Rozen Maiden: Schwarze Feder des Schicksals
typed by the.Merines
started: 07.28.06 13:24
finished: 08.03.06 21:00
published: 08.03.06
disclaimed: Rozen Maiden, its scenario and characters belong to Peach-Pit, not me. Oh no.
Third Thorn: Meeting of the Mediums
“Juuu~n-kuuu~n!” The young boy growled angrily as he sat at his desk. Nori’s voice sure could be annoying at times… ‘Well, most of the time.’
“Don’t bother me; I’m busy!” he shouted.
“Jun,” Shinku’s voice crisply called. “It’s rude of you to make a Lady raise her voice.” He looked over at the blond doll where she sat on his bed.
“What could possibly be so important that she’s yelling?” The door to his room creaked open, garnering the attention of both Jun and Shinku. “Nori, what the h-! Oh, Hina-ichigo?” The most childish Sister slowly peeked her head into his room.
“Jun isn’t making scary voices anymore, is he?” she asked, obviously scared.
“What do you want?” Jun deadpanned. The door swung open quickly, revealing Suiseiseki standing next to Hina. In her small hands was the house phone. “Uh?! Why are you carrying that?”
“Because, chibi-human, you have a phone call ~desu!” she huffed.
“Tell whoever it is that I’m busy.”
“Grrr… I’m not your secretary! Here!” Suiseiseki threw the receiver with all
her might, much to Jun’s surprise.
‘What has he done to that poor child already today to make her so upset?’ Shinku wondered. The phone made a rather ungraceful arc through the air and landed on Jun’s lap, rather than hitting his head as Suiseiseki had intended (she released it just a moment too early). Jun heard the tinny voice of a girl on the other end of the line. He grasped the phone and lifted it to his ear, his hand beginning to shake uncontrollably.
“Um… Hello?” he asked, almost silently.
“Jun-kun?” He immediately recognized Tomoe’s voice.
“Oh, Kashiwaba, uh… Um, how are you?” he asked awkwardly.
“I’m fine, but that’s not why I called.” She spoke quickly, making Jun wonder if there was some sort of problem. “Hina-ichigo and Shinku are still there right?”
“Of course. They never leave,” he replied in an annoyed tone. “Another ill-mannered doll is here, too.”
“Are there any others around?”
“Well, there is the other one… Suigintou, or something… OK…” The conversation immediately grabbed Shinku’s attention at that point. Hina-ichigo had returned to coloring, while Suiseiseki tried to figure out what Jun was talking about.
“Jun, with whom are you speaking?” asked Shinku, ignoring the fact that he was trying to concentrate on his conversation. “Jun… Jun!” Just as she was about to jump down and kick his shin, he ended the call with a ‘beep.’ He looked confused and uneasy. “Jun?”
“Shinku… Are there other dolls besides the three of you? There’s that one who dressed in black as well, right?”
“Yes, Suigintou.”
“There’s also Souseiseki,” Suiseiseki spoke up. “But she’s still clinging onto that old geezer she calls her master. Honestly, why would anyone want an old man as their Medium ~desu?” she continued, her voice growing fragile. Shinku noted that there must have been some kind of altercation between the twin sisters, but now wasn’t the time to bring it up.
“Would… Are there any dolls without a Medium?” Shinku was beginning to become concerned as he asked these types of questions.
“Well, there is Suiseiseki here,” replied the blond doll. Jun frowned and scratched his head.
“But she’s always here lately…”
“Is there a point to these questions?” Shinku asked, trying to get to the root of his problem.
“Suigintou doesn’t have a medium, right?”
“That child… has killed almost every Medium she has had,” Shinku stated with deadly clearness. Jun’s eyes widened. Hina-ichigo looked up from her coloring book. “She hates all humans except Father.”
“What’s wrong ~na no? Jun! Is something wrong with Tomoe?” Jun shook his head, his brow still furrowed. “Is she coming over?” Hina asked, growing excited as he slowly nodded. “Hurray! Yay, Hina gets to see Tomoe again!” As she cheered Shinku continued staring at Jun.
“Jun. Please stop this. Explain what is going on.”
“Well,” he sighed. “Tomoe… She said that her estranged older brother just called her. He said… he found some kind of living doll. He specifically called it a Rozen Maiden. Tomoe said that none of her family knew anything about Hina-ichigo, so there is no way he was just making it up.” Jun spoke slowly, trying to give the information as clearly as possible.
‘There’s no way Suigintou would choose to accept a Medium…’ Shinku reasoned.
“Shinku… If Suigintou has a master…” Suiseiseki trailed off, her voice quivering.
“No, she would never do such a thing,” Shinku stated with complete confidence. “It must be one of the other two Sisters.” All three of dolls stopped for a moment and tried to remember about those other two. “I have never met the seventh doll, and I can’t remember anything about the other.”
“Neither can I ~desu,” admitted Suiseiseki. Hina shrugged, engrossed in coloring a new picture for Tomoe.
“In any case she asked if she could bring him over here so we could all talk… I want you all to stay out of sight while he’s here,” Jun said, trying to take a strong stance in the situation. “I’ll try to gather some information.”
“Wa! Tomoe’s big brother is so cool!” Hina happily exclaimed. “He was always very nice to Tomoe ~na no. He even brought home unyuu sometimes! Even if he is Suigintou’s Medium, maybe he can make her play nice ~na no!”
“Ah~, it must be nice to be such a stupid chibi-chibi,” sighed Suigintou.
Shinku said nothing. Her face was as cool as always, but her eyes betrayed an inner concern. “Hey, Shinku,” Jun quietly said. “Does that bother you?”
“Hm? It’s nothing. When are they arriving?”
“In about an hour.”
“Ah. In that case please go and prepare some tea for me. Also, it may be a good idea for you to change out of that sweater you always wear, if you’re expecting company. Be sure to prepare tea for your guests as well, and –“
Jun sighed heavily as Shinku continued to give her suggestions. ‘Even if he’s with that Suigintou doll… It might be nice to have another human who’s a Medium to talk with. If he’s anything like Tomoe, I shouldn’t feel too uneasy around him.’
---
Suigintou sat in a somewhat dilapidated church which resided in her personal n-Field. Though she didn’t notice it, the church was a much more beautiful place than the last time she had visited there. The once broken windows were now wonderful and bright panes of stained glass. The formerly nonexistent doors had been replaced with thick wooden masterpieces of carpentry.
She sat on the altar. Once in a while sunlight would break through the clouds (that had replaced the city’s mirror image which had previously floated in the sky) and bring a calm warmth to her body. The fragments of a mirror floated in front of her. Shinku, her Medium, Hina-ichigo, Suiseiseki, Souseiseki, and Suigintou’s own Medium were all depicted in real-time. It was merely one of the many powers of the Rosa Mystica.
“My, my, little Shinku… What has you looking so upset?”
The first Sister laughed just a little. Just seeing Shinku’s feathers ruffled (no pun intended) was occasion to be happy. Next Suigintou’s attention fell on her Medium. She smiled as he walked down the street. His face was cold and uninviting, completely the opposite of when she had been with him. “He certainly is an interesting fellow. It’s no wonder Meimei drew me to him. His power is incredible… Easily a match for Shinku’s Medium.” Her sinister laughter echoed throughout the church’s halls.
---
As the buzzer rang at the Sakurada household, a completely clueless Nori went to the door to see who it was. “Jun-kun doesn’t usually get packages at this time of day, so I wonder who it could be.”
“Nori, wait!” Jun yelled as he rushed the door. He was in such a rush, in fact, that he didn’t notice one of his mini-cars in his path. Hina-ichigo had left it there earlier after she was finished coloring on it. Jun’s right foot came down directly on top of the mini-car. Even before he could cry out in pain, the muscles in that leg and foot urged him to continue running. He attempted to shift his weight off that foot, but instead ended up falling forward at a rather high rate of speed.
Nori opened the door, revealing Tomoe and a young man, just as Jun planted his face in the doorway.
“Eh?” Tomoe blandly asked as she tried to figure out what had just happened.
“Oh, Jun-kun!” cried his older sister. She reached down to help him up, but he swatted her arms away.
“Knock it off! Geez… Ow…” he groaned.
“Oh my! Tomoe-chan! Please, come in. And, you are?” she asked Tomoe’s companion, finally noticing them.
“I’m Tomoe’s older brother, Tsugumi.” Even though it was him who had just embarrassed himself in front of guests, Jun had to suppress his laughter. Tsugumi was, after all, almost exclusively a girl’s name. “Nice to meet you. Sorry for the intrusion…”
“Don’t worry about it. Please come in,” Jun asked as he stood up, trying to sound friendly. He began making his first impressions of Tomoe’s older brother. He was definitely college-aged and tall. His black hair was trimmed down in a buzz cut. He wore a simple pair of blue jeans and a plain black shirt. His eyes were thin and tired, and there was some kind of roughness about him.
But most of all, Jun focused on Tsugumi’s left hand. Sure enough, there was a ring identical to his own on the older boy’s left ring finger, glowing a soft purple color. ‘That’s a sure sign that he’s made a Contract with a Rozen Maiden… The only real question left is… which one?’
From the other side of the second-story railing which looked out over the entryway and living room, the three dolls peeked over the edge.
“Ah! It’s Tomoe’s aniki!” Hina said in a muted tone.
“He sure is tall ~desu… and kinda scary-looking,” added Suiseiseki. “Shinku, he’s wearing a ring ~desu.”
“You’re right. I guess there is another Medium out there now,” Shinku responded in an equally quiet tone.
“Oh, it’s strange for Mediums to meet, isn’t it?”
“Yes. I don’t recall it ever happening before.”
“T-tomoe…” Hina tried to make a dash and say ‘hello’ to her former Medium, but Suiseiseki and Shinku grabbed onto her. They shooshed her and tried to suppress her struggling. “Why can’t I see Tomoe ~na no?” pouted Hina-ichigo after she decided to give up.
“For this simple reason: we know nothing about two of the three possible dolls with which he had made a Contract. The one we do know of is Suigintou. We have to keep ourselves hidden, or else his doll will know we are all gathered here,” Shinku explained in her usual level-headed way.
“Just shut up and listen ~desu!”
Meanwhile, downstairs in the Sakurada’s living room, Nori brought out tea for the two guests. Shinku’s quick draw of breath alerted Suiseiseki. She nodded stiffly at Tsugumi. “What is it, Shinku?” Tomoe and Tsugumi were ushered to the table by Nori. Jun sat opposite of Tomoe’s older brother.
“Look at him,” she said guardedly, nodding towards the stranger. The two dolls watched as he sat down. He immediately crossed his arms and brought his right foot up to rest on his left knee. He waited patiently, his eyes betraying a frigid intelligence. “The way he moves, how he holds his teacup… Although they are simple behaviors, he behaves just like Suigintou.”
“Really?” asked Suiseiseki, somewhat shocked that Shinku would be able to distinguish such things. “Maybe it’s just a concidence ~desu.” Shinku shook her head. In her normally calm blue eyes was a sense of anxiety.
“So, Tomoe-chan, what brings you here today?” Nori asked in her normal, happy way.
“To be quite frank,” Tsugumi spoke, setting down his teacup, “I think Jun and I have something in common.” Jun blinked in confusion.
‘Does he already know? I made sure to keep my left hand hidden… If he heard those loud dolls, I’ll…’ Jun pondered.
“Thinking back, Tomo-nee also shared this trait with us, but for some reason does not anymore.” Now Jun knew that this strange guy had deduced that he was also a Medium. Tsugumi’s eyes focused on Jun. The similarity between his placid yet fierce gaze and the gaze of Suigintou was obvious, even to Jun. A chill crawled up Jun’s back as the older boy continued to talk. “Back then I thought she had a secret boyfriend, but now I realize that it was a different kind of relationship. Sakurada-san-“
“Call me Jun,” he instructed, trying to put on a poker face.
“Jun-kun… Where is your Rozen Maiden?” Everyone in the Sakurada household shared a moment of sudden astonishment. “The moment the door opened and you fell, your ring was exposed. You’ve hidden it since then. It was obvious if one was only a little observant.”
“Wow… Tomoe’s aniki sounds like Kun-kun!” Hina-ichigo exclaimed. Her companions quickly covered her mouth, but the damage had been done. Tsugumi pretended not to notice, even though Jun’s poker face was broken for just a split-second.
“In any case,” Tsugumi continued, “I’m sure you realize that there are seven Rozen Maiden. I can safely assume that the doll which was previously entrusted to my younger sister is a different doll from yours Jun, and that my doll is another. That accounts for three of seven.”
“I guess I don’t understand what you’re saying,” Jun reluctantly admitted, letting his left hand be seen. Tsugumi noted that his ring was faintly glowing red. “We’re both Mediums. It would be easier for us both if we could pool our information. If we could work together…” His voice trailed off as Tsugumi raised a hand.
“I’m talking about the Alice Game. Surely you know what it is?” His voice was so cold, so full of masked disdain… Jun’s brow furrowed. Tsugumi’s face brightened just a bit. “Don’t be nervous. It can’t be started until all seven dolls are awake, right? There’s no guarantee that it will happen in our lifetimes. I just wanted you to know that you aren’t dealing with some fool. Our dolls draw upon our life force in order to fight. I don’t intend to lose. I’m most intrigued by this girl… ‘Alice,’ and I wish to meet the man they call Father. I just wanted to declare my intentions. Hopefully, you don’t feel any malice towards me for any of our future actions.”
---
In her n-Field, Suigintou laughed with surprise. She watched as her Medium had made his intentions crystal clear to Shinku’s dim-witted Medium. He then left alone, looking rather satisfied with himself. “What a strange human,” she mused. The look on Shinku’s face when Tsugumi spoke about the Alice Game was absolutely priceless.
Behind her, at the entrance to the church, a slit in the n-Field suddenly tore open. A tall, thin human body dressed in a tuxedo stepped through. Rather than a human head, though, the apparition had the head of a rabbit. The slit sealed itself up after he had stepped fully through. He took a single step forward. The resonance of his hard heel hitting the wood floor was enough to alert Suigintou. She quickly jumped down from the altar, spinning around in mid-air to face the noise.
“Who’s there?” she asked. The apparition was hidden in the shadows, watching her face grow angry. “Show yourself!” Light suddenly shown on the source of the noise, revealing someone Suigintou hadn’t seen in a long, long time. “Laplace’s Demon? What are you doing here?!” The rabbit bowed to her.
“It isn’t possible for two sides of the same coin to be shown at once. Medium… Such an interesting toy. Perhaps you shouldn’t react so violently to him. Where you once would slit a throat, now a wall of feathers will appeal.”
“What?!” She readied her wings to attack, but he disappeared back into the darkness. “Just what is he trying to tell me?” The very nature of Laplace’s Demon was an all-knowing being. He knew every outcome to every situation before it even happened. “If that bunny tries to manipulate me… He’ll be sadly mistaken!”
In one of the shards of mirror that Suigintou used to monitor the real world, a doll dressed totally in white appeared for just a split-second. If Suigintou had noticed it, maybe even she would have felt scared by the maniacal grin that white doll wore.
---
Even though Detective Kun-kun was playing on the TV, none of the Sakurada household’s occupants were watching. Nori prepared dinner in a failing attempt to ease her mind. Jun and the dolls were up in his room. Everyone had been eerily silent since that time. Tomoe had profusely apologized for her brother’s rude words and left soon afterwards. As usual, Suiseiseki was the first to break the long quiet.
“Argh! I can’t stand it anymore ~desu!” she yelled as she threw her hands up in the air. “That guy is Suigintou’s Medium, isn’t he? That means… she’ll be even more powerful than before! Isn’t that a really big problem for us ~desu? What should we do? Shinku?!” Rather than immediately presenting a solution as Suiseiseki expected, Shinku didn’t say a word. She remained still on Jun’s bed, her eyes closed and arms crossed.
“Shin~ku~!” exclaimed Hina-ichigo. “Suiseiseki and Hina are worried ~na no! If Suigintou had a Medium, does that mean she will… Uhm, well…” The doll trailed off, unsure of how to express what she was feeling. Shinku released a small sigh and opened her eyes.
“Everyone. We must be constantly on guard from now on. We don’t know when Suigintou will choose to take advantage of this situation. Our only hope may be that Medium, in fact.”
“Eh? But isn’t he the source of the problem?” Jun asked.
“Of course. He will be providing Suigintou with the same kind of power than I receive from you, Jun. However, the way he spoke… He seems to be set on meeting Father, and he doesn’t wish for the Alice Game to be started until all of the Rozen Maiden are awakened. That fact may be our only hope for a peaceful time in the coming days,” she explained.
“Do you think he’ll be able to dissuade Suigintou from pulling more dirty tricks?” Suiseiseki asked warily. “She’ll just end up taking all his life force and fighting all of us…”
“Yea, what if she doesn’t listen to him? I really don’t see her as a doll that would stop just because her Medium said to,” Jun added. “Although, I got the same kind of weird vibe from that guy as from Suigintou. Maybe he really can convince her to hold off her attack.”
“Jeez, with that scary guy being Suigintou’s Medium…” Suiseiseki shuddered at the very thought. She suddenly remembered something… ‘Ah, Souseiseki… Why are you puttering around with that old man at a time like this?’ Shinku noticed the pensive look on Suiseiseki’s face.
“Suiseiseki… Are you worried about Souseiseki? Where is she?” she asked, but her sister didn’t respond.
“Huh? Souseiseki…?” Jun asked slowly. Shinku nodded.
“Suiseiseki’s twin younger sister, Souseiseki. Usually those two are inseparable, however…” She stopped as everyone noticed the tears welling up in Suiseiseki’s mismatched eyes. “If that man fails to dissuade Suigintou, Souseiseki may be her first target. You should contact her immediately. If necessary, I will accompany you-”
“No!” The sudden outburst surprised Jun. He’d never seen this side of the doll. “I’ll take care of Souseiseki.”
---
The moon was high in the night sky before Suigintou appeared on Tsugumi’s windowsill. He’d intentionally left it open when she wasn’t home when he arrived. As she expected he was sitting at his computer desk, reading. “Oh? You’re still awake?” she asked, looking out at the sky. Chopin’s ‘Nocturne in G minor’ played in the background.
“Right. For some reason I couldn’t sleep. I found out a few things today…”
“Such as?” she probed, already knowing his answer.
“I found two other Mediums.” The doll suddenly turned her head and met his gaze. Two? “You probably knew about Sakurada Jun, but I also remembered a strange rose ring I saw an old man wearing once when my grandmother’s alarm clock broke.”
“You said… You’re grandparents were dead though, right?” she asked, obviously surprised. He nodded.
“Five years ago. I have a pretty good memory, huh?” he said with a small smile. “I went back there today and confirmed it. He’s still wearing that same ring. That means I’ve confirmed three of the other dolls. I also came to the conclusion that you may need a few things…” He stood and went to the far wall of his room and pulled a sheet off what turned out to be a large antique mirror. He continued smiling as he saw Suigintou’s eyes light up. She finally entered the room and floated over to the mirror. The doll placed her small hands on its metal frame, slowly running her hands over its cool exterior. The silver roses and thorns made the mirror seem to appear from a metallic rose garden.
“It’s… This will work nicely. Why did you do this? How could you know...?” She hadn’t mentioned anything about n-Fields yet, so why had he gone out on his own and purchased such an item?
“I did a study on alchemy as my senior project in high school. When applying the idea to creating living dolls, with their ultimate purpose to fight and one day become Alice… It dawned on me that all this fighting could never be done in a human world. ‘Therefore, there must be some kind of portal’ I said to myself. I’ve always felt an affinity for antique mirrors for some reason, so I assumed this would work.” Her mouth parted to continue questioning him, but she decided against it.
“Well, in that case… I know the three dolls which are residing at the Sakurada household. Suigintou, Hina-ichigo, and… Shinku,” she explained, her eyes narrowing. “The one which stays with the old man is probably Souseiseki. That only leaves two others.”
“Then the Alice Game can really begin, right?” Suigintou nodded, a sadistic grin appearing on her face. She looked at her reflection in the mirror, her Medium’s reflection behind hers… “That’s a little boring. What are you going to do until then?”
“Hahaha… I have a few things ideas.” The mirror slowly turned black, ripples seeming to appear in the glass. An image suddenly became clear; a boyish-looking doll was kneeling next to an old woman who appeared to be asleep. “Souseiseki… Maybe we can have some fun,” she stated happily. She turned to her Medium, who was wearing the same vicious smile as her.
“What did you have in mind?”
---
In a ward of a local hospital, a permanent patient slept. Her long black hair flowed unhampered over her pillow. The nurse who was taking her recordings of the patient’s life signs sighed. This girl… She was an impossible case. Her life would, definitely, be cut short. However, until then, she was kept alive by machine, according to her parents’ wishes. What a sad existence it must be…
End of Third Thorn.
Author’s Note: Aniki means older brother.
2006-08-03, 12:09
Keep it coming. 
Graphic Designer
