Scenario:Home Sweet Moon - Bonus Story 2-2: Yesterday's Mirage
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Home Sweet Moon - Bonus Story 2 - Episode 2: Yesterday's Mirage
Eustace and the crew visit the island he grew up on. After taking out an Otherworlder disguised as Eustace's little brother, Eustace tells the crew about his family and his past, triggering an emotional catharsis.
Some time has passed since the moon incident's resolution.
The crew pays a visit to the island where Eustace grew up.
Vyrn: So that Yama thingy was what did a number on your hometown, Sourpuss?
Eustace: Well, that's only partly true...
Eustace: An experiment that helped lead to Yama's completion was what destroyed my village.
Lyria: ...
Eustace: Ronan told me that the Foe was likely involved...
Eustace: But at the same time, it wasn't the Foe's style to carry out mass murders like that, which made it hard to put two and two together.
Vyrn: Yeah, now that I think about it...
Vyrn: Those Foe guys always took the roundabout way of stirrin' people up and gettin' them to fight each other.
Eustace: In my village's case, there was no internal strife. Everything was wiped out in an instant.
Lyria: So that's what you meant by experiment...
Eustace: Those days, I'd regularly sneak off into the forest to take care of a baby wolf.
Eustace: I'd gone off that day too...
Young Eustace: Vitty! Come on o—
Young Eustace: Huh?
Young Eustace: Aah!
Lyria: You heard a noise and saw a bright flash?
Eustace: It was probably the weapon activating.
Eustace: As far away as I was, it still took a toll on my eye.
Vyrn: So that's why your right eye's especially weak to light, huh?
Eustace: Yeah... The aftereffects never did go away entirely.
Eustace gently brushes the tuft of hair covering his right eye.
Eustace: As soon as I realized the light was coming from home, I put up with the pain in my eye and immediately ran back.
Eustace: ...
Lyria: Eustace, um...
Lyria: Eep!
Lyria loses her footing amid the snowy landscape. (Captain) is quick to steady her before she falls.
Lyria: Thank you, (Captain).
Eustace: You all right?
Lyria: Sorry... The snow's really deep here.
Eustace: Just follow my tracks, both of you.
Lyria: Okay, thank you!
Eustace: ...
Vyrn: Huh? Something wrong, Sourpuss?
Eustace: No... I just had a flashback to the times I desperately followed after my father's tracks.
Lyria: It's hard to imagine you like that now.
Eustace: Well, I wasn't even in my teens yet.
They remain silent for a while, hearing only the sound of snow crunching under their feet.
Vyrn: So this is where Sourpuss is from...
A desolate solitude overtakes them as they realize so little of the village remains that calling it "ruins" may be a misnomer.
Even what's left of the buildings that once stood there is buried deep under the snow.
Eustace: ...
Lyria: Whatever happened to that baby wolf you were taking care of?
Eustace: He...
Young Eustace: I'm so sorry, Vitty... This is all my fault... I...
Young Eustace: Stay with me! If you die too, I'll be all alone!
Eustace: Ronan later found and treated us, but his wounds were too deep...
Eustace: Vitty died while we were being evacuated.
Vyrn: How'd he get hurt that bad?
Eustace: By saving me...
Young Eustace: No, this can't be... The village is...
Young Eustace: Eep!
The boy spots a fallen man whose body is missing from the torso down.
Young Eustace: Urk...
Every "body" he comes across can hardly be called as such anymore.
Unable to confirm the identities of the fallen, he makes a beeline for his house.
Young Eustace: Mom! Dad!
Young Eustace: Huff... Huff...
Young Eustace: Our house is... gone...
The only thing remaining in what's become a vacant lot is something faintly resembling burnt ash.
Young Eustace: How... The house is supposed to be right here!
Young Eustace: Ah, the barn!
Young Eustace: Dad! Anyone!
As the boy leaps into the half of the barn that's still standing, the damaged pillar holding it up begins to come apart.
Young Eustace: Aiiee!
Vitty: Awooo!
Eustace: Vitty jumped in there and knocked me aside.
Vyrn: Thank goodness you didn't turn into a pancake under the barn, Sourpuss.
Eustace: Vitty took my place...
Lyria: So that's how he got injured.
Eustace: I carried the incapacitated wolf out of the village.
Eustace: Of course, I knew that there was nothing more than snowy plains and forests left on the island...
Eustace: But I wanted to help Vitty so badly...
Vyrn: And that's when you bumped into Ronan's group?
Lyria: While it's a shame what happened to Vitty...
Lyria: It's a really good thing that Ronan found you and helped you to recover.
Eustace: Heh... I suppose you're right...
Eustace crouches down to brush off the accumulated snow on what appears to be a rusted pillar.
Eustace: This is my first time returning to the village since that day...
Vyrn: Oh yeah?
Eustace: Ronan said he held proper funeral rites for those who had passed away here.
Eustace: So I had no reason for coming back. No family to greet me anymore...
Eustace: But now...
Eustace: ...
???: ...
Eustace: ...
Lyria: Who are you?
Vyrn: I thought we were the only ones here!
Eustace: ...
???: Eusty...
Vyrn: Huh? What are you saying?
???: Welcome home, Eusty... I've waited so long for you to come back.
Lyria: "Eusty" must be short for Eustace... He must be...
Eustace: He's my kid brother, Savini...
Vyrn: Wow! You've got family who survived!
Eustace: The Savini before us is family in appearance only.
Eustace: If he were really alive today, he'd be a full-fledged adult in his twenties.
Paying no heed to Eustace's grim countenance, the boy continues on in a warmhearted tone.
Savini?: Where did you go off to, Eusty? I looked all over for you.
Eustace: You don't fool me.
Savini?: You know, Eusty...
Savini?: It was me who found the strange machine that day and brought it into the village.
Vyrn: Strange machine? You don't mean...
Savini?: ...
Savini?: It was such a cool find. I wanted to show it off to everyone, and to you too, Eusty.
Savini?: But you'd gone off on another solo adventure... I thought I'd go look for you.
Savini?: Is what happened afterwards my fault, Eusty?
Savini?: Everyone died from the machine's light.
Savini?: Mom and Dad... And our new sister-to-be...
Savini?: They turned into itty-bitty pieces...
Savini?: Which means the real fault lies with—
Eustace: Enough already.
Eustace cocks his gun, pointing it at the boy.
Savini?: Eusty?
Eustace: Savini wanted a little brother.
Eustace: But no one knew whether the baby in our mother's womb was a boy or girl.
Savini?: It was a girl, all right. And she was oh so cute—
Eustace: Shut up! Stop making a mockery of my brother. Show your true self.
Savini?: Huh? What are you even saying?
Eustace: Playing dumb, are we? Then I'll just have to...
Eustace: Shoot you.
Lyria: Eustace!
Choose: Let Eustace do what he needs to.
Eustace: ...
Eustace pulls the trigger.
Savini?: Eep!
Vyrn: So it was an Otherworlder, huh...
Eustace: ...
Lyria: Sniff... You might've known he was a fake...
Lyria: But he was still your little brother, Eustace!
Eustace: No need to cry for me, Lyria. I'm fine.
Eustace: Thanks for letting me handle it, (Captain).
The captain offers an understanding nod.
Choose: Step in front of Eustace.
Eustace: (Captain)!
Not intent on letting Eustace do something that would haunt him, the captain lunges at the boy.
Savini?: Gwah!
Vyrn: So it was an Otherworlder, huh...
(Captain) sheathes the sword and turns to Eustace.
Eustace: (Captain)...
Eustace: Thanks.
The captain responds with an understanding nod.
Continue 1
Vyrn: Can't believe Otherworlders make their way even to far-out places like this...
Eustace: It's a deserted island, making it the perfect place for the Foe to carry out any further experiments.
Eustace: I suggest looking around a bit more later to see if they've left anything else behind.
Lyria: Yeah, we should let Ronan and Ilsa know too...
As a heavy silence fills the air, Eustace looks up to the sky.
Eustace: It's about to snow.
Lyria: You can tell?
Eustace: One look at the clouds tells me all I need to know.
Vyrn: Yeah? That's pretty impressive.
Eustace: When you've lived in a place like this long enough...
Eustace: Ah, but my older sister was never good at predicting the weather.
Eustace: Dad was the best at it. He wasn't the most talkative person around, but he had this uncanny ability to tell the weather up to three days in advance.
Eustace: Ah, I must sound like I'm rambling...
Vyrn: Ahaha! That sounds like something Spiky would say!
Lyria: We'd love to hear more about you! As long as you don't mind, Eustace.
Eustace: ...
Eustace: I lost everything that winter...
Eustace: I was supposed to have another sibling after the snow melted in the spring.
Eustace: Dad promised to take me hunting.
Eustace: I secretly hoped we could fashion clothing for the baby from the fur of my first kill.
Eustace: But the big thing was I'd finally get my own hunting rifle...
Eustace: I was really looking forward to it.
Eustace takes one last look at the Otherworlder who pretended to be his little brother before turning on his heel.
Eustace: But that's all in the past... I have Flamek with me now.
Flamek, resting in Eustace's arms, responds in kind with an audible click.
Vyrn: That's right, Sourpuss! We came out on top against Diaspora 'cause you managed to release Flamek!
Eustace: Actually, it's thanks to you guys that I was able to draw out Flamek's true strength.
Lyria: Huh? What did we do?
Eustace: Well, it wasn't just you three. There's also Zeta, Beatrix, and the others...
Eustace: I learned to trust you all, to trust that even if I unleashed the full force of Flamek...
Eustace: You'd be able to withstand it.
Eustace's face breaks into a smile as he takes a good look at his friends.
Eustace: Let's get back to the Grandcypher before it starts snowing.
Eustace: This village will always be my home...
Eustace: But it's not a place I'd go back to.
And so Eustace continues trudging through the snow.
The others, taking caution not to sink into the snow, follow his lead.
Saying goodbye to the past is never an easy thing to do.
But Eustace, having found room in his heart for a new home, is ready to leave the past behind.