2511/Shattered Dreamers

Shattered Dreamers
Date of Scene:	25 February 2017
Location:	Pikarigaoka - Old Church
Synopsis:	Twilight plays the violin, and Sachiko forgets she can't dance. Evil meets Evil? Something like that.
Cast of Characters:	Twilight, Sachiko Hayakawa

---

Twilight has posed:
    A church. A sacred place. Beautiful and serene in this part of Tokoyo. It is empty. It's the mid afternoon, on a Saturday. It's not a day of worship.
    Twlight has found herself perched upon the top of the steeple, looking out at the suburban neighborhood the Church rests in. She has a good view- but that is not important. She is used to less 'pretty' views in her home in the occupied Hope Kingdom.
    Under her chin, against her shoulder, she moves a bow across a violin, emitting a deep, soulful and slightly sorrowful tune. Her music is never quite happy. Even the upbeat tones sound more like it should be preempted by a wave of spiders in perhaps a horrormovie.
    She doesn't seem to be particularly trying to lure anyone today. She is playing for herself. There are things she needs to think about. A single name running through her head.
    'Haruka Haruno'.
    She narrowed her eyes, just a little, in her internal thoughts.

Sachiko Hayakawa has posed:
The violin and the dancer have gone hand in hand since the violin's creation. Some artists do both at once, others simply form a duo together. Whatever the case, violins attract dancers like moths to flames.

Even a retired dancer whose heart has been broken by tragedy finds the sound hard to resist.

Sachiko Hayakawa, the little cinnamon-haired girl, isn't supposed to be out without her nanny. But the powers granted her by the kingdom of Nightmare are extensive, and putting the woman to sleep is no difficult feat. So, the cinnamon-haired girl simply puts her nanny to slumber without thinking of it, and limps her way towards the sound of the bow pulling across her heartstrings.

Even with a walker, the eight year old's steps are lighter. She's limping, but with each step she seems to grow wings for but a moment and fly.

When she nears the church, the little girl in the gothic dress peers up at the steeple, eyes warm with curiosity and desire. Then, she steps away from her walker, one wobbly step after another, and closes her eyes. Raising her arms in a circle before her chest, Sachiko does not dance ... but she does go through motions that might resemble it, if she weren't so unstable on her feet.

Twilight has posed:
    Twilight continues her playing. She is not aware of the girl's arrival. She was not seeking to attract anyone. Besides. Her mind was preoccupied. The prince was weak. Maybe he's the avenue he needs to take. Maybe she had to find out more about this girl who claimed to be a princess.
    She opens her eyes, as her song begins to come to a slow, and she notices the girl down there. With the walker. Making motions with her hands.
    She merely stares down with red eyes through the ballroom mask on her face.
    She does not say anything. Not right away. She's trying to figure out what to make of the girl, in a fanciful dress.
    "....Why are you attempting to dance when you appear injured? Can you not feel the pain?" she finally asks cooly.

Sachiko Hayakawa has posed:
The music ends, and with it, Sachiko's dream shatters.

As it always does.

She collapses to the ground, barely catching herself with her hands, as her legs give way. A soft whimper of pain is all she allows herself, before she looks up at the girl on the steeple.

For a moment, the green-eyed dancer stares the violinist down.

"You're right," she says quietly. "It's stupid to dance." She lets out a soft sigh of uncertainty, then starts crawling mostly with her arms back towards her walker. "I don't know what made me do it. I just couldn't help myself."

Twilight has posed:
    Twilight watches the girl fall. She doesn't make a move to help her. She does take a small leap down from the steeple to the ground and lands on her feet with grace and poise. She gently removes the violin from her shoulder and it goes down to her side, the bow in her other hand as she regards the cinnamon haired girl.
    Part of what the girl says makes sense to her on a base level on what her mother has taught her.
    "Yes. Dreams are foolish. Never to be realized." she says. "It is better to spend your time doing anything else. But even that may not be worth doing." she insists.
    She has a question, but she doesn't ask it yet. She wants to see how this small girl responds to her percived truth.

Sachiko Hayakawa has posed:
Dreams are foolish. It's a notion Sachiko is only recently coming to terms with. Twisted by the nightmares, she isn't even fully aware of what she herself has become. But neither does she disagree.

Instead, the tiny dancer grips her walker, then leans her back against it for a moment, resting before she tries to pull hersefl back up.

"I used to think dreams were possible," Sachiko says quietly. "And then I thought dreams were frightening and you had to fight them. Now ... I just don't care anymore. Dreams are just make believe. Nobody ever gets their dreams."

Twilight has posed:
    The Princess of Despair can't help but be pleased with this expression of her namesake. So many people needlesly fight it. It's much better to just surrender. Let yourself become caged by it.
    Part of her wonders what would happen if Close, or Shut or Lock were here, and tried to expose thier dream.
    She'd never thought of that. Perhaps it would just be a vast nothing shown. Perhaps part of her still holds onto something and she won't admit it to herself.
    There will be times to experiement perhaps that aren't now.
    "Tell me. What dream did you have?" she asks.
    She hasn't offered a name. There's no reason to yet, to her.

Sachiko Hayakawa has posed:
Sachiko makes a face of pure unhappiness. This is not a topic she likes to dwell on, but it's a topic she can't ever escape.

"I wanted to dance for my sister," Sachiko explains quietly. "She was so very important. She made sure I was happy and safe and warm, and I know she gave up everything for me. And every time I danced, she smiled so beautifully. But then ... the storm changed everything, and now she's gone. I wanted to dance for her ... to let her see me become a great dancer. But now that can't happen."

Twilight has posed:
    Something about this story digs deep into her. But before it gets too deep, the despair, the darkness snuffs it out before she can remember. Remember a time before Twilight.
    "It is better to let this dream lie." she insists. "You may meet someone."
    "'Cure Flora, Princess of Flowers'- a... 'Haruka Haruno'... who will tell you that dreams are worth having- but she lies with her words. She lies about what she is. She is a fake princess." she insists.
    "I am Princess Twilight, Princess of DysDark. Who are you, broken dreamer?" she asks.

Sachiko Hayakawa has posed:
Something in the words draw Sachiko's attention. She stares up at Twilight as if she's a god--or at least an older mentor worth listening to. Widening eyes, and then she finally turns away to grip her walker. Slowly, painfully, she pulls herself back towards her feet.

By the time she's up, Sachiko is trembling with the effort, but at least she is up. She holds herself there, for several moments, then opens her mouth to reply. Words don't come, though, for a moment, as if she's confused as to what to say.

Finally, she says, "I'm Sachiko." Pause. "Or I was. Now I'm just the memory of her, I suppose. So you can call me ... Memoria."

Twilight has posed:
    Twilight has extensive knowledge of 'dreams' and thier worth. She'd spent seven years under her mother's tutelage learning such things when she was a small girl nearly this young girl's age.
    The truth of her words are strewn all over The Hope Kingdom as evidence that she is correct in her thoughts. Earth is just a slightly harder nut to crack.
    "So broken that you are just memory." she says. "That's beautiful in it's own way." she practically coo's out.
    This girl is like an obsidian gem. A shining example of how everyone else should think. Her intrest has been piqued from the indifference on first sight.
    "Tell me. Where can you be reached in the future?" she asks.
    "Or will you just follow the music?" she asks coyly.

Sachiko Hayakawa has posed:
Reached? Sachiko finds the question confusing for a moment. Then she realises that this girl--this Princess--is asking for a way to contact her.

"Um," she looks uncertain for a moment, then wrinkles her nose and says, "I've got a cell phone. I don't use it much. No one ever likes to call me. But I can give you the number if you like?"

And of course if Twilight agrees, she will give the number prim and properly.

"I should probably go wake my nanny. She fell asleep on the bench," Sachiko explains, glancing back a few houses to where the lady who watches her is busy twitching in nightmarish slumber.

Twilight has posed:
    Twilight is familiar with the concepts of Earth technology. She accepts the phone number. Twilight does not have a number to give back. She'd never had a reason to have a 'cell phone' before. She will send Shut out to get one for her. Shut will do anything she asks.
    "We will talk again, Memory of Sachiko." she says. "For now. I musn't keep mother waiting." she says. "Perhaps I will have a number to give back to you soon."
    "Farewell." she ends finally, as the keyhole portal, inky black forms behind her, engulfing her form and closing, taking her with it.
    Another name to think about. More intresting to think about than a fake princess. For the moment.

Sachiko Hayakawa has posed:
Sachiko's eyes widen in surprise at the sudden keyhole portal.

"Whoa," she says, peering at the space where Twilight once was.