Rozen Maiden: Erdgeist

EPISODE 3

Garden Party

It was a gloriously bright and warm spring day, so everyone decided to spend some time outside. Celia, Kanaria and Shinku were having a picnic on the lawn, though there was an obvious dark cloud over Shinku's head. Suiseiseki and Souseiseki were doing what they did best - gardening. They had been absent for over a week and a half, so the garden needed tending, and it was certainly a fine day for it. Souseiseki trimmed and weeded, while her twin saw to it that there were no problems with the soil, and that all the plants had enough water.

"We should so send some of these lilies to Kashiwaba," remarked Suiseiseki as she sprinkled the flowers with her watering can. "I heard she's a kendo instructor now! She gets paid to hit people with a stick all day long. Sounds like fun if you ask me. Hey, are you even listening to me?"

"Sorry." Souseiseki glanced around at her sister, then back at the picnic the others were having. "Doesn't it bother you?"

"What?"

"That girl." She gestured with her shears in the direction of Celia. "She's so ... familiar. I'd swear that I know her, but we've never met before."

Suiseiseki shrugged helplessly. "If it bothers you so much, why don't you just ask her?"

"Shinku said she lost her memory. She doesn't even know who she is herself." Souseiseki continued to stare at Celia, who was sipping tea while listening to Kanaria. She was still wearing Ada's nightdress, as her own clothes had yet to dry. There were no clues to her identity to be found on her clothes either, as they had been given to Celia by one of the doctors at the hospital she had been at. She had not been wearing anything at all when she was found.

"I swear!" Suiseiseki declared hotly. "You pay more attention to a complete stranger than you do your own twin sister! Would it kill you to stare at me for a while?"

She turned to her twin and frowned. "Don't tell me you're getting jealous, Suiseiseki."

"I so totally am!" She flailed her arms for emphasis. Souseiseki bowed her head and briefly shut her eyes.

"You're hopeless." She leaned over and kissed her, which calmed Suiseiseki down somewhat, who blushed and giggled.

"Well alright then."

Souseiseki smirked and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm going to go talk to her. You're welcome to come with me if it bothers you."

Suiseiseki stared at the ground and reddened some more. "It doesn't bother me. Just remember you have an amazing twin sister who likes some attention every now and then, okay?"

Souseiseki dismissed her shears, took a step back and plucked her top hat from her head, giving a sweeping bow. "I'm yours, dear sister. For now and forever."

When she approached the picnic, Celia was listening with interest as Kanaria told her all about her master, Micchan. Her eyebrows shot up at that.

"Master?"

The little doll shrugged. "When a Rozen Maiden enters into a covenant with a human, that human becomes our new master. It was one of Father's rules. Micchan was my last master. I guess that makes you my master now."

Celia shot Shinku a wry look. "You neglected to mention that."

Kanaria snorted a laugh. "Shinku always turned it around and told her mediums that she was the master and they were her servant."

"That's true, you know," said Souseiseki, putting a hand on her hip. "I don't think you ever once referred to a medium as your master. You were always too proud."

Shinku closed her eyes and sniffed with disdain at the very idea. "I must have misheard Father when he explained it to us."

"Is something the matter?" Celia asked, wondering at Souseiseki's reason for coming over. The gardener doll stared at her, drinking in every detail of her appearance. She was achingly familiar, but no matter how she tried, Souseiseki could not explain why.

"Actually, I wanted to show you something," she finally said. "Could you come with me, please?"

Celia set her teacup down and followed Souseiseki into the house and upstairs, to a cluttered workroom full of sewing machines, sketchpads and rolls of fabric. The gardener doll crossed to a doorway, stood to one side and gestured at it.

"Take a look."

Clearly puzzled, yet all the same curious, Celia opened the door. Her eyes widened and she gasped in amazement at what lay beyond. It was an enormous walk-in wardrobe, containing a full length mirror and more dresses and outfits than one could easily count. She stumbled in to it and gaped at the contents, thoroughly at a loss for words. Souseiseki watched her with interest, and when Celia shot the doll a questioning look, she explained.

"Jun made them. He's always had an amazing talent for designing and creating dresses. I guess you could say it's a hobby of his. He still sends new doll dresses to Micchan every now and then, but he makes clothes for human girls as well."

Celia tried to catch her breath. "Why are you showing me this?"

"You need something to wear besides a nightdress and one set of clothes that still aren't dry. I know Jun wouldn't mind. There's bound to be at least a few things that should fit you."

There were so many in her size that she was spoilt for choice. In the end she settled upon a short, dark blue dress with bell sleeves, a white tie, thigh-length white socks, and shoes with blue rose buckles. She examined herself in the mirror, hmm'ing over the result.

"Say, you're pretty neat with those gardening shears," she said. "Are you by any chance good at cutting hair?"

There were no shortage of scissors in Jun's workshop. Celia sat on a stool, while Souseiseki knelt on a table behind her and set to work shortening the girl's hair. She cut it to Celia's jawline, save for a pair of bangs either side of her face, and left her fringe as it was. Celia checked out the finished result in the mirror and then gave Souseiseki the thumbs up.

"This is great!" She lowered her hands and appeared hesitant for a moment. "Don't take this the wrong way, but ... why are you doing all this?"

Souseiseki set the scissors down. "You helped us when we were most in need. We owe you. This is the least I could do."

Celia fidgeted awkwardly. "Well ... umm, thanks. Listen, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

She gestured vaguely. "There are six doll cases in this house, right? But Kanaria told me there are a total of seven Rozen Maidens. So where's the seventh doll?"

Souseiseki flinched and turned away from her. "I'd rather not discuss it."

"We're about to go up against Maleficent, who I don't think will be any sort of a pushover. If there's another Rozen Maiden out there that could help-"

"I said drop it!" the gardener doll snapped, a surge of anger coursing through her. She glared at Celia, hoping that the severity of her expression would convince the girl not to pursue the matter. Although she was momentarily taken aback, Celia remained undeterred.

"Souseiseki, what is the deal with this seventh doll? Kanaria and Shinku won't tell me either! What happened between you guys? What is so bad that you won't even talk about her?"

Souseiseki sagged and stared distantly at the floor. It was no use getting angry at her, it wasn't her fault. She didn't understand. How could she? Even after ten years it was still painful. The memory of those terrible events burned. Father had encouraged them to forgive, but none of them could. Even Hinaichigo was still afraid of her. Souseiseki sighed heavily.

"You better sit down," she said. Celia perched on the stool again and listened intently, while Souseiseki tried to find the words that would explain. It wasn't easy.

"For generations the Rozen Maidens battled one another in the Alice Game. It was a fight to the death, and only one of us could win. Whoever did would become Alice and get to be with Father. Eventually we learned that the Alice Game was not Father's wish at all, that we were all being manipulated by a trickster named Laplace. It was all for his amusement. After so many years of fighting each other, we set aside our past grievances and agreed to work together. All except one of us."

"The seventh doll," Celia whispered. Souseiseki nodded.

"Her name is Kirakishou. She allied herself with another doll that had tried to kill us, and together they forced a battle that destroyed the Rozen Maidens, playing right into Laplace's hands. It was only because of the sacrifice that Alice made that any of us are still around. Were it not for Alice, Kirakishou would have doomed us all. For that, we cannot forget what she did, and we will not forgive her."

"But ... maybe she's sorry for what she did?" Celia tentatively suggested. "Have you talked to her since then? Isn't it possible she regrets the part she played? It's been ten years!"

Souseiseki reached up and adjusted her hat. "To borrow a line from an old movie ... frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."

Kirakishou could rot for all she cared.