Scenario:Shitori - Sleeping Memories
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Sleeping Memories
Shitori dreams of days long past—memories of life before and after the completion of the Great Wall, including the day she betrayed her mother, Mikaboshi.
Long before (Captain) and crew land in the Edgelands, and a short time before (Captain)'s father makes his own arrival, a curious pair plummet beneath the Sky Realm.
Their fall is broken unexpectedly, but they quickly find their feet in a place separated from the rules of reality.
Mika: Mmm... Shitori, I'm sleepy.
Shitori: You can head to bed first, Mika. I'll join you after I finish cleaning up here.
Mika: Nuh-uh. I don't wanna sleep by myself.
Shitori: All right, all right. But stay awake until we make it to the bed, okay?
Mika is barely listening, already halfway to the land of dreams. Shitori takes her by the hand, leads her to the bedroom, and promptly tucks her in.
Mika: Shitori?
Shitori: Relax, I'm right here.
Mika: Okay... Good night, Shitori.
Shitori breaks into a smile as she watches Mika instantly fall asleep.
She reflects on how quickly they've adjusted to their new lives, grateful for the help of the kind strangers in the Edgelands.
Shitori: (Still, this is quite nostalgic. When I was little, I snuggled up like this with Mother every day.)
Memories spring up as she continues to watch Mika's gentle resting face.
They are as unforgettable as they are many, spanning the days Shitori spent with her mother up until the moment they landed beneath the sky.
Shitori: It was an Astral who adopted me, a child without a home or family.
Shitori: Mikaboshi was her name, but to everyone else she was a lunatic driven by hatred and obsessed with revenge.
Shitori: I always thought that if they got to know the motherly side of her, they wouldn't say those things anymore.
Shitori: They couldn't say those things if they learned of the woman that saved and raised me—the only mother I've ever known. The mother that I loved most in the world.
Skydweller: Poor thing. She really thinks that woman is her mother.
Skydweller: I don't know how she could mistake a madwoman for a parent. Must've been imprinted onto her or something.
Shitori: No matter what I said, the other skydwellers never ceased spouting their cruel words against Mother.
Shitori: "A kid like you doesn't know what she's saying," or "you're so naive." They always brushed me off with pity in their eyes.
Shitori: There was a single person who treated me kindly and listened to what I had to say, though even she advised me to keep my distance from Mother.
Worried Woman: Shitori, everyone's just worried about you, myself included.
Shitori: But Jayne... Mother isn't crazy like everyone says.
Shitori: She teaches me whatever I want to learn and makes me tasty food and sweets.
Shitori: If I do something bad, she gets mad at me, but if I do something good, she tells me I did a good job.
Shitori: Is our family weird? Mother's always nice, even though she's an Astral and I'm a skydweller.
Jayne: So that's how you see her.
Jayne: Be that as it may, you don't know when madness will swallow her completely and drive her to harm others.
Jayne: If that puts your life in danger one day, we would be devastated.
Jayne: And if that were to happen, I don't think we would be the only ones to suffer. She would too, if I'm to believe what you've told me.
Jayne: So before the worst comes to pass, perhaps you should put a bit of distance between yourselves? I'm not suggesting that you never speak with her again, but...
Shitori: That's why I'm going to stay with her. If I don't, no one else will when she needs help.
Shitori: Regardless of anyone's attempted persuasions, I never left Mother's side.
Shitori: I couldn't; not when spending my days with her filled me with such happiness.
Shitori: The more I learned to do things on my own, the more Mother devoted her attention to her own developments and experiments.
Shitori: I knew she was modifying her body so she could stand against the power of the Astrals.
Shitori: It was evident in the way her body often violently trembled and her fits of temper as she became increasingly unstable.
Shitori: Mother, you don't seem to be feeling well lately. Why don't you take a break?
Shitori: I know you haven't been sleeping well... You're going to collapse at this rate.
Shitori: I wonder how many times I called out to her in concern after I noticed her behavior had changed.
Shitori: She never answered me when she was shut in her room either. Not once.
Shitori: But she always emerged after a few days and returned to being the mother I recognized, so I kept my faith in her.
Shitori: Sadly our fragile, peaceful life did not last.
Shitori: Mother's mad thirst for vengeance against her fellow Astrals was finally given form through the completion of the Great Wall.
Shitori: I'll never forget the way she looked the day that nightmarish creation was born.
Shitori: It was as if I were gazing at a feral beast.
Shitori: A howling animal that rejoiced in its thirst for blood, devoid of intelligence and reason.
Shitori: The kind mother that I believed in was nowhere to be found, and my faith crumbled to pieces.
Shitori: Seeing the terrifying weapon she had created, the skydwellers deemed Mother a threat and made attempts on her life.
Shitori: They only succeeded in assembling a massive pile of corpses, their power insignificant against the might of an Astral.
Shitori: You plan to seal Mother into the Great Wall?
Jayne: Yes, into that monstrosity.
Jayne: The Torhid Kingdom wishes to prevent further sacrifices and has already pledged their aid.
Jayne: With disputes breaking out between skydwellers and Astrals, the last thing anyone needs is for it to escalate into a large-scale war.
Jayne: This doesn't just concern you two anymore. She's now a danger to everyone in these skies.
Jayne: Please, Shitori. Cooperate with us as well.
Shitori: But... you're asking me to seal my own mother away. To betray her.
Shitori: How could you ask me to do that?
Jayne: I understand where you're coming from. She'll always be your beloved mother, no matter what kind of person she's become.
Jayne: But at least take some time to consider what I've said, Shitori.
Shitori: ...
Shitori: Whispers of a potential outbreak of war spread like wildfire.
Shitori: The creation of Mother's weapon only amplified the chaos, and people began to wonder if she would destroy both skydwellers and Astrals alike.
Shitori: Again I tried to speak to her about what she was doing, but only the door entertained my words as she remained shut in her room.
Shitori: When was the last time we were able to speak, I wonder...
Shitori: You know something, Mother? No matter who you become, you'll always be the person I hold dearest. I love you.
Shitori: Even though I'm sure you don't feel the same way. Nothing's more important to you than your revenge—not me, not even yourself...
Shitori: Mother raised me. More than that, however, she gave me love when no one else would. Helping with the seal would mean betraying everything that I owed her.
Shitori: But I couldn't continue to turn a blind eye to all the victims of her rage and wait for things to settle.
Shitori: More pressingly, Mother's body was falling apart, and her mind and soul were fracturing as she bathed in more and more blood.
Shitori: I became certain that, sooner rather than later, she would break if something wasn't done.
Shitori: ...
Shitori: I'm sorry, Mother.
Shitori: But you can't keep hurting others... or yourself until you break.
Shitori: I'm going to stop you before that happens.
Shitori: That's the only thing I can do for you now. You'll understand, won't you, Mother?
Shitori: And so Mikaboshi was sealed away. The skydwellers cheered for what they perceived to be the elimination of one Astral threat.
Shitori: But I could barely hear them. I remained unmoving in front of Mother's resting place.
Shitori: All I could see was her face, moments before the end, seared into my mind.
Shitori: Her eyes filled with hatred, anger, confusion, then despair.
Jayne: Shitori, let's head home. Everyone's waiting.
Shitori: Head home? What home?
Shitori: There's nowhere for me to return to without Mother there.
Shitori: This was the outcome I expected.
Shitori: But my eyes burned anyway, and a mixture of guilt and emptiness welled up inside me.
Shitori: Mother, is it true? You're not really my mother?
Shitori: A memory suddenly interrupted my melancholy.
Shitori: Right around the age that I began to understand the world around me, I heard from other skydwellers that I was adopted. Naturally I asked Mother about it.
Shitori: She considered what to say for a moment, then confirmed the rumors.
Shitori: She proceeded to reveal a bit of her own past to me for the first time.
Shitori: "You reminded me of myself, so I took you in out of pity."
Shitori: That was why she raised me, according to those words.
Shitori: It was painful to hear her admit as much—that there was nothing else binding us together besides sympathy for our shared circumstances.
Shitori: But upon seeing my dejected expression, Mother gave a troubled smile and gently pulled me into a hug.
Shitori: Then she told me, "Shitori, you're my dearest daughter, and I would have no one else but you. I love you."
Shitori: I'm not sure why such an old memory surfaced at that moment.
Shitori: But it was what I needed to understand the meaning behind Mother's despair.
Jayne: Shitori, what's wrong?
Shitori: I really believed... that nothing mattered to Mother other than her revenge—not me, not even herself.
Shitori: But I couldn't have been more wrong.
Shitori: Do you know how she looked at me, right before the end?
Shitori: Her eyes, filled with despair, screamed, "why?"
Shitori: And it finally hit me: I did this! I betrayed her!
Shitori: No matter how she changed, she always thought of me as her daughter until the very end!
Shitori: I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Mother!
Shitori: She never forgot about me. Despite everything, she remained my mother.
Shitori: I knew I had to pay penance for the crime I'd committed, even if it cost me my life.
Shitori: Though nothing I could do would ever earn Mother's forgiveness.
Shitori: Still, I resolved to stay by her side, so that at the very least she wouldn't be alone when she woke.
Shitori: That was why I chose to be sealed alongside her.
Jayne: You're set on this, aren't you?
Shitori: Yes. I'm sorry, Jayne. I'm glad I had you on my side up until now.
Shitori: Thank you for everything. Goodbye.
Shitori: (This might just be me being selfish, but I'd like the chance to apologize directly one day.)
Shitori: (For now, all I can do is apologize in my head. I'm sorry, Mother. I love you so much, and I always will.)
Shitori: I was fully prepared to die by Mother's hand upon our awakening.
Shitori: But I desperately hoped that I'd be able to apologize before the final blow. With that last wish etched into my heart, I drifted into a long slumber.
???: Ri... Shitori...
Shitori: Mother?
Mika: Shiiitoooriii! Get up!
Shitori: Mm... Mika?
Hearing her name called, Shitori rouses from sleep and slowly opens her eyes. She's met with the sight of Mika peering worriedly at her.
Mika: Shitori, are you okay? Does something hurt?
Shitori: Huh? No, I'm fine.
Mika: Then why are you crying?
Shitori responds to Mika's question by bringing a hand to her cheek. To her surprise, she feels something wet trailing down her face.
Shitori: Oh, I really am crying. I wonder why...
Mika: You probably had a scary dream. It's okay now. There, there.
But as Mika's warm hand runs along Shitori's head in soothing pats, more tears gush forth.
Mika: Shitori... Don't cry. If you're sad, I'm sad too.
Shitori: I'm... I'm sorry. Don't worry, okay? These are tears of relief.
Moved by the tears beginning to gather in Mika's eyes, Shitori pulls her into a tight hug.
Shitori: (It's better that she doesn't remember anything. This is much better than watching her fall apart again.)
Shitori: (Even if it means she doesn't remember who I used to be or that I'll never be able to apologize to her.)
Shitori: (I'm just getting what I deserve.)
Her mother is now an innocent child, reduced to such a form after the sealing of her memories and powers.
But the seal isn't perfect.
One day it will break, much like the coming dawn after a long slumber.
Shitori is certain of this. But for the moment, she squeezes her eyes shut and prays that these peaceful, happy days can continue long into the future.