Francine, will you be mine?
That night, an alchemist vanished from the streets of Prague.
And with him, a woman.
Did the younger brother abduct her?
I embarked on a journey to find them.
You know what happened next, don't you?
How does Minghai know?
Before dawn, when the stars paint the sky
I am searching for the thing I lost
With a restless heart Under the sun yet in the dark
I patch together little prayers to light my path
I don't need anything, as my hands are full
My hands are full of emptiness
Please, just once, nod for me
Just once, reach out to me like the mirror
I will live for that single moment, that single second
All the rest can just burn away
What's right for me is for me alone
Whatever the path, I'll follow it to you
This feeling grows and grows, deep inside my heart
For one single reason
I continue to climb up on the stage
9 years after they vanished from Prague.
It was springtime.
#10 Francine
Jin, Jin!
I'll kill you. You will feel my wrath!
Jin!
Oh? What's wrong, Yin?
You know what!
Ouch. What are you so mad about?
You stole Francine from me and ran away!
I searched for you for 9 whole years.
What are you talking about?
Francine is my wife.
Yin, my own big brother...
Why did you betray me?
I told you that Francine was mine.
You said you didn't like her. Yet, you...
You took Francine from me!
Jin.
I was at the church that day.
I came to my senses upon hearing those words.
It's true that I betrayed your heart.
That's fine, Yin.
You're surprised. I surprised Yin!
I finally came to the realization,
that Jin was no longer the Jin I knew.
Oh yeah, Yin. I've kept up my research on alchemy.
My medicine is almost complete. Soon I'll be able to cure Francine.
Cure? Is she sick? Where is she?
Those accursed villagers...
Excuse me...
I know not who you are, but do not come any closer. You must leave.
And be sure to rinse your mouth and wash your hands.
Francine.
Can it be...?
Francine! It's me, Yin.
Yin.
Is this a vision?
Vision or not, don't disappear.
I'm no vision, I've finally found you after 9 years.
Finally...
I thank you, Lord.
You reunited me with the one I love the most.
Come closer, let me see your face.
Are you okay? Who did that?
Who locked you up and why?
Don't be angry.
The villagers just want to protect their families.
I'm sorry. I've fallen sick.
I can't let you catch it. So...
So this is goodbye.
Come closer.
If you breathe the air I breathe, you could die too.
I mind not!
If I die embracing my wife, so be it!
Come to me, Francine.
Yes.
Listen to me. You are my wife.
No matter what.
Oh, Yin.
Let me examine you. Take off your clothes.
I learned Chinese and Western medicine during my long journey.
I'm certain I can heal you.
Then we can live together at last.
Did you meet Jin?
Yeah.
Don't be too hard on him.
During our journey here, and even now,
his soul has never been truly at ease.
May I sit down?
Look at me.
I can't even stay standing.
I tried my best because you came, but this is all I can do.
She's weaker than I thought.
What is this disease?
The door's open!
Who are you? You trespasser!
The villagers! Run!
Just you wait! I'm an alchemist.
I'll find a cure for you.
I'm sorry.
But I can't live with you anymore.
Don't give up! Once Aqua Vitae is complete, I can cure you.
I returned to Jin's mansion and set to work.
I went days without sleep.
I'd collapse with fatigue, then awaken and continue.
Until finally...
I succeeded in creating the substance all alchemists had sought.
The "soft stone" that produces Aqua Vitae.
Francine!
No... No...!
I'll save you!
I've completed the medicine! It can cure anything.
Please give that medicine to those who need it more.
Hair?
Francine?
For 9 years, I lived with Jin.
You understand what that means.
It's not your fault. I don't mind it one bit.
I swore myself to you before God.
Yet, I was with Jin.
Knowing all the while how heartbroken you would be.
Those 9 years cannot be erased.
Don't say that, stop it.
Remember the carnival?
It was so much fun.
Yin, thank you for being in my life.
Thank you for your words.
Thank you for making me laugh so much.
Thank you for loving me.
No, don't go!
Who knew it'd be so hard?
I know. Next time, I'm going to hate you.
I'll be insolent and cold.
I won't open my heart to you.
So please, let us meet again in another time and place.
What did you say?
Francine!
You made it, too?
Francine never loved me. Not once.
You had everything I wanted.
You had it all along.
You're wrong.
Why do you think she didn't run away from you?
She was devoted to you as well.
You just didn't notice.
That day, we parted there at Quiberon.
We never crossed paths again.
What happened after that?
The elder brother, Yin, left the village.
But the younger, Jin, stayed behind.
23 years passed.
A beautiful face.
Luscious lips.
A lithe body.
Only her hair is real.
And for blood, some Aqua Vitae.
Master.
Oh, Francine.
Call me "dear."
Yes, dear.
Come, I have some clowns to make you laugh.
Why is it? Why won't she laugh?
Are they not funny enough?
I'll show you something else.
Something funnier and even more raucous.
Here are the people who took laughter away from you 23 years ago.
Those who took away your life. They will become the clowns now.
Listen well.
You are all now afflicted with ZONAPHA syndrome.
You must make someone laugh in order to escape the pain.
Should you wish to live, you must make Francine laugh.
I was among those who suffered.
The clowns' tricks intensified and they began killing the villagers.
All to make Francine laugh.
Well, well. Here's another one left.
No, not her...
I'll do it myself.
Angelina!
Francine!
What...?
Is that what happened?
Good, you're back to your senses.
But the real hell was yet to come.
It gets worse?
The true horror of ZONAPHA syndrome is that you can't die.
Even after the puppets were gone, the villagers couldn't die.
One fall, 6 years later,
"he" came to our village.
What happened?
I told him everything.
And he told me what he knew, too.
Why that man did what he did.
All this, just for that?
I won't ever forgive him.
You won't forgive him?
Then let me ask you.
Do you choose to survive and fight the puppets?
Or let the passage of time wither your life away?
I want to get my revenge.
I see.
Then I shall take responsibility.
I made Aqua Vitae using the soft stone.
This should be enough to save the villagers.
-Oh, thank you. -Do not thank me yet.
Come here again tomorrow. It will be your turn to question the villagers.
And allow only those who wish for revenge to drink this water.
But how can we get revenge on those atrocious puppets?
Open that chest, and you shall see.
Now go. Your daughter is waiting.
And who might you be?
I was born in China.
But I like the name given to me in a place called Japan.
"Shirogane."
My name is Shirogane.
This water can be preserved by having a human soul melted in it.
I shall dissolve here and control the villagers.
Then crush every automaton that Jin created.
Francine, I've kept you waiting for so long.
It must be lonely by yourself in hell.
With such devilish deeds as I have done, I will be joining you soon.
Francine.
I loved you from the bottom of my heart.
The following day...
The moment I drank the water from the well, I was no longer myself.
Various ideas came flowing into my mind.
Alchemy and foreign languages.
The basic structures of automata, their weak points,
and how to control the puppets created to destroy them.
But above all, a strong emotion.
A deep malice towards automata.
Crush them. Crush every automaton!
Return dirt to dirt and puppet to puppet!
But I drank the Aqua Vitae, too.
I'm not under its control.
Guy once said,
it takes longer for idiots to feel the effects.
-What the heck? -Wait.
I understand how Yin died, but what about Jin?
Let me enlighten you.
Before I send you all to hell.
Who are you?
One of Les Quatre Pionniers, the four oldest automata.
He's Pantalone.
Who knew you'd be here?
You're looking well, Lucille.
The Creator's loathing then turned to a different target.
It turned to, of all things, Lady Francine.
I punished those evil villagers.
I did it because I thought you would laugh for me.
But you didn't laugh.
Does this hurt? Yes, I designed you to need to breathe.
But you're still merely a machine-like puppet.
A soulless toy.
Goodbye, you thing that wasn't Francine.
Goodbye.
The Creator left the village.
But Lady Francine was still alive.
With her own hands, she distilled synthetic body fluids.
Then used them to give us, Les Quatre Pionniers, the power of will.
Will?
We are searching for a way to make Lady Francine laugh.
To do so, we must drink Aqua Vitae.
Then we will be able to understand how Lady Francine thinks and feels.
That is our mission as the Midnight Circus.
So you've come here to drink this spring water.
Yes, the Creator tossed the soft stone into that spring.
I can't let you drink it, you puppet dressed in rags.
Who are you?
Insulting the clothes Lady Francine gave to me. I will not allow this!
I will bring an end to the sins of my ancestors.
Master, don't do it!
The Aqua Vitae can cure you.
He's right. Please, father!
I have no need for a life full of lies.
-I won't let you! -Father!
I can die without regrets.
I lived a true and fulfilling life.
It felt like Master's last words were the same as Francine's in that fiery blaze.
The long journey of Yin's memory was finally concluded.
That conclusion was also a beginning to the end.
The end of the Midnight Circus.
Fly up high, Marionette
Turn to ash, gracefully
My only purpose in life was to fight
Why am I so angry even I dump my humanity
Without you, I can't smile anymore
I assume that I am to be blamed
Like a puppet that can't smile naturally
I feel like someone is pulling my strings
What am I even living for?
I was hurt, and thought that nobody would understand
But you came along, and took me in your arms
I felt my tangled arms and legs
become free
Fly up high, Marionette
I think now I can reach you
Before I met you, I was empty
Now I have something I'd give my all to protect
You taught me how to feel, the feeling of sorrow too