02x09 - The Last Lesson

[bunniefuu]

In the face of sadness, we shall smile

To live is to be a marionette

Once your heart gets into the swing...

Would you like a coffee?





I can't seem to dance very well

Pain and resentment, and sadness, too...

Mix them, knead them...

And then a good night kiss

Shall we Dance? We shall dance

Despair and desire. This is the life!

Shadow Life!

Don't puzzle over things unnecessarily

Let's become one

How nice [How nice] How nice [How nice]

Humans... Being human... It's so nice

The Last Lessons

Whoa! Th-There, at her feet!

She's riding a scorch!

She put a scorch in her throat?!

The raspiness in her voice is gone!

You saw through everything. Well done.

I'd expect nothing less...

of such a beautiful rose.

I do not possess much soot,

but this power is quite useful.

It activates when even a tiny amount
of my soot is incorporated into a scorch.

They are compelled to obey
simple commands from me.

And that's how you played tricks
with your height and voice.

Hold on...

Robe. Rose. Robe. Rose.

Master Robe's true identity is Rose!
What a tremendous hint!

It was Emilico who started
calling her "Master Robe"!

Will you please stop
making silly jokes?!

According to Louise's research,

Maryrose's soot powers have physical effects
which she can manipulate from a distance.

Since scorches aren't
living organisms,

she can physically
make them move.

When she made the Belles
break the coffee carafes,

she must have been
hiding somewhere,

using her powers from
afar to guide events...

just the way I did at the debut
when I made Emilico dance.

Maryrose, Kate simply
cannot understand.

Rosemary is your living doll.

How could you do such cruel
things to her and the others?

You have it wrong.

This is something I wanted.

Rosemary?

Have you recovered
from your soot sickness?

To be precise, Mistress Maryrose
manipulated a scorch,

anchoring it in a spot in my stomach
where it would not easily be washed away,

to make it so that I wouldn't
recover from the soot sickness.

She went as far as that?

It was necessary.

Rosemary and I don't
have much time left.

We have received an invitation.

What?

Becoming an adult here
at Shadows House...

Do you know what that entails?

A shadow's ultimate goal...

is to become one with a human.

The "invitation" is a summons
to undergo the fusion ceremony

where a shadow and living
doll become one entity.

The "adults" are all shadows
who have completed this fusion!

Th-That's amazing!

Shadows can really
do something like that?

To gain a face,
shadows extinguish a human life.

The living doll's
awareness is snuffed out,

and the shadow steps
into their body!

Huh? What does that mean?

If John and Shaun fuse,

will we never be able to speak
to each other again?

That would be horrible!

For a long time, we have awaited
a chance to escape this house...

But with no moves we could make,
time simply slipped away.

I possess very little soot,

and my power was only good
for moving small, light objects.

Then, one day,

it suddenly blossomed into
an ability to manipulate scorches!

I was so grateful
for this stroke of luck!

I thought that maybe I could
use it to find those of like mind.

As a first step,

I orchestrated the phantom disturbance.

This house robs people of thought,

so I wanted to uncover those who
"fret over trivial matters."

Just as we thought that everything
was progressing perfectly,

we received our invitation.

We no longer had time
to search for kindred spirits.

We risked everything on one last
chance for the two of us to escape.

In order to temporarily
defer our invitation,

we had no choice but for Rosemary
to contract soot sickness.

That's why we caused the second
phantom disturbance—to buy ourselves time.

I took advantage
of the resulting chaos,

and searched for other
entrances and exits.

But I couldn't find any.

"Other"? What do you mean?

Emilico has told you, hasn't she?

The main house has an entryway.

I had searched that area previously.

However...

beyond the doors lay only a cliff!

The "entryway" is no
more than a facade!

It seems the only way to escape is
to pass through Lord Grandfather's wing—

a completely impregnable fortress.

Shadows House is toying
with all of our lives.

To steal Rosemary's body,

so that I alone can continue
to live a carefree life...

The very idea is unthinkable!

And so!

We shall fight our fate!

We know that we are being selfish.

When others learned of the secrets

of this house and were disposed of,
we stood by and watched.

And because we tried to break
the brainwashing, lives were lost.

It may be that our emotions
have become muted.

My tears have run dry.

But, Mistress Kate, in such a short time,
and without anyone noticing,

you have gathered yourself so many allies.

You are far more brilliant than we are.

Were it possible, I only wish
we could have met sooner.

It can't be...

They wrought all this havoc precisely because
of how much they care for each other?

What if it were me?

If I'd spent years in this house,
unable to make allies,

only to learn in the end
that I'd lose Emilico...

Emilico...

There was so much more...
I wanted to teach you.

Mia can be difficult to get along with,

but she's good at looking
after people,

so she's sure to become
a wonderful team leader.

Lou is a quiet, intelligent girl.

She lacks initiative, so, Emilico,

you make up for that
for her, all right?

It only existed for a brief time...

But it was a wonderful
team, wasn't it?

Shaun, you come over here, too.

I'm so sorry, truly.

It's too late for us...

to turn back now.

So please don't get in our way.

Emilico!

Shaun!

Tomorrow, we shall once
again receive our invitation.

And that shall be our final act.

Which is why we cannot allow
you to expose us as the culprits!

You will be restrained
until the time comes!

Whoa!

There are still this
many scorches?!

Who was it? Who skipped
out on their cleaning?!

These are my last lessons
for you as team leader!

Blast!

We can't get close
to Shaun and Emilico!

So, you also have a long-distance,
physical-type power?

I have a general idea
of what you're thinking.

You are intelligent.

But you lack experience.

Lured by hints,

you came all the way to
this stage I'd set for you.

Did you not think that
it might be dangerous?

Did you think you could wing it against an
opponent who had little soot to work with?

Lesson one!

Do not regard those who have
been here longer with disdain!

We'll retreat for now!

If she's gathered every scorch
in the house, we're at a disadvantage!

We'll go outside!

Right!

We defeated quite
a few of them with that!

It seems that even when manipulated,

scorches are still weak against water!

Still, Rosemary really got us!

That talk she had with Emilico
even made John cry a little!

And it was all just to get us
to let down our guards?

She's such a good actress!

It may be that her words were the truth.

But achieving their goal was more
important to them than anything else.

Look out!

These things just don't give up!

How far is her scorch-controlling range?

While Rosemary was receiving treatment,
she was controlling that scorch...

even though there's
quite a distance between

the washing room
and Maryrose's rooms.

Could it be that once she's given
an order, they become automated?

And when it comes to soot,

she has far more information
than Kate and the others do.

She's a formidable foe.

The John Punch is our last resort, right?

What is that?
You named your ability?

Sorry to keep you waiting.

They're riding the scorches!

And there are more
of them than before!

Where'd she get them from?!

They're fast!

They're gonna catch us!

They're gonna catch us!

Just kidding!

Blast it.

This is an aqueduct that
brings water to the house.

A bridge made of soot.

You made it appear to be an extension
of the land in order to lead us here...

Is that how it worked?

Well, this is a hill, you see!

You couldn't tell
from below, right?

We didn't do all that
exploring just for show!

With this, you've lost your
fighting power, haven't you, Maryrose?

And now, to restrain you!

Kate's being pulled in!

Kate!

Why didn't you drop us
into the aqueduct as well?

Were you being careful
not to hurt Rosemary and me?

How naïve.

Lesson two!

Do not show compassion
for your enemies.

How could you do that to Kate?

Don't show compassion, you say?

Then you'd better
prepare yourselves!

You're about to get blown away!

Wait...

What is it? Something feels wrong.

You are intelligent.

But you lack experience.

That's right.

They've lived in the house
for a long time.

It's highly possible that they
knew about this aqueduct.

Could they have let themselves
spring the trap on purpose?

Why did they want us
to let down our guard?

Did you think you could wing it against an
opponent who had little soot to work with?

Maryrose has a low soot volume.

If that is true, then...

A great number of scorches were
defeated in the great hall.

It's odd that they multiplied
to such an extent.

Who was it? Who skipped
out on their cleaning?!

Could it be that those
scorches earlier...

were made from my soot?!

John...

Punch!

John, no!

Maryrose's soot power isn't limited
to manipulating scorches!

What?

She can instantaneously transform
others' soot into scorches!

Uh... Uh-oh.

There's more than double
what was there before!

Lesson three.

One's true power should be
kept secret as long as possible.

So this is a phantom?

All we can do is run!
Let's go, Kate!

J-John!

What's wrong?

Why...

John's body won't move
the way he wants it to...

You've used too much soot.

But you can do this, John!

For now, we just have to run!

John is sorry for being so pathetic.

You will not be allowed
to interfere, Kate.

We will decide the manner
in which our curtain falls.

It's no good.
Kate is exhausted, too.

The more you attack,
the stronger your opponent becomes!

That's just cheating!

This is no different from having
our soot powers sealed away.

Blast it!

Both John and Kate thought that our
high soot volumes were our one advantage!

And we left Emilico and Shaun
back in the great hall, too.

It's just as Maryrose said.

Kate and the others were naïve.

And that points to one
devastating truth...

That even Maryrose, with all her power,

had no choice but to give up
on escaping from this house.

Just how great a gap in strength
is there between us and the adults?

Bah. It's quite dispiriting,

having to go and check on the box.

Even if one pair succeeds,
it may be difficult for another.

They entered the box a long time ago.

What a shame.

It seems you've started off with a failure,

new warden of the children's wing...

Young Edward.

Master Thomas.

Your first welcoming...

What do you think?

Does it make you feel the
weight of your responsibilities?

We are about to confirm
whether they failed or not.

It's a truly wretched thing, you know?

I see.

It seems you have too
much time on your hands.

Is this what you wish to say?

The warden's most important
duty, the welcoming...

If it fails repeatedly,

the warden is removed from
the position.

Is that it, former Warden Thomas?

Why would a little brat
who's only just risen

to the second floor
be given my position?

What does it matter?

Just think of it as having
more leisure time.

Flaring up at him like that...

In addition to losing your position,
you might be demoted to the first floor.

Is your fear of that
the cause of this?

Don't underestimate me, you nobodies.

Now, now...

Running wild in a place like this

and ruining Lord Grandfather's mood
would be idiotic, don't you think?

Allow me to apologize
for speaking out of turn.

I am still quite young.

Please hold on to a long-term perspective.

After all, the ones who are
worthy of the third floor...

are us.

But, Edward, if only
one pair of two succeeds,

that would be a hard blow to take.

If half succeed, it zeroes
out on balance.

But next time...

Maryrose.

I can understand why
you're interested in her.

Even if she were to be
welcomed now, she would fail.

In the report for her transfer,

her evaluations were lower than expected,
even considering her low soot volume.

It's strange, isn't it?

We are speaking of Maryrose,
who used to excel.

What happened to her
after we became adults?

As I thought,

the system wherein adults cannot directly
affect the children's wing must be changed.

And the reports, too.

Only the warden is allowed to read them.

On top of which,

the moment they were invited,
they contracted soot sickness.

All one can think is that they are resistant
to coming to Lord Grandfather's wing.

Is Maryrose a rebellious element?

This is only a hypothesis,

but what if she deliberately lowered her
evaluations to stay in the children's wing...

so that she could inspire newcomers to rebel?

Kate could be the product of that.

She's a member of Maryrose's team.

There's more than
enough to connect them.

Kate will carry on her mutinous ideology,

and if it spreads throughout
the whole of the children's wing,

the Star Bearers will be unable
to quell it on their own.

To make those up on the
third floor understand this,

we will welcome Maryrose,

and have her come clean,
spilling everything she knows.

If we can deliver a rebellious
element to Lord Grandfather,

our path to the third floor will open.

I see.

Since you have thought that
far ahead, I have no complaints.

And to gain trust,
an enemy is needed.

When a shadow and a living doll
enter the Box of Completion...

a cocoon is formed from the shadow's soot.

If the process succeeds,
the living doll's life is extinguished,

and a shadow made perfect
emerges from the cocoon.

Just as a caterpillar becomes a
chrysalis and then emerges with wings.

The process takes between
one and two weeks.

Failure means death.

I'm afraid that Maryrose
is unlikely to succeed.

A failed fusion reduces the
evaluation of the warden in charge,

but that is of little concern.

What a horrible odor.

The real thing is even more
hideous than I was told.

Maryrose...

This is where your fate shall lead.

Those who plot rebellion...

should be punished.

Traveling through a jumbled labyrinth...

Over and over

This lonely utopia...

I have no more need of it

A vanished smile

Promises are lies, too

Everything is pointless,
isn't it? And yet...

Even misshapen as I am, I keep searching...

For shadows of recollection

Roses whose love has rotted...

Lock their feelings away

That silhouette from back then...

I've kept on chasing it...

Even if pale, frozen thorns

Pierce my heart over and over

Until I can take that hand

Again and again

I'll wish on a star

Next Time

The Value of Friends

Next time,

"The Value of Friends."