Echoing Hall

You kept hopping from group to group, yet you never found a place to truly belong... Is this really the life you want?

You should never have had to bear this pain...

Umiri, let's get out of here. Together.

I will find you. I have to...

Uika...

Mutsumi, none of this is real. We need to...

—!

Felt real, didn't it?

Falling straight to the ground from who knows how high up.

Oh, and then when the dream shattered and you were trapped in dreamless Limbo... how did that feel?

No matter how sweet those dreams were, they have to come to an end.

You pry into their most fragile parts and dramatize them over and over...

Must say, I don't agree.

Before you barged into their dreams uninvited, they'd all but forgotten about you and your insignificant little band.

Ave{@nbs}Mujica is our contract. They entrusted their lives to me—

You were the only one who ever cared about it!

What do you—?!

Heard it for yourself, didn't you?

One after another, they all rejected you.

Not a chance. Everyone here loves me for the actress I am.

I gave everything I had for this... and now you're telling me it's all fake?

What a load of crap. I'm not accepting that!

This is my dream, and I don't need anyone else in it, thanks!

How can you possibly understand me?

This lifestyle is perfect... It suits me better.

I don't need someone to save me.

And no one could save me.

I knew it. Mutsumi-chan didn't need Sakiko.

Hahahah-hah... Hah-hahahahah!!!

I got to see every one of your sorriest, most helpless, most laughable moments.

You may have destroyed the dreams I spun, but I suppose this makes us even.

And I have to thank you. You roamed their dreams again and again...

In the process, proving to me that the dreamlands I wove were perfect, impeccable.

And now, even that pest ought to admit it. It's me. I'm the most talented of us all in the Castle of Dreams.

'Pest'?

Didn't you meet her in your dream?

The snooty girl? Flowery high-nobility frock? All the outdated pleasantries?

Just being around her puts me ill at ease.

Iris is this place's master. You are nothing but a fraud!

She said it! No matter how sweet the dream, one has to wake up in the end—

Nngh—!

You know what? I finally understand why you get on my nerves so much.

You're just like her. You never listen to what others think. You just sit there spouting big, empty words forever.

You say they entrusted their lives to you, but let's be fair. You just don't want to be abandoned by others. Isn't that right?

I've seen your life. There's not much to it. Just a princess's stubborn struggle after her fall from grace.

Each and every action of yours was done to deceive and persuade yourself, and to present yourself as never having fallen.

You're self-important, conceited, and an utter lost cause.

What exactly does your band entail? Hmph. Just a bunch of girls using a so-called contract to bind one another for fun.

And now that they've all found happiness, of course they're abandoning you. Poor Sakiko Togawa. All alone once more.

If you really believe what Iris said, then fine, I'll prepare another round of the sweetest dreams for you.

It'll be perfect, impeccable. Realize it's a farce all you want, you still won't want to wake up.

Like your bandmates, you'll wallow in your dreams, unable to ever pluck yourself out.

Nngh—!

Something to say? Alright, you get one last time. Speak your mind.

I—

Hahahah-hah-hah!

I knew it. You are much cuter when you're not talking!

O ye, Princess of Hypocrisy. While you were on your dream tour, I've come to completely understand you as a person.

What you thirst for the most, what you need the most, and what you fear the most.

But don't worry. This dream? Will be absolutely perfect. You'll be more awake than ever. Not that you'll ever want to wake up.

Now sleep, my noble, selfish, conceited little doll girl.

Sweet dreams.

Sakiko? Sakiko!

Mm... hmm?

I am NOT the kind of person you claim I—

You okay? You look terrible. You have another nightmare?

I'm... back in my dream again.

What are you talking about? Didn't you just wake up?

What, you sleep so long your brain's fuzzy?

Iris and Bena are here...

Er, how do you do... I don't believe I introduced myself?

I think she was already asleep when we got on?

Vigna and I aren't late... The dream has changed...

Sakiko, you know, you keep saying some pretty weird stuff—

Are we going to Victoria to find Ann?

Who's Ann? Do you know, Iris?

I don't. Is that a friend of yours who lives there?

What...? You don't know her, Iris?

Then Vigna and I...

Uh, hello? We're on a field mission not too far away from your home. I figured I'd bring you back for a break, let you see your family.

You've been mega busy with work. Gotta be a while since the last time you went home, right?

What's going on? Why did the car suddenly stop?!

Did a tire burst?!

*huff*... *huff*... *pant*... Phew, we almost hit a burdenbeast!

That was close, but no worries. We can be back on the road right away!

......