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Introduction
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Cicatrice — No. 69 is the seventeenth 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[]
The five prepare themselves to start advancing in their search, readying their weapons and sorting out affairs with the other Chasseurs. As they do, Roland explains to Noé about the background of the man they’re looking for. Vanitas stands a distance away, facing away from the others. Doctor Moreau; he started out as a renowned physiologist, and had crossed over to France and subsequently was welcomed into the Church after the academy expelled him due to a scandal. Though all Roland knows about him are rumors, from what he’s heard the scandal was that a dog which had been skinned and several body parts amputated escaped from his laboratory. Noé is shocked. Under the Chasseurs’ protection, Moreau would conduct research on Vampires in an attempt to find out their natures, their weaknesses, and all the information yet unclear to them. But in the midst of that research, he began a certain experiment. Moreau tried making Vampires with his own hand. Vanitas turns away, face dark and troubled.
In the dark, cavernous walls where not a single light shines, their way is illuminated only by the lamps they bring and hold on their own. A call of Vanitas’s name; he continues walking. Another call, insistent—Noé asks for how long Vanitas will sulk. Vanitas snaps that he isn’t. Noé points out that it’s safer to go with Roland and his subordinates, to which Vanitas snaps that he wants nothing to do with the man. Roland laughs as an upset Maria and nervous Georges trail behind. Roland happily notes how well the two of them get along. In unison, an oblivious Noé and a hissing Vanitas insist that they don’t. Vanitas, still visibly angry, reminds how the Chasseurs were aiming to kill them just a moment ago. He accuses them of pretending to cooperate only to capture them once given the opportunity. Maria spins the accusation back onto Vanitas. She growls that he can’t be trusted as one who works with a Vampire, and threatens him with her bow should he do any sketchy. Meanwhile, just behind them, Roland marvels playfully at being able to stand so close to a Vampire for the first time. He holds out his hand, smile surrounded with sparkles, and asks him to be his friend. Maria, exasperated, pleads her captain to stop talking. Noé—who at the ripe age of 19 doesn’t have many friends—instantly grabs Roland’s hand with shining eyes and accepts readily. Maria snaps at him for playing along.
The Chasseurs continue to bicker, Georges trying to calm and agitated Maria and Roland remaining optimistic despite it all. In front, Vanitas continues. His face is downcast, expression seemingly blank and eyes unable to be seen from the way he won’t face them. Noé notices and looks to Vanitas with concern. Georges awkwardly tries to steer their conversation to more amicable topics. He remarks on the way hidden passageways unknown to them were lying right under their noses, not to mention that they lead to Moreau’s laboratory. Maria is insistent that it’s all made up, and Roland says they’ll see if it’s real when they arrive there. Vanitas continues to say nothing and Noé continues watching him. They round a corner, and Noé takes the opportunity to call to Vanitas. All Vanitas says is that they’ve arrived. Noé stares at him. The five assemble together before a set of heavy metal doors. They ready their weapons, high on guard for whatever they’re about to face, and slowly the doors creak open.
Bang bang bang.
Confetti. All of them—except for Vanitas who keeps his eyes downcast—stare in shock as they’re covered in streamers. A party horn greets them along with a man welcoming them—and welcoming one back. Moreau, a short and stout man in a lab coat and mechanical goggles on his face, flanked by two large cloaked figures, opens his arms wide. He calls to “his dear No. 69” and asks if he remembers him, Doctor Moreau. Maria stiffens, recognizing the man’s appearance, and Roland looks with wide eyes. Noé watches Vanitas closely, quietly calling to him. Vanitas opens his mouth.
He smiles adoringly and greets Moreau with warmth. Noé, Maria, and Georges stare at him in utter confusion and alarm. Vanitas walks up to Moreau to embrace him and greet him properly, remarking that he’d thought he’d find him here should he return to Paris. Moreau praises Vanitas in turn for remembering the way to come back there. He looks at the four behind Vanitas, noting how they’re armed with weapons, and asks if they’re his friends. Maria stares, unnerved. Vanitas declares them all to be Moreau’s supporters. Maria exclaims in shock. Roland is silent, face serious as his eyes roam around to take in his surroundings. Vanitas explains that he told them of Moreau’s “noble” experiments, and they ended up sympathizing with his goals and ambitions so much that they insisting on helping and followed him there. Being Chasseurs, he notes them to be useful as both assistants and guards. Moreau’s eyes shine. He shouts with glee and claps his hands above his head. Noé flinches.
Countless cloaked figures emerge from every corner of the lab, appearing out of nowhere to stand at the ready like specters. Noé stares around on edge as do the Chasseurs, though Roland stops Maria from making any further move. Moreau expresses relief, as if they came as enemies he would have to kill them. The cloaked figures, faces hollow and eyes shining under their hoods, stare down the newcomers. Moreau claps and orders them all to “entertain their guests.” The five get seated along with Moreau at a table covered in nondescript stains, using hastily assembled crates and barrels as chairs, surrounded on all sides by the cloaked men. A pair of them walk in carrying chipped teacups for refreshments. Around them machinery with ominous purposes, almost looking like torture devices, clang and whir as they operate. Maria and Georges are visibly nervous as they sit in place. Noé quietly calls to Vanitas, who shushes him. He whispers that as long as they flatter the man and let him keep talking, he’ll freely speak of various topics that they haven’t even asked for. Moreau sits at the head of the table, singing to himself and swinging his body around happily, lost in his own world. What he did to the kidnapped Vampires, if he did this all alone, and if not then who helped him? They’ll be able to learn all of that given enough time interacting with the man. And once they have everything, all that’s left is to give him to the Chasseurs, or… Vanitas hides a thin grin, lip curling up and showing his teeth. Or Vanitas will kill the man himself.
Noé stares at Vanitas. A cloaked figure approaches him and gives him a chipped teacup. Noé awkwardly thanks him as he peers at the man’s face from under his hood. He identifies him and the rest of the figures as the reinforced humans Vanitas told him of. The man’s eyes are completely vacant, devoid of life, almost appearing like a walking corpse. Moreau throws his arms open and introduces himself cheerily. Doctor Moreau, who conducts research on Vampires. Roland raises his hand with a smile like an eager student; his two subordinates go pale. He asks why he’s trying to create Vampires. Moreau tilts his head questioningly, and Vanitas explains that it’s an important topic and one that must be explained directly by Moreau himself. Moreau flushes happily at that and takes the opportunity with glee to explain.
Moreau wants to become a Vampire himself one day. Roland, Noé, Maria, and Georges stare at him with shock. The Church had contacted him to assist with their Vampiric research, and he complied due to his own intellectual curiosity. But the more he learned about Vampires, the more in awe he became. And he eventually reached a realization. Vampires are superior to humans. A new kind of “mankind” that was created at the apex of evolution. Creation and destruction go hand in hand. And so, he believes that the disaster named “Babel” was necessary for their evolution to progress. Moreau starts throwing a tantrum like an upset child, stomping his feet on the ground and yelling at the top of his lungs. He yells at how lucky the Vampires are, how unfair it is for him, that he also wants to “cross over to that side” as well. Moreau’s face twists and darkens in absolute rage as his stomping speeds up and his ranting intensifies. Maria and Georges watch with growing dread. The Church called him a lunatic and exiled him, resulting in him losing vast amounts of time and labor. The very thought of it has Moreau flying into a rage. He kicks away his chair. For a moment Moreau stands panting tiredly from his tantrum, then he twirls around completely back to normal.
He sighs in exasperation at how much grief he went through on that day—when the Vampire of the Blue Moon attacked his laboratory and stole the children from him. Noé notices his words—the children. Moreau repeatedly slams his palms angrily on the table, making its contents shake, as he continues ranting. His lab was destroyed along with all his prior “projects,” and because of the entire mess the Church discovered his secret research and almost killed him. Vanitas, eyes dark an unreadable, apologizes for the trouble Moreau went through. Moreau stops. He yanks Vanitas into a hug, tightly embracing his head, and weepily reassures him that he’s not angry at him at all. Vanitas, eyes resigned, lets his head be clutched in Moreau’s hold as the man nuzzles his hair. Moreau recalls what an excellent subject his “No. 69” was, cooperating with every experiment they placed him in with ease. Even when they cut him open and brought him to near death, he never once cried or complained. Noé stares, eyes wide. Maria and Georges are pale. Roland remains silent.
Moreau remembers how devastated he was at losing him; he’d cried so much that he nearly dehydrated himself to death. Moreau clasps Vanitas’s hands in his own, overjoyed to see him return to help him with his research once again. Vanitas smiles thinly. His eyes curve upwards into the shape of crescents, the depths of them unable to be seen. He confirms; when he heard of Vampire disappearances happening in Paris, he knew it must be Moreau returned to this place “bravely fighting” for the sake of his cause. Vanitas feigns concern that this place houses the Chasseurs who had driven him out, meaning he’d be in danger to stay here by himself. Moreau laughs smugly and says there’s nothing to worry about. He has “that exalted personage” helping him now.
Vanitas’s eyes narrow. Noé’s eyes widen in realization. Vanitas presses, asking about this “personage.” Moreau explains them to be a comrade of his who understands and supports his research. He walks over to a line of shelves covered by curtains and starts rummaging inside them. It was thanks to their influence and efforts that he could return to his old lab, and nowadays he does nothing all day but experimenting however he wishes. Vanitas, eyes lidded and voice carefully level, asks who this individual is. Moreau, continuing to dig through his shelves, regretfully can’t tell anyone that, not even Vanitas. He swiftly moves on and pulls out a jar, thrusting it before their eyes and insisting that they look. Maria gasps, holding a hand before her mouth as she pales in horror. In the jar, floating in glowing fluid, are a pair of eyes. They glow red. Moreau declares them to be “freshly harvested” Vampire eyes. When Vampires die their bodies turn to dust, the process beginning with their hearts. Before that can happen, Moreau will cut away the body parts he needs for his experiments and preserves them in jars. His shelves are lined with them, filled with fluid and the eyes, hands, even a brain, all pulled from Vampires. Roland asks about the Vampires he had brought down her. Moreau laughs and sheepishly admits he’d gotten carried away. Behind him a door swings slightly open, revealing an experimentation table stained completely with still flowing blood and a pile of ash. He’s ruined almost all of them by now.
Moreau notices something and perks up excitedly. He leans into Vanitas’s space, staring intensely into his eyes with growing fervor. He exclaims with elation that Vanitas’s eyes have changed color. He remembers them being deep blue, but now they’re brighter in color, like copper(II) sulfate. Moreau shrieks with ecstasy, face flushing, sweating pooling on his brow, breathing growing to panting. He wonders if it’s related to the Vampire of the Blue Moon’s power, and marvels at how fascinating it is. Moreau wanted to ask him what happened since the last time they met, but… Moreau’s hand trembles as it approaches Vanitas’s face with a clear, hungry desire. Moreau can’t resist, and he begs Vanitas to let him gouge one of his eyes out to analyze. Moreau’s fingers start to creep up on Vanitas’s eye. Throughout all of this, Vanitas doesn’t move one inch.
Noé grabs Moreau’s hand.
Moreau stills in shock. Vanitas, still not moving an inch, face frozen in that thin smile, tells him to stop. Asks him what he’s doing. He orders again to stop. Noé apologizes, he can’t. Noé’s grip on Moreau’s hand tightens and tightens to a painful degree. There’s much that Noé wants to tell Moreau, but in particular… Vanitas stops smiling, face breaking out in a nervous sweat. Noé growls, him always saying “No. 69” over and over… Noé grits his teeth. His eyes glow red and his fangs bare. He screams with all the rage he’s been suppressing exploding out all at once.
“Quit referring to people as numbers!!!”
Noé slams Moreau headfirst into the table. Though the concrete cracks under the force of Moreau’s body hitting it at full power, all he can do is stare up in ecstatic awe at Noé. He stares into those glaring red eyes and excitedly exclaims: he’s a Vampire. The reinforced humans around them jump into action and begin attacking. Maria and Georges jump to their feet as well and scramble for their weapons. A group of reinforced humans advances on Maria before she can raise her bow. A pair of huge slashes rain down on them. Durandal, blades whipping out and hacking away at all those around Roland in bursts of blood. As the blade retracts, Roland thanks Noé. He smiles with a vengeance and says if he hadn’t moved, Roland would be killing that man himself. Maria rains arrows down as Georges wields his ax. Vanitas slams his hands on the table and exclaims in frustration, accepting that his first plan is done with. He whips out his knife and orders Noé to hold Moreau down so they can torture the information out of him. Noé is shocked. He indeed holds Moreau down as commanded, but he’s still shocked. Vanitas orders Moreau to tell them who that “exalted personage” is. Moreau just continues to rant with fascination about the Vampire he’s found and asks if he can dissect him. Noé is pale with horror about every part of this situation. Vanitas begins to press his blade against Moreau’s nose, slowly inching upwards, threatening to slice it off entirely. Moreau finally pales in shock with the realization of what’s happening to him. Noé tries to protest. The knife presses further, blood wells, and Moreau starts shrieking in pain and fright.
The stomping of footsteps advancing towards them. Noé flinches—he smacks Vanitas out of the way as a figure jumps in and delivers a powerful kick where Vanitas’s head once was. Vanitas chokes in shock as he’s knocked to the ground of the way. Moreau is grabbed and picked up by the new arrival, who swiftly jumps backwards away from them. Noé, kneeling protectively before Vanitas’s prone form, is shocked to find who it is. The spider-masked man from Charlatan, the same one he’d met during the bal masqué. Noé glares with growing anger. Moreau greets the man, whom he calls Monsieur Spider, and thanks him for the save. Monsieur Spider declares they’ll be destroying the lab, making Moreau cry out in despair. As the fight continues to rage on behind him, Noé stares in shock. Charlatan, Naenia, the masked man, Moreau—all of them are connected in some way, for some reason, and he can’t figure out why. He exclaims in confusion what is going on. Monsieur Spider grits his teeth. He leaps up, Moreau still in his hold, and lands on a walkway one level above. Noé makes to pursuit them—
The door behind Vanitas and Noé bangs loudly, almost angrily. The two whirl around in shock. Moreau notes that “it” must have woken up. He leers, face stretched out into a grin. The door continues to bang with growing intensity and almost fury. Moreau declares: in there is a “very lively” curse-bearer who had eaten all the other Vampires. Noé wonders if it’s the curse-bearer that Dante and the other Dhampirs were chasing, if its symptoms have already manifested. Moreau explains that unless it’s given medicine to be put back to sleep, it’ll quickly break down the door. Monsieur Spider plans to let this happen, so as to buy time to let them escape. He slams a button on the wall. An elevator rattles open, and the two begin to step inside. Georges exclaims as they’re about to escape, and Vanitas declares that he’ll break it to stop them. Vanitas whips out The Book of Vanitas, ready to activate its power and put their escape to a end. As Moreau strolls into the elevator, he curiously muses and asks Vanitas—
“What’s No. 71 up to these days?”
Vanitas stops. His eyes are wide. Moreau continues musing. He, No. 71, was very attached to him and even had been taken away with him by the Vampire of the Blue Moon. Moreau asks, why is he not here with Vanitas now?
A little boy with pale hair. “Big brother…”
The Book of Vanitas drops. Noé exclaims in shock. Vanitas, frozen in place, eyes blown wide open, is completely defenseless. A reinforced human attacks him, deadly claws raining down from behind. Noé kicks him away as Vanitas falls to the ground. The elevator clangs and whirs; the doors have already closed, and the two figures inside escape with ease. Noé leans down, asking if Vanitas is alright as the latter continues sitting on the ground motionlessly. The Book of Vanitas lays abandoned next to him. In his burning mind, memories are playing out again. That little boy—he calls him big brother. He begs Vanitas to give him “Father” back. Vanitas remembers it well. His devastated, angry, betrayed screams, demanding again and again to give Father back, give Father back, give Father back. White hair in long, long strands flash before his eyes.
“Give my ‘Father’ back…!!!”
Noé yanks Vanitas up by the arm. Vanitas’s face is stained with guilt. With a blame and remorse and grief so deep he doesn’t seem to be in reality right now, lost in whatever he’s remembering. Noé stares, stunned. He’s never seen such an expression on Vanitas’s face before. He can’t figure out why.
The door bursts open, exploding outwards and the metal slamming across the room. Noé turns around, shocked. Roland and his subordinates look at their new enemy with growing dread. Something starts seeping out into the room. Noé looks in horror. What he sees… can no longer even be considered a Vampire.
A mass of pure darkness like living shadow, like wriggling and squirming blackness. An entirely shapeless void with no face or body or barely even substance to its form. The curse-bearer they’re meant to cure.
Characters[]
- Moreau
- Roland Fortis
- Noé Archiviste
- Vanitas
- Maria
- Georges
- Vanitas of the Blue Moon*
- Mikhail* (First Appearance)
- Monsieur Spider
- Naenia*
- Dante (Mentioned only)
(*) - Denotes that the character did not appear physically, but as a part of another character's memories.
Terms[]
Trivia[]
- Cicatrice is literally translated as "scar" from French.
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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 |