Night of Wallachia

Night of Wallachia (ワラキアの夜) is the thirteenth of The Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors and the ancestor of Sion Eltnam Atlasia. He is very different from other Dead Apostles, as he can not actually be said to currently exist. His nature is that of a phenomenon known as TATARI (タタリ), derived from Japan's etymology for the word "curse", a recurring event that grants physical shape to the fears and rumors that circulate within a community. This phenomenon first manifested as the image of the vampire that was falsely believed to haunt the province of in Romania, Vlad the Impaler, thus granting him his title. He is the main villain of Melty Blood and his Reality Marble TATARI is central to the Melty Blood series.

Background
Originally an genius alchemist from Atlas named Zepia Eltnam Oberon (ズェピア・エルトナム・オベローン) a member of the prestigious noble family of Eltnam, for whose downfall he was responsible. During his research, the ability of the Atlas alchemists to calculate and predict the future eventually revealed to him that only destruction would be an absolute result for the world. Obsessed and driven mad by this realization, he sought to oppose an universal law known as Program No. 6 (第六法), or simply The Sixth, which was said to be the bringer of that ultimate destruction, with the intention of creating an impossible future that would escape even his calculations. He became convinced that he had to become a vampire and increase his power in order to reach The Sixth. And in order to become a vampire he needed to break the golden rule of Atlas, as everything created in Atlas must be kept and disposed of within the domains of the organization. He left Atlas and continued researching outside and he transformed himself into a Dead Apostle. Because of that, ended up doing all of the noble family of Eltnam stand in ruin, and now the Eltnam are considers a ruined noble house of alchemists, because of the actions of Zepia. His metamorphosis into the TATARI, theorized and formulated as part of his research of The Sixth, was realized through a pact with Altrouge Brunestud who summoned the Crimson Moon and transformed him into the curse, casting him into a cycle by which he would continuously manifest in per-calculated areas, the journey destined to finalize a thousand years later when the reappearance of the Crimson Moon would return him to his original form as Zepia Eltnam Oberon.

Personality


Zepia went mad after he found that, no matter how much he searched, that there was no way for humanity to avoid its destruction. His greatest wish became to create a future even he cannot predict. In his madness, he has accepted that the end of the world, following a desperate struggle to live on, is not true destruction but instead a conclusion. He does see some form of hope in Sion's endeavors, and wishes to see her answer to the problem.

He has taken to equating his role as TATARI to that of a director putting on a play. He frequently refers to different "acts", the "stage", and the "audience" when describing his massacres. He likes to put on theatrical speeches while conversing with others. While he generally displays a calm and stoic demeanor, he is prone to go into fits of ranting insanity where he shows blood red eyes that leak blood just from being open. He has lost himself in his madness, but has embraced it at the same time, having decided to enjoy the end of the world at his leisure.

He likes to play around with his manifestations, and he greatly prefers female bodies to those of males because he thinks drinking blood in a woman's body is a necessity for the climax of the scenario. He hasn't had a woman's body for a long time due to being unable to choose his form. While he is fine being one of the Twenty-seven Ancestors, he would rather become an original True Ancestor, Arcueid, which would be more appropriate for his final form. He doesn't like bodies without abilities, such as Akiha, but he does enjoy her appearance.

He greatly enjoys slaughter and the ironically tragic deaths his manifestations are able to cause in some cases. He cruelly likes to mock people by exploiting their deepest flaws and fears before tearing them apart.

Melty Blood
In Melty Blood, the Night of Wallachia appeared within the city of Misaki Town and was able to manifest the fear present in several of the main characters’ hearts, creating entities such as an evil Arcueid who had succumbed to her bloodlust, a form of the bloodthirsty assassin side of Shiki, and even the memory of Nrvnqsr Chaos. He even managed to make Sion succumb to her vampiric impulses for the first time, and made her fight against Shiki. Wallachia was eventually destroyed when Arcueid used her Marble Phantasm to prematurely summon the Crimson Moon, stripping Wallachia of his power, after which he was killed by Shiki and Sion.

Abilities
The nature of Wallachia's current existence resides in his Reality Marble, TATARI, which allows the materialization of the rumors and fears of a region into physical entities. Unlike a normal Reality Marble that is an inner, differing reality from the outside world that has a constantly fixed form, TATARI is something that "takes form from nearby humans" and applies it to the surrounding area more akin to Marble Phantasm. As a type of Reality Marble, the contents of it are still separate from the world around it despite seemingly being integrated with it. Even the strongest Dead Apostle can not maintain a Reality Marble for more than a single night, so it Wallachia's activity is only limited to one night after it is activated.

Wallachia is similar to Michael Roa Valdamjong in that he sought an immortality greater than that provided by becoming a Dead Apostle. While Dead Apostles are technically called immortal, that is only in the context that they will not die from old age. They must subside off of blood to survive, making them unable to be called "eternal" because they can still perish. TATARI, like Roa, seeks eternity, but from others rather than from himself, making him an unprecedented and strange enigma even among the other Ancestors. His true form is unknown, so the other Dead Apostles do not know of him, and as an Ancestor, others do not face him. The Church does not pursue him, and as he does not have a lair, he the only one of which the Church does not know its location.

Sometime after becoming a Dead Apostle, he formed a contract with Altrouge Brunestud to allow him to perform a one thousand year equation in his quest to become the Sixth. She brought forth the red moon, allowing him to become a phenomenon upon receiving its power, and the contract was set to expire upon its next appearance thousands of years later. If he cannot find an answer at the end of his long equation, it will return him to the form of the Dead Apostle Zepia. Part of the existence granted to him is that of a phenomenon with "nothing" at its core.

His body ended up dispersed after his failed attempt at gaining the Sixth, but it dispersed according to his wishes. The diffusion of his strong spiritual elements caused them to remain in this world. It would normally be that the separation of those spiritual elements, the soul's separation from the body, causes it to fall into nothing. Slowly or quickly, it is a natural process that one cannot resist once it begins. After leaving the prison of the flesh, the spiritual elements with no intent of their own or salvation to orient them fall into nothingness until they are once again transformed.

Zepia had managed to master the "TATARI equation" before his spiritual elements could fully disperse, making it so that his dispersed spiritual elements are able to converge upon rumors and become born anew in the world as long as the conditions are met. He calculated the place where TATARI would appear in the span it takes for a human to disappear, and all the was left was to chart his journey over a thousand year cycle and send his body along that route. It is an endless, one way trip on a cyclical route that allows for the scattered particles to continue along that program even after the intent called Zepia ceased to exist.

It is not something that exists within the world, but it is different than those of the Twenty-seven that cannot be said to truly exist or have died but still exist after having lost their bodies. The Night of Wallachia does not exist in any sense. It is a Dead Apostle that cannot exist unless certain conditions are met, but will live forever as long as they are met. Similar to Roa, who will reincarnate as long a humans exist, he cannot exist eternally independently of people. While their methods were different, they both can only remain eternal while humanity thrives. While eternity was his goal, it can only be called a circumstantially reliant eternity. His life does not reach eternity, but his "phenomenon" does reach that goal.

Phenomenon
TATARI is no longer Zepia or a true Dead Apostle. It does not even contain the concept of Zepia, nor does it have his past thirst or vampiric tenacity. When returned to the vessel of Zepia, it is his "past form", forcibly made into shape by Arcueid or the true end of his contract. It has no true form or a body to call its own, and it has become something lacking independent individuality. It is nothing more than a phenomenon, so the thirteenth slot can only be said to have no name. It can be called a kind of energy that gives things orientation, and a phenomenon with infinite forms. There is nothing left of the dispersed Dead Apostle's former self, and there is no way for it to come back as it was other than the end of the contract. It is called "unknown", as it can only be called "present" rather than saying it "exists." Where it "went" has to do with mastering the system of authenticating rumors and realizing them in its own body.

When a community of people imagines one thing at the same time, a consensus of the village emerges as a legend. TATARI can only exist by clothing itself in rumors, so as the isolated legends, often dealing with taboo, are spread between people, its roots spread through the area. It permeates the unpleasant rumors that begin to turn into reality as time passes, allowing it to occur due to the bizarre circumstances. It pieces together anxiety from a little bit of the rumors and reality to take form. Once such a legend becomes universally established, Wallachia becomes the legend and later disappears in the same manner. It repeatedly brings such legends into existence, becomes real, and feeds in cycles.

The conditions for the occurrence of TATARI are based on human conceptions. Like a typhoon that stems from low pressure, it is a continual menace that occurs over and over as long as the conditions are met. Even if the phenomenon of a typhoon were destroyed, it would still reoccur within the world again and again. TATARI exists in the same manor as a societal phenomenon, a rumor relying on information, that will continue as long as the human world continues. TATARI, the vampire known as the Night of Wallachia, is born from that. There is no "true TATARI" or "fake TATARI", as it can exist forever through others.

Once all those who feared the curse die, it can no longer spread, leading to TATARI's disappearance once he kills all those who made him. He can only manifest for a single night, so it is possible for people to survive when he vanishes after the time limit is up. He is a manifested curse, so he must act according to that conceptualization. If he were to attempt to stay indefinitely by not slaying those who conjured him, he would not be able to exist. He crystallizes into the object of the people's dreaded wishes, kills them all, and vanishes according to those wishes. Appearing as a curse, TATARI must be a curse above all else.

The Sixth
Wallachia's ultimate goal is to become the Sixth, a System of the world that is unexplained. Sion calls it an arcane secret, and Zepia believed it has the ability to avert the inevitable destruction predicted by Atlas alchemists. Zepia failed in his attempts to gain the Sixth while alive, but did not completely fail. He was unable to rewrite the system, but managed to remain inside as TATARI. Zepia compares grasping the Sixth to reaching the same level as Crimson Moon.

The reason for taking the form of TATARI has nothing to do with becoming a curse, but instead to reach a vital answer he believed he required to achieve the Sixth, becoming a True Ancestor. He investigated areas where Arcueid would appear as a backup plan to the TATARI equation. There wasn't much practical chance of success, as the chance of True Ancestor Royalty having contact with humans past the fifteenth century was nonexistent. He could only believe in his ability to accurately predict the future in that case.

Zepia didn't predict the exact turn of events, but Arcueid's existence in Misaki allows for the method to become a True Ancestor. After taking her form, Wallachia claims that Zepia's goal is within his grasp due to having such a safeguard plan, and that the name "Night of Wallachia" will end that night. Dust of Osiris mentions that TATARI's Hologram Summer in Misaki was one step short of reaching it, and she believes her revised version will be able to grasp it.

Arcueid says he can never grasp it, that he will never become the Sixth no matter how many thousands of years he tries for it. She call grasping the Sixth even after an infinite amount of time only a small hope he is leaching onto desperately. The true end of his equation's cycle is the end of humanity, and all that will be left for him is a desolate land devoid of anyone to rule over. Even if he did obtain it by some miracle, she says its shape would be the end of him. He seems to agree with this analysis, claiming that he will abandon his current pursuit, suck Arcueid dry, and move onto the next step.

Despite wishing to complete Zepia's goal, TATARI still runs on its desires to slaughter. Even if the chance to become Arcueid may never come again, it doesn't really care when given the chance to utilize the "godly ability" that can be used for slaughter like the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. It would much rather become the greatest killer in the form of Shiki just that once than even consider following its goal. It is beyond lifespan, so resuming its goal as TATARI afterward is just fine to it. With an endless future, it may come across an even better chance later on.

Even if he cannot reach it personally, he would happily pass on the mantle of TATARI to Sion because he believes she has a chance of achieving everything Zepia wanted, or at least is capable of providing an increased rate of success. He is even willing to go as far as abandoning his form as Arcueid early just in an attempt to impose the will of TATARI upon her. While Zepia hasn't attained anything, Wallachia will be satisfied if the Sixth is obtained, so he doesn't feel the need to be in control.

He claims that the two of them together could make it so TATARI never have to occur again, as she could wield a veto over any orders from the Night of Wallachia. As Wallachia, she would only have to worry about how she intakes sustenance, and even if she didn't want to prey upon humans, she would just have to find a compromise between her dignity and the Night of Wallachia. If he can't have her succeed him, he wishes to obtain her brain for his purposes.

Dead Apostle
Zepia Eltnam Oberon, before becoming a phenomenon, is still stated to have been a powerful Dead Apostle Ancestor, and can fight as well as any other. According to Sion, there aren't many beings who could stand up to him other than Arcueid, but he does mention that the strength of Nrvnqsr exceeds his former potential as a Dead Apostle. Aoko Aozaki states that he would be amazing even if he hadn't become a phenomenon. He has the increased physical strength and speed of an Ancestor, and he has a number of abilities related to manipulating Malignant Information, such as the ability to transform his body, temporarily invoke shadows of other people to fight for him, use sharp claws, or create bloody whirls.

The ability Bad News (バッドニュース) utilizes physical Malignant Information actualized through prana. His strongest ability is compressing Malignant Information into the Night on the Blood Liar (ナイトオンザブラッドライアー), a rapidly swirling torrent of virtual information resembling a black tornado of such magnitude that is even capable of having an effect on the physical world. It allows him to suck blood in such quantities as massive as entire cities, allowing others to call him a blood drinker. It drinks so much that blood drips from its eyes while still not being sated. Its operation and management of it is proof of his Ancestorhood, and it a is metaphor on the tragedy caused by TATARI.

He was considered to be an unparalleled alchemist and renowned head of the Eltnam family. As with other Atlas alchemists, he can calculate the future, thus allowing him to calculate TATARI and all its possible locations. One calculation was that "the ancestor will fall to ruin in this land" in reference to Japan. It wasn't a very detailed prediction, and ended up being about Nrvnqsr instead of Arcueid. Much like other talented Atlas alchemists, he, while trying to see the future of the world, eventually learned that humanity was doomed, and he was unable to find a future where they lived no matter how much he tried. He can use Suggestion in his words to further someone's fear to better take shape.

TATARI can be said to completely be a vampire, but not a perfect Dead Apostle. It can drink the blood of others, but it cannot make others its complete subordinates by giving his blood. It is a unique Dead Apostle that is limited to one generation. It is normally an abnormality that will not reproduce itself like most other vampires, but it takes a special interest in Sion as a successor. The poison of its blood as a vampire is weak and it only exists occasionally, so Sion is able to remain mostly human for a number of years with mostly minor strains on her body during the time where it hadn't occurred.

Upon fully taking form, its influence over her will grow tremendously, and she may eventually fully transform. It would be fine if it lacked full human intelligence, but it is able to impose its will upon her as her parent vampire if it is intelligent. It can take over her any time it wants, but it enjoys her suffering. She can eventually resist with enough willpower and with help from Shiki. Once defeated, it can transfer all of its vampiric impulses and the will of TATARI into her. She claims that its goals are beneath her and later manages to return to normal, so it didn't truly transfer its will.

Sion can forcibly become TATARI by biting an instance of it to speed up her transformation. She believes she can only stop TATARI from controlling her by becoming TATARI. If she takes it in before it fully manifests, it takes time to take hold. There is a black haze around her that will eventually subsume her and make her into a full vampire. Once TATARI's actual night begins, her transformation will be complete. Shiki is able to kill the black haze, keeping her from becoming TATARI, at least until the next occurrence, but still leaving her as a full vampire without strong impulses.

It has collected all of the blood it has sucked over the years into itself, taking in their information as well. Those absorbed by TATARI are reconstructed as equal information, and those recreated separately from TATARI are rare. Riesbyfe still exists within TATARI because her Apocrypha acts as protection to slow down her digestion within it. Sion's blood develops within TATARI and becomes a version of Sion, Dust of Osiris, that took a different path than the real version. After being reconstructed by Dust of Osiris, Riesbyfe is brought back fully by Sion after creating a link with her information. Wallachia comments that he cannot disassemble her completely as a "shield knight", so he would have to discard her shield and strip her to the bone to devour her as a mere knight.

Formation
TATARI generally has at least four conditions that must be met in order for it to form. Unlike the event of storm clouds being dispersed to prevent a wind storm occurring again soon after with high frequency, TATARI's occurrences as a phenomenon do not appear often because the conditions are rather complicated. The first is that the area needs to have a rumor, Malignant Information (悪性情報), such as urban tales, fright stories, anonymous charges, unfounded assumptions, improbable evidence, and all manner of rapidly spreading but ultimately void rumors. This is ideally something about an individual, and preferably the extension of something human. It is not a minimum rule, but rather what TATARI desires as a former human, as it cannot move without human intelligence.

The second condition is that the extent of the legend most be somewhat socially isolated while circulating. Rumors have problems spreading uniformly over large areas, so small, closed communities are more suitable to it. It usually occurs in small villages, so he mentions that the city of Misaki is much larger than where it normally forms. It helps if this area had a previous incident on which to base it, such as Misaki's previous murder spree. While it isn't necessary for rumors to be true in order bring about an materialization of them, it is much easier to bring about that which has a basis. It can be hard to make original rumors into truth, but those with an origin become confirmed as long as even the smallest amount of information is flowing.

The third condition is that there must be witnesses, one or several, in the area where the rumor is spreading. There are various ways of a person acting as a witness, such as knowing the basis of the rumor or simply being one of the many people spreading it. Even Shiki having single thought of Akiha drinking blood and the resulting fear of her becoming a vampire is enough to "spread" and confirm the rumor and bring about the form of a maddened Akiha only seconds later. Rather than bringing about a true rumor in such a case, Wallachia refers to it as "merely presenting something that was behind a curtain." When a rumor collects enough momentum, the probability of it becoming real increases until it reaches a certain point and becomes TATARI.

There needs to be a terminal point from which it spreads, usually beginning from a single person and flooding out from there. There are also rare cases where people end up guiding the rumors intentionally to form TATARI according to their own thoughts. These people likely do not have any ill intentions, but end up on the same wavelength as TATARI and end up wondering why events are turning out like they thought. The fourth condition is that the area must have been chosen beforehand by Zepia while he was calculating TATARI's path. The realization of people's anxiety can only be hatched for one evening due to TATARI's form as a Reality Marble limiting the duration of the conception.

Influences
Wallachia cannot choose which form he wishes, as it is only assume the shape of what "people want". Even with possible multiple rumors happening at one time, the more concentrated one will take shape. Those without enough universality will be unavailable to him, so it makes the probability of obtaining a form he likes low. If TATARI finds the form pleasing, it will seek to destroy the original, as the definite truth can only be a obstacle to the rumor. He doesn't need the real thing, such as having the "rumored serial killer" is better than having the "incomplete Shiki Tohno" existing. In order to become a certain rumor, it will have to go where it is recorded most vividly.

The best facilitator, the guest of honor in the audience, for rumors is someone who has had firsthand experience with death and the supernatural. Those who are closely tied to them have clearly defined thoughts and can bring them about with a single thought if the right conditions arise. Those who have seen much of the basis for the supposed rumors will provide a far more vivid image from which to construct a false one, making it likely that whatever unpleasantness they think of will become TATARI. Curses work on the principal of changing that which exists instead of creating something out of nothing, so taking possession of a rumor to start rampaging would be easier than to become a rampaging rumor.

Becoming a monster that could not normally exist, which gives rise from the fears of others is something TATARI impatiently desires to become, such as how Nrvnqsr is a curse that embodies both qualities to Shiki. Its goal is to be the worst possible thing to be imagined in the area, so it draws on those strong thoughts. Even in the case that it can't use Shiki's uneasiness about Arcueid to take form, it can still use his uneasiness about vampires in general. The strength of his uneasiness is far greater than anyone else's, a regular person's imagination paling in comparison to having seen real vampires many times.

It is possible that it will switch between rumors easily depending on the current factors, switching from Arcueid to a Dead Apostle depending on what Shiki thinks at an exact moment. While it uses his imagination, it is still more decided by the town than him. The people who are afraid decide on the final form depending on rumors, and it utilizes Shiki to best form it. It is a vampire that appears according to the wishes of everyone in the area, so it will always grant each and every one of them. This means that it can also take form from good wishes, but the end result is always the same, broadly interpreting every desire of the people into "killing everyone and sucking their blood."

When the rumors are based directly on people, and the basis itself is also real, it uses those rumors to possess the form of those people who are already there. As the rumor becomes more coherent, it will collect the rumors and truly possess its form. While it is possible to directly possess the people surrounding the rumor, it cannot possess them and can only assume their forms in the case where they know that there is "a killer other than themselves." Any copies will have all memories related to the original. In the case of Shiki Nanaya, he even has memories Shiki himself doesn't remember, such as his talk with SHIKI in Kohaku's route. It is possible for TATARI to greatly increase the strength of those under its effects. It can increase the strength of Hisui and Kohaku so that they are many stronger than normal, double didgets according to Shiki, allowing them to fight evenly with Sion and take full powered attacks that would be troublesome for even Ciel.

Malignant Copies
One means of using advanced malignant information is in fabricating and controlling Malignant Copies (悪質なコピー) utilizing the ability Replicant Coordinator (レプリカントコーディネイター), making it so he can be called a sort of vampire that uses "curses" as familiars. If the focus of the rumors are alive, it will imitate them, possess them, and change into them. They take on either the complete will of the original, only skewed towards the basis of the rumor, or sometimes may take on a mix of both the original and TATARI. They still act familiar with those close to them, but use TATARI's knowledge and mannerisms in latter cases. They no longer have any limiters like the real versions, Arcueid holding back her blood lust and Akiha unconsciously keeping her strength in check, so they are much stronger.

Manifesting in a normal human body like Shiki's form on a small economy of scale is extremely rare for TATARI. Despite any difference in appearance, they are still close enough to the original that it is hard to distinguish them until their other nature is shown, and Shiki still finds it hard to fight against them even knowing they're fake. In truth, it cannot really be said that they are fakes. TATARI doesn't distinguish between real and fake, so once it becomes someone, it is technically that person without distinction. Being both fake and real, they can be called the same as reality. While not fully formed, any instances of it will not be up to their true strength and lack the ability to stay stable upon being defeated in combat.

If only one person holds the materialized fear, it will not have enough strength of rumor for a full conceptualization. Sion mentions anyone could beat it in that state, even if it is a Dead Apostle Ancestor. TATARI's incomplete form is only composed of information, so defeating it cannot be called a challenge. Actually attacking and eliminating pure information is another matter, but Shiki is able to attack and eliminate it like a tangible object due to his ability to kill concepts beyond human imagination. It is also easier for him to kill images of those he has slain in the past because he is able to perceive the same passing once again

The strength the copies can reproduce is limited by Wallachia's strength, so he can only draw on around thirty percent of the unhinged Arcueid's limitless body's potential. Extreme strength can also lead to copies with complete free will upon manifestation. One manifestation of Kouma Kishima is considered a failure because creations of TATARI should lack a sense of self, which causes Wallachia to consider that the original is very strong. Defeating Kouma would allow him to destroy any self-awareness.

The materializations fade out with a grating noise, and often delve into rambling and convulsing. The forms have lines of death when viewed by Shiki, though when they are dissipating, the lines disappear and become replaced by a single swirling point, as if the lines had only been a contradiction the entire time. Even as an materialization is fading out, sudden anxious thoughts can become a widespread rumor and give it form once again. One of the main goals is to kill people, and when materialized as a murderous Shiki, it feels that it cannot die with the contradiction against the nature of TATARI of having gone without killing anyone. He chooses the closest and easiest target, himself, and repeatedly stabs himself to death in pleasure.

Receivers
It is possible that TATARI itself will not directly manifest, and will instead have a person act as an antenna for its abilities. It can sometimes reside in those humans who share the same wavelength. Those possessed exhibit no outward change, but everything proceeds along according to their thoughts. Those around the main receiver channeling TATARI will act as antennas that gather rumors from the Receiver acting as a "third party." They will gain abilities depending on what the thoughts are about, but it will only be an extension of their abilities. They will completely become TATARI at midnight if they aren't defeated.

They act as if possessed by TATARI in a sense, but it is more like benefiting from it instead. For that one night, they will be an expert at mostly everything they set out to do, such as fighting with much more strength due to the backing of TATARI. Miyako, having been possessed, directs her thoughts toward Kohaku, believing she is a witch, incredible plotter, and inventor. Developing a scenario where she is evil, Kohaku gains a secret laboratory, incredibly potent drugs capable of transforming Akiha into G. Akiha, a dungeon, and inventions like Mech-Hisui. Miyako herself, wanting to become a "master" to take back Shiki by beating him up, becomes a master of Baji Quan on the level of Li Shuwen.

TATARI will eventually stop if the main focus of the Receiver is defeated. There needs to be a third party believing she is a witch in Kohaku's case, and her defeat means that the thought fades away and ends TATARI. If the actual receiver is defeated, TATARI, in the the form of a black haze around them, will disperse and leave the city. The realist Sion describes the events brought about as an extraordinary nightmare, even for TATARI, due to the seemingly impossible events.

Occurrences
TATARI appears in predesignated spaces, but the laws of time do not apply to it. It's longitude is unmeasurable, and it can not be expected due to being somewhat random in nature. Despite that, it is easy to predict with all the pieces assembled and having an idea of what actions will take place. This allows Sion to predict the locations where it will occur by analyzing where is will most easily occur, the culture and population of those areas, consideration for the random appearance of aces, and by simulating world affairs in the same way measuring atmospheric pressure can result in predicting the time and place of a typhoon.

Sion utilizes two thousand possible patterns and the fact that it can only occur in 12,500 sectors on the Earth to begin her deduction. Upon determining that, grasping its general progression is possible, but guessing the prime condition for its occurrence is the most difficult part. Seeking the original cause for the phenomenon, what it desires, is what troubles her the most. She uses her Ethelite to actively read the rumors around Misaki from the townspeople, and she also attempts to guide them to her advantage in order to track down TATARI. When the rumors get too focused on Arcueid, she mentions attempting to negate certain rumors to fix TATARI's form.

TATARI begins by spreading a strange feeling over the area. Curses take strength from extreme anxiety, and operating on that principal, it transforms general rumors into reality. It's presence is initially weak, but as humans become more uneasy and the rumors spread more, its power grows even greater. In order to take form, the rumors must spread throughout the town to increase their probability. It is only a rumor, and as rumors cannot actually kill anyone, there won't be victims until it truly occurs. It can't fully resemble the rumor until the realization of the rumor. Before the true materialization of TATARI forms, a number of smaller occurrences may manifest depending on the current nature of the rumors.

It forms in Dead Spaces in the area, as they are ideal for rumors to converge due to having ripe conditions for them to gather. It will bring about its form in different ways as experiments using the rumors in those locations. It can go as far as to create illusions like that of dead bodies in accordance with the rumors of murderers, making it seem like scattered food and trash is a pile of dead bodies. By influencing those around by the rumor, the hallucination even simulates the smell of blood. Shiki, who has had bad experiences with corpses, is even more likely to make such things "real." It acts as if putting on a play, the town being one stage with the audience just arriving. As their imaginations begin to fuel the play, the seats are filled, the curtains rise, and TATARI appears to claim victims in the town until morning.

The main form of TATARI takes a longer amount of time to get the most prevalent rumor, as it focuses on collecting the strongest rumor and propagating it to let it ripen. The forerunner of TATARI will slowly use the incidents in Dead Spaces to cause even more unease among the people. As soon as false information from strange rumors that feel real is passed between people and becomes widespread, "becoming so real that no one doubts them", TATARI appears like a mirage rising from people's fermented uneasiness. It truly manifests as a real curse at the night of the full moon, but it is possible to manifest two or three days earlier even when the moon isn't completely full as long as conditions are set and the rumors are especially strong.

If rumors are spread more quickly, such as people seeing Shiki and his companions fighting, it increases the probability to to gain a strong form earlier. It can be hard for its form to remain if the information on the rumors has not settled, disrupting whatever form is has with the conflicting new form. If it is defeated too early in the cycle, while still gathering rumors, it may not disappear even when struck down due to having residual strength. If defeated again before its true actualization, it may not have enough strength to move information, ending the cycle before the actual full moon.

Utilizing the greatest of the rumors as the conduit for his power, it manifests in the form of "the worst possible fate, that which we can never stand against." This form doesn't always end up being the strongest existence, but instead the most ominous. It once became a Divine Beast as large as a mountain, but that was only because more people feared the darkness back then. Since such times, there are not many communities in which it can occur, as civilized society does not usually spread rumors about killer vampires in a believable sense. Smaller isolated communities are becoming less common, and it is difficult to create abnormalities in large areas. It won't become anything that strong in the current age with the exception of happening to manifest in the same are with beings on that level like Arcueid.

In the past, he has claimed victim after victim until his time is up, even going as far as preying on the entire town. Always acting as the most "unpleasant rumor" in which they believed, the humans cannot fight back against their own nightmares and worst fears given shape. It cannot be stopped if they cannot fight back, so it goes on without pause by destroying everything that it can until the end. It is impossible to plan against it due to its form being uncertain. This is especially detrimental to alchemists who fight by using analyzed information, which is impossible for something that has yet to take form. Being defeated by Shiki Tohno as Shiki Nanaya is his first time being defeated by someone who caused him to take form.

It will not appear where no rumors will start, a place no people will gather, but it also doesn't like to appear in crowded places. Elevated places like Shiki's school or the Tohno Mansion are desired for that reason. It is possible that it may form with only limited intelligence depending on the rumors. Out of all the times it has manifested, he claims that bringing about Kouma is his first time summoning a demon. In one possible scenario where the vampire the town fears already has shape, he may take the shape of Zepia. It is rare for him appear as such, claiming that it has been at least five hundred years since his last "evening party." In such an event, he must "bravely commit suicide" by dawn because TATARI can't be limited to a single form.

Following positive wishes, he once gave a village wanting a bumper crop the proper agricultural conditions by providing abundant fertilizer in the form of the dead bodies of everyone in the village. Quarreling townspeople wishing for peace and friendship were fighting because they had different opinions, so it was solved by bringing them together as they all tried to escape from him. He appeared in a village wishing for the appearance of their local god of a tree by taking its form, and as that god wished it, he took the heart from every villager. Appearing in a town praying for release from a plague, he helped end their suffering from the disease in the quickest way by letting them die.

In the end, he is only a vile demon that grants nothing but the sucking of blood. The meaning of TATARI is a curse, and people destroy themselves with a blind belief of the curse they themselves created. It exists as the "uneasiness" of others, and as the embodiment of that, they cannot resist and only have their blood sucked. It appears according to everyone's desires and subsequently leaves in a manner that they wish, but only in a way that interests his sadistic pleasures. He claims that humans do not want a beautiful setting where everything goes right in a happy ending, but instead a tragic ending.

After the incident in Misaki, it is set to appear twenty years later in Australia and thirty years later in Transylvania, but Sion also mentions it could be in as little as ten years if it happens quickly. She mentions that it will not occur in Japan again during her lifetime, and that it will never occur within Misaki again.

Wallachia
The first occurrence of TATARI took place in Wallachia in Romania. It was the home of the feudal lord Vlad Tepes, who was known as lenient to his people and incredibly brutal towards his enemies, the invading Turks. He did the unthinkable to other people, not only killing them, but going as far as using their flowing blood in his strategy. While he went that far to protect his own people, they began to spread rumors that he was a vampire. They were only rumors, but vampires did truly exist within that civilization blanketed in darkness. People feared that he was a vampire, differing completely from actual reality.

Even after his death, the town still circulated the rumor about the lord being a vampire that will return to drink their blood during the full moon. He was feared to be a vampire while alive and even still feared as one after his death, so such a rumor was very useful to Zepia. As such an isolated area was the place of death of Tepes, it was the best sample case from which to begin. He appeared on the night of the full moon in the form of the rumor "Vlad the vampire" and began massacring the people.

There was not a single body with any liquid left within by the time the Knights of the Church arrived. On each street, human skins were spread all over the ground, as Vlad had been rumored to "drink until there is nothing left." He not only drank all their blood, but also all the water within their bodies. It could only be called a true nightmare by the Knights, and as the massacre was so terrible, the event was called the "Night of Wallachia" by the Church after the ultimate nightmare and gathering of all terror.

Western Europe
The previous incident three years before appearing in Misaki took place in a small mountain village in Italy. The time and place of TATARI's occurrence as random, and there was an attempt to conceal it. The Church sought the aid of Atlas due to TATARI's connection rather than the alchemists, and Sion responded to their request. The occurrence of TATARI started with a legend in a small mountain village that seemed frozen it time. It was an old story about a woman from another town who birthed triplets. Two were stillbirths, the third having drank their blood and became a vampire. He brought evil to the town in the form of an eternal curse, an unwritten law that permeated the village without notice.

The legend became real, and the child grew up to be a vampire. Fearing the curse, they executed the child before that could happen. The Church, along with Sion, intervened, but they only had normal Conceptual Weapons. They defeated it many times, but were unable to affect the phenomenon. Three days later on a night with maddeningly hot air, TATARI annihilated the village and the dispatched Knights of the Church, and proved the curse was real by destroying those who permeated it. Riesbyfe Stridberg sacrificed herself to save Sion from one of the manifestations.

The well was dried up and the river was filled with corpses, their empty skins drained of everything inside being the only thing left. They had cartoon like faces, and they were mutilated, fleshless, and organless after having every last drop of their blood drained. The skin of hundreds of people was pushed and piled until the dark and damp rolled away their skin and oozed it together into one hideous sheet. Wallachia took an interest in Sion as a possible successor before it dissipated, so it let her live after biting her.

Hologram Summer
The main focus of the TATARI in Misaki city, called Hologram Summer (幻影の夏), are rumors surrounding Arcueid, Shiki, and Akiha based on "The Return of Last Year's Serial Killer." The town is very suitable for it due to there being models for the rumors and the town still being uneasy from the previous incidents. Shiki, having Arcueid's "favor", makes the town very desirable for an appearance. Thinking of a True Ancestor going mad would be the absolute worst nightmare possible for the town. Should the vampire manifest, it will, as according to what the people in the town believe, drain the blood of everyone in the town.

The stage is set with the town facing a fierce heat of record high temperatures and the spawning of strange paradoxes of unknown origin. The streets are mostly empty even at the height of the daytime, while those that are out are faced with the searing heat. The townspeople are struck by terrible ideas, dreadful thoughts, ill omens, feelings of misfortune, and visits to temples that portend bad luck. The dark night is where "uneasiness" led by anxiety becomes reality. Most of the citizens have heard of the second coming of the vampire, but it is a thin rumor without much substance. If they don't deny the rumor, even if the credibility is nonexistent, it still becomes a rumor accepted naturally. They all feel something bad is going to happen, as the emptiness of the town creeps into their hearts. While no murders have occurred, they all say it "happened" and that the vampire has returned.

The origin and model are for the rumors are different. Michael Roa Valdamjong is the origin of the rumor, but he was not seen during the previous year's incidents. There had to have been an eyewitness for the rumors to emerge, someone seeing a "shadowy figure wandering the night" regardless of what is true or false. To base the rumor on something, a model has to have existed, which is filled by Shiki, Akiha, or Arcueid. Arcueid is the planned curse, but it cannot manipulate them. He hopes Shiki, as an irregularity, can summon the fear of a berserk Arcueid and bestow her form upon him. If the people of the town fear something else, then it will be impossible to take the form of a True Ancestor. It may also potentially become a Dead Apostle that murdered much in the past.

The rumors of "something wondering the night and attacking people" and "last year a young man wandering the streets with a knife" are based around Shiki, taking the form of Nanaya. It is his "sin", the end where he becomes a killer if he were to mess up even slightly that he fears in the depths of his consciousness. While based on Roa, the rumors are believed to be Shiki, as even he fears the possibility of becoming a killer. Akiha, while not as prevalent as Shiki or Arcueid, comes from "a vampire girl with red hair", a "long, black haired killer", or "a girl swaggering in town with long, fluttering hair." Arcueid is a "blonde, female vampire" or a "woman with blonde hair who appears every night" due to how she whimsically walks around town at night.

In the case of Arcueid forming as TATARI, three separate threads converge, that the previous year's killer is a vampire, that the perpetrator of the Vampire Murders was a woman with golden hair, and that the one attacking people recently lurks in the park. Due to her constantly walking around, the rumors are more likely to converge and become real. While the town believes it, Shiki, knowing her, denies it, but he still fears that it could true. He thought of how bad it would be if she drank blood like a vampire, and TATARI becomes "The True Ancestor who became just like a vampire." The converging rumors and what he knew mix to become TATARI in the form of Arcueid.

The final convergence point of TATARI is the under construction "Shrine" skyscraper. Sion predicted it would be the next site of occurrence with her calculations, allowing her to recognize it from the beginning. She knew it would be in the same area as Arcueid, and the factors of the town or her companions were inconsequential. It is possible for it to manifest early in a different location if a strong and suitable rumor emerges, allowing for it to appear in the Back Alley or Park. It is under the full moon at midnight where it will finally appear. As it begins its final manifestation, it appears as a black ball without any lines of death because its insides are still nothing but "words" without form. Sion believes only something of Arcueid's level could destroy that which has yet to exist.

Destruction
TATARI is nothing but the recurring phenomenon of a materialized rumor, so complete destruction of his being is impossible. The strength of a life form does not matter, as even the strongest of them will eventually know defeat against a life form that exceeds it. If their life is destroyed, they will die and disappear. TATARI's origin is instead a phenomenon that occurs after certain circumstances are met, so it cannot truly die. Once they are met again, it will occur again, bringing about a form of immortality. The nature of its system is to take form from human anxiety, so stopping it completely requires the destruction of the human race.

While active before its materialization, it cannot be defeated because it doesn't have form. It only be defeated when it stops acting as only information and truly becomes TATARI. It is possible for it to run out of energy beforehand by having its materializations destroyed too many times. After an materialization is destroyed, it may release the data binding it in a blinding light as it fades away. After diffusing its data, it can no longer take form in that area. If it manages to take perfect form at the proper time, it will not fade away no matter how many times its form is defeated, only leaving the stage at dawn.

No matter how many times the material forms are obliterated, the reoccurring phenomenon will ensure his reappearance as a materialized rumor. Even the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception can only kill a single manifestation, even after hitting a point of death. They cannot kill a pure phenomenon, but only single manifestations of them. Conceptual Weapons by themselves are unable to truly affect it in any manner, as Riesbyfe's Apocrypha is a simple substance that cannot interfere with it and even Sion's Barrel Replica can only destroy one part at a time.

Its form will be negated by a conceptual weapon with a strong, old meaning no matter the current information or form it possesses. While Barrel Replica and the Apocrypha by themselves cannot affect the phenomenon, combining the effect of an Official Apocrypha of the Church, a pure conceptual Lance Key made to annihilate vampires, with an abnormal Conceptual Weapon, Barrel Replica, an imitation of the Conceptual Weapon of Logevity gun barrel, it can destroy one with no shape. Utilizing a bullet made from the Apocrypha, Sion can cause a seem in the program. While she can't destroy it, she can cause a massive delay of the cycle, allowing her to disrupt the entirety of the phenomenon so the next occurrence won't be for two hundred years.

TATARI, as a phenomenon, is completely cancelled off by the invocation of the Crimson Moon by Arcueid Brunestud. The conclusion of his predetermined cycle is after one thousand years and returning a phenomenon to normal should surpass even the Royalty of the True Ancestors, so it should be impossible for him to return to the form of Zepia earlier than that. She can bring about any world she wishes for a single night, even that of the future, and as they are both rulers of lies that can only last a single night, a inferior imagination will fall into delusion when faced with a superior imagination.

While his equation is measured in millenia, this act ends it early and forces him to return to the state of Zepia Eltnam Oberon. This is not permanent, meaning that Arcueid can only cancel it while she keeps the red moon materialized. With his defeat in his material form, the Dead Apostle TATARI will cease to exist. When defeated, he expels all the blood he has gathered from his victims in large pillars, blood pours from his eyes, and slowly fades until all that remains is his mask-like face.

Even with the destruction of Zepia, TATARI itself is not completely destroyed. Aoko is able to create White Len from remnants of TATARI and unused pieces of Len. She ends up recreating his form as part of her TATARI, but he is only on the verge of disappearing and lacks any of his original power. Most of the TATARI fragments that formed White Len overlooked him, so she calls him a shell and asks if he wants to become part of her. He is only the Dead Apostle Zepia before becoming TATARI, but he mentions that taking Arcueid's blood would allow him to easily return to his previous prosperity.

The true TATARI phenomenon also continues to exist due to Dust of Osiris, the part of Sion's soul brought into him from the blood he sucked from her. It fought against TATARI for three years, and while winning was impossible, he lost his seat as TATARI when he was defeated, allowing Sion's blood to fill that empty seat and take form. Wallachia is once again brought forth as a fabrication in Dust's recalculation of Hologram Summer. Should he defeat her, he is able to reclaim his title as TATARI. Michael Roa Valdamjong, created inadvertently by Dust of Osiris, claims to have the potential to become TATARI by taking the blood of Sion.