This is… the place where he was having that tea party.
Looks like it isn’t too easy to plug a hole in here once it’s open.

I can’t let myself get forcibly ejected again. Time to find everyone and convince them to say goodbye to dreamland.

As for the people he’s trying to rescue…

Please, take it easy.

This kingdom is a wonderful place.

Just take it easy.

Argh! Double “take it easy” combo!

Doesn’t look like anybody’s changing their mind.

They just keep on asking us to move in!

We’re not going to learn anything from them.
Time to break through their line and find the egress!

Let’s go, Nageki!
Anywhere, as long as we get out of here!

That doesn’t sound like much of a plan…

Excellent, mon amie. Your reckless energy is a sight for sore eyes indeed.

Foppy Dove Man!

I thought you’d be stuck in a mysterious land getting sued for inappropriate behavior by the Queen of Hearts by now!
I’m so glad you’re okay!

A real hero always saves his good moves for the final scene, after all.
Which is to say, we’ve got an emergency

I can’t risk sticking around too long and getting banhammered again, so I’ll keep this quick. This place is not real.
We have to leave, quickly.

Y-yes! I know!
I shouldn’t even be here!

But… we don’t know how to get out.

Meaning… it’s not enough to just be aware and want to wake up…?

What’s going on, Yuuya?
Will we be okay?
Please, tell us whatever you know!

Well… all right, stay calm and listen.
I’ll fill you in on what’s going on in the real world.

---

 

And if we stay like this for too long we’ll turn into potheads?!

Not potheads, Miss Tosaka.
Vegetables.

Basically the same thing (BADUM TCH)

Exactly.
And that’s why I’m here to find you all, wake you up, and end the dream.

The music breaks, and there’s the sound of an explosion followed by an enduring rumble.

Wh-what’s going on?!
What’s that light?!

A flare?
Is this some sort of super mission signal?!

The ground’s shaking, I… don’t think that’s a flare.

That was pretty fast.
I guess he’s got more than a big mouth after all.

---

 

Angle… set! Power… set! Backups… set!
Perfection!

Aah, pure, pearlescent moonlight! Shine on my beautiful figure!
A night as artistic as this needs no plain, ugly clouds!

Allow me to introduce the pinnacle of my efforts in the field of optics–

Nishikikouji Masterpiece #792, Point-Light Weapons System AC Vortex!

Y-Yuuya?!
What’s going on?!
Is this some sort of natural disaster?!

A friendly bird is giving us a hand.
He’s going to break this dream from the outside.

The sky is getting brighter.
Is it morning again…?

I can’t say I’d be unhappy if the moonlight alone fixed everything, but… well, we’ll see.

What do you think you’re doing?

Yes. What do you think you’re doing?

Why are you trying to break down our beautiful castle?

THE KING WILL NOT LET YOU LEAVE

 

The clouds are parting. Good work.

But of course!
Have I ever failed?

Now, oh beautiful full moon!
Show us your lovely form!

The King said, don’t leave me.

Don’t leave me behind.

It… I… what is this?

This must be some sort of joke!
I am not dreaming.
Is this not reality?!

It is.
What you and I are seeing… should be real, anyway.

Then what is that hideous thing doing up there?!

The King made… an egg.
A giant, enormous, egg.
A giant black egg to hide the kingdom away.

Nageki

…iss… …Miss Tosaka…

Urrrrghhhhh…

Nageki

Miss Tosaka.

Ah!

What a crazy dream, huh?

It’s a little early to say that.

The nightmare isn’t over yet, mon amie.

I knew it wouldn’t be that easy…
Not after you said all that flag-raising stuff, Yuuya.

Things certainly look a little different, at least.
It’s pitch dark all around us, and quiet.
There is no sound apart from our voices.

It got bright, and there was that earthquake, and then The King showed up out of nowhere… what happened?

I’m not entirely sure myself.
I think we can safely say that King fellow doesn’t want us leaving, though.

I think he shut us in.

This is… this is kidnapping!

Hey!
Mister King!
What kind of VIP treatment is this?!
I don’t want any of it!

There’s no reply.
It’s just a cold, dark abyss.

Wh-what do we do…?
Nageki… Yuuya… are the others okay…?

The King doesn’t seem to want to let any of us go, so he’s probably trapped the others in here, too.
Of course–

We can’t see anything.

So we can’t.

I can just barely make out Nageki and Yuuya, but if they stepped back even just a little, I think I’d lose them.

We can’t see what’s a wall and what’s a corridor… we’ll never find any–

Hey there! In a bit of a bind, eh?

Oh!

Mister Migrant bird.

It’s good to get stuck like this!
Be troubled as much as you can while you’re still young!

Now isn’t the time for friendly old man wisdom!

…you know him?

Well, we’ve… bumped into him a few times.
He’s just a hungry old man.

A hungry old man?
That’s a depressing way of putting it.

…

(Professor Nanaki and the Doctor are the only two adults asleep on the roof… what’s going on here…?)

You’re a migrant, right, Mister?
Do you know how to get out of here?

I haven’t the slightest!

If you’re going to show up right when we’re stuck, can’t you at least be useful?!

Hahaha, I’ve never been good at sticking to a goal. I just wait for the wind to blow and head wherever it smells like tender grasses.

There’s no need for you young folks to be in such a hurry, either.
Why not take a break for a change?

We appreciate the thought, but alas, we’re a little short on time right now.

We’re one step away from a permanent vegetative state, after all!

We’re still alive! We shouldn’t be here!

Well… I may have come here naturally.

Hmm?
Oh, is that right?!
I thought there was something odd about you! So you came here early by mistake?

I like living fast!

Mmm, yes, that does sound like a problem.

Are only dead birds supposed to come here?

No, that’s not it.
Don’t look so down, you weren’t far off!

Really, this star isn’t a place anyone should come to.

What do you mean?

So, it’s… not where we end up when we die?

Birds who pass their names to the stars wander the night sky.
There are any number of places to see.

But there are also stars like this. Stars which aren’t stars.
It’s a bit like a himantophid’s light, if you see what I mean.

A himantophid…?

A lure for prey… or something like that?

It’s a real problem!
If I get stuck on a fake star like this, I can’t continue my journey.
Gotta find a way out.

I’ll go take a look around.

The music stops and everyone fades out. Then there’s a drip…

!

It’s not very bright, but… I can see some starlight now.

There are tiny stars everywhere! I hadn’t noticed them before.

Your eyes are getting used to the darkness.
See? A little break now and then can help, too.

He’s right — my eyes are used to it now.
We’re standing in the center of a large, round room, with… two doors?

Maybe everyone else is through those?
Though, we can’t tell where they lead…

Oh, don’t you have your map with you?

We just got shut in here!
We didn’t get to bring a strategy guide along!

But doesn’t the mourning dove there have a planisphere?

…yes, I have it.

There’s your map.

Nageki’s planisphere?
It’s a very nice planisphere, but will studying constellations now really–

!

An… egg?

It looks a little like a dark nebula.

That’s a bad egg. When an egg turns black, it’s rotten.
Black is the colour of a poor chick who died before hatching…

We’re just a bit above the very bottom now.
The stars’ lights are birds’ souls.
Burning bright and happy, even in a dead egg!

So, you want to get out of here?

My job here is to find everyone and get out, yes.

…I think I’m ready to go home.

And I want to see tomorrow!

Look! We’re one step closer to hatching.

Chicks grow teeth to help them tear out of their shells and into the new world.
We only need them that once!
With them, we can break out of this shell by our own strength.

No matter how tough the shell is, it will break eventually.
If the chick is alive, it can break free.

This is a false star.
That wasn’t a real light you saw… that was the lighthouse, luring wanderers in from the Milky Way.

A false star is a dangerous thing.
Once you’re in, it can be hard to get out.
It’s scary!

Break the shell, and burn down the false light.
The mourning dove there can do it… after all, he’s got all the answers.

Answers…?

…
I see. So all this is fake?

Do you have a plan, Nageki?

No. Not really.
I just know what The King was thinking when he made this place.

I know why he took one of our stars, and I know why only I can break it… if I can, that is. Somehow.

Well, good luck!

The migrant fades out.

Wait!
Can’t you explain that a little more…

Aah, too late. He’s gone.

Geez, no one likes a key character who just shows up with a whole bunch of gnomic advice and doesn’t actually say anything useful!

Now now, mon amie.
At least he gave us some hints, right? And some cause for optimism.

He said… that I could do it.

Well, at least the gnomic and hungry old man gave Nageki some clear reassurance.

I’ve been playing too much World of Warcraft when I start to feel like “gnomic” must be some reference to gnomes, when the “gno” here is clearly the same root as knowledge (gnosis). According to wikipedia, Gnomic is “Mysterious and often incomprehensible, yet seemingly wise.”

Your planisphere is sure turning out to be useful, Nageki.

A little above the very bottom… So, we’re right here?

And there are two stars nearby.
And if the stars are what he said–

We should be able to find everyone else if we aim for the stars?

Let’s hope so.

And there are two… suspicious stars up at the top.

The false lighthouse…
That must be the light we saw from the plaza.

And from what he said, we need to break it?
All right!

Now, then… we’ll need to head up both sides. This looks like a good time to split up, don’t you think?

Happens all the time in longer dungeons in RPGs! I’m ready to roll!

Protecting the ladies is always my first priority… I’d like to go with you, mon amie, but I’ll go alone.

You’ll be safer if you’ve got the map with you, after all.
Take care of her, all right?

…right.

Well, The King very kindly trapped us all in a gigantic evil doom egg.

Will we escape from the dream with our lives?!
Of course we will!

After all, this place is crazy! What kind of place doesn’t have morning radio aerobics?

And so we split up, Nageki and I going through one door, Yuuya through the other.

We’ll wake everyone from this dream, and smash this rotten egg from the inside!

AND REVOLUTIONIZE THE WORLD!!!

Part 3>