PART III: AFTER THE UNSEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 39: Lachelein, the Dreaming City

Having finished investigating Yum Yum Island, the Adversary decided to continue on their journey. Climbing aboard the Flying Fish, they headed deeper into the Arcane River and eventually found themselves floating in a canal. Suddenly, they felt a wave of drowsiness come over them, causing them to fall asleep atop the Flying Fish. They soon woke up in a vibrant nighttime city with music and fireworks. They were surprised to find other humans in masquerade masks and decided to talk to them. The masked people seemed abnormally thrilled to be taking part in the festival and emphasized just how much fun they were having.

Just then, a person in a plague doctor mask, Protective Mask, realized that the Adversary was from the outside world and warned them that the city was dangerous. Suddenly, two Dreamkeepers appeared out of nowhere and dragged the Adversary away. They brought the Adversary before Lucid and put them in line behind another citizen, whom Lucid transformed into a butterfly with a snap of her fingers.

She then greeted the Adversary and welcomed them to Lachelein, the city of dreams and illusions, where there was no sadness or pain. (A/N: Lachelein comes from the German word ‘lächeln’, which means ‘smile’.) She then snapped her fingers to transform the Adversary into a butterfly, but she was surprised when nothing happened, causing her to realize that they were the honored guest whom she had been awaiting.

(A/N: Mercedes has a slightly modified version of this scene. Since Lucid recognizes Mercedes, she already knows that Mercedes isn’t part of her dream, and so she snaps her fingers already knowing that nothing will happen. When Mercedes realizes that she didn’t get transformed, Lucid mocks her for being surprised. Mercedes then wonders who Lucid is, noting to herself that it feels like she ought to remember Lucid, despite being unable to.)

Just then, Protective Mask arrived and created a distraction to help the Adversary escape. As punishment for allowing them to get away, Lucid transformed the Dreamkeepers into butterflies. Protective Mask then took the Adversary back to the hideout, where they met Protective Mask’s ally, Gray Mask. Gray Mask told the Adversary that the girl whom they had met was Lucid, who had the power to manipulate dreams.

He explained that Lachelein was a giant prison created from her dreams in order to keep everyone inside, where they were forced to enjoy a festival that never ended, brainwashed into believing that none of it was strange. He told the Adversary that he and Protective Mask were the ‘awakened ones’ who had awoken from Lucid’s dream. Knowing that their existence put her dream in jeopardy, Lucid had sent her Dreamkeepers to hunt them down.

The Adversary asked if they could escape the city, but Gray Mask explained that the fog surrounding the city prevented anyone from leaving. He told the Adversary to try it for themselves, but warned that falling into the river would tear them into their component Erdas. Sure enough, the thick fog pushed the Adversary back to the city’s edge no matter how many times they attempted to get through.

(A/N: The properties of the Arcane River seem to change from area to area. The waters in the Vanishing Journey cause you to lose your memories, while the waters in Lachelein tear you apart. However, the other parts of the river seem to be perfectly safe, as the Morass and Sellas allow you to even breathe underwater.)

After they returned back to the hideout, Protective Mask told the Adversary that they needed a mask in order to blend in. Gray Mask told them to obtain materials from the Paper Bag Alley Citizens. The Adversary collected the materials and gave them to Gray Mask, who began to work on making the mask for them. However, he asked them to fight the Wood Board Alley Citizens, who were disturbing his work with their noise.

After the Adversary returned, Gray Mask handed them the finished mask. Protective Mask then offered to form an alliance, as freeing the people of Lachelein from Lucid’s dream would also allow the Adversary to continue along the Arcane River. After accepting, Gray Mask told them that their mission was to protect the awakened ones and liberate the city from Lucid. He asked the Adversary to return to the city and locate the other awakened ones in order to bring them back to the hideout.

After speaking with the townspeople in the main street, the Adversary determined that Shrimp Mask was an awakened one. They began persuading Shrimp Mask to come with them when the Dreamkeepers arrived. The Adversary grabbed Shrimp Mask and fled back to the hideout while Protective Mask ran in the opposite direction to trick the Dreamkeepers.

The Adversary then calmed Shrimp Mask down and asked if he remembered anything from the time that he had been brainwashed. Shrimp Mask told them that he could recall a sound that had come from an old music box, which he had last heard in the Noisy Market. Gray Mask believed that awakened ones couldn’t hear the music box because the device maintained the dreams of the townspeople. Just then, Protective Mask arrived and told them that he would take care of the music box.

(A/N: They use male pronouns to refer to Protective Mask in the Lachelein storyline, but you find out later during the Convergence storyline that Protective Mask is actually a projection of Mercedes that Lucid subliminally created in order to save her from her nightmare. I originally used gender-neutral pronouns for Protective Mask at first, but it became really messy, since I’m also using gender-neutral pronouns for the Adversary. I’ll use male pronouns for Protective Mask in this section, since that’s what he and everyone else seem comfortable using, but just bear in mind his true identity while it’s going on.)

The Adversary began gathering information about the music box while Protective Mask kept watch for the Dreamkeepers. They learned that Circus Mask was lamenting about the disappearance of his true love, a chicken named Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s owner, Stylish Mask, told them that chickens returned back to their friends when threatened, and so the Adversary began attacking the nearby Gallinas and Galluses in order to lure out Elizabeth.

Soon enough, they were able to get Elizabeth to return home. Having helped Circus Mask, the Adversary asked him if he had heard the music box, to which he gave a nonsensical answer, although Protective Mask was able to determine that Circus Mask was telling them that the music was coming from the direction of the river’s source. 

Along the way, they met Huge Watermelon Mask, who asked them to shatter Angry Victory Plates and bring back their pieces in exchange for the music box’s location. He then told them that the sound had come from Pie Mask, who asked them to shatter Crooked Victory Plates and bring the pieces back as proof. After they returned, Pie Mask suddenly turned into the music box and Dreamkeepers began arriving at the scene. While Protective Mask held them off, the Adversary destroyed the music box, breaking the dream and causing the Dreamkeepers to fade away.

All the people in the Noisy Market then awoke from Lucid’s dream and Protective Mask was filled with a surge of memories. He recommended that they keep the awakened ones in the Noisy Market, as the Dreamkeepers couldn’t exist in the area, since the dream had been broken there. They decided to head back to the hideout and Huge Watermelon Head also volunteered to come along with them.

Meanwhile, a Dreamkeeper reported to Lucid that the Adversary was breaking the illusion of Lachelein, though he was quickly transformed into a butterfly for failing to stop them. Lucid wondered whether the Adversary was the one chosen by the Black Mage, or if they had come for her. However, she believed that it changed nothing and invited them to continue clinging onto their false hope.

Back at the hideout, Protective Mask explained that the dream would collapse once enough citizens escaped, and that they needed to destroy the remaining music boxes for that to happen. He explained that Lucid’s memories had flooded into him when the first music box had been destroyed, from which he had learned that the music boxes kept Lucid’s dream from collapsing upon itself.

He then asked Huge Watermelon Head if he remembered anything before he had awakened. Huge Watermelon Head told them that he remembered seeing Lucid, who had been saying “Where is the nightmare?” Gray Mask realized that even though Lachelein was a dream that she had created, there had to be elements that even she couldn’t control and believed that it was the key to defeating her. Huge Watermelon Head added that he had heard a second music box near Lachelein Ballroom just before he had awakened.

As they made their way to the ballroom, Protective Mask asked the Adversary who they thought the residents of Lachelein really were, as the Arcane River was a newly-born world. Protective Mask believed that the people of Lachelein were Erdas shaped into human form and blinded by a dream of being human.

He wondered whether Erdas had souls, and whether struggling to live was proof of a soul, before telling the Adversary to forget about it and instead focus on the mission. Just like before, the Adversary attempted to interrogate the citizens, but they were stopped by Piper Mask, who told them that they needed a flashy mask to pass the dress code. They collected materials from Angry Masquerade Citizens for Piper Mask, who created a fancy mask for them.

While speaking with the townspeople, Stylish Youth Mask asked them to defeat the Insane Masquerade Citizens for him. As thanks, he suggested that they speak to Dark Mask. Dark Mask revealed that he was an awakened one, though he still felt trapped, since they were all still inside Lucid’s dream. He refused to help them and instead tried to leave, ignoring Protective Mask’s suggestion that he blend in amongst the ones still dreaming. Protective Mask then went off after him and the Adversary ran after the two.

The Adversary quickly found Dark Mask and Protective Mask being surrounded by waves of Dreamkeepers. Dark Mask explained that Protective Mask had gotten injured trying to protect him. Though Dark Mask believed that they were done for, Protective Mask told the Adversary that the Dreamkeepers around them seemed weaker because of the destroyed music box at the Night Market. The Adversary told him that they would hold the Dreamkeepers off, prompting Dark Mask to ask if they were the nightmare that Lucid was looking for. He explained that though he didn’t know where the music box was, Masquerade Mask often talked about hearing music.

While the Adversary held off the Weakened Dreamkeepers, Dark Mask was able to escape. Protective Mask then told them that they needed to return to the Lachelein Ballroom. Regarding their conversation about whether Erdas had souls, Protective Mask told them that it didn’t matter, as he needed to face Lucid, even if it meant that he didn’t come back. The Adversary asked what the nightmare was, to which Protective Mask explained that the Adversary was immune to Lucid’s power, since they weren’t part of her dream, meaning that they were the only one who could stop her.

They then arrived at the ballroom and found Masquerade Mask, who told them that she wanted to impress everyone with her dancing skills. Protective Mask noted how Lucid’s subconscious thoughts were reflected in the characters that she had created in Lachelein, including her strong need to be appreciated by others. The Adversary then hunted the Red Dancing Shoes in order to bring a pair to Masquerade Mask. After giving them to her, she transformed into the music box. Immediately, Dreamkeepers arrived to apprehend them. The Adversary quickly destroyed the music box, causing the Dreamkeepers to vanish and allowing everyone in the ballroom to awaken from Lucid’s dream.

Protective Mask was then consumed by more of Lucid’s memories, which weakened him as Lucid’s hold on the dream slipped further. At the clocktower, Lucid decided to take drastic measures and sent her butterflies across Lachelein. Protective Mask felt her power and realized that Lucid was causing Lachelein to rapidly expand and consume the entire world. One by one, the citizens of Lachelein began transforming into Dreamkeepers, including Gray Mask and the other awakened ones.

With no other choice, Protective Mask pushed himself and the Adversary into the Arcane River, where the Dreamkeepers would not follow. Lucid was pleased to see them fall, believing that they would decompose into Erdas. (A/N: If the player is Mercedes, Lucid will say, “Goodbye, my queen,” after we fall in. For male Mercedes, Lucid will instead say, “Goodbye, sweet king.”) However, when Protective Mask saved the Adversary from touching the river at his own expense, Lucid witnessed how Protective Mask had survived unscathed and realized that he was the nightmare that she was searching for.

Protective Mask also realized this and told the Adversary that since he was neither human nor Erda, he had survived the fall into the Arcane River. He also realized that it was the reason why he alone could peer into Lucid’s memories and why he was the only one who grew weaker as the dream weakened. Dejectedly, Protective Mask told the Adversary to leave him alone to grapple with the revelation that he was a soulless illusion created by Lucid.

However, the Adversary told Protective Mask that the way he had worked to save people and his drive to keep living was proof that he was alive. Protective Mask, after a pause, told the Adversary that the final music box was at the clocktower. The Adversary raced up the clocktower and fought through the Dreamkeepers and Gargoyles, whose defeat helped turn the transformed awakened ones back into themselves. Along the way, they received an Arcane Symbol from Gray Mask, who had discovered it while transformed as a Dreamkeeper.

At the top of the clocktower, they faced Lucid herself and demanded that she free the enslaved people of Lachelein, who were unhappy no matter how many times they went through the motions of enjoying themselves. However, Lucid refused, claiming that the gesture would be enough if she could change the Black Mage’s mind.

(A/N: Mercedes gets some exclusive dialogue right before demanding Lucid to free the people of Lachelein. Mercedes tells Lucid that she’s certain that she’s met Lucid somewhere before and wonders why she still can’t remember. Lucid replies that it doesn’t matter, as Mercedes means nothing to her anymore.

Mercedes then asks whether this is all part of the Black Mage’s plan and demands to know how Lucid can still follow him, as his victory would mean the end of the world as they know it. She then points out that no one in Lachelein is happy and asks Lucid if this is the world that she wants, which transitions back into the generic script that has Lucid say that she doesn’t care if they’re happy, as the gesture is enough if it’ll change the Black Mage’s mind.)

The Adversary was taken aback, as they believed that Lucid was a loyal Commander. They asked what the Black Mage was planning, but Lucid merely told them that they couldn’t begin to comprehend his plans. She then sent several butterflies at them, but Protective Mask arrived to warn that Lucid’s dreams were carried on the dust from the butterflies. However, Lucid told them that it was too late and dragged the Adversary into her dream world.

From the real world, Protective Mask explained that he was immune to Lucid’s dream because of his gas mask and helped walk the Adversary through breaking free of Lucid’s dream. With Protective Mask’s help, the Adversary was able to defeat Lucid in her dream world, causing it to collapse. Furious, Lucid unleashed her true power and created butterfly wings for herself, shattering the clocktower.

Within the air, the Adversary faced Lucid, and after a fierce battle, they managed to defeat her once and for all. Protective Mask explained that with Lucid’s defeat, the dream of Lachelein would fade away and the fog surrounding the city would lift, though it would mean that he would also disappear. However, he told them that he had no regrets, as he had fulfilled his purpose of protecting the Erdas of Lachelein.

As the fog slowly began to clear, the Adversary found several Subconscious Cracks, which had formed as a result of Lucid’s dream breaking. (A/N: The memories in these cracks can be viewed as they appear intermittently throughout the storyline, with the final crack appearing after you defeat Lucid. However, I’m covering them all at once here so as not to break the flow of the story.)

By stabilizing them with Dream Fragments, the Adversary was able to view Lucid’s memories of her past. In the first Subconscious Crack, the Adversary witnessed a young Lucid and Athena Pierce being trained by Danika in Elluel. After their training session, Athena asked Danika whether she could show off what she had learned to Mercedes, who would be returning back soon. Danika told her that Mercedes would see them tomorrow, after which Athena and Lucid began heading off. Though Athena was quite excited to show her skills to Mercedes, Lucid was rather nervous.

Later that night, Lucid began practicing her archery skills, though she grew frustrated when she was unable to shoot properly. Wishing that she were gifted like Athena, Lucid began growing tired and fell asleep. In her dreams, she found herself hitting every target perfectly, with Mercedes acknowledging her skills.

Blushing from the praise, Lucid felt pride in herself as Mercedes commended her for her progress, adding that she couldn’t wait to see what Lucid could do with Dual Bowguns. Lucid noted to herself that she felt incredibly happy, and that she never wanted to wake up. Suddenly, however, she awoke and found herself back in the training field.

Though she knew that she had only been dreaming, she also felt that everything had been too real to be an ordinary dream. She then realized that she herself had woven the dream, and that she had been in complete control of everything. She proudly noted that though archery was a skill that anyone could learn, the ability to control dreams was something that she alone possessed.

The next morning, Lucid presented a beautiful music box to Mercedes, which she claimed would give sweet dreams to the listener. As the other elves gathered to listen to the music, Mercedes was impressed by Lucid’s creation and told her that it may just become Elluel’s greatest treasure. However, Lucid was frustrated upon seeing everyone else enjoying the music, as she had intended for it to be a gift only for Mercedes. As she had been hoping for an even bigger reaction from Mercedes, she decided that she would create something even more spectacular and perfect, as she wanted it to be something exclusive between herself and Mercedes.

In the second Subconscious Crack, the Adversary saw all the elves seeing Mercedes off as she left to fight the Black Mage. Lucid grew worried that she might be seeing Mercedes for the last time and decided that she would go with her. Just then, Athena stepped up and declared that she would accompany Mercedes, causing some of the other children to speak up as well. Mercedes thanked them for their bravery, though she told them that it was her duty to protect them, not the other way around.

That night, Lucid followed Mercedes and Danika as they headed off, intent on joining them. To her shock, however, she discovered that Athena had gotten there first. Lucid watched in horror as Mercedes agreed to let Athena accompany them, even giving her the Mistelteinn for protection. Filled with despair, Lucid ran off in tears, feeling as though no one in the world cared about her.

In the third Subconscious Crack, the Adversary found Lucid somewhere remote, deciding that if no one cared about her anymore, then she would remove herself from their memories, declaring that she didn’t need any of them. After erasing herself from the minds of the elves, Lucid immersed herself in a dream world of her own making, completely isolated from the outside world.

Oblivious to the passage of time, Lucid was unaware of the Heroes finally sealing the Black Mage away, as well as his final curse upon them. With the destiny of the elves being tied to Mercedes, all the elves were frozen in ice, including Lucid. Because of her abilities, Lucid’s mind remained awake, and her dream world quickly became a prison. Though she attempted to weave happy dreams for herself, such as ruling the elves as their queen, she remained aware that it was merely an illusion. Crafting one dream after another, Lucid soon began wishing that she wouldn’t wake up again.

In the fourth Subconscious Crack, the Adversary saw how, over the centuries, Lucid grew increasingly desperate to be saved from her prison and eventually projected her mind as far as it could go. Unexpectedly, Lucid touched the consciousness of the Black Mage, who promised her eternal life, infinite knowledge, and a new world. As a child who had never even left Elluel’s borders before, Lucid grew enticed by the Black Mage’s offer.

To hear that such a powerful being needed her was all that Lucid desired, and so she took his hand without hesitation. Feeling like her mind was about to burst from all the new things that the Black Mage had offered to show her, Lucid used her augmented powers to break free from the ice and become one of the Black Mage’s Commanders.

In the fifth Subconscious Crack, the Adversary watched the Alliance bicker amongst itself, with Claudine confronting Cygnus, claiming that her scouts had entered the Gate to the Future, in which they had seen Cygnus and her knights turn on the people of Maple World. Cygnus attempted to remind Claudine that the vision of the future was a fabrication created by the Black Mage, though Claudine remained unconvinced.

While Athena Pierce attempted to keep the peace, Lucid watched in amusement as the Black Mage’s plan to waver the Alliance’s willpower continued smoothly. Though the Alliance had realized that it had just been an illusion, the seeds of doubt had been planted in their minds, which she hoped to further reinforce with the nightmare that would soon come forth.

In the Black Mage’s throne room, Lucid reported to the Black Mage that a new world was about to unfold. Curious about what sort of a world he was planning to create, Lucid asked him to show her a glimpse of what he was hoping to bring about. The Black Mage then showed her a vision of ultimate darkness, causing a shocked Lucid to realize that there was absolutely nothing in the new world that the Black Mage planned to make - and most importantly, not even the Black Mage himself would exist.

(A/N: This is another case where it was shown to the Adversary that the Black Mage is planning to create a new world, even though we’re surprised to learn it in Esfera. I guess you could technically interpret the concept of a new world loosely by having the Adversary take it as the Black Mage turning Maple World into a realm of darkness, rather than him literally making a new world from scratch.)

Upon realizing that the Black Mage sought to end his own existence through the Genesis Ritual, Lucid grew shocked and saddened, as the Black Mage was the center of her world. Hoping to change his mind, Lucid chose to betray the Black Mage and created Lachelein in the Arcane River. By creating a festive city with no sadness or pain, Lucid planned to grow her dream beyond the Arcane River and envelop the world, believing that showing the Black Mage the joys of life would be enough to convince him not to end his own life.

(A/N: Lucid simping for the Black Mage made me immediately think of that one meme with the dudebro on Snapchat.

Black Mage: vents about how much he wants to die
Lucid: “Nooo don’t kill urself ur so sexy aha”

Lucid might actually be the messiest person I’ve ever seen, like even more so than me, which is saying a lot. Between her unresolved abandonment issues, her infatuation with people five times her age, her own coded suicidal ideation, her trying to bait people into killings themselves, and her trying to fix a mass murderer’s suicidal tendencies with “don’t be sad, be happy :D”, like girl, come on - pick a struggle.

Originally when Lachelein was released, people thought that Lucid’s plan to change the Black Mage’s mind was because she wanted to convince him not to destroy everything and instead make a world filled with happiness and joy. After the Genesis Weapon storyline was released, it was revealed that Lucid was shocked not because the world that the Black Mage would create was empty, but because he himself didn’t exist in it. However, the Adversary doesn’t have that context when they see these memories, and so they just think that the Black Mage wants to make a world of darkness.

Also, for the record, GMS localization is actual garbage that completely omitted Lucid’s motivations with a bad translation. I feel like I complain every other section about how bad the localization is, but it really is the worst thing ever. The fact that you have to go to KMS and somehow have the means to translate the original Korean text in order to learn important lore things is an embarrassment to the quality of GMS.)

In the sixth and final Subconscious Crack, the Adversary watched Lucid holding a glass of wine as she celebrated the completion of Lachelein. (A/N: I guess we can add on “underage drinking” to Lucid’s list of evil, heinous crimes too.) Suddenly, however, Lucid felt a wave of drowsiness, causing her to collapse and fall unconscious. Inside her dreamscape, Lucid sensed that something was wrong and decided to leave. Suddenly, several Wightmares appeared and amusedly asked where she was going, laughing that they were the ones who had called her.

Lucid dismissed them as fragments of her imagination and attempted to banish them, though she was shocked when nothing happened. The Wightmares laughed that she wasn’t in control anymore, and that she was now trapped inside her own dream. As the Wightmares cackled that she would be trapped inside a nightmare forever, Lucid fell to her knees in horror.

Suddenly, she awoke back in Lachelein, feeling chills running down her spine. After realizing that she had lost control of her own dream, she suddenly began laughing maniacally and invited her nightmares to swallow her whole, though she entreated them to follow her obediently until she could successfully change the Black Mage’s mind. She then added that until the whole world was shrouded in sweet dreams, the festival needed to go on.

Meanwhile, back in the present, Lucid grew increasingly consumed by her nightmares as she continued trying and failing to reach the Black Mage’s mind. Nevertheless, she persistently attempted to reach her master, who had once saved her from despair, as she believed that it was her turn to save him from his own despair, even if she became trapped in her own nightmare as a result.

Within the darkness, Lucid cried out and apologized to him for her betrayal, explaining that she had only acted because she had been afraid of losing him. Suddenly, Lucid managed to reach the Black Mage’s subconscious, and though she didn’t know whether it was because her heart had reached him, or whether it had simply been pure coincidence, she was overjoyed at having finally reached him nevertheless.

Before the Black Mage was able to detect her presence, Lucid quickly sensed that there was a disturbance inside his unconscious mind. Peering deeper inside, Lucid sensed a faint, yet intense memory filled with sadness and relief, which had soon turned into unbridled hatred. Just then, however, the Black Mage became aware of Lucid accessing his memories and pushed her out of his mind, leaving her trapped in her own nightmare forever with the knowledge that the person who had meant everything to her had abandoned her for good.

(A/N: The scene of Lucid being abandoned by the Black Mage is seen after you defeat Lucid during the Genesis Weapon liberation questline. The memory that Lucid accessed was the moment that the White Mage had entered the divine realm, with his emotions corresponding to how his pain and sadness had turned into relief upon reaching the ultimate light, right before his relief had turned into pure hatred for the Overseers and what they had done to humanity.)