Part 41: Episode 26: The Dream Will Not End

Welcome back! Last time, it was looking pretty dire for our heroes on the Holiday Star. Let’s see what happens in Chapter 4.

The music stops.





Y…pr…d…we…uld…to…er.
…tho…u…I…ught…y…ne…un…od…me.
…be…ved…ou.
W…
W…y?
W…y…id…you…is…me?













I know you are here tonight. My heart flutters just imagining your ungainly form prostrating itself in fear before my new weapon!
Look up at the night sky! The stars! The moon! They all give me their blessing in this, my decisive moment of artistry!
……
………
Never mind, it seems to have clouded over.
Hmph! Can’t the weather try to read the atmosphere at least a little!? Come on, you ninnies! The star player has arrived at last. Show a little enthusiasm!
Bah. It is of no matter. Nothing can overshadow my day of glory now!




Tremble before me, pitiful fools! Wait, no, give applause for the glory you are about to witness! Tonight, I unveil my…
……

The music stops.

Didn’t I just ask for applause!? What is this silliness? This is my grand entrance! You must--

Ah, good Mr. Editor-in-Chief! I’m afraid we’re in the middle of a sexy and gradual process at the moment. Could it wait?
Hm!? You two are…



We really don’t need more problems right now, so just sit tight and hold it, kiddo.
…Hmm, actually, I suppose you’re not that young anymore.
How rude! I still have my youthful vigor!!!
More importantly, what’s going on? This is entirely too strange. Could you fill me in a little, please?
Would that we could. If anybirdie here knows what’s going on, please, speak up.
Everyone gathered here to see the total lunar eclipse. And the eclipse started. So far, everything is fine. It’s just a normal school outing.
But then things went wrong.

Asleep!?
Their brain activity is normal. They’re all experiencing an extended period of REM sleep.
REM sleep… So then, they’re dreaming?
It would seem so.
What’s the problem, then? You can just wake them up!

REM sleep is when the body sleeps, but the brain remains awake. Normally you can wake someone experiencing it up quite easily, but--
We can slap their faces and shout in their ears all we want, but they don’t wake up.
An entire astronomical observation group falling asleep at once… It’s strange, but not unheard of. I suppose it’s a form of mass hysteria.
I’ve heard that in past cases the birds involved have woken up by themselves when the moon becomes visible again.




Do you suppose the clouds have something to do with that?
Quite possibly. They gathered right as the eclipse ended, so we haven’t seen the moon since before it started.
It’s awfully hard to believe. How could looking at the moon cause something like--

The music stops.




Meanwhile, on the Holiday Star…






You really need to learn to tailor your speech to the occasion. You are completely lacking in grace, and quite rude.
The people here are the ones being rude! There’s something wrong with a place where dawn doesn’t follow predawn!

Nageki and I came to this dream country, the Holiday Star, on the night train.
We got to run errands for Mr. Forward King, and we got to see our friends, and it all seemed like good fun, but--

When morning was coming and we thought we were going to wake up, morning didn’t come!
…Who are you talking to?
The camera, of course! These episodes weren’t all released at once, so people have probably forgotten what happened last time.
Being so directly aware of the camera seems a little unprofessional to me.

Whatever! It’s better to give the readers a hand!

Mr. King! Are you in here!? I’m gonna give you a piece of my mind!

On queue, a familiar fanfare rang through the room, announcing the entrance of The King.

His Royal Highness, The King!

Mr. King! You wretched little blob of lemon yogurt!
…The King was very scared. Because the human girl had come with a scary face and a fierce voice.
He’s shrinking, Miss Lourde. Control yourself, before he disappears entirely.

What kind of wimp is he!?

Something isn’t right here, Mr. King! The night isn’t ending, and we aren’t waking up!
The night does not end. You do not wake from the dream.
What are you talking about!? Night is followed by a new morning! And after that a new day!

The King asked, if a new day were to come, would the Holiday not have to end? Would that not be strange?
Uhhh…
We seem to have arrived at riddles.
Aaaugh… Common sense makes a very poor weapon in debates here!
Well, in that case… How can we get home?
The King said, there is no returning from the journey you have taken. You should know this well.

The music stops.

Where did that come from!?


What do you mean, Mr. King? Isn’t this just some happy dream theme park, or something!?
The King said, this is the Land of Dreams. This is where birds who have died wait dreaming for the end of eternity.
That would make sense for me, but… Majesty, not all of the birds here are dead.
And there’s a living human right here!

We… didn’t do anything aside from watching the eclipse, right?
Maybe we got hit by a gigantic meteor? If we died that suddenly, we might… arrive in the land of the dead while still alive?

Sometimes… not often, but sometimes, someone arrives here a little early.

No, thank you!!!

Let’s leave already, Nageki!
Do you think we should? This does seem like the place for me…
Let’s go back to the school! You don’t need some pushy king who forces people into staying in his country, either!
…Indeed. I can’t say I like it much.
We can get back to the school on the train we took to get here, right? We’ll go home whether you want us to or not! Don’t bother to see us off!
The King said, the train will not come.
Why not!?

I… don’t follow the logic.
Is that really surprising, given who’s talking to you?
I’ve had enough! We’re finding a way out on our own!

And so Nageki and I stomped out of The King’s castle, determined to find a way off this crazy star!




The station we arrived at was right around--

There’s nothing here. It’s gone.
Seems so…

Maybe it stops at a different platform when it’s going the other way? But I don’t see any platform, anywhere.
Maybe one of the passing citizens knew about the platform?

Umm, excuse me! Citizens of this land!
Yes, miss?
We are perfectly normal tourists, and we came here to sightsee--
Oh, how wonderful. This is a very nice place.

The music stops.

No, we’re here to sightsee! We don’t want to stay!
Is that right? Have you thought about staying permanently, then?

Stop repeating yourself!

What should we do, Nageki? This is like verbal dodgeball…





Back on Earth…






Can’t you just wait for it to clear up again? Even if it doesn’t, shouldn’t sunlight work just as well?
No, we can’t.
We’ve got a time limit, you see.
What do you mean?


Avian brains are unstable things, barely out of a period of rapid, unnatural development. And right now, everybirdie on the ground here is suffering from a disconnect between their brains and their bodies.

…That said, I don’t know what will happen with the human.
What!? So they’ll become vegetables!?
Isa! Isa Souma, you cretin! Wake up! If you’re going to slip into an eternal dream at least do it after being appropriately awed by my artistry!
……

The music stops.


Do you understand what you’re saying, Sakazaki Yuuya?
Head in? Into the world of dreams?


I am a messenger of dreams. Sounds pretty romantic, doesn’t it?
One of the victims, Shirogane Sakuya, is a relative of Sakazaki’s. Sakazaki can synchronize with his brain waves and access his dreams, if he follows the right procedure.
It’s a very strange thing. Everyone here is seeing the exact same dream--almost like a field trip of the soul.

Your job here isn’t to take a hit for your younger brother. Can you promise me you’ll act with discretion?
…Yes, sir. I can.
Understood. Your orders, Sakazaki, are to enter the dream through Shirogane Sakuya, extract the people trapped inside, and pull out.

Yes, sir!
W-w-w-w-w-wait just a minute!
What’s in that bottle? Is that stuff legal? And those are… sleeping pills!?
Yes?
He’s about to enter someone else’s dream. If he wants to get in, he doesn’t have much of a choice. This isn’t something to do on a whim.
Gah…!
This can’t possibly be good for you… Don’t come crying to me if you start experiencing embarrassingly personal side-effects!

Here are the electrodes. I’ll be keeping an eye on the monitor. You ready, Sakazaki Yuuya?
Yes, sir.
Aaaarrgh…
G-geez! Fine, I get it! I’ll help, too!
Why are you so angry all of a sudden?

You want to get rid of those clouds, yes?
Can you do something about them?
Just who do you think I am?

Do you think my new weapon can’t handle a few puny clouds!?
I see. Certainly sounds impressive. How soon can you be ready?
Wind speed, air temperature, humidity… Once I’ve collected some meteorological data my calculations will be simple. Give me twenty minutes, and I shall unveil my masterpiece!
So you’ll be cracking the dream from the outside while I go at it from the inside? Sounds good.


The sleeping pills hit my beak and almost immediately took effect.
The world around me began to fade away into an unclear mess of colors, before completely going black.
The music stops.









I could feel my consciousness returning to me. My eyes began to fill with pastel colors, and a familiar setting began to take shape in front of me.









I can’t let myself get forcibly ejected again. Time to find everyone and convince them to say goodbye to dreamland.