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You stand before the King.
This is the last time you will do this.
This is the last loop- after this, Vanguarde will finally be free. Your family members will be able to live their lives at last.
You don't really know if you had a life to live after this.
(Even if the way to break the loops was different- wasn't this.)
Striking the King down is easy- you've done it too many times to count, yourself.
You walk over to the roof of the House, where the Head Housemaiden stands.
Everyone sits in their places. You walk towards Bonbon first.
"Bonbon." You smile
Bonbon opens their mouth and what comes out is the same old script. You'd like to hear your family's words just one last time, however.
You'd like to say one last thing to each of them before you give yourself away to the Universe, as well.
"Bonbon…" You say. "Take this." You unclapse your cloak. Hopefully your wish will let them keep it. "To remember me by." You hand them the cloak and they take it, clipping it on themselves with wonder in their eyes.
"Thank you!" They yell, and you turn towards Isabeau next. He talks and talks, says the same lines he does whenever you go to help them all, and you play alongside him- you repeat your lines at the proper cues and smile as you say you're glad you're friends with him. Really, it's sad that he won't remember you after this.
"By the way, Isabeau..." You say. You don't know if it's true or not, but you hope he at least remembers the feeling. "... I love you."
Isabeau chokes. His entire face turns several shades darker as he sputters, and you turn around towards Mira, who's currently sitting on a bench and smiling at you.
"Hi, Siffrin!" Mira starts off as always, and you listen to her talk about Change. Honestly, you only have one line here- you could have zoned out through most of it. However...
It's nice, listening to her voice one last time.
"I'd like that, Mira." You say for the last time when she brings up you visiting in Dormont, leaving off the '-belle'.
She laughs, as she always does, and smiles.
You speak before she finishes the rest of her lines. "You've always been special to me."
Mira squeaks, before a bright, shining smile appears on her face. "Is that true, Siffrin?!" She asks. "... You've always been special to me, too." She lets out a dreamy sigh. "... Don't forget about me on your journey, ok?" She smiles, and you can't tell her that you won't because... well, you'll probably forget on account of not existing anymore, or whatever will happen to you once you make that wish.
You move on over to Odile. She's the last one left, and then...
... And then it's over. And then you're going to go over to the Head Housemaiden, and pull out that bit of paper from your pockets, and then you're going to repeat your wish for as long as it takes for the Universe to take you.
And then you're going to hope it works, because the alternative is that you're stuck here for the end of eternity.
When it gets to the point in the script where Odile asks you if you'll be going back home, you smile.
"I hope so." You say.
"... You hope so?" Odile adjusts her glasses, and then pauses. "Well, it's not any of my business, but you can always write to me in Ka Bue if you need a place to stay."
"I'll be fine." You say, and Odile continues on with the rest of the script. You nod when she tells you not to be a stranger, and then you open your mouth for your final line to her.
You.
Can't think of anything to say.
You and Odile had bonded over the fact that you two both were strangers to this land, both not as familiar with its culture and customs as the three Vanguardians in your party. You already gave Bonbon your cloak, so you can't exactly give her your cloak to study... but there's something else she could study, right? If your wish let her remember, somehow, what you said.
"You should research what's up with the island north of Vanguarde." You say, pointing to the island on the horizon.
"The one nobody can say the name of?" Odile puts a hand to her chin. "Maybe I will. Thank you, Siffrin."
You walk over to the Head Housemaiden, and pull out the paper.
She cries out the moment you do, and as she yells out her same lines, you take a deep breath- and speak.
"Universe!" You yell into the paper. "I give myself to you- in return I ask-" The world glitches around you, the smell of burnt sugar coating your tongue as you scream. "Please, give my family what they need to beat the King- and please, let them keep what I have given them."
The world itself is breaking as you repeat yourself again. "To the Universe, I give myself- in return I ask for my family to have what they need to beat the King- and to keep what I have given them!" The world's blowing around you, right now. Your family is running towards you, but you know they're going to be too late.
They always are.
You hope that the Universe listens to your request- both of them. It's selfish of you, isn't it, to want them to keep what you gave them? You hope that a part of them remembers you, how much you love and care for them-
You yell out, for the last time. "UNIVERSE, I GIVE MYSELF TO YOU- IN RETURN, I ASK-!"
The world opens up and swallows you. You're floating in a galaxy- the air tastes entirely of burnt sugar, far stronger than whatever you've smelled before.
Your eye feels heavy. You know that if you close your eye, you won't open it again. You know that if you fall asleep, you won't wake up again.
But you gave yourself for this- so that Vanguarde itself could be freed from the loops, even if you wouldn't.
So you close your eye and let yourself drift away.