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The ending note settles. Sakiko's hand lingers on the keyboard.

Faint echoes of music reverberate on through the empty castle halls.

Saki... chan...?

From beside comes a voice long unheard, yet one she could not know any more intimately. She slowly lifts her head.

We finally... finally...

...We finally got to meet, Saki-chan.

It feels like I had this long, long dream... and I was this close to never waking up.

Saki-chan, we've been going in circles for so long. We almost missed each other again.

And before Sakiko stands not just Uika, but her entire band.

It was like someone gave me a pull, and then I just showed up here.

Blehhh! Why are we being so serious?

But Saki, you're smiling so happily.

Sakiko has to squint beneath the bright spotlight hanging above. Everything before her feels so unreal, so dreamlike.

But she knows, she knows—

Once more, they have played the music that belongs to them.

The girls of Ave{@nbs}Mujica have finally come back.

Yes! Of course I am, I'm so happy...

Uika... Mutsumi.

Nyamu... Umiri.

I missed you... I missed you so badly.

All of you—welcome back.

(Struggling chirping)

I'm guessing these things put us to sleep?

The dreams... they're not working...

No... no...

You can't leave... you have to... stay here!

(Piercing screech)

—Watch out!

Wolff!!

Morpheus, cut your losses!

Don't you lecture me with words you cribbed from a storybook!

Sakiko, take them and—argh!

Before Wolff can finish, an army of threads skewers through its arms, expelling the cotton within.

Oh, crap! Up there—

Countless Corettons circle above, weaving a massive dreamcatcher.

It begins to press in towards the girls, growing ever larger and larger.

Morpheus... see the error of your ways!

A huge pair of scissors falls from the sky, shredding the dream web into naught but tiny wisps of silk that drift in the air.

(Panicked screech)

Who was that?!

Nngh—!

The girl gives a few twitches in midair before plummeting to the ground, faster and faster—

Are... are we safe now?

What in the world is happening...?

Apologies for our lateness.

M-Miss Iris! We owe a debt to you for your aid... Thank you.

Sakiko is overcome with relief at seeing the familiar fairy. Her exhaustion swiftly catches up, and she feels the strength drain from her as she collapses.

A dull thud echoes through the hall.

Saki-chaaaan!

Sakiko... Sakiko...

(Who is it... now...)

Bit by bit, Sakiko regains consciousness, and is greeted by a faint fragrance.

Her eyes flutter open, and she finds herself lying on a soft velvet sofa, a brown-haired girl sitting by her side.

Ah. Have you come to?

You fainted. Going through dreamland after dreamland like that takes a toll on the body.

Though I'd say it's quite incredible you lasted that long despite never encountering such Originium Arts before.

Are the others...

You needn't fret, I've arranged rooms for them. Bena is with them right now.

Oh, I don't believe I've introduced myself—I am Iris, the present Master of the Castle of Dreams.

We've seen plenty of each other in my dreams... If this is our first time meeting, then who were you before?

Well, as Morpheus demonstrated for you—some fairies of the Castle of Dreams possess the rare Arts to spin dreams.

That said, it's no omnipotent thing. What dreams a caster spins are ultimately limited by their own knowledge of the target.

Morpheus didn't understand you, nor did she regard you as an equal adversary. That is why the dream she spun was so flawed.

As for why you met me, I would suppose... that was Grandmother's work.

Grandmother?

Yes. The Castle of Dreams's previous Master. She spends all her time in a secluded room to convalesce now, owing to her frail health.

She gave me this necklace, you see, and over the last few days, it had been terribly temperamental with its energies. Bena and I scrambled to return just in case something was amiss... What a terrible turn of affairs we found.

I see...

Something just started up over there. You're not safe alone. Go the long way round, quick.

...Thank you for the warning.

I heard from an old woman nearby...

You should hurry home.

The nights are dark here. Now don't you get lost again.

Miss Sakiko. As the Master of the Castle of Dreams, I beg your forgiveness for all that's transpired.

I suppose you could hardly pardon Morpheus, after all she's done...?

Actually... By all rights I should hate her, but I don't feel that way at all.

...What?

She was quite right, actually. Ave{@nbs}Mujica as a group was never very tightly-knit.

When I made that initial bet with her, it was solely because I wanted the band members back. It was an act of rash judgment.

But after entering their dreams only to be rejected by each of them in turn, it finally dawned on me that I hadn't a clue how they felt inside.

Within the dreams she'd spun, we tried to hide our weakest, most fragile parts beneath a beautiful facade.

Yet did I ever attempt to <i>know</i> my companions, with whom I'd spent so many days and nights?

Had I truly resolved to bear the weight of their lives?

As I fell through the abyss of Limbo, these were the questions I asked myself in infinitude.

Miss Sakiko...

But when I finally straightened out my heart, awakened my companions, and stood once again before Morpheus, it wasn't just anger I felt...

It was also a deep, deep sorrow.

In that moment, we looked each other in the eyes. It hit me. My power was frail no longer; I had my friends by my side.

While she stood by herself, alone as ever, with naught but creations that bent to her will and whim.

She was the dreamspinner. She knew better than all of us how nothing in the land of dreams was real.

And yet she still chose to lose herself in such dreams. Surely, she must have had her reasons?

Hah-hahahahah-hah! You're a heartless monster!

No wonder your parents don't want you!

You'll never live through the winter!

No! You're lying!

Get lost, all of you!!

Uh-oh—run!

Morpheus, are you alright?!

Oh, Iris, is it—is it true what they said?

They're naughty children, right? The fairies won't bring sweet dreams to them, right?