Ch-Ch-Changes
While celebrating a job well done after the Joya incident, Zooey notices how her experiences with the crew have made her behave more like a skydweller. She smiles at the thought of more fun experiences to come, but the crew feels something off behind her smile.
One day (Captain) and company meet a mysterious girl.She explains her mission: the expulsion and erasure of that which would alter the world's equilibrium.
The girl asks to fight alongside the crew, to which the crew members oblige, but they realize they don't even know the girl's name yet.
???: Name? Name... Right, I need a name. Hm, what should I do?
Vyrn: Huh? You mean you don't have a name?
???: Well, I do. But... how should I say it? Zee... No, Zoh... ee? Hmm...
Lyria: Umm, did you say Zooey? I'm sorry, can you say that again?
Zooey: Zooey. Zooey... Yes, that will work.
And that's how the enigmatic, yet charismatic, Zooey came to be a part of the crew.
The Joya gathers the roots of negative afflictions throughout the sky realm, maintaining the equilibrium of people's desires.
A few days after the Joya debacle, the crew dines at a tavern to thank Zooey for her endeavors.
Lyria: Good work, Zooey!
Zooey: Thank you, but I couldn't have done it all by myself.
Zooey: If everyone hadn't been there, I couldn't have defeated the Joya.
Vyrn: Hehe, don't be so modest. Weren't you the one who blasted it away with that awesome gun?
Zooey: Um, yes, that's true, but... it was awesome?
Vyrn: Yep! Just lookin' at it gives me goosebumps. There's just something irresistible about it!
Zooey: Oh. Yes, I see it now.
Zooey: I wasn't particularly aware of it, but when you put it that way, I do get a slight sense of wonderment coming from it.
Lyria: I like your cutesy, new clothes too. Heehee, they make me want to try them on.
Zooey: You think they're cute? Hehehe. Thank you, Lyria.
Zooey: You can wear them afterward if you'd like. I think they'd look very nice on you.
Lyria: Yaay! I can't wait!
Zooey: Mm-hm. Me neither.
Zooey: You know, I never really enjoyed taking this form...
Zooey: But when you compliment me like that, I feel at peace. I've come to like it.
Lyria: How come you didn't like taking that form before?
Zooey: It's simple. I'm not good with guns.
Vyrn: You kiddin' me? That's totally not how I see it!
Zooey: It's not that they're hard to handle. Actually all weapons are easy for me to use. It has to do with my personal views.
Zooey: When I use a gun, it represents a one-sided offense.
Zooey: There's no exchange; you just keep pulling the trigger from far away until the threat goes away.
Zooey: I didn't like doing things that way.
Vyrn: You're a fussy one...
Zooey: Fussy... Yes. Yes, that's right. I can be quite fussy.
Zooey: But, like I was saying, you guys—my dear friends—complimented me as I am. Now I like this version of me.
Lyria: Haha. In that case we'll heap more and more praise on you!
Zooey: Hehehe... Thank you.
Zooey: Well, let's keep eating, or else the pie will get cold.
Zooey: But isn't this odd... What's this fizzy liquid on the side?
Zooey: Hmm... The bubbles go bloop-bloop-bloop...
Zooey: Hehe. And the sweet aroma bursts in my mouth. I could just about break into a jig.
Zooey: Can you tell me where I can harvest more of this?
Vyrn: Uh... That's called juice. You drink it, y'know.
Zooey: Oh. Is that so? I made another mistake again.
Vyrn: Remember when we first met? You asked us where you could harvest pies from too.
Lyria: Hahaha, that's part of her charm! I think it's really cute.
Zooey: Oh, this is embarrassing. Please don't tease me like that.
Vyrn: Hahaha! You've got crazy skills, but you're still the same Zooey!
Zooey: ...
Zooey: No, I've changed.
Zooey: Traveling with you all has given me the chance to experience things that make my heart leap, and I've learned wonderful things.
Zooey: I, the guardian of this world, understand now the desires that people have.
Zooey: I want to splash around in the sea with everyone. I want to go clothes shopping with Lyria. I want to discuss philosophy with Vyrn...
Zooey: I wasn't aware of it at the time, but at some point I probably possessed desires of my own.
Zooey: And when all's said and done, I gained the heart of a skydweller.
Vyrn: Sure, when you put it that way... Feels real natural talking to you recently, just like with everyone else.
Zooey: Ah, so that's how it is...
Vyrn: Huh? What's wrong?
Zooey: Truthfully I only started noticing my hesitation to handle guns not too long ago.
Zooey: The old me wouldn't have given it a second thought. The end justifies the means.
Zooey: But now I've changed. Now I'm...
Zooey: Heehee. You've really shown me so much.
Zooey: The name Zooey belongs to me and with it all the fun, unforgettable memories...
Dyrn: Grururu...
Lyrn: Ruru!
Zooey: That's right. The crew gave you two your names too.
Zooey: I think taking a skydweller form was truly the right thing to do.
Zooey: I can't thank you enough. I will cherish our friendship forever.
Vyrn: Wh-whoa, we don't need that much flattery! You've been acting weird all of a sudden. Everything okay?
Lyria: It's almost like... you're trying to say goodbye...
Zooey: ...
Lyria: Z-Zooey! Let's keep making lots of great memories!
Zooey: Hehehe. Yes. Let's fill our minds with wonderful memories, everyone.
Zooey: Don't worry. I'm not going to leave.
Vyrn: Whew... Don't freak us out like that!
Lyria: I'm so glad to hear that. We'd really hate to see you leave, okay?
Zooey: Mm-hm. I'd hate that too. I want to be with you all, forever and ever...
Vyrn and Lyria are satisfied with Zooey's response for the time being.
But Zooey's fleeting smile leaves (Captain) with a feeling of indescribable apprehension.
For a World No One Knows
(Captain) and company receive a request to exterminate monsters who have suddenly turned violent. Further investigation reveals that the monsters only went berserk after there was a flash of light in the sky—a revelation that puts Zooey in a brooding mood.
(Captain) and company have taken on a mission to stop monsters that have suddenly gone berserk.
The crew arrives in the damaged town to gather more information.
Townsperson 1: They attacked our homes out of nowhere.
Townsperson 2: We were thrown into so much confusion that we were too late to do anything.
Zooey: I see. And this is the situation you find yourselves in.
Townsperson 1: I still can't put my finger on it. The monsters around here never attacked anyone before.
Zooey: Hmm...
Lyria: What does it mean?
Townsperson 2: I don't know. The monsters are gone now.
Townsperson 2: But who knows when those rampaging beasts will come back. It's scary, so scary...
Lyria: Please don't worry! We'll get to the bottom of this.
Lyria: Right, (Captain)? Zooey?
Zooey: ...
- Zooey?
- Poke Zooey in the face.
Choose: Zooey?Zooey: Oh, sorry. Were you saying something?
Vyrn: C'mon, get it together. Are you okay?
Zooey: Yes. There's just something I'm a little worried about.
Choose: Poke Zooey in the face.Zooey: Hm? What is it? If you want to play, can we do that later?
Zooey: There'll be lots of time once this is taken care of...
Lyria: Huh? So you heard everything we just said?
Zooey: Oh, sorry. Were you saying something?
Zooey: My head was somewhere else.
Continue 1Zooey: I hope you don't mind me asking, but did the monsters really attack out of the blue?
Townsperson 1: What?
Zooey: Was there something off at the time? Anything different from usual? Anything at all?
Townsperson 2: Actually...
Townsperson 1: There was a flash of light in the sky just before they attacked.
Zooey: ...!
Zooey: Is that so...
Zooey: Then it's already here...
Vyrn: Um, what's already here?
Vyrn: You holdin' out on us, Miss Flippy-Hair?
Zooey: ...
Zooey: I'll tell you everything afterward.
Zooey: First we have to keep the town safe. Because I'm still trying to figure things out.
Zooey speaks with an uncharacteristically anxious look on her face.
Her fellow crew members notice the strain in her voice, mulling it over as they head off to fight the monsters.
For a World No One Knows: Scene 2
The monsters are defeated, but Zooey says there's a new menace coming from the cosmos that threatens to destroy everything. She must return to her original state in order to save the world, but the thought of losing all her experiences with the crew causes her to hesitate.
After dispatching the monsters, Zooey reveals something to the crew on the way back to town.
Zooey: When the Joya was acting up, I went to the cosmos.
Zooey: It was faint, but I felt it—an imperilment that threatens to destroy the world.
Vyrn: Are you serious?
Lyria: Is that why the monsters suddenly went crazy?
Zooey: Yes. The imperilment is getting closer, causing side effects.
Zooey: And there's no way to stop it.
Zooey: Neither the Astrals nor the skydwellers have the means to do so. It's on a completely different level.
Vyrn: Uh, okay... But if all of us work together, we can—
Zooey: You can't.
Zooey: Because the moment it arrives here...
Zooey: Everything will be doomed instantaneously.
Lyria: Oh no...
Zooey: All living things will be driven to confusion, like the monsters we just fought.
Zooey: It would be utter madness. It must never be allowed to fall upon the world.
- Can't you stop it, Zooey?
- Zooey...
Choose: Can't you stop it, Zooey?Vyrn: Yeah, yeah! You can fly up there and beat it, right?
Zooey: ...
Choose: Zooey...Lyria: Are you okay, Zooey? Your hands are shaking...
Zooey: I'm sorry. I guess I can't hide it, can I?
Continue 1Zooey: I could probably—no, that is to say my original form could probably stop it.
Vyrn: So why don't you just transform back then?
Zooey: I... can't. I just can't.
Zooey: I mean, it would be a simple process for me to go back to how I used to be. But I don't know what would become of the things I hold dear.
Zooey struggles with her words. (Captain) and company try to comfort her as they deal with their own shock.
For a World No One Knows: Scene 3
The crew members rack their brains to come up with a plan to save the world that doesn't involve Zooey reverting to a clean slate. Seeing how far her friends are willing to go for her, she ascends into the cosmos to stop the menace—not as the guardian of the world, but for her beloved crewmates.
(Captain) and the others comfort Zooey, and they all return to the Grandcypher.
She quietly tells the crew why she can't go back to how she used to be.
Zooey: I've been around people for too long. What's done can't be easily undone.
Zooey: Haha... It seems I learned something.
Zooey: Now I know what fear is.
Zooey: I'm scared of abandoning my skydweller form. Just thinking about it has me afraid.
Vyrn: Abandoning? Aren't you being a tad overdramatic?
Zooey: I have to throw everything away when I go back to my complete form if I'm to stop the imperilment.
Lyria: Your complete form?
Zooey: I can't be the Zooey you've come to know. I have to become one with the world.
Zooey: In doing so I will lose my sense of self.
Vyrn: No way!
Lyria: I can't believe it!
Zooey: The moment I relinquish myself to the beginning, that will be the end.
Dyrn: Gruu...
Lyrn: Rururu...
Her two dragons look at her with worry, and she pats them both on the head.
Zooey: Haha... Strange. What an odd thing for me to say.
Zooey: I never would have been this muddled before I met all of you.
Zooey: I've come to question who I am as I continued traveling with you.
Zooey: I feared my own power and clung to this temporary physical manifestation...
Zooey: Say, Lyria. Do you really see me as a primal beast?
Lyria: Huh?
Lyria: Yes, but you're not at all like the other primal beasts.
Zooey: Your intuition is correct.
Zooey: I am a primal beast manifested from the wishes to protect the realm of Astrals and skydwellers.
Zooey: That's where I differ greatly from a typical primal beast.
Zooey: I fought to protect the world from the moment I came to be.
Zooey: The Zooey that was born from those wishes is my rightful form.
Zooey: The old me would've abandoned this Zooey and left to fight the threat to the world.
Zooey: But now I can't do that. I've journeyed with you... Grown with you...
Zooey: I can't bring myself to leave this version of Zooey.
Zooey: But if I don't let go, the world will be destroyed. What should I do?
- It'll be okay.
- The Zooey right now is just as good.
Choose: It'll be okay.Zooey: (Captain)...
(Captain) gives her a soft smile and gently pats her head.
Vyrn: That's right! Let's all take a deep breath and try to come up with a plan!
Lyria: Yes! I'm sure there's something that can be done while still keeping our Zooey!
Zooey: No, I don't think there is...
Lyria: There has to be!
Zooey: ...
Vyrn: I can't think of anything right now, but I know we'll figure out something.
Vyrn: Even if we can't, we're in this all the way!
Choose: The Zooey right now is just as good.Zooey: Huh?
Lyria: Uh-huh! This Zooey is your rightful form too!
Vyrn: Couldn't agree more. That's why you don't have to throw yourself away, Miss Flippy-Hair!
Lyria: There's definitely a way!
Lyria: A way to keep our Zooey and still save the world!
Vyrn: Let's put on our thinking caps! Something's bound to come up!
Continue 1Zooey: Everyone...
Lyria: We can do anything when we work together!
Lyria: Don't try to do everything yourself. We're all in this together, Zooey.
Zooey: ...
Zooey: (Yeah... That's right...)
Zooey: (You guys are always like that.)
Zooey: (Even in the face of overwhelming odds, you all won't back down.)
Zooey: (Facing the impossible while believing in possibility.)
Zooey: Hehehe... I don't see any hesitation in any of you. I'm the only one who is faltering.
Lyria: Zooey?
Zooey: Thank you. Thank you so much, everyone.
Zooey: I've decided to fight, (Captain).
Zooey: There are no others I love more than you all. No others I'd rather not lose than our merry band. That's why I will fight.
Vyrn: Uh... Th-then does that mean you'll turn back into...
Zooey: Yes. The quicker the better.
Zooey stands with a determined look, her weapon at the ready.
Lyria: B-but if you do that, then you'll...
Zooey: We'll part ways.
Lyria: Don't say that...
Lyria: That's awful. Didn't you say you'd hate to be apart from us?
Zooey: Please don't cry. I've made up my mind.
Zooey: (Captain)... Everyone... I have one last thing to ask of you all.
Zooey: Please don't forget me. Don't forget this Zooey.
Lyria: Sob... Of... of course we won't!
Vyrn: Yeah! You didn't have to say any of that!
Zooey: Hehe... I'm truly thankful.
Zooey: I'll be going now.
Zooey gives the crew one last smile as she walks out the door.
She then ascends high into the heavens without glancing back.
She flies higher than where the Joya was defeated. On the way up she has a sudden thought.
Zooey: (This is most certainly not in the world's best interest...)
Zooey: (Because I'm not fighting to protect the world. I'm fighting for everyone who accepted me as Zooey.)
She comes to a complete stop and glares at the dazzling presence in front of her.
Zooey: I won't let you destroy those that I cherish. I, Zooey, will stop you!
Zooey: With all my power!
It hasn't been long since Zooey took to the cosmos.
Suddenly the night sky is wrapped in light.
Everyone around the world is flabbergasted by this phenomenon, but the crew knows better.
Vyrn: She did it...
Lyria: Sob... Zooey...
The crew keeps watching the skies, waiting for Zooey to return.
But she never does.
And so the days pass by.
For a World No One Knows: Scene 4
Days have passed since Zooey saved the world from being destroyed, but she still hasn't returned from the cosmos. (Captain) and the others relive their wonderful memories of Zooey in an attempt to make her appear again, and sure enough they succeed in calling back the young girl they love so much.
It's been days since Zooey left the crew.
Lyria: ...
Vyrn: ...
With Zooey gone, everyone aboard the airship is mired in gloom.
Vyrn: She ain't coming back, is she...
Lyria: Zooey... Sniff...
Vyrn: Don't cry, Lyria. I mean, I'm sad too, but...
Lyria: Sniff... I just... wish I could see her... one more time...
Lyria: But she's really...
- No... We can still see her.
Choose: No... We can still see her.Lyria: Huh?
Vyrn: Whoa! You got a plan, (Captain)?
(Captain) recalls what Zooey said before she left.
Zooey: I am a primal beast manifested from the wishes to protect the realm of Astrals and skydwellers.
Lyria: Wishes...
Vyrn: That's why she appeared in the first place. So, like, will she come back if we wish hard enough?
(Captain) nods and asks them all to think back to their memories of Zooey.
Lyria: If we do that, then she has to come back!
Vyrn: The memories we made with Miss Flippy-Hair...
Vyrn: Haha... There's been a lot.
Lyria: She had a lot of fun learning new things about a world she didn't know.
Vyrn: I'll never forget the time we cruised around on those ride-on floats in Auguste.
Lyria: We shopped, went to puppet shows... So many great moments spent with each other.
Vyrn: Yeah, but still...
Lyria: Mm-hm. We still haven't created enough memories. Not at all!
Lyria: I want to make more memories with her!
Lyria: Please, Zooey... Please come back to us!
Lyria: Let's keep going... sniff... together...
Vyrn: ...
Vyrn: It's not working...
Lyria: Sob...
Suddenly the entire airship shakes, accompanied by a loud boom.
Vyrn: What the? It came from the deck!
Lyria: Could it be?
The crew rushes out onto the deck.
And who do they see standing there?
Zooey: ...
Vyrn: Miss Flippy-Hair!
Lyria: Zooey!
Lyria: Sniff... Sob...
…………
- Welcome home.
Choose: Welcome home.Zooey: Heehee...
Zooey: It's good to be home.
Lyria, Vyrn, and (Captain) dash over to give the smiling girl a huge hug.
Feeling the warmth of her body, they know she's back for real.
Every single crew member vows to never allow this tenderhearted girl with the radiant smile to ever leave them again.