Introduction
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La nuit sans lune — Dark Night (Part Two) is the second part of the fifty-fourth chapter of Jun Mochizuki's The Case Study of Vanitas.
Summary[]
Black energy surges out from The Book of Vanitas, as if the grimoire’s jet black pages are bleeding out its very essence into the air. A whirlwind of power bursts out from Mikhail’s hands. He cries out in shock as the energy starts to seep into his skin like a growing infection, like paper turning to ash. Noé stares in shock. An explosion emerges from the Book in Mikhail’s hands, sending shockwaves of black energy like electricity through the air. Noé and Vanitas look up in alarm. Caught in the center of the explosion, Mikhail comes away looking… wrong. Corrupted. His entire form consumed by that ashy black energy which continues to emit from both his body and the Book like lines of smoke and ash. His eyes are pupilless and unseeing. Brokenly, he growls out for his brother. Vanitas stares at him, stunned.
Noé observes with growing fear that it seems as if the Book is eating Mikhail—the black energy surges again and lashes of electricity strike the earth. The buildings nearby explode and start to crumble before Noé’s alarmed eyes. Vanitas tells Noé to leave him behind and get out of there. Noé turns to Vanitas, stunned. Vanitas tries to explain, that even with his injuries he’ll be able to escape unscathed by himself. What Mikhail did with the Astermite in the amusement park has caused the Book’s power to spiral out of control, and he urges, should it all explode at once—Noé refuses. He won’t leave him behind. Blasts of energy shake the park, black electricity continues to lash out and ignite every corner of the fairgrounds in a chain of explosion after explosion. The ferris wheel starts to teeter over. Noé turns around and sees it about to crush them. Jeanne caught up in defending herself against attacking Vampires cries out to the two of them in a panic. Noé lunges to protect Vanitas. The ferris wheel falls.
For a moment, it’s all dark. Noé slowly opens his eyes, still tightly clutching Vanitas in his arms. He looks up in shock: a canopy of ice shelters them from above and leaves them completely safe and sound. Jeanne is confused as she sees this happen—a snowflake passes over her face. She looks to the side. Dominique stands with her sword pointed skyward, snowflakes and little frozen crystals falling all around her from summoning the ice from protect Noé and Vanitas. Jeanne stares at Dominique in shock. Mikhail looks up at her as well and continues to growl the same order over and over, “kill them all.” Dominique speaks softly: “It’s alright.” In the dark space of her consciousness. She is kneeled down at eye level with her child self who is still sobbing, and she wipes the young girl’s tears away. She assures herself, a voice like that couldn’t unsettle them. Dominique’s other self who resembles Louis watches proudly. She says softly to keep their eyes on her. She promises she’ll face the both of them directly soon. For now, she asks for them—for all of herself to take up the sword with her so that she can fight to protect. The droplets of rain fall all around Dominique as she raises her sword and steels herself.
Mikhail screams. At his command, the Vampires rush in to attack Dominique. As they descend on her, she waves her sword through the air. A shockwave of ice bursts from her form and repels the oncoming Vampires. Jeanne watches her fight, eyes shining with awe. She recalls the words of Luca told to her just before she set out to find her. He had told her to take care of Dominique. She doesn’t have much confidence compared to the rest of the de Sades, but still she possesses a fine, strong power within her. Dominique summons large snowflakes to act as platforms for her to step on and jump down to where Mikhail and the remaining Vampires in his control stand. Luca had once seen her performing the Formula dance for entertainment, looking in awe at the snowflakes that floated around her form. Luca explained, Dominique’s power to create ice by rewriting the World Formula is unlike that of her siblings. Rather than violent like Antoine and Veronica’s, it is both delicate and powerful. A wave of black energy surges from Mikhail’s form as he commands the Vampires to attack. Dominique falls along with the raindrops surrounding her. In Luca’s words—
“Much like Dominique herself… it was exquisite.”
The rain turns to ice. Each little droplet freezes into shards of ice all pointed singularly downward like a torrential storm. A deluge of wintry knives, formed with the wave of her hand. She points her sword downwards and they crash to the ground below. Noé and Jeanne watch and gape in awe as a great mass of ice forms around the whole area. Dominique lands smoothly on a pillar made from the mass. She whips back her hair and pants heavily, catching her breath after exerting her forceful and precise power. Mikhail jerks in surprise. He finds himself with his hand holding the Book and his ankles trapped in the ice formed by Dominique. The Vampires under his control are similarly trapped harmlessly, crying out wordlessly as they struggle in place. Noé runs out from under the canopy of ice and looks up, calling for Dominique while on the verge of tears. Dominique calls out to Noé in return and whirls around—she stops in surprise.
Vanitas has stepped out from under the canopy as well. He’s covered in blood and dirt, clutching his middle, limping painfully, but still he hobbles forward. Mikhail trapped in the ice is only steps away from him. As Vanitas approaches, Mikhail growls out in his corrupted voice, barely coherent, almost animalistic in sound. But still, tears roll down the boy’s cheeks, and he calls out for his brother. He reaches out desperately for him. He asks him for help. Vanitas listens to this. He remembers, in his memories, Mikhail’s brightly grinning face. The childish joy in his beaming smile. His little brother. Vanitas holds back tears.
Noé watches as Vanitas continues to stumble forward. He reaches his hand out, reaches out to his former little brother. Mikhail reaches back. Then a grin crosses his face. Ice shatters before Vanitas’s eyes. Mikhail bursts out from the ice and lunges at Vanitas with a knife bared. Dominique and Jeanne both yell out in alarm and make to race in. But Mikhail’s knife is already out, is already striking point-blanky for Vanitas who can do nothing but watch. Vanitas can do nothing but watch—as blood spills before his eyes.
Slashes rake across Mikhail. His face, his mechanical arm, his knife, all slashed open mercilessly. The blade of the knife shatters, his mechanical arm is sliced, Mikhail’s face is ripped open. Noé had jumped in front of Vanitas to protect him and attacked Mikhail with no hesitation. Vanitas falls backwards, being caught by Dominique, and he stares forward wide-eyed. Mikhail clutches his face and screams in absolute agony. Blood drips from Noé’s elongated claws as he pants in anger, eyes glowing red and fangs bared as he glares hatefully at the young boy. Mikhail cries over and over, it hurts it hurts it hurts. Vanitas goes pale as he hears the screams. He clutches his ears—which does nothing to stop Mikhail’s screams from his past, from when he killed Luna, from when Mikhail was meant to die. Horror overcomes him. The psychological trauma from that moment becomes too much for him, and he collapses to his knees. Dominique barely catches him and asks him what happened. Noé turns around, concerned.
Someone claps.
“Well! That was magnificent.”
As Dominique and Jeanne tend to Vanitas behind, Noé stares forward. Mikhail is still collapsed amidst the broken ice, clutching his face, but above him emerging from the darkness has appeared a pair of hands still clapping as if having witnessed a performance. One of the hands comes down to caress Mikhail’s injured face as the boy continues to sob in agony. A voice speaks up, that they considered stepping in sooner, but ultimately they’re glad they didn’t as they got to see something excellent. Dominique and Noé stare. They’re both shocked. The person who has just appeared steps out from the shadows completely while still holding Mikhail’s broken face, and greets them with a smile.
Dominique’s grandfather, and Noé’s Teacher.
Characters[]
- Mikhail
- Noé Archiviste
- Vanitas
- Jeanne
- Dominique de Sade
- Louis de Sade*
- Luca Oriflamme*
- Antoine de Sade (Mentioned only)
- Veronica de Sade (Mentioned only)
- Vanitas of the Blue Moon*
- The Teacher
(*) - Denotes that the character did not appear physically, but as a part of another character's memories.
Terms[]
Trivia[]
- La nuit sans lune is literally translated as "the night without moon" from French.
- In Volume 10, this chapter is combined with Mémoire 54 Part One to make a single consolidated version of Mémoire 54.
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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 |