A Minor Setback

Facility Event: A Crescendo of Courage

Episode 3

A Minor Setback

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Searching for Materials

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A Song in the Night

Summary

At the port town, the publicity team decides to promote the concert by putting on a show with Siren's song and backup dancers—but the plan backfires when the townsfolk react in horror. While Siren claims not to be bothered, she also begins to act a bit...strange.

Dialogue

Man, look at all the people. This is a perfect place to promote our show! Now let us divide up into teams. Who wants to procure materials, and who will handle the publicity? I already have this all worked out! The best way to promote the concert is for me to SING! All I need are two backup dancers. Well, I ain't cut much rug recently, but I guess I can— What?! No! Gag! My dancers will be Verica and Cleo. As a fortune-teller, I'm not quite sure why I didn't see this coming. You want...me? Yeppers! The three of us dancing and singing are gonna make ALL the feels! Er, but surely you'd rather have Elisanne? If we draft Elisanne into the publicity team, the materials team is gonna be totally disasterpants. I mean, SOMEONE'S gotta yell at Ranzal when he starts wandering off for food. It's inevitable! Fair point. The hell it is! But I don't know how to dance. Look, this isn't a competition or whatever. You don't need, like, REAL moves. Just sway to the beat and stuff! It sounds like Siren has this all planned out, Cleo. Think you can make it work? Well, if you are the one asking, I can't very well refuse. Looks like we have our teams! Let us all meet back at the beach once our tasks are completed. All right, my backup dancers! You've got your swimsuits, right? Of course. I...brought it, yes. Then go get changed already! I'll be back momentarily. Are you truly all right with this, Verica?! ...Ah. She's already gone. Cleoooo! Go get changed, girl! You gotta get your dance on! I am not wearing a swimsuit! I refuse! I refuse it utterly! But you brought it and everything! Th-this is just for contingency... I totally don't know what that means, but are you gonna help me or not?! Look, this is gonna be super fun, so just go put the stupid thing on already! Gosh! I cannot. I'm afraid this sort of thing has happened before, and I wasn't able to go along with it then, either. It is simply impossible! So you're saying you only agreed to dance, but not to wear the suit? Correct—and I only agreed to that much because Euden asked. Why do you have to be so stubborn about such stupid stuff?! Fiiiine! Whatevs. I guess I'll just take what I can get, even if it's super lame. Now let's get going already! Hey! Everybody listen up! You guys are in for a SUPER treat, because the amazing Siren is totally gonna perform for you! S-Siren?! THE Siren? Oh, good! It sounds like everyone is already quite familiar with her. Then why do they look so...unhappy? Cover your ears and run! Run awaaaaay! HER SONG WILL DEVOUR YOUR MIND! What?! Oh, that is simply absurd. I saw it happen, man! There was this crazy pirate monster at the beach and she totally bewitched it! She's gonna turn our brains into mush! Mush, I tells ya! She musta got tired of sinking ships and decided to wreak havoc on dry land! We're doomed! Dooooomed! Well, that certainly escalated quickly. Everyone scattered to the winds. Heh. Cue the tumbleweeds, I guess. Oh, Siren... Nope! No worries. We're aaaaall good. I literally thought that might happen, so I've totes got it covered. Nope! Not a big deal at all. Nooooo, buddy. Nooooope... ...... Meanwhile, at the beach... Hey, is it just me, or has Cleo seemed kinda...I dunno. Gloomy, I guess? Can't say I noticed. Yeah, but when we were all having fun back at the stage, she wouldn't join in. And she never did put on her swimsuit. Luca, please me tell me this conversation was inspired by concern for Cleo and not simply by your own lascivious curiosity. What? No! This ain't about how hot Cleo would look in a swimsuit! It ain't about that AT ALL! It's just that she's always cookin' and cleanin' and all that for us. I mean, I know she's an attendant and that's kind of her job... But it would still be nice to see her cut loose and have at least a little fun, yeah? No, I understand. I was hoping she would enjoy all of this, but... Hee hee! Ohmigosh, guys, you got all KINDS of stuff! That's rad! Totes rad! Uh, you got kind of a weird energy going on there, Siren. What's up? Dude! What are you even TALKING about?! I'm totally the same sweet, adorable, beautiful Siren I always was! Tee hee! Um... Welcome back, guys. How'd it go? Er, might I speak with you for a moment, Prince Euden? You should hear what happened... ...Wait, what?! But that's horrible! I'm going to march down there and— Please do not. At this point, I think we need to watch and wait. But... All will be well; Siren and Cleo both possess more than enough strength to overcome these challenges. All they need is to find that last little spark of courage. On some level, they already know that. Did you see all that in your crystal ball? I don't need a crystal ball to see it. Everyone fears change. And while I know they're both scared, neither of them are running away from it. They're going to fight—against the obstacles before them, and against their own weaknesses. Well, if you're so confident they'll be all right, I can back off for now. As you say, we'll watch and wait. But we should be ready to offer a helping hand if either of them asks for it. That is a fine idea. Well, we've got lots of materials here, so I guess we'll head back to the Halidom.