The Rabbit and The Roses
Part One
By Phantomstrata
She's here; she's finally here! Hana thought. One small hand clutched a small stuffed bear and a dried white rose close while the other gripped the edge of the chair she was sitting on. Barely able to contain her excitement, her feet kicked the air with unsuppressed energy; if not for the straps bound securely around her ankles the dress shoes she wore would have surely been tossed off. The movement caused her dress to rustle and moved the fresh rose resting against her knees, and before long she started fidgeting with the black lace framing her wrists and the silver ribbon and gem around her neck.
Hana watched, blue-gray eyes wide and taking everything in, as Mother tied the finishing bow in her sister's brown, curly hair. Kaida, her new sister, sat in a small chair, white hands folded on the black layers of her skirt, and the green of the dress's bodice shimmered in the warm glow of the hurricane lamp on the nearby end table. Her delicate little face was graced with her painted smile, and her eyelashes rested like dark downy feathers on her porcelain cheeks. Hana knew that at one time she had been like that, asleep, waiting to be awakened. Awakened by the same method Mother was about to use for Kaida. The woman leaned over the doll, pulling a key on a green ribbon from her neck as she did so. The key fit into the small hole in the center of Kaida's back, and Hana could hear the winding of a spring as it was turned. Mother stepped back, then turned and reached her hands to Hana.
"Come, dear." Mother took the white rose from Hana's lap, then carefully slid her hands beneath Hana's arms and lifted her, settling the doll on her lap as she sat in the chair. She wrapped one finger around a blond ringlet in Hana's ponytail and smoothed the doll's blue and black skirt. Together they watched. At first there was no movement. Then Kaida's eyelids began twitching. They opened slowly, revealing eyes cloudy with sleep. Soon her joints began twitching as well and she stood unsteadily, taking one jerky step forward, followed by another and another. She looked up at them with her grey-green gaze.
Mother smiled, extending her free arm and the white rose toward her new daughter. "Hello, my darling," she whispered.
I
"Hana, where are you going?" Kaida asked sleepily. She had been sleeping in her box until the crash, and opened the lid to find her sister creeping out of their room followed closely by Posy, her spirit.
"Sh! I heard something!"
"Like what?"
"I don't know, that's what I'm going to see!"
"Oh." Kaida looked around. Most of their toys and books were resting neatly on shelves and in boxes, but those that were strewn around the floor formed eerie shapes with distorted shadows. "Wait! I want to come, too!" Kaida's own spirit, Pixie, circled her head in response to the doll's agitation.
Hana sighed. "All right, come on." She took Kaida's hand and together they crept out of their room and down the hall to Mother's chambers. Her door was open a crack as usual, but when the opened it all the way, they saw her bed in the middle of the room, empty and with the bed sheets and blankets thrown back.
"Where's Mother?" Kaida whispered.
"Huh?"
"Mother isn't sleeping." She looked at the clock on the wall. Two hours past midnight. "Mother is never awake this late. Where is she?"
Hana looked confused. Her little face showed a troubled expression. She looked at the empty bed. "I….I don't know. Let's go find her."
She took Kaida's hand again and led her to the connecting room. At a glance it appeared empty, but something was wrong. One of the many tall windows lining the sides of the room was broken; shattered pieces of glass glittered from the silver blue moonlight and covered the carpet in front of the cracked frame and the bench of the nearby piano. Just beyond that in the shadow of the instrument, lay a figure.
"Mother!"
The dolls ran to her. Her red hair was a mess around her head, the curls tangled and pulled from the braid she usually wore at night. Her nightgown was slick and stained, but her chest still heaved as she drew air into her lungs. She tried to push herself up from the ground, but the strain was too overpowering and she collapsed again. Hana and Kaida fell beside her, sobbing and trying to help, but with their small size they couldn't provide the help she needed.
"Such lovely creations," a low voice came from the shadows.
Mother lifted her head. "Laplace!"
A tall, slender rabbit dressed in a tuxedo stepped into view and bent his thin frame into a low bow. "We meet again, Katrine."
I
He rose. "I suppose Rozen thought he could hide you here in your own N-field, the fool." He stepped lightly over to her side and bent low again. "But I would have found you eventually." He looked around the room and noticed the vase of blooming white roses. "So your roses are white, are they? I didn't expect to see any of your family's lovely flowers anywhere, what with it being the midst of winter and everything."
"Why? Why can't you just leave us alone?" Katrine whispered. She coughed hard, and the dolls looked at her in worry, tears beginning to trickle down their pale cheeks.
"Your brother had been given a magnanimous talent, Katrine. You've been given the same, of course, but your abilities are not developed enough to rival his." Laplace glanced at the two dolls. "I must say that you have improved over your first attempts." There was a gleam that appeared in his eye as he said this, and Hana and Kaida immediately pressed closer against Katrine. She could feel their bodies shaking with fright.
"They have nothing to do with my brother's foolish Alice Game, Laplace! Leave them out of this! There is no need for their involvement!"
He laughed. "But they are still members of Rozen's family, and their abilities combined with my own will finally allow me to defeat Rozen's maidens and bring about the birth of Alice, the ultimate perfection. With the edition of her power, I will finally be allowed to leave this cursed place." He gestured. "I can only cause so much mayhem in an N-field; imagine the possibilities if I could only enter the world outside!"
Quickly he reached down and grabbed Hana and Kaida, wrapping a thin arm around each doll's waist. They screamed and kicked but he was unfazed. "I hate to be leaving so quickly, but they are making such a scene." He turned back to Mother. "My apologies for breaking your window. It's your brother's fault that I had to; if he hadn't created a portal-less N-field I wouldn't have had to break it to get in." With a great leap he perched on the window sill and gave a final bow. "Farewell." He jumped from the window and vanished, trailed by the screams of the dolls.
Katrine watched horrified, then began sobbing uncontrollably. Rozen….where are you…? she thought. A glow from across the room drew her attention, and she looked to the mirror on the far wall.
Another N-field. But only Rozen or she was able to make them from this place. Rozen. His dolls. She must find them. She must warn them that Laplace is coming.
"S...s...Sada….." A small silver spirit flew up beside her. "Find…. Rozen…. Maidens...Laplace…is…coming…." The small spirit flew toward the mirror and vanished. Oh, please find them, Sada. It was her final thought before she fainted, still laying in a pool of her own blood and tears.
A/N: My first attempt at a Rozen Maiden fanfic; it will include original characters created by myself. I'm hoping to have pictures of them at some point so you can get an idea of what Katrine, Hana, and Kaida are supposed to look like. Thank you for reading; comments are welcomed and appreciated -