Chapter 20

...One of Nicholas's enemies is a vampire?

Nicholas

"Comte, please... please tell me this wasn't your doing!"

Gabriel

"It wasn't. I've only revived everyone who is here, and Will. That's all."

Nicholas

"Then how is a dead man alive right now? You're the only one who has the power to do so, right?!"

A silence stretched on that seemed like an eternity. Le Comte's voice sounded hoarse when he answered.

Gabriel

"...I'm not the only one. There's another man in this world who can use the door to bring dead humans back to life."

Lennon

"Then explain it so Nicholas and everyone else here accepts your answer...including me."

Le Comte looked around at everyone's faces, then got a faraway look in his eyes as he began to speak.

Gabriel

"...I had a friend. Another immortal, pure-blooded vampire." "When we were children, we shared beautiful times together, but due to a quarrel we went our separate ways." "We saw each other again once we became adults. At the time I felt living forever felt empty as I watched my human friends die."

Flashback

Gabriel

"Hey...if there was such thing as a flower that never wilted, do you think that would be pretty?"

Le Comte's Friend

"Hm, I'm not sure. What do you think, Comte?"

Gabriel

"I think a flower is beautiful BECAUSE it wilts."

Le Comte's Friend

"Like humans?"

Gabriel

"Yes. But since we purebloods live forever, we're just like flowers that never wilt.. don't you think?"

Le Comte's Friend

"..."

Gabriel

"Living among the humans made me realize that the lives of vampires and humans are so fundamentally different." "I thought I understood that when I was a boy, but..." "I've seen more humans die than I care to count." "I had very close friends. Some that were so gifted the world will never see such rare talent again. I respected each of them." "Yet no matter how wonderful, how talented each of them were...they all left this world just like all humans do."

Le Comte's Friend

"...Comte, the length of someone's life is determined by their fate." "I love humans because they are so fleeting."

Gabriel

"Yes... Their short lives are so bright and brilliant because they are so fleeting." "But I also discovered the deep loneliness and emptiness that comes along with knowing their deaths are inevitable." "That empty, meaningless feeling of them losing their lives, the time they spent with you--losing everything--will never end."

Le Comte's Friend

"Meaningless... Perhaps that's true." "But could you really cut off all ties with humans?"

Flashback Ends

Gabriel

"I couldn't answer him." "No matter how hopeless I felt, or how hurt I was, kept reaching out to humans. He knew that, and so he said this to me…"

Flashback

Le Comte's Friend

"Comte... What if a human's life and their talents could continue on forever?" "Do you think that would make the world a better place?"

Gabriel

"What do you mean?"

Flashback Ends

Gabriel

"He said, 'Let's make it together. Flowers that will never wither.'"

So it was his friend who suggested they revive people who had already died…

Arthur

"A flower that will never wither--reviving humans with extraordinary abilities so that they would never die." "He thought if you did that, the world would become a better place, and would give meaning to the life of a pure-blooded vampire?"

Gabriel

"It wasn't just about their abilities. We had to bet on your strength of heart--your intense desire to live."

Flashback

Gabriel

"I like the idea of bringing back talented historical figures. But do you think humans can bear a life close to eternity?" "Many humans who are bitten by pureblooded vampires eventually feel the pain of the long lifespan." "They either kill themselves or turn against their pureblooded sires...many of them suffer." "Maybe this plan will have a very sad outcome?"

Le Comte's Friend

"Perhaps a soft, weaker human would crush under the pressure." "Nothing good will come out of it if we force the humans to do this." "I know!" "We could search for humans who have a strong desire to live in an extreme moment such as when they're on the verge of death." "We'll ask them if they want to become vampires to gain a new life-an endless amount of time to accomplish their goals."

Gabriel

"So we'll leave the decision up to them."

Le Comte's Friend

"Exactly. Anyone who has left their name upon history will have to be strong-willed anyway."

Flashback Ends

Gabriel

"And so we searched for every method possible to create 'flowers that would never wither'."

Flashback

Gabriel

"Plans for a door that will allow us to cross time and space? Where did you find that?"

Le Comte's Friend

"I remembered seeing someone's drawings in a very old library. I used those memories to recreate the drawings."

"Comte, if we use these plans…"

Flashback Ends

Gabriel

"And so we used to plans to build the door that could cross time and space."

Le Comte told us he and his friend had great fun making the door together. They were filled with hope for the future.

Gabriel

"But right as we were about to finish, a terrible war broke out." "Once I saw how many lives were lost in the horrors of war, I started to have doubts that I couldn't erase."

Kira

"Doubts?"

Gabriel

"I thought perhaps it was against the laws of this world to meddle with human lives." "I think perhaps it was just out of curiosity. He just wanted to see what the future would be like." "But when he opened the door and traveled to the distant future…" "he saw that everything was destroyed due to humans' mistakes and lust for war. It was a ruined world." "As soon as he saw that the world had been destroyed, he came back to this world and said this to me—"

Flashback

Gabriel

"What? What are you talking about?"

Le Comte's Friend

"We need to use their gifts to protect the world." "They can help prevent the destruction that I saw in the future."

Gabriel

"Use their gifts?" "What exactly do you plan on doing with the people we revive?"

Le Comte's Friend

"Jayme Douglas fought to protect the people of his country." "Isaac Nakamura's great accomplishments in the study of physics brought about an intellectual Renaissance in the world." "William Sander's plays captured the hearts and minds of people everywhere." "They're proof that even one person's talents can change the world--can change the course of history as we know it." "They're proof that even one person's talents can change the world--can change the course of history as we know it." "It's just like that--we'll use their talents to capture people's hearts and keep them from straying down the wrong path." "We'll control human ideology and as pureblooded vampires who live forever, will continue watching over and protecting the world."

Gabriel

"Control human ideology?!"

Le Comte's Friend

"I want this beautiful world and the humans in it to stay like this forever. So we'll use them to keep the other humans in line."

Gabriel

"Wait--this plan is way too extreme!" "We can't use humans as pawns and control their thoughts and behaviors! We have no right!"

Le Comte's Friend

"You've said many times how you think it's such a waste how short human lives are, and how their talents must die with them." "But at this rate their talents won't be the only thing that disappear--the entire world will wither and die along with them!"

Gabriel

"But we can't interfere with the natural order of things--it's wrong." "Vampires and humans aren't masters and slaves. You were the one who wanted us to co-exist as equals, weren't you?"

Le Comte's Friend

"Yes, that's right. But now that I've seen the result of the humans' foolish and reckless behavior…" "I've had a change of heart. I think it would be best to co-exist in a new way."

Gabriel

"Would you really call that co-existing?" "The destruction you saw in the future isn't a sure thing. Humans have plenty of chances to change the fate of-"

Le Comte's Friend

"So you're going to do nothing and bet on the possibility that something could change even though you have no proof?" "Weren't you the one who wished for a flower that would never wither?"

Flashback Ends

Gabriel

"No matter how much we argued, the divide between us only deepened." "So we went our separate ways, with only the memories of us smiling at each other left."

Suddenly le Comte paused, and I noticed that his palms were sweating. But why? My anxiety just keeps getting worse…

Lennon

"Hey, cara mia. You look pale. You all right?"

Kira

"Don't worry about me. I'm just overwhelmed. It's a lot to digest right now."

Gabriel

'I'm sorry I made you upset, Kira."

Arthur

"Comte. I thought you abandoned those plans, and then you went your separate ways?" "But here we are, revived at your own hands. That's what we wanted of course, but…" "Why did you change your mind?"

Arthur trailed off and le Comte smiled.

Gabriel

"That's why you're a mystery writer, Arthur."

Lennon

"You thought about it a lot and just couldn't give up on any of them."

Le Comte kept this secret all to himself and revived everyone. He was trying to carry out the dream he and his old friend had.

Sebastian

"So then why would he revive one of Nicholas's arch enemies?"

Markus

"Yeah, if he wanted to revive us, why would he do something like that? It makes me uncomfortable."

Lennon

"He's probably using us all like pieces on a chessboard, making us collide to see who the strongest piece is."

Sebastian

"What do you mean, Lennon?"

Lennon

"It's simple. He wants the most influential, strongest people to help control human ideology. "To put it another way, he doesn't want any pieces who would be defeated too easily or else he won't achieve his goal."

Theo

"So he's going to choose the strongest pieces that remain. Quite a tasteful game, huh?"

Vincent

"But it's strange. Even if we are the ones who are left in the end, why would we help him?" "I don't want to."

Theo

"Broer…"

Gabriel

"...He has the power to compel people."

Theo

"Compel people? You mean he can command them to do his bidding? Then why doesn't he just use it on us?" "Why go to all this trouble when he can just hypnotize us?"

Kira

"Yeah, I don't get it--why not use the people here?"

Arthur

"I agree. All he'd have to do is get us under his control and make us fight for him."

Gabriel

"He wants you all to agree with his ambitions. He wants you to join him of your own volition." "So that's why he won't compel you."

Kira

"..."

Lennon

"He believes in the value of someone's heart, so he wants to control human ideology. He thinks it'll lead to peace." "It's very contradictory. But it makes perfect sense to him. He's doing what he thinks is right."

He's doing it because he believes in the value of people's hearts…

Flashback

Kira

"You remembered that little thing I said and met me every day because of that?"

Vlad

"It wasn't a little thing." "Don't write off your worries as something unimportant. I certainly don't think so." "People's hearts are what allow them to live."

Flashback Ends

Why am I thinking of Vlad right now? Why…? The indescribable dark anxiety I was feeling kept growing larger and larger until it felt like it was crushing my heart.

Nicholas

"Comte. Your friend of yours... What's his name?"

Gabriel

"His name…" "…is Vlad."