Strawberry shortcake, caramel pudding, chocolate cake, and a variety of lollipops were laid out on a table. Break picked up a slice of each cake and popped them into his mouth.

Sharon sighed, "Honestly, Break, one of these days you're going to get diabetes. So much sugar wasted." Break shrugged, licking a large lollipop now. He looked out the window and saw Reim walking up the sidewalk to the house.

"Why am I not surprised that you're eating again, Xerxes?" Reim asked as soon as he walked through the door. "News from Pandora is here and since you were too lazy to get it yourself, I decided to bring it."

Break got up and walked to the mail as he bit into another piece of cake. "Thank you, Reim~. And just so you know, I was about to go get that after tea time~." Reim nodded and walked away. Break chewed on a another bite of cake as he searched through the mail. "Pandora junk, Pandora junk, Pandora junk… Ah! What's this~?" A folded sheet of paper with a rose seal on it stood out from all the others. He threw out the lollipop and opened it up. It read:

CIRCLE ONE:

WIND NOT WIND

"Hmm…This could be interesting~."

"What is it, Break?" Sharon questioned, noting the look on his face.

Break's grin widened. "Nothing, milady."

**…**

Later that day, Break glanced at the paper lying on his desk. It was unfolded, showing the bold print typed on it. Break snickered and whipped out a pen. Moving the letter close to him, he circled "WIND" out of curiosity. Break refolded the letter and hid it in one of his desk drawers so nobody else would see it.

**…**

It was a normal day as Break sat in his room with a huge feast of chocolate before him. He made a move to pick up the first piece when he heard the wind howling unnaturally loudly outside outside the glass of his window. "Eh?" As Break turned around, he saw something large and dark flying at him through the window. It smashed through the glass and struck Break hard on the forehead. He fell backwards and hit the back of his his head soundly on the wall. After rubbing his head, Break looked at what had hit him. There was a strange box lying on his lap, but more importantly, his chocolate was crushed and scattered everywhere. Glass pieces were littering the marble floors of his room.

Break blinked and opened the box. In it, to his surprise, was a sleeping doll. The doll probably would be a little above his knee if it were standing up. He picked it up and looked at it. The doll looked so real that it was hard to believe it wasn't human. It had long and wavy silver-blue hair that almost went to the doll's feet, and it was wearing a watery blue dress that was longer at the back than the front. It had matching watery blue sleeves that went from her hand to her hand to her elbow. Break would've considered the doll pretty if not for the slightly haughty expression on the doll's face.

Then he noticed the golden wind that was in the corner of the box. "What do we have here~?" Break murmured, smiling. He picked up the wind and carefully stuck it in the hole in the back of the doll. After Break turned it, he waited to see what would happen. Moments passed, and the doll started to twitch. Break grinned as she started to take a few wobbling steps. Then the doll stood up straight and opened her eyes. They were a beautiful sea green color, and the depth and understanding contained in them was staggering.

The doll twisted her head over to the messy remains of what was once chocolate. Then she looked at the state of the room, then right at Break. "How horrifying," she stated, looking disgusted.

Break's grin widened. "What are you~?" he asked.

The doll walked over to him and smacked his cheek with the back of her hand with surprising force. "Whatever I am, I am most definitely none of your concern." She pressed her fingers together with a sudden excitement. "Unless you become my medium!"

"Your what?"

"My medium! I've never had a medium before!" Her eyes drifted over the blue-skinned doll sitting on Break's shoulder. "And what is that horrible thing?" she asked, pointing to the doll nervously.

"My name's Emily," Emily introduced herself. The doll shrieked and scurried to a corner, covering her head with her arms. "What an idiot, being scared of another doll," Emily continued. The doll in the corner peeked between her arms, glaring.

"So, what are you~?" Break asked again.

The doll stood up from her corner and dusted off her dress. "I'm a who, not a what…but you haven't heard of me?!" she said, her eyes wide. "I'm a Rozen Maiden doll!"

"…So what is that?" Break was completely confused. The doll looked like she might cry. She crossed her arms and crouched down in the corner to sulk.

Break snickered and walked over to the doll, enjoying this. "Do you need anything~?"

The dolls eyes brightened. "It's about time somebody asked! As a matter of fact, yes, I do need something. I need a medium and…tea! Yes, tea would be very nice right now!"

Break laughed and waved his pointy finger in her face. "Not until you tell me your name~."

"Fine, if it's really needed that much. My name is Miki!" She wrinkled her nose. "And while I'm at it, your room is by far one of the worst I have seen!" Miki exclaimed, pointing to the mess by her feet.

"What an uncute brat," Break said, still smiling.

**…**

Break walked back into the room with the tea in hand. Miki gladly accepted it and sat down elegantly in Break's chair.

"So, what's a Rozen Maiden?" Break asked.

"We're dolls with artificial souls. We were made to fight in the Alice Games. Since you obviously know nothing, I will have to explain that to you too. The Alice Games are when we Rozen Maidens fight each other so we can collect the other dolls' souls, or Rosa Mysticas, and become the perfect doll." Miki's eyes lit up at those words.

"Why would you want to be the perfect doll?"

Miki put her hand over her heart tenderly. "The reason we were made is because Father had a dream of the perfect girl, Alice. Alice is unspoiled, beautiful...perfect. So he kept making dolls, but none of them compared to Alice. So once one of us defeats all the other dolls we can finally meet our father, the one who created us. Isn't that great! I was just made recently so I don't know the other dolls' names. I also don't have a medium." She looked at Break hopefully. "You can become my medium."

"What's a medium?"

"A medium is a human that helps a Rozen Maiden by giving them power to fight. In other words, the doll uses the medium's energy to battle. "

Break forced a laugh, still going through what Miki said about the Alice Games in his mind. "No, I will not become your medium." They sat there for some time, drinking tea. Then he sniffed. "Do you smell that?"

"Why, it's a fire of course. A very big one at that," Miki answered while nodding, quietly sipping more tea. Break quickly processed what was happening, jumped up, and ran out the door towards the smell. Miki followed him calmly. They went down flights of steps and reached the kitchen, where smoke was billowing out thickly.

"Break? Is that you?" a weak voice called from inside.

"Milady! Are you alright?" Break shouted.

"For now, yes, but get me OUT OF HERE!" Sharon cried. Break started to make his way into the fire when Miki tapped on his shoulder, giggling.

"It's a pretty big fire in there. I bet you would get burned. Of course, I could always put it out for you."

Break's eyes narrowed. "Then put it out fast."

Miki laughed again. "Can't. If you want me to save your lady, you have to become my medium. Your choice~!"

"Fine."

Miki held out her hand to him. "I'm fairly sure that you have to kiss my ring," she said, gesturing to the rose ring on her finger. Scowling, Break leaned over the ring and kissed it. A light blue glow erupted from the ring and surrounded Break's finger. An identical ring with the golden rose appeared there.

Break stared at it for a few seconds before glancing back at Miki, who smiled. Miki walked up to the fire and stood there. She held out her arms and a shimmering light blue mist flowed out of her hands and surrounded the fire. Then the pieces of mist clumped together and transformed into water, dousing the fire. Break suddenly felt drained of energy as the glow surrounding the water faded.

Miki tapped Break on the shoulder and motioned for him to follow. She led him into the ashes of the kitchen to Sharon. "Would you like me to wake Sharon up?" Miki asked Break, who nodded. Miki took a cup of now cold tea from the table and dumped on Sharon's head.

Break grabbed the collar of Miki's dress and shook it wildly. "What in the world was that for?!"

Miki smiled. "Obviously, I was waking her up. You should really thank me too. What a waste of good tea." Break was staring at Miki angrily when something shot out and sent Break flying.

"Break, you IDIOT! How DARE you take your time in getting here!" Sharon cried, fully awake now. Droplets of tea flew everywhere as Sharon sat up quickly.

Break smiled. "Well it's a good thing you're okay now, Milady. But honestly, it's that thing's fault that I was late~." He pointed to Miki.

Miki waved happily to Sharon as Sharon turned around to look at what Break was pointing to. As she saw Miki, she smiled brightly. "Why, hello! Aren't you just the cutest little thing EVER!" Sharon crooned, full of kindness. "But when did you get here? And who are you? You're a bit short aren't you? I'm full of questions, but you can answer them during tea time. Break! Could you get the tea?" Sharon took Miki's hand and started leading them to a balcony.

"Excuse me, but why did you start a fire in the kitchen?" Miki asked Sharon.

"I was getting really very hungry, and all the maids seemed busy. I couldn't find Break anywhere so I decided to try making something myself," Sharon answered simply. She sat Miki down on one of the chairs. "As you can see, it did not turn out very well. Now, how did Break put out the fire? And why is there tea in my hair?"

"Break didn't put out the fire. I did," Miki corrected proudly. "He's just my medium. And I'm sorry about the tea...I used it to wake you up."

"Thank you for getting rid of the fire. I was sure I was going to die. Also, I'm glad that you found a way to woke me up, no matter what method." Sharon smiled gently. Then she tilted her head to the side in confusion, remembering what Miki said. "What is a medium?"

"He's the one that gives me power," Miki explained. "I'm a Rozen Maiden."

Sharon smiled as sweetly as possible, considering that she had no idea what Miki was saying. "Power? And you are...a Rozen Maiden? What's that?"

Miki jumped up from her spot, angry and frustrated, shouting, "Must I explain it all over again! Do you honestly have no idea what a Rozen Maiden is!?"

Sharon shook her head sadly, sympathizing with the little doll. "So can you please explain it to me?"

Miki sighed and went on with her explanation.

As Miki finished explaining, Break walked into the room carrying two cups of tea. He set one down in front of Sharon and took the other himself, leaving nothing for Miki. She leapt to her feet, her hands curled into fists and her eyes filled with anger, disbelief, and quite a lot of hurt. "Where is my tea!?" she complained, straining to keep her voice steady.

Break calmly took a sip of tea. "You already had yours."

"So did you!" Miki pointed out, shaking a finger at Break and stamping her foot. "So why can't I have some too?"

Break took another sip of tea. "I prioritize. You definitely are not as important as Milady and I," he answered, nodding.

"Without me, Sharon would be dead!" Miki cried.

Break's eyes glowed with anger as he whipped a sword out of his cane and pointed it at Miki, who hissed, her eyes on the blade in front of her. "You have no right to talk to me about death," Break hissed. "Not when you-"

There was a big thump and the blade fell to the ground. Sharon stood over Break, her fan out and her lip trembling. "XERXES BREAK! DON'T YOU DARE USE THAT SWORD OUT HERE!" she yelled quite loudly and angrily, but Miki could tell that she was close to crying.

"But Milady-" Break protested.

"Sit down, Break. There will be no more fighting," Sharon said as she picked up her teacup and sipped it. Miki took the chance to snatch the sword up in her arms. She ran near the door to the inside of the manor and set it down, way out of Break's reach. Miki walked back and sat down in her seat again. Still disappointed that she had no tea, she reached out for a piece of cake. Break made a sound of discontent as he watched Miki grab the cake, though he made no move to stop her. Scowling at Break, Miki took a big bite out of the cake, set on eating as much cake as possible so that Break could have none.

After she was calmed down and stuffed so that she could eat no more, Miki excused herself and walked back in the manor house. She found her way back into Break's room and looked at the mess again. Miki felt bad for what she said, even though she had no clue why Break had gotten so mad at her. "Stupid Break," she murmured. She looked at the shattered window and decided to start with that first.

Lifting her hand, Miki levitated all of the glass shards and fitted them neatly into the window frame. Then she joined the pieces together and finished fixing the window. Then Miki, disgusted as she was, picked up the melting chocolate pieces and chucked them out the door. Even with the chocolate and the glass gone, Break's room was still horrifyingly messy. Candy wrappers were dropped everywhere. Miki collected these too and threw them out the door. Next, Miki straightened everything in the room and sat on top of her case to wait for Break.

Miki had almost gotten bored of waiting when the door opened. She couldn't wait to see what Break would think of her work. He couldn't possibly find anything wrong with the cleaning she had done. Miki sat upright and puffed out her chest.

Break walked in his head lowered so Miki couldn't see his face. I bet he doesn't want me to know how happy he is, thought Miki. "Guess what Break! I decided to clean the room! Isn't it great!" Miki said extending her arms and twirling around toward Break. Break looked down at her, and she winced at his face. He was forcing a smile and if Miki had heard evil laughing, she would have thought he was some psycho mad scientist about to dissect someone. Miki looked up at Break. His completely happy smile, made her think that she would dread what was about to happen.

"Tell that to the mess outside," he said calmly. "And that's the second time you've said, 'Isn't that great!' to something that is not great at all." Break grabbed hold of Miki's wrist. She tried running, but being only a few feet tall, it was no use. The next thing she knew, Miki was picked up and tossed into the hallway with melted chocolate all over her dress and her precious case in the garbage beside her. Miki silently cried as she picked her now muddy case out and onto the clean floor. She refused to give in to Break's horrible treatment. She was going to sleep one way or another. But as tired as she was, Miki wasn't just about to give make the inside of her case dirty, so she curled up next to it and fell into a dreamless, empty sleep.

**…**

The next morning Miki found herself in the same clothes, the same place, and the same position, but there was a worse smell. She wrinkled her nose and sighed. Not only did Break not have the decency to move her to a warmer spot, but he didn't even give her a blanket. Miki hissed at him angrily. I refuse to put up with such a horrible medium! I'll just run away! Then Break will have to find me! thought Miki. She tip-toed into Break's room, being as quiet as possible. Going to his desk, she shoved three handfuls into whatever-place-of-her-dress-that-could-hold-candy. She was about to leave when she saw a backpack with a weird symbol that probably signified something. Grinning, Miki grabbed it and dumped all the candy into the bag without really looking if there was anything inside it. Slinging the bag over her shoulder, she left the room, forgetting about her special case. Miki walked down the hallway, staring at the beautiful bronze lamps. She came to a grand door with plants carved into the door. Opening it she came to a large room with two curving stairs the joined at the end. Miki started down the stairs when one of the many maids saw her.

"Oh my! What in the world happened to you?!" the maid cried, scanning Miki from head to toe. "Well, come on then, We'll get you washed up and I'll wash your clothes for you." The kind maid ushered Miki down the stairs to a bathroom. Miki grinned. If she was going to leave she was at least going to get something out of this place.

Once Miki was finished with her bath, the maid gave her back her now clean and dry clothes. "Thank you! Do you have any bread? I'm going for a…picnic!" Miki lied. The maid nodded eagerly and got her the bread. As she was putting the clothes and the bread into the bag, the maid looked warily at it.

"I didn't know such a young lady like you could be a member of Pandora?" Miki frowned, and craned her neck to look at the bag. There was the symbol. It had edges like a clock and a handle at where the number twelve would be. The shape was weird and almost looked like fire. So that must be the symbol for Pandora! I wonder what that is? Miki wondered, but she nodded, going along with it. "Really! Then you must be really good at fighting chains! How is the latest case going?" the maid exclaimed, surprised. Now Miki was really very confused. Thousands of questions were flying through her mind at once. She had no idea what a chain was and what Pandora was.

"Um… ya, I am pretty good at fighting chains. And the current case is going pretty well…" The maid nodded happily. Miki hurried away from the maid as fast as possible, not wanting to be asked any more questions about whatever Pandora was. Now with clean clothes Miki headed out the door and started the journey of running away.