…There had never been any need to make such things as this.
From: TALOS
Date: August 10th, 1001, 03:00
To: Kiril Clockworker
Subject: A final email
Hey, we haven’t written in a while, huh?
Are you doing well?
The Third Period is all finished.
The world has been saved.
Though perhaps it wasn’t in the form of the salvation you had hoped for.
You didn’t complete all twelve music boxes in time, it seems……
But ah well, you needn’t fret over that.
You’ve completed your goal for the time being, after all.
The spirits have already begun to migrate to the new world.
Though I hear there are still some remaining in the Third Period as they are yet.
If you have anyone you want to go see, I recommend you take care of that in good season.
The gate is open.
You should decide for yourself what you want to do after this.
You can stay in Angolmois as is, or you can deepen your friendship with your old cronies in the Third Period’s ruins.
Or…… I won’t stop you from traveling to the Fourth Period.
I no longer have the right to.
You are free.
Though it’s possible we will never meet again…… well, as there’s no more need for you to keep making music boxes, you may do whatever you wish after this.
Be merry with your wife, hm?
Well then, farewell.
I wish you two the best wherever you go.
Teach me words as always
And I will change them into a song
What did you obtain in a delusion?
Only one song of truth
Lulila lulila, this singing voice
To whose side will it reach?
Obtaining a key called words
And opening the gates of the unknown
I carried in both hands the toy I had requested, and thus obtained
And threw it out the window
Humans who are never satisfied
What do you wish for, what will you achieve?
If you’re worn out, now simply
Sleep
Lulila lulila, can this lullaby
Heal your heart, I wonder?
Carrying a sin called desire
And right now still dreaming
Twelve songs that denote time
Scattered keywords
I peeked into Pandora’s box
And continued to search for proof of my existence
In the end, I of the miniature garden
Wasn't anyone
Lulila lulila, this singing voice
Is the clockwork lullaby
If you don’t turn me
I’ll stop forever
The flower-like memories
And even the mud-like traumas
They continue to turn and melt
All of it inside of me
Inside this room it’s just you and me
Let’s continue singing this song together
I don’t have to know anything of the outside world
If that’s what you wish
I called you “father”
And you called me “daughter”
Worrying about me who can’t walk, you
Completely filled up the room with beautiful things for me
A red glass
A blue spoon
And a pair of two mirrors with yellow borders
Inside this room it’s just you and me
Let’s continue singing this song together
I don’t have to know anything of the outside world
If that’s what you wish
A dark bedroom and the window’s scenery
That’s all of the world to me
You are always kind, but
You don’t teach me of the outside world
The small objects of this room
They laugh at me
“You and us are one and the same”
Lulila lulila, I sing
So that the outside world can’t hear
I shall sing for your sake alone
Because that’s what I wish
From your mouth I heard
A word called «war»
Why is the room burning?
From a burned out mansion
They found
The remains of a solitary man, and
A scorched
Clockwork doll
I don’t have much information. I needed to start from what was within the scope of my reach.
The song of a doll in the distant future. Making the music box for that was simple.
My reasons are clear. It was because to me, she was none other than the being closest to me.
Irina…… Like me, you too ended up becoming a castaway of time.
The blue spoon…… from this song I was able to faintly sense Adam. That could perhaps become one of the clues I have to go on.
When I woke, I was alone
In a room smeared black
Not able to see, not able to hear
I tremble alone in the dark
In the ceiling there’s a big hole
Looking closely, there’s a huge spring in there
From beyond that, there suddenly resounds
A ghastly, mysterious voice
“Sinful boy
From this point on you will never
Be brought from this room”
It said
In that moment I recalled all of my memories
The many sins piled upon myself
Along with the reason I’m here, in the end I realized
That I can’t return to back then anymore
When I came to, both my arms were clad in red manacles
That is surely the color of someone’s spilled blood
As for both my ankles, they have blue colored chains
That is surely the color of someone’s tears
“Lulila lulila”, the song I came to hear
I wonder who is singing this lullaby…?
How much time has passed?
I asked of the unmoving spring
Only the singing voice
That I’m hearing out of nowhere heals me
One day I realized
The true meaning of that song
And I added on new words
To the lullaby
From a gap in the spring
A small light fell down
This is, surely
―A message you sent me―
The spring that began to turn recites quietly
“Your sins will never be forgiven”
But a word called water, a word called evil
We shall change those into a song
The red manacles fall off and address me
“After this
You will be reborn”
The blue shackles fall off and talk to me
“Today is your new Birthday”
Everything spins and dyes white
I’ll go to see you very soon
What has become essential to completion of the music box was contact with a god. And I ended up succeeding in that much sooner than I expected.
TALOS…… it seems that he had regarded me as dangerous because of the Levianta Catastrophe. But I was able to prepare several counter-measures to outwit that bat.
Because thanks to that catastrophe——I was able to recover the memories of the ‘original’.
In the end, TALOS gave up on trying to control me, and instead offered his assistance.
With that I was able to incorporate a black box system into the music box.
And then…… as for this song’s contents. I shall keep it a secret yet from TALOS.
Because, at any rate, this boy hasn’t even been born yet.
The sound of the clocktower’s gears
That is the proof she’s alive
So that this second hand doesn’t stop
Watching over it is “my” role
The former master, a personification of greed
Why couldn’t he notice sooner
That his own sin would ruin himself
One of these days?
The ugly burn marks that remain
On half of her body even now
Etch those two’s memories
Today again there are lost
Pitiful visitors who don’t know anything
Before long they’ll probably be delivered
Into the “Master of the Graveyard”’s stomach
That “girl” pretending to be the lead role
As usual is absorbing herself in selfishness
While the loneliness of having lost her “counterpart”
Shows a little on her face
Just before his death a solitary man created
That small theater
Deep in the forest
In that time when it was left behind, it began to ring out
The clockwork lullaby
“Bloodstained scissors”, “Violet katana”
The days we wait for those who have yet to wake
When all the songs have been recited
It appears Utopia will complete
The clock hand stopping
Means the end of herself
The time left in the rusted and chipped gears
Isn’t long
Just before his death a solitary man created
A small theater deep in the forest
The one acting as curator is the one he loved most
“The Clockwork Doll”
Resolving myself
I gently placed my hand
Into my own left breast and reached in deeply…
My spring resounds with
The gears of the clocktower
And the story begins anew
So that the clock hands don’t stop
Continuing to turn is my role
What sort of person is Adam? I decided to investigate into the man who was said to be the son of Alice.
At the end of it, I knew that Adam was by Irina’s side, but at the same time that brought up a new question.
As far as I know, the two of them barely even knew each other. So then why is Adam trying to help Irina?
……Right now, I don’t even have the parts to formulate a hypothesis yet.
I shall aim for the land of Angolmois. Though it is a place where even knowing of its existence is beyond the paygrade of a normal person……
But if you’re me, on the other hand.
Is that the song of birds that I can hear?
No, that is the cry of the forest
Is that the light of the moon that’s shining?
No, that’s the burning fire
The person we used to call “mother”
Turns to ashes inside the stove
The “Original Sin” that remained afterwards
We divided into seven with our own hands
“Lust”, is the flower
“Gluttony”, is the seed
“Pride”, is the stone
“Envy”, is the spring
“Sloth”, is the wind
“Greed”, is the dirt
And, “Wrath”, is the forest
Fly away, seven sins
The impurity born from our false mother
Let the world turn and turn
This evil, grave sin
Purify it
By the hands of the forbidden fruit
The seven sins were released into the world
The tree of Held, who protects the forest,
Requests his friend to collect them all
“I don’t mind if
It kills some time”
“’Cause my time is infinite anyhow”
The sorceress sneers
The eternity she was granted
At the end of having lost the one she loved
And destroyed what was precious
To her was nothing but emptiness
The sorceress who obtained everything
And then lost it
What does she wish for?
What does she seek?
To the end of time…
Born and raised from a lone woman
The story of such a sin cut into seven
The capricious whim of a witch who transcends time
This Chrono Story that begins from the forest
For now, I decided to continue on in my work from a different angle.
And then, I finally discovered the appearance of the person I love most.
A witch conversing with the god of the forest. That face, her hair, her arms and legs… it was none other than Elluka. That was unmistakable.
——I quietly shed tears alone.
She had undoubtedly died. And she would never be resurrected.
……‘It’ was something else.
I desperately repressed an overflowing wrath.
Because if I was taken over by it, I would never finish the twelve music boxes.
An empty defendant’s seat, a visitor’s gallery with nothing but junk
Come, let’s begin this farce called a trial
master of the court
“Only one of the vessels
That we’re seeking out by orders of god remains
If it’s the case you know its whereabouts
Make your testimony, ‘Sorceress of Time’”
Ma
“Transcending time, changing forms, changing masters
It’s already making its debut on stage
Even so, not knowing the whereabouts myself right now,
I fear it’s likely that it’s in her hands”
servants
“Search, search, search for that jerk
Left, right, or down
She who holds all the keys
Search for the ‘Master of the Hellish Yard’”
gear
“How long is this farce going to continue?
There is nothing after that”
master of the graveyard
“Soul of Adam who fell in the trap
There’s nothing you can accomplish anymore”
Swinging scales, a disordered scenario,
vessels sullied in sin
Each playing their song their own way,
A discordant capriccio
The story has already let go of the hands of demons and gods and walks alone
If they were in this place,
they would probably make this lament:
――What was truly terrifying
Was the desire of humanity――
master of the court
“Let’s sort what few facts we have
Lowly man descended from a demon
I’ll give you permission, so tell us
Of the time you came to this forest”
gardener
“There is an unpleasant curse dwelling in my body
Seeking my original ancestor’s sword
That has become necessary to solve this,
I arrived at this forest alone”
(Kill him, eat him, if we can’t, arrest him
This insolent fool who entered the forest)
(Judge, judge, at any rate judge him
Trial! Sentence! Death!)
gardener
“When I resolved myself after I was arrested
The fickle girl extended her hand”
waiter
“I wanted a charge right for doing chores”
gardener
“And so I became the ‘Gardener’”
‘Sorceress of Time’ ‘Cursed Gardener’
Substitutes for the unawakened vessels
Each keeping their goals close to the chest
Unsettling invaders
‘Director Doll’, ‘Master of the Graveyard’, ‘Gear’
‘Waiter’, ‘Master of the Hellish Yard’
When the end of everything arrives
Who will be laughing, I wonder?
Lulila lulila lulilulila
The resounding beat of Irregular
Friendship, trauma, justice, illusion
Hope, destruction, dreams, greed, love, death
All of it continues to melt and turn
The Clockwork Lullaby
Just before the solitary man’s death
He constructed a theater
Will the utopia he wished for
Be completed?
Come, let’s see with our own eyes, this farce called life
How many years have passed since that catastrophe? I’d stopped keeping track of time long, long ago.
Upon arriving in the land of Angolmois, I was able to proceed with the compactification of the BB system, which was a long-pending problem, at once.
At the same time I was able to supply myself components to make a new music box.
……However, this one was error-prone.
Due to the insertion of the Alice BB, the sixth music box has started to play a different tone than I had initially expected.
——At present there are no particular flaws that stand out in it.
But there’s no guarantee anywhere that this song is the truth.
“Come, let’s begin”
Seven flowers flutter about
The crime is now unleashed
While my unsightly true face
Is masked
I continue to drown in lust
Seven seeds rain down
Roots will stretch through the ground
The acid of my stomach
Will melt everything
Yes, even the world
This “Evil’s Kingdom” built up on the stone
Won’t stop anymore
The vessels of malice
That were unleashed from the cursed twins
What sort of story do they paint?
Seven crimes and punishments
In seven winds
The world is violated by poison
The source of everything
A false sin
That laments how she can’t sleep today either
In seven springs
Are traces of the one I love
But different images
Always get in the way
If only you people weren’t around
In the courtroom buried in soil
Come, let’s begin this farce named a trial
Everyone is searching for
Their respective utopia
What kind of conclusion will they meet?
Seven crimes and punishments
Is it the song of the forest I can hear?
No, that’s the gunshot of destruction
The vessels of malice
That were unleashed from the cursed twins
What sort of story do they paint?
Seven crimes and punishments
I have finally become able to follow history in its sequential order.
The beings called demons and the disorders of the world that the people they contracted with caused. The answer to Alice’s prophecy is surely at the end of all that——
I’ve had it verified that my theory is correct.
It’s become clear that ‘it’ will destroy the world as I thought.
In other words…… that means the main cause of all this is me.
Because after all, I am the one who caused ‘it’ to descend to the Third Period.
“This song that you have heard somewhere,
Do you remember it?”
Approaching me as I was dying
Was a male scientist who asked me that
He tossed in front of me the remains of a red cat
That he was carrying in his arms
Looking closer,
It was a plushy made of cloth and iron
“After this you will be reborn,
Today is your Re_birthday”
With arms covered in burns, he touched
‘What used to be me’
A light shines into the dark sky
Looking at it, I remember
Yes, this was formerly such a song
On the night of the full moon the experiment begins
If the era changes, then the song will change again too
My heart hasn’t changed
My body became a red cat
I wouldn’t be dying anymore, but
I won’t be returning to human anymore either
Supposing I joined together two so that they became one
They couldn’t become double
What should I live for
From now on?
Before disappearing, he said
“I won’t return here again,
Continue with your experiments”
Seven lights scatter about in the southern sky
Looking at them, I remember
Yes, I’ll live for retribution against the woman who stole everything!
On the night of a new moon my revenge begins
If my body changes, my goal will change too
Just like that person made me
This time I’ll turn people “evil”
This song that I have heard somewhere
Eventually it’ll become a different song again won’t it?
――The Clockwork Lullaby
I have found the one who will destroy everything. Next I must find the one who will save it.
There are several candidates…… but the most prominent would of course be Irina. I know well the power that she hides.
Maybe I could be able to communicate somehow with the ‘original’ who saved Irina from the brink of death.
……Someone is knocking on the door of my house.
But, there shouldn’t be anyone outside of me who can reach Angolmois.
——Who the hell is that?
While holding my gun in hand, I slowly opened the door——
I can’t rewind time, the gears will turn on
Until the spring snaps
These days where I stave off boredom, that’s just what life is
That’s what I thought, what I thought
In the vicinity of that bridge I met you all
And something changed
The mere whim of a rebellious witch
…Probably
We assemble around an eccentric king
Unsteady heroes
The words of our vow even those in pieces
If you have any troubles, I’ll at least give you advice
Because I’m currently pointlessly leading a long life
The bridge connects this great land, as well as people’s hearts
Surely that’s so …Maybe that’s so
A moderate suggestion, everyone laughs
I laughed too
Surely even something like fate can be changed
…Probably
We all have our own way, but we are the trinity
That’s all we need
The river flows on, and we too continue forward
From a bat fluttering in the sky
I came to hear a song of the spring…
In the vicinity of that bridge I met you all
And something changed
The mere whim of a rebellious witch
…Probably
We assemble around an eccentric king
Unsteady heroes
The words of our vow even those in pieces
A clumsy knight, a scary-eyed assassin
A bath-hating witch
Surely even fate can be changed
…Probably
We all have our own way, but we are the trinity
That’s all we need
Right now, we swear an oath on that bridge
……Ah, god. This may be the first time that I have been grateful to TALOS from the heart. Now I have become able to listen to the ninth song with a tranquil heart.
And——while this may be a crazy thought——I have come to think this way.
That while ‘it’ is undoubtedly the destroyer…… if she were able to regain her heart as a ‘person’.
Might she at the same time have been able to be a savior?
When I asked the opinion of she standing by my side, she gave me a small smile, and nodded.
The setting sun sinks down, sin rules the night
It’s a final supper that never ends
There was nothing new in the food lined up before her
She had already grown tired of eating it all
The evil food eater finally stopped eating
Gazing at a vast wasteland that stretched outside her window
It was a world with nothing in it, its time stopped
It would soon be time to set sail
Come, we journey to a new world
The master of the hellish yard’s mask, the friend of the dark butler
He knew the way to a parallel world
The new ship is the second theater
With a black box stowed inside it
The fourth period the master of the heavenly yard will make
Will likely become
Something similar to everything up to now
We’ve decided not to enter that door
Let us take a different road
Floating theater, advance through the sky
My aim is new evil foods I have not yet seen
Come, research new stimuli unknown to my tongue
In this Gluttonomy
Completely devour everything in this world
This is my concerto
Preparations for transit through space complete
Course set, accelerating ultraphotic flow
Deploy all hands, prepare for the shock
Departure in progress, are conditions favorable?
A strange incident, the alarm sounds
The meter’s flashing, the shaking’s increasing
The controls are shot, the cause unknown
The power’s out, we’re going to crash
The ship is in chaos! Escape is futile!
Emergency repair! The result is failure!
The fuel’s exploding!! Survival is hopeless!!
——We have eyes on our objective
Full speed ahead!!!
……At the end of her distant journey
What will she see, and what will she eat?
Come, bring new stimuli unknown to her tongue
Along with her friends and “him”
Completely devour everything in this world
That is Banica’s concerto
Finally I succeeded in getting one of the large gears to rotate. But…… frankly…… I’m a little stunned. To think, that evil food eater would become a savior. What sort of face will TALOS make when he learns that? I’d like to see.
Naturally this is also thanks to the BB that my wife had been looking after from the ‘original’——but it seems the BB’s usage invites an unexpected state of affairs after all.
The rotation of the large gear ended up going opposite to what I’d assumed it would.
With this, it can’t be called true salvation. The new world will just end up becoming a different take on the Third Period.
A black dawn
Time turns back
Everything ends
And then begins
The Re_birthday came too early
Ah, but
The karma of evil will not end
The day where I forgive you
Will not come
I will forever hate you
And I will forever love you
This too is another prologue
The karma of evil will not end
What I saw with my own eyes
And what I heard, all of it
I shall convey as a prophecy
The gods are gone now
I’ll do this over again any number of times
And then someday I will bring
True salvation to this world
Adam had a realization. On the truth that Irina was his mother. Thanks to the ‘Re_birthday’ time wound back. And so Irina will once more become Adam's…… and Eve’s mother.
I can only hope. That Irina will sever the karma of evil, and bring about true salvation.
——Ah…… this isn’t sufficient. The gear’s power is not enough. With this the karma of evil will not end. It’ll just repeat the same things again.
And now, in that world…… there are no gods.
Everything will probably be reduced to a farce.
Under the third moon, gathered around a great tree
Let’s sing now
Lulila lulila
So that it might reach you
The flowing time always urges us
Along on our journey
But someday
That will strongly change you
This quickly pounding beat in our chests
Our springs won’t stop
Lulilalulila lulilalulila
As long as our singing voices
Lulilalulila lulilalulila
Resound
We will wake from our sleep and the dream will surely become reality
We will open the door to tomorrow
Stepping firmly on the ground as cherry blossom petals fly around us
Let’s all sing together
Lulila lulila
So that it might reach the sky
There are a lot of sad things
And a lot of painful memories
But that too
Is part of the path we will walk
These springs deep in our chests
From here on out we will turn them ourselves
Lulilalulila lulilalulila
As long as our singing voices
Lulilalulila lulilalulila
Resound
Without knowing what lies in wait beyond the door
We will push forward
The reality that continues to stand in our way
May wound us every now and then
Even so, it is for that reason
That people live with all they are
The world doesn’t need to be a utopia
This quickly pounding beat in our chests
Our springs won’t stop
Lulilalulila lulilalulila
As long as our singing voices
Lulilalulila lulilalulila
Resound
We will wake from our sleep and the dream will surely become reality
We will open the door to tomorrow
The singing voices of the Third Period have even reached the land of Angolmois. This unfinished twelfth music box has begun to move and turn the large gear on its own. Right now I’m reclining in a chair in an exhausted state. ……There had never been any need to make such things as this.
Even without the music boxes people are able to play the songs. That is what this means.
These people singing…… ‘VOCALOID’, huh? Ah well. As a musical accompaniment, it may serve as some aid to them. For that purpose, I shall set about making the final music box.
Final…… is that truly so? I took out my pocket watch and looked upon its surface.
……!
I see…… so that’s it!!
From: Kiril Clockworker
Date: August 10th, 1001, 15:00
To: TALOS
Subject: RE: A final email
TALOS.
You are a liar.
Certainly, on the face of a clock there are only 12 numbers written.
But in time……
The total number of songs is not 12.
Is that not so?
I’ve decided to head out from Angolmois.
With my wife, of course.
As for where I’m heading…… I’ll leave it to your imagination.
Perhaps I’ll see you again once more there.
I don’t have an exact goal in mind.
But…… as long as songs exist there——
I will continue to make music boxes.
Well then, until we meet again.
Presented by the heavenly yard
Lyrics & Music: mothy
Illustrations: Ichika
Origin
<Turns clockwise>
The first music box has commenced operation without a hitch. After turning the windup key it plays a somewhat stiff tune, and at the same time fulfills the purpose of turning a gear of karma. To me the tune it plays is something I don’t quite understand, however I am sure that this is to be the start.
Alice’s prophecy. I must ascertain the truth of that.
For that is the mission for my atonement that was assigned to me.