Cerulean

[Amethyst]

Script final.
Tl;dr imminent.
Previously, [url="http://www.pokemonreborn.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1032"]Miss Lucy[/url], [url="http://www.pokemonreborn.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1049"]Silence[/url] and [url="http://www.pokemonreborn.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1075"]Schadenfreud's My Middle Name[/url]

[quote]
EXT. CITY STREETS- DAY
An English city in the 14th century. Outside the dressing room of a young man, AVALON, we see in through his window attendants tying the final laces on his tunic, brightly colored blue and lined with silver thread.
The streets are nearly empty, but lined with rot and murk, and squealing rats about hem. Two women morosely shuffle a deceased man through the road. The younger, SHERIDAN, 16, refuses to look directly at him. The elder, CASEY, 31, fights back tears staring mirthlessly at him, mumbling to herself.
CASEY
...My love, why... why did it have to take you now...
A horse trots past them, followed by a cart stacked high with corpses. As its driver passes them, the cart comes to a stop. Leaning over Casey, the DEATH CART LABOURER looks down
DEATH CART LABOURER
Lost yer husband did ye? My word, wot a life I've got with Black Death crawlin' about at every turn... But yes, deary, 'and 'im off to me. Small price'll do, wot do ye say?
Casey can only continue crying. Sheridan however, steps to the side, still holding her father, and side-kicks the wheel of his cart in fury, though shaking it only slightly.
SHERIDAN
Father's not going anywhere with you, greedy old pig! Bugger off!
DEATH CART LABOURER
Ehehehe... Best ye watch yerself, or it'll be you on my cart next week. Ehehehe...
The driver whips the reigns of his cart and rides off down the street. A horse drawn carriage rides up the street, stopping outside of Avalon's house.
SHERIDAN
Rotten old man... I wish we could just find some purity left in the world... But, Mum, don't worry... We'll get through this.
Escorted by an older gentleman, AVALON steps from the house. towards the carriage. He notices Sheridan and Casey.
AVALON
...Please, gentlemen... I beg your pardon.
Avalon moves towards the couple.
CASEY
No, no... Please, stay back... The plague, you'll-
Ignoring their pleas, he grabs the man too, and the three begin to move him at a much quicker pace.
AVALON
Pay me no mind. My parents were taken by the plague as well; I would not so callously ignore those who now face it too.
Sheridan and Casey glance at each other, nodding after just a moment. Together, the three of them shuffle him out of the street.
FADE OUT
INT. HOUSE- NIGHT
Casey and Sheridan both sit at a dining table, in a poorly lit house. In front of her is an old book, and a jar of ink, in and with which she draws a wilting rose over the words.
CASEY
Ever since... he passed, the hummingbirds haven't come around here... They did always used to... Haven't you missed them, Sher?
SHERIDAN
Yes, mum.
CASEY
...What are you drawing?
SHERIDAN
Nothing, mum.
CASEY
It doesn't much look like nothing.
Casey stands and circles the table to get a good look at the picture.
CASEY
That's a very pretty rose... When did you become so talented?
SHERIDAN
Dunno, mum.
Casey begins to return to her own seat as she speaks.
CASEY
Well, roses are very nice... You know, there's a flower garden not too far from- Eeeek!
Casey jumps suddenly, knocking herself against the table. It shakes dramatically, causing Sheridan's jar to topple over, spilling ink all over her drawing. The entire page is soaked in the jet black ink. Casey calms herself quickly, and leans down. She stands back up, holding a mouse up by its tail. It is already dead, with patches of its fur missing, and boils on its exposed skin. Casey shrieks again, dropping it, and fleeing to the other side of the room, suddenly crying and compulsively thrusting her hands in and out of a wash bowl at the corner of the room
CASEY
Why?! WHY, why, why...
She paces to the opposite side of the room from the bull begins to strike the wall of her home. Sheridan sighs at her ruined artwork. Casey eventually calms down, leans back against a corner, and slumps to the ground.
CASEY
Sher... Sheridan, promise me... You have to live... Please...
Sheridan stares coldly at her mother.
SHERIDAN
Everything's dying, and you expect me not to? ...No one is safe, not even the animals, not from Black Death... clearly.
Sheridan motions to the mouse as she says this.
CASEY
No one is safe... No... Perhaps... Only the flowers will live... They're fine, right? And you're my precious... Lily, you're my... Daffodil in the sunshine- my-
Sheridan holds up her drawing, still dripping with ink.
Through a window, the Death Cart is seen rolling by, his signature cackle only barely heard over the wheels of the cart. Casey stares at the solid black book in horror.
SHERIDAN
No, mother. Not even the flowers are safe.
FADE OUT
EXT. COURTYARD- DAY
Sheridan turns into a secluded courtyard of a large house.
The architecture of the building itself is old and elegant-but it is in disorder, clearly having been abandoned. The courtyard, however, is filled wall to wall with dazzling, vibrant flowers of all kinds- excepted only by several stone pathways through them. She paces through the fountains and tiers of flowers to the back where a solid patch of roses sprawls out. Two gravestones tower over them, and at their base the hue of the roses sharply turns from red or white to a bed of black. Sheridan stares in disbelief.
AVALON
I'd like you to meet my parents.
Sheridan gasps and turns around to see Avalon, now wearing a blue tunic lined with gold instead.
AVALON
Yes, I am surprised as well. How do you, a girl whom I am barely acquainted with, come to find my garden?
SHERIDAN
I beg your pardon if I've intruded... My mother told me of a nearby garden and I- I thought...
AVALON
There's no need to be embarrassed. I would note the coincidence, however the world is full of strange happenings.
Avalon gestures towards the black roses before the graves.
SHERIDAN
Why have they turned dark?
AVALON
So they grew, after I laid my parents here to rest. This place does have some magic to it, or perhaps the plague itself carries some latent life in its fallen.
SHERIDAN
Black Death begets... Black Life?
AVALON
Perhaps the two were never all that different to begin with.
SHERIDAN
Still, such a putrid hue in contrast... Why could it have not been something more innocent? Like... the color of your tunic?
AVALON
This? It is called Cerulean. But... a cerulean rose? Who's ever seen such a thing?
SHERIDAN
Well, I should like to...
AVALON
And why?
SHERIDAN
Certain things have become lost in all the destruction and sickness... Things such as purity and kindness... Colors that cannot be found on corpses... Gentlemen willing to help ailing strangers...
Sheridan glances at Avalon and smiles.
AVALON
Say no more of it. That man was your father?
SHERIDAN
He was... But he was cold, and uncaring... His loss is regrettable, but he is not missed. By myself, that is. To be honest, I had lost hope that there were kinder men. Mother tells me always to be wary, but...
AVALON
Treasure her.
SHERIDAN
I beg your pardon?
AVALON
Your mother. She will be more fleeting that you think. Or hope. I should know.
SHERIDAN
I would rather not think of that... But I've lost the time... I must go.
AVALON
Must you? It is hardly sundown.
SHERIDAN
Mother asked I be back by then...
AVALON
Though to be so treasured, your mother need not control you. What you do- Stay, or go, love or hate, live or die- It is still your choice.
SHERIDAN
...I must. But is there some way I can see you again?
AVALON
So there could be... Perhaps? Come at sundown in four days time. I will be here.
SHERIDAN
Yes... Farewell.
Sheridan leaves the courtyard. Avalon watches. When she has disappeared, he rolls up one of his sleeves, glancing at his arm. It is pale, and boils begin to form on it. He sighs in disdain.
FADE OUT
EXT. CITY STREETS- SUNDOWN
Sheridan leaves her house and hurries across the network of streets. Suddenly, the Death Cart appears before her again, deliberately blocking her path.
DEATH CART LABOURER
Quite a pretty flower, ye are lass.
DEATH CART LABOURER
Only question is, where's yer hummingbird, 'ey?
Sheridan grimaces and tries to pace around the cart, but the driver pulls in front of her still.
DEATH CART LABOURER
Looking to meet someone, are ye? But I bet yer humming bird won't be flutterin' by, lass. 'Ave a look.
He pulls the cart forward several feet. Left in front of her is Avalon, piled on the other bodies, still in a blue tunic, but now lined black. His face is swollen and pale, mangled as her father's. Sheridan stares in horror and begins to cry.
DEATH CART LABOURER
Aww, now, tell ye wot, ye want 'im? Go ahead. Take 'im. I got my gold for 'im already, it's no trouble to me.
Sheridan stares in disbelief before heaving Avalon out.
SHERIDAN
You're a vile, horrible man... But I thank you.
She dislodges Avalon, and the driver trots off immediately, cackling. Sheridan picks Avalon up over her back and trudges away.
FADE OUT
EXT. COURTYARD- NIGHT
Sheridan carries Avalon through the garden, and sets him down on the stone walkway. She begins pull up the roses in between his parents' graves, making a third bed for him. She drags him into it, setting him in a resting position. She sighs.
SHERIDAN
...Nice to see you again too, good sir...
She sits down beside him and sighs.
SHERIDAN
So much like life... I say one thing and it turns around to prove me wrong... Cerulean can't be found on
SHERIDAN
a corpse, and that's exactly the reason why I sought it... Yet here you are. (Beat.) And even now, you're the only cerulean in a world of blackness... So hastily, I would have said 'till death do us part if only you had asked. But it seems that you were a bit late.
She manages a smile and sighs.
SHERIDAN
...Well you are a bit late, aren't you. And so I will be too, if I don't go back soon... Life awaits.
She begins to leave, but we hear his voice.
AVALON
..."It is still your choice..."
She turns back to him, and thinks. A pause. She returns to his side, and lays down with him, head on his chest, holding him in his resting position.
FADE OUT
EXT. COURTYARD- SUNRISE
The sun is shining directly on them at dawn. The birds chirp happily. Sheridan's eyes shoot open as a hummingbird flies right before her face. She looks to where the hummingbird has flown. It hovers around Avalon's face- his eye socket, which has rotted out overnight- and miraculously, grown in its place instead- a cerulean rose. The camera hangs on the shot, and then fades to black.[/quote]