Chapter Text
(You got a MEMORY OF DEFEAT!)
(You'll always remember this.)
[When equipped, Memory of Defeat gives you 3 Memories of Skirmish instead of one when you defeat regular Sadnesses!]
(You got a MEMORY OF FAILED QUEST!)
(You'll always remember this.)
[When Memory of Failed Quest is equipped, your Housemaiden's non-attacking Craft Skill Cooldowns will be lowered by 1!]
(You got a MEMORY OF BREAKING!)
(You'll always remember this.)
[When equipped, Memory of Breaking boosts your Fighter's Defense by 5 for every time you've faced the King!]
(You got a MEMORY OF VISION!)
(You'll always remember this.)
[When Memory of Vision is equipped, your Researcher will automatically use Slow IV at the start of battle!]
[...]
[...what.]
[Stardust, what's happening?]
(You don't know.)
(You breathe in, and out, and run into Dormont.)
(...Mirabelle doesn't meet you at the bridge.)
(Swallowing down your panic, you look around.)
(She's sitting on her usual bench outside the library.)
(She looks like she might throw up.)
Mirabelle: "Siffrin?"
(Odile stumbles out of the shop, clutching her notebook to her chest.)
Mirabelle: "Oh, Siffrin, Madame, I've just had the worst..."
Odile: "Not a dream, Mirabelle. Where are Isabeau and Boniface?"
(Mira crumples, burying her face in her papers and crying.)
(Odile walks over to stand next to her, awkwardly patting her on the shoulder.)
> "...I remember where they are."
> "I can go check on Bonnie, Isa's by the Favor Tree."
> "Odile, can you take her to him?"
Odile: . . .
(She nods stiffly.)
Odile: "Gems, I hope they don't remember."
Odile: "If they do, and only if they do, bring them with you."
(You quickly run away.)
(Bonnie is here, looking morosely at the fields.)
> "Anything weird happen lately?"
Bonnie: "Weird? Um..."
Bonnie: "Just a second ago, I saw, like, the BIGGEST bee."
(Thank the stars, the Universe, everything.)
(At least they don't remember.)
> "Okay. Thank you."
Bonnie: "You asked..."
(You give them a wave and say goodbye.)
Bonnie: "Hm. ...See you at the clocktower."
(Okay. This is fine. You're fine! Maybe it's even good that this happened.)
(Now you can all work together to figure out how to beat the King!)
(...)
(Maybe you should introduce them to Loop?)
[Not a blinding chance, Stardust!~]
[I'm here to help YOU with the loops. That doesn't mean I have to talk to your party.]
(Or not! That's fine!)
[We can talk about all this later. Privately.]
[Once I've had some time to come to terms with... these developments.]
(When you reach the path to the Favor Tree, Mira is curled up in Isa's arms.)
(It doesn't sound like she's crying anymore.)
> "Isa."
(He gives a weak smile.)
Isabeau: "Sif. Bonbon's okay?"
> "None the wiser."
(You sit down on the grass with your allies.)
Odile: "Something to be grateful for."
Odile: "Now, shall we discuss what happened tomorrow?"
Mirabelle: "It was going so well, I was sure we were going to win, but..."
Mirabelle: "That horrible attack..."
Mirabelle: "And now I've trapped you all in some kind of time loop because I couldn't even do my quest right!"
Mirabelle: "I know you all said that you wanted to continue to follow and help me, last-- um, later tonight?"
Mirabelle: "B-but you couldn't have known, then, that I would-- that I would fail you like this!!"
Isabeau: "You know, Mira, none of us blame you."
Isabeau: "I feel like I failed in my job to defend all of you, honestly!"
Odile: "And I obviously blame the King, as he was the one who actually killed us."
Odile: "But we're not going to get anywhere by trying to distribute blame. We need information, and we need a plan."
Odile: "So, Siffrin. How much do you know?"
> "M-me???"
> "Why would I know anything?"
Odile: "Don't give me that. I'm not accusing you of anything untoward."
Odile: "You were the one who successfully navigated the House tomorrow, avoiding dead ends, particularly the mask key on the second floor."
Odile: "Don't think I bought that 'we got lucky' excuse. You know something I don't. Perhaps many things."
(You can't breathe.)
(Your vision is closing in and you can't look away from her frowning face.)
(You feel a tug on--)
Odile: "Thank you, Siffrin."
(H-huh???)
> "What?"
Odile: "Thank you for guiding us. For finding the correct path, however long it may have taken you."
Odile: "I will get answers, but giving you a panic attack will only make that more difficult."
Odile: "And it needs to be said that your contributions have already been immensely helpful."
Isabeau: "Yeah! Thank you, Sif!"
Mirabelle: "Thank you, Siffrin!"
Odile: "Now, we determined while you were with Boniface that the three of us remember only one attempt before this one."
Odile: "During which, your behavior suggested you have likely experienced prior attempts which ended before reaching the King. Is that correct?"
(You hide under your hat and give a small nod.)
Odile: "You saw the note on the door past the tears, then, in an attempt where you had respected that student's privacy."
(Another nod.)
Odile: "How did you return to the second floor?"
(Oh! This question isn't too scary.)
> "I just touched a Tear!"
(...ah. Mirabelle looks stricken anyway.)
Mirabelle: "You had to willingly freeze yourself in time? Oh, Siffrin, that's terrible, I'm so sorry!"
> "It wasn't so bad... like taking a nap."
Odile: "How did you know that would cause you to go back, instead of remaining frozen in a continuing timeline? Was that the first time?"
> "Oh, no, the first time was... an accident?"
> "...they didn't mean to push me."
(Odile's eyes narrow, and she nods.)
Odile: "That's a difficult answer. I'd be inclined to give Boniface a lecture on caution and personal space, but..."
Odile: "Well, I don't want to put the burden of knowledge on them about any of this."
(Everyone agrees. They can't find out.)
Odile: "Do you know anything about why this is happening?"
Isabeau: "It's some kind of blessing, right? To help us defeat the King?"
> "That's my best guess too!"
Odile: "What are we going to do about the King's attack?"
(You don't think leveling up or Crafting Defense boosts will help, the attack was just too strong.)
(But maybe Mirabelle would know something? You turn to her.)
Mirabelle: "I-I was thinking about learning to craft shields! And I feel like I'm close to getting it!!!"
Mirabelle: "But... I'm not there yet. And because of my failure, you all..."
Odile: "Mirabelle. Do I need to remind you that you were also killed by the King?"
Isabeau: "What M'dame means to say is, don't discount your own trauma! This wasn't something you did to us, it happened to all of us."
Isabeau: "You're allowed to be overwhelmed and scared too, you know?"
Mirabelle: "I'll try to work harder on figuring it out, b-but, what if I can't do it?"
Odile: "Siffrin, how much do you know about how these cycles work? Do we have a limited number of attempts?"
> "They'll last as long as we need."
Odile: "Then, Mirabelle, we will work on it through the evening and while ascending the House."
Odile: "If you don't get it before we need to fight the King, we will come back here and continue to practice for another day."
(You point to Mirabelle's hands. She's biting her nails again.)
> "Nails, Mira."
Mirabelle: "Ah! Thank you..."
Isabeau: "So, uh, now what?"
> "Now we all go back to the clocktower and pretend to be normal for Bonnie."
Odile: "That does sound like the plan."
(Everyone plays their part, to varying degrees of success.)
(Mira misses a few of her lines, and you have to cover for her, but Bonnie is perfect.)
(The house is easier with the added combat experience, even with Mira taking some turns to practice trying to shield you.)
(...it doesn't work.)
(By the time you get to the library on the second floor, she looks exhausted and disappointed.)
Mirabelle: "Uuuh... Feels like we could find something to help in a book... Can we search the library more carefully?"
(You all search the library top to bottom. There's nothing in here about crafting shields.)
(...maybe you should check the one in the village.)
(On the way to the central hub room, you run ahead and plunge your hand into a Tear.)
(You had a good sleep.)
> START AGAIN
(You wake up.)
(You dreamt you fell right through some stairs.)
(Scary!)
(Back to it, Siffrin. You head back into Dormont.)
(...Mirabelle still doesn't meet you at the bridge.)
(She's sitting on her bench outside the library again.)
(She looks as sick as she did last time.)
Mirabelle: "Siffrin?"
(Odile, on cue, stumbles out of the shop, clutching her notebook to her chest.)
Mirabelle: "Oh, Siffrin, Madame, I've just had the worst..."
Odile: "Not a dream, Mirabelle. Where are Isabeau and Boniface?"
(Mira, as before, starts crying into her papers.)
(Odile, once more, walks over to stand next to her, awkwardly patting her on the shoulder.)
(It's all the same.)
(IT'S ALL THE SAME.)
(...at least you know what to say.)
> "...I remember where they are."
> "I can go check on Bonnie, Isa's by the Favor Tree."
> "Odile, can you take her to him?"
Odile: . . .
(She nods stiffly.)
Odile: "Gems, I hope they don't remember."
Odile: "If they do, and only if they do, bring them with you."
(You run, run, run away.)
(Bonnie still doesn't remember anything. That's good.)
(On the way to the Favor Tree, you stop by the Dormont Library.)
(Even if they don't remember, you can make a little progress.)
> "Anything about crafting shields?"
Librarian: "I wouldn't know anything about that... That sounds highly specialized. I don't think we carry that sort of knowledge here."
Librarian: "I doubt even the House's library would own something like that..."
Librarian: "...Maybe it would be in the secret library?"
(The WHAT.)
> "The WHAT?"
Librarian: "The uh. Secret library."
Librarian: "The secret library whose entrance is hidden in the library? That library."
Librarian: "One of the walls looks normal, but if you check it carefully it'll reveal the secret library's entrance."
Librarian: "Technically only the librarians know about it. But you ARE trying to save Vaugarde, so. Don't snitch on me? And don't lose tomorrow?"
(So the House's library on the second floor has a secret library? Sounds like you should go there and check the walls...)
(...once you answer your allies' questions again.)
(You're a little late, so Mira has already detangled from Isa and sat on the ground.)
> "Isa."
(His sad smile gets you again.)
Isabeau: "Sif. Bonbon's okay?"
> "None the wiser."
(You sit down on the grass with your allies.)
(They say all the same things.)
Odile: "So, Siffrin. How much do you know?"
> "M-me???"
> "Why would I know anything?"
(You're not anxious this time, but you focus on putting on a convincing act.)
Odile: "Thank you, Siffrin."
(Phew!)
> "What?"
(You let them talk again.)
Odile: "Is that correct?"
(You nod at the right places.)
Odile: "How did you return to the second floor?"
> "I just touched a Tear."
Mirabelle: "You had to willingly freeze yourself in time? Oh, Siffrin, that's terrible, I'm so sorry!"
> "It wasn't so bad. Like taking a nap."
Odile: "How did you know that would cause you to go back, instead of remaining frozen in a continuing timeline? Was that the first time?"
> "No, the first time was an accident."
> "They didn't mean to push me."
(Bonnie won't find out. If only none of them ever had to find out.)
Isabeau: "It's some kind of blessing, right? To help us defeat the King?"
> "That's my best guess too."
Odile: "What are we going to do about the King's attack?"
(You look to Mirabelle again.)
(Their plan is fine for now, and you'll see what changes when you get to this secret library.)
Odile: "Do we have a limited number of attempts?"
> "They'll last as long as we need."
(You wait for them to finish, and point to Mirabelle's hands.)
> "Nails, Mira."
Mirabelle: "Ah! Thank you..."
Isabeau: "So, uh, now what?"
> "Now we all go back to the clocktower and pretend to be normal for Bonnie."
(...again.)
(...Odile takes a deep breath.)
(oh stars you said that aloud)
(You turn to her just in time to see a flash of Craft from her hand.)
(With a scissors sign at her own throat.)
(you can't see and the sound of screaming surrounds you and all you can smell is blood)
(You feel a tug on your stomach.)
(Odile killed herself.)