Episode 2: Crimson Moon

**"Red Moon -crimson-"** *Transcription:* "Kōgetsu -crimson-" (Japanese: 紅月 -crimson-) is the second episode of *Madlax*. It debuted on April 12, 2004 in Japan.

## Synopsis

In this episode, we see a day in the life of young Margaret Burton, who lives in Nafrece. The Burtons are a rich aristocratic family, but Margaret is the only one living in the large house, besides her maid; her parents are nowhere to be seen. The maid, Eleanor  Baker, wakes up a very sleepy Margaret, who she always calls, "Ojou-sama." The young girl almost falls asleep during breakfast and doesn't seem entirely awake until she's about ready to walk out the door for school. Even then, she's so out of it that Eleanor  has to call after her she's going the wrong direction.

As she rides the bus and walks the rest of the way to school, Margaret consistently moves slowly, rarely looks around her, is always zoning out, and frequently thinking about and muttering about her strange dreams. Today she hallucinates the sound of a loud train throwing on its brakes, but the illusion vanishes quickly. Then she becomes distracted by the sight of some red shoes in the window of a shop near her school. This makes her late for class, and she doesn't seem to feel bad about it. She passes the day staring out the window and thinking about red shoes.

As she thinks, Margaret realizes she has had red shoes before, but can't remember when. It seems she doesn't have very many memories. Much to the confusion of two well-meaning classmates, Margaret abruptly decides to go home, before all the classes are over with. She says it's because it's going to rain-- yet the sun shines brightly and the sky is blue with hardly any clouds.

Elsewhere, an auction for a modern art sculpture is taking place. A woman named Vanessa Rene, and her companion Charlie, are among the bidders. They both work for Bookwald Industries, and Vanessa is a manager in the International Division. Her job that day was to win the bidding for the sculpture. However, she drops out of the auction when she sees that a rich Japanese firm is present who will probably win.

On the way back from the auction, Vanessa sees Margaret staring through a shop window at a pair of red shoes. It turns out that Vanessa used to be Margaret's neighbor, but Margaret doesn't remember Vanessa at all, so she has to explain who she is. Vanessa then offers to give Margaret a ride home. Although she has no problem with Vanessa, Margaret appears frightened at first of the woman's companion, Charlie.

Meanwhile, the sculpture at the auction house was sold for 13.5 million yuuls, apparently a ridiculously high price. The buyer was not one of the men from the Japanese firm; it was a middle-aged man named Carossur Don. We later learn that he arranges to send the mysterious sculpture to Gazth-sonika.

Before returning Margaret to her home, Vanessa stops at her office at Bookwald Industries to report to her boss about the auction. While the company woman is making her report, Margaret is told to wait in the next room. Of course, she doesn't wait there, but goes off wandering by herself, muttering, "Gazth-Sonika, dreams, red shoes, rain." Then Carossur Don sees her and tells her only authorized personal are allowed in this area. He tries asking her who she is, but Margaret freaks out, first demanding to know who the man is, and then running away from him. It seems she's very afraid of strangers.

Margaret meets up with Vanessa, who takes her home. The maid, Eleanor, teases Vanessa a little, but welcomes her in for dinner. During dinner, Vanessa gives Margaret a present she bought that day. Not surprisingly, what she bought was the pair of red shoes the girl had been staring so intently at. But rather than seeming happy with the present, Margaret totally zones out again. She suddenly recalls a vivid memory of being a small child, probably five or six years old, running along a sandy beach with the cries of seagulls in the air. She is barefoot, but her feet are stained red, presumably with blood. Margaret also remembers seeing a menacing-looking clock tower somewhere before. After seeing that, Margaret returns to reality, and leaves the dinner table, saying she wants to go look for something.

Once Margaret is gone, Vanessa asks Eleanor  if there have been any changes. Eleanor  says that Oujo-sama has blended in with everyday life just fine. The maid and Vanessa both remark on how amazing it is that Margaret is living normally given that she was involved in "that accident."

In Gazth-sonika, the art sculpture arrives at a dark, castle-like location. There it is received by a man with a mask over half his face and a tattoo on his hand. This man is named Friday Monday. Carelessly, he lets the art sculpture fall to the floor and break. Apparently, the he's so rich and powerful that wasting 13.5 million yuuls is no big deal to him.

Back at the Burton estate, Margaret desperately searches for something among her belongings in an old storeroom. She stops and looks satisfied when she finds an ancient-looking picture book. One of the pages is missing, and other pages are stained with blood. Margaret calls this "Father's present, the red picture book." It's the thing she's been trying to remember for so long. Little does she know it's actually the Secondary, a book with supernatural powers.

And strangely enough, later that night, it rains.

  *Note: Those who have seen the whole series will know that twelve years ago, when Madlax was created, she was wearing red shoes and a white dress. Margaret's memories of the red shoes thus come from her first encounter with Madlax. However, the memory of Margaret running along the beach with blood-stained feet is never explained. We can assume, though, that it happened after the plane crash, during the time when Margaret was missing for several months.*

## Preview

Episode 3

*"The person who has nothing, what should they do? I have nothing but this moment. You don't even have that. It makes me feel sorry for you. Hmm. I'll shoot you."* – Madlax

## Trivia

* The Dhaniel footwear brand could be a play on Daniel Footwear in the UK.