Difference between revisions of "Summary:Yumi and the Nightmare Painter"

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(→‎Chapter 37: Revised for readability. Fixed spelling, grammar, and/or punctuation.)
(→‎Chapter 40: Revised for readability.)
Yumi now flees from the scholars, soaring in her tree. The tree begins to disintegrate slowly, and the scholars follow. She breaks through the barrier, into the shroud proper, and sees the prisons of the other yoki-hijo, as well as Torio City. Yumi realizes she has mental control over the shroud, and so stabilizes the tree she as on and creates a wind to blow her towards Torio City.
 
Thirty-seven painters have gathered on the west side of town. They wait, chat, and check their supplies. AkanaAkane asks Nikaro again what they are doing, and he explains, but a full hour passes and the painters are getting restless. Akane asks with concern after Yumi's safety, and Painter promises she will be staying away from this fight. Nikaro again insists that the stable nightmares will come and Akane asks him to confront the possibility that he has imagined everything. He does, out of respect, and promises that if the nightmares do not come he will get help. Masaka then notices the shroud is rippling, and the army of stable nightmares begins to emerge.
 
Yumi lands just outside the city and confronts the four scholars. They attack, and she renders their attacks ineffective; then Yumi forces them into their human forms, freeing them slightly from the control of the machine. They are deeply apologetic, expressing their shame and sorryregret, but explain that the father machine cannot be defeated. They gave it instructions to produce energy and to protect itself, and it has used Investiture to do so. When it consumed the souls of its creators, they became part of the machine in a way, and so joined with the mission to protect it. The machine has also established a shield around itself. With nothing more to gain from the scholars, Yumi changes into her blue dress and steps into the ruins of Torio City.
 
The painters form a tight circle to defend against the nightmares, with Nikaro running back and forth to shore up weak spots. Unlike typical nightmares, these don't evaporate once painted, and the painters are barely holdinghold togetheron. Hoid explains that they would be overwhelmed if the father machine were not distracted by Yumi, leaving the nightmares more timid than they would otherwise be. One painter, [[Nanakai]], is wounded and Nikaro steps up using bamboo to freeze three nightmares at once.
 
One structure remains at the center of Torio City--the grand exhibit hall where the father machine was unveiled seventeen hundred years ago. She finds the machine still there, thirty feet tall with hundreds of legs piling stones. It uses Investiture, taking the appearance of smoke, to repair itself. It is surrounded by thousands of spirits, undulating to a rhythm. Yumi encounters the shield and cannot approach any closer.
Back in Kilahito, six painters have now been wounded, and Tojin shouts that they cannot hold. The painters are running out of canvas and the ground is slick with paint. Nikaro urges them to continue because the city depends on them, and the battle cry "we are the Dreamwatch now" catches on. Nikaro then recognizes Liyun among the nightmares and gets an idea.
 
Yumi is frustrated as she is unable to penetrate the machine's barrier. She feels a light Connection to Nikaro and can sense that he is in danger. Yumi gets an impression that even if they survive the initial attack, the machine will continue sending nightmares until Kilahito is rubble. She exits the exhibit hall and goes out intoenters the courtyard full of rubble, then begins to stack--letting loose with all of her skill.
 
Despite the concerns of others who see what he is doing, Nikaro paints Liyun in her original, human form. She transforms and, when he finishes and moves on, she does not revert back. He moves on to the mayor, beginning the painting until he identifies the nightmare transforming. As he fills in the details, the man continues to transform--giving Nikaro more to work with. Others see that Nikaro is having success and they do their best to support him as he paints each of the townspeople. He finishes with Hwanji, then looks out into the shroud--sensing Yumi.
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