Lea Monde: The Great Cathedral


Merlose: Help me, Ashley!

Ashley: Merlose! Where are you? Above!

[Cut to a shot of Sydney riding a cloudstone -- Hardin, Joshua and Merlose in the same position we last saw them in, in the corner, with Guildenstern staring at them.]

Sydney: Hardin, what has happened?

Guildenstern: We have been waiting for you, Sydney.

Sydney: I will handle this.

Guildenstern: No apology, Sydney? Not for the man you've deceived these many years?

Hardin: Is it... true? That tattoo ... is the "key"...?

Sydney: Forgive me, Hardin.

Hardin: Why? ...Why? All our efforts...

Guildenstern: He has played you all like pawns, and now he throws you away! What is this "phantom soul" needed for the rites? Answer me, Sydney. Or you will die.

[Guildenstern strikes out with the Dark. Sydney lifts a hand to wipe away blood]

Sydney: You really WANT to become a martyr for your fool religion.

Guildenstern: Not religion, Sydney. Revolution. A fresh wind to blow away the disease of the land. For our realm is SICK. It suffurates with profiteers! Fawning merchants licking the boots of the nobility! They do nothing and blame others for their failure; they steal men's dreams and twist them to nightmares... We must cleanse this corruption. There must be strong, unwavering justice. And there must be fear to enforce that justice.

Sydney: It is a wretched rule that does not value human life.

Guildenstern: The world does not want a saviour. These wretches leading lives of misery do not need salvation. The rotting branch must be pruned.

Sydney: A tyrant always dies alone, Guildenstern. Surrounded by silver-tongued leeches, he is utterly alone. He sows sorrow and reaps death.

Guildenstern: You are a leader, too. Do you not dream of what could be?

Sydney: In my dreams, I see an evil tyrant's hands, which would choke the world. And he is the only one blind to his folly.

Guildenstern: ...This farce is over. I will have my answer.

Sydney: And if I say no?

Guildenstern: I will hew my retribution from your flesh. Like your pawn here... (pointing at Hardin with sword)

[Sydney looks at Hardin.]

Merlose: If the soul is not true and fast, the rites are meaningless! It will lead to disaster!

Samantha, from above: Sydney! (Sydney hits Samantha with the Dark.) Aaaaaargh!

Sydney: Hardin, we fly to safety! To blackened wing and wav'ring light...

Hardin: ...W-wait. You sought to help the Duke... your father?

Sydney: Delta-ecksis!

[Sydney teleports the bunch out -- while he is turned away, Guildenstern stabs him]

Guildenstern: Perhaps I cannot kill you, immortal. But I shall have your Blood-Sin as my trophy!

[Ashley, having made his final preparations, begins up the stairs.]

Sydney, offscreen: Uh...hhh...

[Ashley opens the trap door and emerges into a room with the Rood on the floor, candles lining the edges, creating a warm light. A claw crosses Ashley's vision, and the camera pans down to reveal Sydney, half-sitting on the floor, blood pooling around him.]

Ashley: What's this? (helps him sit up)

Sydney: You're late, Riskbreaker...

Ashley: Where's Merlose? What happened to Callo Merlose?

Sydney: Worry not... I sent her to a safe place. She will escape ... unharmed.

Ashley: What has happened here?

Sydney: ...Look, and know.

[The camera pans back to reveal that Sydney no longer bears the Blood-Sin, and then we see a flash of a boy who is much like Joshua ... only dressed differently.]

Ghostly Little Sydney: I wanted to help Father. This city was his only hope....

Sydney: You can see...

Ghostly Little Sydney: I wanted to help Father. As he helped me when I was born.

Sydney: He wanted the city city destroyed, even if it meant his own death. Then he implored me ... do not let them use it ... the power. (He puts his hand on Ashley's knee.) Stop him ... Stop Guildenstern. Those who crave the Dark cannot control the Dark. You must stop him, kill him ... ...before the Dark sucks his living soul dry.

Ashley: Where is he?

[Sydney gestures upward, to the Rood on the ceiling, and then slumps]

Sydney: Ashley, I... I'm...

Ashley: I know.

[Fade to above, where Guildenstern, Sydney's Rood fused to his back, stands on the nave with Samantha by his side. They are embracing.]

Sam: M-my love... why?

[He lets go, revealing that she has a dagger in her stomach]

Guildenstern: Forgive me, Samantha. I need your soul. Our cause needs a martyr.

[She stumbles towards the edge]

Sam: Y-your cause... There is no ... place for me ... for our dream... (slumps to knees)

Guildenstern: I love you, Samantha. As God is my witness.

Sam: I...too, once thought so...

[She falls backwards, plummeting to the ground from the roof. Guildenstern experiences the Quickening.]

Ashley: Guildenstern!!

Guildenstern: Come, Riskbreaker. Your death will be my rebirth! Come, help celebrate my ascension!

[They fight. Ashley beats Guildenstern, and is thrown into white haze. He finds himself watching himself -- the image of him that has been seen throughout the game.]

Offscreen: Forget that which pains you... You cannot reclaim what is lost to time. Let it go. There is only regret here. What difference does it make? Whether you lost a wife and child or killed an innocent family, you cannot bring back the dead.

[Guildenstern is standing behind him]

Guildenstern: Your hands are tainted with blood. Truth or no, your sins are eternal.

[Ashley looks down to see Tia lying, a pool of blood]

Offscreen: Release the past, look the the future. Join us, Ashley! Come home...

Ashley: (thinks a long moment, then moves over to his former self) There is no growth without birth. Without a foothold in the past, we cannot walk towards the future. Get thee gone, Darkness!!

[Scene flips back to the picnic, with Tia and Maro standing there. Ashley is wearing the clothing he has worn in flashback, but he is in colour.]

Marco: Papa!!

Ashley: (embraces Marco) Forgive me, Marco. You must have been lonely...

Marco: Nuh-uh, I'm brave! Just like Papa!

Ashley: ...Tia.

Tia: Welcome home, Ashley. You've done all you could for us. 'Twas a short time, but I knew happiness with you. You gave me a lifetime's worth of love.

Marco: Don't cry, Papa. See, I'm not crying. See?

Ashley: But...This...

[Tia lifts a finger to Ashley's lips]

Tia: Do not be misled by others' words. Believe your heart.

[Tia embraces Ashley, then steps back]

Tia: I love you, Ashley.

[She takes Marco's hand. As the camera rotates, they both smile, and turn to snowflies.]

Offscreen: ...Come home, Agent Riot. Your story is not yet finished....

[Cut to a mystical, otherwordly circle. Ashley stands, looking around, and sees Angel Guildenstern arising. The final battle...]


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Vagrant Story, all its characters, and all associated text is copyright © 2000 SQUARE Co. Ltd. All rights remain with original authors. This script is provided for educational and informative purposes only. WARNING: THERE BE SPOILERS WITHIN.