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The Dollmaker	By : roryheadmav Category: +G to L > Gankutsuou Views: 2881 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Gankutsuou, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
- 9
DISCLAIMER: This story is a non-commercial
work of fiction based on the anime/manga Gankutsuou and the comic
book The Sandman. Original copyright of Gankutsuou belongs
to Mahiro Maeda, Gonzo/Media Factory, GDH. Original copyright of The
Sandman belongs to Neil Gaiman and DC Comics. Absolutely no monetary
gain has been made from this work.
THE DOLLMAKER

©
December 6, 2005 By Rory V. Pascual
CHAPTER EIGHT
At an abandoned warehouse near
the wharf, a large covered truck quietly rolled into the dilapidated building.
Two ministry agents descended from the truck, eyes warily roaming all over
the shadowed, musty place.
A voice suddenly called out in
the darkness, "Did you bring the gold?"
"Yes, we have," the agent replied.
"Let's make the exchange now."
A moment's silence. Then there
were two simple words. "You're lying."
The tarp of the truck dropped,
revealing armed agents within. At once, they fired their guns in all the
places where anyone could be hiding. Within seconds, the warehouse was
riddled with bullets, the tiny holes in the wall allowing thin beams of
lamplight to shine through.
"STOP! STOP!" Albert cried, panic-stricken,
as he rushed out of his hiding place behind the warehouse, together with
Lucien and Beauchamp. "YOU MIGHT HIT EDMOND!"
"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" Lucien yelled.
At once, the gunfire receded to a deathly silence.
His subordinate confirmed the
Chief Secretary's fears. "Sir, there's no one here." The man pointed to
a small speaker from which the voice came from.
Sure enough, Riondo's voice spoke
through that small black box. "Very bad, Monsieur Morcerf. I had hoped
that you could do something so simple as to follow my instructions. You
disappointed me. I'm so sorry to tell you this but you've just signed the
death warrant of your beloved Count of Monte Cristo. I guess Edmond was
right about you. You never loved him."
Albert fell to his knees in shock
as the transmission ended. "No, it's not true. I love Edmond. I�I�was only
doing the right thing."
Beauchamp knelt down before his
young friend. "Don't give up hope, Albert. We'll find him before it's too
late."
"No, you heard what he said. He
said that Edmond's going to die, and it's all my fault."
Lucien could no longer contain
his anger and frustration. Striding towards the stunned younger man, he
let his hand fly out, slapping Albert hard in the face.
"If you're giving up this easily,
then Riondo was right about you," the Chief Secretary hissed in fury. "You
never did love Edmond. Even if you had, you did not love him enough."
Albert's cheek stung from that
slap, but the pain of guilt inside his heart was greater. "What am I going
to do, Lucien? What must I do to save Edmond?"
"As Beauchamp had said, don't
give up." Lucien then revealed, "I'm having my man trace the transmissions
that Riondo made from your computer and from here. We'll find them soon
enough, believe me."
Those reassuring words, however,
did not convince Albert. His whole body trembled with the force of his
weeping as he buried his face in Beauchamp's shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~~
"You have something for me, my
friend?" Dream's voice was like the hot desert air as he glided towards
the alien that was standing beside the table.
Ali gave the Lord of the Dreaming
a bow of obeisance before handing him a sheaf of notes that have been neatly
compiled in a thick folder.
"What is this?" Dream inquired.
He opened the folder and let the pages turn swiftly, as though blown by
the wind, while he read what was written. With each page, the Dream King's
eyebrows joined in a frown until his face was a mask of shock and horror.
Closing the folder, the Dream
King felt as if his head was spinning. "Why did I not realize this before?"
Gazing up at the ever-patient alien, he said, "You did well, Ali. I never
thought to research this angle. You have given me the answers to all the
questions I have about Edmond Dantes and the mysterious creature known
as Gankutsuou. Have you sent a copy of this to Albert Herrera?"
Ali nodded, and then shook his
head, indicating that although he had sent the file, he had received no
reply.
Dream was gripped by dread. "I
must go. Pray, my friend, that I will not be too late."
At these words, Dream faded away,
his substance merging with the shadows of the alien's chamber, taking the
folder with him.
Ali picked up the doll that Edmond
Dantes had given him. Master�be safe, he prayed, and he hurried
off to tell Princess Haydee what had happened.

~~~~~~~~~~
Benedetto could not understand
why his heart suddenly started to pound furiously. He glanced at his watch.
Two in the afternoon, and still no word from Riondo and the others.
Something's wrong, he thought
worriedly.
His eyes fell upon Edmond who
was laboring at his important task with great difficulty. The stiffening
of Edmond's fingers was more pronounced now than it was earlier. Then,
the Count removed his gloves. The rogue was horrified to see that Edmond's
hands were now transparent blue. The red artery pulsing within was now
visible, but it too was being consumed by whatever mysterious condition
it was that was afflicting him. Even the child man's face was like blue
glass. Like a hard, blue sapphire, to be exact.
He's becoming crystalline,
Benedetto concluded in horror.
Fear for the child man's well-being
prompted the rogue to squat before him. "Count, I think you should get
a little rest. You've been sewing all through last night and this morning
with no sleep."
"Just a few more stitches to go,
Andrea." Edmond's voice was strangely guttural, as though his vocal cords
were also hardening. With slow, pain-staking progress, he was sewing the
cravat to the Albert doll's neck. "Don't�have much time left. And Albert�he
was crying earlier. I don't know why, but he was crying. I�I don't want
Albert to cry anymore."
Something fell on Benedetto's
hand. He saw that it was a brilliant diamond in the shape of a teardrop.
Even the Count's tears were transforming into gemstones. The rogue instantly
made up his mind.
As Edmond cut the last bit of
string with his teeth, Benedetto pulled him to his feet. The Count seemed
a lot heavier now. "Come on, Edmond. I'm taking you to Albert right this
minute."
They had just taken one step when
Edmond all but collapsed in his arms. Looking up apologetically at Benedetto,
he said, "Sorry, Andrea. Can't move my leg." Sure enough, the Count's long
leg had stiffened.
Benedetto cursed under his breath
as he picked Edmond up, draping the older man's arm over his shoulder while
supporting him at the waist, and led him towards the door. Edmond held
the Albert doll tightly lest it fall out of his stiffening fingers. Before
the rogue's hand could even touch the door latch, the door banged open,
and there, Riondo stood, his face distorted by fury.
"I'm so glad to see that the two
of you are ready to leave." Benedetto was unable to utter a single word
of dissent as the pirate swung Edmond up into his arms. "Benedetto, let's
go."
"What happened, Riondo?" Benedetto
demanded as he followed the angry pirate to the car. To his dismay, Riondo
placed Edmond in the front seat with him. "Where are you taking him?"
"Damn that idiot of a Viscount!"
Riondo slammed the car door shut. "He set a trap at the warehouse!"
At that answer, Benedetto understood
why his heart was seized by dread earlier. He got into the back as Riondo
climbed into the driver's seat. Without the pirate's noticing it, he punched
the number of the Interior Ministry on his cellphone, leaving the line
open so that his call could be traced.
As they drove away, the rogue
asked once more, "What are you going to do with Edmond?"
Grimly, the pirate replied, "Let's
just say that Albert de Morcerf will deeply regret that he tried to trick
Salvatore Riondo."
After an hour's drive, Benedetto
saw that they were entering the commoner's area of the cemetery. Stopping
at the gates, Riondo swiftly got down and picked up his captive, making
his way through the old wooden markers and overgrown weeds. Frightened
and perplexed, all Benedetto could do was follow his leader.
They reached a thick of copse
of trees were their other men waited for them. As they drew closer, it
was only then that the rogue finally glimpsed what the pirates had been
doing. The men had dug a deep hole in the ground beneath a tree. Sitting
at the hole's edge was an open wooden coffin.
Benedetto's eyes widened in horror
as Riondo laid a stunned Edmond inside the coffin.
"Now, be a good boy, Edmond, and
lie down there and get some sleep," Riondo said as he shoved the older
man down into the box.
"NO! ANDREA!" Edmond screamed
in terror, reaching a begging hand to the rogue. But Riondo grabbed the
lid and slammed it over the coffin. Seizing the hammer from one startled
pirate, he proceeded to nail the lid tightly shut, just as the poor man
inside started pounding on the wood.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"
Benedetto rushed forward, making to stop the pirate, but Riondo decked
him, that he fell sprawling onto the grass.
The other pirates were just as
horrified. One of the men also stepped towards his leader. "Boss, I don't
think you should be doing this�"
A bullet fired into his head immediately
silenced him.
Sheathing his pistol back inside
its holster, Riondo continued to drive nails into the coffin. At one point,
he pounded the hammer again and again on the lid, shouting, "SHUT UP!"
infuriated by Edmond's screams. But Edmond continued to cry out to Benedetto
for help. Finally getting exasperated by those cries and believing that
the lid was shut tightly, he ordered his men to "LOWER AWAY!"
Benedetto was horror-stricken.
He was virtually unaware that the tears were rolling down his cheeks. He
knew all too well what Edmond was going through right at that moment as
the coffin was being lowered into its grave. Hadn't his own father done
the same to him when he was but a wee babe?
"ANDREA, PLEASE! ANDREA, HELP
ME! I'M SO SCARED! ANDREA!"
Benedetto could no longer take
those heart-rending cries. Before Riondo could stop him, he leaped into
the hollow grave, where the coffin lay sitting at the bottom.
"Hush, Edmond! Hush now!" Benedetto
called to the frightened man inside. "I'm here!"
Edmond's voice was a hoarse whimper
as he said, "Let me out of here, Andrea! Please! It's scary in here! It's
so dark!"
"Yes, Edmond. I know. I wish I
could take you out of there, but I can't. Riondo�he just killed Giuseppe
when he tried to help you. He also hurt me as well. If I'm going to help
you escape, I can't afford to have him kill me."
"But I'm so scared!"
"Yes, I know it's scary. Believe
me I know. But you must hang on for me, and for Albert too. I'm going to
get help."
Within the coffin, the rogue heard
muffled sobs. "I'm sorry, Andrea. But I don't think I could be able to
hang on."
"Of course you can!" Benedetto
said, his voice close to panic. "Edmond, I don't want you to give up, you
hear me! If you love Albert as you say you do, you'll do as I say!"
Edmond did not reply to that statement.
"Edmond? Edmond, please tell me
you're all right in there."
"Andrea�I must know. Please. I
must know why."
"Know what? EDMOND!"
As he laid his hand on the coffin's
lid, Benedetto felt a sudden jolt and then heat flowed up his arm, filling
his heart, and going up to his head. Then, the memories of that tragic
summer five years ago poured out of him in a torrent. He tried to stop
the outflow, but it was like damming up the swift current of a river. Benedetto
was helpless as those memories fed into the man lying within the coffin.
Just as suddenly as the memory
outflow began, it came to an abrupt stop, and Benedetto found himself falling
flat on his behind, gasping for breath. Dread gripped his heart, noticing
that the Count had fallen silent.
Stumbling towards the coffin,
Benedetto pressed his face close to the lid. "Edmond! Edmond, please answer
me!"
There came the quiet, but despondent
reply. "I understand now. I remember everything."
The voice was different, mature.
Like the nobleman he had known.
"Count, I�"
"I've caused so much pain to a
lot of people, to Albert most of all. How could I have been so cruel? How
could I have let hatred and revenge take control of my heart and soul?"
"Don't blame yourself. You've
been hurt just as deeply. You were betrayed and made to suffer for many
hard years in prison by those you called friends."
"But I had hurt innocents." Edmond
let out a heartbreaking wail. "What have I done? This is not what I wanted.
People's happiness, that is my wish, and finding the one whom I could love.
How could I have let this happen?"
"What are you talking about? I
don't understand! Edmond�."
Benedetto felt a chill in his
blood at the man's next words. "I am not just Edmond, Andrea. I am also
Gankutsuou. The Taker of the Darkness in man's souls. I have allowed the
darkness to consume me, and Edmond Dantes as well. This was never meant
to happen. I have failed in fulfilling my wishes. There is no reason for
me to continue on any longer."
"Edmond�Gankutsuou�for the love
of God, don't you dare give up�."
"God will not listen to one such
as I."
Benedetto gazed down at the coffin
and gasped. As though he had acquired the ability to look through objects,
the rogue could 'see' Edmond crossing his hands over his breast, the Albert
doll pressed to his heart. A pink glow was emanating from his body, breaking
through the cracks of the coffin.
"Leave me now, Benedetto," Edmond
whispered. "Let me fix everything one last time."
"Don't say that!" Benedetto burst
into tears. "Stop it! Whatever it is that you're doing, please stop! You'll�you'll
die!"
Suddenly, a rope snagged around
the rogue's upper body and he was yanked out of the hole.
"NO, EDMOND!" he screamed as he
watched the walls of the grave crumble and fall on top of the coffin.
The last words Edmond Dantes said
to him were "Please tell Albert that I'll always love him."
"NOOOOO!" Benedetto cried, as
dirt and mud magically sealed the grave just as he was pulled out of the
hole.
"THE POLICE! THEY'RE HERE!" someone
suddenly shouted.
Then, there was nothing, but sheer
panic as the pirates fled in all directions. Bullets felled many of them
who dared to fire back.
"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" Riondo
roared into the rogue's ear.
Rage, however, had gripped Benedetto's
heart. With a furious cry, he twisted his body around and grabbed the pirate's
pistol. As Riondo took a step back, Benedetto fired one round after another
into the evil man's body. Even when the pirate lay dead on the ground and
nothing more came out of the gun but sharp clicks, the rogue would not
stop shooting until a firm hand gripped his wrist.
"He's dead, Benedetto," Beauchamp
told the rogue solemnly.
Benedetto blinked at the journalist
in confusion. He was brought back to the present when Albert and Lucien
hurried up to him.
Albert seized the rogue by the
collar of his shirt. "Benedetto! Where's Edmond? What did you bastards
do to Edmond?"
The memory of the older man jolted
Benedetto into action. Shoving Albert aside, he railed, "I should be asking
you that same question myself!" As the three men watched, Benedetto fell
to his knees and began digging through the dirt with his bare hands.
"What're you doing?" asked Beauchamp,
a frown creasing his forehead.
It was Albert who realized the
reason for his former rival's strange behavior. Kneeling down as well,
he also scrabbled into the muddy ground.
Lucien gasped in horror. Frantic,
he yelled to his men, "EVERYONE! GET SHOVELS FAST!"
While the men scrambled to dig
the coffin out, Dream arrived, watching in stunned silence, the folder
that Ali had given him clutched tightly in his trembling hands.
"No!" the Dream King muttered.
"Please don't tell me that I'm too late!"
"Yes, Dream," Desire confirmed.
"You are too late."
The Lord of the Dreaming stared
at his grinning siblings who stood underneath the tree, observing what
was happening with undisguised pleasure.
"We got even with him real good!"
Delirium stuck her tongue out at the grave. "Serves you right, Edmond!"
With frantic grunts and mighty
heaves, the men pulled the coffin out of the grave.
"Edmond!" Benedetto knocked on
the cover. "Edmond, please answer me! It's Andrea! Albert's here with me!
It's going to be all right now!"
"Edmond! Edmond, can you hear
me?" Albert called out to the man inside. "Please hang on! We'll get you
out of there!"
Beauchamp snatched the crowbar
from the hand of a running policeman. Using the flat end, he squeezed it
through the crack and proceeded to pry the cover loose. Two more agents
went on other side of him, hastening to get the lid open. With a loud crack,
the cover gave way and it fell back into the hole with a loud crash.
What Albert saw inside caused
an anguished wail to be torn from his throat. Benedetto turned away as
his body was wracked by sobs. Lucien broke down completely that his lover
had to embrace him.
Lying on the padded cushion was
Edmond Dantes. The poor man had completely transformed into crystal. They
could clearly see the coffin's lining through his clear, transparent form.
Even his black hair and eyelashes had been changed into strands of black
agate. Held in his cold, blue hands was the Albert doll.
Albert wrapped his arms around
that cold, hard figure, his tears pouring from his eyes like rain. "Oh,
Edmond! I'm sorry! I am sorry!"
Despair let out a raspy cackle.
"Yes! Weep! Cry your eyes out! Let the salt of guilt rub the fiber of your
heart!"
Dream felt a heaviness crush his
heart at that pitiful sight. He turned to his three younger siblings who
had been watching everything with glee. Anger that was only known to his
previous aspect gripped the Lord of the Dreaming's entire being. Raising
his hand, he conjured up a fierce storm composed of sharp sand and flung
it right at his sisters. Despair, Delirium and Desire shrieked in agony
as the sand scoured their skins and invaded every orifice of their bodies.
"BEGONE FROM MY SIGHT THIS INSTANT!"
Dream roared. "THOUGH YOU MAY BE MY SISTERS, I SHALL NOT LET YOU GO UNPUNISHED
THIS TIME!"
"Don't think that I will forget
this, Dream!" Desire shouted back as it vanished with the storm, together
with its sisters. "I shall destroy you just as surely as I had destroyed
Morpheus!"
When they were finally gone, Dream
pressed a hand to his face to stop the pouring of his tears. "I have failed
you, Edmond. I have failed you miserably."
A gentle hand was laid on his
shoulder. Whirling, he beheld his elder sister. There was a sad little
smile on Death's face.
"Sister, don't," Dream begged
her. "Please don't take him to the other side."
Death, however, sadly shook her
head. "It was his choice, Dream. He had lost all reason to live." She waved
a hand to the pink aura that emanated from the grave. The aura and the
twinkling stars within it were spreading out, as if to envelope the whole
world. To their preternatural eyes, the sky was no longer blue, but a bright
pink. "Can you see it, Dream? He is giving his heart and soul to all living
beings."
"Which is why I cannot accept
that he die like this, not when he still has one wish left unfulfilled?"
Uncharacteristic tears trickled from the starry pits of the Dream King's
eyes. "I won't let him die, Sister!"
The sooner those strong words
left his lips, a din arose among the dead of the cemetery, increasing in
volume and intensity. The restless ghosts floated up from their graves,
surrounding the two siblings of the Endless.
"Don't take our friend!" one woman
implored them, holding the shade of a sunflower in her hand.
"It is not yet his time!" an old
man begged in earnest.
"Please! We're begging you!" all
the ghosts pleaded the same thing.
Suddenly, a beam of light shone
down from the heavens. From that light, a blond-haired boy descended. His
head was surrounded by a golden aura.
Death recognized him immediately.
"What are you doing here? I have already taken you to the other side."
"I was permitted to come here
to help you," the boy replied simply. "Even if it were his wish to end
it all, Edmond would not be admitted into the Kingdom. He and the being
who has chosen to die with him are not evil, but they do not deserve to
wander this mortal coil for all eternity as restless specters."
"Then what are we going to do?"
Dream asked in urgency. "Please you must tell us!"
The boy smiled meaningfully at
the Dream King. "The Endless were never known to interfere in mortal affairs,
and yet here you are determined to save one life. Why is that?"
"Because I too was once mortal.
And from what I have learned from Morpheus before me, non-interference
could prove catastrophic to many innocent lives, especially if one has
the power to do something about it."
"So like your sister who experiences
mortality every century, you've finally gained a human soul."
"Yes. And I have Edmond Dantes
and Gankutsuou to thank for that."
The boy looked at Death. "Well?
What do you say to all this?"
Death grinned broadly. "Only two
words � Peachy keen!" Going towards the crystalline figure lying in the
coffin, she bent down and kissed Edmond on the lips, sealing his spirit
within the cold shell. She could feel that poor soul struggling to break
free from his prison. "Sorry about this, Edmond, but everyone wants to
see you happy and alive. For now, sleep, my dear sweet friend. Sleep until
your one true love awakens you."

* * * * * * * * * *
- 7
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The Dollmaker