“ | That is the command I received from Rytas-sama. | ” |
—Retrace XLIV: Dusty Sky |
Marie (マリー, Marī) is a minor character from Jun Mochizuki's Pandora Hearts. She is the valet of Rytas, a guardian of one of the Stone Seals which protect against Glen Baskerville's return. As a child, Marie had been abandoned deep in the woods of the Carillon district by the villagers of her hometown Toll. Rytas found her and took her in as a valet, treating her as his own. Thus she dedicates herself to faithfully serving every command of her dear master. This includes his orders to violently dispose of any outsiders attempting to trespass, which prevents Pandora from securing the Seal. As a result Oz Vessalius and his friends are sent in to make contact under the hopes that he can be the exception and find the Seal.
Appearance
Marie was an extremely beautiful woman, with long strawberry-blonde hair that went down to her thighs, a slender, very pale face and pink eyes. Marie wore a red corset underneath a pink overcoat adorned with ribbons, a pink dress, long boots and a pink ribbon that stays in the collar of her shirt.
Personality
Marie showed that she was very loyal and caring towards her master, as well as very grateful towards him for rescuing her after the villagers of Toll had abandoned in the woods. Rytas was shown to be the most important person to her, as his death resulted in her losing control of her emotions and breaking down in a violent manner. She is very clever and quiet, using mirrors to trick her enemies.
History
Marie had been born in the villiage of Toll, but shortly after being born, the villagers abandoned her in a forest of the neighboring region, Carillon. A man came across the child soon after, and he brought her back to his mansion where he cared for her and helped her grow. For this, Marie was grateful and so she took care of Rytas when he became to old to do so by himself. She devoted her life to protecting the peace in Rytas's home, killing anyone who dared enter the mansion in search of the Sealing Stone her master owned.
Plot
The Feast Arc
Rufus Barma had only recently recovered Arthur Barma's memoirs and deciphered that Arthur had helped Jack Vessalius split his body into five segments which were then cursed with magic and sealed with the help of four other sorcerers. Rufus had known about the destruction of the first Sealing Stone in Sablier , and had only recently located the second when Oz Vessalius, Gilbert Nightray, Sharon Rainsworth and Alice had visited his estate to find out what the earthquake they had felt in Sablier was all about.
Rufus explains that the earthquake was caused by the destruction of a Sealing Stone and that he needed Oz to obtain the rest in order to prevent Glen Baskerville's return, though Oz didn't need to trouble himself with locating it as Rufus had already done so. Rufus reveals that two operatives from Pandora had been sent to search Carillon in order to obtain the Sealing Stone, but they were never heard from after their departure. The reason being that Marie had killed the two of them once they had entered Rytas' mansion and they'd discovered that they were unable to use their Chains. Oz, Alice, Gil and Sharon agree to seek out Rufus' subordinate in Toll to take over the mission, meeting one of Rufus' subordinates in Toll, Gruner.
The next day, Marie is shown undertaking her daily routine, waking up Master Rytas and remarking on how beautiful the morning was. Oz, Alice, Sharon, Gil and Grüner traverse a forest within Carillon, following along a marked trailed until they reached Master Rytas' estate.
As soon as they step into the mansion, they are confronted by Marie. She asks them if they were friends of the two Pandora members who had arrived a few days before them. Grüner explained that they were and asked where the two Pandora members were. Marie explained that she had already brought them back into the woods, she then compares the group to a "wolf chasing those two little birds" which Marie considers a problem. She asks the group how to cook a wolf as she draws a hacksaw and attacks. Within seconds she's able to appear in front of Gil and slash his arm. Marie states that there was only one person who could come near the mansion without her executing them, stating that she was ordered to do so.
Sharon attempts to summon Equus to protect her, but is stunned when he doesn't listen. Grüner jumps in front of Sharon and takes a slash across the shoulder from Marie instead. Marie realizes that Sharon was a contractor and explains that because of the Sealing Stone, none of their Chains would ever come for them.
Oz then comes to the realization that Marie was using mirrors to appear in more than one place at a time. Marie was impressed by how quickly Oz had figured it out, but thought of it as only a minor complication. She then explained further that the two Pandora members were very cocky because of their Chains, but without them they lost their confidence, Gil shoots at Marie while she explains but only hits the glass of the mirrors. Marie then tells Sharon that she is just the same, powerless, delusional, selfishly thinking that her power was her own, when she was nothing without her Chain.
Gil saves Sharon from being attacked again, shooting after Marie continuously. Alice tells Gil to release her powers so that she can kill Marie, she then notices Oz is being strained and is on the ground breathing heavily. This was the effect on Oz from the Sealing Stone. Oz then came to realize where Marie was thanks to his weakness, and as she dives to attack him, Oz uses the power of B-Rabbit to turn her hacksaw into dust.
Oz has become irritable because of the ringing in his ears and believes that decapitating Marie would stop the ringing, so he summons B-Rabbit's scythe. Alice wraps her arms around Oz as he gets within inches of killing Marie, thus causing him to stop. Alice brings Oz back to his senses as Rytas appears and tells them that the Sealing Stone was in the mansion's basement.
Marie supports Rytas as he explains to Oz how the Seal suppresses all Chains' power, except for B-Rabbit. Grüner suggests that Gil, Alice, Sharon and Oz should head back to Toll so that they can contact Rufus while he stayed at the mansion with Marie and Rytas. As the group leaves, Rytas explains that he'd most likely live out the rest of his days in peace because his job was finished, but because Marie was abandoned by the villagers in the woods when she was a child, she had devoted her life to Rytas' service and he'd hoped that Marie could finally see the good things about life.
Rytas, Marie and Grüner return inside the mansion, and Marie tells Rytas that she'd make him some tea because he would've been tired, but when she turned around, his head was just falling too the floor and fresh blood was squirting from his neck. He had been decapitated. Marie at first is in shock, but soon breaks down, screaming and crying for her master. The Head Hunter then revealed himself and decapitated both Grüner and Marie as well. The Head Hunter then proceeded to destroy the Second Sealing Stone.
Powers and Abilities
Marie can use mirror manipulation to make it appear as if she is in numerous places at once and coupled with her amazing agility and acrobatic way of fighting, made it extremely difficult to attack her. She also was shown to wield a large handled hacksaw, which she wielded with dexterity.
Quotes
- "Good morning Rytas-sama, we have yet another fine day upon us."
- "You must be tired, Rytas-sama, I shall go and put the kettle on now."
- "Are you friends of the little birds that wandered in the other day?"
- "All who approach this house shall- with one exception- be consigned to oblivion by these hands."
- "Hahaha it's no use calling him... no matter how many times you call for him... your friend, the Chain, will not come."
- "... Although you're just a weak little girl without your Chain."
- "Why can you use that power?"
- "Are you sure? I killed your comrades..."
Gallery
Appearances
- Retrace XLIII: Crown of Clown (First Appearance)
- Retrace XLIV: Dusty Sky (†)
- Retrace XLV: Queen of Hurts
- Retrace XLVI: Persona*
- Retrace LIII: Humpty Dumpty Sat On A Wall*
- Magical Girl Ill-Omened❤Lacie (Non-Canon)
(*) - Denotes that the character did not appear physically, but as a part of another character's memories.
Trivia
- In the official guidebook Pandora Hearts 18.5: Evidence, Marie's name is misspelled as 'Mary'.
- Marie's character seems to be inspired by various character's and themes from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll. Her name, 'Marie', is similar to Mary-Anne, the name of the White Rabbit's maid. Her weapon and her refrence to cooking draws inspiration fron the character of The Duchess' Cook. Her introdive description ""The Black Rose guarding the next Seal..." draws inspiration from the importance of roses in Wonderland, and possibly from the character of The Rose itself. Finally, her use of mirror manipulation draws from the theme of mirrors (looking glasses) from the second novel.