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alias_sqbrMasterlist
THIS IS SO GOOD OMG. JUST. SUCH A GOOD ANGSTY TIMELOOP FANTASY ROMANCE AHHHH
The romance itself is incredibly understated even compared to the others and I do not care I loooove himmm best boooooy.
It's very briefly just the tiniest bit queer. And I'm pretty sure Zenn is meant to be read as black?? But mostly it's all about the DELICIOUS ANGST as they like... bond and support each other despite being stuck in some deeply fucked up and traumatising fantasy timeloop bullshit :D
I have been avoiding adding images since the switch makes that troublesome and I didn't want to spoil myself, but I liked one CG so much I took a photo of the TV. And if you're curious what everyone looks like here's the official character page though I haven't clicked any of those links to avoid spoilers.
just suicide and major character death I think! Practically darkness free ahahahaha
His card is the hanged man! Looks very cool. I counted and there's two cards with their backs turned, so maybe two secret routes?
The chapter names are "Blazing Regicide" here's hoping Conrad gets SET ON FIRE.
The game conveniently has Anastasia remind "herself" what's going on in her life at this moment: It's shortly before the War Games. Crius has given her a package to deliver to a pub. If Zenn doesn't distract the annoying drunkard, she ends up eaten by Mr Endy the weird puppet monster, but if he does he walks out and she loses track of him.
Ahaha so she shouts for Tyril's help before Zenn arrives, and he does scare off the drunkard.
Tyril: So who the hell are you? I don't like having my drinking- WTF WHY ARE YOU HUGGING ME AND CRYING
Crius: Tyr. Why is my subordinate hugging you and crying >:( Anastasia, what's- *blushes when she hugs him too*
Anastasia: GRAND COMMANDERRRR ;_; I. Um. Had a bad dream.
Tyril: Lol what how old are you.
Crius: Stay this way as long as you like :)
That is SUPER cute. Obvs an ot3 isn't on the cards for this route but I could see it working!
Zenn: So you did it again huh? :/ I just remembered somewhere I gotta be. Bye.
Tyril: WTF?
Zenn: *ignores him*
Crius: Zennn :)
Zenn: Tch. *stays*
Once again, Crius gets Anastasia to give Tyril the mead and asks him to help her out if she needs it. Crius asks Zenn to give her a discount if she needs help from him.
Tyril: Zenn, you don't need to listen, that's too much even for a debt of gratitude.
Just as Crius and Zenn have a cute bonding moment over both being into cooking it occurs to me that one easy way to solve the problem of Anastasia's polyamorous heart and create angst for her and Zenn is to kill off Tyril and Crius D:
He's just taken the exam to become a castle administrator even though it's "hard to get in as a commoner". So did he fake being noble in the first timeline, or fake NOT being noble later?
Crius says it's too late at night for her and Zenn to talk now and gets Zenn to gruffly agree to meeting with Anastasia tomorrow. She's worried he's just going to vanish again so grabs his coat, and gets a vision....
OF A MODERN CITY??
HAS THIS BEEN ISEKAI THIS WHOLE TIME????
While Anastasia is thinking "WTF WAS THAT???" he mutters "Don't worry, I won't be running any more".
Anastasia: So I have been hearing that the Grand Commander's garuda is sick could she be... pregnant?
Crius: Huh. It doesn't seem possible but... I'll look into it.
Which solves one of a billion problems, the rest of which are much harder. She's not sure if she should become a knight or an inquisitor.
SUDDENLY MR ENDY ATTACKS!!
Zenn appears and pushes her out of the way telling her to run. He shows up at her house later, seemingly none the worse for wear.
Anastasia: Thank you for saving me!
Zenn: Just thought it would be a pain if you used that Fatal Rewind of yours again. I hope you don't think we're friends or anything.
He says he's not a witch but an "antigen" and has been watching her, trying to figure out if she's the same kind of creature as "Ish", the one everyone else refers to as The Witch of Ruin. After all, they both turn everyone's lives upside down with magic.
She's so angry at being compared to the Witch that she PULLS OUT A KNIFE AND PUTS IT TO HIS THROAT.
Anastasia: Over and over I've watched the people I love die because of him! And you think we're the same? If you're on his side I'll-
Zenn: Kill me? Sounds nice.
He argues that she's the one supporting Ish's goals, creating opportunities to kill people and even rewinding the one time the witch was finally killed.
Anastasia: Crius was dead! Isn't he your friend? How can you say that was a happy ending?
Zenn: He'd want it that way. You know what kind of person he is. Anastasia- URK! *clutches chest* Already?? Answer me: Why did you kill everyone?
Witch: What a bad boy you are, Zenn. Didn't I tell you not to involve yourself with her? I don't need an antigen like you ruining my game.
Zenn: We were just talking.
Witch: I'd give up on making him your ally, Anastasia. He will never join you.
Anastasia: What kind of contract did you form with him?!
Zenn: ...Ninja... *collapses*
Witch: Oh boy he pushed himself a little too hard. Just because he won't die doesn't mean he won't suffer :) My condition was that he not dig too deeply into you beyond basic smalltalk. But if the conversations make his heart sway, the chains will pierce it. I'm sure you don't want to make him suffer. You good, obedient little girl :)
So she goes to the Inquisitor office and blackmails Tyril with the fact he's Ninja to get him to tell her about Zenn.
Tyril: I'm not sure what delusions you're entertaining, but I'm not the sort to sell out a friend for my own safety.
But he guesses that Zenn is the one who told her, as a roundabout way of passing on information.
Tyril: Zenn is from a different world with their own language and culture. He came here by accident, but hasn't aged and is all but immune to illness. His attempts to go home have been fruitless.
Ah she'd noticed he didn't look like the locals but just assumed he was from some foreign country. But if he's just a regular brown earth human why is his hair white and eyes red? Stylistic choice or Clue?
Ahaha Zenn gave Tyril the name "Ninja", what a weeb.
The sky goes black. Anastasia decides that if she's not a Sacrificia this time she'll join the Inquisition again to be involved with the trial. She thinks about how awful it would be to be a Membrum and remembers what Zenn said about her killing "everyone".
She would use her precognition ability but doesn't know how to do so on purpose. She realises all her visions have been of death and so focusses on that.
...and sees Conrad approaching her with an AXE. "I will enjoy your screams :D Finally you'll see, Lucien, that you can't even protect the woman you love!"
Ha, I can choose to be bothered by "one you love" or "screams". The important thing is that she was awake during a Membrum attack! The sleeping magic doesn't work on her any more!
Witch: Dear Prince, I have come to grant your wish, now open your heart to-
Anastasia: Stop right there!
Witch: Oho? Does my magic not work on your any more? Then have you come to save your former fiance? Ah, pure love ;)
He goes to turn Conrad into a Membrum anyway, then stops and goes "Wait. Anastasia. What do you desire? :)"
Anastasia: I want to defend those I love by defeating the witch. I want to be stronger.
Voice: There is no future without confronting the past. There is no hope without revenge. Fight! I am here to help you. When you win, I shall guide you into a beautiful world. But to reach there, you must rid yourself of those shackles at your ankles. I will sever the morals that confine you. Anastasia, you are free.
We see a montage of her abuse at the hands of her father, stepmother, and stepsister.
She bumps into Zenn while running into the noble district.
Anastasia: Why are you here?
Zenn: I don't know, I heard your voice asking me to stop you.
His warmth makes her come back to herself enough to go "Oh, I'm the Membrum" and pull out her sword. He knocks it out of her hand before she can kill herself. She feels an insatiable thirst for the death of her family.
Anastasia: Give me back my sword before I kill anyone!
Zenn: ...you really are the furthest thing from a murderer.
He says that around the time of the first route choice, Ish showed him a murdered town square and said it was all Anastasia, that murder is what she rewinds time for. Which... does not match any of her other behaviour, but he HAS been avoiding her, and nice people in this world CAN be surprisingly murderery.
She never heard of any murder on that scale. And she had a weird gap in her memories after choosing to play Ish's 'game'. Did she die?
Zenn says Ish doesn't seem to actually remember what happened in earlier timelines, since he's always bugging Zenn for details (which Zenn does not give) Yet the people chosen for the Carnival change every time.
Anastasia: So I might not be the membrum next time. Give me my sword.
She explains about Rune and says she wants to discuss the situation with him, too. Zenn says he sounds shady, and doesn't like her relying on the rewind, but lets her make this choice.
She tells Zenn to leave and then uses the sword to slit her own throat, belatedly realising she got the angle wrong and has doomed herself to a slow death.
But then he comes back, leans close, and says softly "Leave this to me next time", before he stabs her through the heart. ROMANCE :D
Man what happened I got really into it!
Rune says the only way anyone other than her can remember through resets is if they're from another world like Zenn, or in another world like Rune. He also starts telling her that he and Ish used to both work for the goddess before Ish betrayed Rune and stole something to do with the goddess's power, but then a literal X appears over his mouth and he says talking about the goddess is forbidden. But she exists, and is asleep, and cannot wake up and help anyone.
Pretty much the moment Anastasia gets back... she hears the voice again setting her "Free" as a Membrum, and the witch laughs that she cannot escape this fate.
Zenn stops her once more, she realises being around her is causing him horrible pain but he's trying to hide it. There is a conversation with Ish I didn't entirely follow where Anastasia rewrites Zenn's contract with Ish so that he can be close to her. Zenn says he also wants to add two terms: She has to discuss her plans with him, and if she needs to die again, she should ask him to do it for her. They shake hands.
Ish: Why do you even care Zenn, don't you want to go home? The people of this world aren't even real to you. Here you're a monster who can't die.
Anastasia: That's just a personal quirk! So what if he's a little tougher than other people, and looks young for his age. He's still a great person. Just because he's from another culture doesn't mean we can't connect.
They taunt the witch into revealing that he is actually the familiar of the even more powerful Witch of Cessation. Who does remember past events and passes it on to Ish, knows Anastasia's future, and will one day destroy the world.
Anastasia: How can you do this when you used to work for the Goddess?
Ish: I do this because this is the world she created!
I wonder if Anastasia and/or the Goddess became the Witch of Cessation.
For all this to work and Anastasia not to turn into a weird monster thing, she has to kill someone and get away with it, framing one of the other Sacrificia.
Ish: So, want me to teleport you to your family? Or Conrad? At last you can have your revenge :D :D
Anastasia: That's a personal matter, far less important than defeating you. And I'll walk, I don't need your help :)
It's not that she thinks killing her family would be WRONG, it would just look really suspicious. So Zenn directs her towards a creepy serial killer he helped catch recently.
After stabbing him through the heart she gets depressed at how easy it was. IS she a monster?
Zenn calmly walks over and stabs the corpse in a bunch more places to make it look less proffessional.
Zenn: You killed him in the most painless way possible, and you feel terrible. You seem like a regular human to me.
He says he's going to stick with her from now on, he's realised she can be trusted, and Crius asked him to look after her.
Anastasia: But if time gets rewound that won't be true any more.
Zenn: I still made that promise, even if he won't remember it. You're the same, right?
I really like that they feel like equals and allies, two people who have been circling around each other until now due to misunderstandings but are basically in the same boat, and recognise each other's competency and decency. He does definitely come across as older and more experienced (he was described as 26 when he was a suspect, but if he knows he doesn't age he is presumably much older than he looks, plus of course he has the same extra years from timeloops as Anastasia) but he doesn't have any power over her, nor does she look up to him as a Mentor the way she did Crius and Tyril. And he is perfectly happy to respect her expertise on topics she knows more about.
Of course Ish makes the trial as awful as possible: The other Sacrificia are Maya, Crius, Lucien, and Conrad. PLEASE LET ME KILL CONRAD, GAME. I WANT TO KILL CONRAD SO BAD. KILLING LUCIEN AGAIN WOULD BE BORING.
I was discussing this with a friend and suddenly realised: Zenn will remember their romance during the next route. So I guess he loses his memory or returns home to Earth. Or they break up but that seems too contrary to the genre.
AHHH OH GOD
So Zenn and Anastasia have some really sweet shippy moments of mutual support I do not remember much about because of WHAT HAPPENED NEXT but turns out he was a professional basketball player and finds it kinda uncomfortable that in this world people only physically train for stuff like swordwork. He promised his team he'd come back for the big game?? That's surprisingly cute as an angsty backstory. Anastasia bursts into tears on his behalf and he says she has better reasons to cry for herself, but appreciates it, and says he's sorry he took this long to ally with her.
SO. Turns out Maya was one of the many stalking victims of the creepy guy Anastasia killed, making her the only suspect with any real connection.
Conrad is... Conrad, ugh. And has an alibi >:( He's all "Let's be allies, dear cousin" while putting his arm around her and Anastasia freezes, consumed by bad memories, so Zenn pulls her away saying she 'belongs to him'. Afterwards he's apologetic and she says it's fine, not understanding why he'd be so concerned.
Lucien tells Anastasia he is going to save her and is her only ally in a way which makes me start to suspect he's going to be kinda yandere on his actual route. Maybe he's the witch!
Crius notices Anastasia is acting off.
Zenn: You need to be better at hiding your emotions. Just how in love with Cas are you?
Anastasia: ...how much did you see of all... that?
Zenn: I could tell he was in love with you when you became a knight in the Wings. Did you not love him back?
Anastasia: ...I don't know. I didn't have time to process it. I care a lot for him, but I'm not sure if those feelings are romantic.
Ahhh. Ok, fair. And Tyril was less obvious, I can see Zenn not having picked it up. But she also seemed more unambiguously romantically into Tyril? I guess there's SOME room for ambiguity, she didn't actually say it outright.
I couldn't bring myself to indict Maya so did my damnedest to frame Conrad... and Anastasia burned. Especially because the moment the trial started, Crius immediately accused her, with the logic that if she was innocent, she would have checked on Maya first thing instead of turning herself in.
So I went back to a walkthrough and... yep. The right choice was to indict Maya :( :( :( During the trial, it becomes clear that, like Crius, she knows Anastasia well enough to have realised she's the Membrum, she just doesn't care. Crius tries to persuade Maya that sometimes loving someone means not letting them off easily, and Maya says "That's just your opinion :)". She goes into the flames with a smile on her face, thanking Anastasia for making the right decision ;_; ;_;
AND THEN
Anastasia comes back to herself after the trial with Zenn pulling her back from killing herself with a blade to her throat. He hugs her and says she has to live, and keep going.
And then says the next thing the need to do is kill Crius :( :( :(
She hasn't won yet. She needs to be the last one standing. And Crius has already figured her out. If they can frame one of the others for his murder, that's two down, and then they only have to kill the last guy to have won.
Jesuuuuuus. This is DARK. I felt bad enough about killing Maya. I have to kill Crius AND Lucien too??? YES I WANTED TO KILL CONRAD BUT AT WHAT PRICE D: D: D:
AHHHHHHHH
Conrad was sneaking about and overheard them. They knock him out but are seen by a guard so he gets knocked out too. Anastasia recognises the guard as a former member of the Wings :(
Zenn: You kill Conrad. I'll kill this guy and Crius.
Anastasia: I can't ask you to do such a horrible thing.
Zenn: Better me than you.
;_;
She has so many reasons to hate Conrad but when she kills him she feels nothing.
They find Tyril and Crius both asleep under the witch's curse in Conrad's office. Zenn says "I didn't know they were close enough to sleep together" which would be cute and shippy but right now, as he is soon to point out, it actually means they have come up with a plan to trap Anastasia :( :(
AHHH but then they are stopped by Ish, who says it would be boring to only have two people at the next trial, so adds an extra rule about not killing other Sacrificia. But suicide is still allowed, if she decides to give up :)
Anastasia says that if he gets to change the rules he should have to pay a penalty and so he answers a single question: Where is the witch of Cessation?
Ish: She is not yet in this world. But she is always close at hand.
Zenn looks sadly at the sleeping Tyril and wishes they had him on their side.
As they leave, Anastasia notices a note in Crius's hand: "Huma is pregnant. We were able to save her thanks to you". Even knowing she was the Membrum, and would come here to kill him, he chose to have his final words to her be kind ;_;
Can they get Crius and Tyril onside? They already know Zenn is immortal and is siding with Anastasia, would that be enough to persuade them she isn't just a lying murderer?
Haaaaa the conversation with Crius the next day was superficially friendly but strained on both sides. At the end he tells Anastasia that Huma just had a stomach-ache, with his usual smile, and it takes all of her self control to hide her reaction to this obvious trap.
The castle guard has been instructed to let Anastasia in, but noone else, including Zenn. Since he was helping her yesterday this feels like a deliberate slight. Luckily he's about to start working there as a administrator so puts his uniform on and says he'll pretend to be "on an internship", a term which leaves Anastasia baffled lol.
Zenn mutters that he knows it doesn't suit him but Anastasia says he looks very dashing and he blushes. I agree, glad we got to see him in it again! Afaict his Japanese becomes much more formal and polite when he's playing at being a civil servant, while his usual tone is more gruff and informal. Also idk if I mentioned it previously but he's always smoking, which seems an odd choice for an athlete but maybe he picked it up after becoming immortal. At one point Anastasia thinks that she had never thought of tobacco as a pleasant smell but she likes it on him aww.
Lucien is deeply dubious of Zenn, saying he knows Zenn owes Crius for rescuing him when he was passed out in an alley (hmm obviously Zenn's life wasn't in danger, but maybe this was early on when Zenn was setting himself up? How long has he been here and how long has he known Crius?)
Anastasia says she is aware of their deep bond, but also trusts Zenn. Especially since he's not a good enough liar to be a spy haha.
Lucien is all 'well if you trust him he must be trustworthy'. He says he wants Anastasia to team up with him against Crius: Lucien has the strongest motive to kill Conrad, while Crius is likely to go after Anastasia again. Working against Crius feels SO weird, for me and Anastasia and presumably Zenn.
Lucien: Does he have any weaknesses?
Zenn and Anastasia: He is a perfect man without flaws.
Anastasia/the player has the chance to bring up Crius's sister but instead she mentions a newspaper article which said his female fans were disappointed to see him be so unchivalrous to Anastasia, and they agree to try and exploit that during the trial, though Zenn has doubts about Anastasia's ability to act lol. Zenn likes that Anastasia is still trying to minimise causing suffering as much as she can. But they are still going to betray and murder Crius.
They compare notes on Lucien: Anastasia's childhood memories remain fuzzy but he's been a surprisingly staunch supporter in every timeline. In the first timeline Lucien was drawn to Zenn since he had noone else he could trust not to side with Conrad, and he talked about her then. They have not been close in other timelines (Zenn still hasn't explained why he switched from administrator to detective, maybe to help Crius better?) but it's clear that Lucien openly and strongly supports Anastasia.
Zenn tries asking the castle maids for information but scares them off with his stern expression.
Mael: You'll never get women to talk to you like- Gasp! The pretty knight cadet who's like a real life Pretty Soldier Cross! (In Japanese it was Bishoujo Senshi something, which is very similar to the Japanese title of Sailor Moon)
Anastasia: Pretty...?
Zenn: It's a book from my world. This idiot likes hearing about it.
Mael: YOU CAN TELL ME ABOUT PRETTY SAILOR CROSS?? I OWN EVERY EDITION SO FAR!!
Wait. If Mael has read it does that mean Zenn has a sideline publishing novels plagiarised from anime?? WEEB ZENN CONFIRMED.
Zenn: I'll tell you if you explain about how to get women to trust me.
Mael: You need to be more gently seductive and increase your sex appeal, maybe undo some buttons...
Zenn: You sound like Crius :/
Anastasia, suddenly uncomfortable for Some Reason: Zenn doesn't need to lower himself like that. If someone is to use sex appeal, it will be me!
Mael: If you insist :D Leave it to me!
There's a scene of her being uncomfortably corseted and padded etc.
Zenn: Well. That's quite the transformation.
Anastasia: No but why am I dressed like a man?
Mael: To get women to talk to you! Men in this country are so overbearing that women are drawn to gentleness. And people should wear whatever they like, men or women.
The CG is so good I took a photo of my TV:
Sure enough all the maids and noblewomen fall over themselves to tell her whatever she wants.
Maid: Your voice... are you a woman?
Anastasia: Is there something wrong with that?
Maid: No :)
Zenn implicitly gets a little jealous and joins her, smiling gently and winning over the women just as easily with his academic vibe.
Anastasia: I've never seen you smile like that before. I suppose you're practiced at courting women >.>
Zenn: Courting... you've never seen me smile like that because none of my smiles to you were fake!
*both become awkwardly blushy*
Ok was not expecting "Otome heroine dresses as a man and teams up with love interest to flirt with women" but I am here for it!!
The main useful info they get is something Zenn already knew, but I guess it's good to have other witnesses: Ever since Anastasia asked for Zenn's help bringing down Conrad's slavery in the first timeline, Crius, Zenn and Tyril have teamed up to undermine Conrad's shady dealings. Crius was already looking into Conrad smuggling Garudas.
At this point I realised Anastasia can't have been memory wiped before, or Zenn would know, unless it happened before he isekai-ed. So something has specifically happened to mess with her memories of Lucien, I'm guessing something to do with a witch.
Anastasia: Why are you so grateful to Crius?
Zenn: It will just depress you.
Anastasia: But I want to understand your feelings, just like you've been so understanding about mine.
He avoids answering that question by instead explaining more of the rest of his backstory: In the first timeline, it's still not clear how long he was stuck in this world or what he was doing while he learned the language etc. But at some point, I think when Anastasia and Lucien were still young, Zenn happened to save Lucien from thugs, and Lucien cried until Zenn agreed to work for him. So Lucien faked Zenn's noble background and Zenn spent the next 8 years working in the castle dealing with all the Lucien vs Conrad crap having a terrible time. He was vaguely aware of Tyril and Crius but thought Crius was a fake-smiling creep lol. When Anastasia asked him for help he ended up working with Crius as another person trying to take down Conrad.
And then time reset. He had no idea what had happened.
I'm a bit fuzzy on the timeline here but I think: He spent the 8 years of the leadup to the path choice doing... nothing in particular? Some time during this period Crius saved Zenn from Something, and Zenn started becoming friends with Crius and Tyril.
Just before the first path choice, Ish showed Zenn the town square full of bodies and said this was all Anastasia's doing, that the two of them were witches having a huge battle which Zenn was better staying out of. Zenn still didn't feel much attachment to this world and wanted to go home. He agreed to Ish's deal.
Over the Tyril and Crius route timelines, Zenn got to know both of them better and started to get attached to the world and want to figure out some way to save it, and specifically them. He saw bits of what was going on with Anastasia but since his contract said to avoid her and he thought she was a serial killing witch, he didn't dig very deeply.
He says at first he thought Tyril would be the one in danger and still finds it strange he's never been directly targeted during a Carnival.
Anastasia says she's going to fix everything but worries about how she arrived hours later than she intended last time. Zenn says she didn't, time reset for him as planned but Anastasia just didn't answer the door for several hours. She has a vague flash of a conversation with Ish but can't remember the details D:
He says that if none of this works, she didn't fail, she just followed the road as far as she could, and should just let herself take a vacation even if the world does end up destroyed.
Haaa at the trial Lucien is very Conrad-like in his smooth framing of his conflicts with Conrad as childhood foibles and healthy competition. When Crius says that if Lucien was the Membrum he'd have killed his (relatively young and healthy) father instead, to speed up the succession, Lucien says he's not that power hungry, and has always had a childhood dream of travelling away from all this. Doesn't claim to love his dad though lol, which Conrad probably would have.
Crius says Lucien's unwavering irrational dedication to Anastasia is like "An innocent child's faith in their mother". GUESS YOU'D KNOW ABOUT THE FUZZY LINE BETWEN PARENTAL AND ROMANTIC, HUH, CRIUS.
I'm 100% relying on a walkthrough at this point, I do not think quickly enough for these timed choices and at this point it feels more like clever mindgames than characterisation. (Did I mention that there are timed choices. You get 10 seconds so it's not too bad but walkthroughs can be Helpful)
OOOOHHH MANNNNN
As Anastasia condemns Crius, she thinks to herself "The man who loved you will never return. You can never reclaim what has been lost."
Crius, realising he's about to die: What drives you? What is your goal?
Anastasia: There are two paths in front of me. Both are evil. I would abandon the path I am on if I could, but if I run, I can't save everyone. I want to protect everyone, even if I have to sacrifice myself.
Crius: Something has been driving you the whole time I've known you. I thought something was off with you... but you're still the same, still driven. Maya saw that. Those who have reason to live, will live. Those who have the strength of their convictions, will triumph. Sorry Tyr.
And then he goes into the flames. Tyril looks quietly destroyed D:
AND THEN I JUST. PLAYED THROUGH TO THE END OF THE ROUTE. WHAT HAPPENED. UH.
Ok this is all vague memories...
Flashback:
Ish: Do you know what an unreliable narrator is?
Me: Oh no
Ish: I know you're too much of a muscle head to read much. But consider Cinderella from the witch's perspective. Maybe the dress she gave Cinderella was a burial shroud and the carriage a casket. And she tweaked the story juuuuust a bit to make it look like she was the saviour.
Me: Ohhh noooo
Anastasia and Zenn are attacked by an angry mob after Crius's death. Anastasia remembers the members of the Wings who are now trying to kill her, back when they accepted her as one of their own. Zenn saves her and they hide in the cathedral.
He asks if she is still motivated by her revenge. She says yes and asks if he thinks that's bad and he says revenge has kept her going this far but he wishes she would let herself consider her own happiness.
They talk about what to do when they win and Anastasia gains the ability to send one person to another world (this mechanic was not previously made at all clear!). She wants to send Zenn home but he says he's gotten fond of this world, and all he needs is to know that she's happy, somewhere.
Zenn suddenly pulls her out of the way and is hit by a knife.
Zenn: Did he... make an actual kunai?
Tyril: Did you come here hoping for Her mercy?
Tyril is cold as ice. He thinks Zenn has been taken in by Anastasia's lies and refuses to make the same mistake. A part of him wants to believe that Zenn knows what he's doing, and didn't betray him and Crius. He knows that interfering with the Carnival as a Inquisitor means he will die. But he is duty bound to protect Lucien, and try to save the world.
Anastasia: You can't kill me. Sacrificia can only die by suicide or execution at trial.
Tyril: That obviously wasn't true when you killed Conrad... ah. The witch changed the rules so you couldn't just wipe us all out and spoil his fun. Then I suppose I will be the one who dies tonight.
And then Lucien appears. He came here to pray to the Goddess.
Tyril: Before I die... did you really believe she was innocent?
Lucien: Yes. I refused to believe otherwise, until I heard them talking just now, even if I didn't understand all of it.
Anastasia: You weren't working with the witch? Why did you change so much?
Lucien: Change? I suppose I was inspired when you sent me that letter...
Suddenly she remembers sending him a letter of encouragement before she left home, as suggested by Maya. How did she forget?
Anastasia realises she really will have to kill Tyril, or he will make it impossible to beat Lucien at the next trial. She thinks about all the moments they shared, and how all that trust has vanished and been replaced with betrayal. She starts to cry.
Tyril: Why are you crying? Zenn, she's not crazy at all, is she? Have we misunderstood what Membra even are?
But that doesn't change the fact she has to kill him.
Until Lucien stabs himself, saying he will not let harm come to one of his subjects to save himself. Tyril is distraught: how can his own life compare to Lucien's?
As Lucien dies, he thanks Anastasia for everything she's done for him. And she finds herself in the Carnival courtroom. It's empty except for her, Zenn, and Ish.
Ish has finally shown his true face, which he says he was hiding because he "didn't want anyone overcome by how handsome he is".
He congratulates Anastasia on winning this game, and says he isn't going to make Anastasia a Membrum again, so this is her last chance to send Zenn home. He looks forward to playing more games with her in future, even though every time he loses she gains more power. And doesn't Zenn deserve to rest, after a hundred years(!!) of loneliness, where any friendship or romance is temporary and doomed?
Zenn says this is obviously all a setup: the witch has seen how powerful an ally Zenn is and wants to get rid of him. Ish is playing some longer game, where losing the Carnivals doesn't really matter.
But if she doesn't send Zenn home, she will be running away to some other world herself. Those are her only choices. So she sends him home.
Ish laughs about how she is truly alone, now, even though Zenn was so sweetly motivated by self sacrifice and love. He says his original plan was to set her up with Lucien, then 'crush his pretty little head', but that tragic childhood friends romance never quite panned out despite his best efforts. She realises that he was the one who got her to send that letter, pretending to be Maya.
And then he asks if she's figured out who's been telling him everything that's been happening.
And she realises: it's herself.
Every time she reset time, Ish came to her, and got her to talk. He laughs about how she would always cry, consumed with despair about her own useless failure to save those she loved.
Anastasia: Why are you doing this? How long have I been a part of your plans? Why do you want to destroy this world so badly?
Ish talks about all the horrors and injustices of this world. His Carnivals just demonstrate what was always there. He had nothing to do with her abuse at the hands of Evelina, her father, Orla, or Conrad. He isn't responsible for slavery, or false witch trials.
Doesn't she agree, that this world deserves to burn?
At last, she remembers. Ish didn't lie to Zenn. She really did kill all those people. Ish took her to a crowded street, and killed himself. All his power flowed into her, and she was overcome with hatred. Not his, but hers, all the hatred she'd been keeping locked down inside herself, going back to even before she was born.
And so the city burned.
And then she died, and she forgot.
But now she remembers. And now she is here, having killed or sent away everyone she ever loved, truly alone. She is filled with power, and consumed with despair.
She is the Witch of Cessation. The world starts to blur. Her body starts to become consumed with shadow. Ish's smile becomes huge and bright.
Ish: Even if you kill yourself, your heart is broken. You won't be able to reset :)
Zenn: Shut up.
Anastasia: But I sent you home?
Zenn, hugging her: And I came back. Don't give up. You've come this far. You can keep going. And I will always be with you. All I want is for you to be happy... and for that to happen, you need to fix everything. I know you can do it.
Ish: It won't work, she's too broken. I mean... oh no, don't die ;)
Anastasia: I don't... have control of my body... I need you to do it...
And so he kills her one last time.
I. I just...
HOW IS THE REST OF THE GAME GOING TO LIVE UP TO THAT????
WOW. I am taking a break just to sit with it. I haven't even played the interstitial bit before Lucien's route yet, I'm not ready!
Also Zenn didn't care about the world for 100 years and it was Crius and Tyril who taught him to care ;_; Also all the love interests are kinda passively suicidal??
Also Zenn coming back is a total Deus Ex Machina and I don't carrre best boooy
BUT ALSO. WTF IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT???
THIS IS SO GOOD OMG. JUST. SUCH A GOOD ANGSTY TIMELOOP FANTASY ROMANCE AHHHH
The romance itself is incredibly understated even compared to the others and I do not care I loooove himmm best boooooy.
It's very briefly just the tiniest bit queer. And I'm pretty sure Zenn is meant to be read as black?? But mostly it's all about the DELICIOUS ANGST as they like... bond and support each other despite being stuck in some deeply fucked up and traumatising fantasy timeloop bullshit :D
I have been avoiding adding images since the switch makes that troublesome and I didn't want to spoil myself, but I liked one CG so much I took a photo of the TV. And if you're curious what everyone looks like here's the official character page though I haven't clicked any of those links to avoid spoilers.
Content Notes, spoilers
just suicide and major character death I think! Practically darkness free ahahahaha
His card is the hanged man! Looks very cool. I counted and there's two cards with their backs turned, so maybe two secret routes?
The chapter names are "Blazing Regicide" here's hoping Conrad gets SET ON FIRE.
The game conveniently has Anastasia remind "herself" what's going on in her life at this moment: It's shortly before the War Games. Crius has given her a package to deliver to a pub. If Zenn doesn't distract the annoying drunkard, she ends up eaten by Mr Endy the weird puppet monster, but if he does he walks out and she loses track of him.
Ahaha so she shouts for Tyril's help before Zenn arrives, and he does scare off the drunkard.
Tyril: So who the hell are you? I don't like having my drinking- WTF WHY ARE YOU HUGGING ME AND CRYING
Crius: Tyr. Why is my subordinate hugging you and crying >:( Anastasia, what's- *blushes when she hugs him too*
Anastasia: GRAND COMMANDERRRR ;_; I. Um. Had a bad dream.
Tyril: Lol what how old are you.
Crius: Stay this way as long as you like :)
That is SUPER cute. Obvs an ot3 isn't on the cards for this route but I could see it working!
Zenn: So you did it again huh? :/ I just remembered somewhere I gotta be. Bye.
Tyril: WTF?
Zenn: *ignores him*
Crius: Zennn :)
Zenn: Tch. *stays*
Once again, Crius gets Anastasia to give Tyril the mead and asks him to help her out if she needs it. Crius asks Zenn to give her a discount if she needs help from him.
Tyril: Zenn, you don't need to listen, that's too much even for a debt of gratitude.
Just as Crius and Zenn have a cute bonding moment over both being into cooking it occurs to me that one easy way to solve the problem of Anastasia's polyamorous heart and create angst for her and Zenn is to kill off Tyril and Crius D:
He's just taken the exam to become a castle administrator even though it's "hard to get in as a commoner". So did he fake being noble in the first timeline, or fake NOT being noble later?
Crius says it's too late at night for her and Zenn to talk now and gets Zenn to gruffly agree to meeting with Anastasia tomorrow. She's worried he's just going to vanish again so grabs his coat, and gets a vision....
OF A MODERN CITY??
HAS THIS BEEN ISEKAI THIS WHOLE TIME????
While Anastasia is thinking "WTF WAS THAT???" he mutters "Don't worry, I won't be running any more".
Anastasia: So I have been hearing that the Grand Commander's garuda is sick could she be... pregnant?
Crius: Huh. It doesn't seem possible but... I'll look into it.
Which solves one of a billion problems, the rest of which are much harder. She's not sure if she should become a knight or an inquisitor.
SUDDENLY MR ENDY ATTACKS!!
Zenn appears and pushes her out of the way telling her to run. He shows up at her house later, seemingly none the worse for wear.
Anastasia: Thank you for saving me!
Zenn: Just thought it would be a pain if you used that Fatal Rewind of yours again. I hope you don't think we're friends or anything.
He says he's not a witch but an "antigen" and has been watching her, trying to figure out if she's the same kind of creature as "Ish", the one everyone else refers to as The Witch of Ruin. After all, they both turn everyone's lives upside down with magic.
She's so angry at being compared to the Witch that she PULLS OUT A KNIFE AND PUTS IT TO HIS THROAT.
Anastasia: Over and over I've watched the people I love die because of him! And you think we're the same? If you're on his side I'll-
Zenn: Kill me? Sounds nice.
He argues that she's the one supporting Ish's goals, creating opportunities to kill people and even rewinding the one time the witch was finally killed.
Anastasia: Crius was dead! Isn't he your friend? How can you say that was a happy ending?
Zenn: He'd want it that way. You know what kind of person he is. Anastasia- URK! *clutches chest* Already?? Answer me: Why did you kill everyone?
Witch: What a bad boy you are, Zenn. Didn't I tell you not to involve yourself with her? I don't need an antigen like you ruining my game.
Zenn: We were just talking.
Witch: I'd give up on making him your ally, Anastasia. He will never join you.
Anastasia: What kind of contract did you form with him?!
Zenn: ...Ninja... *collapses*
Witch: Oh boy he pushed himself a little too hard. Just because he won't die doesn't mean he won't suffer :) My condition was that he not dig too deeply into you beyond basic smalltalk. But if the conversations make his heart sway, the chains will pierce it. I'm sure you don't want to make him suffer. You good, obedient little girl :)
So she goes to the Inquisitor office and blackmails Tyril with the fact he's Ninja to get him to tell her about Zenn.
Tyril: I'm not sure what delusions you're entertaining, but I'm not the sort to sell out a friend for my own safety.
But he guesses that Zenn is the one who told her, as a roundabout way of passing on information.
Tyril: Zenn is from a different world with their own language and culture. He came here by accident, but hasn't aged and is all but immune to illness. His attempts to go home have been fruitless.
Ah she'd noticed he didn't look like the locals but just assumed he was from some foreign country. But if he's just a regular brown earth human why is his hair white and eyes red? Stylistic choice or Clue?
Ahaha Zenn gave Tyril the name "Ninja", what a weeb.
The sky goes black. Anastasia decides that if she's not a Sacrificia this time she'll join the Inquisition again to be involved with the trial. She thinks about how awful it would be to be a Membrum and remembers what Zenn said about her killing "everyone".
She would use her precognition ability but doesn't know how to do so on purpose. She realises all her visions have been of death and so focusses on that.
...and sees Conrad approaching her with an AXE. "I will enjoy your screams :D Finally you'll see, Lucien, that you can't even protect the woman you love!"
Ha, I can choose to be bothered by "one you love" or "screams". The important thing is that she was awake during a Membrum attack! The sleeping magic doesn't work on her any more!
Witch: Dear Prince, I have come to grant your wish, now open your heart to-
Anastasia: Stop right there!
Witch: Oho? Does my magic not work on your any more? Then have you come to save your former fiance? Ah, pure love ;)
He goes to turn Conrad into a Membrum anyway, then stops and goes "Wait. Anastasia. What do you desire? :)"
Anastasia: I want to defend those I love by defeating the witch. I want to be stronger.
Voice: There is no future without confronting the past. There is no hope without revenge. Fight! I am here to help you. When you win, I shall guide you into a beautiful world. But to reach there, you must rid yourself of those shackles at your ankles. I will sever the morals that confine you. Anastasia, you are free.
We see a montage of her abuse at the hands of her father, stepmother, and stepsister.
She bumps into Zenn while running into the noble district.
Anastasia: Why are you here?
Zenn: I don't know, I heard your voice asking me to stop you.
His warmth makes her come back to herself enough to go "Oh, I'm the Membrum" and pull out her sword. He knocks it out of her hand before she can kill herself. She feels an insatiable thirst for the death of her family.
Anastasia: Give me back my sword before I kill anyone!
Zenn: ...you really are the furthest thing from a murderer.
He says that around the time of the first route choice, Ish showed him a murdered town square and said it was all Anastasia, that murder is what she rewinds time for. Which... does not match any of her other behaviour, but he HAS been avoiding her, and nice people in this world CAN be surprisingly murderery.
She never heard of any murder on that scale. And she had a weird gap in her memories after choosing to play Ish's 'game'. Did she die?
Zenn says Ish doesn't seem to actually remember what happened in earlier timelines, since he's always bugging Zenn for details (which Zenn does not give) Yet the people chosen for the Carnival change every time.
Anastasia: So I might not be the membrum next time. Give me my sword.
She explains about Rune and says she wants to discuss the situation with him, too. Zenn says he sounds shady, and doesn't like her relying on the rewind, but lets her make this choice.
She tells Zenn to leave and then uses the sword to slit her own throat, belatedly realising she got the angle wrong and has doomed herself to a slow death.
But then he comes back, leans close, and says softly "Leave this to me next time", before he stabs her through the heart. ROMANCE :D
Man what happened I got really into it!
Rune says the only way anyone other than her can remember through resets is if they're from another world like Zenn, or in another world like Rune. He also starts telling her that he and Ish used to both work for the goddess before Ish betrayed Rune and stole something to do with the goddess's power, but then a literal X appears over his mouth and he says talking about the goddess is forbidden. But she exists, and is asleep, and cannot wake up and help anyone.
Pretty much the moment Anastasia gets back... she hears the voice again setting her "Free" as a Membrum, and the witch laughs that she cannot escape this fate.
Zenn stops her once more, she realises being around her is causing him horrible pain but he's trying to hide it. There is a conversation with Ish I didn't entirely follow where Anastasia rewrites Zenn's contract with Ish so that he can be close to her. Zenn says he also wants to add two terms: She has to discuss her plans with him, and if she needs to die again, she should ask him to do it for her. They shake hands.
Ish: Why do you even care Zenn, don't you want to go home? The people of this world aren't even real to you. Here you're a monster who can't die.
Anastasia: That's just a personal quirk! So what if he's a little tougher than other people, and looks young for his age. He's still a great person. Just because he's from another culture doesn't mean we can't connect.
They taunt the witch into revealing that he is actually the familiar of the even more powerful Witch of Cessation. Who does remember past events and passes it on to Ish, knows Anastasia's future, and will one day destroy the world.
Anastasia: How can you do this when you used to work for the Goddess?
Ish: I do this because this is the world she created!
I wonder if Anastasia and/or the Goddess became the Witch of Cessation.
For all this to work and Anastasia not to turn into a weird monster thing, she has to kill someone and get away with it, framing one of the other Sacrificia.
Ish: So, want me to teleport you to your family? Or Conrad? At last you can have your revenge :D :D
Anastasia: That's a personal matter, far less important than defeating you. And I'll walk, I don't need your help :)
It's not that she thinks killing her family would be WRONG, it would just look really suspicious. So Zenn directs her towards a creepy serial killer he helped catch recently.
After stabbing him through the heart she gets depressed at how easy it was. IS she a monster?
Zenn calmly walks over and stabs the corpse in a bunch more places to make it look less proffessional.
Zenn: You killed him in the most painless way possible, and you feel terrible. You seem like a regular human to me.
He says he's going to stick with her from now on, he's realised she can be trusted, and Crius asked him to look after her.
Anastasia: But if time gets rewound that won't be true any more.
Zenn: I still made that promise, even if he won't remember it. You're the same, right?
I really like that they feel like equals and allies, two people who have been circling around each other until now due to misunderstandings but are basically in the same boat, and recognise each other's competency and decency. He does definitely come across as older and more experienced (he was described as 26 when he was a suspect, but if he knows he doesn't age he is presumably much older than he looks, plus of course he has the same extra years from timeloops as Anastasia) but he doesn't have any power over her, nor does she look up to him as a Mentor the way she did Crius and Tyril. And he is perfectly happy to respect her expertise on topics she knows more about.
Of course Ish makes the trial as awful as possible: The other Sacrificia are Maya, Crius, Lucien, and Conrad. PLEASE LET ME KILL CONRAD, GAME. I WANT TO KILL CONRAD SO BAD. KILLING LUCIEN AGAIN WOULD BE BORING.
I was discussing this with a friend and suddenly realised: Zenn will remember their romance during the next route. So I guess he loses his memory or returns home to Earth. Or they break up but that seems too contrary to the genre.
AHHH OH GOD
So Zenn and Anastasia have some really sweet shippy moments of mutual support I do not remember much about because of WHAT HAPPENED NEXT but turns out he was a professional basketball player and finds it kinda uncomfortable that in this world people only physically train for stuff like swordwork. He promised his team he'd come back for the big game?? That's surprisingly cute as an angsty backstory. Anastasia bursts into tears on his behalf and he says she has better reasons to cry for herself, but appreciates it, and says he's sorry he took this long to ally with her.
SO. Turns out Maya was one of the many stalking victims of the creepy guy Anastasia killed, making her the only suspect with any real connection.
Conrad is... Conrad, ugh. And has an alibi >:( He's all "Let's be allies, dear cousin" while putting his arm around her and Anastasia freezes, consumed by bad memories, so Zenn pulls her away saying she 'belongs to him'. Afterwards he's apologetic and she says it's fine, not understanding why he'd be so concerned.
Lucien tells Anastasia he is going to save her and is her only ally in a way which makes me start to suspect he's going to be kinda yandere on his actual route. Maybe he's the witch!
Crius notices Anastasia is acting off.
Zenn: You need to be better at hiding your emotions. Just how in love with Cas are you?
Anastasia: ...how much did you see of all... that?
Zenn: I could tell he was in love with you when you became a knight in the Wings. Did you not love him back?
Anastasia: ...I don't know. I didn't have time to process it. I care a lot for him, but I'm not sure if those feelings are romantic.
Ahhh. Ok, fair. And Tyril was less obvious, I can see Zenn not having picked it up. But she also seemed more unambiguously romantically into Tyril? I guess there's SOME room for ambiguity, she didn't actually say it outright.
I couldn't bring myself to indict Maya so did my damnedest to frame Conrad... and Anastasia burned. Especially because the moment the trial started, Crius immediately accused her, with the logic that if she was innocent, she would have checked on Maya first thing instead of turning herself in.
So I went back to a walkthrough and... yep. The right choice was to indict Maya :( :( :( During the trial, it becomes clear that, like Crius, she knows Anastasia well enough to have realised she's the Membrum, she just doesn't care. Crius tries to persuade Maya that sometimes loving someone means not letting them off easily, and Maya says "That's just your opinion :)". She goes into the flames with a smile on her face, thanking Anastasia for making the right decision ;_; ;_;
AND THEN
Anastasia comes back to herself after the trial with Zenn pulling her back from killing herself with a blade to her throat. He hugs her and says she has to live, and keep going.
And then says the next thing the need to do is kill Crius :( :( :(
She hasn't won yet. She needs to be the last one standing. And Crius has already figured her out. If they can frame one of the others for his murder, that's two down, and then they only have to kill the last guy to have won.
Jesuuuuuus. This is DARK. I felt bad enough about killing Maya. I have to kill Crius AND Lucien too??? YES I WANTED TO KILL CONRAD BUT AT WHAT PRICE D: D: D:
AHHHHHHHH
Conrad was sneaking about and overheard them. They knock him out but are seen by a guard so he gets knocked out too. Anastasia recognises the guard as a former member of the Wings :(
Zenn: You kill Conrad. I'll kill this guy and Crius.
Anastasia: I can't ask you to do such a horrible thing.
Zenn: Better me than you.
;_;
She has so many reasons to hate Conrad but when she kills him she feels nothing.
They find Tyril and Crius both asleep under the witch's curse in Conrad's office. Zenn says "I didn't know they were close enough to sleep together" which would be cute and shippy but right now, as he is soon to point out, it actually means they have come up with a plan to trap Anastasia :( :(
AHHH but then they are stopped by Ish, who says it would be boring to only have two people at the next trial, so adds an extra rule about not killing other Sacrificia. But suicide is still allowed, if she decides to give up :)
Anastasia says that if he gets to change the rules he should have to pay a penalty and so he answers a single question: Where is the witch of Cessation?
Ish: She is not yet in this world. But she is always close at hand.
Zenn looks sadly at the sleeping Tyril and wishes they had him on their side.
As they leave, Anastasia notices a note in Crius's hand: "Huma is pregnant. We were able to save her thanks to you". Even knowing she was the Membrum, and would come here to kill him, he chose to have his final words to her be kind ;_;
Can they get Crius and Tyril onside? They already know Zenn is immortal and is siding with Anastasia, would that be enough to persuade them she isn't just a lying murderer?
Haaaaa the conversation with Crius the next day was superficially friendly but strained on both sides. At the end he tells Anastasia that Huma just had a stomach-ache, with his usual smile, and it takes all of her self control to hide her reaction to this obvious trap.
The castle guard has been instructed to let Anastasia in, but noone else, including Zenn. Since he was helping her yesterday this feels like a deliberate slight. Luckily he's about to start working there as a administrator so puts his uniform on and says he'll pretend to be "on an internship", a term which leaves Anastasia baffled lol.
Zenn mutters that he knows it doesn't suit him but Anastasia says he looks very dashing and he blushes. I agree, glad we got to see him in it again! Afaict his Japanese becomes much more formal and polite when he's playing at being a civil servant, while his usual tone is more gruff and informal. Also idk if I mentioned it previously but he's always smoking, which seems an odd choice for an athlete but maybe he picked it up after becoming immortal. At one point Anastasia thinks that she had never thought of tobacco as a pleasant smell but she likes it on him aww.
Lucien is deeply dubious of Zenn, saying he knows Zenn owes Crius for rescuing him when he was passed out in an alley (hmm obviously Zenn's life wasn't in danger, but maybe this was early on when Zenn was setting himself up? How long has he been here and how long has he known Crius?)
Anastasia says she is aware of their deep bond, but also trusts Zenn. Especially since he's not a good enough liar to be a spy haha.
Lucien is all 'well if you trust him he must be trustworthy'. He says he wants Anastasia to team up with him against Crius: Lucien has the strongest motive to kill Conrad, while Crius is likely to go after Anastasia again. Working against Crius feels SO weird, for me and Anastasia and presumably Zenn.
Lucien: Does he have any weaknesses?
Zenn and Anastasia: He is a perfect man without flaws.
Anastasia/the player has the chance to bring up Crius's sister but instead she mentions a newspaper article which said his female fans were disappointed to see him be so unchivalrous to Anastasia, and they agree to try and exploit that during the trial, though Zenn has doubts about Anastasia's ability to act lol. Zenn likes that Anastasia is still trying to minimise causing suffering as much as she can. But they are still going to betray and murder Crius.
They compare notes on Lucien: Anastasia's childhood memories remain fuzzy but he's been a surprisingly staunch supporter in every timeline. In the first timeline Lucien was drawn to Zenn since he had noone else he could trust not to side with Conrad, and he talked about her then. They have not been close in other timelines (Zenn still hasn't explained why he switched from administrator to detective, maybe to help Crius better?) but it's clear that Lucien openly and strongly supports Anastasia.
Zenn tries asking the castle maids for information but scares them off with his stern expression.
Mael: You'll never get women to talk to you like- Gasp! The pretty knight cadet who's like a real life Pretty Soldier Cross! (In Japanese it was Bishoujo Senshi something, which is very similar to the Japanese title of Sailor Moon)
Anastasia: Pretty...?
Zenn: It's a book from my world. This idiot likes hearing about it.
Mael: YOU CAN TELL ME ABOUT PRETTY SAILOR CROSS?? I OWN EVERY EDITION SO FAR!!
Wait. If Mael has read it does that mean Zenn has a sideline publishing novels plagiarised from anime?? WEEB ZENN CONFIRMED.
Zenn: I'll tell you if you explain about how to get women to trust me.
Mael: You need to be more gently seductive and increase your sex appeal, maybe undo some buttons...
Zenn: You sound like Crius :/
Anastasia, suddenly uncomfortable for Some Reason: Zenn doesn't need to lower himself like that. If someone is to use sex appeal, it will be me!
Mael: If you insist :D Leave it to me!
There's a scene of her being uncomfortably corseted and padded etc.
Zenn: Well. That's quite the transformation.
Anastasia: No but why am I dressed like a man?
Mael: To get women to talk to you! Men in this country are so overbearing that women are drawn to gentleness. And people should wear whatever they like, men or women.
The CG is so good I took a photo of my TV:
Sure enough all the maids and noblewomen fall over themselves to tell her whatever she wants.
Maid: Your voice... are you a woman?
Anastasia: Is there something wrong with that?
Maid: No :)
Zenn implicitly gets a little jealous and joins her, smiling gently and winning over the women just as easily with his academic vibe.
Anastasia: I've never seen you smile like that before. I suppose you're practiced at courting women >.>
Zenn: Courting... you've never seen me smile like that because none of my smiles to you were fake!
*both become awkwardly blushy*
Ok was not expecting "Otome heroine dresses as a man and teams up with love interest to flirt with women" but I am here for it!!
The main useful info they get is something Zenn already knew, but I guess it's good to have other witnesses: Ever since Anastasia asked for Zenn's help bringing down Conrad's slavery in the first timeline, Crius, Zenn and Tyril have teamed up to undermine Conrad's shady dealings. Crius was already looking into Conrad smuggling Garudas.
At this point I realised Anastasia can't have been memory wiped before, or Zenn would know, unless it happened before he isekai-ed. So something has specifically happened to mess with her memories of Lucien, I'm guessing something to do with a witch.
Anastasia: Why are you so grateful to Crius?
Zenn: It will just depress you.
Anastasia: But I want to understand your feelings, just like you've been so understanding about mine.
He avoids answering that question by instead explaining more of the rest of his backstory: In the first timeline, it's still not clear how long he was stuck in this world or what he was doing while he learned the language etc. But at some point, I think when Anastasia and Lucien were still young, Zenn happened to save Lucien from thugs, and Lucien cried until Zenn agreed to work for him. So Lucien faked Zenn's noble background and Zenn spent the next 8 years working in the castle dealing with all the Lucien vs Conrad crap having a terrible time. He was vaguely aware of Tyril and Crius but thought Crius was a fake-smiling creep lol. When Anastasia asked him for help he ended up working with Crius as another person trying to take down Conrad.
And then time reset. He had no idea what had happened.
I'm a bit fuzzy on the timeline here but I think: He spent the 8 years of the leadup to the path choice doing... nothing in particular? Some time during this period Crius saved Zenn from Something, and Zenn started becoming friends with Crius and Tyril.
Just before the first path choice, Ish showed Zenn the town square full of bodies and said this was all Anastasia's doing, that the two of them were witches having a huge battle which Zenn was better staying out of. Zenn still didn't feel much attachment to this world and wanted to go home. He agreed to Ish's deal.
Over the Tyril and Crius route timelines, Zenn got to know both of them better and started to get attached to the world and want to figure out some way to save it, and specifically them. He saw bits of what was going on with Anastasia but since his contract said to avoid her and he thought she was a serial killing witch, he didn't dig very deeply.
He says at first he thought Tyril would be the one in danger and still finds it strange he's never been directly targeted during a Carnival.
Anastasia says she's going to fix everything but worries about how she arrived hours later than she intended last time. Zenn says she didn't, time reset for him as planned but Anastasia just didn't answer the door for several hours. She has a vague flash of a conversation with Ish but can't remember the details D:
He says that if none of this works, she didn't fail, she just followed the road as far as she could, and should just let herself take a vacation even if the world does end up destroyed.
Haaa at the trial Lucien is very Conrad-like in his smooth framing of his conflicts with Conrad as childhood foibles and healthy competition. When Crius says that if Lucien was the Membrum he'd have killed his (relatively young and healthy) father instead, to speed up the succession, Lucien says he's not that power hungry, and has always had a childhood dream of travelling away from all this. Doesn't claim to love his dad though lol, which Conrad probably would have.
Crius says Lucien's unwavering irrational dedication to Anastasia is like "An innocent child's faith in their mother". GUESS YOU'D KNOW ABOUT THE FUZZY LINE BETWEN PARENTAL AND ROMANTIC, HUH, CRIUS.
I'm 100% relying on a walkthrough at this point, I do not think quickly enough for these timed choices and at this point it feels more like clever mindgames than characterisation. (Did I mention that there are timed choices. You get 10 seconds so it's not too bad but walkthroughs can be Helpful)
OOOOHHH MANNNNN
As Anastasia condemns Crius, she thinks to herself "The man who loved you will never return. You can never reclaim what has been lost."
Crius, realising he's about to die: What drives you? What is your goal?
Anastasia: There are two paths in front of me. Both are evil. I would abandon the path I am on if I could, but if I run, I can't save everyone. I want to protect everyone, even if I have to sacrifice myself.
Crius: Something has been driving you the whole time I've known you. I thought something was off with you... but you're still the same, still driven. Maya saw that. Those who have reason to live, will live. Those who have the strength of their convictions, will triumph. Sorry Tyr.
And then he goes into the flames. Tyril looks quietly destroyed D:
AND THEN I JUST. PLAYED THROUGH TO THE END OF THE ROUTE. WHAT HAPPENED. UH.
Ok this is all vague memories...
Flashback:
Ish: Do you know what an unreliable narrator is?
Me: Oh no
Ish: I know you're too much of a muscle head to read much. But consider Cinderella from the witch's perspective. Maybe the dress she gave Cinderella was a burial shroud and the carriage a casket. And she tweaked the story juuuuust a bit to make it look like she was the saviour.
Me: Ohhh noooo
Anastasia and Zenn are attacked by an angry mob after Crius's death. Anastasia remembers the members of the Wings who are now trying to kill her, back when they accepted her as one of their own. Zenn saves her and they hide in the cathedral.
He asks if she is still motivated by her revenge. She says yes and asks if he thinks that's bad and he says revenge has kept her going this far but he wishes she would let herself consider her own happiness.
They talk about what to do when they win and Anastasia gains the ability to send one person to another world (this mechanic was not previously made at all clear!). She wants to send Zenn home but he says he's gotten fond of this world, and all he needs is to know that she's happy, somewhere.
Zenn suddenly pulls her out of the way and is hit by a knife.
Zenn: Did he... make an actual kunai?
Tyril: Did you come here hoping for Her mercy?
Tyril is cold as ice. He thinks Zenn has been taken in by Anastasia's lies and refuses to make the same mistake. A part of him wants to believe that Zenn knows what he's doing, and didn't betray him and Crius. He knows that interfering with the Carnival as a Inquisitor means he will die. But he is duty bound to protect Lucien, and try to save the world.
Anastasia: You can't kill me. Sacrificia can only die by suicide or execution at trial.
Tyril: That obviously wasn't true when you killed Conrad... ah. The witch changed the rules so you couldn't just wipe us all out and spoil his fun. Then I suppose I will be the one who dies tonight.
And then Lucien appears. He came here to pray to the Goddess.
Tyril: Before I die... did you really believe she was innocent?
Lucien: Yes. I refused to believe otherwise, until I heard them talking just now, even if I didn't understand all of it.
Anastasia: You weren't working with the witch? Why did you change so much?
Lucien: Change? I suppose I was inspired when you sent me that letter...
Suddenly she remembers sending him a letter of encouragement before she left home, as suggested by Maya. How did she forget?
Anastasia realises she really will have to kill Tyril, or he will make it impossible to beat Lucien at the next trial. She thinks about all the moments they shared, and how all that trust has vanished and been replaced with betrayal. She starts to cry.
Tyril: Why are you crying? Zenn, she's not crazy at all, is she? Have we misunderstood what Membra even are?
But that doesn't change the fact she has to kill him.
Until Lucien stabs himself, saying he will not let harm come to one of his subjects to save himself. Tyril is distraught: how can his own life compare to Lucien's?
As Lucien dies, he thanks Anastasia for everything she's done for him. And she finds herself in the Carnival courtroom. It's empty except for her, Zenn, and Ish.
Ish has finally shown his true face, which he says he was hiding because he "didn't want anyone overcome by how handsome he is".
He congratulates Anastasia on winning this game, and says he isn't going to make Anastasia a Membrum again, so this is her last chance to send Zenn home. He looks forward to playing more games with her in future, even though every time he loses she gains more power. And doesn't Zenn deserve to rest, after a hundred years(!!) of loneliness, where any friendship or romance is temporary and doomed?
Zenn says this is obviously all a setup: the witch has seen how powerful an ally Zenn is and wants to get rid of him. Ish is playing some longer game, where losing the Carnivals doesn't really matter.
But if she doesn't send Zenn home, she will be running away to some other world herself. Those are her only choices. So she sends him home.
Ish laughs about how she is truly alone, now, even though Zenn was so sweetly motivated by self sacrifice and love. He says his original plan was to set her up with Lucien, then 'crush his pretty little head', but that tragic childhood friends romance never quite panned out despite his best efforts. She realises that he was the one who got her to send that letter, pretending to be Maya.
And then he asks if she's figured out who's been telling him everything that's been happening.
And she realises: it's herself.
Every time she reset time, Ish came to her, and got her to talk. He laughs about how she would always cry, consumed with despair about her own useless failure to save those she loved.
Anastasia: Why are you doing this? How long have I been a part of your plans? Why do you want to destroy this world so badly?
Ish talks about all the horrors and injustices of this world. His Carnivals just demonstrate what was always there. He had nothing to do with her abuse at the hands of Evelina, her father, Orla, or Conrad. He isn't responsible for slavery, or false witch trials.
Doesn't she agree, that this world deserves to burn?
At last, she remembers. Ish didn't lie to Zenn. She really did kill all those people. Ish took her to a crowded street, and killed himself. All his power flowed into her, and she was overcome with hatred. Not his, but hers, all the hatred she'd been keeping locked down inside herself, going back to even before she was born.
And so the city burned.
And then she died, and she forgot.
But now she remembers. And now she is here, having killed or sent away everyone she ever loved, truly alone. She is filled with power, and consumed with despair.
She is the Witch of Cessation. The world starts to blur. Her body starts to become consumed with shadow. Ish's smile becomes huge and bright.
Ish: Even if you kill yourself, your heart is broken. You won't be able to reset :)
Zenn: Shut up.
Anastasia: But I sent you home?
Zenn, hugging her: And I came back. Don't give up. You've come this far. You can keep going. And I will always be with you. All I want is for you to be happy... and for that to happen, you need to fix everything. I know you can do it.
Ish: It won't work, she's too broken. I mean... oh no, don't die ;)
Anastasia: I don't... have control of my body... I need you to do it...
And so he kills her one last time.
I. I just...
HOW IS THE REST OF THE GAME GOING TO LIVE UP TO THAT????
WOW. I am taking a break just to sit with it. I haven't even played the interstitial bit before Lucien's route yet, I'm not ready!
Also Zenn didn't care about the world for 100 years and it was Crius and Tyril who taught him to care ;_; Also all the love interests are kinda passively suicidal??
Also Zenn coming back is a total Deus Ex Machina and I don't carrre best boooy
BUT ALSO. WTF IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT???
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Date: 2024-12-02 06:50 am (UTC)It's very briefly just the tiniest bit queer.
!!!
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Date: 2024-12-02 07:13 am (UTC)VERY briefly and the TINIEST bit. But I did enjoy it. And I look forward to hearing your thoughts :D