Loved the first volume of Fairy Cube, so I picked up the last two volumes together. I'll be reading the final volume and posting my impression right after this volume.Summary
Volume two starts off right where volume one left off. Eriya's grandmother tells Ian and Rin about her connection to the Fairy realm and gives Ian her blessings.
The next day, Rin decides to head back to school, thinking after what happened before, Tokage won't be back. Unluckily for her, he is, and he proceeds to violently mark her with his Salamander mark. Ian notices the strange aura around the school and comes to rescue Rin. Unfortunately he is too late, and now the Salamander mark causes Rin to burn whomever she touches when she has strong feelings, thus burning Ian when they reunite. Ian furious, begins a duel with Tokage.
During the duel, Tokage recollections his cursed life and tells Ian how much he hates him for being loved by his mother and father. Ian tells Tokage that he cannot believe their mother abandoned him. The battle is dominated by Tokage and Kaito arrives to save Ian. Raven tries to prevent Ian from fleeing, but Rin musters up all her hate to burn him and allow Ian time to escape. Rin decides she can help Ian by infiltrating the enemy base and tells Raven that Ian will come for her and to take her to his boss.
Rin meets Shira, who turns out to be a girl. Shira is surprisingly nice to Rin, but warns her never to go into the room with the red door. While looking around, Rin hears a strange song. When she comes to the source, she sees a little girl singing surrounded by fairies. The little girl asks if Rin has seen her son Ian. Rin knows without a doubt that the girl is referring to her Ian, but cannot understand how Ian's mother could be this small child in front of her. Before Shira arrives, the girl gives Rin a pine cone and tells her to cheer up.
When Shira arrives, she is furious. She tells Kureha to go back to the room with the red door; Kureha seems to believe Shira is Ian. Shira then proceeds to kill all the fairies and when Rin tries to stop her, she attacks her with her powers and tells her that if she doesn't behave she will die. Rin is then taken to a room and locked up. In the room, it turns out the pine cone was really Derek the fairy. Rin met Derek while talking with Kureha. He's a strange little fairy that says the opposite of what he means. Rin asks Derek to convey a message to Ian. Once Derek does so, he mentions that he was able to find Ian thanks to a man with black wings.
Kaito watches the whole exchange from above, while Raven comes forward. Kaito tells Raven he will tear to shreds everything Raven wishes to protect because Raven is his. (This scene gives off a shounen-ai vibe). Afterwards Kaito discusses their past together, where both boys were taken to a kingdom from different parts of the fairy world. Raven was a slave, while Kaito was the Queen's Page. However, while Kaito lived comfortably, he had to swallow his pride, but Raven was able to keep his. Eventually, Kaito is kicked out of the Kingdom for sleeping with the Queen and Raven for telling the King that the Queen forced Kaito and not the other way around. When they are confronted bt a Beast from the Desert of Death, Kaito looses his eye and Raven's seal is broken, allowing him to teleport both of them to his village.
During Kaito's stay there, he seduces Raven's fiance and drives her mad. The villagers and Raven ask him to remove the curse. Kaito agrees under the condition that Raven pay back his left eye. Raven agrees and gives Kaito his left eye. The reminiscing ends there, and Ian and Ainsel happened to see Kaito with Raven and hear the story.
Later, Eriya's grandmother pulls a few strings and gets an invitation to project Elysium for Ian. When he runs out to go, Ian sees the advertisement for the face of the Elysium project and Rin happens to be one of the contestants. Kaito comments on how this is a trap Ian will be unable to avoid.
My Thoughts
We see a very frail and vulnerable Rin this volume. However, Yuki-san still manages to give Rin an amazing backbone and spirit. Granted, she isn't kicking any ass, but Rin has the strength to stand up to any adversary, regardless of having no special powers, which makes her a great deal more stronger emotionally. For example, when Tokage is threatening to rape her, Rin puts up quite the fight, scratching and biting him. And when Shira gives Rin the most threatening glare, Rin still speaks up and tells Shira she shouldn't harm innocent fairies. Rin is one of the few unconventional damsels in distress because she really isn't in distress. She wanted to be captured (much like another damsel in distress that I like, Rukia).
Ian isn't the focus of this volume, but he still shows a bit of character growth. First, he tries very hard to become stronger for Rin, without considering what kind of strength he seeks. He later realizes, thanks to Ainsel, that the strength he was lusting after wasn't the kind he needed. We see Ian's short fall from grace and him regaining himself this volume. I'm interested how his character will finally be resolved. Kaito, Raven, and Shira are still mysteries, albeit Kaito and Raven's interesting past has now been revealed, but we still have yet to learn each one's true goals. I'm hoping we learn a bit more about Shira and her goals next volume.
Story-wise, this volume was just as good as the last. The pace has continued at a nice quick pace. Back stories were given to spice things up a bit, and a few hints were littered here and there. For example, we see a little girl who appears to be Ian's mother, then Kaito's proclamation to Raven hints at his darker goal. Furthermore, back stories confirmed much about the characters personalities and motives, rather then puzzle the reader, the back stories did what they should do, tell the reader more about the characters. Overall, it was a very enjoyable read and I cannot wait to see the conclusion next volume!
~Joanna
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