2001 The Children of Bottle/Chapter 2: Joy Anger SORROW Fun

Synopsis
Following the messengers, Czes, Maiza, and Sylvie discuss their situation, while Nile sleeps in the back of the car. While Maiza is flippant about their situation, Czes insists it feels odd, so Maiza reflects that the village had definitely been strange, and that he'd brought up things like travelers and private land to them to see how they'd react. Though Czes suggests the villagers could be cultists, Maiza disagrees, but doesn't think the village is an ordinary one either. Moreover, he recounts that the village headman seemed to know a lot about the village itself. Czes thinks this is normal, considering his position, and Maiza is about to elaborate on the strangeness of that fact when he catches sight of their destination, which turns out to be a small castle.

Maiza drives the car through the front gate, following the horses, and stops to get out in the center of the courtyard. Seeing that the castle has been covered in Christmas decorations, Sylvie affirms that it's definitely Elmer living in there. After discussing Elmer's taste in decoration, Sylvie goes to wake Nile while Czes and Maiza enter the castle. The two of them are barely able to take in the strangely modern interior of the castle before the door slams shut behind them.

A voice of unknown origin begins to laugh, taunting the two of them. Rather than reacting in fear, however, Maiza and Czes both recognize the voice as Elmer's. Despite that they call out to him, Elmer continues to play the part of the mysterious figure in the castle, prompting them both to call out to him again. At this, Elmer drops the creepy voice he'd been putting on, and the two of them express how glad they are to see him. Elmer reacts in surprise, finally recognizing Czes and Maiza, and drops down from where he'd been hiding near the ceiling.

Elmer calls for all the shutters to be opened, explaining to the two of them after they open on their own that he'd rigged them to open and close at the pull of a single string. Maiza attempts to get a closer look at Elmer, but Elmer's face is obscured by a sack with holes cut into it. Removing the sack, Elmer explains that he'd wanted to scare his guests by dressing like this; since his outfit was all black, it would make him blend into the darkness. Finally, the three of them have a proper reunion, Czes and Maiza both good-naturedly teasing Elmer.

Maiza points out that his attempt to scare them had missed the mark, since he'd only made them laugh. However, this seems to excite Elmer rather than discourage him, and after celebrating a little, he tells Maiza how shocked he is that the two of them had shown up here. Maiza, who had been under the impression that Elmer had already known they were coming, asks for further clarification, and Elmer responds that he'd only heard news that outsiders had arrived in the village.

As Maiza and Czes wonder who'd told him people had arrived at the village, a knock sounds at the door, prompting Maiza to inform Elmer that two of the other immortals are also here. Elmer opens the door slightly, seeing Sylvie and Nile, but shuts it immediately, seemingly not recognizing them. He asks Maiza who the two outside are, and Maiza and Czes try not to smile. The door is then opened from the outside, and Sylvie and Czes walk in. Elmer begins to make a scene about strangers walking into his castle, which amuses Sylvie and angers Nile.

Realizing Elmer genuinely doesn't recognize him, Nile says his appearance has changed a lot, so Elmer should recognize him by his voice, after which Elmer recognizes him immediately as Nile. He then turns to Sylvie, and confidently identifies her as Huey Laforet, which disappoints Sylvie but makes everyone else laugh. Maiza tells Elmer who Sylvie is, though he doesn't believe it since the Sylvie he remembers wasn't a "transcendent beauty" like that. Sylvie explains that she preserved her share of the Grand Panacea for several years instead of drinking it right away. Elmer begrudgingly accepts that explanation, though he asks her how much children's blood she'd bathed in to become that beautiful, to which she takes offense. After this, he reveals that he'd known it was Sylvie the whole time.

Czes watches as Maiza and Nile hold Elmer down so Sylvie can slap him, reflecting that while Elmer and Sylvie haven't changed at all, he feels like the only person who has changed. At the same time, watching them, one of the girls under Elmer's care reflects that she can't remember how to smile at all.

Moving on from having been slapped, Elmer urges everyone to make themselves comfortable as they all begin speaking about their other colleagues. Maiza informs Elmer that including the assembled group, only nine of the alchemists aboard the Advena Avis remain. Elmer decides he's happy about that, since he hadn't been sure if anyone had survived this far. Moreover, he claims he's bad at being sad, and asks Maiza to tell him who's still alive so he can properly remember the dead. Maiza lists the names of the surviving alchemists: Begg, Huey, and Victor; he's about to say another name, but Elmer cuts him off before he can, recounting that Victor had managed to arrest Huey once before and asking what Huey's up to now. Maiza answers that he doesn't know, but that Huey is probably experimenting somewhere, which Elmer agrees with before apologizing about having interrupted Maiza.

Maiza carries on and tells Elmer that the last alchemist remaining is Denkurō Tōgō, but that they haven't managed to find him just yet. Elmer informs them that he'd actually run into Denkurō by chance a decade ago in Japan. While Maiza and Czes had gone to Japan as soon as they could, they'd arrived there before he did; Elmer reveals that Denkurō had actually spent 250 years frozen in ice at the North Pole. After being found by a Soviet submarine, he'd fled from the KGB through Germany and was stuck in East Germany until the Berlin Wall was torn down, at which point he was able to make his way back to Japan.

Elmer points out that Maiza hadn't listed Szilard Quates as one of the alchemists still among the living. Elmer asks if they'd been looking for him just to tell him that Szilard had died, and bursts into laughter when Maiza responds in the affirmative. However, he begins choking, claiming that faking a laugh had sent gastric juices into his windpipe. As everyone else stands by and watches, Czes reaches out with his right hand to pat Elmer's cheek before moving that hand to Elmer's head. When Elmer doesn't react, Czes backs away. Elmer is about to ask Czes what that had been about when Maiza declares that they need to ask Elmer some questions.

Maiza begins grilling him about the village and his situation, but Elmer starts to protest that he's getting overwhelmed and begins to tremble violently. Suddenly, his head pops off, and the space where it should have been begins to emit a non-poisonous smoke. By the time it clears, Elmer's clothes are in a pile on the floor, and he's nowhere to be seen. As everyone stands around in confusion, Elmer's voice carries in from somewhere unknown. He proposes that they all play a game: he'll run and hide from them all, and if they catch him, he'll answer all of their questions.

Though Maiza is bothered by this, Czes reminds him that Elmer probably won't drop it, and Elmer dramatically welcomes them once again to the village before leaving. As soon as he's gone, one of the girls under his care knocks on the door and offers the group of them tea. Czes decides to ask her how she knows Elmer, and she responds that she's a sacrifice.

Meanwhile, inside the village, several of the older residents meet in the village center, hounding Dez Nibiru for answers about their predicament with the outsiders and discussing the unusual situation amongst themselves. Dez mutters that he hadn't wanted to let the newcomers meet Elmer, and that he's now concerned about the reaction Elmer will have to their unfriendly welcome. When this sends the villagers into an uproar, Dez silences them, yelling that even if he doesn't have a plan of action, nobody else in the village does either.

Dez's son Feldt Nibiru hounds his father for saying it so harshly, and reminds him that everyone is counting on him because they're all scared of the current situation. Furthermore, he says that the villagers should all work together instead of fighting with eachother. As the tension dissipates, Feldt continues that he thinks the best plan is just to watch the group for now and gather information, to which Dez halfheartedly agrees. One of the villagers protests, saying that Elmer is going to come demand another sacrifice soon, and Dez replies that they only have one "sacrifice" left, and they'll have to give him a real village girl the next time he asks.

Outside the village center, the last of the "sacrifices" overhears the conversation happening inside and moves closer to the door. However, the door opens on her, impacting her directly. Before she can recover from the impact, Dez---the person who had opened the door---begins to violently open the door on her over and over again. As she scrambles to escape the door, she stumbles and sandwiches herself between the door and the frame, so Dez begins closing the door on her repeatedly.

Just when the pain begins to dull, Dez stops, berating the girl for getting blood all over the entryway. As the villagers file out of the building, they all step over her with indifference or disgust. Feldt stops to ask if she's alright, but then says that she'll be the next sacrifice, and that he wants her to be the sacrifice for everyone else's sake.

She reflects on the fact that everyone from outside the village has always been kind to her, and decides that she wants to see a better place than the village and live without being abused. However, she knows that leaving the village would mean death for her, and laments that she had actually been close to hating Elmer even though he'd tried to teach her how to smile.

On the night of December 23, Czes approaches Elmer on the roof of the castle. Elmer tries to ask if he'd come up here on his own, but Czes deflects his question, commenting that the castle's architecture is strange and nonsensical. Elmer jokes that they should add some Japanese decoration to make it look even stranger, and Czes smiles, making his way over the roof towards Elmer. Elmer jumps up, declaring that Czes doesn't have him cornered just yet, although he realizes when Czes points it out that there isn't anywhere to run to. Still, he tells Czes he'll run in circles around the conical roof.

Czes dismisses his desire to run, telling Elmer he hadn't come up here to "catch" him; he'd only wanted to ask Elmer something personal, and says that he'd expected Elmer to be on the roof since Elmer used to always scale the mast of the Advena Avis to look at the stars. He asks Elmer if he'd really been planning to hide for days, but Elmer doesn't answer, instead asking Czes what sort of question he was going to pose.

Czes puts on a smile, about to talk, but Elmer berates him for faking it, and Czes turns hostile. Elmer reacts in a confused way to his change in demeanor, and Czes realizes that Elmer hadn't actually seen through his childish act; Elmer had only noticed that his smile was fake, and nothing else. Elmer apologizes for not assuming he should be acting like an adult after 300 years, and Czes contemplatively looks at the sky. When he speaks again, he remarks that Maiza, Sylvie, and Nile haven't said anything about his situation. He then asks Elmer what he thinks of them. Elmer responds immediately that he thinks of them as companions, and the abruptness of his answer startles Czes.

Elmer begins to backtrack, going over different variations of the word "companions" to find one that sounds the best. When Czes shoots him down, Elmer tells him to act more like a kid, but Czes protests that he's not a "little brat" inside. Elmer counters that it's creepy to see him talk like an adult, and that people usually get happy when they see a child smiling. Czes asks Elmer if he'd ignore his circumstances, but Elmer says that smiling would be for his sake as well, since he doesn't have to be embarrassed about showing his emotions as a child but he can also act mature when it's convenient---plus, him smiling will make everyone else around him smile, too.

Czes rebukes his views on smiles, calling them simplistic. He asks why Elmer thinks happiness is a higher emotion than everything else, but Elmer just answers that it's his personal preference, which frustrates Czes, who asks how someone like Elmer ever became an alchemist. Elmer launches into a discussion about the transmutation of base metals into gold, which turns into a discussion about alchemists in general: he recounts that alchemists were previously sorted into two camps, which were the alchemists who focused on research and the alchemists who attempted more magical feats. He categorizes all of them as the second type of alchemist, drawing from that conclusion that it's meaningless to apply logical thought to their situation, so Czes should just live freely and smile.

Despite Czes's frustration and more subsequent ribbing from Elmer, Czes gets to ask his question; he asks Elmer why he hadn't asked who'd eaten Szilard. He further begins to press Elmer on why he'd just let them all in without a second thought, and why he hadn't reacted at all when Czes had put his right hand on his head. When Czes cools down, Elmer simply answers that he'd forgotten devouring was a condition on immortality. Czes asks why he's living in a place like this if he hadn't been scared of getting devoured, and Elmer just says that he hadn't been traveling the world to run away from anyone. Going further, he says that he wouldn't have cast the four of them out even if one of them really had eaten Szilard, and says that none of them are the type to devour him like that.

To demonstrate his point, Elmer reaches out and puts Czes's right hand on his head. Czes is terrified, and yanks his hand away from Elmer's head immediately, proving Elmer right. Still calming down from his fear, Czes asks Elmer why he'd been able to do that so easily, then asks why everyone else has also been able to let their guard down around him so easily, believing that they wouldn't turn on eachother.

He goes on to explain that when he'd arrived in New York many decades earlier, he'd believes humans were evil, but he'd met an entirely new group of immortals there who were all good people. Though Elmer is shocked to find out that there were other immortals besides their group, he doesn't show it, asking Czes if that isn't a good thing. Czes denies this, saying that he knows human nature is evil, then quietly confesses that he ate Fermet. He carries on, saying that he had trusted Fermet's intentions even though Fermet had subjected him to abusive experiments, and that he'd truly broken after devouring Fermet and realizing he had been full of malice towards Czes the entire time, viewing the entire world after that as evil; as such, having met so many good people, he believes himself to be the only evil one in the world.

Elmer replies that he's jealous of Czes, because Czes had managed to continue meeting good people despite the rest of the world being bad. Czes tells Elmer he's jealous of his optimism, but Elmer deflects, saying that Czes is pretty good as it is. Czes gets more frustrated, noting that nobody else he knows has changed at all, but he's changed for the worse, and he's the only one who's changed in general. He tries to end the conversation after that, getting up and making his way back to where he'd climbed up onto the roof from, but Elmer calls after him, asking him why he doesn't just be good.

Czes tells him it isn't easy, but Elmer tells him that he hasn't changed, only grown, and that even if he has changed, he can just change back. Czes asks what Elmer gets out of him changing back, and Elmer revisits the idea of Czes smiling like a little kid again, saying he'll do anything to help Czes smile. Czes asks him if he'd jump off the roof, to which Elmer responds by immediately jumping off the roof, causing everyone else to react in alarm.

Now by himself on the roof of the castle, Czes apologizes to Elmer for not being able to smile.

Cultural References

 * The castle Elmer is staying in is described by Maiza as a smaller version of Vianden Castle in Luxembourg.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Czeslaw Meyer
 * Sylvie Lumiere
 * Maiza Avaro
 * Elmer C. Albatross
 * Nile
 * Fil (unnamed)
 * Dez Nibiru
 * Feldt Nibiru