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Introduction
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Altus — Other World is the sixth chapter of Jun Mochizuki's The Case Study of Vanitas.
This article contains plot and/or ending details for The Case Study of Vanitas.
Read at your own risk.
Summary[]
Noé gasps for breath and chokes out—he saw Charlatan. Amelia stares at him with concern. As Noé pulls out a notepad and pen and begins to draw, he explains that while he doesn’t know if it was dream or reality, he’s certain the thing he saw was what warped Amelia’s True Name. Noé hands his drawing to Vanitas, who takes it and stares at it with shock. The drawing is awful. He calls Noé a terrible artist, making Noé snap at him for making jokes, to which Vanitas retorts that he’s completely serious. In the center of Noé’s drawing is that black shadow—and if that thing turns out to be the source of the outbreak of curse-bearers… Noé growls, he will never forgive it. Vanitas stares at Noé, caught off-guard by his deep-rooted anger. Laughter from the doorway interrupts them. Dominique de Sade saunters in, despite Nox’s protests, with a scattering of rose petals and a declaration that she heard all. Everyone stares at her, stunned. Noé lifts his head, recognizing her, and calls to her: “Domi!” Dominique smiles in greeting.
“I’ve missed you, mon chéri.”
A flustered Manet, a pale Amelia, and a blankly stunned Vanitas all react with shock to learn that Dominique is Noé’s fiancée. To this, Noé point blank denies it. Dominique laughs while slapping Noé’s back, saying it’s no fun to give away the joke right away. Nox chokes in shock to find out it was a lie. Dominique begs her not to be angry, and she pulls Nox into an embrace—for she’ll ruin her “adorable face.” Rose petals scatter as a red-faced Nox is swept off her feet by a suave Dominique. Manet and Amelia gape with blushing faces as they watch. Vanitas looks at Noé with a silent question. Noé answers: Dominique is his childhood friend, rather than his fiancée. Noé also introduces the machine by her feet, her attendant automaton named Chrysler, revealing that she is literally scattering rose petals wherever she goes. Dominique releases a still flustered Nox and bends down to warmly greet Murr. Vanitas identifies her as a daughter of the Count de Sade. Vanitas is impressed to find out Noé is so well-acquainted with the aristocracy, to which Noé answers that his Teacher is Dominique’s grandfather. Vanitas looks at him, and Noé recalls how he and Dominique would often play together with their friends as children. Meanwhile, Dominique apologizes to Orlok for barging in, to which Orlok expresses a complete lack of surprise for the lack of manners by a de Sade. Dominique declares that, while she’s being rude…
Dominique puts a collar with a leash around Noé’s neck.
She asks to “borrow Noé” and begins walking off. Noé pales. She walks off, and with a yank of the leash, Noé does as well. Everyone left behind in the office stares blankly after then. As they continue walking, Murr tagging along as well, Dominique tells Noé to just follow along quietly. Noé, flustered, asks what the collar is about, and Dominique answers it was a gift from her older sister. She compliments that it suits him well, which Noé thanks her for. He asks her where she’s taking him, and Dominique answers: to cross the “border.” Dominique has been invited to a bal masqué taking place there. She wanted to have him escort her and headed to Averoigne, only to hear he flew to Paris on her grandfather’s instructions. And so, she followed him all the way to Paris.
Noé, flustered, tries to say that she could’ve picked someone else and didn’t have to go to the trouble of finding him. Dominique stops in her steps and turns on her heel. She jabs a finger in his chest and declares that she came because she was worried about him. She pokes at Noé’s cheek and scolds him that he’s a “dangerously innocent country bumpkin” prone to getting in all and every kind of unfortunate incident. And if he finds it interesting, he’ll follow anyone to any place for any reason, just like a child. Noé tries to deny this. Dominique pushes her finger further into his face and scolds him for lying. They continue to bicker about between themselves, all the while the onlookers around them stare with pale faces at the collar and leash hanging between them. Dominique reminds Noé of an incident in their childhood in which Noé found a rare bird, wandered into the forest in pursuit, and it ended up taking four days to find him again. Noé denies this and argues that his memories had been temporarily confused, thus making him forget the way to get him. He wasn’t lost, he claims. Dominique retorts that any other person would call that the very definition of “lost.” Dominique sighs and notes that even now Noé is being used by that human he was with, Vanitas. On the way there, Dominique found and cornered a “handyman” (Dante), intimidating him into telling her about what happened with Vanitas and Noé. Dominique calls Vanitas an “enigma” and tells Noé that he’s deceiving him.
Dominique leads Noé into a bookshop, where the owner greets them politely. Dominique tells him, “Have you ever seen stars that bloom red?” The man smiles knowingly, and gestures them ahead. One of the bookshelves swings open to reveal a hidden passageway. Noé recognizes what this is—the “border.” A distortion in space linking the human world, the world they currently stand in, with Altus, the realm where Vampires dwell. Noé is surprised to find a border here, to which Dominique says Paris has many borders alongside the one they stand in. They enter a short passageway surrounded by pipes, ending in a large industrial-looking door. Dominique slides a card into a reader, and the door slides open as smoke starts to fill the passageway, beyond which only an endless black void awaits them. A speaker above their heads records the current time and wishes them a safe trip. Noé gasps and recalls that he still has to talk with Vanitas about something—Dominique interrupts. Lord Ruthven will be at the bal masqué. Noé is surprised. He recalls meeting Jeanne and Luca, hearing that Jeanne was Ruthven’s Bourreau, the fierceness of Jeanne’s eyes. Dominique tells him that rumors have been going around that Ruthven is researching curse-bearers, and so if he meets him, Noé might learn something about Charlatan. Dominique walks into the darkness, and Noé tugged along by his collar follows behind.
Vanitas yells out for Noé. Noé and Dominique turn in surprise. Vanitas leaps into the darkness as well.
Noé’s eyes go wide in alarm. Borders appeared all over the world after the Babel Incident occurred. Because they were created by Babel, only Vampires—also the result of Babel—are able to cross through them. And if a human were to jump in, a mere human just like Vanitas…
Noé screams for Vanitas.
The darkness fades away. In a chamber lined with curtains, Dominique, Noé, and Vanitas lay sprawled haphazardly on the ground. Vanitas, nose slightly bruised, snaps his head up with a grin and asks if they’ve already arrived. Noé growls and, eyes red and fangs bared, snaps at Vanitas. Dominique, holding a tense Murr, gapes at Noé’s anger. Noé continues yelling at Vanitas, that if he hadn’t grabbed his hand at the last moment—Vanitas answers for him, he wouldn’t have been able to return to either world. Noé pauses, still angry but caught off-guard. Vanitas claims he’s been to Altus before, and he knows full well that he as a human can only cross as long as he’s touching a Vampire. And, Vanitas raises his hand, Noé’s own still tightly gripping his wrist. Vanitas smiles slyly and says Noé did grab him in the end, so there’s no problem. Noé seethes silently. The speaker sounds, recording the time and welcoming Dominique. They ask if there’s any trouble, which Dominique brushes off before ushering Noé outside. As she does, she asks Vanitas why he followed them. Vanitas smirks darkly and answers: he knew Dominique intended to separate Vanitas and Noé. Dominique smiles with a dark look in her eyes herself.
Noé opens the door and steps outside. He and his two companions enter into the city: a sprawling metropolis filled with bustling crowds, puttering vehicles, buildings that reach up towards the sky, a place as alive and lively as the first time Noé laid eyes on Paris. And just like that time, Noé beholds the city before him with sparkling eyes and a face glowing with wonder. Vanitas is surprised that Noé reacts that way even to Altus, which Dominique attributes to him having lived so deeply in the forest for all his life. As for Vanitas, he regards the city with lidded eyes and remarks how, no matter when he visits, it seems to never change. The other Paris—Altus Paris. A city with bustling crowds, sky-high buildings, sprawling life to be found every which way. And in the distance, unlike the human world’s Paris, is a castle. Tall and dark and surrounded by the smoke and mist from the factories below. Sitting just beneath the cobweb sky and its glowing red moon.
Vanitas tells Noé to not wander off, which Dominique retorts that he’s on a leash. True to form, Noé is turning back and forth to stare at everything that catches his interest, but is stopped from straying too far by the collar. Dominique leads them to a carriage waiting for her, and Vanitas takes this time to speak with her. He remarks that Noé claims his Teacher is her grandfather. Dominique asks if he knows her grandfather, which Vanitas answers not much. All he knows is the moniker other Vampires so frequently call him, “The Shapeless One,” and that he’s widely feared among his peers. Vanitas wryly comments that though Noé appears as no more than a country bumpkin on the surface, his ties to aristocrats like the de Sades show something deeper. Vanitas asks if Noé’s parents are in fact lords of the other world or something similarly high-positioned. Dominique stops. She answers, no. And she explains what Noé is.
A few moments later, they arrive at the carriage called for Dominique. Noé is surprised that it’s so big. Dominique reminds him that they’re attending a ball, which means they must be properly dressed. In the carriage, Dominique begins to undress, making Noé request she take off his collar so he can wait outside—which is where Vanitas and Murr are sitting. Dominique doesn’t answer, she simply continues undressing. Noé asks her if she’s angry. Dominique pauses. Noé asks if it’s about bringing Vanitas along. Noé wanted him present as they were attending to learn more about curse-bearers. But he failed to consider what that meant for her and her position, so he apologizes. Dominique sighs and denies this, explaining she’s just worried for Noé. She steps closer to him and begins to unlock the collar. Vanitas has The Book of Vanitas, thus the reason Noé is following him, but Noé is getting directly involved with curse-bearers. It makes her worry that Noé is blaming himself, that he considers what happened to them back then was his fault. The collar falls, the chain-linked leash clanging to the ground.
The light of the red moon outside lights up the carriage. Dominique cradles Noé’s head against her shoulder. For a brief, quiet moment, they stay like that, intwined with one another. Noé opens his eyes and tells Dominique that she smells nice. Dominique laughs, remarking that she hasn’t heard him “beg” like that in a while. However, she denies him and tells him he has to say so properly. Dominique unbuttons her shirt, revealing her bare shoulders and collarbone to him. She asks Noé if he wants her blood. Noé remembers his childhood, the boy who held his bleeding hand above Noé’s mouth and asked him if he wanted his blood. Noé is quiet for a moment. His eyes glow red and his fangs bare, and he answers yes, he wants her blood. Dominique embraces Noé as he sinks his teeth into her neck, and tells her she’ll give him all of it. Vanitas sitting outside listens to their exchange. He’s quiet with contemplation. He recalls his conversation with Dominique, when she told him what Noé was.
An orphan. As a child, he had been put on auction on the black market as a survivor of the Archiviste Clan when her grandfather, his Teacher, bought him.
Characters[]
- Noé Archiviste
- Amelia Ruth
- Naenia*
- Vanitas
- Manet
- Nox
- Dominique de Sade
- Chrysler (First Appearance)
- Murr
- Parks Orlok
- The Teacher*
- Veronica de Sade (Mentioned only)
- Dante*
- August Ruthven (Mentioned only)
- Jeanne*
- Luca Oriflamme*
- Louis de Sade*
(*) - Denotes that the character did not appear physically, but as a part of another character's memories.
Terms[]
Trivia[]
- Altus is a Latin adjective which can be translated into English as "high," "tall," or "deep."
- The bookstore that contains one of the passages to Altus Paris is based on a real bookstore inside Galerie Vivienne, in Paris, called Librairie Jousseaume.
References[]
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| v - e - t | The Case Study of Vanitas Chapters |
|---|---|
| Parisian Excursion Arc | 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 |
| Bal Masqué Arc | 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 |
| Hunters of the Dark Arc | 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 |
| The Beast of Gévaudan Arc | 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31 • 32 • 33 • 34 • 34.5 • 35 • 36 • 37 • 38 • 38.5 • 39 • 40 • 41 • 42 • 43 |
| Amusement Park Arc | 44 • 45 • 46 • 47 • 48 • 49 • 50 • 51 • 52 • 53 • 54 • 54.5 • 55 • 55.5 • 56 |
| Miel Incident Arc | 57 • 58 • 59 • 60 • 61 • 61.5 • 62 • 62.5 • 63 • 64 • 65 |
| Intermissions | 15.5 • 46.5 • 51.5 • 60.5 |
| Volumes | 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 |
| Omake | Vanitashu no Karute • Romance is a✰LOVE MISSION • Confessional Counseling Office |
| Other | Author's Notes |