section_path: Synopsis/Plot
section_name: Plot
paragraph_text: Plot
  
  On the day of the Gommage, 32-year-old Gustave bids farewell to his former lover, Sophie, who has turned 33 and perishes along with everyone else of the same age. With only a year left to live, he joins Expedition 33 in hopes of slaying the Paintress. The Expedition meets catastrophe shortly after making landfall, when they are nearly wiped out by an old, white-haired man leading an army of monsters. After surviving the attack, Gustave manages to locate three other survivors: Lune, Maelle, and Sciel. Maelle begins receiving visions of the white-haired man and a masked girl; they warn that she will cause disasters in the future. The party enlists the aid of the mythical creature Esquie in order to cross another sea to reach the Paintress. The white-haired man attacks again before they can set off, and Gustave dies defending Maelle. A man named Verso intervenes and allows the rest of the Expedition to escape.
  
  Verso catches up with the party, explaining that he is a surviving member of the very first Expedition, and that the white-haired man is Renoir, their commander. Both stopped aging upon arrival on the continent. He asserts that Renoir has come to believe his immortality was granted by the Paintress and wishes to protect her at all costs. Verso, meanwhile, has grown tired of his immortality and joins the party. After crossing the sea and paying their respects to Gustave, the Expedition recruits Verso's friend, Monoco.
  
  The Expedition reaches Renoir's mansion in Old Lumière in search of the Paintress' heart, which they need to destroy to disable the barrier protecting her. Verso admits that he is, in fact, Renoir's son, and the masked girl in Maelle's dreams is his sister, Alicia. After a battle, Renoir teleports the mansion and the heart away, thwarting Verso's plan. Lune suggests that they instead forge a powerful weapon from the hearts of the Axons, highly dangerous ancient beings created by the Paintress, which they use to pierce the barrier. The party enters the Monolith afterwards, killing Renoir along the way. They confront the Paintress, revealed to be Verso's mother, Aline, and manage to kill her, erasing the number on the Monolith. The Expedition returns to Lumière as heroes. Verso reads a letter from Alicia, revealing that Aline was trying to stall the real Renoir, who is in fact responsible for the Gommage, and the number on the Monolith was a warning to those about to die. Without Aline's protection, the entire population of Lumière vanishes, except for Verso.
  
  In a flashback to the actual reality in early 20th-century Paris, it is revealed that Alicia and her family are Painters, magic users possessing the ability to create and inhabit worlds within magical Canvases. The real Verso died saving Alicia from a fire, but Alicia was left disfigured and mute as a result. Grieving the death of her son, Aline inherited Verso's Canvas, which contains Lumière and "painted" copies of Verso, Alicia, and Renoir. The real Renoir seeks to destroy the Canvas by gradually purging its oldest creations in an attempt to help Aline move on and bring her home. Frustrated by the stalemate, Alicia's older sister Clea advises her to enter the Canvas and destroy it so the family can focus on their war with a rival faction, the Writers. Alicia obliges, but is reborn as Maelle after being overwhelmed by Aline's power.
  
  With Maelle's "death", Alicia regains her memories and awakens in what remains of Lumière. She reunites with the painted Verso, who had been trying to expel Aline from the Canvas to end his immortality and find oblivion. Wanting to protect the Canvas world, Alicia uses her newly discovered Painter powers to revive the Expedition and battles her father for control. After a final confrontation, Renoir explains that, as precious as the Canvas is to him and his family, destroying it is the only way to bring Aline and Alicia back to the real world so they can finally end the cycle of grief and move forward. He eventually relents and promises to "leave the lights on" for Alicia's eventual return.
  
  Realizing that Alicia does not plan to leave the Canvas and will eventually die due to her prolonged stay, Verso reaches out to the last remnant of the real Verso's soul, attempting to remove it and thus destroy the Canvas. Alicia interjects, insisting that she would have a better life within the Canvas. The ending diverges based on the character the player chooses to play as in the final battle between the two:
  
  On the day of the Gommage, 32-year-old Gustave bids farewell to his former lover, Sophie, who has turned 33 and perishes along with everyone else of the same age. With only a year left to live, he joins Expedition 33 in hopes of slaying the Paintress. The Expedition meets catastrophe shortly after making landfall, when they are nearly wiped out by an old, white-haired man leading an army of monsters. After surviving the attack, Gustave manages to locate three other survivors: Lune, Maelle, and Sciel. Maelle begins receiving visions of the white-haired man and a masked girl; they warn that she will cause disasters in the future. The party enlists the aid of the mythical creature Esquie in order to cross another sea to reach the Paintress. The white-haired man attacks again before they can set off, and Gustave dies defending Maelle. A man named Verso intervenes and allows the rest of the Expedition to escape.
  
  Verso catches up with the party, explaining that he is a surviving member of the very first Expedition, and that the white-haired man is Renoir, their commander. Both stopped aging upon arrival on the continent. He asserts that Renoir has come to believe his immortality was granted by the Paintress and wishes to protect her at all costs. Verso, meanwhile, has grown tired of his immortality and joins the party. After crossing the sea and paying their respects to Gustave, the Expedition recruits Verso's friend, Monoco.
  
  The Expedition reaches Renoir's mansion in Old Lumière in search of the Paintress' heart, which they need to destroy to disable the barrier protecting her. Verso admits that he is, in fact, Renoir's son, and the masked girl in Maelle's dreams is his sister, Alicia. After a battle, Renoir teleports the mansion and the heart away, thwarting Verso's plan. Lune suggests that they instead forge a powerful weapon from the hearts of the Axons, highly dangerous ancient beings created by the Paintress, which they use to pierce the barrier. The party enters the Monolith afterwards, killing Renoir along the way. They confront the Paintress, revealed to be Verso's mother, Aline, and manage to kill her, erasing the number on the Monolith. The Expedition returns to Lumière as heroes. Verso reads a letter from Alicia, revealing that Aline was trying to stall the real Renoir, who is in fact responsible for the Gommage, and the number on the Monolith was a warning to those about to die. Without Aline's protection, the entire population of Lumière vanishes, except for Verso.
  
  In a flashback to the actual reality in early 20th-century Paris, it is revealed that Alicia and her family are Painters, magic users possessing the ability to create and inhabit worlds within magical Canvases. The real Verso died saving Alicia from a fire, but Alicia was left disfigured and mute as a result. Grieving the death of her son, Aline inherited Verso's Canvas, which contains Lumière and "painted" copies of Verso, Alicia, and Renoir. The real Renoir seeks to destroy the Canvas by gradually purging its oldest creations in an attempt to help Aline move on and bring her home. Frustrated by the stalemate, Alicia's older sister Clea advises her to enter the Canvas and destroy it so the family can focus on their war with a rival faction, the Writers. Alicia obliges, but is reborn as Maelle after being overwhelmed by Aline's power.
  
  With Maelle's "death", Alicia regains her memories and awakens in what remains of Lumière. She reunites with the painted Verso, who had been trying to expel Aline from the Canvas to end his immortality and find oblivion. Wanting to protect the Canvas world, Alicia uses her newly discovered Painter powers to revive the Expedition and battles her father for control. After a final confrontation, Renoir explains that, as precious as the Canvas is to him and his family, destroying it is the only way to bring Aline and Alicia back to the real world so they can finally end the cycle of grief and move forward. He eventually relents and promises to "leave the lights on" for Alicia's eventual return.
  
  Realizing that Alicia does not plan to leave the Canvas and will eventually die due to her prolonged stay, Verso reaches out to the last remnant of the real Verso's soul, attempting to remove it and thus destroy the Canvas. Alicia interjects, insisting that she would have a better life within the Canvas. The ending diverges based on the character the player chooses to play as in the final battle between the two: