Chapter 4 - Porcelain Lolita

Kari yawned softly, slowly opening her eyes to gaze blankly at the now mostly dead fire. The room was sorta chilly, it wasn't long before Kari sighed, scrambling to her feet to go and poke at the blackened coals. "C'mon, you stupid thing. Catch fire and get me warm." The fire merely sparked in retort, almost like it refused to catch fire until she was kind to it. Kari fumed, carefully shoving a bit of paper and drier lint in the warm area near the coals. Only when it sparked again, signaling it's cooperation, did she start nursing it into existence.

When the fire, tiny as it was, finally existed, she built it up, quite sure they'd not leave until much later. And after that, she stood upright, dusting off her legs. "Much better." Her voice made Midnight look up. Kari just smiled, "Be back in a moment." Midnight made a whuffing sound and closed her eyes as Kari snuck down the hallway to the bathroom where Odd and Taka had spent the night.

Silently, almost like she'd become a grave-robber, Kari opened the bathroom door, her blue eyes dancing with merriment. Slowly, she managed to scop Taka up without disturbing poor Odd, then she slipped back out, heading back into the living room which was now quite toasty. Laying Taka beside Midnight, Kari then resumed walking through the house, taking inventory of what they'd need.

In one room, the first left door in the hallway to the bathroom, Kari found a bedroom. It wasn't big, fit as a guestroom more than anything else, and boxes were piled high in the corners. A closet ran along one side of the room, and opposite that on the opposite wall, a bed with a night stand beside it sat, aged and dusty.

Kari 'hmmmed' and wandered to the closest door, hesitating a moment before yanking it open. She barely had time to inhale sharply before she was covered in a mound of clothing. Digging her way out was hard, especially because after she managed to claw one blasted skirt away from her eyes, a blouse replaced it.

"Holy craaaap..." her voice was muffled, but she was fairly sure that Taka would hear it. After ten minutes or so when no one came to assist her, Kari slowly dragged herself free of the clothing mound, staring at it like the pile would move faster than lightning and eat her again in one giant gulp.

Heedful of the evil clothing pile, Kari edged to her feet, gripping the end of the bed until she was standing, then she made her way towards it, already eyeing the clothing, trying to estimate what would fit and what wouldn't. When she was right beside it, she crouched down, resting on the balls of her feet, heels in the air. Then, with on hand, she began picking through the clothing.

Nothing would fit, she soon realized with a mournful sigh. How unfortunate... Suddenly, a splash of purple in the light pastel colors made Kari do a double-take. "What the hell..." She grabbed at it, pulling out a purple hoodie. Beneath that rested a folded up blue hoodie and a red one in a smaller size. "This is so queer... So insanely odd..." Kari backed out of the room, neatly closing the door behind her with her foot, taking the three hoodies back to the couch where she'd flop them and resume her house-check.

Kari went into the room opposite the one she'd cleverly dubbed 'Clothing Doom Room'. It too was a bedroom, but this one looked to be a little girl's. There was a four-poster bed in the corner of the room, covered by a pink - yes, pink - quilt with four tiny, pink pillows that looked extremely comfortable. On the bed was also a pretty little porcelain doll with a deathly pale face and blood red lips that made you think she was remotely related to a vampire. The doll was in a Lolita-style outfit, black folds and black lace everywhere. But the haphazardness of the dress only made the doll prettier in it's own rights. The doll's hair, once a beautifully, curly strawberry-blonde, was now a darker blonde, very dusty, too.

Kari stepped closer to the bed, staring transfixed at the doll, "She's so pretty..." She reached out hesitantly, her right hand trembling with fear. For all I know, if I pick the doll up, it'll fall apart... It could be a hundred years old, a collector's piece... And I'd never know until it was shattered on the ground. Yanking her hand back, Kari sharply scolded herself for thinking like that.

The closet was right next to the bed, so Kari had to exert iron will not to touch the delicate Lolita doll. There wasn't anything in the closet of value, not even a pair of clean socks... Whoever had been here, living in this house before the Pulse, they'd packed up their clothing and left... Leaving that poor doll here, all alone, guarding a now empty house...

Kari shook her head, slipping back out the door, locking it on her way out. The rest of the rooms, the young boy's room, and the parent's room, went very much the same. Nothing of immediate value. Nothing that would be of too much use than it would be of a hassle.

As Kari wandered back down the hall, bright blue eyes lingering longingly over the little girl's shut and locked bedroom door, Kari was startled from her semi-consciousness by Taka's voice. "Find anything?" It wasn't that her voice was bitter... It was just unexpected.

"No, nothing. Just those hoodies. How long have you been awake?" Kari gave Taka a sideways glance after seeing how well the fire had been kept.

"Half an hour, maybe a little more. We're almost out of wood. But you knew that, right?"

Kari nodded, "Yeah, but I could always try and get some from outside... There was that giant stack right beside the door. It wouldn't take much."

"True."

"Yeah, well, I'll ask Oddsworth about it later when he gets up."

Taka gave her an odd look, "He's up, he was looking for you."

Kari arched an eyebrow. "Really now." When Taka nodded, Kari asked: "Well then, where is the Odd-child. Maybe he'd like to fetch wood while I distract."

Taka shrugged. "Downstairs. He saw you in the little girl's room up here and said he'd take downstairs... I took kitchen. Everything usable is already on the counter."

"Thanks," said Kari with a wave, walking over to the door near the kitchen, "I'll go find him, then." She slipped the door open a crack, peeking down into the gloom. "Odd?" Her only answer was a loud groan. Kari scowled. "Oddsworth, what did you do."

"I fell," came the sorrow-laden reply. "Help me up? Pleeeeeease?"

Kari sighed, slowly stepping down the nearly rotted-through rungs of the ladder. "It's nasty down here. And it stinks-" She was cut off as her foot shot downwards through a completely rotted through rung. Nearly whimpering in fright, Kari clung to the railing.

Odd heard her frightened squeak and called loudly: "Kari? What happened?"

"Your stairs just nearly hung me!" Odd laughed, making Kari frown, "It's not funny!"

"Well, to you it's not. I find it, not funny, but hilarious! You should, too."

Kari scowled, yanking her foot upwards, "Screw you, Odd."

"Nah! I'm good."

Kari could barely hear her own words over Odd's insistent cackling, "Odd Della Robia, you're such a pervert..."

"Yeah, but Kari... You love me for it." Kari snorted to cover her laughter and slammed the door shut behind her. Then she called through it, "Nighty night, Oddsworth." She heard a muffled shout, but ignored it, cackling merrily to herself.

Taka was still on the couch, watching her with amused eyes. "Have fun?"

A glare. "You and him probably rigged that stair for it to break, no?" Her voice was sarcastic, but just enough for Taka to get her point.

"Oh, boy... That would have been fun."

"Uh huh," agreed Kari quickly, "And lover-boy down there didn't help a bit with his odd-ass cackling and laughing. I hope he falls again." As if mocking her words, a loud shout and a bone-jarring CLATTER! was heard. Taka and Kari exchanged glances before breaking up into hysterical laughter.

Elle sighed softly, dabbing at the young male's wounds. "Jason, hey... Wake up, please?"Aelita, who was situated in the corner, poking at Ulrich's leg, turned to Elle, her eyes sad.

"Elle, I think that if he was going to get up, he would have already."

Elle just smiled faintly at the pink-haired girl, tears at the corners of her eyes. "All I do is pretend that he's Taka or Kari... I'd never be able to let them go, so why let this one die, too?" Her reasoning, odd as it was, was right.

"Alright..." said Aelita with a soft sigh.

"Hey, Aelita." Elle glanced at her curiously, "How are my sisters?"

Aelita smiled sweetly, a smile of reassurance, "They're doing fine."

"D-do you think they'll ever be able to save us...?"

"Yeah. They will."

AUTHOR'S NOTE:.

Silver: Well... School is finally out!!! YAY!! I'm happy, if you can't tell. Besides having more free time to write, I'll be able to post more, too! The original chapter I was going to post for this didn't meet my expectations... Thus why it took so long, I re-wrote this. It's probably shorter, but I like this chapter more than the previous.

I also expect to update Chapter five of Chinmoku no Angel, so please look for it before the weekend is over. Maybe even by tonight. Hollywood Movie should be updated soon, too... Just have a few snags to fix, then I'm all good.

Hey, crazy lady! School's finally let me update! And, be it good or bad, Odd still lives! Hehehehe... Thank you so very much for reviewing! The review you sent, the only review sent, belonged to you...Wow, you deserve a prize? .:hands her an award:. Hope you like it!!