Rozen Maiden: Erdgeist
EPISODE 2
Gingerbread Crumbs
They stood before the creepy painting in the attic, preparing to enter the N-Field once more. Except that this time Shinku would be rescuing Kanaria, rather than the other way around. Celia was hesitant to proceed.
"Shinku, you do realise we could be walking into a trap?"
The little blond doll nodded. "That is very likely." She glanced up at Celia. "If you do not wish to go, then remain here."
She bristled at the suggestion. "That's not what I meant! I just ... we're going to need every advantage we can get if we're going to pull this off. Kana and I just barely managed to beat Red Riding Hood. There's no telling what'll be waiting for us."
"Indeed. What do you suggest?"
Celia raised her hand to show off her rose ring. "Enter into a covenant with me."
Shinku's eyes widened. "Are you certain?"
"Yes." She lowered her hand. "I'm just a kid, I'm useless in a fight. As a medium though, I can really help. Let me do this, Shinku."
"As you wish." Shinku raised her hand, a tiny ring materialising on her finger. "Swear upon this rose ring..."
"What do you think, sis?"
"Hmm. More cookies!"
"No!" Kanaria wailed desperately. "No more cookies, please!"
It was no use. She was trapped in an actual gingerbread house, tied to a chair, while two demented Faust Maidens were force feeding her sweets. Their names, unsurprisingly, were Hansel and Gretel. They were wearing some kind of school uniforms - Gretel a dark dress over a white blouse, Hansel a dark vest over a white shirt, and knee-length shorts. Each also had a ribbon tied around their necks. Hansel had short, light blue hair and blue eyes, Gretel long pink hair tied into pigtails, and pink eyes. They were also both girls; Hansel was merely boyish in much the same way that Souseiseki was.
Hansel pinched Kanaria's nose and shoved an entire plate of gingerbread cookies into her mouth. "Eat up, now!" she declared, while Gretel watched on and giggled.
What had started out as not too bad was now absolute torture. Kanaria was already stuffed to bursting and sick from all the sugar, yet the evil Faust twins kept on shovelling food into her. Truly, too much of a good thing was not such a good thing. She forced herself to chew and swallow, since the only alternative was either choking or spitting them out. The last time she had done that, Hansel had threatened to pull her arm off.
Tears streaming down her face, Kana sagged against the ropes that held her tied to her chair. Before her was a (entirely edible) table covered in more treats than a sugar addict could hope to handle. It was too much to even look at.
"Why are you doing this?" she whimpered.
"We read a story about the characters Father named us for," said Hansel.
"It sounded like fun," continued Gretel, "so we wanted to give it a try. We're fattening you up-"
"-so we can cook you for dinner. Don't worry though, we aren't going to eat you."
"Oh no," said Gretel, "but we are going to send you back to your sister as a gift."
Hansel leaned close and grinned. "Roast doll!"
Despite her terrifying predicament, Kanaria's mind objected to their plan on a fundamental level, and she found herself scoffing at them. "You idiots! You can't fatten a doll up! Dolls don't get fat!"
The twins looked at each other. "They don't?" they said in unison.
"Of course not! You two are even dumber than crybaby Ichigo! If the great Kanaria meets her end, it should be at the hands of someone whose intellect rivals her own, y'know?"
Hansel sighed. "What now, sis?"
She shrugged. "Skip to the end. How is the oven doing?"
Hansel crossed the cottage to the kitchen and examined the oven in question, an enormous cast iron beast that could fit a grown human. "I think it's ready," she declared. "Any hotter and this house will melt around it."
Gretel grinned and rubbed her hands together gleefully. "Right then! Let's cook us a fat little canary!"
Kanaria snarled. "I'm not fat, I'm cherubic!"
They stood either side of her and prepared to lift her chair, presumably to carry her over to the oven, but something stopped them. Gretel seemed troubled.
"Hansel, do you feel that?" she said, staring off into space. Hansel frowned.
"Intruders. Someone has entered our world. It must be her medium."
Gretel released Kanaria's chair and sighed. "Well, Maleficent did warn us they would try and rescue her." She leaned close to the Rozen Maiden and patted her gently, though Kana flinched at her touch. "You be a good little canary and wait right there," she said.
"And if I don't?" Kanaria snapped in defiance. Gretel moved uncomfortably close, until Kana could feel her sickeningly sweet breath on the side of her face.
"I'll have my wicked way with you," she whispered, and then licked Kanaria's ear.
This time the N-Field took them to a different world. Instead of a gloomy forest, they found themselves in a gloriously warm and sunny hedge maze. Unfortunately, it was much too high for them to try climbing over, so they would have to navigate by plain simple guesswork. With so many dead ends, they grew concerned for Kanaria's safety. Would they arrive in time to save her?
"This way," said Shinku, pointing to a fork ahead. Celia followed, unable to keep track of all the twists and turns. After a while, Shinku shot her a sideways glance. "You said before that you do not remember who you are. How much do you recall?"
"Not much," Celia admitted. "I woke up in a hospital one day, with no idea who I was or how I got there. They told me someone found me lying in a field, and took me to the hospital out of concern."
"You had lost your memory?"
She shrugged. "The doctors couldn't find anything wrong with me. They said I was in perfect health. There was no reason for me to have lost my memory. No one had reported me missing, and there were no records of me anywhere. It's like I didn't even exist."
Shinku stopped and stared at her intently. "But your name?"
She shook her head. "I chose it. Celia was the name of a nurse at the hospital, and there was a painting by Eugène Delacroix hanging in my room. I have no idea what my real name is, or if I even have one."
"Poor little lost girl!"
They turned to see one of the Faust Maidens standing at the end of the path. She had blue hair and was clutching the gardening shears in one hand.
"We'll make you feel right at home."
Turning, they saw a second doll standing back the way they had come, blocking off any possible retreat. She had pink hair and was holding the gardener's watering can. Which meant that these two Faust Maidens had Lempicka and Sui Dream. Celia and Shinku stood back to back.
"Are you ready?" said Shinku, summoning her cane. Celia bobbed her head.
"I'm ready. Let's do this."
