Chapter Text
"Disappear...disappear, disappear, disappear...don't come back, don't come back, don't come back..."
M'dame was right. You should have said something sooner.
Siffrin had been acting strangely since yesterday afternoon. When the bathroom break turned much too long, Mira encouraged Bonnie to share with you and Odile what they'd already told her: that Siffrin had run up to them while they were looking at the field and nearly grabbed them, only backing off at the last second, trying to laugh off the uncharacteristic behavior while looking sick to his stomach. Mira confirmed that she'd found Siffrin waking from his nap with a disturbed look on his face, and that beelining to the field had been the first thing he'd done. At the time, the explanation of a nightmare was enough for both Mira and Bonnie to not push further, and Siffrin had seemed back to himself in the evening.
But Siffrin wasn't acting right again. They'd been tense all through the House, attacking Sadnesses at the slightest sign they might get close instead of skirting around and evading as they normally did, and at the same time listless, barely present when you all stopped and talked about something. They chimed in, yeah, but their tone had been flat nearly every time, even when they were beaming. None of those smiles had been real. All of them dropped the second they thought no one would notice.
"Something's wrong," Odile said before looking at you. "Isabeau. You should talk to them."
"Me??" You'd been trying to figure out what would snap Siffrin out of the weird mood all day and couldn't come up with anything. For all the work you'd put into expanding your emotional intelligence, it still fell short when you really needed it.
And yet Mirabelle nodded too, apparently convinced alongside M'dame that you were the one for the job. "They might listen if it's you!"
You'd really like to think that but also you didn't think that at all. "I don't even know what I'd say..."
"It doesn't matter," Odile said emphatically before amending herself. "Well, what's said does matter, but how it's said is important too. There's a reason I'm not volunteering myself for this, Isabeau. With how on edge he's been, he probably needs someone...gentle, at the moment. But being gentle doesn't mean passively standing by." She narrowed her eyes at you.
You could figure out what she meant easily enough. She was afraid she'd be too forceful for Siffrin right now, and you could agree you'd be concerned if she tried. She wasn't afraid to push you on this, though.
Before she could say anything more, though, you heard one of the bathroom doors swing as Siffrin finally emerged. "There you are, Frin!" Bonnie shouted. "Did you fall in?"
Sif laughed in the empty way that didn't meet their eye, offering no explanation for how long they'd taken. "Let's get moving," they said, and didn't wait for agreement before proceeding down the hallway. Mira looked at them worriedly, then at you. Odile's stare burned holes in the back of your shirt as you all followed Sif to a rather...unique-looking statue of the Change God. It...offered you a Keyknife? Or a Knifekey? And teleported you back to the start of the third floor, right in front of the door you needed to get through???
It was more than you'd ever heard of the Change God doing, and your surprise (and slight disorientation--you weren't sure what the mechanics of teleportation were, but they made your head feel floaty) almost distracted you from Siffrin's hands trembling as he sharpened the blade: "please be sharp, please be sharp, please be sharp".
But you noticed. You knew you needed to talk to him. And you did try when you all took one last snack break before approaching the King. You hadn't let Sif dissuade you with more empty smiles and a chirped "I'm fine, Isa!", the tone just slightly wrong in the way everything had been wrong today.
But you'd let the matter drop for the moment when Sif looked away, frustrated at your persistence, his shoulders dropping. When he looked up at you again, it was with a slightly sad smile. "You got me, Isa. There is something wrong. Can we talk about it after the King?"
You'd been so relieved he was admitting something was wrong. That they trusted you to support them. As long as they knew that they could rely on you and the others, sure, you could talk about it after the King!
...They'd
frozen
at the King.
Not in time, but in fear, their breath hitching even as you all walked toward the King in a way that would have made you grab them and run if you'd been facing any less of an opponent. If the frozen House would have let you. There was no running from this fight. Instead they stayed behind you as you jumped forward to try hitting the King at the battle's start. Normally Sif would be right by your side, the two of you both close range combatants when not using Craft. Something was wrong. You had to keep the King's attention off of them.
But the King was overwhelmingly strong, shrugging off your blows, and his eyes narrowed at Siffrin after Mirabelle's shield saved you all from an attack that you could feel, still shuddering from the dread it'd inflicted, would've otherwise been fatal. Siffrin had choked out a cry for her to make the shield at just the right time, like he'd somehow known the fearsome attack was coming. ...The King waiting beforehand was suspicious. You'd made a mental note to look out for that, and thanked Change Siffrin had realized beforehand. But right at that moment, the King swung out to hit Siffrin--or grab him?--and you sidestepped to push Sif out of the way--
The King's huge gauntlet hit you, and--
You must have blacked out for a few seconds. You came back to a throbbing head, painful breathing, and a teary-eyed Bonnie who was patting your arm anxiously as they swam in your vision. You tried to force a reassuring smile and push yourself up and immediately cried out. Your arm was broken. You think--the King must have slammed you into the wall, and Change, what a beastly strength he had. You felt like a cracked egg shell.
"'Za, can you--I have--" Bonnie was crying too hard to get the words out, but the tonic in their other hand was explanation enough. They'd been trying to wake you so you could drink. You nodded, tilting your head to drink the tonic they lifted to your lips. The sour taste cleared your head a little, and you tried to look past Bonnie to find Siffrin...
Sif...
Sif...was...
Sif's earlier hesitation was gone now. They were--they were tearing into the King with savage abandon. The mysterious strength they'd found against the Sadnesses today had returned, double what it was before, maybe triple, Craft attacks being used with no cooldown, Scissors and Paper and Rock and sheer fury. Or maybe it was still terror.
Odile had pulled Mirabelle clear of Sif's range, and they were both assisting with their support Crafts slowing the King and shielding Siffrin. Both their faces were tense, Mira's betraying more of her fear at how things had turned out. Now that you felt a little less like a rolled-out crepe, you pushed yourself up with the one good arm, trying not to breathe too deep, and staggered back toward the fight. Mira startled at your limping approach, but both women looked at you only briefly, their attention focused on Siffrin's vicious dance around the King's heavy limbs.
"I'll heal you soon, Isabeau!" Mirabelle said. "I think...I think the fight might actually be over soon. I can't believe Siffrin is--were they this strong all along?"
"No," Odile said. "They're running on adrenaline. ...Maybe something else, as well. This isn't natural."
She could have been right. There was a strangely sweet smell in the air as Sif struck the King again. Or maybe you'd hit your head hard enough to hallucinate smell.
Siffrin only seemed to calm down marginally once they'd reduced the King to his own panic. Then, he glanced to the side, to the three of you, and you could see the immediate relief on his face as he saw you standing.
The pain as his eye swept over, noting your injuries. It distracted him for a long enough second to scare you over his proximity to the King--and then, in the next second, Mira and Odile stepped in, taking Siffrin's hesitation as invitation for them to finally go back on the offensive. Odile started a Craft and a chant for the King to "disappear!" Bonbon was still crying, but managed to throw their wok and the Craft energy they knew how to control into the spell. You made a rock sign limply with your good hand, mustering the energy you could spare. Siffrin somehow still had the energy to add to the Craft, the air spiking with sugar like you were at the boulangerie in early morning. Mirabelle finished the Craft, and the King, off.
"Disappear!"
The King disappeared. Light returned to the House.
Siffrin sank to their knees like a puppet discarded. "Disappear...disappear, disappear, disappear...don't come back, don't come back, don't come back..." He started shaking. "...No more...I can't...I can't do this anymore... I keep failing, I keep..."
"You haven't failed, Siffrin," Odile said, her tone both worried and confused. You wanted to say something as well, but every breath still hurt, even as Mirabelle used her healing Craft with a focus on your chest. There was only so much Craft could do in the short term; you were probably going to be laid up for a bit, once you could rest. And you hoped that was soon.
But you were alive, you'd heal. So you weren't sure why Sif looked so devastated, shaking his head. "I got Isa hurt."
You understood even less at what he next said.
"Last time it was Bonnie, and it was--" A dry sob. He needed to calm down and breathe, he wasn't making sense. When had he ever gotten Bonnie hurt?
"Who next? You, Mira? I can't do this again, I can't, I can't..." He gripped his hair, yanking at it. "Please, please, please..."
The air around Siffrin seemed to stagnate.
You realized what was happening, even though the King was gone, just as Sif's arms fell limply to his lap and stilled with the rest of him.
At the very moment they froze, their expression seemed relieved.