Chapter Text
“Madeline!” they called out. “Stars, I’m really sorry for snapping at you, I was going through a lot, and-”
“It’s alright.”
“I’m- wait, huh?”
“You apologized. And yeah, you were going through something. It wasn’t great of you to do that, but… hey, you can make it up to me by explaining what was going on.”
“Well, uh…” (Full story, Siffrin.) “For a while, I was stuck in a time loop in this world. And I was coming up with these ridiculous plans to get out of it each time, and I was stuck for so long that I felt like I was starting to go crazy. And when I went into the other world, I was able to hold it together for a bit, but… sorry, this sounds really unbelievable, doesn’t it?”
“Considering what I’ve gone through in the last day, not really. You’re home, and that’s good! I’ll try to find my way to another portal. But, could you finish your story?”
"Oh! Thanks, Madeline. And, well, there's this part of me-" A look of recognition dawned on Madeline- "That was fighting against me, but I followed your advice, and... it worked out, its fine now!"
They decided to look for Loop, since it seemed like they’d disappeared into nothing. The first thing Siffrin tried was holding up the hand signal to their ear.
For a moment, they could hear Loop’s voice. "Hello, he-"
But then all they could hear was garbage noise.
It hurt like seeing the messed up shades hurt, like they were hearing something they weren’t meant to hear. They fell to the ground and covered their ears, letting out shaky breaths.
(What was that?)
“I don‘t know.” They whispered.
Maybe it was some kind of twisted melody, or just the breaking of craft again.
After recovering, they walked up to the Favor Tree again.
(Please don’t tell me you’re about to make another stupid wish.)
“I wasn’t.” said Siffrin, a little hurt.
And they sat for a little while, waiting to see if something would happen. They sat for long enough that they almost fell asleep, but were jolted awake by a crackling and that wretched, wretched shade.
Through the portal came a darkish fox and a familiar face. Or, really, a star shaped head. They didn’t have much of a face.
“…Loop?” Said Siffrin, getting the star’s attention.
They snapped to attention, and began reciting their lines. “Heya, stardust! How can I help you on this wonderful new loop?” They shooed the fox away, sitting on their own stump. She didn’t leave, merely watching from a small ways away.
“It isn’t.” replied Siffrin.
“It’s not what?” Loop moved their hands to their sides and took on a more serious expression.
“A new loop. I’m… out, I think.”
“You’re what.” Stated Loop with a perfectly flat expression.
So Siffrin explained, they explained what had happened and how they left and met Madeline and Drifter and all the others.
And how the voice inside them helped them figure everything out.
“So that was the reason.” Loop looked bitterly to the side, but turned back towards Siffrin. “Great job! I’m so proud of you. You’re free!” Their voice sounded more fake than it did even normally.
Neither of them spoke. Siffrin decided that they needed to do something to break the silence.
So they looked through their cloak, and found their silver coin. They threw it to Loop, who caught it in their hand, and tossed another, of the same type, back.
It was a simple silver coin. Vaugardian currency. Nothing made this coin different from any other silver coin out there. It had no recognizable grooves, no special design. And yet, they knew.
They’d seen this coin before. They’d traveled with it, after all. Journeyed across time and the universe with it. The one item they couldn’t get rid of. And the one that Loop had tossed to them… it was a perfect copy of theirs.
But they looked up at Loop, and they were holding their own coin in their hand.
“Loop, are you…” Are you Siffrin, said the words that they couldn’t quite speak out loud.
There was a pause.
“So you figured it out.” said Loop in a deadpan voice. “I have nothing else to say to you. You’ve won, after all. You got a better ending than I did!”
They said nothing.
“Just go.” They looked up at Siffrin. “Why are you still here? What do you want me to say? WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO SAY? You’ve WON!”
And Loop went on to ramble on and on about their own life, how everything had ended out for them. And then they and their so called doppelgänger fought, and the one who was still had a heartbeat and a cloak won, and Rue, the red fox, didn’t say a word.
She left before they finished, not wanting to intervene. And she walked on and on and on, till she reached a red portal leading to somewhere she didn’t know. And then another, and another, and another, till she met a small robot that showed her a portal home.
She expressed her thanks and walked on through.