Transcription because my handwriting is bad (thanks the stars for computer keyboards) :
Is... Is that me ? It feels right, but...
They called me Siffrin. Is that my name ? Am I... "Siffrin" ? It doesn't feel right. it doesn't feel right at all. But... I feel like I know them somehow.
And... they know things about me I don't know about myself. And... they talk to me like we're friends.
I... wish to have a family. They're... nice. I like them... i guess I must be their Siffrin, even if I don't remember it. (They did say I have memory issues...)
In this AU, Mal du Pays is sentient and is jealous of Siffrin. After the end of the loops, they follow the group for a while, hiding in the shadows, and their feelings of being left out grow. One day, they make a wish. They wish to have what Siffrin has. Unfortunately the universe interprets this the wrong way (as it often does) and sends Mal du Pays in another universe, where they remplace the Siffrin who was already there. They also loose their memories to boot ! And, the Universe makes it so that, for everyone else, they look like Siffrin.
Everyone assumes they're Siffrin, and, since they don't remember anything, they think they're Siffrin too.
To the party, their rogue who they were travelling with for some time lost all their memories. And, since they don't see that their appearance is different, they just chalk up any differences to the amnesia. They're also panicking a little bit, because Siffrin never had periods of amnesia this long, nor did they ever forget who all of them were before.
Mal du Pays assumes that they're an amnesiac Siffrin, and also panic. They don't realise they're not Siffrin, because the party members do feel familiar.
The more time passes, the more Mal du Pays feels like an imposter. Because, the more time passes, the more they realise that, despite many similarities, them and the Siffrin the party got to know don't act the same. They hate themselves for loosing their memories, and making the party feels like they lost someone when they're right there.
Some time passes, and slowly, little details start to pile up. Mal du Pays realises they look a lot like a Sadness, and also their body works like one, so they have an identity crisis, and start piecing together that they're not Siffrin. Their main theory is that Siffrin got consumed by homesickness and feelings of inadequacy and killed himself, and that they're what's left, and sadness born of their self-hartred and grief. They wonder why the party doesn't realise that they look like a sadness, and assume they somehow have the power to manipulate their perception, and start spiralling about being a fraud. They don't tell the party about being a sadness, because they think it would be selfish to tell them Siffrin died and make them suffer like that.
Weird coincidences start piling up, and Odile starts being suspicious. Siffrin doesn't act like himself, which, amnesia might explain that, sure. But, Siffrin also sometimes mention things that don't make sense. For example, they said a few times that their cloak was lightless, when clearly it's darkless. They're suddenly fine and even seem to actually seek physical contact. They also act... weirdly guilty around sadnesses ? Which doesn't make sense, because, well, why would you feel guilty around sadnesses ? Their cuts and bruises seem to disappear way too quickly. And, more damning evidence, She's sure she saw him accidentally touch tears sometimes, and... not get frozen. This is suspicous. She records everything in her journal.
Ideas of how the reveal could go :
At some point, Mal du Pays feels sad and alone, and cries. Bonnie wants to make them feel better, and accidentally touches the tears. They get frozen. And everyone (including Mal du Pays) is horrified.
Mirabelle immediatly sets to work to unfreeze Bonnie, since, if she wants it to work, she needs to do it now, before it's too late. Mal du Pays runs away in the woods in the commotion caused by what happened. After unfreezing Bonnie, Odile starts enumerating the things she found suspicous about Siffrin after they lost their memories. The group comes to the conclusion that Siffrin turned into a Sadness, or died and was replaced by their Sadness. Since, until now, the Sadness displayed a high level of intelligence and didn't try to attack them even once, they decide to follow them to find them again. They still prepare for an eventual fight, because they're cautious.
They find Mal du Pays hidden behind a tree, crying. They look... different. They look like Siffrin, still, but their shades are reversed, and their only eye looks like a spiral. Odile distantly notes that that must be how they really look like, and what they look like to themselves. Now the comments about the lightless cloak make a lot more sense. They don't get close because, well, there are tears everywhere. But, they do start a conversation. During which Mal du Pays shows an absurd amount of self-hartred. Mal du pays tells them to just leave them here, because they're going to hurt them eventually. Mal du pays tells them that, actually, they should just kill them right here, before they hurt anyone else.
The party lay down the weapons, because it is clear that Mal du Pays doesn't want to hurt anyone. Mirabelle gets closer to them, and hugs them. At first, they tell her to get away, because they're dangerous and might hurt her. She asks them if they want to hurt her. They say that it doesn't matter what they want, they'd end up hurting her anyways. She isn't having any of it, and plunges a hand in one of the tears. Mal du Pays panics, until they realise that Mirabelle isn't being frozen. Oh, right. The blessing. She can't be frozen by tears.
Then they look up. And, at first, they think they're dreaming, because, Bonnie is alive. They're alive, they aren't frozen, they're right there, they're breathing they're alive alive alive. Mirabelle smiles at them. "Remember who unfreezes you during fights ?" She asks. And... that's right. Mirabelle can unfreeze people, if she does it right after someone has been frozen. The party convinces them to come back. They do. They breathe in. Breathe out. They're going to be okay.
Mirror room : when the mirror takes a picture, the real appearance of Mal du Pays is revealed. The party freaks out. Odile is immediatly on the offensive, and they all push Bonnie behind them. They've seen traps already. They've seen dangerous sadnesses in these walls. And, still, the king manages to surpise them. A sadness impersonnating their rogue is really unexpected, and Isa blames himself, thinking about when it could have happened in the castle (because, before that, it was the real Siffrin, he's sure.) The imposter tries to justify themselves, but this just makes them even more terrified. That sadness talks. That sadness can hold conversations. That sadness is as smart as a human to the point they can pretend to be one and, if the mirror wasn't there, they would have gotten away with it. This is a dangerous monster. The sadness was close, so close, it could have done anything, at any point, and they wouldn't have been able to stop it. It was close, so close. It was standing right next to Bonnie before that picture got taken. Isabeau attacks first, and Mal du Pays retaliates on instinct. Thankfully, the scissors-type attack doesn't hurt Isabeau too much, by virtue of his rock type. Mal du Pays runs away, crying. The party is on their gard for the rest of the way, always surveilling their environnement. If they took Siffrin's place, they could take anyone's. They die to the king. Mal du Pays gets their bearings back to late, and see them die in front of their eyes. In the following loops, they hide behind everyone else when taking the picture. Never again.
(just attack) : After many, many loops, Mal du Pays mental health isn't the best. So, they attack the first sadness they see. And then they attack again. And again. And again and again and again and again and- ... They kill it on their own. Their disguise slips at some point. They see the party looking at them in terror. They're protecting Bonnie behind their backs. No. No no no no no. Not again. They think back to what happened in the mirror room. They, take their dagger, and...
During the fight against the King : One time, during the fight, Mal du Pays, because of wish craft shenanigans, end up losing their disguise. The party is shocked, but they do not have the time to process this right now. Siffrin is helping them beat the King right now, so they're probably not an enemy. They'll figure everything out later. In this situation, Mal du Pays is actually freaking out a lot more than them, because they remember what happened in the mirror room. This time, they came prepared, with a bullet point list of everything that happened, their theories, in the most concise way possible. It's the first time the reveal actually goes well in the loops. And, for Mal du Pays, for the first time, they get actual proof that the reveal can go well.
Isabeau discovers the list : The bullet point list Mal took the time do make at the start of each loop to make sure to not forget anything falls on the ground when Mal goes to see Loop at the favor tree. Mal doesn't realise it's fallen from one of their numerous pockets. They only realise something is wrong when they come back and Isabeau looks worried. Then he hands them the list (which is named "how to tell your friends you're the sadness created by their dead friend. (don't say it that way you idiot !)") You lost this. He tells them, and his voice is rough. It looks like he's been crying. I... We should talk about this If... If you want ? They look at him. And then they start crying. For a brief moment, the disguise falls off. Isabeau tries to reach out, but, with a panicked voice, Mal tells them to not get close. Then they point to the tears floating in the air, and hurriedly dry their eyes. They don't want to accidentally freeze Isabeau. They sit away from the tears, and Mal explains. Isabeau insists that they should tell everyone else, but accepts that, in the end, it should be their decision about where and when they tell the party.
The first time, they don't tell them, but, after fighting the King, it goes quicker this time. Having someone in your corner helps.
This scenario doesn't happen only once, because Mal sometimes forgets to check that the paper is properly put away. When it happens a second time, this time, Mal decides to tell everyone the truth at the clocktower. It goes surprising well. M'dame Odile feels vindicated. Bonnie wants to see tricks, and Mal hides in the shadows for them. That's also the first time Mal realises they can imitate other's voices to perfection. It freaks them out, them and everyone else, but they quickly recover. M'dame Odile has a lot of questions about how this is even possible and how they can be sentient and how sadness biology works. Isabeau gently reminds her to not overwhelm Mal. Mirabelle is a little scared at first, but breathes in and politely asks them if they would want a hug. They accept, and get hugged.
M'dame Odile figures it out : During a loop where Mal is exhausted and accidentally makes a lot of mistakes, like touching tears, Odile thinks about the notes the took and starts connecting the dots together. During the bathroom break, she asks them if they're a sadness. They immediatly try to lie, but they are bad at it, and it is obvious to everyone else that they're lying, and, when Isabeau points out that "Sif, buddy, that was bad. Like, really, really bad." they come clean. It goes well, more or less.
After a certain point, when Mal starts being very tired and violently attacks sadnesses, Odile brings her concerns to the team without Mal. They're wary of Mal for the rest of the journey. Mal notices, but doesn't ask. After the King is beaten, the party confronts them, but they're tired and scared and they keep thinking back to the Mirror room incident (and every time it repeated because they haven't been quite hidden enough). They're also, at that point in time, trying very hard to not think about the fact that they're a sadness. Besides, if they lie to themselves and everyone else enough time, it might become true, right ? They don't want to admit to being a sadness out loud. They're tired, and the loop will reset anyway, so why bother ? And so, they double down on the lie. This fractures the group for the rest of the loop.
BAM ! New AU ! I have yet to find it a name. Uhhh.... Lets call it... the imposter!mal du pays AU
