MSFC10

## Inescapable Yesterday

*Balala the Fairies: Magic Star Fate Castle, Episode 10*

走不出的昨天
*Zǒu Bù Chū de Zuótiān*

"**Inescapable Yesterday**" (走不出的昨天 *Zǒu Bù Chū de Zuótiān*) is the tenth episode of Balala the Fairies: Magic Star Fate Castle.

## Summary

*Xia Letong finds herself repeating the previous day but no one else seems to notice.*

## Plot

Fesna appears on her throne, holding a cyan, oval object. She muses that the Fairies’ collection of the Star Pieces must be about done, but with the Dark Cocoon in her hands, she won’t be defeated. Fuke and Pipi come flying toward the throne, reporting to Fesna that the fairies have come to the Star Fate Wonderland once more, and are at the Cotton Candy Forest. Fesna expresses her plan to trap them in a never-ending loop of time and transforms back into a butterfly.

Yinyue, Keke and Letong walk through the Forest, Yinyue saying that they just need 2 more Star Pieces to reform a single Star Gem. Letong, tired calls Buding to search for the Star Pieces in her stead, handing the Transfer Elf a Star Piece as she sits down to rest. Buding reminds her that only a fairy is able to awaken a Star Piece. However, the Star Piece starts flashing and Buding believes that the next Star Piece is nearby.

Meanwhile, Letong thinks back to a bet she made with Yinyue in the heat of an argument, to see who between the two manage to score higher on a test. If Letong manages to score higher than Yinyue, Yinyue must apologize to Letong for thinking she was going to bomb on the test. Letong asks Yinyue sheepishly if she still remembers the promise and is displeased when Yinyue does. Both are distracted from this line of thought when Buding calls over to them. Buding thinks she nearly finds the Star Piece, but they ask Buding to get out of the way when they see Fesna in Butterfly form fly toward them. Buding flies back to Letong’s side and Fesna appears. The girls transform into their fairy forms.

Letong and Fesna launch attacks at each other which cancels each other out. Fesna brings out the Dark Cocoon. Yinyue warns not them not to act without thinking, but unfettered, Letong casts an attack spell at the Dark Cocoon, breaking it, which causes a number of red and purple butterflies to emerge. This shocks Fesna who retreats, in the face of Letong’s continuous barrage of attacks. The girls and the Transfer Elves are startled that the encounter ended so soon. Unbeknownst to them, the various butterflies all manage to land on their bodies except Letong, who was only half-afflicted. They leave the Star Fate Wonderland, as there is a test the next day. Fesna emerges from the tree, revealing that she hasn’t actually retreated far, laughing that they won’t be able to escape “today”. She reveals that her true plan was to watch them covertly and grasp every action they will take. She sends Fuke and Pipi with Confusion Butterflies that causes the person afflicted to not notice anything out of the ordinary to reinforce the spell.

Back at home, Letong attempts to study late into the night for the test. However, she is constantly distracted by Buding making noise. Buding attempts to bribe Letong with a cake, but Letong tries to force herself to study because she doesn’t want to score lower that Yinyue. She can’t help but think back to the bet she made with Yinyue and laments that she doesn’t want to apologize to Yinyue. Letong and Buding falls asleep at the study desk. Neither notices time rewinding from 12.33am on October 21 to 12.00am on October 20.

When the alarm clock rings, Letong wakes up with a start, panicked that she is going to be late for the test. Buding, however, points out that Letong had promised to look for Star Pieces after school that day. Letong retorts that they already went look for Star Pieces the previous day as she leaves, which leaves Buding in a state of confusion.

When she reaches school, Letong asks Keke and Yinyue if the test has started. She is relieved when Keke tells her no, but is surprised to learn that both her friends believe the test to be on the next day. Yinyue mocks Letong, saying that she can’t tell between dreams and reality, angering Letong. As class starts, Yinyue waits for the test to begin, but is caught off-guard when Mr. Lu Ze begins talking about the test as a matter for the next day. Letong starts to believe that her memories of the previous day’s events are just really realistic dreams. When class ends, Letong is glad that she was able to understand everything Mr. Lu Ze taught that day. Yinyue and Keke discuss a feeling that they somehow learned the day’s material yesterday, but Letong makes fun, saying that they probably learned it in their dreams.

As she decides to revise her schoolwork, Buding pops out of Letong’s bag and demands to go searching for Star Pieces as she promised yesterday. This leads to Buding flying around the classroom with Letong’s text book, angry that Letong broke her promise. As Letong gives chase, Keke and Yinyue get the suspicion that something like this happened before. Upon seeing this from the outside Fuke and Pipi send the Confusion Butterfly, whose pollen causes the pair not to think anything is out of the ordinary. Buding is also affected. She returns the textbook to Letong and comes to the compromise that they’ll make a quick trip. They enter through a transfer gate. Fuke and Pipi, happy that they succeeded, leave to report to Fesna.

The group land in the Cotton Candy Forest, where Fesna waits behind a tree. Buding holds the glowing Star Piece while Letong sits down. Letong sheepishly begins to ask Yinyue a question… but realizes something is off and asks her friends if the current scene feels familiar. Keke doesn’t understand the question, but Yinyue believes that Letong is under pressure due to their bet. They are distracted when Buding calls over to them. Buding thinks she nearly finds the Star Piece, but is so into it that she nearly flies into a tree. Letong manages to get to Buding in time and protect her. As Buding thanks her, a nearby watermelon slice on a stick transforms into a Star Piece. Happily, the girls depart with the Star Piece in tow. Fesna, having learned their actions, plots to interfere in the next cycle.

When the alarm clock rings, Letong wakes up with a start, panicked that she is going to be late for the test. Buding, however, points out that Letong had promised to look for Star Pieces after school that day. Letong is annoyed, having heard that several times already and thinks that her alarm clock’s date display is broken she leaves, leaving Buding confused.

At class, Letong is startled to learn that the test was to be held on the next day instead. Yinyue mocks Letong, saying that she can’t tell between dreams and reality, and Letong realizes that Yinyue had said the exact same thing on the previous day. She pinches herself but finds that it hurts. As class starts, Letong wonders what is wrong.

After school, the group land in the Cotton Candy Forest, where Fesna waits behind a tree. Buding holds the glowing Star Piece while Letong sits down. Letong finds that the same scene is playing out again and tells Yinyue that she will probably say that she thinks Letong is under pressure but then Buding calls out to them. Buding thinks she nearly finds the Star Piece, but is so into it that she nearly flies into a tree. Letong manages to get to Buding in time and protect her. As Buding thanks her, a nearby watermelon slice on a stick transforms into a Star Piece. Seeing that the Star Piece is the exact one that she collected yesterday, Letong starts to believe that they are repeating the day over. However, she hears a cry and the Star Pieces flies from her hands into Fesna’s. Fesna is revealed to have cast Binding spell on her friends and the elves. Yinyue warns Letong that Fesna seems to know their every action.

Fesna reveals that they have relived this day thrice and Letong realizes that it must have been caused by the cocoon on that first day. The butterflies from the cocoon leave their bodies, but Fesna demands more Star Pieces. Letong fires a projectile at Fesna, but this is easily dismissed. Fesna forces Letong to search for more Star Pieces in exchange for her friends’ safety.

After searching a while, Letong comes across a flashing cake, which she believes to be a Star Piece. Realizing that she can’t let Fesna take it, she sneaks a handful of round sweets which she throws at Fesna as a surprise attack. Reacting to this gesture, the cake transforms into a Star Piece and flies into the air, past Letong. The Star Piece in Fesna’s hands also flies free and the two Star Pieces flies into the sky where a Transfer Gate forms. From the Transfer Gate, the Sweet Star Jewel Box, Flower Bell Jewel Box and Moon Sound Jewel Box emerge. The three Jewel Boxes open and the fifteen Star Pieces fly around in a circle before flying around Keke, Yinyue and the Transfer Elves to free them from their bindings. The fifteen star pieces then fly back to the Magical Star Fate Castle.

Fesna is stunned at this turn of events and Letong uses this opening to run to her friends. Buding explains that the Star Gem is about to be summoned and the Transfer Elves open a Transfer Gate into the Magic Star Fate Castle, telling them to transform into their Fairy Forms. The Fairies go through the Transfer Gate, much to Fesna’s anger.

The Fairies arrive at the Star Fate Array within the Magic Star Fate Castle that is used to fuse the Star Gem and the Elves instruct them to awaken it. The Fairies each stand on one of the three dais, as the fifteen Star Pieces enter the Star Fate Array, causing it to emit a rainbow light that washes over the fairies, transforming their fairy dresses. The three fairies cast the spell to restore the Sweet Star Gem. The tower of the Magic Star Fate Castle glows, and the pink Star Gem reappears on the roof of the castle.

The fairies leave the castle via Transfer Gate to find that Fesna has caught up with them. Demanding the return of the Star Pieces, Fesna casts her Shadow Butterflies. However, Buding tells Letong to use the power of the Star Gem. Letong raises her wand and the energy of the Sweet Star Gem flows through her wand. She casts a new attack spell powered by the Star Gems and it pierces through the butterfly. Fesna, nearly consumed by a pink energy, retreats.

That night, Letong falls asleep at the desk once more. The next morning, Letong checks the alarm clock to see that the day has passed at last. She cheerfully celebrates the coming of the test.

## Characters

*In order of appearance:*

* Fesna
* Fuke
* Pipi
* Bai Yinyue
* Yan Keke
* Xia Letong
* Buding
* Milu
* Lubi
* Mr. Lu Ze

## Trivia

* Star Piece Count: 0
* Star Gem Count: 1 (Sweet Star Gem)

## Errors

* When Buding realizes that another Star Piece is nearby in the beginning of the episode, she reacts to the Star Piece she is holding two cuts before it stars flashing.