Live by Talking About Dreams

Did you all get your drinks?

I did!

I have indeed.

Right here.

Then here's to our valiant effort in the first round of the Grail Concert, and to our lovely rivals, AxXxS!

Cheers!

Cheers!

Ahh. I can feel it making its way down to my stomach. The only thing that would make it taste better would be if we had won!

Don't beat yourself up thinking about what could have been, Lady Ushiwaka. Trust me on that.

Oh, yes, you're right. My deepest apologies, Princess Helena.

Don't worry. I absolutely understand how you feel.

Still, all that aside...seeing you all here with me reminds me of something important.

We haven't truly lost anything. We're still idols, and we still have Mahatma!

Oh, excuse me! Could I have a refill, please?

You already finished your drink?

E-excuse me! Princess Helena? Fair knights?

Yes?

I-I'm so sorry to bother you, b-but I just wanted to say I'm a loyal citizen of the Mahatma Kingdom!

I was there for your incredible Grail Concert show, too! It was the most touching thing I've ever seen!

(Sniff) Oh gosh, look at me, I'm a mess. I'm so sorry. I just... I...

...

L-Lady Altera!?

It's all right. I hear you loud and clear. You needn't say anything more.

(Sob!)

Thank you, my subject. Know that wherever you go, we will always be there with you in spirit.

Thank you so much for your support♪ We love you!

Ahh! N-n-not at all! Th-thank you so much!

You're right, Princess Helena. We haven't lost our fans' love, either.

You may be a woman of few words, Lady Altera, but when you do speak, you know just what to say.

Her skin was hot to the touch. Her blood was boiling.

Her words were the words of a true warrior. At least, that's what I think.

I think so, too. Eyes as earnest as hers would never lie.

Definitely! Which is all the more reason to work on making MahaOp's next show better than ever!

If we really work at it, I know we can defeat AxXxS next time!

You're so right!

As you command, Princess! ...Although, what exactly should our next move be?

Good point. We'll have to give it some serious discussion at the next Mahatma meeting.

Agreed. But for now, let's relax and cheer up by enjoying this delicious meal!

Excuse me! We'd like to order more food, please.

Aah! You already ate everything on the table, Lady Altera!?

Oh well, nothing more we can do now. Could I get another refill too, please!?

All right, let's get this Mahatma meeting started. Today, we'll be discussing where to take MahaOp's next album.

Oh, I have an idea! What if we were to collaborate with someone!?

That was quick, Lady Ushiwaka.

Do you have someone in mind?

I do. As the capable CEO of well-known Company A once said, yesterday's enemy is today's capital alliance.

So I propose that our best option for a collaboration would be AxXxS! Plus, I would love to team up with them!

That sounds great! I'm completely on board! We can talk to them after the Grail Concert is over.

Joining forces with a former rival is always a welcome development, one that is only made possible by virtue of this war being fought with song instead of violence.

All right, I'll add that to our list of viable possibilities. However, there's still one problem we need to solve. Namely

What would the story we make with AxXxS be about.

Exactly.

I know we can't decide on the whole thing ourselves, but we do need to put some ideas together to show them.

Let's take Ex's charm, for example. Now, what do we think of when we think of her? Hmm... Japanese sweets? Glasses? Space?

...Three words: Space Mahatma Kingdom.

Oh, yes, I've heard of stories like that! They're called "sigh-fie," right!?

Science fiction... That would be quite the leap from our current romantic swords and sorcery motif.

Well, Princess Helena already has that mysterious flying saucer that descends from space whenever she prays...

That's just the Mahatma Kingdom's guardian deity. It's all fantasy, no science.

Yes, Princess. As you say.

Still, I do get your point, Jeanne. If we change too much too fast, our citizens may have trouble accepting it.

We'll need to handle this very carefully... Which means we'll need to bring in a seasoned expert.

Did someone say "seasoned expert"!?

Eek!

Who goes there!?

Whoa! If you're going to ask, I would thank you to wait for an answer before coming after me with your sword.

Oh, Lord Shakespeare. What brings you here? And how did you get through our extremely tight security?

Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie, which we ascribe to heaven!

Above all, I heard calls for a seasoned expert... That is to say, calls for a writer.

Yes, a writer! That is what MahaOp truly needs now!

I'll wrap him up and send him back where he came from.

Don't worry. If we don't have a box big enough for him, I'll find a way to make him fit, whatever it takes.

Ah, to suffer the slings and arrows of your words, my dear!

You haven't seen anything yet.

Ahh, fair Princess Helena! Please, give this poor world-class author a chance!

You're absurdly confident, aren't you? Not that that's anything new for you...

Impressive, author. I now see what they mean when they talk about having a thick skin.

Hehe, now, now, Jeanne, let's give him a chance. He IS one of the greatest writers in history, after all.

We should at least hear him out.

Very well, Princess. If you insist.

But first, we should bring our visitor some tea.

Nay, good lady! You need not trouble yourselves on my behalf. Is this seat taken? No? Don't mind if I do then.

Oh yes, by all means, make yourself at home. ...Altera, could you come here a moment?

(Whispering)

Understood. I'll make arrangements for tea at once.

Mmm, delicious! This Mahatma Kingdom tea has a most delightful fragrance!

I'm glad to hear you like it, Shakespeare. Now, tell us. Why are you here?

You are too kind, miladies. My proposition for you is a simple one.

Hire me to write MahaOp's stories and I shall make all manner of problems disappear.

For example, to make your earlier sci-fi MahaOp idea work, you need merely separate it from your usual fantasy realm.

If you present it to the audience as the story of a single night's dream, or a festival where all usual bets are off, the audience is sure to accept it without question.

Now I see. We could make it a side story! That sounds perfect! Do you have any other ideas you can share?

Gladly!

There, I think that should do it.

That had...far more massacres, coincidental encounters, and complex relationship entanglements than I was expecting...

True, but I also can't deny that I'm intrigued to see what happens next. The man certainly knows his craft.

This is even better than I hoped!

I'm back, Princess Helena. May I have a word, please?

...Got it. Thanks, Lady Altera. Okay, Shakespeare, there's just one problem.

Yes? What might that be?

Deadlines.

Urk.

When you say you'll have this script to us on Friday, you do know that doesn't mean "Monday next week," right?

(Cough) Er, yes, of course!

Great! Then I look forward to seeing you again once your work is done and you're all cleaned up♪

...

There you are, Producer.

Huh!? Aah!

What is all this? What's going on?

I was just looking into Sir Shakespeare there, and it seems he has multiple unmet deadlines. As such, it would be far too dangerous to entrust him with a new project.

He's the mysterious producer behind the super talented boy band troupe "The Globe."

Now he has people chasing him down over his failure to meet his deadline for The Globe's latest musical script.

My apologies for the disturbance, ladies of the Saint Mahatma Operatic.

Now, come with us, Producer Shakespeare. We need you to get back to work on our own show. Now.

Indeed. SwordMu (*Swordmaster Musical) will be lost without your script.

This is no time to be fantasizing about working on other projects, Shakespeare.

On that note...go ahead, Mahatma Knights!

Yes, sir! Taking him away now, sir! Here goes nothing, sir!

Waaah! Ahh, alas!

I was truly looking forward to writing this MahaOp story! It sounded like so much fun!

Still, this fanboy is not about to give up! One of these days, you must do a collaboration with The Globe!

Thank you, Sir Shakespeare. I can't wait for that day to come.

I wonder when that's going to be...

I'm afraid Shakespeare is afflicted with CDS (chronic deadline syndrome.)

Still, every job must come to an end someday. At least, I hope so.

So when this one ends, I hope you'll give him another chance.

Phew. That meeting turned out to be much more of an ordeal than I expected.

And all we got out of it was our idea to collaborate with AxXxS.

Oh, that's all right. There's nothing wrong with having the occasional unproductive day.

Personally, I've had a great deal of fun just talking about our story ideas.

Me too. And if nothing else, this proves that our lovely dreamworld is so wonderful that even a great author has taken interest in it.

Dreamworld... That's right. This is a dream. The entire Mahatma Kingdom is a fleeting dream.

Yes. It's a beautiful, happy dream, but also fragile and so easy to wake from.

And unlike boundless love, it's just an illusion we've all come up with.

But, as long as we truly believe in it, it will never disappear.

And as long as we continue to demonstrate it exists in our hearts, our citizens are sure to follow us there!

Yes, you're right. Even if the day should come when we need to leave this Singularity...

This beautiful dream kingdom we share in our hearts will remain a treasure we can cherish forever.

Absolutely!

Even once the final curtain has closed, Saint Mahatma Operatic's legend will never end!