Atzi awoke to the sound of knocking at her door.

  "Bweugh?" She sat upright in a hurry. "Who is it?"

  "Atzi?" came a familiar voice.

  Hemm's.

  "Hemm? Hemm?!" Atzi pulled herself out of bed in a hurry and ran over to the door to open it.

  Standing before her was Hemm, not a scratch on her. She smiled up at Atzi, blinking her one big beautiful eye.

  Atzi sighed in relief. "You're alright... that's good, I thought you'd..."

  "Died?" Hemm asked.

  Atzi nodded. "Where've you been? Were you hiding somewhere? It's good they let you in - how'd you even know to find me here?"

  "That's the thing, Atzi," Hemm said. "You were right."

  The room behind her ignited in flames.

  "I did die."

  Atzi screamed and stumbled backwards. "H-Hemm, what's going on?"

  "It's all your fault," Hemm said, as the fire raced into the room.

  Atzi could smell burning flesh. "It's not my fault! I didn't know! I didn't know they'd do that! I'm s-sorry! It's not my fault!"

  "You don't deserve to live!" Hemm roared in a monstrous voice.

  Flames engulfed Atzi, and she screamed in agony.

  Then she woke up.

  "Ahhhh! No no no no-" She looked around. She calmed down as she realised it was just a dream. "Urgh..." It's not my fault!

  There was a knock at her door.

  She jumped a little, and then cowered under the sheets before replying. "Y-yeah?"

  "Get dressed and come down to the parlor," came Elliot's voice.

  "Okay." Atzi said listlessly. At least that's easy enough to do.

  She pulled herself out of bed, got dressed and wandered down.

  -

  When Atzi arrived, there was hot tea being poured by a maid, and a plate of cheese snacks. The parlor was small, but tastefully decorated. At least Atzi assumed it was tasteful.

  "Leave us," the prophet of the Star commanded, and the maid did so. It was now just Elliot and Atzi. "Sit."

  Atzi sat on a wooden stool just across from her. Even if we're sort of peers now, I feel like she's in charge and I shouldn't piss her off. She did grab a cheese snack to eat, though.

  "There are a few matters which I must address with you given your… complicated position."

  "You mean being the Saintess' prophet now?"

  "Yes." Elliot nodded, and templed her fingers. "First, so long as Malus lives, you will not be able to take the mantle of prophet publicly. As far as everyone is concerned, you are merely a special guest of the Saintess's church. Only later will we reveal to them you were training to be the next prophet all along."

  "So no special privileges, but no responsibilities?" Atzi said between bites of cheese.

  "You will be given the sanctuary of the church, provided room and service."

  "When do we, uh, announce it? 'Cause wouldn't Malus have to die first, or go into hiding?"

  "Only when she dies. She is old. She will eventually. I also sent her off to fight in the war against Hasen." Elliot gave a perverse smile. "Perhaps if I'm lucky..."

  "Eh? W-wait, but I need her to teach me stuff first! I can't even do prophet stuff!"

  Elliot waved a hand, dismissing Atzi's concern. "Did you know the first thing she asked, after you went to bed?"

  "What?" Atzi asked.

  "She asked permission to kill you to regain her spot as prophet. I asked the Star, and the Star denied it, for it would be too great a risk - there's no telling if the Saintess would truly return to make her prophet. And not someone else once more..."

  Atzi swallowed and sat there quietly for a couple seconds. "Th-thank you. B-but every other time I died, it didn't, um... the Saintess has still been with me every time I came back, so I dunno if it would even work..."

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  Elliots eyes flashed. "You mentioned something like that before. Tell me more."

  "Well, it started about a week ago. Sort of. That's when it always begins. I got pushed off a wall, I died, then I woke up in the street again like nothing happened. Then I tried doing things differently, but even if I made it the undead always killed me, I musta died to them four or five times, now?" She wasn't keeping count. "All that sticks is what I remember, I wake up like I'm totally fine."

  "If what you're saying is true, all of this will be undone and you'll have to keep going through it," Elliot said with sympathy in her voice.

  "Yeah, I know… I hate that," Atzi said.

  Elliot grinned wide.

  "Um... but I think that big gate might be what caused it, so I don't know if I'd..." Elliot's expression registered to Atzi. "W-wait, I know that look! I don't know if it'll still work!"

  Elliot hummed in question.

  Atzi cautiously asked, "You... you're not gonna kill me then ask me what it felt like, are you...?"

  Elliot arched a single eyebrow. "Why would I?"

  "Oh. Someone did. Uh. Forget about it. Did you have a different idea?"

  "Oh yes." Elliot nodded. "I know what's causing your problem, in fact. And how to fix it. Or rather, The Star does, and has so graciously shared the knowledge with me."

  "They know?" Thank you Star, you're the best. Sorry Serpent.

  "For you see, he has dominion over time."

  "Woah."

  "Your condition is the result of a recent injustice that must be corrected for you to be cured. A certain artifact was stolen from the Star by one of his enemies." Elliot paused. "You will do best to keep this fact a secret to all but me."

  "S-stolen? I didn't steal it, I promise! I don't even know what kinda thing could do that!"

  Elliot chuckled. "Oh I know. I also know exactly where it is. Now that I have this position, it can be retrieved."

  "Oh. That's nice." Atzi ate another cheese snack. She was happy to hear that there was a way out of this mess. "Where is it?"

  "Far in the northern sea, the icy currents north of the frost giant lands, where rumored 'merfolk' live."

  "How'd it get there? A-and how'd that affect me?"

  "The Star is more powerful than you can imagine, and has lesser but comparably powerful enemies. He does not live in this world, but far above, looking over all of us from heaven. When his foes stole his artifact, they rode it down to this world. It would have looked like a shooting star."

  Atzi vaguely remembered a pretty shooting star, about a month before everything began. "I... remember one from a while ago. Before I started looping in time."

  "It is likely the thieves tried to use its powers and damaged it. Causing your predicament." Elliot said.

  "Wait. Wait, wait. But it happened at the same time I started hearing the Saintess. That's the craziest coincidence ever. Both those things happened to a... not very important person like me, at the same time?

  "All things work in mysterious ways, and though the Star is mighty, the exact workings of his foes is not his knowledge. It is likely the power targeted the Saintess, and then because the Saintess attached to you…"

  Atzi made a noise of understanding. "That'd make sense. So... because of this artifact, I keep going back in time? So even if I died now, I would?" Then she added, "Don't test it please."

  "Yes. Though… who knows how long the artifact will remain stable." Elliot sipped her tea. "It is best if you assist in its retrieval. As soon as possible."

  "S-so how do I even help? It's definitely with the... mermaids, you said?" She'd read stories about them before. Pornographic ones.

  "Merfolk. It crashed into the sea near their supposed territory. Whether they have it now, I do not know."

  "I can't even breathe underwater. Only people I know who can live in Cthargictha and they, uh, probably hate us right now."

  Elliot gave a patient smile. "If you need such a minor trinket, it can be provided."

  The situation finally registered to Atzi. "Wait, you're sending me?"

  "Along with a trained crew, yes. I can not spare many because of the war, but it must be you who goes on this journey and retrieves the artifact, for only then will The Star be able to resolve your issue." Elliot smiled gently. "And then, with the power of artifact, win the war."

  "Is... not dying really an issue?" Atzi suddenly asked, considering that maybe staying in the loop wasn't so bad next to braving freezing waters. "I-I mean, I wanna just keep living, of course! B-but this doesn't happen unless I'd be dead anyway."

  "If the artifact is not retrieved, who knows what it could do to your soul when it breaks completely. Would you rather live a few lives and be wiped from existence, or have an eternal afterlife...?"

  "I-it might do that? Oh no..." Atzi briefly panicked.

  "We share an interest here, Atzi. I want to see the artifact retrieved. You want to end your repeated suffering, and not suffer a worse fate. It is only natural that we work together on this."

  Atzi thought about it. There wasn't a lot she understood, still. But she had already gotten this far without really knowing what she was doing. "When, um... do I go there? And do you have something to help me with the cold?"

  Elliot smiled. "Another simple trinket. You will leave tomorrow morning."

  Atzi whined. She wanted to relax. "Tomorrow…?"

  Elliot continued, ignoring her. "And should you die, and come back, it's very important you tell me everything. Everything," she emphasized, enunciating every syllable. "So I can help you."

  "I get it, I get it!" Then Atzi thought of something important. "Wait, how do I get in touch with you if I do? I'll just be someone you don't know. Do you have any way I can meet you easily?"

  "Simply scream 'the northern sea' at me. I'm sure it will catch my attention." Elliot set down her tea cup. "You must know when I arrive in the city?"

  "Oh. Yeah, I know when you arrive. All the big parades are pretty hard to miss." Though I haven't seen the Dragon's. Or the Demon's. And they're both pretty hard to miss. Huh.

  "You will need to cut through eastern Novae, into Tarsus. There you will board the boat and head north west to the artifact."

  "And... does the Star know where it is, down there?"

  Elliot closed her eyes, as though in concentration. "You will need to search for its exact location, but it should be somewhere deep, deep below."

  "Great..." Atzi said, less than enthused. The Star wanted her to go all the way across the continent, into the cold, and then somehow find something underwater. All this instead of letting her take a well-deserved break.

  But, didn't this mean she still had an opportunity to bring Hemm back?

  A plan formed together in her mind. She would almost definitely die trying to get the artifact, even if she tried not to. No way it'd be easy. Then Hemm would come back. Atzi would make sure she didn't die, still go to the godscouncil to stop the undead, and then solve the artifact thing.

  Then she'd be showered in praise and everything would be perfect and she would never need to die again.

  It was the perfect plan.

  How could it go wrong?