Scenario:Arulumaya - She Who Bears the Future
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She Who Bears the Future
Arulumaya sees a crowd of discontent people in a dream vision, but she's unable to understand the meaning behind the omen. Morphe and Phoebe appear and warn her that if she spends any longer in the dream, she could be consumed by it. Arulumaya chooses not to heed their warning.
It's a peaceful night aboard the Grandcypher. The soft coos and boisterous snores of a sleeping crew can be heard throughout the airship's halls.
Arulumaya's snoozing snuffles are among the slumbering symphony.
Arulumaya: ...
Arulumaya: Where am I?
She awakes mid-dream and takes in her surroundings: a bustling street corner.
As Arulumaya slips through the crowds, she comes to realize that maybe she's still asleep.
Arulumaya: I can feel it... This dream is a vision.
Arulumaya: (My visions always warn me of future calamity.)
Arulumaya: (It's impossible to prevent these disasters, but I can at least spread the word and reduce any casualties.)
Arulumaya: (What will happen next... I must find out!)
With a sense of responsibility weighing heavily in her heart, Arulumaya begins to search the dream for any ill portent of the future.
Arulumaya: (These people... I've never seen such sorrowful expressions... I wonder what's going on.)
Arulumaya: (Anxiety, sadness, hopelessness. Everyone is wearing his or her emotions like a grim mask.)
Arulumaya: ...
She is about to delve deeper into the dream, letting out a deep breath.
???: No.
Arulumaya: ...!
Aren't you...
Aren't you...
Phoebe: ...
Morphe and Phoebe (Event) is a crew member
Arulumaya: Phoebe? Why are you here?
Arulumaya: Well, never mind. Of course you would be. You're the primal beast of dreams after all.
Morphe and Phoebe (Event) not in crew
Arulumaya: You're, if I remember correctly, that dream reader Phoebe. Right?
Continue 1
Phoebe: Right.
Morphe: Sorry to surprise you, Arulumaya.
Morphe: When you were sleeping, we sensed your presence getting weaker and weaker.
Morphe: So we jumped into this dream to check on you.
Arulumaya: My presence?
Phoebe: Yes. I bet it's because this dream you're having isn't any ordinary dream.
Phoebe: Dreams—well, dream visions—aren't something that people are usually able to handle.
Morphe: Arulumaya, if you continue exploring this dream, you could be trapped here.
Morphe: That means you won't wake up ever again...
Phoebe: So, c'mon. Let's hop out of this dream together.
Phoebe: If anything bad happens to you, (Captain)'ll never forgive you, you know—and I won't either.
To drive home her argument, Phoebe grabs hold of Arulumaya's cloak and gives it a convincing tug.
Arulumaya: Phoebe, Morphe...
Arulumaya: I'm sorry I worried you.
The fortune-teller gives an apologetic smile and guides Phoebe's hand off of her cloak.
Phoebe: Arulumaya?
Arulumaya: Thank you for coming to save me. But I have to know what this dream is trying to tell me about the future.
Phoebe: No! Please, believe me. I'm not lying to you; this place is dangerous!
Arulumaya: It's okay, Phoebe. I do trust you.
Arulumaya: There is no greater dream specialist than you. I would be a fool to do anything but believe every word you say.
Phoebe: Then listen!
Arulumaya: I can't...
Arulumaya: If there's even the slightest hope that what I see here will help people... Then I have to continue on.
Phoebe: ...!
Morphe: Um, Arulumaya... Can't you tell the future even when you're awake?
Morphe: So you don't need this vision. Why don't you just wake up and do your normal fortune-telling?
Arulumaya: Visions conferred by dreams provide more information about the distant future than conscious, intentional precognitions.
Arulumaya: I believe this dream is warning me of a calamity the likes of which has never been seen before.
Arulumaya: The greater the disaster, the more we must prepare to save the greatest number of people. And no matter how much time we have, it still won't be enough to save everyone.
Arulumaya: Even knowing the future beforehand won't be enough to surmount what's coming.
Phoebe: But, but—
Arulumaya: Phoebe... If I can find out what's going to happen, then it will benefit (Captain) too.
Phoebe: ...!
Arulumaya: I've known for a long time that dream visions are a dangerous thing to play with.
Arulumaya: Especially those that unveil the far-off future or immense tragedy.
Arulumaya: But I... I must do something for all of those people... And everyone around me too.
Arulumaya: That goes double for (Captain)...
Arulumaya: And the rest of the crew, including you both, Morphe and Phoebe.
Arulumaya tries to smile at the twins.
Arulumaya: So I'm going to view what this vision needs me to. For everyone's future...
Morphe: Arulumaya...
Arulumaya: If I'm not able to return, I want you two to forewarn (Captain) of the impending crisis.
Arulumaya: Even if I'm not able to discover the exact details, simply cautioning our captain might be enough to change the outcome for the better.
Arulumaya: Good luck. To both of you.
After wishing the twin dream keepers goodbye, Arulumaya walks decisively back into the dejected crowds.
Morphe and Phoebe, reluctant to watch the fortune-teller go, stare at her back until she's completely swallowed among the masses.
She Who Bears the Future: Scene 2
Morphe and Phoebe wake up (Captain), Vyrn, and Lyria, warning them of Arulumaya's predicament. They all rush back to the sleeping Harvin's bedside and use Morphe and Phoebe's powers to enter her dream to save her.
Just before dawn, the panicked pair of Morphe and Phoebe hurry to (Captain)'s room to wake the sleeping captain.
Phoebe: Wake up! Wake up, (Captain)! Bad news!
Vyrn: Wha... What's goin' on... It's so early...
(Captain) and Vyrn, still drunk with morning drowsiness, follow Morphe and Phoebe to first pick up Lyria and then to stop at Arulumaya's room.
Arulumaya: ...
Phoebe: This is my fault... If I could've just stopped her!
Lyria: Um... Is there something going on with Arulu?
Vyrn: I mean, yeah, she's sleepin' like a log, but that's not a problem...
Morphe: You are right about her sleeping...
Morphe: But right now Arulumaya is being consumed by a dream.
Morphe: If this continues much longer, she won't be able to wake up, and her body will waste away...
Lyria: Wh-what!
Morphe: And that's not all. If Arulumaya's soul were to die during this dream—
Vyrn: Just hold it for a second! How did this even happen?
Phoebe: Whimper... A dream vision did it.
Lyria: A dream vision?
Phoebe: Yeah. However Arulumaya can view the future in her dreams, even I'm not sure of the particulars.
Morphe: That's just how special Arulumaya's dreams are. Not even Phoebe knows about them.
Phoebe: You know about the flow of time? Normally it flows toward the future, right?
Phoebe: Well, that's not the case in one of these dreams. It goes way beyond just the future—it's gotta be a lot for Arulumaya to bear.
Phoebe: Up until now, nobody noticed her having these dreams...
Phoebe: But every time she's had a vision in her sleep, she's gotten a little closer to being consumed... And now...
Lyria: That's terrible! Arulu... I'm not sure what to say...
Morphe: Arulumaya said that so long as she can help others, she wants to have these visions despite the risks.
Morphe: We had to stop her... But we failed...
The twins fall into a mournful silence, prompting (Captain) to speak up.
Choose: We have to save Arulumaya!
Lyria: You're right! If Arulu is going to save other people...
Lyria: Then the least we can do is save her!
(Captain) asks Phoebe to guide them into Arulumaya's dream.
Phoebe: I have to warn you: if we're in her dream the moment she's completely consumed by the vision, well...
Phoebe: We'll be consumed along with her, and then nobody's waking up ever again.
Phoebe: Do you still wanna go through with it?
Phoebe: Good. I knew you'd say that, (Captain).
Phoebe: Let's move it. Arulumaya's not going to save herself!
Phoebe focuses her power and guides (Captain), Vyrn, and Lyria into Arulumaya's sleeping consciousness through the Gallery of Dreams.
She Who Bears the Future: Scene 3
Inside Arulumaya's dream, (Captain) and the others discover that her dream form is already fading. They rush to wake her before she disappears completely. Once successfully awoken, Arulumaya warns of a series of calamities that will soon befall the sky realm.
Spurred on by Arulumaya's precarious situation, (Captain) and the others have entered the fortune-teller's sleeping consciousness via the Gallery of Dreams.
Arulumaya: ...
The fortune-teller herself, light-headed and delirious, floats listlessly through the dreamscape.
???: Aru... lu... maya...
Arulumaya: M... Mother?
Amidst the ethereal panorama stretching around her, something familiar comes into view.
Arulumaya: (Oh... How I've missed this place. My hometown.)
Arulumaya: (Once, when I was a little girl, I had a dream where I saw the village livestock get eaten by monsters. It was truly scary.)
Arulumaya's Mom: Arulu, Arulu. It's okay; it was just a dream. It can't hurt you. Okay?
Arulumaya: (I was frightened and crying when I awoke. Mother was there trying to comfort me.)
Arulumaya: (But a few days later, the village animals really were ravaged by monsters.)
Arulumaya: (That was the beginning...)
Arulumaya: (The next one I saw was of an old man in our neighborhood. In the dream he fell seriously ill.)
Arulumaya: (The one after that showed me a lumberjack succumbing to a grave injury.)
Arulumaya: (All of these dreams, they would eventually come true.)
Arulumaya's Mom: What are you saying! Come back home! Just come back home!
Arulumaya's Mom: Oh, Arulumaya... You can't let it tear you apart. None of this is your fault.
Arulumaya: (The villagers began to believe that I was causing the accidents I saw in my dreams. And soon enough they shunned me...)
Arulumaya: (I, too, was scared of my dreams, scared of how they involved other people. I was afraid to go to sleep.)
Arulumaya's Mom: Why... What did my precious daughter do to deserve this?
Arulumaya: (But when I saw my weeping mother, I made a decision.)
Arulumaya: (I decided to prove that I wasn't causing my dreams to become reality—to prove that I was seeing events before they transpired.)
Arulumaya: (That very night I once again had the dream of the village livestock being attacked.)
Arulumaya: (Under cover of night, I snuck into the barn and waited for the monsters to arrive.)
Arulumaya: (One night passed. Two nights passed. And then, on the third night...)
Monster: Groooar!
Arulumaya: (The monsters came to the barn!)
Arulumaya: (I threw open the barn doors and set loose the livestock, yelling to the villagers all the while.)
Arulumaya: (The adults came rushing over and worked together to drive back the monsters.)
Monster: Grr...
Arulumaya: (We saved our herd.)
Arulumaya: (And I was vindicated. Everyone now knew my dreams were just visions of the future.)
Arulumaya: (It was one of the best days of my life...)
Arulumaya: (By seeing the future, I could help others.)
Arulumaya: (I came to believe that I was granted this power for the sake of others.)
Arulumaya: (So... I...)
Arulumaya: (Have to see this future too...)
Arulumaya, her energy spent, attempts to open her eyelids to witness what catastrophe will take place in the coming days.
But the dreamscape continues to drain her, robbing her of her awareness.
Arulumaya: ...
Her body begins to fade into the tenuous reality of the vision.
Arulumaya: ...!
Arulumaya: (Captain)?
Her eyes feebly flit open at the sound of (Captain)'s cry.
Lyria: Arulu! Don't give up!
Phoebe: Arulumaya, don't let the dream suck you in!
Arulumaya: E-everyone?
Arulumaya: Where am I? Wh-what was I doing?
Morphe: Whew. Thank goodness you're back to your senses, Arulumaya!
Morphe: You were trying to see the future in this dream vision, but it almost consumed you.
Arulumaya: Then... It turned out just as you predicted. I'm sorry I didn't heed your warning.
Lyria: Seriously, Arulu! Even if you're doing something to protect everyone else, you shouldn't push yourself so hard!
Lyria: Sob... I was so, so worried about you!
Arulumaya: Lyria... I'm sorry. And I must have made you worry too, (Captain).
Arulumaya: I'm not sure how to apologize for causing you anxiety, but I was able to glimpse the future just before I lost consciousness.
Arulumaya: You see...
Phoebe: Wait. We shouldn't dilly-dally in this dream longer than we have to.
Phoebe: First let's all wake up and then listen to what Arulumaya has to say. Sound good, (Captain)?
Pressed by Phoebe, (Captain) and the others depart Arulumaya's dream and return to reality.
Vyrn: So, fill us in already. What kinda stuff did you see in your dream?
Arulumaya: I'll project it on my crystal ball...
Arulumaya: ...!
Lyria: Oh, oh my!
Morphe: The islands... They're falling!
Arulumaya: Yes. I don't know why, but in the distant future, all of the islands floating in the sky will crumble and fall.
Arulumaya: The first to go will be the small islands, but the major ones will soon follow.
Lyria: No, that can't happen!
Arulumaya: I'm not sure how we'll put a stop to this calamity.
Arulumaya: But even so, we can at least spread news of the danger, evacuate the people, and reduce the damage.
Arulumaya: We must do what we can to cope with this awful future!
(Captain) stands mouth agape at Arulumaya's sky-shattering revelation.
The fortune-teller, meanwhile, turns back to the crystal ball and stares at the coming events.
Her eyes burn with a combination of fear and determination—with the dread that she won't be able to save everyone. And the resolve to try anyway.