Morimens story · Special Ops
The Magic of Stories
14 scenes, 367 lines
1. Andy: Johnson's Might, before the fight
36 linesLong, long ago, a great flood swept over the city.
Streets drowned. Towers came crashing down. People, property, all of Londinium was dealt a complete, thoroughgoing "Great Reshuffle"!
What's a "Great Reshuffle"?
Shh. I'll explain once we're done with this scene.
...
The floodwaters receded, and trouble stirs again on the banks of the Aethis River! Ruin comes for this luckless city a second time!
Thick fog rolls across the Aethis River, so dense you cannot see your own hand, cannot see the sky! And somewhere in that fog, something is waiting for its moment...
It is the beast of ancient legend, "born of Echidna the mother and Typhon the father, three heads upon its neck, and whosoever it hunts three times shall have their soul claimed by the underworld"...
Soft footsteps come from one corner of the set. Lotan raises an eyebrow at Aurita, who takes the hint at once and swings the light toward that corner.
The glare forces the girl to squint. She pads barefoot to the center of the set, nearly walking into the props piled up in her way more than once.
The "Hellhound"!
Kou... awooo...
Claws sharper than the finest carving knives in a department store, eyes brighter than the searchlights of the prison tower. Faceless, it lurks in the corners of the city, picking out victims for a wicked sacrifice...
No... that's not right...
Koum... Koum wasn't like that...
*Cough*, *cough cough*!
Anyway! It prowls the streets, hunting for a victim to feed its wicked sacrifice...
What kind of trash script is this? Londinium isn't that dang, *cough*.
Fine, Londinium is dangerous, but it's not like there are Hellhounds running loose in the streets!
Jenkin, Miss Casiah's script is only a story...
A story still can't just make things up! I said from the start we shouldn't hand something as important as the script to an outsider.
And you too, Keeper. Didn't that Lady whoever-she-is put you through plenty already? So why are you so comfortable with someone she slipped into the school?
Squeak!
All right, all right, calm down. Everybody, calm down.
Lady Daffodil cut a deal with the university's higher-ups. For now, Casiah is a guest staying at Mythag.
The little mouse has a point. The Hellhound story is plenty exciting told exactly as it happened. Besides...
Lotan glances at Lily. The girl is still standing in the spotlight, her head tipped down just enough to hide her face.
Spare a thought for how she feels, Miss Magician.
Mm... mmph!
Shadows churn across the floor. The wires along the brim of the Top Hat snap one by one, tearing open a glowing gash, like the leer of a criminal.
A cane comes flying out of the gash, then a hand crawls through, and last of all a girl.
The magician looks anything but pleased. She picks herself up, brushes the dust off her clothes, and retrieves her top hat.
Back and forth, back and forth, on and on... None of you have the slightest respect for the art of performance!
In a corner no one is watching, Casiah's "anger" tears open a hyperdimensional space, and that familiar rustling stirs in the dark...
We only left school to test Doll's new invention... how do we always end up in a fight?
Enough talk. Get ready.
2. Andy: Johnson's Might, after the fight
8 lines
Again, again! You're having fun too, right, Casiah?
Insolent brat! I'll tear you to pieces! You'll never work in pictures again!
Shh, shh! Stop egging Miss Casiah on.
Every eye is on the chaos of the fight, and the small cry goes unnoticed.
Lily takes a deep breath and shouts with everything she has.
It's broken... The machine is broken!
3. Merchant's Bounty, before the fight
17 linesWhat?!
Tch. What a pain.
Lotan breaks off the fight, knocks Casiah out with a backhand blow from her pommel, and crosses to Lily, sheathing her sword in one clean motion.
The machine took a stray hit in the fight and now lies among the wreckage of the set pieces.
What? What? What's wrong with the machine? Is it tired?
Something fell out of it. Is it broken?
You set the machine upright. The camera looks otherwise undamaged, only one wheel-shaped part has come loose.
Oh no! The film!
The black canister holding the film rolls off to one side, and light seeps in through the crack knocked into its shell.
Doll warned us specifically, the film can't be exposed to light... This is bad!
Our whole job this time was to test the camera Doll modified!
So what? Just buy another roll of film at the department store.
Your wallet won't be as thin as before, right, {Male=Mr.,Female=Miss} "Ashe"?
You pat your sorry excuse for a wallet and start counting the days until the next investigation stipend...
Got a hole in your pocket? Or how about I go "procure" one of these film things for you?
Please. Let the law keep a shred of dignity.
We're going to the department store, then.
4. Merchant's Bounty, after the fight
27 linesCasiah leads you to the doors of Londinium's largest department store, where a bustling crowd of shoppers closes in around you.
It's packed here. Why would that woman park her shop somewhere like this?
"If you want to hide a six of diamonds, shuffle it into the deck."
Casiah takes you around to the side of the department store and pushes the door open herself. A swirl of purple smoke pulls everyone inside.
Welcome back to my "Exchange Shop," my honored guests. And also...
And my darling "employee." How is life in Mythag? Have you learned to feel anything real?
Your generosity is appreciated, my lady, but there's honestly nothing to learn from a loudmouthed little mouse, a single-celled creature who understands nothing, a violent egomaniac, and a clam who never says a word.
Who are you calling a loudmouth?!
A clam... is that supposed to be me?
Ah, I almost forgot, make that two tight-lipped ones.
Casiah slips back behind the others and nudges Lily, silent all this while, out to the front.
Good morning, Lady Daffodil.
Good morning, my little guest. Let me guess what brings you here this time...
"Film that can record an Awakener's image"... Yes, I can find my guests something like that.
How do you know that? Don't tell me you've had someone following us again?!
And how could I possibly have foreseen that you'd go and ruin a precious roll of film?
With an inscrutable little smile, Daffodil sets the very thing you came for on the counter.
Treated with high-purity Silver Prime, this film captures an Awakener's likeness properly. Very rare indeed, my shop has only the one roll.
Wasn't this special film supposed to be Doll's new research? Where did you get hold of it?
A merchant who walks between dimensions has channels of her own. Don't look at me like that. You'll hurt my feelings.
Well? If you don't want it, I'll put it away.
Deal. We'll take it.
Lily squeezes your hand, unease in her eyes.
The exchange shop... we have to pay the lady.
Oh my, Lily still remembers how things work in here.
Don't worry, I'm not asking much this time, I want to see a "story."
A brilliant story, a complete one, one that leaves nothing to regret. That's what I want in exchange.
5. Storyseek, before the fight
11 linesOut at last. That shop had this weird stink in it, nearly burned my nose off.
Squeak!
If she hears you say that, we won't be getting out of here so easily today.
We're a good thirty feet from the shop already! She doesn't have three sets of ears, there's no way she can hear us.
You weigh the film in your hand. It's exactly as heavy as the reel you all ruined. And once again you think of the price Daffodil wants for it...
A brilliant story, a complete one, one that leaves nothing to regret. That's what I want in exchange.
We can't just film whatever we feel like this time. We need a plan.
A plan~ A plan for telling a story~
What kind of story shall we tell? Do you have any ideas, my liege?
Hmm...
Standing here staring gets us nowhere. Let's head back to the venue and think it over on the way.
6. Storyseek, after the fight
25 linesCan Aurita tell a story too? Aurita has a story!
A long, long time ago, Granny said Aurita was a child from the sea!
Aurita's mommy and daddy have already gone back to the kingdom under the sea. When Aurita grows up, Aurita will be with them again.
They must be so worried about Aurita, so Aurita is bringing lots and lots of friends back with her! Puppies, kitties, crows, the Keeper... and Aurita's favorite jellyfish!
Then they'll know Aurita is happy up here on land too!
A lot of those don't really belong underwater...
So you're getting taken into the sea too, apparently.
Yes! Yes yes! The Keeper is Aurita's friend! Lily has to come too!
Does Lily have stories too? Aurita wants to hear them!
Stories... Before Mommy got sick, she would often tell me bedtime stories.
But I... I can't remember mine either.
But...
That's mean, Lily. You're not just being lazy, are you?
When Aurita skips class, Aurita gets double homework. So if Lily is lazy, Lily owes double the stories!
?!
Well, that sounds great! You always hang out with Lotan and {Male=Mr.,Female=Miss} "Ashe," never playing with us.
Good chance to let everyone get used to your scent!
Squeak! Squeak, squeak!
A script! A script! Lily, write a script!
A script! A script! Lily, write a script!
7. Finest Bloom, before the fight
32 linesLily sits at the vanity, her feet swinging hard back and forth, too short to reach the floor.
A story... a story...
She mutters to herself, pen in hand, the nib scratching across the paper.
Her face is dead serious, every stroke pressed hard enough to bite through the page...
But there are no words on the page. Only a child's crude little drawing.
Is that... Koum and Francis?
Lily, you... can't read?
Lily... I...
Lily keeps her head down, hesitating, and finally nods, unease written all over her face.
Mother taught Lily to write. But... Lily doesn't remember anymore. Stories, scripts, Lily can't write those either.
Don't be scared. I'm not trying to rush you. Let's do it together.
Lily, can you tell me what the story is about?
It's a story about Mother, and Koum, and Lily.
And how does it begin? Hmm... in other words, where would Lily like to start?
Keeper. Over here, a moment.
Lotan hauls you off to the edge of the set and gives you a disapproving look.
There's nothing in that kid's past worth remembering. Making her turn all that into a story, doesn't sit right, does it?
You two have been sitting there half the day and haven't written a word. If you ask me, take Lily outside for a walk. Find some other inspiration.
Her sharp ears catch her own name, and Lily hops off her chair, pen still in hand, and darts over to the two of you like a small animal.
Lotan ruffles the girl's hair, takes the crayon from her, and presses it into your hand.
Go see the sights. Let her talk to someone who actually knows how to write. As for you...
You just follow along and write down whatever she comes up with.
Master, where are we going?
"Someone who knows how to write"... then there's one person we absolutely have to see.
"That person"?
A very talented lady. Lotan put us in touch with her, we'll meet her once the train reaches the end of the line.
Lily nods, not quite understanding, and holds your hand without another word.
It's only her second time on the subway. The excitement and curiosity of the first ride are gone; this time the little girl simply presses against you, quiet and watchful. Very much like a small animal that won't leave its mother's arms.
8. Finest Bloom, after the fight
39 linesThe Mutant lets out one final shriek, and silvery motes of starlight scatter into the air. Soon, it will be forgotten by the world, along with this sorrow.
The sorrowful shadow... You knew her before all this, didn't you?
Before the plague reached Rainy Town, she ran the town's flower shop.
Horla crouches beside the D-Slime left by the Mutant, reaching out and passing her hand through the air above it.
She lost her father and her brother in a mining accident, and still she kept the family standing.
A rose takes shape out of the sludge, blooming quietly in her upturned palm.
She took over her grandmother's shop and supported herself and her sick mother... She deserved a quiet, happy ending.
If only... she had never met me...
Horla lowers her eyes, and under her watch the flower of Dissolution slowly wilts and falls apart...
I watched her wither day after day, from a sun into stagnant water that not even the wind could stir.
In the end, only black slime drips between her fingers and melts into the ground.
Poetry is one thing, but stories always come from people. Peddlers and rich merchants, students and soldiers, nobles and servants... every one of them is a story.
And when I come close... when sorrow comes close, every story ends the same way.
...
It's all right, little Lily. I made peace with it a long time ago.
No. This isn't your fault.
What... makes you say that?
I heard the voice of the Mutant. At least this one florist's Breakdown has nothing to do with you.
What?
From the sparse words left by the Dissolutes, I deduced that she had already exhibited Dissolution symptoms long before you applied to leave Mythag.
Sick... I'm sick. I'm starting to forget things, and sometimes I see things that aren't right. The doctor says they're hallucinations. A symptom of hysteria. Hysteria... it always sounded like something that happened to other people.
People say the new neighbor at the end of the street is very talented...
She bought a bouquet from me and gave me a line of poetry. It's wonderful, Mom embroidered it onto the curtains!
...
I'm worse now, and Mom's growing forgetful too. What am I supposed to do? If I go, who takes care of her? Who looks after the shop?
I don't want to leave home... my family still needs me.
Death... no, not yet, I'm not ready...
Her sorrow comes from the pain of being torn away from her family, and from the fear of leaving this world.
She said...
"The new neighbor deserves the very best flowers."
To have bloomed is to have shone...
Thank you for telling me... I'll write one last poem for her story.
Horla leans down and brushes her fingertips across Lily's forehead, trailing the heavy scent of petals and the coolness of running water.
Take her out to look for stories, into the city, into the wild, into her future, into her past...
The stories will find the two of you when you least expect them.
9. Most Missed, before the fight
10 linesIt's been a while since you last came here. The scenery hasn't changed at all, but the air no longer carries that tense, shivering edge.
This place, once shadowed by the Hellhound, seems to have found real peace at last.
Lily, are you okay?
Lily is a quiet child at the best of times, but she hasn't said a word since you crossed into Rye Town.
A dull ache presses at your chest. Unease, joy, fear... the whole tangle of it reaches your nerves through the link.
Master... will Lily get to see Mother this time?
Lily hasn't grown up at all... but we've been away so long. What if she doesn't recognize Lily anymore?
A faint starlight of hope flickers in Lily's eyes. You smooth her satin-soft hair, take her hand, and lead her toward the far end of the railway bridge...
Once the room is opened, the hounds of Tindalos trapped inside will tear through the barricade of time. And there is no way to know what has become of Francis, still in there.
You can't promise Lily anything, and you won't give her a promise you can't keep.
10. Most Missed, after the fight
19 linesThere.
The girl you've been looking for sits on the floor at the end of the corridor, her back against a door you know all too well.
Intricate, arcane patterns bleed through the wood, leaking a dark violet light.
The small, animal murmuring gets no answer. Perhaps the door is too thick. Perhaps nothing alive is left behind it.
I'm sorry... Lily forgot the stories Mother told her. Lily didn't mean to.
Lily wants to tell her friends a story... Will Mother teach Lily how?
...
You and Nymphaea watch the girl in silence from a distance. Her eyes are squeezed shut, but she's smiling, happy, at peace.
You'd rather not break the quiet, but the patients out in the courtyard leave you no time for it.
It's alright, Lily. Do you want to stay with your mother a little longer?
Lily takes your hand, glances back at the silent door, and shakes her head firmly.
Lily knows which story to tell now. Let's go back.
You say your goodbyes to Nymphaea, leave the Sanatorium, and set out on the road back to Londinium.
Moonlight seeps through the misty air and the Sanatorium's clouded glass.
In a corner where time has frozen, a dark violet ritual circle runs with hidden light.
11. Grand Mirage, before the fight
19 linesAre my little actors ready?!
Keeper, are you ready?!
Don't blink, hold your breath, actually, never mind, you can breathe.
Because Casiah's illusion magic is guaranteed to leave you breathless!
The scene twists and blurs, shatters for a moment, then the pieces knit back together into a place you know all too well.
Wh-what kind of magic is that?!
Squeak, squeak squeak!
Keep an eye on that little thief of a partner of yours. Casiah's illusions are only illusions... move carefully in here, and don't actually step into one, or else......
Or else what? What happens, what happens?
Or else you'll walk straight into the real set pieces behind the illusion and come out black and blue!
Say, have any of you seen that woman, the one who's both school doctor and psychologist at Mythag University?
She's a devious, scheming, thoroughly evil demon queen. They say anyone who walks in hurt comes out flat on their back.
Th-that part didn't get recorded, did it?
Ogier glances anxiously at you behind the camera, and only relaxes once you confirm it didn't.
Miss Sylvia is actually very gentle with students who get hurt by accident...
Everyone's ready, so let's start filming.
Yaaay, filming~ filming~
Aurita, over here! We're not in this scene, so let's wait off-camera...
The Awakeners scatter to hide off-camera. You take one last look at the "script", barely a few lines on it, and head for your mark.
12. Grand Mirage, after the fight
21 linesHow does the rest of this go...
Cut! Cut!
For the first time ever, Casiah calls off the shoot. The illusion drains of color and vanishes, and she brandishes the script like a weapon.
Why'd you call cut all of a sudden? You can't pin this one on me, Brown and I didn't make a peep!
Fine, the earlier acts had nothing but an outline. A great magician's gift for staging was just barely enough to catch all your nonsense.
But look at this script for Act Four! It doesn't even qualify as an outline. What is the great Casiah supposed to build out of this?!
Casiah flings the script at you, and the pages, never properly fastened, slip free of the binder.
A nearly blank page lands at everyone's feet. On it, in crooked, childish handwriting, is a single line:
"And the girl lived happily with her mommy ever after."
Lily presses her lips together and drags the page into her arms like a little mouse guarding a scrap of food. You can't tell if what's on her face is embarrassment, fear, or grief.
I, I'm sorry... but whenever I think about Mother...
You didn't do anything wrong. After all, an ending like this...
That's it for today. We've got plenty of footage anyway. If Doll has any complaints, tell her to take it up with me.
Ehh? But Aurita hasn't even been in a single scene!
Weren't you backstage stuffing your face with Brown all afternoon? And now you suddenly want to be on camera?
Aurita wants to be in an oil painting too!
Something tugs at your cloak. You look down at your leg and find Lily, her eyes full of unease and guilt.
The little girl doesn't want to remember the day she was taken from her mother, and no one could blame her for that.
But is there any way to make her forget that sadness? Even just for a little while...
Fine, I'll forgive you for the first half, all we had was an outline, and a great magician's gift for design can just barely catch the nonsense you throw at her.
Nonsense...
13. Perfect Finale, before the fight
25 linesScreeeech!
What was that?!
Lotan sweeps the little Awakeners behind her on instinct, both hands tight around her sword hilt.
Sorry. First time using this speaker.
Feel like playing around some more?
You shake your head and press the switch again, swinging the light back to the center of the set.
The brave girl and the lady adventurer return to town. The adventurer takes the girl in as her own and shares with her all the small, ordinary joys of living...
Lily's eyes light up all at once, wide with disbelief.
She's seen the galleries, visited the zoo, ridden the trains and the underground, the two of them even took a boat down the Aethis River and out into the wide southern sea!
After all those adventures, the two of them settle into a quiet, peaceful life... but the girl never loses her curiosity, her longing for the unknown.
Is being curious... a bad thing?
No, no, no, it's absolutely a good thing. Curiosity is what drives civilization forward...
Only this time, what the girl grows curious about is a mysterious workshop...
Signal Casiah with a look
You waggle your eyebrows at Casiah. The magician, who has been standing there blankly ever since you stole her megaphone, finally comes to.
Why do I have to be the big bad again?
Whether to support your work or simply because she wants to make mischief, she grumbles, and plays along perfectly, raising the illusion once more.
A grim, uncanny light kindles inside the workshop. It drains the warmth out of the living world, until you feel you are standing among the dead.
I am Master Houdini, magician of the world of the dead, and this lovely little girl is my favorite prop of all! Brave adventurers, do you dare challenge me?!
M-Miss Casiah...?
Houdini! Master Houdini! You're supposed to be so frightened you burst into tears and lose your mind!
You and Casiah watch expectantly. Lily swallows, stiffly, once, twice...
S-Some... somebody...
Louder! Cry for me! Let me hear the terror from the depths of your soul!
S-Somebody, help!! Help me, Mother!
14. Perfect Finale, after the fight
78 linesWe did it... we won!
Their combined effort brings the wicked magician down. She slumps to the floor, one hand reaching weakly toward a button.
Lotan sees it and tosses the megaphone to you. Then she strides over to Casiah and whispers something in her ear.
What are you scheming now? Don't leave us with a mess nobody can clean up.
Oh, it's just a tiny little test...
Casiah's smile spreads wider and wider, and then everyone hears it: water, churning somewhere below.
Pour in, floodwaters! Give Master Houdini her curtain call, the final water tank escape!
The water rises fast, over the children's feet, then their calves... and at last their thighs, until every step is a struggle.
Casiah!!! What are you doing!? Do you actually want to drown us?!
The assistant hoists the Nightfall Ranger high overhead, sparing the ranger's magnificent fur, for the moment!
Hey!! You're a corpse, stop talking! Keeper! Lotan! Do something, quick!!
Lotan shakes her head, somewhere between amused and exasperated, and the phantom shape of a whale rises behind her. But just as she moves to haul everyone out of the water, a featherlight figure dives in headfirst.
Water! It's water~ It's Aurita's favorite, the sea!
Make your wishes, all of you in need! The sea will answer every one of them!
Detective G and the Nightfall Ranger duo trade a glance, then, in perfect unison, shove the long-silent girl in white forward to face the Ocean Sprite.
...?!
P-Please, take us away from here.
Casiah, already lying half in the water, curls her lips into a satisfied smile.
One wave of her hand, and the illusion shifts into something new.
In the blink of an eye, everyone is in the water
No one is spared.
You're actually serious!?
The sprite is back in the open sea, and everyone has gotten out of Houdini's magic workshop. Doesn't that count as granting the girl's wish?
You make a fair point, but, but how is this story supposed to reach the ending Lily wants?
"And the girl lived happily with her mother ever after."
Tch. This is the last time I babysit for you. Next time something this annoying comes up, don't come looking for me.
Lily, copper, look over there, what's that in the water?!
A massive spine rises from the water, the great beast that has dwelled in the deep sea of Kadath since the birth of the planet. It answers the call of life, crossing through the veil of time!
Lo... tan?
Coming or not? Stay here and the story ends for you right in this water.
Wow! A big fish!
Easy now, one at a time, everyone. There's plenty of room on Miss Lotan's back.
Hey, quit shoving to the front, you half-baked Ocean Sprite! Me and Br, me and the Nightfall Ranger did all the real work here!
Um...
The big fish is Aurita's friend! So Aurita gets to sit right at the front!
Um...!
Li... Lily... I...
I want to sit at the very front. Can I?
Seeing as you're even smaller than me... careful! There's no seat on the big one's back.
Aurita wants to stay with her friends!
Hey! Why are you so slimy!? If you can swim, then stay off my back!
A roar bursts from the great beast's blowhole, and She breaks the surface carrying laughter and hope with Her.
Dawn light cuts through the clouds and the sea spray, draping the water, the great beast, and the adventurers all in veils of red and pink.
S-so high!
Detective G, the Ocean Sprite, and the Nightfall Ranger's assistant all grab hold of the girl at once, keeping her from sliding off the great beast's back.
They laugh and shout, smearing seawater over each other's clothes.
Perhaps, for these lucky few who have escaped with their lives, the ending they set out to reach no longer matters so much.
Just then, the brave girl looks straight at you, at you, sitting quietly on the rocks.
The light flickered in her eyes, and an exceptionally radiant smile spread across her youthful face.
A lily trapped by time, missing its season...
At last, the moment to bloom has come.
Clap, clap, clap.
Applause rises from beyond the set, and the scent of violets slowly fills the air. Someone draws near at an unhurried pace, a long, lavish skirt trailing behind her.
Daffodil!
Daffodil smiles as she removes the custom reel of film, then elegantly blows away dust that isn't there.
A splendid story indeed. I'll accept this as our trade.
Wait! You never said anything about taking the film with you. If you do that, we've got nothing to show Doll.
Impatient as ever, black-clad swordsman. Think about what Miss Doll actually asked of you...
"Test the modified machine"... not test the special film. Is that it?
But I haven't seen the movie yet! It's not the same as a comic strip, right?
The machine recorded your story exactly as it happened. The film is only the vessel that carries those lovely hours... You finished that "Brain in a Vat"'s little assignment ages ago, didn't you?
As for the finished picture, you're all most welcome to drop by the exchange shop and watch it with me.
You're about to press the merchant further about leaving the film behind when the communicator at your chest chimes at the worst possible moment.
You took your time answering. Enjoying yourselves, I take it? I only wish you brought the same devotion to your coursework.
Skip the pleasantries. Something of mine has gone missing, when you left the lab, I handed you exactly one box of special film. Correct?
Um... yes, that's right. One camera and one box of film.
Doll's emotionless voice pours into the mind of every Mythag member present. The laughter dies at once, and everyone holds their breath, terrified of letting anything slip.
I suppose it's pointless. Erica has no record of anything leaving storage either, so asking you gets me nowhere.
Come home soon. You've been out playing long enough.
Doll cuts the connection without ceremony. The moment the current drains out of their heads, everyone breathes again.
Lady Daffodil! Don't tell me that film you gave us was...
Where'd that awful woman go?! When did she slip away?!
Lily watches the Sea of Grey Matter vanish around the corner of the set. When she notices you watching her, she pads back over to your side.
What is it, Lily?
Lily is happy...
She grips the hem of your cloak and looks up at you with a bright smile.
Thank you... "Mother."
The End