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Verso: You’ll get used to them, we’re going to see a lot more.
Lune: If we hurry, we can cross before nightfall.
Maelle: Wait. Could we bury Gustave?
Lune: I wish we could, but protocol is to keep moving. Gustave would understand…
Sciel: We can look for a suitable place. Along the way, yeah? We’ll find a nice spot.
Verso: Actually. There is a place. Past the quarry, out of the sight of the Paintress. A tranquil haven protected by magnificent trees. I think you’ll approve.
Lune: Lead the way.
Verso: Let me show you something.
Lune: Any other tricks we should know?
Verso: One thing at a time.
Sciel: These are all… Expeditions?
Verso: A single Nevron took out most of them.
Lune: Is it still around?
Verso: I’ve only seen him once, many years ago, so most likely not.
Sciel: Looks like we passed the danger zone.
Lune: And no sign of your special Nevron.
Verso: Guess we’re lucky.
Verso: Hey, you holding up? We’re almost there.
Maelle: Holding up? Everywhere we go, just death, death and more death. Everywhere we go, just death. I just- I don’t want to see that anymore.
Verso: Look, Maelle, it-
Maelle: I thought YOU would understand. You said you spent your immortality burying the people around you. Doesn’t any of this bother you? And you. Gustave’s dead. How can you keep going like nothing happened!
Sciel: We need to continue.
Maelle: Why do you-
Sciel: Maelle. You know what we must do. “When one falls…” Come on.
Sciel: Merde!
Lune: Are you hurt?
Maelle: I’m fine- (groan of pain) Thanks.
Verso: Ready?
Verso: Well, turns out this Nevron wasn’t that strong, but you did well. You learn fast.
Lune: All this. This is what we’re fighting for.
Maelle: Is this the place?
Verso: Yeah. We can bury your friend under this tree, if that’s okay with you.
Maelle: Couldn’t wait for me, could you? I wish we could-
Lune: Rest easy, Gustave.
Maelle: I’ll finish what you started. The Paintress. Renoir. They will pay.
Sciel: No more Dome, just open skies.
Maelle: I’ll save them, Gustave. Emma, your apprentices, everyone.
Lune: You can leave it to us.
Sciel: You were always there for me.
Maelle: I’ll save them.
Sciel: Say hi to Soph for me, yeah?
Maelle: We could never tell if you were my brother or my father. But to me, you were both. The best brother and father I’ve ever had.
Lune: “When one falls, we continue.”
Maelle: Thanks for being my family. See you… in the next life.
Back at camp
Verso: … for about two hours then there’s a big lake. We shouldn’t go there. At all. Like it’s- We should make a right and then it’s going to take a few hours, and then we make a stop, we get some rest and some food, and then from there, we head north to Monoco’s Station.
Lune: Why there?
Verso: To recruit my oldest friend. We’ll need the extra firepower, because our next goal will be to take down the Paintress’ heart.
Sciel: Her heart?
Verso: Yes. You can’t just stroll up to the Paintress. The Chroma there is far too dense, it erases anyone who gets close. But if we destroy her heart, the barrier will fall.
Lune: Ok. So where is this heart? What does it look like?
Verso: What does it look like? That, I don’t know. But I do know that it’s somewhere in the centre of Old Lumière.
Sciel: You found Old Lumière?
Verso: Yes.
Lune: So it’s true. Before the Fracture, our Lumière was part of a larger city on the continent.
Verso: I’ve travelled with many Expeditions. I was with the 58s when we found Old Lumière. But Renoir erased them, before we could get further. And I don’t know much more.
Lune: Alright then. Let’s go meet your friend at Monoco’s Station. And then we’ll take the Paintress’ heart.
Sciel: How far up the mountain is Monoco’s Station? Will we see snow?
Verso: Not too high but yeah, there’s usually snow.
Sciel: Ah, fantastic!
Verso: Oh, right, there’s no snow in Lumière.
Sciel: No, only in books and paintings; it’s almost as mythical as gestrals!
Verso: And just as fun. And sometimes just as deadly.
Sciel: Oh, really? My husband was obsessed with the idea of snow. I can’t wait to see some.
Verso: That you will.
Lune: Your older friend is a gestral?
Verso: Yes, we’ve been friends for as long as I can remember.
Lune: Gustave would have loved that.
Verso: Why? Because he liked Gestrals?
Lune: Because… he liked the idea of friendships that could last decades. We don’t get to enjoy such long friendships in Lumière.
Maelle: How come Monoco lives so far from the other gestrals?
Verso: Monoco’s a “Searcher.” They travel the land looking for Gestrals who went missing after the Fracture.
Maelle: The Lost Gestrals.
Verso: Yeah. That, and he pissed off Golgra.
Esquie: That was sad.
Verso: Yeah.
Esquie: You were sad.
Verso: Um, yeah.
Esquie: You were thinking of Julie?
Verso: Not just her, but yeah.
Esquie: Want a hug?
Verso: Yeah, I do.
Maelle finds a spot where she can write. She spends some time writing in Gustave’s journal, to honour his memory. She gathers her courage and writes about Gustave’s sacrifice. How he laid the trail. She hopes Gustave’s apprentices will read this journal someday.
Sciel: What’re you working on?
Lune: Contingency plans. If we fail, Expedition 32 will need every bit of information we have.
Sciel: Right, but how’re you gonna get it to them?
Lune: I asked the Gestrals for help.
Sciel: Smart.
Lune: What are the stars whispering to you?
Sciel: Actually, I’m the one whispering to them.
Lune: Oh?
Sciel: It’s something my dad and I used to do. When I was scared or anxious, or even when I was happy. He’d say… “share it with the stars… When it’s hard to talk about things… The stars’ll understand.”
Lune: I like that.
Sciel: I talked to the stars a lot, after he was gone.
Lune: I remember. The night we first met. At the Crooked Tower.
Sciel: Right. After the Gommage.
Lune: I was surprised to find you here. I thought I was the only one who knew about that room.
Sciel: I had to go away from the harbour. And those damn petals everywhere. So I climbed up.
Lune: It wasn’t logical, but part of me really believed my parents and their expedition had succeeded. That they’d stopped Her. Then the Paintress woke. And I knew they weren’t coming home.
Sciel: You know, it meant a lot to me, the comfort we shared that day. But you avoided me after. Why?
Lune: I- It wasn’t personal. I- I cut a lot of people out of my life.
Sciel: Ok. Not personal.
Lune: That day, I knew my parents had failed. They were counting on me to finish their work. I couldn’t afford distractions.
Sciel: Friends are not distractions.
Lune: I know that now.
Sciel: Well. We’re in the middle of nowhere with one year left to live. What better time to build friendships?
Lune: Mm, I could use some wine though.
Sciel: Making friends is thirsty work.
Maelle quietly approaches Lune… Waiting to apologise for her behaviour on their way to bury Gustave.
Maelle: Hey…
Lune: Hey…
Maelle: Um… I, um… I didn’t mean…
Lune: It’s fine.
Maelle: I just…
Lune: I miss him too.
Maelle: It’s… it’s hard.
Lune: … The pain we feel… everytime we lose someone… I’ve tried many ways of dealing with it. Running from it. Sitting with it. Compartmentalising it. But what I needed… was to use it. To use everything.
Maelle: What do you mean?
Lune: I- Mm.
Maelle: …
Lune: (exhale) I feel… everything… And I let it burn inside me. When I’m tired, when I feel hopeless, when I want to just let it all go… I use the pain, I use the fear, the shame, the guilt, the anger, I use it all to keep going. To make sure. I. Continue.
Maelle: Lune…
Lune: I can almost feel them beside me. Everyone we’ve lost… walking with me. Especially when I use chroma. I feel their presence, their closeness. And they help me.
Maelle: You feel Gustave?
Lune: Yeah, I do.
Maelle: I’d like to feel him with me too…
Lune: You have an affinity for chroma too. Try it.
Maelle: …
Lune: …
Maelle: How do you always know what to do…
Lune: I don’t. Want to know a secret? I have no idea what I’m doing. And I don’t think anyone else does either.
Maelle: Huh. Really?
Lune: Don’t tell anyone else I said that.
Maelle: …
Maelle and Lune spend more time together, in a moment that was special for both of them.
Maelle: Thanks. It really was a beautiful place.
Verso: Glad you liked it. I’ve buried friends there too. You were right. About condolences. We offer them, because we don’t know what else to say. But there’s no comfort there.
Maelle: No.
Verso: All we can do is carry them with us.
Maelle: I guess. Sorry. It’s just- We’re…
Verso: Drowning in our own sadness? Hey. Why did you join the Expedition? I mean, with the Gommage- I understand the rest of the team’s decision, but you’re half their age.
Maelle: Out here seemed better than in there. At the time.
Verso: It’s natural, wanting to escape a life you don’t want.
Maelle: Escape. yeah. That’s what I wanted. But Gustave and the others… They really want to change things.
Verso: Changing your life also counts. Can’t always shoulder the world’s problems, you know? That’ll drain you fast.
Maelle: Gustave would probably say, if more of us cared, then it would lighten the load for everyone.
Verso: He sounds like a good guy.
Maelle: Wait. I kept Gustave’s. So you can have mine. You’ll need one if you want to be an official member of our merry crew.
Verso: I gotta say, I didn’t take you for an “official” kind of person.
Maelle: Welcome to the Disaster Expedition.
Verso: Thank you.
Lune: How far to Monoco’s Station?
Verso: With Esquie, should be quick. Monoco’s Station is to the north, not far from here.