First stop is the man-turned-kid's little fort. In the dead of night, Neo kicks open the door.

Rips the fox-like mask from his face.

Skips out and away while the guy has a panic attack.

The commotion is enough to draw the attention of the music-playing guy and piece of the fairy lady. In a three-for-one stress relief, she snags the fairy-bit in her umbrella and pushes the man into the small area of nearby water. Bonus, a mask floats up beside his flailing body. After this much success, Neo allows herself to hope this mask-finding business will be easier than it looks.

The Great Fairy crushes that foolish thought with nary a glance at the retrieved items, "Those barely have any magic. That one," she points to the feathery bird-like monstrosity, "can have animals follow you while you play music and the other one summons a Keaton under specific conditions."

A what?

"Oh, do you not have them Remnant? They are three tailed fox-like beings-" Neo's mind jumps to a Grimm that fits the description, and the Great Fairy balks. "No! They're not like that at all. If you could summon one of your creatures, you would likely be able to defeat Skull Kid. No, this mask cannot help you. With their power though… hmm…"

Neo makes a hurry it up gesture.

"Hmph. It is not like you will be leaving here for good. Look for some masks these three days. Next time I am back together, I'll have something for you to try."

Rolling her eyes, Neo kicks her heels in a twist. Umbrella on her shoulder, she saunters out on a quest to maximize the chaos if not the death toll in this town. The woman has been holding back; now with the anger and memories of last-loop's carnage she isn't going to feel bad about being the reason someone dies. Unfortunately, it would be a hassle if the town sees her kill in broad daylight.

Outside, after taking a moment to scan the area and smirk, Neo leaps with enough enhanced strength to leave a small crater. Her umbrella point pops the balloon of the man always watching the children in the daylight. He falls to the ground with a shriek, and she makes sure to knock him out before looting him. The guards don't even blink twice, blank faces pointed forwards.

Neo doubletakes at what she finds. Honest-to-goodness maps.

You, she decides with a cool look at the unconscious man, will never be safe again.

Brushing off the dust from her pants, Neo kicks him once more for good measure and continues on her way.

The night ends with a raid on the Curiosity Shop, taking the face torture gear because it's close enough to a mask-

- "If you wear it," the Great Fairy explains when Neo shows it, "you will not fall asleep. That has more to do with the design than any magical strength, though there is a lot of suffering imbued into it." –

- but Neo stashes it because she has standards on what she'll be see with. In the morning, it doesn't take long to find a place where a bunch of the townspeople are arguing. Neo, loving the criminal life, scoops up the mask shaped like the man-turned-child-

- "It does nothing. I can't even feel the faintest traces of magic on it."-

- and ends up hiding out in the empty inn rooms while a bunch of people run around outside. Turns out interrupting the oh-so-important meeting and stealing the face-mask caused a massive domino effect. There's a lot of screaming, not that Neo pays attention to it. No, she is much more interested in the mask displayed in the room she's hiding in. A cute little thing above a very pretty, white dress. Lots of detail to this one-

- "Now this is something powerful. However… I do not think it is complete. Unless you're trying to convince someone that you love them, this isn't going to help."-

- but Neo thinks it would be best with some kind of theatre or performance troupe rather than the getup it's paired with. Still, she plucks it off the stand and stashes it with the rest. With all of the screaming and panicking happening in the town, Neo is limited to striking only at night.

At least this daytime is entertaining. Better than watching Skull kid lay waste to the buildings.

Breaking into the Milk Bar involves more blood than it probably should, but it is successful in that the man at the bar practically shoves the mask at Neo the moment he lays eyes on her. In fact, he shoves all of his possessions towards her, begging for mercy. The woman smiles prettily, ups the illusion on herself to something out of nightmares, and pushes him off the chair when he screams.

Not ready to turn the illusion off, the postman also faints at the sight of her. Neo steals his hat as she skips through the nearly-empty streets. She absolutely pushes an old woman to the ground just to steal everything from the lady's sack.

The Great Fairy looks over the last of the human's loot. "The mask of the troupe leader will cause you to sob uncontrollably. If you could get it on Skull Kid, it might help… but I wouldn't count on it. His magic is stronger and may just absorb it. The round mask lets you explode like a bomb, but you will hurt yourself. The hat you're wearing is actually the most powerful thing here." Just when Neo's getting a faint excited-wary combo, it gets crushed with, "It allows you to see inside mailboxes."

That's it?

"That is it."

The smaller woman huffs and tosses the hat into the fountain. Do I need to steal hats now?

"No, only masks."

Great. Any suggestions on where to go next?

"Nope."

Some help you are, Neo pouts and sits against the cave wall. Watches the water roll over the masks and hat without a care for them. She tries to think of anywhere else in this insane town that may hold a mask. When that fails, she tries to think about the lands outside the city walls and comes up empty there too.

"I am sure there are some out there," the Great Fairy encourages. Neo glares. "You have all the time in the world to look for them. Finding these masks so far was a good start. I never would have thought to look for them. What made you decide to do so?"

After a moment of sizing up the woman and her intentions, Neo purposefully projects the last loop's end in her thoughts.

"Oh, them," the giant lady twists her face into something truly unpleasant for the first time since they've been acquainted. "Do not take the words of the departed to heart. The dead enjoy twisting things into their favour."

Neo shunts all her emotions and thoughts to the back, careful not to project any of the vitriol or venom at the woman who could squash her if she really felt like it. So far, whoever them is has been more helpful than this woman. Neo could have figured all of the mask powers for herself and – obvious by the lack of discovering any new abilities – she doesn't need whatever this person forced upon her at the first meeting. In fact, Neopolitan has just become very aware that she has fallen into an emotional trap she swore never to have happen again.

It was different with Roman, when they were all that was left. Latching on to the only person who remembers the time loop, going to the giant for advice and for someone to talk to… as though there is some level of caring between them. If Neo lets this go on any longer, then there's a high risk of being used and thrown away. Possibly killed, if the giant wants her gifted powers back.

Neo forces herself to stand, eyes rolling as she is cautious not to expose her back on the way out of the cave. It's not like I plan to go there again.

"You may need to, if you cannot find masks in the other regions."

Neo is careful not to respond. Sighs once she's out of the cave and under the morning light. She will have to see what the giant woman wants at the start of the next loop, but there's no other reason to return for this one. After that, Neo will only allow a reformation every few loops so the creature hovering in the cave does not get suspicious.

With the stress slowly falling on her shoulders, Neo walks out to the surrounding field. No one frowns upon killing the things out there. No one person for her to gravitate to, no matter how accidentally.

When she gets out of this place, Neo is finding Roman and making him take them on a vacation. Somewhere with nice weather, lots of seedy people, and a no-holds-barred atmosphere.

;;;

There is not any luck for the loop. The old hags in the forest are no help, the Deku people's leader has a weird leaf mustache and none of their faces are masks, and some bizarre spider-infested house in the forest didn't hold anything of importance. Neo makes it to the edge of Romani Ranch just hours before the moon lands. There, she finds baby Roman sitting on a crate, unresponsive.

The small dog whines at Neo's approach but does nothing to stop the woman from kneeling down in front of the blank faced girl. After a moment of nothing, Neo sets her umbrella down. Lifts up both gloved hands and slides them to cradle the girl's cheeks.

Baby Roman blinks a little faster, eyes struggling to focus, "…Huh? Practice… you want to?"

Neo's eyebrows furrow.

"But… this… What is this practice for? …Romani… can't remember."

There's a moment of near-clarity, the girl's shoulders shuddering. Then Neo's hands are off as the girl wails. The child's head gets thrown back as sobs rack her body, before she slams her head into her knees and digs fingers into her face, "No!"

The girl falls off the crate in tears that the dog tries to lick off. Neo sighs, gaze flattening on the child. The woman doesn't need to be here for this. It will all go away soon, it will happen again next loop regardless. It would be better for productivity if Neo got up and searched, leaving no need to come back in another loop.

The woman sits herself beside the girl, pulls her in a half hug, and uses the free hand to pet the girl's hair. A small hum rumbles in her chest and she doesn't dare look towards the traumatized child falling asleep against her.

So much for not sticking by someone, Neo thinks.

The world around them rumbles in warning.

;;;

Neo pushes off the Clock Tower.

Morning of the First Day: 78 Hours Remaining

Locks down her intent, emotions, and memories. Gathers the fairy piece in her umbrella and reforms the Great Fairy, eventually.

The giant snaps her fingers and a mask with the hovering lady's head-shape floats down to Neo, "Scattered through the four temples of this land are broken Stray Fairies like me. If you wear this, the stray fairies will not fear you. Putting them back together may aid you on your quest."

The human narrows her eyes, gazing back and forth between the mask and giant, why not tell me this before?

"Unlike myself, they are not strong enough to contain their pieces to their springs. The one piece you gather to reform me will be child's play in comparison to finding them."

Figures, Neo huffs but doesn't put the mask on yet. Instead, attaches it to her belt and waves a goodbye. The skip in her step disappears only once she is long out of sight. Even then, she waits until she's far north and in deep cold before putting on the mask.

Nothing happens, which is a very big relief because here Neo thought she was going to be possessed or something equally as horrifying. From the mask, the worldview has a colour-muting overlay. However, when Neo tries to poke at the filters in the eyeholes, her fingers hit nothing as they go through the openings. With no visible sign of technology, she debates about putting another tally in the magic-is-real column. It's not that she believes these masks to be little more than some jumped-up technology – or a figment of her dead psyche – but magic is still a farfetched idea.

It is hard to believe in magic, even with the things Skull Kid summoned, when he changed. It could be passed off as an overpowered semblance but, coming from a world where any thoughts of magic are scoffed at, Neo is not yet ready to take the idea seriously. Everything can be explained, from dust to auras. A time loop semblance or dust explosion gone weird; these things have happened before.

If this is an afterlife, then it's all because of her karma anyways. None of this would be real.

Neo sighs, taking off the mask. Her aura presses and relaxes under the strain of another cold breeze. Might as well keep looking. Lots of new avenues to explore, even if it is the same trapped areas.

At least this time, she knows where to get a map.


A/N: Thank you for reading! A really big thank you to RinRoses, KitsuneNaruto135, Argorok, and Kevin Bakeland for reviewing! The support truly means a lot!

I hope everyone is well and has a fantastic day! Please take care