps, and you open it without a second look. This could hold the answers to all of your miserably nagging questions.
There are a couple of pages bookmarked, one of the bookmarks is very helpfully labeled ‘Death Corridor.’
You're greeted with an illustration of a small group of people lounging in a room, an array of spikes just about to spring up at their feet. On the left, you read the title of the page.
“If-you-feel-safe-it-activates-o-trap”
Your fingers go numb, your vision blurs. You truly don't know how to feel, there are just… so many options, so many thoughts. Between the reveal of the mechanism behind the trap and the childish way that information has been conveyed to you, there's… you can't. It's too much.
“Woah, hey, M'dame, that book isn't gonna do anything to hurt you.”
“...What would even be the point…” you whisper, hands trembling. “Why would this be how the trap works??”
Isabeau's eyes flit across the page. “...Wow. That is… antiquated.”
You glance up at him, silently probing for more information.
“They really don't make Houses with traps like this anymore, but back when they were building all the big central Houses— Houses like this one— there were some… interesting ideas about security floating around. I think it's usually recommended that these traps are replaced? I'm surprised that one has lasted so long, honestly.”
You exhale. That's some amount of vindication, “I'm glad things are sensible in most Houses…”
“Figures the King would pick the one with a trap like this, right?” Isabeau chuckles, though it sounds hollow.
You let out an almost pained noise.
“...Maybe we should talk about something else,” Mirabelle suggests lightly.
“Yeah, security is pretty boring,” Isabeau agrees, though you have no idea why he's not just admitting it's for your sake. It’s not like it isn’t obvious you’re upset. Perhaps he thinks he's doing you a favor.
“I've been part of security detail once,” you recall distractedly, it's not like any of them will remember this anyways. “Nothing especially official, but I think it would count.”
“What's that mean. Were you a bodyguard?” Boniface asks.
You hum. “Not for any one person. I stood around and watched for Sadnesses and the authorities, mostly.”
Boniface stares at you, eyes wide. “What were you protecting??”
You chuckle, your racing heart calmed somewhat. “I'll never tell, especially not with a Defender in the room.”
“Hey? I'm not a narc,” Isabeau sputters.
“That's true,” you agree, “you can't be a narc if you're just part of the institution.”
“M’dame! I didn't know you were so…”
“Cool??” Boniface offers, grinning. “I'm not that surprised though, not like ‘Za. Dile always runs out of boring old person things to talk about eventually. That's when you get the good stuff.”
“...Not the word I was looking for, but sure, cool works.”
You're not even sure if Boniface understood that last comment of yours, but the basic concept of resisting authority is fairly easy to understand and easy to praise.
…You realize this conversation successfully drew your mind from the frustrations of the trap. Often it is frustrating to be so easily distracted, but in this instance, you're grateful. And you should be grateful, you’ve found an answer to your maddening question, no matter how frustrating that answer might’ve been.
Progress has finally been made.
The floor opens up to yet another hallway with yet another large Sadness, or, well, two Sadnesses. You struggle to care when one kills the other; Sadnesses are made up of a person’s worst impulses in their worst moments, after all. There’s a constant tendency towards desperation and violence. And despite their worried comments, the others manage to hold themselves together for the rest of the battle as well. They’ve all seen Sadnesses do sickeningly strange things.
“This room feels safe too, doesn't it?” Mirabelle says as you lead everyone into the next room.
“Break time?” Boniface asks. You nod wordlessly and sit down, back against a wall.
Sitting there, waiting for Boniface to gather together food, you finally have a chance to just… think. You know how to lead the party through everything up to this point, and you have no idea what to expect on floor three, and…
“...Oh, hm. I’ve just remembered something. Isabeau, heads or tails?”
Isabeau turns towards you, it looks like he was deep in thought. “This part of your time loop experiments?” he asks.
It could be, but you shake your head. This is part of something else.
“Huh! Well, uh, tails?”
You nod, and select one of the many loose coins that have collected in your jacket’s pockets after many shopping trips in this country. Silently, you flip it, and just as you register that it landed on tails— that you've lost…
LOOP 9
…You find yourself back at the Favor Tree, and once you gather your bearings, you laugh.