#apparently there was supposed to be springs in the eraser bit and i. lost those LONG ago

[narsh-poptarts]

the eraser on my tablet pen has broken D: the rest of the pen works just fine but it's a hardware issue not a software one, not something i can readily fix o|< augh

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers LOST EDEN ー Shin Maniac [Epilogue]

ー The scene starts in the dungeon

*Drip drip*

Shin: Nn...

Where am I...?

*Rustle rustle* 

Shin: ( A prison cell...!? )

ー Kino approaches his cell

Kino: Hey there... Finally awake?

Shin: Kino...Did you put me in here!?

Fuck...

Kino: Okay, stop right there! No point in trying to use your magic.

This prison cell is a bit special, you see. It seals all magic. 

Shin: Wah...!? 

Kino: Or rather, you must be pretty stupid to sleep out there in the open while you are being pursued. 

Shin: Che...You put something into the spring’s water, didn’t you...!? 

*CLATTER*

Shin: ...And what are you hoping to achieve by capturing me? 

Kino: The options are endless? For example, I could force Carla to bow his head to me...For example. 

Back then Carla was just standing in for his Father...But right now, he is the one and only official Founder King.

Shin: You piece of trash...!

Kino: Also...The Founders’ powers are a force to be reckoned with in the eyes of the Vibora Clan, no? 

So I figured it’d be a big win for me if I could keep them away from me by capturing you.

Shin: ...I thought you were looking for a place to settle in the human world? 

So you were lying to us after all!?

Kino: That wasn’t a lie. Back then, that was the plan, but I just changed my mind.

Shin: ...Sounds like something I’ve heard before.

Kino: Oh come on, don’t be like that.

ー Somebody approaches the cell

Kino: ...Oh. Seems like your next visitor is here.

Zweig: ーー It has been a while, Founder.

Shin: ...The Vibora King.

Kino: See. I’ll step away then. See you later!

ー Kino leaves

Shin: ...! Hold up, Kino!

Zweig: Hahaha. Seems like the two of us are bound by fate, huh...?

Shin: Shut up. Who do you think you’re talking to!? Stay away from me, you drunkard. 

Zweig: Haha...I’m surprised you can tell I’ve had a couple of drinks. I suppose it’s true that Founders have an excellent sense of smell. 

Shin: ...

Zweig: No need to get so mad. The Vibora Clan and the Founders have a past together which cannot be erased...

Shin: ( This way...What is he saying all of a sudden...? )

Zweig: I doubt you are aware but...There was once a time where your Mother would visit our Castle quite frequently. 

Shin: Mother did...? What do you mean?

Zweig: This happened even before your Mother got married to Giesbach...

Krone was actually supposed to wed my successor, the Demon Lord Burai.

That is why she came here.

Shin: Haha...Don’t lie. A Founder woman wasn’t allowed to formally leave the Castle. 

It’d be impossible for Mother to have come here before her engagement. 

Zweig: Yes. It would have probably been impossible for her to achieve that on her own.

Shin: ...Don’t tell me.

Zweig: ーー But if somebody arranged it...Then it’s a whole other story, no?

Shin: ...!

I’ve never...heard about something like that.

Zweig: It is quite famous amongst the Vibora Clan.

Because this took place before the Founders were locked up inside Banmadenーー

Even before the current King, Carla, was born. So I honestly cannot blame you for not knowing.

Besides...I can only assume it would be a taboo topic amongst Founders.

Shin: ...Why?

Zweig: After all...It is rumored that Krone shared mutuals feelings with a Wolf Prince who worked as a servant under Burai. 

Shin: ーー !

Zweig: Apparently it was a Founder by the name of Ferzen who mediated their relationship. 

Shin: ( Ferzen...Our Uncle!? )

Zweig: ...Good grief. I suppose I’ve said too much.

I’ve fallen into a bad habit of drinking too much as of late...

ー Zweig leaves

Shin: Kuh...

( What if Mother continued to have connections with the Wolf Clan...Even after getting married to Father? )

( If Father was completely unaware of this, and she managed to keep the whole thing hidden as well...It would explain everything. )

( Why they were so kind to me, and why they treasured me... )

It can’t be...No, no, no!

*CLATTER*

Shin: I’m a Founder...I’m...

( A tall and proud Founder...Those whose bloodline is more sacred than anyone else’s in the whole wide world... )

( But...Then, why? How come I won’t get infected with Endzeit? )

( I’m still alive and well even after Nii-san’s blood entered my body? )

It has to be a lie...There’s no way...I’m a Founder, a Founder...!

*CLATTER*

Shin: ( If I’m not, then what has my life been up till now!? )

Uu...Ah...Uwaaaaaah!!!!!

ー The scene shifts to the guest room at Eden

*Flap flap flap* 

Yui: Ah...He’s back!

ー Yui runs up to the Familiar

Yui: Thank you for delivering my leーー ...Wait, huh...?

( This letter...It’s not a response from Shin-kun. It’s my letter... )

Eh...? Shin-kun hasn’t returned to Banmaden...?

( What does that mean...? He should have made it there by now... )

( I suppose I’ll try consulting with Ruki-kun... )

*TIMESKIP*

Yui: ...And that’s what happened.

Ruki: I see...I understand the situation. 

ーー Kou, Yuma, Azusa.

ー The others approach

Kou: What’s wrong?

Yuma: Yes? 

Azusa: Did something...happen...?

Ruki: Go check up on those two. ...Okay?

Yuma: Ah? Why? 

Kou: I mean, if that’s what you want, sure...

Azusa: Yeah...

ー They leave

Ruki: I’ll go have a look as well. ...You stay here.

Yui: But...

Ruki: ーー Understood?

Yui: Okay...

ー Ruki leaves as well

Monologue

All I could do was watch over them,

as the others left Eden. 

I became painfully aware of my own powerlessness. 

ーー Deep down.

I want nothing more than to find Shin-kun myself,

and to save him with my very own hands. 

I’m just so unreliable for being unable to do that,

as I simply found myself to be so utterly pathetic.

May he please be safe. 

While clutching my Cross in my hands,

I continued to pray for a while. 

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

[cheeseanonioncrisps]

Here's a fun thing to wonder: when exactly did Héctor learn that, not only did his leaving make Imelda so angry that she never wanted to have anything to do with him again, but it was apparently so traumatic that she felt the need to shut out all music for the rest of her life.

And, very nearly, the rest of Coco's life.

And what probably amounted to most of Oscar, Felipe, Rosita and Julio's lives.

And for all of Victoria's life. I mean, she probably went from her cradle to her grave without ever being allowed to enjoy music.

That's got to have been a pretty horrific thing for Héctor to find out. He's already feeling terrible about abandoning Imelda and leaving her to raise Coco on her own, but at some point he must have learned that he also poisoned the entire concept of music for his family for five generations.

And, the question is, when did he find this out? 'Cause, as far as I remember, I don't think anybody tells him during the movie. I mean, Miguel tells him that his family "hate music!" but he doesn't know who they are at that point, and besides, he might well have assumed that Miguel was exagerrating.

After all, why would anybody hate music?

So the way I see it, there are three options for when he finds out:

Imelda told him after she died, when he was still trying to win her back. Possibly it was enough to make him stop.

After Imelda's branch of the Rivera family became more established in the afterlife, Héctor started asking around, trying to find out as much he could about them, and soon learned that they had this weird thing about music. "Apparently, some musician ran out on Señora Rivera and her daughter, and since then nobody in their family listens to music." and then the person telling the story has to stop to ask Héctor if he's okay, because he looks like he's about to faint or something.

He still doesn't know. Well, okay, so he probably knows by the end of the movie, when we see him crossing the bridge a year later, but it's entirely possible that he didn't learn about Imelda's music ban until after the events of that one fateful Día de los Muertos.

So now I'm imagining it's a few days after Día de Muertos, and Héctor's moved into the Rivera house (or at any rate, he woke up there after nearly going through the Final Death, and nobody's asked him to leave yet, so he's sort of hopeful) and, somehow, he gets hold of a guitar.

Probably a friend lent it to him (after first extracting promises from Héctor and any of the Riveras who happened to be in the room at the time, that they will do all they can to make sure that the guitar does not end up lost, broken or confiscated by law enforcement) to give him something to do while he's recovering from the Final Death.

And he starts to play a few notes on it and across the room he sees Victoria just sort of... stiffen, and he doesn't know why. And, looking around, he sees that the rest of the family (with the exception of Imelda, who is still looking resolutely at the shoe she was working on, though she seems to have stopped what she was doing) have all turned round to stare at him.

It's a bit unnerving, to be honest. All he did was play the guitar.

So, to try and break the tension, he calls out to Victoria. "Hey..." there's a pause while he tries to remember her name, and a pang of guilt about the fact that, even though she's Coco's daughter, his granddaughter, he still struggles to remember her name. "Victoria! Do you have any requests?"

"What?" she looks confused.

He gestures to the guitar. "Songs? Do you have any songs you'd like me to play?"

The look of confusion switches to one of panic. "Er... I don't... I mean, we don't..." she trails off, looking embarassed.

"It's okay mija." the man sitting next to her says, putting a reassuring hand on her hand.

Julio. Héctor remembers. Victoria's father. Coco's husband. Coco had a husband. Even now, the idea seems alien to him. He can't stop picturing her as a little girl.

"Er, Señor..." Julio is nervy by nature, and has been skirting round Héctor ever since he arrived in the Rivera House, brushing off any attempts at conversation and refusing to spend any time in the same room as him unless accompanied by another member of the family. He's also the first person in a long while to insist on calling Héctor "Señor".

It feels weird. He's grown used to just "Héctor", or "amigo", or "Hey! You! Get away from that bridge right now!"

He's tried asking Julio to call him Héctor, but to no avail.

"Señor..." Julio says now, "Sorry, but Victoria doesn't know any songs."

Héctor drops the guitar in shock. The rest of the family look away uncomfortably, except for Victoria, who's looking at him apologetically.

"No manches?" he says at last, when he's finally remembered that it's possible for him to close his mouth. "You don't know any at all?"

"My family... we don't really do music." she says, her expression now so embarassed that he suspects she'd probably be blushing if such a thing were possible.

"Do music?"

"Play it, listen to it, allow it in the house..." she shrugs. "So I never really heard any songs."

"Why?"

"Because..." Victoria looks panicked again, and this time the lady sitting in the corner— Rosa? Rosita! Héctor's not quite sure how she's related to everybody else, but he's heard Victoria and Miguel call her Tía— takes pity. "Well, it was banned, you see. Ever since Coco was a little girl. Because..." she too trails off, but shoots a pointed look at Imelda.

Ah. Words spring to his mind.

"I wanted to forget you! I wanted Coco to forget you!"

He hadn't realised how much she'd meant it. How much pain had he put her through that she'd taken such drastic measures to try and erase him from her life?

He looks down at the guitar. Suddenly all the excitement about getting to play again drains out of him. He takes the strap off his shoulder and goes to put the instrument back in its case. It can stay there until Juan comes back for it.

"Poco Loco." a voice breaks the silence and everybody stares at Imelda, who keeps on working on her shoe.

"What?" he says, sure he's misheard.

She sighs. "If you're looking for something to play, then what about Poco Loco? I've always liked it."

The rest of the family continue looking at her in disbelief. Particularly the younger generation— Victoria looks like the sky actually has turned red, and the moon turned blue at the same time. Her mouth opens so wide that her bottom jaw actually slips right off. She deftly catches it before it hits the ground and slots it back in place, still staring at Imelda.

"Poco Loco?" Héctor says at last. "Sure. Yes." he picks up the guitar again, "of course, Imelda."

He starts to play, and then to sing. He's got his eyes shut, but at the start of the second verse he hears her voice come to meet his. They haven't sung together like this since... well, probably days before he left her. They sounded good together. Everybody said so... well, everybody except Ernesto, but he pushes the thought away, not wanting his ex-best friend to ruin this moment like he ruined so many others. Imelda would never sing in front of a crowd, but she'd sing when he played for her, and sometimes other people would hear, and tell them that they sounded amazing together. With a thrill, he realises that they still do.

The twins join in together for the third verse, followed swiftly, and to his surprise, by Julio and Rosita. For a moment, he wonders how on earth they know it, before realising that they're probably young enough— or old enough, he supposes, remembering exactly how much time has passed— to have been children when the song was first released by Ernesto. They'd have grown up with it.

Even Victoria joins in a bit, falteringly singing the "poco loco"s and humming the tune for the rest, clearly self conscious about being the only one in the room to not know the lyrics, but he thinks she's enjoying herself. He resolves to get hold of a book of song lyrics for her. He suspects that there'll be several such books going for practically free, very soon— so long as she doesn't mind one with Ernesto on the cover (possibly he can cross it out).

But for now, he's just glad she's singing. His eyes are open now and he watches his family singing together, for the first time in what must be nearly a century. Admittedly, not all of them sound as good as Imelda. He used to joke that the twins couldn't carry a tune to save their lives, and the loss of those lives hasn't improved things much. And, though Julio and Rosita are a little better— Rosita especially— they're out of practice and it shows. Victoria has inherited her grandmother's— and her mother's, for all he knows, he realises with another faint pang of guilt— talent, but she can't really let herself go when she doesn't know the lyrics.

But together, he thinks, they're probably the best thing he's heard since he first entered the Land of the Dead.