Ave Mujica is a five-member band led by Sakiko Togawa, Rhodes Island's newest keyboardist. On stage, they're flawless 'dolls' without a hair out of place — but off stage, they barely knew anything about each other.

Even on the way home after a Masquerade show, the gap between the five members remains. There's the drummer who wants to soak up every bit of fame, the vocalist absorbed only in polishing new lyrics, and amid it all, a member simply happy that they're together again.

One night after a live show, Sakiko has a strange dream in the middle of a crosswalk, flooded with unfamiliar voices. Dreams scatter the moment you wake, so Sakiko brushes it off without much thought.

But after that night, the place Sakiko actually wakes up isn't Rhodes Island. It's an unfamiliar castle beneath two moons — and on the castle's stage, her four bandmates lie asleep side by side.

1. The Rookie Employee Has a Premonition at the Crosswalk

On the way home from the live show, Nyamu brings up Sakiko out of nowhere, stirring up Uika and Mutsumi. Amid the laughter and chatter, nobody notices that Sakiko alone has gone quiet.

While waiting for the light to change, a strange afterimage flickers past — visible only to Sakiko. A voice pressing her hard, and pouring rain. When she comes to, she's lying in bed aboard the Rhodes Island ship.

Her coworker Vigna worries that Sakiko, still a rookie, is already taking on work across both the Medical and Engineering departments. Having lost her mother to Oripathy, Sakiko sees Rhodes Island as a debt she needs to repay, so she barely thinks about resting.

The supply truck carrying Sakiko out on a delivery run has two unexpected passengers — Iris and Bena, who introduce themselves as 'fairies,' along with an urgent story about needing to find someone.

2. 'This Is My Last Letter' — A Girl Named An

The two of them are searching for 'An,' an aspiring fairy-tale writer they've only known through letters. The line she left in her final letter — "this is my last letter" — felt ominous. Iris also mentions that tomorrow is the very birthday when An comes of age.

An old flower-seller Sakiko meets on the night road, her eyes dim, still points out the way and tells her to be careful. Somehow, that brief kindness leaves Sakiko with an inexplicable sense of longing.

In a rundown apartment, Sakiko finds a drunken father sobbing and calling out his daughter's name — and beside him, An, holding her breath. The 'happy fairy tale' An had been writing turns out to be a lie, the exact opposite of her real life.

Watching the clock creep toward midnight, Sakiko tells An she'll stay with her for this last moment. Right before she comes of age, An falls into a peaceful sleep to the sound of Sakiko's piano.

Iris, arriving late, says she went into An's dream and called forth every character from the girl's own stories to hold a tea party for her. She explains that the Dream Castle's rule is that "entering a child's dream without their consent is an unforgivable act."

Iris gives Sakiko a necklace as a gift, said to ward off nightmares. That night, wearing the necklace, the place Sakiko opens her eyes to is... not Rhodes Island, but an unfamiliar castle.

3. Morpheus's Challenge

Morpheus, a girl who calls herself the castle's owner, is the one who trapped Sakiko here. Among the children she'd caught for amusement, Sakiko is the only one who ever managed to escape a dream on her own — and Morpheus finds that fascinating.

On stage, Nyamu, Umiri, Uika, and Mutsumi lie asleep with peaceful expressions. No matter how many times Sakiko calls their names, none of the four wakes up.

By Morpheus's side there's only 'Wolf,' a beast that can't even speak properly, and 'Carlton,' a pack that only makes crying noises — no one to actually talk to. Maybe that's why Morpheus readily admits she's secretly peeked into Sakiko's unforgettable memories and unfamiliar scenery over and over.

Morpheus proposes a wager: go into each bandmate's dream one by one and make them wake up on their own. If Sakiko fails, all four will remain in this dream forever.

Until every last member of Ave Mujica is together again, I'm not leaving this place.

— Sakiko Togawa

4. Nyamu — Behind the Glittering Stage

In Nyamu's dream, Sakiko arrives in Lungmen, a city of skyscrapers piercing the sky. Rising actress Nyamu is buried under a leading film role, explosive popularity, and an endless schedule.

On set, the director and screenwriter get into such a huge fight over the script that they both end up hospitalized. Thanks to the unexpected break this gives her, Nyamu calls her parents back home for the first time in a long while.

Her parents ask after her in a thick accent, and her little brother excitedly tells her he's started learning the drums. But the moment the call ends, Nyamu walks straight back under the dazzling lights, into her broadcast schedule with Sora.

Behind the glamorous surface, all that sits in the corner of Nyamu's room is a pair of dust-covered drumsticks. No one treats Nyamu as her real self anymore.

Sakiko asks Nyamu, smiling under the dazzling lights, whether the love she's won by losing her drums, her bandmates, and even herself is really the dream she wanted.

You've lost your drums, your bandmates, even yourself. No matter how many people love you now, can you still call this your dream?

— Sakiko Togawa

5. Umiri — A Wolf That Belongs Nowhere

The stage in Umiri's dream is Siracusa, city of mafiosi. Umiri, who drifted between families on skill alone, keeps getting framed as a 'traitor' and driven out every time she tries to settle down.

In truth, Umiri once genuinely opened her heart to that family. She was invited to a party and even asked to play music together — but the very day after she decided to settle down, she was framed and thrown in prison for half a year.

Francis, her former comrade who now treats her like an enemy, and the new boss trying to claim her for himself — both only want to use Umiri. Neither of them sees the real Umiri.

Sakiko uncovers that all this conflict was a trap planned by someone else, and reaches out her hand to Umiri — asking whether a life of being abandoned and used over and over was really the 'trust' Umiri had wanted.

Ms. Yahata, you don't need to suffer in a place like this. Come back with me.

— Sakiko Togawa

6. Uika's Island, and the Sinking Ship

The setting of Uika's dream is a small, secluded island. Uika lives there alongside Eyjafjalla, a volcano researcher slowly losing her hearing — while Uika herself can't even remember when 'that girl,' the one she loved most, left.

Their bond began the night Eyjafjalla got lost on the mountain and happened to meet Uika, who was gazing up at the night sky. Uika can't help but worry about her friend, who won't give up volcano research even as her hearing keeps getting worse.

The cottage Sakiko reaches by old bicycle is a recreation of the very house where Uika played and lived with Sakiko as a child. All Uika ever wanted wasn't some grand dream — just one thing: being with you.

Thanks to Eyjafjalla's encouragement, Uika rushes out belatedly to find Sakiko, but the two of them miss each other at the harbor at the last moment. Left alone on the island, Sakiko is hit by a massive wave this time.

Just as she's about to suffocate, a completely different voice wakes Sakiko up. When she opens her eyes, she's not in the sea anymore — she's in the middle of a desert swept by sandy winds.

7. Mutsumi's Last Party

In Mutsumi's dream is the poor but warm family she'd always longed for — a mother who hugs her tight without caring that they live in a mud-walled hut, Mutsumi proudly showing off the money she made selling cucumber juice, and even a dinner spread laid out by neighbors.

A dinner made with care, a neighborhood party held for the first time in ages, and Mutsumi picking up her guitar once more.

I'll play it now... 'Spring Sunshine.'

— Mutsumi Wakaba

Mutsumi actually knows all of this is a lie. Even so, she asks Sakiko to let her sing freely, just like anyone else, just this once.

Faced with Mutsumi's playing, which looks so happy, Sakiko can't bring herself to reach out — she turns her back on the stage and flees, believing that's the choice that's best for Mutsumi.

8. "You're Not Mutsumi"

What waits for Sakiko after she flees isn't Mutsumi or Morpheus, but an unfamiliar voice. Countless 'Mutsumis' who'd been hiding inside Mutsumi step forward in front of Sakiko, standing in for the real Mutsumi.

The 'Mutsumis' try to persuade Sakiko that if she stays by their side, they can keep this perfect dream forever. As Sakiko refuses, they slowly reach out toward the edge of the cliff, toward her.

Mutsumi doesn't need Sakiko anymore. Goodbye, Sakiko.

— 'Mutsumi'

9. The Mother Who Returned

This time, as she falls, Sakiko opens her eyes inside her own dream — her beloved hometown of Victoria. And inside that house, sitting at the piano... is the mother who had already passed away.

'Mother' and 'Father' are exactly the loving parents Sakiko always longed for. 'Father,' who never used to cook at all, proudly says he practiced over and over just to make his daughter's favorite dish, and Sakiko accepts that love so wholeheartedly she eats until her stomach hurts.

As Sakiko excitedly rambles on about her bandmates, she forgets everything for a moment and lets herself sink into that warmth.

But at the thought that she has to go find her bandmates, Sakiko suddenly feels afraid — because if she leaves to find everyone, she feels like she'll never be able to see this mother again.

10. Mother's Confession

'Mother' takes Sakiko's hand and presses their palms together, remarking that the hand that was less than half the size of her own at birth has, before she knew it, grown bigger than hers. She fondly brings up the photo the three of them took together on high school entrance day, too.

To the hesitant Sakiko, 'Mother' quietly confesses the truth — that she isn't the real mother, and that Sakiko must have already known this all along.

'Mother' apologizes for not having been there through Sakiko's hardest times. And she says she wants her daughter to go back to her real life, rather than stay here.

I want you to leave this place and find your real life. Go, Sakiko. Go back to your 'world.'

— 'Mother'

Tears streaming down her face, Sakiko takes a step forward once more — not to run away this time, but to go get her bandmates.

11. The Dolls Awaken — Masquerade, Once More

Back before Morpheus, Sakiko now understands: what her bandmates truly wanted wasn't perfect happiness, but a single person who would see them exactly as they are.

Giving Nyamu back the courage to pick up her sticks again, giving Umiri a reason to lay down her weapon, giving Uika the voice that had missed her, and giving Mutsumi back her own true name, Sakiko unties the knots one by one.

We're one band... yes, a community bound by fate. That's my answer.

— Sakiko Togawa

To Sakiko's playing, Nyamu and Umiri each cut their own knots within their dreams. And so, all four of them finally open their eyes on the same stage.

Epilogue. A Dream to Be Forgotten, A Promise That Still Remains

The joy of reunion lasts only a moment before an enraged Morpheus makes one last desperate stand. The one who saves Sakiko, nearly losing consciousness, is Iris — the castle's true owner, arriving at last.

Iris reveals that Morpheus isn't actually this castle's true owner, and that she's a child who, wounded so deeply, can no longer even believe in fairy-tale dreams herself. She explains that memories of a childhood spent abandoned by her parents and pointed at as a monster are what kept Morpheus confined only within the perfect dream she made for herself.

Iris promises to ask the Doctor at Rhodes Island about a way for the five of them to return to their original world — though she adds that from the moment they wake, memories of this dream will slowly begin to fade.

That night, the five of them play together one last time on a stage newly built inside the castle. Morpheus grumbles as she carries equipment, Wolf leaps all the way up to the ceiling in beast form to hang the lights, and beside them, the Carlton pack has a grand time too.

This is the mysterious tale of our dolls' adventure. Welcome to the world of Ave Mujica.

— Sakiko Togawa

The crosswalk light Sakiko had been waiting for that day finally turned green again. Even if it's a dream destined to be forgotten, the time they spent together was real for all five of them.