#....................... ok so i maaaaaaaay have gotten inspired by a certain game-

[vulpixisananimal]

(Self harm and dagger(ish) below the cut)

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

(You and Isabeau were standing outside the Defenders house, it was just you two. The others where to look around Jouvente for information on mind craft and how to undo it.)

"It's probably not." (You reply.) "But it's less suspicious if it's just you and me."

"I guess so. . ."

"Chin up, Isabeau." (You turn to him, smiling.) "I got your back, break a leg!"

(He nods, more confident.) "Right! Break a leg!"

(You two walk in, you've been here before. On cue, Ramos shows up.) "Isabeau?!?"

("Just pretend you know them, that's your script.")

". . Ramos?" (Isabeau tilts his head.) "Is that you?"

(Ramos pauses for a second, before giving a big smile back and walking over) "Isa! it's been, what, almost a year??"

("You're best friends, you helped eachother out, just play along, you got this Isabeau~")

"Yeah!! Sorry I was just surprised to uh, see you!"

(Ramos goes to put a hand on Isabeaus shoulder, as you practiced, Isabeau visibly flinches, giving Ramos a pause.)

". . . You alright, Isa?" (They ask.)

"Y-yeah just," (He rubs his shoulder.) "Uh, I'll, tell you later! Oh! Right! This is Siffrin! A really good friend of mine!"

(Isabeau gestured to you, and you gave a a half bow.) "Charmed~"

(Honestly? Isa isn't as bad an actor as you first thought. Maybe it was that nervousness? Either way, it looked like it was working. Ramos gave that half bow back.)

"Good to meet you Siffrin! Let me guess, helped save the country?"

"Of course, your trusty rougish traveler Siffrin." (You wink.)

(Ramos squints.) ". . . Are you two-"

"A-anyway!!" (Isa cuts them off.) "I-I wanted to come visit while we're in town! See how my old friend is doing!"

"Oh! Oh thank you!" (Ramos is absolutly beaming.) "Hey!! Let me show you my new room here! It's awesome!"

(Okay, things were going well so far. Ramos didn't touch Isa, and it didn't look like they were going to try. Perfect. You had predicted that if Isa sticks to the script, Ramos wouldn't try and use mind craft. I mean, Isa already knew Ramos' name, and was acting like they were good friends.)

(You keep walking, Isa and Ramos chatting as you did. You were really proud of him, honestly. He was sticking to topics that might get you good information while avoiding suspicion. You learned that Ramos was genuinly getting better with defender stuff, and they were more confident. They had started experimenting with their scissors craft more, which you didn't even know about! Ramos was scissors\rock type. Ramos didn't have family in town.)

(Stars, maybe you should have payed more attention the first time you were here.)

(Finally, after many halls and a few staircases, Ramos came to a room and let you both inside. The room was a decent size, about the size of the Head Housemaidens office. There was a desk, a bookshelf, a wardrobe, a window outside, a bed, and a mat in the center of the room. It looks like it was for training.)

"Sorry! I don't have extra chairs." (Says Ramos, offering the desk chair to you two.)

"I'll be fine on the bed!" (Isa says cheerily.)

"I'll stand." (You say.)

"Suit yourself!" (Ramos collapses onto the chair and sighs.) "It's, it's really great to see you, Isa."

"Yeah. . ." (Isa replies.)

(You tilt your head, your turn.) "Is Jouvente a rough place? Looks like you got hurt."

"Huh? Oh!" (Ramos lifts up their shoulder to look at the bandage.) "Well, no, it's real safe here, not had any issues in forever, but. . ."

"But. . ?"

"W-well, I, honestly have no idea, haha." (They laugh nervously,) "I got sliced pretty bad I guess, looks kinda like a sword? Deffinatly a pierce craft thing though, at least that's what I was told."

(Huh, Mirabelle's rapier would have done that. Hmm, then there's a way Ramos could blame HER for the near kidnapping. But still. . .) "You don't remember at all?"

"Nope!" (Ramos shakes their head.) "There was a lot of yesterday that's just a blur."

(Huh!)

(Do you believe them?)

(I'm starting to.)

"I can relate." (You say.)

(Ask about wishes.)

"Say, Ramos, have you heard of Wish Craft?"

"Huh?" (They tilt their head.) "Wish Craft?"

(You nod, Ramos starts thinking, and eventually replied,) "Wish Craft, Wish Craft. . . Oh maybe!"

(OH?)

(Interesting.)

"Yeah I think I heard about it from someone I met! Make a wish and-"

(You see them visibly wince, then shake their head before continuing.) "And. . . And. . ."

(You and Isa glance at each other. Clearly, something just happened. Isa speaks up.) "Make a wish and, what?"

(Ramos blinks, then smiles.) "Sorry, what where we just talking about?"

(What.)

(Isabeau stood up.) "Are you, alright? Rams?"

"Yeah just, just a bit dizzy." (They stand up too, using their desk to support themself.) "I just, need some air-"

(They trip getting up, and before you could stop him, Isabeau rushed forward to catch them before they hit the ground, and caught their hand.)

(There was a moment before Isa realized what he just did. He gasped, let Ramos down and backed away.) "Oh, o-ohcCrab Sif, Sif I'm s-"

"It's alright!" (You walk over to Isa and put a hand on his shoulder.) "Dizzy?"

"What are you two-" (Ramos says, getting up off the floor.)

(Isa nods, you could see him squinting, he put a hand to his head. Stars, mind craft in action. You pat his shoulder.) "You'll be alright, the plan, remember?"

"R-right." (Isabeau, still holding his head, rushed to the door and left. That was the plan B, after all. If Ramos touches you, run to the others.)

(Speaking of, Ramos was looking at you in bewilderment.) ". . . What the change!?!"

"You wished to be just as strong as Isabeau" (You grip your dagger.) "You were given a gift of Mind Craft so that everyone would believe you were as strong as him. You wanted to be everyones favorite, the best. "

(They're shocked, as to be expected.) "How do you know that!"

(You smile at them.) "You told me."

(Ramos is looking at you, backing up to their dresser.) "I-"

"Truth time, Ramos~" (You say, drawing your dagger and twirling it around.) "I'll start, I can repeat today as many times as I want~ We've actually met four times already."

"But that's. . ." (They were looking at you, and around the room, before sighing.) "No, that's perfectly possible, the King froze time after all."

"Tee hee~ the King was an amature. Your turn, do have a question for me?"

(Ramos scoffed.) "If you can repeat today as many times as you want, why should I tell the truth? I wont remember anything if time gets undone, right?"

(You keep smiling.) "Because the alternative is me coming back here every time, and each time finding out a new way to hurt you~"

(Ramos is staring at you.)

"You're trying to figure out if I'd do it, of course I would. To me, everyone here is an actor, including myself~"

(You twirl your dagger, then hold it right below your eyepatch.) "Time will just get turned back after all~"

". . . You're insane."

"Quite~" (Stars, Siffrin, please forgive me. You press the blade against your skin. It stings, you can feel the blood-)

"S-stop stop!!" (Ramos waves their hands.) "I get it! Alright! Fine! I just, fine!"

"Good~" (You put the knife down, ow ow ow. . .)

(And you call me a hypocrite.)

(. . . You keep talking.) "Now, truth time, did you try and kidnap a kid named Bonnie yesterday?"

"What?!?!" (Ramos seemes offended at the idea, scowling at you.) Of course not!!"

(Same reaction. Maybe it's not them, or they don't remember.)

"Good! Now, how about-"

"Hey! My turn!" (Ramos interupts.)

"Fine, fine, ask away."

(Ramos was glaring at you, they grunted.) "Did. . . Did Isabeau really remember me? Or was all that a carbbin' act."

(Hmmm.) "A bit of yes, a bit of no. He didn't bring you up on our grand adventure, but when I woke up this morning and told him all about you, well, he seemed so genuinly worried~"

(They look away, no response.)

"My turn~ Where did you get this Mind Craft, Rammy?"

"Don't call me that." (They're staring daggers at you.) "Ever."

(Your taken aback by that.) "Oh, sorry." (What kind of nerve did you hit?)

". . ." (They huff.) "I asked for it, and I got it, that's it."

"That's it? Aren't we having truth time Ramos~?"

"Shut the crab up!" (They bite back.) "What do you care anyway! Change, you could probably just kill me and get on with your life!"

(. . .)

"Yeah, you could, you could blame it on whoever you want I bet. So why don't you! It'd be easy! Just easy to get rid of me and move on!!"

(They rip open the door of their clausit and grab a weapon, a pair of tonfas. Looking back at you, there was murder in their eyes.)

(What in the stars did you SAY.)

"If you CAN go back in time, do it." (They were about to pounce.) "'Cause otherwise I'll make you forget your whole crabbing life."

(. . . . . . .)

(You open your mouth, you tell them to never touch your memory. Ever.)

(You rush forward with blinding speed, swiping at Ramos' neck with your dagger. They block. You recoil.)

(What are you doing?!?!!)

(You ignore Loop. Ramos counters, a one, two, three hit combo to try and get you off balance. You dodge each of them, and swipe back, catching Ramos' arm. Good.)

(GOOD?!? Are you even thinking right now! They could turn into a sadness again and we'd be stuck at square one!!!)

(So what.)

(They hold out a fist and strike a pose, as if on cue you can feel your feet get sluggish. Stars. They're smart. You're smart, too. You hold a palm, [PAPER])

(SO WHAT?!? We almost lost to that sadness! )

(You almost lost to that sadness. Besides. You wont let Ramos live long enough for that.)

(WHAT?!?)

(Ramos gets blasted into their desk, but got up quickly, wiping some blood off of their mouth and diving at you. You sidestep and-)

(NO!!!)

(They dive at you, this time you deflect the blow, leaving Ramos open. Hmm, did you loop on instinct? You saw at the last second that Ramos was about to hit you with their back foot? Strange. You swipe at them with your dagger. You connect.)

"Hrrk-" (They stumble back, gripping a wound in their chest.)

(You can't kill them! We can't kill them!)

(It's that or get our memory erased.)

(We can't-)

(Ramos glares at you, grabs something on their desk and throws it at you. You swipe it out of the air, Ramos took the chance and rushed at you and-)

(You dodge the thrown item and dance out of Ramos way, swiping at them again.)

(. . . . . . .Where is everyone?)

(Who, is everyone?)

(Your opponent is panting, and looks at you with anger in their eyes. They look so different. So wild. Who are you? Who am I. No time to think, just get ready to move again. Ramos, they gripped their wound and gritted their teeth, some healing craft rushing to the gash.)

(You ready your dagger, you breathe in, and out. Time is your plaything, you will try and try again untill you win. The question is, what role will you take?)

(You dash forwards, moving like water, like sand. You swipe at what seems to be their dominant arm.)

(Another block, and another counter attack. You try and parry this one-)

(Wont work, try again.)

(You feel the weight of time upon you back, but no, you will defy it.)

(You try and dodge this time. You rush to the side, Ramos strike going over your head as you-)

(No, try again. once more, action. You rush in. Not expecting it, Ramos overshoots you. You grip your dagger, now behind them.)

(You've won. In this moment, no matter what, you can repeat your script to this victory.)

(. . . You strike them on the back of the head with the hilt of your dagger. Today, mercy.)

(Ramos collapses to the floor. Your adversary, perhaps. The antagonist? For now, that's what they are all for now. You kneel down.)

(. . . . . . . . .)

(They're not dead.)

(You hold your head as a wave of mental exhaust rushes through you. Ok. You were back. Loop time. You terrible, terrible think! Stop taking over just at any time! You barely could remember the battle! What did you DO!?!)

(. . . Not here then? Fine! You get up, you needed to search the room, quickly.)

(Nothing around the bed, the dresser is full of clothes, of many different styles- wait you recognize that stitching. A vest that Isabeau must have made. Ok, ok what else. Drawers! You look through the drawers, nothing, random magazines, and- oh you wont check that one again. Nothing.)

(The desk. Check the desk. You look through the different cabbinets in the desk, anything- maybe something taped to the underside? No. Stars, wait. . .)

(Stuffed at the very back of the bottom drawer of the desk was a photo.)

(The back was signed. "Good luck, Azzy, and write home often.")

(You heared footsteps outside. No time- wait, one last thing. You go over to Ramos, and gently undo their bandana, taking care to not touch the skin. Sure, you had gloves, but just in case. . .)

(There it is. Damn star pendant. It glowed softly. Taking a snuff, it smelled of. . . Mint? Maybe, was it mint? No, wasn't there supposed to be a sugary smell? It was a wish after all, right?)

(. . . You have more questions for next time, but someone was banging on Ramos door.)

(You look out the window- Oh of course. You were what, three? Four stories up? If you jumped out from here, you'd likely die.)

(. . . Like that wasn't an issue, tee hee~ And if you don't die, you could check with the others.)

(. . . No time to dwell on it, you back up a few steps, take a breath, and take a running leap.)

(. . .It's like your flying!)