Chapter Text
(-you just need
to get to the end
and win
and make sure everyone's wish comes true
You just
You just need to
You just need to defeat the king on your own)
(You're fine)
(Get up, Siffrin)
(you have
a country
to save)
Right as you begin walking from the meadow, Mirabelle intercepts you. You thankfully didn't make her too suspicious.
So, You're going to need your family's strength to beat the king, and then you just need to make sure you deal the final blow.
That's easy, right? Everything will be fine!
You go talk to Mirabelle in front of the library,it doesn't go well.
You go to Bonnie and get them to have you teach them how to fight, doesn't go well either.
You get Odile her familytale and go to that one meadow to talk with her and it doesn't go well.
You talk to Isabeau,
IT
DOESN'T
GO
WELL.
You go and talk to Loop, they begin talking first.
"This was... not the nicest thing you could've said? To... any of them?" They argue.
"Does it matter?"
They respond with a yes.
"Why wouldn't it matter?"
"They'll come with me to the house anyway. They've always done it before." You argue back, dismissively.
"Okay but-"
"It doesn't really matter. Because I've found it, Loop!"
"Found it? Found what?" they ask.
"How to break this loop! How to escape!"
"What?! but-"
They don't get to finish their sentence before you start explaining.
"I'm here to kill the king aren't I? Everyone's been wishing for it, for the king to be defeated, so that's why I'm here, aren't I?!"
"Well... umm, Maybe?" they say... unsure, "I don't-"
"And, and, and!!! Mira's always the one isn't she?!" you interrupt,
"The one? The one to what?"
"The one to deal the final strike on the king!!!" you proclaim,
"And?"
(You don't understand why Loop doesn't get it.)
"And if everyone's wish is centered on me..." you begin explaining,
"And if I'm the only one who's looping and remembering... And if time keeps rewinding after I kill the King..."
"The Head Housemaiden said it might be because the wish hasn't come true, right? So... Isn't it rewinding because its not me, the person who's in the middle of this, killing the King?!?" you argue.
"That... It can't be that simple, stardust." they respond.
"Maybe it is that simple! We've never thought about it, haven't we? Maybe it WAS that easy, all this time!"
"No, I..." they pause, before proclaiming firmly, "I can say with certainty that's not it. It has to be something else..."
"Why?"
"Huh? Well, are you sure you've never defeated the King yourself? I'm sure it must've happened once or twice. You've been looping for a long time, so you might've forgo-"
"'It must've happened once or twice'?" you repeat their words back at them with a suspicious glare.
"I'm certain I never defeated him myself. And yet... how can you say that with certainty?"
Your eye drills into them.
"Do you know something?"
"No, I don't know any more than you, stardust!" they say in a bid to convince you, "It's just, that's not it! It has to be something else that's causing the loops, something else that can break them. Something-"
"THEN WHAT ELSE, LOOP?!?" you scream, "WHAT ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO DO? WHAT ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO TRY?!
SHOULD I MAKE EVERYONE COME WITH ME? SHOULD I RELY ON THE POWER OF LOVE?
SHOULD I TALK TO THE KING? THE HEAD HOUSEMAIDEN?
SHOULD I DIE? SHOULD EVERYONE DIE? WHAT? WHAT ELSE IS THERE? HAVEN'T I DONE IT ALL?!?
THERE'S NOTHING ELSE, LOOP!!! I KNOW IT'S STUPID, I KNOW ITS A LONG SHOT BUT IT HAS TO BE THIS!!! IT HAS TO BE THIS, LOOP, OR- OR-"
Your voice grows softer.
"Or, or does it mean- It means-
It means I'm stuck here for good, aren't I?
Forever?"
You almost choke on the word you're trying to say.
...Loop is silent.
(No)
(They knew)
"You think I'm stuck here forever," you say assertively.
"What? No, I--"
"Loop.
You knew.
You knew this whole time.
You knew this whole time there was no escape."
"Stardust..."
"No, no, no, no, no, no..."
"S-Stardust, I..." They say, their hands held together.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"..."
"Why did you lie to me?"
"I-I didn't.
I was b-brought here to help you, and- And I thought, if I was here, we could-" they say, stuttering.
"You knew there was no way to break the loops?"
"I thought that if we tried, together, w-we'd-"
"YOU KNEW!
YOU KNEW!!!!!!!
YOU KNEW YOU KNEW YOU KNEW YOU KNEW YOU KNEW THIS ENTIRE TIME!!!!!!!!" you can't help but scream.
"Stardust--"
You do not let Loop finish.
"DID YOU HAVE FUN, LOOP?"
(your throat hurts)
"WAS IT ENTERTAINING, AT LEAST? WAS IT FUNNY?
DID YOU LIKE WATCHING ME RUN AROUND IN CIRCLES, HOPING, WISHING?
DID YOU LIKE THE SHOW?!?"
"No. No, I didn't like to watch this at all." they lie through their teeth.
"Curse you, Loop."
"Stardust, I...
I'm sorry... I really am," they say, trying to earn your pity, "But please, Stardust- Siffrin!!! If we think! If we go through it again we can-"
(You don't have time for this)
(Clocktower, sleepover. You've arrived later than usual, you wonder what everyone is doing right now.)
(You don't hear the sounds of cutlery, so you think they may already be sleeping.)
(But no- you can hear them talk)
(You listen in)
(They're... talking about leaving you behind...)
(You decide to-)
(First Sadness, gone)
(The House feels weirder than usual, not like that's gonna stop you. you just need... to get to the King and beat him.)
(You eventually make your way through the now labyrinthine halls of the House to get the key to the second floor. Before you forget, though, you find your way into the forge room and pick up the sharpening stone.)
(First boss, gone)
(You... try not to think about them...)
(Second floor, cleared)
(Second boss, gone)
(You... see them)
(They're... talking to you)
(You decide to get closer and-)
(It wasn't anything)
(You just need to beat the King on your own)
(A mirror)
(You and your actors are reflected in it-)
(Don't think about them. Truth is, you've never really mattered all that much to them, but thats fine, you dont need them anyway! You can beat the King all on your own!)
(You venture through the third floor)
(You get the KeyKnife.)
(sharpening stone, apply to Keyknife)
(please be sharp please be sharp please be sharp, PLEASE... please)
(Only after you're done sharpening it do you realize that you're crying.)
(Whatever, Doesn't matter, it'll all be over soon)
(you just)
(need)
(to beat the king)
(Third boss, gone)
(Don't... Don't think about them)
(You get to his lair, he says some things, they don't matter)
(The fight begins, The KnifeKey glows)
(You and the King exchange blows)
(the fight lasts not too long, but eventually)
(you do it)
(he's dead, his lifeless corpse lays there on the ground, a puddle of blood accumulating beneath it)
(it's... done)
(you can barely walk)
(you just need to make it to the head housemaiden, it's all over when you talk to her)
You limp your way over to the head housemaiden.
"What happened?" she asks, "Did you defeat the King?"
"Yes, I killed him." you respond, your voice betraying your exhaustion.
"You alone? But-"
"It doesn't matter, the loops are over now right?" you desperately ask.
"Loops? what are you-
Oh no, no no no no no!
Siffrin, I'm so sorry!"
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
You can't- You can't breathe
No no no no you cant be trapped here!
You- You have- You have to do something!
"AGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" you scream in a fit of mental anguish
Tears start flooding out of your eye
You breathe like a maniac when just a second ago you couldn't breathe at all
And
In your moment of weakness
you
just
attack
