Chapter Text
It goes like this.
The Traveler and The Star fight. They follow the script. They trade blows. The Traveler pulls his punches. The Star fights to win. The Traveler defeats them, and The Star loops, again, and again, and again. The Star wears them down.
The Star pins The Traveler to the ground by the throat and squeezes. They want to kill The Traveler. They want to take their place, get their perfect ending, and for that, they need The Traveler dead.
They cannot do it.
They let him up, crying, pleading. Why them? Why him and not me? Why couldn't I do it? The Traveler does not have an answer for them, but they have plenty to say.
They would not be here, after all, if it were not for The Star. His friends are grateful. So are they. They talk. They cry. The Traveler swears to talk to their party, from now on.
The Star begins to fade away, their purpose fulfilled, their wish granted.
The Traveler will not accept this.
Long ago, before they were a star at all, the Star made a wish. Blew it gently into the leaf of a Favor Tree and whispered it three times. An ancient, forgotten ritual. I want to stay with my family, The Star whispered. Then, later, I want someone to help me. The Universe heard, and the wishes were granted.
The Star's wishes were granted, but never truly fulfilled. And so…
“...I'll see you all again soon enough, stardust,” you say. You're fading. Soon, you won't be here at all anymore, and that scares you. But maybe it's okay. Wherever you go, at least it won't be Dormont. “I promise! I super promise! I super duper promise!” You put on a smile. You have always been an actor at heart. Stardust looks at you, teary-eyed, fists clenched.
“So don't forget about me, okay?”
Something happens, then.
“I won't,” he says suddenly, gritting his teeth, “because you'll be right here with me !” They dart forward, reaching out to grab you. You expect it to go through you. Instead, you… solidify under their hands.
You're… still here?
You stare at each other for a few long moments, equally stunned that their last ditch effort to keep you around worked. You have no blinding idea what to feel right now. Angry at them for keeping you here? Happy to still exist? Terrified of what comes next? You settle on a little bit of everything.
“...That would've looked really stupid if it didn't work,” stardust says, eye wide.
“That it would've,” you reply, still shellshocked. This isn't right, you don't think. You're not supposed to still be here. Not at all. It doesn't make any sense.
Stardust shakes their head and breathes deeply, in, and out. Numbly, you follow suit. That's how it goes for about a minute.
“...What now?”