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

After they have been left alone in the orchard shrine, they cross through the orchard to the east side of town. They remove most of their clothing, to give the appearance of a common worker, and sneak the final distance to the scholars' tent. Yumi passes through the wall of the tent and watchwatches the scholars troubleshooting their machine. [[Sunjun]] is working on the machine and believes that the problem is the power source, though [[Gyundok]], the lead scholar, says they never had this problem with the [[father machine]]. Gyundok tells Sunjun and the lounging [[Honam]] to prime it, but they refuse. They consider waiting for the local yoki-hijo to draw a spirit, but expect this is unlikely to happen. The fourth scholar eventually agrees to prime the machine, so he places his hand on a special plate at the heart of the machine. Yumi observes hion lines appear between him and the plate, and as she looks closer sees an additional pair of lines appear from herself. The machine starts working, and the scholars celebrate--except for Sunjun who noticed the lines from Yumi. He believes a spirit is nearby and alerts the others. They activate a piece of equipment which points toward Yumi, and she flees.

One week later, in Painter's apartment, they watch the final episode of ''[[Seasons of Regret]]'', which closes with a kiss--to Yumi's shock--and a sad ending. They discuss the ending as Yumi looks out through the window. When Nikaro suggests returning to practice, Yumi declares that she is tired of practicing and wishes to go hunting the stable nightmare. Painter tries to discourage her, and has been stalling for a while now, but she insists. She takes the painter equipment and sets out into the city, first working her way toward the shroud. They walk until Nikaro spots the signs of a nightmare, and they follow. Painter becomes concerned that the foreman may have left his wedge of the city unpatrolled, assuming that Painter was shirking his duties for some time and his area was inactive. Eventually they catch up to the nightmare. Painter sees it is not the stable nightmare and urges Yumi to move on, but Yumi wants to take action. She tries to confront the nightmare, but freezes up when she sees it. While trying to coach her, the spider-like nightmare hears Nikaro. It draws closer to him and attacks, feeding on his essence. Yumi's scream frightens it away, and Painter is okay, but the noise also summons the attention of Akane and Tojin.

Back at the Noodle PrincessPupil, Yumi drinks broth to warm herself as the otherothers comfort her. Nikaro feels worn out, after being drained by the nightmare and helping heal Yumi. Tojin arrives to report that the foreman believed him about the stable nightmare, and thatsummoned the Dreamwatch have been summoned. Izzy gibes that Nikaro probably fled to another city after seeing the nightmare, but Yumi defends him. Design approaches and reminds the group that theirthe spaceship is scheduled to land on the "star". She turns on the hion viewer, and they all witness as the explorers land on thea watery planet and make first contact with the four-armed [[Sho Del]] living there. Yumi and Painter are shocked to discover shethat it is not from thatYumi's planet.

In the shrine, Painter receives a map of Torio from Liyun and shares some empathetic words with her, thanking her for her patience. He sketches Masaka's map over it and they confirm that their worlds overlap witheach one anotherother. They decide it is time to destroy the machine. At Yumi's urging, Painter approaches Liyun and hisher attendants withto an explanationexplain that the spirits have directed her to destroy the machine. They acknowledge the potential conseqsuences,consequences but agree to help. Liyun sends Hwanji to get the bailiff, and they gather several villagers who will help them destroy the machine if the scholars stand in their way. When they reach the scholars' tent, they explain what they are there to do. The lead scholar is unsurprised, and calls for Sunjun, explaining it is time for a confrontation. He asks for Nikaro's theory on what is happening as the other scholars bring out their machine. His idea amuses Gyundok, who says it is wrong but a good guess. Painter notices that everyone has become very still, and as he watches they all begin turning into nightmares. He tries to destroy the machine but is stopped by Gyundok, who is also a nightmare along with the other scholars. Nikaro asks about the others as their surroundings also disintegrate into the shroud, and the scholar explains that they don't understand their true natures. Liyun transforms more fully and Painter realizes that she iswas the stable nightmare they were hunting for. Lastly, he turns to see Yumi turning into a nightmare as well. Gyundok apologiesapologizes itfor tooktaking so long for this to allreach come to athis headpoint, explaining that they had troubles with their power source and needed some time to catch some rogue spirits. Painter begs, but the man explains "the machine is lord now". They flip a switch on the machine which severs the Connection between Yumi and Nikaro. Nikaro feels himself being shot like an arrow back to his own home and into his body, which painfully snaps back intosnapping his own physical appearance.

Yumi dreams, hearing the voices of the scholars discussing what to do with her memories. Then she awakens in her wagon, repeating the day once again. Her attendants never arrive however, and eventually, Liyun opens the door herself, lookinguncharacteristically frazzleddisheveled. She explains there is a sickness in the town and Yumi must spend the day in her wagon in prayerpraying and meditationmeditating. Yumi forcefully asks to attend the Festival of Reveals, and shockingly, Liyun approves, to the yoki-hijo's shock. Before leaving, Liyun pauses awkwardly and drops a piece of paper on the ground. She watches Liyun departsdepart and notices how empty the town looks. She picks up the painting and after a moment of consideration, her memories come flooding back.

Painter locates the temporary headquarters of the Dreamwatch who have recently relocated toin Kilahito. [[Hikiri]] answers the door and brings Nikaro inside when he reports that he saw the stable nightmare. Inside, Nikaro meets [[Tesuaka]] and some other Dreamwatch members. Tesuaka tells Hikiri to take his statement and send him along. Painter tries to explain that an army of one hundred nightmares will be attacking from the west, but they don't take him seriously. Tesuaka says some false words of encouragement, saying perhaps he will be good enough to be in the Dreamwatch one day. Hikiri guides Nikaro to the door and Hoid interjects some commentary about heroes not living up to your expectations. Painter asks about what Tesuaka said, and Hikri explains that he simply needs to be content with his job because joining the Dreamwatch is all about connections that Nikaro will never have. He recognizes now that he and his friends never even had a chance to be part of the Dreamwatch, but he is unable to fully appreciate this under the weight of the realization that the city will be under attack and he is completely alone.

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.

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.

Hoid muses about the nature of stories, and apologizes to his audience for having to share this sad ending with them. He says that Nikaro refused to accept this ending, and sochose pickedto pick up painthis brushpaintbrush and ink, and beganbegin painting on the blank wall that had been reserved for his capstone painting. The sun begins to shineshining through the shroud, causing the people to panic. Ignoring the sun, Nikaro paints the scene of Yumi as they flew on the tree together. He paints calmly as the shroud continues to evaporateevaporates, andthen feels a touch on his arm. Smoke from the shroud clings to him, though nobody notices amid everything else happening. Nikaro finishes his painting and then turns to the vortex of smoke, with a dark shape inside reaching outward him. He drops his brush and takes her hand, and urges her to believe that she deserves to live on for herself. Yumi emerges fully and they cling to one another as the shroud vanishes completely.

{{summaries|completedone}}