Part 27: Aboard the Mayflower

Music: Pilgrim's Progress



Things just aren't supposed to be this cool!
I know how you feel, Dean, but calm down, okay?
He's just excited, that's all. A world we've never seen...and what is this, a spaceship? Everything's so confusing and different...
I wonder if this is that Locus Solus that Lady Diana was talking about? She did say it was the colony ship that the Veruni lived on before settling on Filgaia...
Hmm, it could be, at that.
Crewman: Hey - Johnny Appleseed's waiting for you.
Johnny Appleseed?! YESSS! We've finally found him!

Everyone runs ahead, leaving Rebecca and Avril behind.



But we've finally made it, huh, Avril? ...Avril? What's with the serious look?
...Huh? Did I have a serious look on my face?
Well, yeah, a little. But it's only natural, if you ask me. I mean, you're finally going to meet the person you've been looking for all this time! If it was me, I know I'd be practically collapsing from the pressure. I ean, even now I can barely stand...
Hehe, yes, I suppose you're right.
There you go! I'm glad you're feeling a little better.
Hey! Hurry up, you two!
We're coming! Shall we, Avril?
Yes. Let's go.



We're free to explore the entire ship, but there's nothing to do here but go talk to Johnny. All the NPCs just tell us to hurry to the bridge, and there are no treasures.



Wah hah hah! Guess I got a little carried away there... Pardon me. I don't think it'd be right to call myself Johnny Appleseed in this company, now would it! I'm the former Johnny, to be accurate.
"Former"? Now I'm totally confused.
Wah hah hah! Sorry about that. "Johnny Appleseed" was a name they gave in ancient days to people who opened up new lands.
Hey, come to think of it, the mayor of Gounon said the same thing, about a custom of planting apple seeds for people that came later...
Oh, you know about it? That makes it easy. So yeah, we call our leader "Johnny Appleseed" in honor of that tradition.
Wait, so you mean there's more than one Johnny Appleseed?
Yeah, basically. But it's a title given to only one person at a time.
Oh, so you were the previous one?
Yup, exactly. You catch on fast!
So then who's the current Johnny?
Hah hah... You'd never guess! It happens to be someone you know quite well - A certain little lady named... Avril Vent Fleur. She's the current Johnny Appleseed.



Avril, YOU'RE Johnny Appleseed?
Well, she hasn't gone through all the ceremonies and stuff yet, but for all intents and purposes, yeah.
So the person we came all this way to find is actually Avril? All this time, she was right under our noses...
I'm Johnny Appleseed...?
Hm? What's wrong, Avril?
Well, Avril's suffering from amnesia, so...
What?! She's lost her memory?! ...That explains a lot. No wonder the radicals hadn't fully activated the TF System... They couldn't. But wait...she shouldn't have forgotten her position. Unless maybe, when we lost her...
So if Avril is Johnny Appleseed, then I guess she's a Veruni, right?
Well...not exactly. She's neither Veruni nor human. She's a common ancestor of both...an inhabitant of Filgaia from 12,000 years ago.
All: ...
What, you're not surprised? And here I was, all set for another big outburst...
Well...it's just not easy to imagine that she could be 12,000 years old... I mean, she looks so young...
Wah hah hah! Yeah, you've got a point. Sorry about that. It's a bit complicated, but let me explain. You see...

Music: Falling Into the Shadow of Locus Solus



Many apologies, my liege. I was unable to recapture her. Though I must admit it was unexpected that the moderates would attempt such a drastic move...
I told you, we should've just killed her when we had the chance!
And then how would we activate the TF System, genius? Watch your mouth, Kartikeya.
But where is Elvis? I know he was summoned.
He's out at the coffin. He said there was something he wanted to check on.
That man... Has he no sense of responsibility at all?!

Fereydoon turns to face a couple of Veruni soldiers.

You! Bring him back, now!
Soldiers: Yes, sir!
My liege, please accept my apologies. I will personally see to it that we succeed in recovering Avril.
... ...No, remain here until Elvis has returned. I have another idea. Let us offer eternal rest to those who hesitate to embrace death. Heh heh heh...

Music: Pilgrim's Progress



...And this is my friend Rebecca, who I grew up with.
It's nice to meet you, sir.
And I'm Dean. Nice to meet you, Captain!
Well then, from the top... Welcome to the Mayflower. I'm the ship's captain, Bartholomew. Call me whatever you like, as long as it's not Johnny Appleseed, okay?

The Captain's name is a reference to a character from Wild Arms 1. In Wild Arms 1, Bartholomew was the captain of the Sweet Candy, the ship that carried your party across Filgaia's oceans.

Like I said before, I was only Johnny Appleseed up until the settlement on Filgaia. Now I'm just the captain of the Mayflower!
Gotcha. I'll just call you "Captain", then.
So, back to what you were talking about... All that about the radicals trying to use this "TF System" to reform Filgaia... Is that all true?
Yeah, I'm afraid so. They're no different from the radicals that left Filgaia 12,000 years ago. They won't hesitate to use the TF System for their own ends, regardless of what it does to anyone else.
You said "reform" the planet... Do you mean it's a device to restore Filgaia from its weakened state?

Music: I Still Have Something to Tell You

Hmm...not exactly. To be accurate, it would reform the planet to make it suitable for Veruni to live on. As it is now, Filgaia is rejecting the Veruni. Many of us fall ill and even die from its effects. But even so, Filgaia itself is suffering from disease. If we were to cure the disease and restore Filgaia to its former strength, its rejection of the Veruni would become that much stronger, and we'd be even worse off. So it's closer to "reform" than "restore". But they only care about making it easier for Veruni to live, regardless of what happens to other native life-forms.
Regardless of what happens to other native life-forms? You don't mean-!
I'm afraid I do. The cost of using the TF System would be the death of all native life on Filgaia. Including humans.
All: What?!
What do you mean, the death of humans?!
Exactly what I said. Pretty selfish of those radicals, don't you think? Even now, at 20% power, we're starting to hear of human casualties.
Hey, now that you mention it... I wonder if Pastel's illness was caused by the TF System?
Then maybe that time I got a fever, too...?
*Sigh* It's just as bad as I'd feared. And if it's this bad at low power levels, then running it at full power would result in the extinction of all humanity...
No! We can't let them do that!
Don't worry. They can't bring it to full power as long as Avril's lost her memory.
What do you mean? What does Avril have to do with the TF System?
The TF System was built with a lock so that it could only be activated by the leader of the radical movement. The radicals of 12,000 years ago, that is. The only person authorized to activate it was the king - well, at the time it was a queen, so the queen of Filgaia. Without that authorization, the TF System's power souce can't be activated. But this is all ancient stuff. For one thing, there's no system of royalty in place today, and the bloodline has long since died off, too. All the modern radicals have been able to do is feed it power from an alternative source, and that 20% is the best they can do.
So they can't make full use of it anymore?
Wait a minute... You said Avril was from 12,000 years ago, right?
Exactly. Avril is the sole remaining member of the royal family, awake now after 12,000 years in coldsleep. Because of her icy, ruthless manner, they referred to her as the Ice Queen in those days.



Coldsleep...? I...was a queen...?
So...Avril's the only one who can activate the TF System... Which means she's the de facto leader of the Veruni...Johnny Appleseed.
Wait a minute... If Avril had the authority to activate the TF System, she must have been one of the radicals, yes? But the radicals took to space... Why did she remain on Filgaia instead of joining them?
Avril's the one to ask, don't you think?
But...without my memories...
I could help you with that, actually, if you've got the courage for it.
Courage...?
Well, if your memories return, the personality of the Ice Queen may come along with them. In that case, everyone here would become your enemy.
Avril...an enemy...?
But we've spent so long together... We've become such good friends...!
Yeah, and that's what I'm counting on - the bonds you've developed with Avril. I'm hoping the strength of those bonds will overcome the ruthless personality of the Ice Queen. That way she can regain her memory while still remining the same Avril she is now. And I'd like you all to help with that.
You sure are awfully cooperative. What's in it for you?
Well, if you want to put it that way, then yeah...we're using you all for political gain. If Avril doesn't become the Ice Queen, it's a victory for the moderates, after all.
I see. A little give-and-take, huh?
Yeah. So, with that out of the way... All that's left is you, Avril. Do you trust them enough to try getting your memories back?
I'm...afraid. Afraid of becoming someone else... Afraid that I may turn on my friends when I recover my memory... I cannot let that happen...
So you want to pass, then? It's up to you. But there's still a chance your memories could return naturally, and the danger wouldn't be any less. Given that, we'll have no choice but to confine you here unless and until that happens. You okay with that?
Yes. That's fine...
No, it's not! Avril, you said so yourself!



You can't possibly want to spend the rest of your life holed up in a ship like this! I won't let that happen!
Dean... I appreciate your sentiments, but...

Music: A Small Step Towards a Big Dream

Avril... Do you really think the bonds between us are that weak? Something that would break just because you got your memories back? I don't. Not even the strongest ARM could break them!
Dean...
...I guess I'm not quite as optimistic as Dean, but we are friends, after all. Even if you do become the Ice Queen again, we can still be friends...right?
Rebecca...
Wait, wait, I can't let you two steal all the excitement. We've spent a lot of time traveling with Avril, too, after all. We know full well that Avril's not a bad person. Right, Carol, Greg?
Yes!
Of course.
Chuck... Carol... Greg...
You've got yourself from good companions there, Avril.
Yes. They are invaluable to me...
C'mon, Avril, let's give it a try! There's nothing to be afraid of! We won't give up on you! Trust us, Avril!
Dean... Thank you. Captain Bartholomew, I would like to try to regain my memories, after all.
All right. Good choice, Avril. In order to get her memories back, I'm going to have you dive into Avril's mind. You should be able to recover her memories while keeping the Ice Queen sealed deep inside her.
...But are you really okay with that, Captain? If we seal away the Ice Queen, then you won't be able to use the TF System anymore. Won't that endanger the Veruni?
Well...I wish I had a nice clear answer to that, but...don't worry, we'll figure something out. It certainly can't be as hard as it's been for you to protect Avril all this time! Besides, just trying to save ourselves with no regard for other life is way too irresponsible. If we do that, we'll just be setting ourselves up for disaster when the same thing happens again in the future. That's how we moderates look at things.
That's certainly a constuctive opinion. It's nice to know there are Veruni who think that way.
But didn't that Lady Diana also agree with our actions?
Diana? Haven't seen her in a while...
Hmm...? What, were you two lovers or something?
Wah hah hah! Who knows? I've forgotten all that historical stuff!
And yet you know so much about the world 12,000 years ago...
Hah hah, fair enough! I'll be waiting in the sickbay, then. Let me know when you're prepared.

The Art of Wild Arms