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Introduction
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Archiviste — Fangs That Reveal Blood is the fifth 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.
Synopsis[]
Noé as a child slept on the grass under the shade of a tree. A voice called to him, that he hadn’t been drinking blood at all as of late. Noé opened his eyes, flushing with embarrassment. Noé retorted petulantly that he wouldn’t die if he didn’t drink blood. The boy standing over him asked what was wrong, as Noé liked blood as much as he liked tarte tatin. Noé turned his head away and answered: because he was an “Archiviste.” The other looked at Noé then held up the carving knife he was carrying. Blood splattered onto the ground. A drop of it landed on Noé’s cheek. The boy sat over Noé and held his bleeding hand to his face. He asked if Noé wanted to drink his blood. Noé stared in shock as more droplets of red continued to spill on him. The boy reminded him that even if he drank his blood, Noé “wouldn’t see anything.” Noé sat up. He looked at the blood trickling down long, pale fingers, face flushing and breathing speeding up. Noé took the other boy’s hand in his own and, fangs bared, lunged for them—
Smash. Noé’s eyes snap awake. He’s lying in bed, luggage tossed haphazardly next to him, tightly clutching a pillow, gasping for breath. He realizes he was dreaming, and grasps at his own throat. An angry meow sounds from the floor. Murr glares at him while standing next to a smashed vase on the ground, causing Noé to groan in exasperation. A knocking sounds from the window next to Noé’s bed, along with a voice asking if he’s awake. Vanitas hangs upside-down outside the window. He grins and beckons Noé outside for breakfast. Noé and Vanitas sit on the rooftop together, eating a simple breakfast of bread olive oil. Noé as he eats looks out over the cityscape before them, marveling at the beautiful and peaceful sight. The books he’s read told him how Paris was covered in soot and ash. Vanitas explains that it used to be exactly like that, but in current day steam engines in the city no longer run on coal. Its usage has been greatly restricted in order to protect the landscape of the city, resulting in such a clear sight.
Instead, there is Astermite—able to power steam engines in the same exact way without polluting in air. In addition it’s used quite literally everywhere, from airship lift generators to streetlamp lights, from car engines to tram lines. Research is still advancing, which means even more applications will end up being found for it. Vanitas wryly says, it deserves its moniker of the “Panacea stone.” Noé eats the last of his bread. That it created a mineral that never existed in the world before… Noé muses, the Babel Incident was astonishing in the way it rewrote the “principles of the world.” Vanitas closes the newspaper he had been reading and stands up to stretch. He proposes they head to meet Orlok, which Noé agrees with. When the two of them had tried returning to Orlok’s office last night, they got turned away forcefully. Nox gave them the address for a hotel that would house them for the night and snapped at them to come back tomorrow. At the same time, Manet gently let out Murr, who had gone back to Orlok’s when Noé left him behind. Noé had picked up an angry, biting Murr and wondered if something happened. Vanitas was unconcerned though, casting away any worry and yawning sleepily. Despite that, Noé still found himself worried about not only Amelia but the curse-bearer they’d just captured. That morning, the two go to find their answers.
Orlok tells them that Thomas Berneux is dead. Vanitas and Noé stare at him in shock. Manet explains that by the time he and Nox caught up to him, Berneux was already a corpse, turning steadily into ash. And it didn’t look like suicide from the way he died. Vanitas is silently contemplative. Noé is distraught and asks who the culprit is, to which they snap that they don’t know and are trying to figure out currently. Vanitas asks about Amelia. Orlok answers that he received Nox and Manet’s report about The Book of Vanitas’s power. While he doesn’t believe it completely, he’s decided for the moment to suspend Amelia’s execution. With the wave of his hand, the door behind opens and in walks Amelia, teary-eyed and relieved. She, Noé, and Murr celebrate her freedom. Orlok however adds on that they’re unsure if she’ll lose herself again, so he intends to keep Amelia where he can watch her. Nox explains that Hôtel Chouchou—the hotel Vanitas and Noé stayed at the previous night—is hiring maids; and so, Orlok orders Amelia to work there from now on as live-in help. Amelia and Noé are stunned. Vanitas snickers. As Nox explains to Amelia her new job, Vanitas comments with amusement how Parks Orlok is just like as he’s rumored. The Count knows that Amelia’s neighbors have heard the rumor of her turning into a curse-bearer, which means she no longer has anywhere to go. Noé tilts his head curiously. Vanitas simply mocks him however.
“Easy on his own kind only at the very end… What a joke.”
Orlok suddenly snaps at Vanitas, though he has acknowledged at least part of his Book’s power, he doesn’t intend to let him run loose. Vanitas is unsurprised and speaks frankly; Orlok didn’t kill him because he thought of the Book of Vanitas as useful. Vanitas is fine with this, Orlok can use him as much as he likes. He will benefit from curse-bearer incidents being resolved speedily and with little issue, while Vanitas can get information on curse-bearers from Orlok. They won’t be friends, and if either causes trouble for the other, they’ll part ways with no fuss. Orlok is silent. He gives Vanitas a letter and instructs him to deliver it to Hôtel Chouchou, which will let them keep the room they’ve been given there. They’ll be required to stay there while they remain in Paris, where Orlok can watch them. While Vanitas accepts this begrudgingly, Noé is shocked to hear that he’s included with the human. Orlok tilts his head and asks if Noé isn’t Vanitas’s guardian. Vanitas and Noé stare at him. Noé, pale, answers negatively. Vanitas deadpans that if anything, Vanitas is Noé’s guardian. Noé snaps at him to shut up.
Vanitas claps his hands and declares them done with the finer details, moving onto greater business. Noé is confused as to what he means, to which Vanitas reminds him—he intends to speak with Amelia. Vanitas asks to have their conversation in Orlok’s room, which Orlok instantly approves of. After all, the discussion he intends to have has to do with curse-bearers. Amelia is sat on the couch before Orlok’s desk with Murr curled up in her lap, Vanitas backwards on a chair in front of her, and to their sides watch on Orlok, Nox, Manet, and Noé. Vanitas recalls that in Amelia’s letter to him, she realized she was a curse-bearer two months ago. Amelia confirms this, and Vanitas asks if she’s had any odd experiences just before that point. Amelia is confused. Vanitas clarifies—did she see “Charlatan”?
Noé stares. Amelia doesn’t recognize the name. Vanitas explains that after speaking with the Vampires he’s treated previously, he’s noticed a pattern with them. Before they had noticed the change in themselves, their states of being curse-bearers, several had seen the same thing. They would be going about their day-to-day life, then out of nowhere, become engulfed in a thick fog. And within that fog, they saw the parade of Charlatan. Vanitas is asked if this so-called “Charlatan” is the cause behind curse-bearers appearing, to which the human answers he has no idea. Thus he’s been asking the patients he’s treated previously, as is happening currently. Amelia cradles her head with a troubled expression, trying hard to remember. The best she can say is that she vaguely recalls something similar to what Vanitas described, but she can’t remember exactly. Try as hard as she might, she can’t find anything within her memories. Vanitas leans back with a tired sigh, admitting defeat in this endeavor. Amelia goes a bit teary with guilt, and Noé makes to comfort her. Orlok gives a knowing look.
“…Why don’t you take a look? Noé Archiviste.”
Noé stares at Orlok, stricken. Vanitas in turn stares at Noé with shock. Noé’s hand grips the sofa cushion tightly, as he asks if Orlok knew about him. Orlok explains that just before Noé’s arrival, he received a letter from his Teacher which had Noé’s name and a request for Orlok to assist him as he stayed in Paris. Vanitas speaks quietly, his voice low and dark. Archiviste. Amelia looks over questioningly and asks if there’s a way for him to search through her memories. If there is, she gladly volunteers, willing to be of use to them in any way she can. Noé absorbs this request of hers, and looks down, his eyes turning melancholy. He accepts, and sits down next to Amelia on the couch. He takes her hand and begins to drag his tongue along the side of her wrist. Amelia turns red. Noé bites Amelia’s wrist. Amelia blushes, growing greatly flustered as Noé drinks her blood. Nox looks at her brother with exasperation as Manet turns red himself from simply witnessing the scene. Amelia trembles quietly as Noé continues drinking from her. As he watches, Vanitas’s expression hardens into displeasure.
As Noé drinks her blood, he sinks deeper and deeper into the pool of memories. Being cured by Vanitas, the human in question bursting into the airship in her pursuit, meeting Noé in La Baleine, packing her bags for the trip to Paris, the horror of discovery she was a curse-bearer. Noé dives further and further, deeper and deeper. He thinks of it—the fog, “Charlatan,” the “parade”—so that he can unearth the memory even Amelia herself has forgotten. As Noé continues to drink Amelia’s blood, Manet asks his sister what an “Archiviste” is. Nox answers: the Archivistes were a clan who had the power to read the memories of another by drinking their blood. However, she heard that the Archivistes all died out long ago. Noé closes his eyes. He delves deep into Amelia’s memories, finding himself floating in the darkness of her consciousness. Eventually he finds it, the memory he’s looking for, and he reaches out for it. A flash of light shines before him.
Amelia gasped. She looked around herself with confusion. A thick fog surrounded her on all sides, engulfing her entirely as she walked on. She looked around with confusion and distress; she remembered walking home only to find herself in this unknown place. Noé hovering behind her like a specter, observes the memory and wonders if it’s a true event or a dream she’d had. Behind Amelia in the fog, figures started to appear. Amelia’s eyes were wide. Gloves hands baring sharp claws, shoes with curled toes, musical instruments playing distorted tunes, figures with shapes vaguely human yet distinctly not, masks that sneered at her every move. The turning of gears.
A parade.
Amelia turned pale. Noé witnesses the sight alongside her and wonders with bafflement what this is. Laughter started to echo around her. A voice welcomed her. She turned around and found a shadow wearing a terrible smile announce where she found herself: the parade of Charlatan. Amelia shuddered. She ran. As fast as she possibly could, dropping the basket of groceries she was carrying, tears welling up in her eyes, thinking about nothing but fleeing like a prey in the maws of a beast. Through the memory Noé feels Amelia’s absolute terror, the way it waged in her mind. She knew in an instant, as if pure instinct told her, the shadow that smiled at her. It was something very wrong. And if it caught her… she would be done for. Amelia came to a stop at a lamppost. She panted heavily, having run so far from that shadow, and she leaned against the metal pole taking a moment to catch her breath.
The shadow laughed at her. It was there. Smiling its horrible smile, upside-down from where it coiled it gaseous, amorphous body around the lamppost behind her. Gleefully announcing that it found her. Terror gripped Amelia like a vice—horror snaps Noé like a trap. The same thought crosses their minds, connected by the memory, that it’ll be broken, that it’ll be defiled. The shadow opened its mouth, about to consume them whole. Horrifically, lovingly, it asks, “Won’t you show me… your True Name…?”
Noé’s—her—their life will…
Noé screams.
Nox and Manet reel back in shock. Amelia cradles Noé in concern as he doubles over, overcome with horror. Noé falls over, and Amelia panics. As he watches him, Vanitas looks completely unsurprised.
A ringing sounds from the door. While Manet scrambles between it and the situation inside, Nox angrily storms to the door where the incessant ringing continues. Nox throws open the door and snaps that they’re busy. Roses begin scattering in the air. A voice, smooth like butter, apologizes for the intrusion. Nox goes still with shock as she sees who she’s facing. The person, long black hair flowing in the same wind that scatters around the roses, explains that she stopped by after hearing Noé was there.
Noé is drowning in the depths of the memory. He growls with horror and age, that thing stole it. It stole Amelia’s True Name, it was that thing’s fault. Noé’s childhood. His friends from back then. The boy from whom he drank blood. A wooden stake, end sharpened to perfection. Noé covered in tears and blood. The light of the moon.
“That thing’s fault!”
Nox exclaims in shock as the person twirls a strand of her hair in her fingers. The person wonders if Nox knows her, but even if she doesn’t she goes on to introduce herself anyways. She flips her hair, clacks her heels on the ground, presses a hand to her chest, smiles to a backdrop of blooming roses, and declares her name.
Dominique de Sade—Noé’s fiancée.
Characters[]
- Noé Archiviste
- Louis de Sade*
- Murr
- Vanitas
- Parks Orlok
- Nox
- Manet
- Thomas Berneux*
- Amelia Ruth
- The Teacher (Mentioned only)
- Naenia*
- Dominique de Sade
(*) - Denotes that the character did not appear physically, but as a part of another character's memories.
Terms[]
Trivia[]
- Archiviste is literally translated as "archivist" from French, which is a person who works with information—assessing, collecting, organizing, and preserving records and archives.[1]
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 |
| Intermissions | 15.5 • 46.5 • 51.5 • 60.5 |
| Volumes | 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 |
| Omake | Romance is a✰LOVE MISSION |
| Other | Vanitashu no Karute • Author's Notes |