Part 34: Episode XXXI: This Dream

Episode XXXI: This Dream




Alright, let's get the hell out of crazytown while the gettin' is good. I need to see some colors other than brown. It is beginning to mess with my eyes.

Crossing the Desert...

Music: The Lost Forest


"-intentions, with a king so young..."
"The people will make up for whatever the king lacks."
"I imagine we'll come back to a whole new slew of rules!"
"Probably. But rules seem to work for them, so who are we to say otherwise?"
"Oh, come now!"
"There are as many ways to view the world as there are people in it."
"Perhaps you have learned something on this journey after all!"
"Maybe. What do you think, Kainé?"
"Don't care."

A jog across the Desert and back to Nier's house later...

Music: Village Indoor Ambience


"Oh. H-hi, Dad."
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay. Sometimes it still hurts, but that fish medicine you got helps a lot."
"Good."
"Um...Dad? Are you gonna stay here tonight?"


Nier can be a dick and blow off Yonah. But, we'll eventually have to agree to spend the night in order to advance things. So, let's just be a good dad...


"Easy, Yonah! You'll hurt something."
"Tee-hee! I don't care! I'm just happy I get to see you!"
"It's late. You should go to bed."
"Okay. Night, Dad!"
















































Music: This Dream

.....
.....
.....I hear a voice.
I squint and see a boy standing before me. His hair is
silver, his skin is pale, and he stares up at me with hard,
glassy eyes.











Soon his lips begin to move, but no sound comes out. What
is he saying? I can't hear him. I can't hear him. I can't
hear him I can't hear him I can't I can't I can't
I try to leave, but something about the boy holds my gaze, I
watch his face, expressionless, as his lips slowly flutter.











What is he trying to say?
Wait. It's a phrase. I can almost make it out. It starts with
an "s"... Then there's an "e"...
I can almost see it now. The letters begin to fall together,
one after the other, faster and faster.


























 S-  E-  A-  L-  E-  D   V-  E-  R-  S-  E 


























Oh my god. It's a Sealed Verse. The thing I am looking for,
the key to saving my little girl. I stare at the boy with
renewed ferocity, trying desperately to make out his next word.


























 D-  R-  E-  A-  M 


























Dream? What? What the hell does that mean?











The lips move again, faster now.
I can't follow them. Dammit! I can't make it out!
I want to scream. I want to tear the walls down around me.
But instead, I force myself to be calm. I can do this. I can
do it for Yonah. Slowly, ever so slowly, I parse out the
letters that make up his final words...


























 F-  O-  R-  E-  S-  T   O-  F   M-  Y-  T-  H 
















































Music: Village Indoor Ambience


(...Whoa. That was a messed-up dream. I never thought I'd be hunting Sealed Verses in there.)

Nier goes upstairs to say good morning to Yonah...


"...Hey."
"What's wrong? You look all tired, and you have these weird black circles under your eyes."
"It's nothing. I just... I had a strange dream, and I didn't sleep very well."
"Oh! I have weird dreams all the time!"
"I know."
"Actually, I had a totally weird dream last night!"
"Did you now?"
"There was a boy, and me, and we were playing this game together!"
"What kind of game?"
"It was called Guess The Word! ...I think he made it up, because I never heard of it before."
"How did it work?"
"Um, well, the boy would move his mouth but no words would come out, so I had to guess what he was trying to say. It was hard. I wanted to play hide-and-seek, but we had to play his dumb game instead."
"...What did he say?"
"I dunno. All I could figure out was 'dream' and 'Forest of Myth.' But he said he'd be back, so I gotta study. Then I can figure out everything and win! You're gonna help me study, right, Dad?"
"Yeah, sure..."

Nier wanders out of the house...


"You appear lost in thought. ...This frightens me."
"It's nothing. Don't worry about it. Come on. I need to go ask Popola something."


Welp...that was all rather odd... But, at least it gives us an excuse to fulfill our Popola bugging quota. We'd been falling behind with our adventures in the Desert. It's time to fix that...

A dash over to Popola's study later...


"What's up, Popola?"
"Oh, hi, Nier. I just got a strange letter in the mail."

Popola hands Nier the letter...


Uhh... mmm'kay...? Did she accidentally give us the script to Inception?


"Yeah, it's strange all right. Who's it from?"
"The mayor of a small village in the Forest of Myth. It's a wooded area up north."
"The Forest of Myth...!?"
"They're a bright and talkative group of people. Something like this is very out of character for them. I have a bad feeling about this..."
"I'll check it out."
"Er, you will...?"
"Don't worry about it. I've got business there anyway."
"Oh...well, all right. Thank you."


The Forest of Myth huh...? Well, that is a mouthful. I guess we know our party's next destination. I...hope you all like to read... Well, of course you do. You're reading a damn screenshot LP!











Desert Chit-Chat and an Asshole Wolf



Music: This Dream