03x02 - Chapter 16: Return

[bunniefuu]

I'm-- I'm too late.

Help. Help.

Scared.

Help. Help.

Wait.

Here you are.

I'm-- I'm so sorry.

Well, at least I can help you.

There, there. We've got you.

You're okay now.

I finally found you.

I finally found the bridge.

Darius.

You mistake me for my identical sister.

But you know how that feels,
don't you, Ninth of Evas?

I am Arius.

"Ninth of Evas"?

You know my sister? Did you see her?

Where Darius sees only what was,
I see all that could be.

- You see the future?
- In a manner of speaking.

The future has many facets.

So much is possible.

Not anymore. I... failed.

I lost the Heart. Orbona is dying.

It-- It's too late
to do anything about it.

But it is not too late, Ninth of Evas,
because you are here.

Me?

But there's nothing more I can do.

There's nothing.

So you don't yet understand.

A single action can change everything.

The future is never fixed.

The power to change it always exists,

if you are brave enough
to make the first step.

So, what is my first step?

It's your future, Ninth of Evas.

It's your choice.

The palace?

Queen Ojo.

Now the world that was
can become the world that will be.

Thank you, Arius.

There is much light in you, Ninth of Evas,

but there will also be darkness.

Do not let it change you.

What is that?

Hey there.
I think it's me who needs your help now.

Faunas.

Rovee!

Eva?

Eva!

I searched everywhere.
I thought I'd lost you.

- Is Otto okay?
- Yes. Otto is okay.

Have you seen my sister?

I am sorry, Eva. No.

Rovee, we need to go.

Go? You only just got here.

Eva, I've been looking for you for weeks.
Where were you? What happened?

Cadmus used me to find the Heart,
which I did and then I talked to it.

- It looked like Muthr.
- Like Muthr?

Whose Muthr? Your Muthr?

Yeah. And then it told me something
about how there was only us.

I didn't really understand it.

And then I woke up to the forest dying,
and the Heart was gone,

and I think Cadmus must have taken it.

- Do you have anything to eat?
- Yes, of course.

- There's some dried hopfruit in the bag.
- Thanks.

So that is when the turnfins
brought you here?

Come here, Teal.

Oh, no. That was after I talked to Arius.

Of course.

Wait, you talked to Arius, the sage?

She told me about the future.
Well, kind of.

She said that there were a lot of facets.

- I don't understand.
- Yeah, me neither.

But it has something to do with Queen Ojo,
which is why we have to go to Solas.

Come on.

Eva, you know,
I was really worried about you.

I know. I was worried about you too.

I hate to bring this up,
but what happened to your hair?

- Do you like it?
- Well, it depends.

Do you want me to be nice,
or do you want me to be honest?

Looks like a hooman.

Ghosts of the dirt.

Hoomans are so mean.

We gotta be strong.

Loroc warned us.

Arius?

She told you Queen Ojo would help us?

Yes, I think so.
How do I get to the queen?

You can't.

The attack on Faunas revealed
the existence of the hooman settlement.

Your kind is being blamed
for the dying of the forest.

You will be imprisoned
as soon as you show yourself.

But she's the queen and she's my friend.

She wouldn't let that happen.

Ojo may not be queen much longer.

Loroc is using the dying of the forest
as a reason to seize power.

If he is successful, Orbona is truly lost.

I have to get in. There has to be a way.

Gargoof.

Gargoof.

Eva, this is a terrible idea.

This is gonna work.

- Right, Gargoof?
- Gargoof.

See? Just say your line
and follow our lead.

I know the plan. It's just a bad one.

One and all,

behold Gargoof, the wise Caerulean shaman!

Bearer of--

of--

Ancient hooman secrets
greatly important to the queen,

and for her ears only.

Gargoof.

Gargoof.

Okay. Don't worry.

It's gonna be fine.

When Besteel captured
and presented the hooman specimen,

that was clear evidence of a nest
and that the consequences will be dire.

Do you not see, Your Majesty?
The hardship facing our people?

And it is all because of the hoomans.

We cannot jump
to conclusions about the hoomans.

- Brother Zin...
- So sorry.

...did hoomans not destroy
this planet once before?

Yes, unquestionably. I think.

Perhaps, but Advisor Zin,

is there any proof that hoomans
are to blame in this case?

None. I believe.

Yet Faunas lies in ruins,

brutally attacked by hooman machines,

led by the one you set free.

No, Eva had no part in that. I know her.

- She would never do that.
- Right now,

the royal army stands
at the gates of Solas,

ready to march on the hooman nest.

If only the queen would order it.

How long do we wait for them
to attack again?

The hoomans will not attack.

Who are you,

and what do you know
of the hoomans and their plans?

Yes. How do you know this?

I am Gargoof.

The hooman leader, Cadmus Pryde,
acted alone.

He stole the Heart of the Forest
from Faunas.

He wants to use it
to power his settlement.

The rest of the hoomans are innocent!

And how do you know this?

How do you know that the hooman Eva
was not part of this destruction?

Because I am Eva.

Eva!

And I would never take part
in the destruction of Orbona.

Don't let it melt my insides!

- Arrest her.
- Please, Queen Ojo.

I spoke with the royal adviser Arius.

My first step was to come to you.

You have spoken with my sister Arius?

Yes.

You are a liar, hooman.

No one has seen Arius since we came
to this planet 150 years ago.

You may have fooled the queen,
but you will not fool me.

- Seize her.
- Loroc, stop this!

I knew you had inherited your father's
perverse fascination of hoomans,

but I never imagined
you would betray your own people.

So disappointing.

Arrest them both!

I am your queen!

I demand you release me!
That is a royal order!

Open this door!

Eva, why are you here?

What is going on?
And who are these Orbonians with you?

- Oh, right. This is Rovender.
- Your Majesty.

- And Gargoof.
- Gargoof.

Did you really see Arius?

Wow.

When my father arrived
on this planet with his advisors,

Arius and Darius fought constantly.

Darius thought the world was poisoned,
but Arius insisted there was hope.

One day, she just left,

promising to find the bridge
between the world that was

and the world that could be.

That was 150 years ago.

"I finally found you.
I finally found the bridge."

- What?
- That's the first thing Arius said to me.

What else did she say?

She helped me realize that coming to you
was the first step in saving the Heart.

How was this Cadmus Pryde
able to get to the Heart?

My father used the World Launcher

to plant the Heart deep
into this planet's core.

It never made it to the core.

It hit a sanctuary,
an underground human habitat.

I see. That would explain
why growth has been so slow.

So how do we get it into the core?

- That is a question for Advisor Zin.
- Great.

Then all we gotta do is figure out a way
to get out of here.

Excuse me. When you two are done talking,

could you kindly help me
push this fluffy butt?

Gargoof.

Oh, no.

Halt! Don't move!

Well, lookit here.

Well, well, well.

Hello, hooman.

Besteel?

I heard of Loroc's betrayal,

- and I thought you could use a few hands.
- Thank you, Redimus.

My loyalties lie with you, Your Majesty.

May I present Redimus,

a friend of the Crown
and brother of Besteel.

Redimus, do you know
where we can find Advisor Zin?

You're gonna tell the queen
everything she wants to know,

you little toadstool.

Redimus.

- This is not the way.
- What?

- Just starting a conversation.
- Redimus.

Fine.

Thank you, my queen--

Former queen.

I'm not sure that's all been worked out.

Well, what is it that you want?

- We need your help.
- Okay. With what?

To save Orbona.

Oh, Your Majesty, I am nervous enough
Loroc will discover my talking with you,

but is it really wise to trust a hooman
with the fate of Orbona?

He's not wrong. Can we trust it?

I could ask the same thing about you.

Everybody, please.

Eva is one of us.

To succeed, we must work together.

To restore growth,

the Heart must be launched
into the planet's core.

Without King Ojo's World Launcher,
it is impossible.

But there must be another way.

Could we build some kind of rocket?

It wouldn't make it through the mantle.

Through the mantle?
What about an active volcano?

A volcano doesn't go to the planet's core.

- Core. The Earth's core.
- You're the scientist--

- Cadmus.
- Yes. I will have to study it.

- I understand, Zin--
- What about a thermal vent?

There's one in New Attica.
The human colony.

I've seen it and it leads straight
to the planet's core.

That could work.

Yes, but it won't be easy.

We'll need to gain access
to the hooman colony,

retrieve the Heart, find this thermal vent

and install the Heart
into the Earth's core,

all before Loroc's army gets there.

Go! Before Loroc finds you here with me.

- I have an idea.
- Do you have another flying car?

Not quite.

Get down. Pillar guard.

Did he see us?

He's waving to us.

It's Chip.

- Okay, come on.
- Chip!

Father had a secret exit built
for the Goldfish.

- What ever happened to it, by the way?
- Don't ask.

Loroc and the guards. They're coming.

The exit should be behind these crates.

Quickly. We don't have much time.

- How do you make it open?
- We can't. It's sealed.

Sealed?

Redimus, slow them down.

You must hold them back!

Caerulean, are you prepared
to lay your life down for the queen?

Yes, and for Eva too.

Chip, hurry!

k*ll the hooman and the traitors.

Once Chip breaks through, you go.
I'll help hold them off.

No, Eva. If you are not with us,
there is no hope for Orbona.

k*ll them! k*ll the queen!

Don't let her get away.

- Rovender, Redimus, let's go!
- Hurry.

Block the exit!

You fools. Stop them!

No!

Listen to me.
The Heart must always be in the casing.

Do not touch it.

What? But why? What will happen?

Go, now. For Orbona!

You traitor.

What has become of you?
Where is your loyalty?

My loyalty is to Orbona.

You are a fool, Brother Zin.

I am Orbona's savior, not the child queen.

I will save this planet by ridding
its surface of all the ghosts of the dirt.

And I will take back the Heart myself.

What do we do?

We have to get to New Attica
before they do.