bopbay | 005 ⟡ SEPTEMBER TEST DRIVE

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005 ⟡ SEPTEMBER TEST DRIVE

⋆✩ test drive 05 ✩⋆

The day begins like any other.

Routines, eventful scenes, and boring errands — no matter what you were in the middle of, there's a moment where everything begins to feel wrong. A searing pain tears through your body, so intense that it feels like every nerve has been struck at once. Muscles spasm, joints scream in protest, and as you double over, you find yourself clawing or clinging at anything within your reach. As your attempts to maintain composure fail you, your bones begin to twist with an agonizing force, the pain rising in a crescendo until it becomes unbearable to even breathe. Then, as quickly as it began, everything stops.

For a single, terrifying moment, there's nothing. No sight, no sound, no touch, no taste, no smell — just the weight of nothingness swallowing you whole. The absence of sensation might even be worse than the pain, leaving you adrift in a void you can't escape. Hopelessness threatens every fiber of your existence, and try as you might to fight it, your darkest thoughts begin to surface, flooding your mind in an onslaught of suffocating feelings and ideas.

In the darkness, you hear a voice.

It's faint, a gentle flashing of something warm along the edges of your mind, like sunlight itself. It's a voice, but you can't identify who or what it comes from, how it sounds, or what it means — still, you know it's directed at you. Something tugs at your heart, a powerful ache that throbs once and ripples outwards. You can feel the aches again, like fresh sores throughout your body. You feel off, like something isn't quite right, like you're not where you should be, or who you should be. But the voice continues, whispered just beyond your understanding. The sound is warm like hope, and it wraps around you, distant yet intent, before you wake up.

i. arrivals

HIDDEN IN THE TALL GRASS

All around you now, is the scent of loam and plantlife. It is just slightly damp - the morning dew has not yet dried, and the sun’s light visible even while the sun still crawls up from the horizon. The grass around you is somehow ridiculously tall however.

Or perhaps you’re just small?

It’s difficult to see much of anything in the fields you’ve arrived in, but at the very least you can see yourself. Your limbs, no longer what they should have been. Your very skin, covered perhaps with fur, scales, or something else entirely. There is much about this situation that bears no answer, but maybe that will change as you wander through the sea of grass.

The sounds of other Pokemon soon become clear to your new ears. Other confused wanderers, fumbling with their new bodies. One by one, you make your way through the grass to each other - or maybe, someone finds you. Pokemon who didn’t wake up dazed in the grass also begin to appear, and they bring with them offers of help and explanation. All of them point toward the same place, eagerly indicating a series of gleaming lights through the blades.

Don’t worry friends - Malamar is here to help!

YOUR FRIEND, HERE TO HELP⟡ Severity of dysphoria and disorientation symptoms are entirely up to the player, as is the duration of time these symptoms last.

⟡ The grass fields stretch for a long distance, but grass becomes shorter the closer one comes to the ends of the fields. Forests, as well as the bank of a river can be found, as can the new Outpost constructed here. Malamar, being a good friend, always aims to bring everyone to town. Though the route may be a bit long - they’re avoiding danger!

⟡ Upon arrival at the Outpost of Skull Town (though ‘Death Blood Murder’ seems to have been added above the word Skull on the sign), Pokemon will be ushered into a communal housing structure while news is ferried to Bottlecap Bay.

⟡ While TDM events specifically will occur here, Players are welcome to have their Top Levels involve other locations as well.

ii. The Town of Death Blood Murder Skull

AN OMEN OF THE SEASONS

Shortly after the sun sets, on the very same day that new arrivals began to wake in the grass, eerie lights and music drift down from one of the distant mountains. They wind their way into the valley, bringing with them an unseasonable chill. Something is coming.

Something is Froslass, queen of those dead by frost and in lonely spaces, and she is on her traditional visit down from the mountains. Does this happen yearly? Every few years? It's hard to tell - Ghosts aren't always the best at keeping track of living time - but however often it is, she is delighted to see that the Ghosts of the forest and valley have built an entire town this time, just for her!

What? Malamar wants her to know it's not just for her? Of course it is, silly! It has Death and Murder and Skulls in the name, doesn't it? She'll even magnanimously accept all these living participants, since they so graciously showed up to pay her tribute.

Quibbles over the town aside, Froslass's presence heralds the beginning of an undead ritual. Ghostly flames make delicate, flickering paths through the valley, visible only at night but felt even during the day. Trip through one of them and you will find yourself shivering, maybe even feeling slightly disconnected from your body.

Froslass herself holds court in town, expecting attention and entertainment, particularly near dawn and dusk. While she's not outright hostile, she is rather volatile: she's easily delighted by anyone who puts in a genuine effort, no matter how unskilled, but she's very quick to anger if she thinks someone isn't sufficiently motivated - or worse, avoiding her! Be ready to either participate or stay far, far away to keep unnoticed. Even that might not save you, as her presence seems to have a very odd effect on Ghosts and even other Pokemon in town. You may be subject to encouragement... and some of it might not be gentle.

HAIL TO THE QUEEN⟡ Ghost types and those who have ever experienced dying are susceptible to Froslass's presence.

⟡ This may be mild: maybe characters just find Froslass charming or stately, or are a little more tolerant of participating in the festivities, even if they’d normally be annoyed. Or it can be more severe, with characters having an inexplicable urge to act more spooky or ghostly.

⟡ In the worst cases, characters can get really caught up in it and feel an outright compulsion to not only do things for Froslass, but to make sure that other people are doing their part too. This can even escalate to Pokemon battles!

⟡ Your friend Malamar is very concerned about this, and will be encouraging people to try and snap their other friends out of it! (Is this perhaps also contributing to battles? No, it couldn’t be, your friend Malamar wouldn’t do something like that…)

SOIREES AND SERVICE

Fortunately, the festivities required aren't particularly deadly or horrifying! Froslass expects to be well fed and entertained as recompense for her very important role, but she is very happy to share with everyone as long as she's getting her dues.

Pokemon can choose to help make and serve elaborate dishes for Froslass, and attend on her needs - she'll require them to be well-decorated if so, to match her brilliance! Those who are less skilled with food can choose to sing, tell stories, make music, or dance for her - she particularly enjoys performances with fans or ribbons - or offer her little Ghost Pokemon figures made out of harvest fruits and vegetables. Barring that, Pokemon can decorate Skull Town and their less crafty townmates, making sure everyone is adequately adorned for the occasion (or crafting necessary props like those fans and ribbons)!

Pokemon who aren't particularly artistic have at least one other option: help maintain the ghostly flames throughout the valley. These lights were originally made by Froslass, and while they're currently placed to guide other Ghosts into town, they're being saved for another purpose later. She'll be very put out if any of them are snuffed! Fortunately, the lights are easy to keep flickering. It takes days for one to die, and the judicious application of a Ghost, Fire, or Ice move - or, lacking any of those, the addition of some completely normal kindling - brightens it right up again. There are, however, rather a lot of them...

Froslass outright expects any Pokemon who has taken a turn contributing to the festivities to have some time to enjoy them, too. Come, sit down, have some good food served to you by Pokemon in elaborate outfits, and enjoy a fun diversion! Or at least take a relaxed stroll through town with her and her retinue and take in the atmosphere!

LIGHT UP THE TOWN⟡ Yes. Yes it's a maid cafe. (Maid outfits are optional, but Froslass does think they're suitable attire.) If not interacting with another character currently taking a shift, players may assume that NPC Ghosts are acting as staff!

⟡ Froslass rewards or curses those who catch her attention by participating or abstaining from the festivities. Particularly unlucky curmudgeons will just get a mild case of frostbite, but mostly her rewards and curses are themed around what she thinks would be helpful or harmful... based on her conception of the world, which is a tad Ghost-centric.

⟡ All of these curses or blessings are temporary and will not last past the end of Froslass's visit.

⟡ Some possible blessings: Characters are able to detect a single emotion of player choice. Characters' voices have become melodic enough to slowly lull people to sleep, whether they intended it or not. Characters are struck by constant inspiration for ghostly pranks. Characters become less sensitive to sunlight (wait, you already weren't sensitive to sunlight? What do you mean, of course you were).

⟡ Some possible curses: Characters feel emptier and hungrier than usual, like their stomachs have become a black hole. Characters feel drained of energy unless they're around someone feeling a specific emotion (of player choice). Characters find it nearly impossible to enter inhabited buildings, which are suddenly unnervingly uncomfortable to be in. Characters are lonely and can't bear not being around people, desperately seeking others out when by themselves.

iii. Fête of the Forgotten

VESSELS SAILING AWAY

As the festivities welcoming the immaculate Froslass settle down, the end of the month gradually brings the true meaning of the occasion to light. When she first arrived, it was easy to lose the facts among the fanaticism - not to mention, Malamar’s frustrations. It’s always difficult when friends fight. However, as the leaves slowly turn to the color of flame and the air begins to crisp for harvest, Skull Town gathers more and more Ghost Pokemon ready to bring forth their core traditions.

A tradition of remembrance. Of connection. A celebration of ‘ghosts’ who no longer walk the mortal realm.

During the final week of September, Pokemon such as Spiritomb and Oricorio begin to reach out to the Outpost citizens to collaborate for their final tradition. Having spent some time among the Pokemon of Bottlecap Bay, they feel confident that the communities of Spectrunk and Bottlecap can harmonize with its meaning. They spin tales of boats sailing across distant seas, and of faint lights floating through the blackest skies to guide spirits to their new home. Here and now, as the summer season officially greets the autumnal one, Pokemon may be granted a chance to reconnect with those who sailed ever further.

Those who sailed beyond, to their final place of rest.

Where the weeks prior were filled with festivities and excitement, the final week of September is a somber time as small boats to carry spirit flames are prepared for the final day. They will sail them down the river and out to the sea as the sun sets in those last moments - a tribute to the departed, as well as a message to those who still reside in the places they came from.

To the quiet surprise of Pokemon beyond this world, it seems there is something to this ritual. As their boat sails outward, spirits of those they left behind in their homes - whether deceased or otherwise - appear before their very eyes! It is a chance perhaps, to get some closure.

Or to simply say hello, as the Ghosts would say.

LIGHTS ALONG THE SHORE⟡ The final week of the festival in fact runs from September 22nd to September 30th - Approximately 8, rather than 7 days.

⟡ Players may be creative with the stories shared from the Ghost Pokemon during this time: the only key points to remember are that it seems many either sailed here themselves, or had ancestors that did so.

⟡ Pokemon do not have to make a boat in order to participate within the festival - if your character would not do so, you are free to assume a well-meaning Ghost Pokemon crafted and launched one for them!

⟡ Spirits of otherworldly characters will remain from sunset to sunrise, September 30th to October 1st. They may not necessarily be fully present - perhaps unable to speak, or hear clearly. They may also appear to come from a time different from the character’s own. Strangely, while many will recognize who they are speaking to despite appearances, some spirits claim to have never met.

⟡ Spirits may also appear as players wish - Perhaps they are fully human (or inhuman, in some cases). Perhaps, they take the form of a Pokemon as well, one characters associate with them.

✩ OOC NOTES.

⟡ TDM CWS: Disorientation, Grieving/Death (as a topic of conversation), Hypnosis/Mental Influence

⟡ TDMs are game canon and act as events for the month they are posted.

⟡ New characters can link to their top level beneath the NEWBIE DIRECTORY

⟡ All new arrivals are not assigned to any one guild. However, they may assume themselves to share rooms within any one of them during the course of the TDM.

⟡ Remember that at least one thread for your application must come from the TDM! There is no comment minimum, but we will be looking for engagement, as well as for players and characters who take the time to delve into things like character thoughts, emotions, morality, and other deep themes. Take this time to engage with the setting as you would in game!

⟡ As a reminder, reserves and applications are permanently opened. Please see their respective pages for details on processing time.

⟡ Have any questions related to the TDM? Ask here! If your question is more general for the game, please make sure to direct it to the FAQ page instead. Thank you, and happy threading!

FULL NAVIGATION

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Siffrin absolutely hasn't been paying attention to where they're walking for the last several hours, thanks to their mute, ghostly tag-alongs. It's honestly a fifty-fifty at any given moment whether they're aware of where they actually are. So with Odile lurking in the shadowy corners of buildings, and her fur mostly the same dark shade... it's probably not a surprise that they walk right into her! They've certainly bumped into enough walls today.]

[Siffrin immediately springs back, lifting their head with - well, they're not sure what they're going to say yet, it needs to be something that sounds normal - but they freeze when their eye focuses on the Pokemon that's actually in front of them.]

[The Resear - Odile's ghost is unshadowed, like it was at the beginning of the night. Siffrin can actually see her eyes again, though they certainly can't bear to actually meet her gaze, for fear of what they'd see. (They couldn't do it earlier in the night either.)]

[And - wait. The ghost... is now... solid...??]

[(Odile, meanwhile, gets to be met with: bedraggled cat-shaped thing, one clearly blind eye, the fur on their tail poofed up. But most tellingly - that sure is a familiar looking hat, isn't it?)]

[ Odile springs away as well, with surprising speed. Apparently cat reflexes did something for her! Then - well, yet, the hat certainly is familiar. ]

Siffrin?!?

[ She doesn't approach, fur standing on end. After the constant looming threats of Skull Town, seeing a member of the party just feels too fortunate - like it might just be some new kind of trap. Is it a trick from Malamar or Froslass? Can becoming a cat grow an eye back? But that's just a frantic, passing bafflement, because those things at their heels - ! ]

What are those.

[ Her teeth flash. Her instinct is to protect them, but uncertainty keeps her rooted in place for the moment. ]

[She's talking to them. She's talking to them? She's solid?? Are all the other ones solid too now? Is Siffrin going to turn around and see them all bristling angrily like her ]

[ 'those' ? ]

[Behind Siffrin, the shadowy shape that looks very much like Odile's current form dissolves into ghostly lights and disperses. Which probably doesn't do much to help the situation, even though the others don't move! Siffrin hasn't turned around to see this - they're shrinking in on themself, eye fixed on Odile but only as far up as her chest and the lower half of her face. They can't - they can't look at her eyes, they -]

[She's breathing.]

[Unlike all the other ghosts (as opposed to Ghosts) that Siffrin has seen this week - even the ones that talked, even the ones that acknowledged other people, and seemed to be really present - she's breathing.]

You're - you're alive?

[She's alive and she hates them. Her teeth are bared. She hates them she hates them they knew she would but she hates them ]

[There is no tug in their stomach. What would be the point? Selfish, disgusting, she's alive(?) and the first thing they can think of is ]

[For a moment there, Siffrin's expression had a flicker of hope in it, and so did the tone of their voice. But it's gone right back to dread and senseless, irrational terror.]

[ The ghosts are the scariest things here. But when Siffrin speaks again, and she looks down and realizes how they're cowering, suddenly for a moment they are all she can see.

She's hurting them. She's hurting them again.

Shards. Thick, lightless guilt rises in her throat. And even so, a distant part of her notes that this reaction is exactly what would make them an effective way to manipulate her. How cold is she, that she can see this and still feel wary?

(See this, and still see their eye and their hat and know that it's wrong - )

Stop that. Odile forces her misgivings aside. If it does somehow turn out to be a trap, then fine - she's trapped. Better that than risk repeating her mistakes, over and over again. ]

Yes, I'm alive. Siffrin -

[ What does she do? Ugh, why is she so bad at this? She can't focus on trying to comfort them, unable to entirely forget about horrible looming spectres of their party standing right behind them, well within striking distance. ]

Siffrin, come over here.

[ Odile slowly reaches out an arm - not exactly aiming to touch them, but definitely trying to interpose herself between them and the ghosts. ]

[For a long second or two it almost seems like Siffrin's going to break and run anyway. Coward, coward, coward. But where would they run to? What are they running from? She already hates them, they can't get away from that!]

[Time to face the audience, Siffrin!! Or what, are you going to make another wish to run away?]

[They creep a few steps forward to where they think she's indicating, tail tucked between their legs.]

[Siffrin's still not looking back, but the ghosts only move when they do. The group does come a little closer, but mostly they shuffle around, rearranging themselves. Into... positions relative to Odile as they'd take during a snack break... except slightly off, somehow?]

[Though that may not mean anything to Odile at all, considering the loop she actually has memories of.]

[ What are they doing? She can identify it, vaguely, as being akin to their group meals on the road, but it doesn't remind her of any stop in particular. She's just glad to see them backing off a bit. Slowly, still watching them for a long moment, she turns her back to them so that she can focus properly on Siffrin. ]

Siffrin...

[ They're clearly panicking. While her first reaction probably did not help, Odile's inclined to put most of the blame on those mimics following them around. She steps closer to try and block their view of the things, stooping in an effort to catch their gaze. They are a very small cat, compared to her; she has a fleeting impulse to just scoop them up and haul them away to safety. But that would certainly be too much. ]

Siffrin, what happened? Are you hurt?

[Siffrin has been operating on some level of panic all night. There is only so much more room for more before you start losing the ability to process any of it. They barely even flinch when Odile steps closer - they just dig their claws into the ground and weakly brace themself.]

[Nothing happens aside from Odile crouching down in front of them. Very hesitantly, Siffrin pulls their eye back to meet her gaze. They don't manage to hold it for even a second before they cringe away again, their eye sliding to the side, to the ground, anywhere else, but...]

[It takes them several long moments to understand the expression they saw on her face, and to actually hear what she said.]

N-no... no, I'm not...

[Their heart hammers rapidly, painfully.] Why aren't...

Aren't you upset with me...? [Yeah! Upset! Hahaha! That's definitely the right word for how someone should feel if you left them to die, Siffrin!!!]

[ Haven't they been through this already? But, that is uncharitable of her and she knows it. Siffrin was never just going to get past everything that happened to them overnight; they might not ever. They are going to require reassurance. ]

I'm not upset with you. [ Reassurance, and...perhaps something more concrete to focus on? It tends to help Odile herself, anyway. ] I would like to talk somewhere...more private, if you know a place.

[ She glances sidelong at the shadowy visions, but her mind is at least halfway back on Froslass and Malamar. Odile is grateful, in retrospect, that she delayed making for Bottlecap Bay as long as she has; she could have missed Siffrin entirely. But now that they are here, there's no time left to waste. She wants to get them out of this creepy outpost, somewhere safe. Safer, at the very least. ]

But I...!

[Shut up, Siffrin! Of course she'd rather talk in private. It's the absolute least they can do. Get yourself together!!]

[There's a slightly hopeful flutter in their chest. They ]

[...they need to tear it out. If she isn't upset, then - then she just didn't realize what they did, maybe? And it's Odile. She will figure it out.]

[Siffrin sniffs, scrubbing their face with a paw, and straightens up to the full length of their legs. Which still isn't that tall, compared to Odile, but at least the fur on their stomach isn't practically scraping the ground anymore. They... nod, trying to think of a place, then set off to lead the way.]

[The outpost is hopping with activity (and ghosts), and it will be for the foreseeable future. But they've been to the Downmoor a lot in the past month. There's a little spot on the way there that's always seemed quiet, a boulder with a conveniently flat top - and the two of them will be able to see anyone approaching across the valley from many minutes away, even if there aren't walls.]

[Speaking of ghosts - their ghosts sure are still following! They're trying to take up their positions from inside the House, in fact! They politely leave Odile's spot open, but... if she wants to stay close to Siffrin, she'll have to walk at their side. Otherwise she'll be overlapping with "Mirabelle."]

[ Oh. Odile blinks - she didn't expect them to just immediately start leading the way. But that's a good thing, isn't it...? That they're feeling well enough? If they are, and they aren't just pushing themselves too hard again. She purses her lips, suppressing another flash of guilt.

She doesn't waste any time jockeying with "Mirabelle", lengthening her strides to keep pace with Siffrin instead. The things are definitely following. There are more of them, she sees now. Not all the same shadowed visages, but maybe something similar in relation to their target...? Not important just now. She does her best to keep herself between Siffrin and the hubbub.

The ghosts were the ones she was actually hoping to escape. But even with them trailing behind, she relaxes a tiny bit once they're away from the outpost and its crowds. Odile has not felt comfortable trusting anyone here; she's spent most of the past week isolated and on edge. It was safer, though...not so easy as it used to be. She's grown soft, maybe, too used to having traveling companions. Well - haven't they all?

When they reach the rock, she keeps up guard duty on Siffrin. Just because the ghosts haven't done anything yet does not mean they won't. She has a number of questions about them, and many other things! She also...thinks maybe she shouldn't launch directly into it. Her impulses have been decidedly unhelpful lately, when it comes to Siffrin. She considers them for a moment. Ruffled fur, tear-stained. They're not okay. ]

...I can't say that I'm glad you've ended up in a place like this too...but I am grateful for your company, Siffrin. I've been worried about you and the others.

[ Mostly them. A fine start to that promise to journey together, Odile: you got sent to magical cat hell before even leaving Dormont. ]

[...oh.]

[Their chest hurts, and their eyes are stinging again. But they... they don't deserve it...]

[Siffrin opens their mouth, then closes it again.]

[She doesn't know what they did. Now that they've had minutes of doing nothing but walking with a clear goal in mind, and they can almost think again, it makes sense. How would she know about the time loops, and what they wished? It made sense when they were following ghost logic, like the kind of vengeful spirits that come back to seek revenge in tragedies. But if she's alive...]

[From everyone else's perspective, maybe... they saw Siffrin running to the Favor Tree that morning, and then Siffrin vanished...? Which is enough reason to hate Siffrin already, honestly, even if there's no way for everyone to know just how badly they were abandoned.]

[But it's hitting Siffrin again: how is Odile alive? The others must have still gone to the House; Siffrin tried staying behind once, in case their presence was actually making things worse, and that's what everyone did. They didn't survive. And it's been months. Have... have the others been repeating the loop without Siffrin that whole time, without knowing? Is that how it works, does that make any sense? They don't know.]

[Is everyone really... all alive, somehow?]

[...]

[They have to ask. There's something they're missing.]

How did you...

Did everyone get away from the King? [They don't think she would say "I've been worried" like that if anyone hadn't, even if Siffrin has no idea how, but... they have to make sure.]

[Stars. They really can't keep their voice from sounding guilt-ridden.]

...yes. Everyone's fine.

[ Her brow's furrowed, and her gaze piercing as she looks them over again. It's a flare of worry, though Odile's worry often comes out sharp. Are they still suffering from Craft sickness? She'd expect it, if they were both back home and still human, but they've been moving about just fine in their cat body. (And oh, she will make time to be amused by that later.) ]

Mirabelle's new shield technique reflected his attack, and he froze himself in time. That was enough to undo the Curse on the rest of Vaugarde. He's still sitting there, unless someone's thrown him off the roof by now.

[ She would have. She does not expect anybody in Dormont will. Maybe stick him in the basement and put a sheet over him? ]

What do you remember?

[They're - they're alive. They're all alive? They're okay? Mirabelle has a shield technique? The King is... frozen?? They didn't just get away, they beat him??? What happened after Siffrin abandoned them? Why was it so different, compared to when Siffrin just stayed in town??]

[...it hurts, to know that they really were better off without Siffrin around. But it's outweighed so much by, they're alive, they're alive they're alive, Siffrin didn't kill them -]

[Maybe they were still stuck in a time loop, not remembering and repeating it, since defeating the King wasn't an escape. Siffrin doesn't know. And that hurts too, to think of them trapped going through the same motions forever because Siffrin couldn't figure it out. Especially poor Mirabelle, going through her ruined home and frozen friends, over and over... but at least they're beating the King at the end! At least they're not dying horribly!]

[Siffrin's breath is hitching again, as they try not to cry, but this time it's out of relief.]

[Behind them, though they don't notice, the shadows lift off the remaining ghosts - all three give Odile a simultaneous smile, and then vanish just like "her" ghost did.]

[What do they remember. What a loaded question, for so many reasons! But she must be asking about right before they vanished...]

[Siffrin swallows, their entire body rebelling at the idea of talking about the time loops. They really really should. They know they should. They're thinking about what Shoka said. But they also feel intensely in their gut that as soon as they do, Odile will understand exactly what they did, what it means, and even if she doesn't hate them now she will.]

[So they pull their shoulders in, drop their eyes, and stick to...]

Mirabelle woke me up, in the meadow, the morning before we were going into the House. I... I went to the Favor Tree, and I made a wish... [They didn't even see Odile and Bonnie, and they barely talked to Mirabelle and Isabeau. Some friend they are. And they ate a star. That happened, right?]

...and then I came to in the woods here?

[Wow, that sure is a short answer! Hahaha, it's almost like they can't remember what the day before that one was like!! (They also don't mention how much it hurt to wake up in Bottlecap Bay... they were so used to the pain of getting crushed by the King that it barely registered. They've already long since forgotten.)]

[...did Odile also make a wish...?]

[ There's just a moment where Odile shifts her focus, staring daggers at the ghosts as they vanish. Maybe another person would have found that comforting. She does miss the rest of the party. But she misses them, not these mockeries that have obviously been bothering Siffrin.

They're gone, though. There's more important matters to attend to. ]

They've gone.

[ She nods at the space where they were, just to make sure Siffrin knows it's dealt with. More to the point...she listens to Siffin's explanation with narrowed eyes. They're lying to her. Maybe it's possible that they came here from some other time, as long as Time Craft has already been involved, but she doesn't think so. She's quite sure they're just lying.

Anger sparks in her...but it gutters out just as quickly. She does know what they're doing, after all; they're hiding the time loops. They don't seem to remember what happened in the end, and so they've gone directly back to hiding the time loops. She knew they did this; she knows they've done it for - what? Weeks? Months? Longer? ]

I see...

[ It's the sort of thing she would ordinarily call out. She still will, eventually. Odile has no interest in playing those sorts of games. But...she remembers Siffrin, towering over them, bleeding an unnatural shade of starlight from self-inflicted wounds. She remembers the effort it took to hold them, so they wouldn't break themself in two trying to loop back again, the second they realized that everyone knew. She has to be gentle, just like she's sure she wasn't, back when she figured it out all on her own.

....

She wishes Isabeau were here.

But she's been quiet too long. She smiles and aims for a more casual tone. ]

I should bring you up to speed on the rest, then. We've decided to keep traveling together for a while. We were planning to go to Bambouche next - we can't have the Heroes of Vaugarde implicated in a kidnapping plot, after all.

[ Strangely, even after everything, it makes her a little nervous to say it out loud to them while they're like this. As if Siffrin is going to turn it down? Ugh, she really should have just gotten herself together and brought it up sooner... ]

["They've"...? Siffrin twists around to look where Odile is indicating. Their tail poofs up when they realize the ghosts are just missing, now - eerie!]

[They feel... relieved, but also a little sad, somehow? Maybe they should have tried talking to them. But as usual, they're just so good at running away. So now they won't get that chance, haha!]

[Though they miss Odile's flash of anger in checking over their shoulder, they do notice that she's been silent, and thoughtful, (and pensive?) for much longer than they'd expect. Their heartbeat speeds up - did they somehow say too much, even with that little? Is she about to figure it out? Or, or -]

[They're so relieved that Odile seems to have dropped it that it takes them a moment to understand what she's joking about. To Bambouche...? Oh!] To help Bonnie get back to their sister?

[So the four of them are all staying together, for at least a bit longer, even though Siffrin vanished...? Bambouche is all the way over on the coast too, that's weeks of travelling at least.]

[. . .]

[Are they feeling jealous? What right do they have to feel jealous, after their wish?? After just getting to have the miracle of their friends still being alive, despite them? The emotion is muted, anyway - it feels like their heart is burned out, too exhausted to muster something at full volume, after everything that happened today. Particularly the last half hour.]

Th-that's good! Bonnie definitely shouldn't be traveling that far alone, I'm glad you're going with them...!

[Though... would it be just Mirabelle and Isabeau going with Bonnie now? They must be worried...]

[ Wait - they're glad you're going?

After a moment, Odile rubs carefully at her eyes with her large hooked claws. Yes. She should have seen that coming. That one's on her. As such, she restrains herself from asking why on EARTH they think "we" does not include them. ]

...Siffrin. You are also coming to Bambouche. You were - certainly a part of that conversation, even if you do not seem to recall it now.

[ Well. She's not gonna say it in exactly those words. ]

[...wait.]

[They...]

[They get to come?? They get to stay with everyone?]

[They meet Odile's eyes again for a moment, searchingly, though they can't seem to hold her gaze for long. They... do this a couple times actually, looking increasingly hopeful.]

[Only...]

But... didn't I disappear? From the Tree?

[It's not hard to believe that they don't remember something, though it's casually horrifying to imagine forgetting something that should matter to them as much as that. Really stokes some of their other fears! But they kind of already knew that there was... there was something they still couldn't recall, and the idea that the others want them to come with (and everyone's alive, they're alive) is outweighing that right now.]

[But isn't their wish why they ended up here? How could they be here, and there, at the same time...?]

You did go to visit the Tree, after we all came back down. In spite of your Craft exhaustion...

[ Something does seem a little odd. But it's hard for Odile to tell if that's because something is wrong, or if it's just...well, Siffrin being Siffrin. ]

But you came back. You said you'd gone to say goodbye to your friend?

[ They seemed worse when they returned. Could have just been the walk, but she - has some other, less-than-pleasant theories. But Siffrin never said, and she hasn't had enough time to pry about it, if she even decides to do so after everything. ]

[They definitely don't remember that. It doesn't even feel faintly familiar, or nibble uneasily at the corners of their thoughts, like...]

[Like...?]

[Something... something about wanting a perfect ending...]

[There's something wrong.]

My friend...? At the Tree?

[She can't mean Isabeau, or she'd just say that, so who...? They sound genuinely confused.]

Loop? The...star person?

[ Odile doesn't know how to explain it, if they don't know. She certainly doesn't know what the deal was with that! But while Siffrin has been through significant physical and mental trauma recently, and their memory has never been good...she's getting worried. ]

Siffrin - your fever has not come back, has it? May I check...?

[ Does she even know how to check a cat for fever? But she needs to. ]

[They ]

[They have heard this name before.]

[...]

[There's something that they're not remem -]

[ ...there's something that they haven't been letting themself think about.]

[They are, out of nowhere, certain that they do not want to keep following this thread of thought with Odile around. If they figure it out, she'll figure it out, and that's... they need to have a chance to understand it first, before her (or Mirabelle, or Isabeau), or - no, that's also following the thought. Don't think about it.]

[They'll talk to... to Shoka, maybe...]

[And then they need to find Stardust.]

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cw: siffrin's warnings from here down https://loopsiedaisy.dreamwidth.org/950.html

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[3/3] when you speedrun a resolution to your character conflict but Something Is Not Right -

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