Scenario:Sylph - Concerning Life
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Concerning Life
After witnessing a shooting star one night, memories of the Astral who created Sylph come flooding back to the primal beast. She observes the Astral and a mortal girl named Sylphy watching a meteor shower together. Understanding that the Astral created her as a replacement for Sylphy, the primal beast requests that the crew help her find the location in her memory, hoping it will spark even further recollections of her own.
On one clear night, the primal beast Sylph gazes upon the night sky from the deck of the Grandcypher.
Sylph: ...
Lyria: Oh, Sylph! Have you come up to look at the stars?
Sylph: Not especially. I just needed a place to think.
Sylph: About the Astral that created me. What kind of being could he have been?
Vyrn: If I remember right, that Astral made you in the image of his deceased lover, yeah?
Sylph: Yes. My original purpose was to serve as that person's replacement near the heart of the Astral.
Sylph: And now I seek to remain near the heart of another.
Sylph places her hands above her chest as she continues to ponder her situation.
Sylph: I cannot help but wonder however, exactly why that Astral would fall in love with a mortal in the first place.
Sylph: The Astrals are immortal beings, and by all accounts are detached from the affairs of others.
Vyrn: Yeah... Loki's the only Astral I know that makes a point to socialize.
Sylph: The "love" that this Astral experienced... I wish to feel it too.
Sylph gazes into the night sky once more.
Vyrn: But you know, the Astral that Lyria saw in those memories went back beyond the ends of the sky, right?
Vyrn: His lover passed away hundreds of years ago too. You're putting yourself up to a pretty hard challenge here.
Sylph: Yes, and that is exactly why I wish to learn about the love of others.
At that moment, a streak of light glides across the sky above.
Lyria: Oh, a shooting star! So pretty!
Sylph: Is it something to get excited about?
Sylphy: How beautiful! Look how the stars shine as they fall!
Astral: It is not something to get so excited about. What you are seeing is a cyclical meteor shower. It will happen again in another seventy years.
Sylph: Wh-what did I just see...
Lyria: Sylph? Is something wrong?
A certain memory flashes through the primal beast's mind—one that she did not possess before.
Sylph: This is... a memory of the Astral who created me...
Sylph tells (Captain) and the others about what she has just seen.
Vyrn: So... That Astral was with a lady named Sylphy, and they were watching a meteor shower that takes place once every seventy years?
Sylph: Yes. I suspect that Sylphy was his lover.
Vyrn: Why would that memory suddenly spring up in you, though?
Lyria: It's likely that Sylph was created using fragments of Sylphy's memories and even her possessions.
Lyria: There may be more memories between the two sleeping deep within Sylph's heart.
Sylph: I want to find a way to view those memories. There must be other triggers I can utilize to see them.
Sylph: Perhaps if I were to go to the spot where they viewed the meteor shower...
The crew visits a library the next day in an effort to discover more about the mystery meteor shower.
Vyrn: Darn... There aren't many books or materials here covering celestial phenomena...
Lyria: How about checking through this history book? I found some passages that mention meteor showers!
Vyrn: Really? Does it bring up any with a seventy year period?
Sylph: No, I am only seeing twenty years at most.
Vyrn: No good then, eh?
Lyria: Then let's take a look at these! They're old journals written by past kings!
Sylph: ...
Vyrn: What's up? Something botherin' you?
Sylph: (Captain), you two... Why are you helping me?
Sylph: You don't stand to gain anything, even if I do find out more about the Astral...
Lyria: I'm not worried about gaining or losing anything. I simply want to help out a friend in need!
Sylph: Friend...
Vyrn: You heard her! You can count on us!
Sylph: ...
Sylph: Why have you taken me in like this? I'm just burdening you with more work.
Flower Shop Owner: Mortals are not driven simply by gains and loss, but also by love.
Sylph: (Granny also said something very similar to me.)
Thinking of her departed friend, Sylph suddenly remembers a meaningful exchange.
Sylph: (Why wouldn't Granny let me use my alma to help her?)
Sylph: (Why did she continue to be involved with the flower shop until the very end?)
Sylph: (The things I should have asked her... I wish we had more time to speak with each other...)
Though Sylph begins to feel bogged down with regret, she is soon pulled back into the task at hand.
Vyrn & Lyria: Found it!
The two let out an elated shout.
Vyrn: Finally, after all that searching! This book mentions the seventy-year meteor shower!
Sylph: Does it really? My, have you really searched through this many books?
Vyrn: Sure did! And guess what? We've identified the best island and the best time to view it—it's actually tonight! Must be fate!
Sylph: "Fate"? What is the meaning of fate?
Lyria: Um, it means that what is happening is incredibly incredible!
Sylph: I see... Incredibly incredible, was it?
Looking over the massive piles of books and materials spread across the table, a feeling of warmth wells up within her chest.
Sylph: Thank you, everyone.
(Captain) and the crew have identified the key details of the meteor shower from Sylph's memory.
Borrowing the books they need to complete their investigation, the crew returns to the Grandcypher to prepare for the trip to the island in question.
Concerning Life: Scene 2
The crew arrives at the location from Sylph's memory to find two tombstones lying side by side. The meteor shower that the Astral and Sylphy watched is a reoccurring event, and as it transpires again in the present day, Sylph is able to recall more memories of the pair. The two met by chance on this island, and after spending time together, they fell in love. However, Sylphy eventually took ill and passed away. The Astral created Sylph as a replacement, and took the primal beast to an island that Sylphy loved. Realizing that nothing was able to heal his grief, the Astral left Sylph behind as he returned to the end of the sky.
The crew are not the only ones who are aware of the impending meteor shower. A large group of people is gathered at their selected vantage point.
Lyria: There are so many people... and food stalls!
Vyrn: I guess the folks around these parts have been aware of the meteor shower for quite a while.
Sylph: ...
Sylph: I don't think... this is the place.
Sylph: It was a bit more quiet...
Vyrn: Sylph? Hey! Where do you think you're going?
Sylph suddenly takes off running in the direction of a dense forest.
The forest climbs the side of a mountain. As the girl makes her way farther up the slope, she comes to a stop in a familiar place.
Sylph: ...
Vyrn: Here? There are no trees... And you can see the sky really well.
Lyria: Oh, and look over there! Are those... stone slabs? Something is written on both of them.
Sylph: ...
Though many of the words on the stone slabs have faded with the march of time, Sylph is able to recite the passages in their entirety.
Sylph: "Sylphy sleeps here." The name of the Astral is carved into the other one.
Vyrn: Are they tombstones? Why would they be here...
As (Captain) and the crew ponder their new discovery, raucous shouts can be heard in the distance.
Lyria: The meteor shower must have started!
Sylph looks toward the sky. Streaks of twinkling brilliance are painted across the inky canvas.
Sylph: ...!
Memories of a time long past swell up from within her. Once again, she recalls exchanges from another life.
The Astral has come to the island seeking an ideal location to establish a research facility.
Astral: A meteor shower that occurs once every seventy years... The children of man gather over yonder. It must be an optimal vantage point for viewing the phenomenon.
Sylphy: Oooh?
Astral: What! You approach me again, child of man?
Sylphy: So you've found my secret hideout too! You must be pretty amazin'!
Astral: Your... secret hideout?
Sylphy: Yeah! It's the perfect place to look at the stars! I bet you came here to do the same?
Astral: Not at all. I have no time to get excited by such mundanity...
Sylphy: Yeah, whatever! Let's watch it together!
Astral: ...
Astral: (I've no intention of arguing with a child... I shall watch it for a bit.)
Sylphy: Wasn't that just wonderful? They were so pretty!
Astral: ...
Sylphy: So we can see it again in another seventy years, right? I wonder if I'll really be able to see it again, though...
Astral: It's just seventy years. I can at least be a little patient.
Sylphy: What're you talkin' about? You'll definitely be all old and wrinkly by then!
Astral: Old, you say? I will definitely not be wrinkly, however.
Sylphy: You'll be sooo wrinkly!
Astral: I will not be wrinkly.
Sylphy: Mrgh... Okay, fine then! You have to meet me here in seventy years so that we can watch the next one together. Then we'll see!
Astral: Are you proposing some sort of binding agreement... a contract? That is fine by me—however, I have my own conditions.
Astral: You seem to be quite familiar with this forest. I want you to be my guide on this island.
Sylphy: That's it? Sure, I can do that.
Sylphy: But hey! My name's not "You," it's "Sylphy"! Isn't it cute? You gotta call me by my name from now on!
Astral: I understand. Then the terms of our agreement are settled, Sylphy.
The Astral is careful not to reveal anything about his true nature to the girl. They each live and operate according to the terms of the agreement for some time.
He experiences great kindness at the hands of Sylphy's family, and finds himself participating actively as a member of the island village.
As the days turn into years, the Astral can feel certain changes from within.
The Astral's time on the island eclipses the length of ten years, and Sylphy has become an adult.
Astral: You still act the same as ever.
Sylphy: Hey, you big meanie, that's not true! I've matured in a lot of ways!
Astral: Heh, it was only a joke.
Sylphy: Geez... You've changed in a lot of ways too, you know.
Astral: Yes, I suppose you are right. Won't you be my lover?
Sylphy: Huh?
Astral: These feelings are new to me, and I wished to confess them to you on this special day.
Astral: I am prepared to do anything, and even give up anything, in order to make you happy.
Sylphy: ...!
Sylphy: Well, while I appreciate the sentiment... I already feel the same way.
However, their days of happiness are not destined to last.
Sylphy comes down with a serious disease that leaves her bedridden. Not even the power of an Astral is enough to cure her.
Astral: I'm so sorry... I am unable to grant you the happiness we both desired...
Sylphy: That is not true. You and I—we are able to gaze outside of this window together.
Sylphy: Even long ago, I've always loved the sky. Every time we visited the secret hideout, I would imagine myself sprouting wings and taking off toward the stars.
Sylphy: As long as I can be with you, my love, and as long as we can gaze upon the sky together... I'm truly happy.
Astral: Sylphy...
Astral: ...!
To grant his lover's wish of flying through the sky, the Astral constructs a flying machine for her.
The girl's family, knowing her time is short, give the Astral their blessing. The two soon depart for the skies.
Sylphy: This is incredible! We're really floating above the clouds!
Astral: We shall journey far and wide across these skies. We shall visit every island that crosses below us. And then finally, we will return to the secret hideout to watch the meteor shower.
Sylphy: Yes... Just as we promised.
Yet, it is a promise never meant to be.
The woman passes away during their journey. The Astral returns to their secret hideout to lay her to rest.
Astral: Sylphy...
Astral: You were supposed to observe my form. I was going to prove I will never become wrinkly.
The Astral's outward appearance exhibits no signs of change.
Astral: ...!
Though a pain wells up from deep within, he does not cry.
In lieu of shedding any tears, he creates the primal beast Sylph in the image of his lover in an attempt to relieve the pangs in his heart.
Astral: I shall spend my eternity on this island—a land that she grew to love so much during our journey. I will spend all of my time with Sylph.
But the gaps of loss experienced by an Astral cannot be filled by a replacement, and he returns to the end of the sky with a broken heart.
The land of fairies and dragons where Sylph is left behind would come to be known as "Feendrache."
Concerning Life: Scene 3
Sylph ponders as to why the Astral would choose to love a mortal, knowing that she would not live unto eternity with him. As the group continues to watch the meteor shower, they posit that mortal life is akin to the light from a shooting star—brilliant until it eventually fades. Sylph remembers a similar conversation she had with the flower shop owner, and comes to experience the "love" that she believes the Astral to have felt.
Sylph: ...!
As the crew gazes toward the sky in awe of a meteor shower that only takes place once every seventy years, Sylph glimpses the memories of an Astral and his lover.
The girl tells (Captain), Vyrn, and Lyria about what she saw.
Vyrn: I see... So this spot was really special to the both of them.
Sylph: I still have so many questions.
Sylph: If the Astral really did return to the end of the sky, then why is there a tombstone here engraved with his name? Did something happen to his body?
Sylph: And why... Why did he fall in love with her, despite knowing that it was a union that could not last?
Sylph: Despite any illness, she was still destined to die of old age.
Sylph: The life of a child of man... It is extinguished as quickly as the light from a shooting star.
Choose: But that's what makes life beautiful.
Sylph tilts her head in curiosity at (Captain)'s words.
Sylph: What do you mean... by that?
Vyrn: I think I get what (Captain)'s sayin'.
Vyrn: Life's fragile, and we're all gonna meet our ends someday. It's 'specially apparent to folks like us since we flit from one danger to the next.
Vyrn: We need to use the limited time we have to live life to the fullest.
Vyrn: People shine the brightest when they're full of passion, y'know? Even an Astral could fall for a person like that and forget about the day they'd hafta say goodbye.
Lyria: Just because there's an end, doesn't mean that the journey there can't be beautiful... Like a shooting star fading into the distance.
Sylph: ...!
Sylph: Strange... Why are the children of man attracted to flowers? They provide no sustenance when consumed.
Flower Shop Owner: It must be because flowers are so very beautiful.
Sylph: I don't understand... How do you judge them as a thing of beauty?
Flower Shop Owner: Oh my, now that is a difficult question.
Flower Shop Owner: But I think... it is because they eventually wither and die.
Sylph: Wither?
Flower Shop Owner: Heh... I am sure that you will come to understand it one day, Lady Sylph.
Sylph: Things that can die also possess the ability to make life shine...
Sylph: (Is that why you rejected my alma, Granny? Did you wish to be like one of the flowers you loved so dearly?)
The one who could answer these questions has already departed from this world.
Sylph: (To come to understand the fragility of life, only for that knowledge to cause me so many tears of grief...)
Sylph: (Though I may have come to understand what it means to "love," what a cruel concept it has turned out to be.)
Sylph: (I can feel my chest seize up every time I think about you.)
Somewhere inside, Sylph has come to understand "love" in much the same way as the Astral felt long ago.
Sylph gazes once more at the stars, but is unable to feel that they are beautiful.
Lyria: ...
Lyria: Sylph, won't you take my hand?
Sylph: Lyria?
Lyria takes Sylph's hand into her own, and turns to look upon the tombstones once again.
Lyria: The Astral wished only to make Sylphy happy.
Lyria: Do you think that she was happy?
Sylph: I do not know.
Lyria: I think that she was.
Lyria: She was able to spend all of her time with her lover, right up until the end of her life.
Sylph: ...
Sylph: You're right. The love that she lived... It was most complete.
Sylph: (Granny also left this world with a smile...)
Sylph: (Though I may never die, I wonder if I can spend my days with the same sense of happiness?)
Sylph makes a plea of (Captain), Vyrn, and Lyria as they gaze at the sky beside her.
Sylph: (Captain), Vyrn, Lyria... Will you remain at my side from now on?
Vyrn: Up until the day we hafta say goodbye, we'll stick by you!
Sylph: Hm?
Lyria: The time that we spend together will never disappear. Please never forget that!
Sylph: ...!
Sylph: (I wonder... why I forgot the happy times we spent together.)
Sylph: (I see now that it was not only pain you left me with...)
The roars of the crowd grow louder as the shooting stars increase in volume and frequency.
Vyrn: This is seriously something else! Feels like I could make a million wishes right now!
Lyria: Right? They're so pretty!
Sylph: Yes, they are.
To the primal beast Sylph, the sight of a meteor shower is not nearly as wondrous as it is to her mortal friends.
Even so, this particular celestial phenomenon is one that she will never forget.
Concerning Life: Scene 4
The day after the meteor shower, Sylph begins to write a journal. She notes the strange presence of a tombstone for an immortal Astral. With a newfound interest in books and fairy tales, Sylph decides to write her own wherein the Astral returns to the Sky Realm and becomes a mortal.
On the morning after the meteor shower, Sylph puts pen to paper as she sits alone in her room at a town inn.
Sylph: These pages make for the first few of my memoir. I will be recording all of my memories here.
Her writing begins with an account of last night's events and her conclusions.
Sylph: I believe I have come to a good understanding of the "love" felt by my Astral creator, but I am still left with a multitude of questions.
Sylph: His love was fleeting, yet he chose to create an eternal primal beast such as me.
Sylph: It appears to be a contradiction, but perhaps it could be a part of his love that I have yet to understand.
Sylph: He projected his lover's longing for the skies onto me with these butterfly wings.
Sylph: Was this also an act of love?
Vyrn: Munch, munch... What's that? You've started a journal?
Sylph: Yes. I wanted to imitate Lyria.
Lyria: Yay! That makes us journal pals!
Sylph: Journal... pals? This is the first I am hearing of this expression. I'd better write it down.
Vyrn: I mean, I think she just made it up just now. It's probably not something you need to remember...
Sylph: No, it's fine. I wish to record everything.
Surrounded by newfound companions on every side, Sylph enjoys breakfast with the crew.
Though she doesn't require the nutrients provided by food, she treats the time as a precious opportunity to socialize.
After breakfast, the crew departs once more for the library, the books they must return in hand.
Sylph: Books are most strange... Did we really need to borrow this amount?
Sylph: If only death was not a reality of mortal life, it is very likely that the need to record things on paper wouldn't exist.
Vyrn: Gotten interested in books, have ya? We've got nothing in particular going on today, so why don't we spend some time browsing the aisles?
Lyria: Good idea! There were actually a few things I was in the middle of researching yesterday, too, so this will be perfect.
Vyrn: You too, Lyria? Truth be told though, I also found a picture book that tickled my fancy. The main character's an apple!
Sylph: Oh, a picture book? Those and "fairy tales" have been written about me, though I have never had the chance to open one of them myself.
Vyrn: You serious? We'll have to find one and read it together!
Sylph nods enthusiastically. The group spends the day reading fantastic stories in the library.
That night, Sylph gazes at the night sky from the deck of the Grandcypher.
Sylph: ...
Sylph: I still have so many questions.
Sylph: If the Astral really did return to the end of the sky, then why is there a tombstone here engraved with his name. Did something happen to his body?
Sylph: (I still don't know the answers to those questions, but if I were to write my own fairy tale...)
The Astral remained depressed, and left me in this realm as he departed for the end of the sky.
However, he soon remembered the happiness that he felt while spending time with Sylphy.
He decided that he wanted to live a happy and fulfilling life with the heart that Sylphy gave him.
He returned to the Sky Realm and cast away his eternal life in exchange for the life of a child of man.
To begin his new life, he returned to the place where Sylphy's family lived. He probably helped them with all sorts of things.
There were times he would laugh, and there were times he would cry... He lived his life to the fullest and grew old there.
And in the end, he made sure that he was buried next to Sylphy...
...a smile gracing his wrinkly face.
Sylph: (I wonder if this fairy tale is perhaps a little too fantastical...)
Sylph: (My purpose... It is to remain near to someone's heart.)
Sylph: (At least, that is what I truly desire it to be.)
Lyria: Ah, Sylph! Is now a bad time?
Lyria: But wait... Did I just see you smile?
Sylph: Oh, who knows?
Sylph: During what instances is it appropriate to smile? Please explain them all to me.
Sylph launches into her usual barrage of questions.
Traveling now with (Captain) and the crew, the girl will attempt to remain close to their hearts.
The tale of Sylph, the Flutterspirit of Purity, has only just begun.