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Gustave: 68. Elodie’s expedition.
Lune: You know the commanders of every expedition?
Gustave: Expedition 68. Their boat was blown into the air by a storm. Lumière lost sight of it, but assumed they crashed on the continent.
Lune: And they survived. The storm, at least.
Gustave: Alright, let’s keep moving. We’ve found the “weird corals.” Maelle must be close by.
Lune: Wait. Nevron. Looks like a different species.
Gustave: Doesn’t matter. They’re between us and Maelle.
Lune: Those mines… Be careful.
Gustave: Over there! A hut.
Lune: Slow down, we don’t know what’s inside yet.
Gustave: Look, there’s a door inside.
Lune: Seems empty. Let’s go. Someone lives her– Fuck!
Lune: Where are we? This is–
Gustave: MAELLE!
Gustave: Maelle?
Maelle: Gustave? Are you real? Ooof. Well, you sure smell real enough.
Gustave: No, I don’t. I’m sorry. I thought that y– On the beach, I saw you and I… I couldn’t… I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I shoul– I should’ve– I should’ve come for you, and…
Maelle: It’s okay. It’s okay. We made it.
Gustave: I was worried.
Lune: How did you end up here?
Maelle: I don’t know– It’s all a blur. I remember everyone at the beach. Then I woke up here. With– with him. He’s been helping me a lot. He reinforced all my Pictos.
Lune: What is he?
Maelle: I’m not sure, he doesn’t really talk.
Lune: The chroma around him. It’s… it’s quite different from the Nevrons.
Maelle: How did you find me?
Gustave: There was a message at the Indigo Tree.
Lune: Do you know who left it?
Maelle: A message? Maybe… No, I don’t know.
The Curator: …
Maelle: Again? We just trained earlier!
The Curator: …
Maelle: Alright, alright. But this time, I have backup!
The Curator: …
Maelle: That was fun, but I think we’ve had enough training today.
The Curator: …
Maelle: You could come with us, if you like?
The Curator: …
Maelle: If that’s a yes, we’ll see you at the camp.
The Curator: …
The Curator has left. Perhaps he will join you at camp.
Lune: … the manor and maybe learn something…
Gustave: … yeah, or we could get back to the Indigo Tree…
Maelle: Huh, Noco’s usually here, I wonder where–
Lune: Is that– A Gestral??
Noco: INTRUDERS! Oh, Verso would NOT be pleased. EN GARDE, RUFFIANTS!
Maelle: Stop that, you big hairy brush face. Can’t you see they’re human? Noco’s a bit dramatic. But if you’re nice, Noco will trade you lots of useful items for chroma.
Noco: Hrmph. I don’t just trade with ANYONE. Only WORTHY WARRIORS! Are you worthy, moustache man?? Hmm, although, I do like that brush on your face.
Lune: So the tales are true– Perhaps the Grandis and the Esquie exist too? Are there more gestrals, like you? I’d love to meet them.
Noco: Maybe.
Maelle: Noco, you silly scruff! Their village is not far from here.
Lune: Oh, really?
Gustave: Lune?
Lune: I know. We don’t have time for detours.
Gustave: Yeah, we need to get to the Paintress.
Noco: The Paintress? How you gonna cross the sea? You’re so slow. And you have no fins.
Lune: There’s another sea between here and the Paintress?
Maelle: Noco, as the BEST Gestral merchant ever, I bet you know a solution? Yeah?
Noco: Mmmmmm. Maybe.
Maelle: COME ON, you broomhead. I know you know.
Noco: Ahaha, broomhead, that’s good! Excellent, excellent insult! Ok, ok, ask Golgra. Chef has the answer, just go to the Village. In the middle of our Ancient Sanctuary. Red trees everywhere, can’t miss it!
Gustave: Well, I guess you’ll get to meet more Gestrals.
Lune: These dead Nevrons– Who could’ve done this?
Maelle: Guess.
Gustave: So you didn’t just stay in your mansion. Guess we found 68’s boat.
Maelle: There’s a path through the boat.
Lune: That anchor doesn’t look man made…
Lune: It’s forging something. So they have intelligence.
Gustave: So many– I don’t like this– Merde. This one is gigantic–
Maelle: Avoid those at all costs.
Maelle: This building has a certain melancholy beauty. A lone outpost of humanity, nestled amongst the corals. A sailor lost at sea.
Gustave: Our resident cynic is now a poet.
Maelle: Wouldn’t expect a cartesian engineer to understand beauty.
Lune: Watch out!
Gustave: You alright?
Lune: It only attacked when–
Maelle: It’s coming!
Lune: Gustave, wait! It seems peaceful, as long as we don’t touch the flowers.
Gustave: Yeah, well, let’s not get too sentimental. It’s still a Paintress creation. PUTAIN! Damn, Maelle, what was that?
Maelle: It felt… familiar, somehow…
Lune: Gustave. We won’t understand what’s going on if we kill everything that moves.
Maelle: Look, a red tree. The Gestral village must be ahead.
Gustave: You know what Nevrons are capable of.
Lune: She’ll be fine.
Gustave: She’ll be fine.
At the camp
Gustave: Still too far…
Maelle: Being out here isn’t what I expected.
Gustave: As expected. Hey, you okay?
Maelle: Death out here’s not like death in Lumière, is it? I– uh, I thought I was used to losing people. Like of a foster child, right? But not– not like that– on the beach… that man…
Gustave: Yeah… yeah, I know… Neurons, we were prepared for, but not… And now, we finally found other survivors and it’s… You know, that’s… that’s the insidious thing about the Gommage. It’s predictable. Almost gentle. It makes Lumière complacent and accepting but… The Gommage is equally violent and death… Death is just as final.
Maelle: I’ve been having nightmares.
Gustave: Yeah, me too… Look, If death approaches, I want you to run. No, no, no. Promise me. Run. Especially if we meet the man from the beach. We can’t face him. You see him, you run.
Maelle: Only if you do the same.
Gustave: Oh, I’m running as soon as I see a strand of white hair. Trust me. You won’t even see me, I’m running so fast.
Maelle: Oh, please. You’re an old man, I can outrun you any day…
Gustave: Yeah, right… There was a time when thirsty was young, you know…
Maelle: Huh, sure…
Maelle: Surprised to find you here.
Lune: I hope we can trust him.
Maelle: Well, at least, we can upgrade our Pictos.
The Curator offers you his services.
Maelle: Told you Gestrals were real!
Gustave: You did not.
Maelle: Well, I thought it!
Lune: How did the Gestrals survive out here?
Gustave: I’m not sure.
Lune: I can’t wait to ask them. Gestrals!
Gustave finds a spot where he can be alone. He spends some time writing in his journal. He writes about how the arm they created for him was incredibly useful against water type Nevrons. He hopes that one day, his apprentices will read everything he wrote.
Gustave: For those who come after.
Gustave: Been a long time since I’ve seen you play.
Lune: A Gestral village–
Gustave: Yeah. I still can’t believe they exist. I mean, what other fairy tales are real?
Lune: This is ultimately a war of information. But there’s still too much we don’t understand. Where the Paintress comes from? Why she does what she does? Who is she?? Seventy years and we still barely know anything.
Gustave: And the man on the beach. Yeah, too many unknowns. But, if we take down the Paintress, at least that gives future generations a chance to unravel the mystery.
Lune: You seem better than– before.
Gustave: Yeah? I’m holding it together?
Lune: Mm.
Gustave: Shock’s worn off. A bit. We can’t bring anyone back. But I thought we can keep their spirit alive by pushing forward. And at least, there’s three of us now. The mission hasn’t changed.
Lune: Tomorrow comes.
Gustave: Tomorrow comes.
Lune: Did Noco tell you anything about the village, other than “red trees everywhere?”
Maelle: Noco’s not great with specifics.
Gustave: We’ll just have to think like Gestrals then.