Naenia — She Who Harbors Death (Part One) is the thirty-eighth 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[]
A terrible screeching echoes through the entirety of the Château. Noé and Astolfo have to pause their fight, the shrieking too painfully shrill for them to even be able to move. They look to the center of the Château, where the pillar of light towards the sky continues to shine and that scream continues to emanate from. Noé’s eyes widen as he detects a huge shadow appearing above him. He and Astolfo both leap out of the way. The Beast of Gévaudan crashes to the ground where the two had just been fighting, landing roughly on its back and shattering the earth beneath. Noé calls to Jean-Jacques in concern, but Jeanne jumps into the gray from overhead as well. Noé recalls Vanitas’s words from before. He’d warned to keep the true identity of the Beast from Jeanne, as her purpose is to kill the Beast and should she learn that she’s not in actuality fighting Chloé, she’ll start attacking with true deadly intent without hesitation. Noé grits his teeth to keep silent.
At the same time, Marco calls to Astolfo and reports a sudden intensity of “waves” being generated from the building. Nervously, Marco suspects the World Formula Alteration Device to have activated, making Astolfo stiffen. Astolfo looks to Noé and grits his teeth. He orders Marco to make for the tower, and starts to race there himself. Noé yells for Astolfo to wait and runs after the boy. Noé as he runs inside is filled with an ominous feeling and wonders what happened.
Noé runs inside just as a body is flung into the wall, sending books crashing off the bookshelves. Noé turns and finds Vanitas slumped down and hurt. An automaton is advancing on him, and Noé takes the pipe he had been wielding against Astolfo and throws it like a javelin at the automaton. It hits right in the center, breaking the power source and rendering the automaton immobile. Noé rushes to Vanitas’s side in concern. Astolfo and Marco fight off against another automaton. Dante defends himself against the last automaton. A strangled choke sounds. Noé looks up to see a mass of dark, shadowy energy overtaking the center of the room. In the middle of that mass of black is a humanoid figure colored white suspended in the air by the power exerted by the Alteration Device. Naenia. And standing there on top of the Alteration Device with her hands clasped around her neck, Chloé. Noé is shocked at what he’s seeing.
As blood spills and splatters from where her hands strangle Naenia’s throat, Chloé laments how surprisingly difficult she is to kill. Chloé’s eyes widen and glow red. Naenia’s whole body is seized by lashes of Chloé’s power ripping her apart. Naenia screams. Chloé relishes in the sounds of her agony, asking if it’s painful. Asking if she can properly feel the whole of Chloé’s wrath. Vanitas starts mumbling something desperately, to Noé’s concern. Vanitas, almost feverish with urgency, says they can’t stimulate Naenia any further.
Naenia’s form is beaten and broken and covered in blood.
“Faustina.”
Naenia’s eyes are wide.
A clawed hand reaching towards her.
A low moan emits from Naenia’s voice. The sound is chilling, frightening, the very tone of it drowning out all other noise in the room. Noé shudders, and Vanitas leaning against him for support is similarly looking to the scene with growing dread. Naenia’s broken voice sounds through the room. “It hurts.” Frantically, madness growing with every word, she repeats over and over how much it hurts, all the while Chloé stares with alarm. Naenia’s eyes overflow with tears like waterfalls and she screams at the top of her lungs.
Cracks start to emerge on Naenia’s form. Vanitas gets further panicked and yells at Chloé to release the Alteration Device’s stabilizing power on Naenia. They can’t allow Naenia to remember who she is. The cracks grow, beginning from where Chloé’s hands are clamped around her neck and expanding, spreading like broken glass. Vanitas screams—“No Vampire can kill that!” But Chloé is completely immobilized and unable to budge from her position. Naenia has one last vision: three figures hidden in shadow, one reaching a hand towards her, telling her, “We will have you vanish here.” In a burst of light, the cracks on Naenia’s body explode outwards. She transforms.
Everyone feels it. All Vampires in the world. This feeling resonating through each of their very existences as Vampires. Like the first heartbeat felt once again after a long period of stillness. They all feel it. Ruthven in the middle of his work. Veronica in Altus. Marquis Machina surrounded by machinery. A shadowy figure with their form turning into bats. Orlok, Nox, and Manet in their office. Amelia in Hôtel Chouchou. A figure with pure white hair. And, in Carbunculus Castle, a bird flutters up through the trees towards the windowpanes separating it from the sky. Luca, sat next to his brother Loki. Luca clings to his brother’s pant legs, trembling in fear, and asks what had just happened. Loki ruffles Luca’s hair affectionately to reassure him. Luca looks up at his brother in question as the elder starts laughing to himself. He mutters about “that woman” whose corpse they went to the trouble of smashing up. It seems that despite that, “the old wreck” was still rotting.
Vanitas grits his teeth and braces himself. Noé stands beside him with growing alarm. Chloé stares in shock at the figure before her. Shards of pitch black scatter through the air.
Loki, fanged teeth bared in a smirk and black-scleraed eyes brimming with interest, calls to her.
“Your majesty.”
Pure white. Like the first snowfall of the winter season. Like the rays of the sun on a clear, cloudless day. Like the surface of a pearl. Like the translucence of alabaster. Like a corpse. Like a single, lone star lighting up the pitch black of the night sky. Like death herself.
Impossibly long hair. Body thin and tall. Skin a cadaverous pale. An aura radiant like that of a queen’s. And red eyes a pair vortexes suck in all light to bottomless pitch black. They brim with falling tears.
The Queen of Vampires is here.
Characters[]
(*) - Denotes that the character did not appear physically, but as a part of another character's memories.
Terms[]
Gallery[]
Coming Soon!
Trivia[]
- Naenia is an alternative form of the Latin word "nēnia" which has three possible translations into English. One, a funeral song or a dirge. Two, a spell, incantation, or enchantment. Three, a song of little consequence, ditty, tune, or lullaby.
- Naenia is also the name of an ancient funeral deity of Rome, known more commonly as Nenia Dea, in English Goddess Nenia.[1]
- Naenia is also the name of a genus of moths.[2]
- In Volume 7, this chapter is combined with Mémoire 38 Part Two to make a single consolidated version of Mémoire 38.
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 |
| Intermissions | 15.5 • 46.5 • 51.5 • 60.5 |
| Volumes | 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 |
| Other | Vanitashu no Karute • Author's Notes |