Yang charged, dodging Kirakishou's vines as the doll flew backward, propelled by an unseen power that swept through the world with a shudder. Crystals grew all around them, overtaking her family home until they were drowning in twisted teal and false dreams.
Her baby sister lay on the floor nearby, unconscious. Used and discarded. Her clothes were stained a rich red, crimson meeting with crimson.
With a blast of Ember Celicia, Yang rocketed forwards-
"Ohoho? What is this? A human battling a doll?~"
The world froze. Fire and crystal and pooling blood losing all movement. She whirled around-
Red eyes.
A young woman stood in the air, staring down at her from atop a collection of crystals. She looked to be in her late teens. Her hair was a long as Yang's own hair, shaded a peculiar silver-white colouration. A black headband with black lace trimming ran through her hair.
She wore a black and white knee-length vintage dress, the top of the dress a laced black piece while the lower portions were white and ruffled.
The dress itself was puffy and long-sleeved, with sleeves primarily black in colouration that ended in pale white ruffles. It reminded Yang of something that people would have worn to a particularly fancy dress-up party, were the party to have occurred hundreds of years ago.
Her skirt was layered underneath the black dress, with odd petals of cloth pooling around the sides, bearing inverted crosses of all things.
Yet, above all else, the dress and design paled in comparison to what lay on the girl's back. Wings. Black and feathered, they spilled out of her back without rhyme or reason, looking less like wings and more akin to torn pieces of cloth mimicking the wings of a great avian beast.
It was, by far, the strangest combination of clothes that Yang had seen on a person.
"Who are-" she tried.
The world warped around her, a crystalline landscape shifting into a bleak cityscape that reminded Yang of the reports she had heard about the disaster of Mountain Glen. Ruined buildings dotted a war-torn city, lined with ruined toys and the remains of ornate furniture left to rot in an unforgiving environment.
A desolate, clouded atmosphere covered up the sky, blanketing the world in shadow.
The girl moved, darting across the sky and gracefully landing on the ground nearby. Yang cocked her fists, ready for a fight.
"Oh, no. I don't want to fight you. I'm just here to learn more about you, first."
Yang narrowed her eyes, settling into a stance. "Funny way of going about that," she snarked. "Coming all the way out… here…"
Confused, she paused and looked around. Where even was she? What was this place? Where had she been before?
"Confused?" the red-eyed girl taunted with a sneer. "You're dreaming. This place, the battle you were having on your weird battlefield just before, it's not really here. Your adversary is elsewhere."
She's… dreaming? This is all a dream?
Wait. No. That… it made some degree of sense. She wasn't fighting Kirakishou, she was still inside the Branwen tribe. The doll wasn't there.
"Now you see," the girl smirked, tutting and shaking her head dispassionately. "Everyone is about the same, you know. They're all surprised the first time they realise they're in a dream. And, when they wake, they normally forget it all happened as well! So, it happens again and again," she giggled. "It's all quite silly, really."
Yang didn't care about any of that. There was a part of her body telling her that this woman didn't belong. That, above the weirdness surrounding her, took priority.
"Who are you? Why did you come here?"
The red-eyed girl paused, before frowning. With a leap, she was face-to-face with Yang, at such a close proximity as to where Yang could see that the girl's eyes were slit, just like-"
"Do you really want to know who I am? You might not like the answer."
"Stop dancing around the question and tell me," Yang growled out, feeling her semblance flare in response to her annoyance.
"...Hah," the girl laughed. "I like you. Fine, I'll tell you. I was going to, anyway. You may call me Suigintou."
Suigintou? She'd heard that name before. Somewhere. But, where? Where exactly had she..?
It was one of those strange names, that didn't exactly fit with the current naming convention. It was one of those sorts of names that confused her, that sounded like something which made a degree of sense to someone. It honestly reminded her of the first time she heard-
Kirakishou. Her name. And, she remembered the doll speaking about the name Suigintou, as one of her-
!
"You're a Rozen Maiden!" Yang gasped, realisation daunting on her as she remembered Laplace's words. It had said that if Yang chose to circle WILL YOU WIND? then it would deliver a Rozen Maiden. Was Suigintou to be this Rozen Maiden?
"The first Rozen Maiden," Suigintou playfully confirmed with a mock curtsy.
Suigintou was the first? Huh. She looked about as old as Kirakishou, perhaps a year or two older. But, considering their status as artificial creations, Yang realised that their appearance didn't exactly correlate with their age.
For all she knew, the dolls could be mere months old, or they could have existed for thousands of years. A terrifying concept to imagine, really. One she hadn't dared think about in regards to her baby sister's current captor.
"You seem to have some passing knowledge of the Rozen Maiden," Suigintou observed shrewdly. "Though, not that much, from what Laplace has told me."
"You've spoken with Laplace?" Yang questioned immediately, surprised. Laplace's Demon seemed like more of a 'hands off' type of referee, only appearing when it was absolutely required.
Suigintou shrugged. "Maybe? Possibly? I didn't exactly come here to talk about myself, Yang. I came here to learn about you," the silver-haired Rozen Maiden doll answered her, voice teasing.
Yang grimaced, uncomfortable. After her experiences with Suigintou's insane blonde-haired sister, she was more than a little hesitant about divulging anything that could be used against her. Especially to a doll.
"Um, what do you want to know?"
"Well, for starters," Suigintou began, floating around her like a spectre, "why would a human dream of fighting a doll? What has my dear younger sister done in order to promote such a reaction?"
Straight to the big questions, huh? Though, Laplace said that my doll, should I choose to wind, would have no issue fighting Kirakishou. Makes sense she'd be curious as to why someone outside the Alice Game wants to fight. Still, I didn't plan to play twenty questions with her.
"Um, it's… not really something that I want to talk about."
"So, it's something personal, then?" Suigintou prodded, lips curling mischievously. "Well, like it or not, Yang, but if we are to be contracted then I'll need to know your motivations. I can't exactly win the Alice Game with a sloppy medium."
"I'm not sloppy!" Yang retorted immediately, offended. "And why do you want to win the Alice Game, anyway? Why do you fight? Tell me that, and I'll tell you why I hate Kirakishou so much," she crossed her arms, unwavering.
Suigintou frowned, eyes narrowing as she stilled in her circular movement around Yang. After a momentary tense silence between the two women, the red-eyed doll chuckled and shook her head.
"You're a fighter, hm? But that's not all you are. There's a rational mind beneath all that blonde hair. You're nothing like my previous Master. For better or for worse, that is up for debate."
Yang didn't rise to the insult. She was too focused on the topic at hand to give a damn about what some sister of Kirakishou thought about her.
"Well? Are you going to tell me?"
Suigintou raised her hands in mock surrender. "Ma, ma~ aren't you a scary one. Fine. Very well," the doll leaned forwards, smiling wolfishly. "I am the first doll in the Rozen Maiden series. The very first Rozen Maiden that Father ever built. I experienced all of Father's fears, all of his worry, all of his grief as he crafted me. I wish to win the Alice Game, to assuage my Father that I alone am the only one worthy to stand at his side so that he shall no longer feel the pain of loss."
Yang veered back, eyes wide in the face of such a response. She could see it with her eyes, in the intensity of Suigintou's words. The doll had been speaking from the heart. Every last bit had been true, blurted out at a moment's notice.
There was clearly a lot of context to unpack within Suigintou's proclamation. But, a bit she could infer on her own. She had always thought that the Alice Game, or at least Kirakishou's twisted explanation of it, was the result of a mad Father opting to sadistically force his daughters into some blood sport for his sick amusement, but it was clear that there was much more to the Alice Game than what she had originally thought. Suigintou clearly loved this 'Father' figure a great deal.
"Well, are you going to tell me now, or what?" Suigintou prompted insistently, her words sounding a tad rushed.
Yang rubbed her arm, embarrassed. "...I, well, Kirakishou… She went after my baby sister and manipulated her into attacking me. Now they're together doing Oum-knows-what while I'm in the ass-end of nowhere trying to understand what's happening."
"Kirakishou targeted your sister?" Suigintou repeated lowly. "I can understand, to some degree, how that would prompt you to dream of her. Not that I care about my own sisters, of course, but I do understand the pain of losing something you hold close due to the machinations of that doll."
Ah. So that was why she was acting this way.
"I take it you already knew what happened to me, then. Laplace told you, right?" Yang guessed, narrowed crimson eyes staring back at her in silent agitated confirmation. "I thought so. The same thing happened to you, huh? Kirakishou attacked someone you care about."
Suigintou's hands curled into fists as the doll grit her teeth. "...Yes. My former Medium. A lowly, ill-stricken demented little girl. A perfect Medium for me, and Kirakishou stole her away from me as she died."
To say that Yang was a little uncertain about how to respond to the reveal of Suigintou's former 'medium' was a little of an understatement. As it would appear, Kirakishou appeared to have a history of stealing people away from the arms of those who cared about them. Yet, strangely enough, she was capable of doing it after death.
What could that mean? Could she steal away a person's soul or something? It was all just too bizarre.
The revelation, also, carried with it an undercurrent of dread for the poor victims who had found themselves confined in Kirakishou's N-Field. Raven's theory of the doll purposefully harvesting others was proving all the more plausible.
As for the fate of Suigintou's former Medium…
"I'm… sorry to hear that. But, in some small way, I get where you're coming from," when Suigintou's eyes snapped up to glare at her threateningly, Yang quickly amended her statement. "Not that I can understand everything you're going through, of course! I barely know you. But… I can guess."
Suigintou's glare lessened, the older doll looking away as her posture sagged.
"Hm. You might not be as bad as I first thought," the doll admitted begrudgingly.
"Well, I'd hope not. If we're going to be working together, then we'll need to at least get along in some way."
Suigintou smirked. Yang wondered if it was due in part to the strange dream or the hope bubbling up inside her, but she found the sight to be oddly endearing to her eyes.
"You want to work together? To fight in the Alice Game as a mere human, a Medium to the First Doll? Could you do that?"
"If Laplace told you about me, then I figure it told you about what we're capable of. I figure I can hold my own."
Suigintou raised a thin brow, before shrugging. "Eh, you're right that Laplace told me a great deal about you. However, I'll need to judge you to see what you're capable of first. From what I understand, Kirakishou's Master is going to be peculiar enough as it is. They're… close, yes?"
Yang frowned thoughtfully. She had noticed that Suigintou tended to refer to the people she connected with as 'Mediums' while she referred to other doll's connections as 'Masters'. She wondered if there was a meaning behind that. Though, Yang figured it would probably be a personal thing that she shouldn't ask about right now.
The last thing she wanted to do was piss off the one person immediately willing to go after Kirakishou.
It was probably best, instead, to answer Suigintou's questions for now. Regardless of how much they personally discomforted her to answer.
"...You could say that. They're… well… they're dating."
Suigintou's eyes widened in readily-apparent shock, before her lips curved into a devious sneer. It reminded Yang of some of the looks that Shade would give whenever he was talking about his 'adventures' as a bandit.
"Dating, you say? Oh, my. Interesting. How very interesting. Why, I didn't think that the girl was even capable of feeling such things for a human, let alone finding someone crazy enough to reciprocate."
Yang didn't even have the energy to defend her sister anymore. After all of the madness she had seen with the bizarre rose-eyed doll, it had been made abundantly clear that Ruby was downright committed to the continuation of their fucked-up pairing. Yang had been right in trying to separate the two by force, yet she had underestimated just how far Ruby was willing to go for Kirakishou.
She had always suspected how her younger sister would behave in a relationship, were she to bumble into one through sheer dumb luck alone, and her ensuing coupling with Kirakishou had confirmed all of Yang's fears. Laplace had said it perfectly; both girl and doll seemed to bring out each other's worst traits. Now, they were together again, doing Oum-knows what.
Twin mirrors, indeed…
And it seemed like Kirakishou possessed such infamy with her other sisters that Suigintou was apparently rather surprised that Kirakishou had managed to forge a relationship, which meant that emotional instability was a trait that both the blonde-haired Rozen Maiden and her baby sister both seemed to share.
"I take it that she, er, doesn't normally date…" Yang tried awkwardly, rubbing her arm.
The question alone seemed enough to prompt a bark of laughter from the eldest Rozen Maiden. "Kirakishou? Considering our youngest sister didn't possess a physical body until recently, I'm more surprised she can even converse with humans, let alone become close to them to such a degree. She should have been nothing but an astral doll, not… this. It's absurd that she had gone down this path."
Yang froze. ...What?
"...Astral?"
Immediately, Suigintou's brows rose as the doll burst into a peal of bewildered laughter. "You really didn't know?! Oh my, that's rich! Wow. Our youngest is quite the little deceiver, isn't she? She's played an absolute run around with you all, so it would seem!"
Yang didn't even respond to the mockery, taken aback by the sudden mocking laughter that had seemingly come out of nowhere.
"Are you confused?" Suigintou continued teasing before Yang could even begin to form a response. "If we are to be contracted, then perhaps it would be best if I was the one to educate you, huh?"
"...Please," she managed between her warring emotions.
Suigintou's laughter settled into a low chuckle, before the doll eventually sighed. "The final Rozen Maiden is an astral entity, bound to the N-Field," she explained. "Father never saw fit to give her a body of her own. Before all of this occurred, Kirakishou had been able to capture and disassemble one of our sisters and had overtaken her body."
"That's horrifying!" Yang gasped in alarm, face paling. The fact that Kirakishou was both capable of doing such a thing and crazy enough to try was particularly troubling news.
Suigintou shrugged, careless in the face of her disgust. "Eh. Regardless, it didn't last. One of other doll's masters was able to remove Kirakishou's influence and send her back into the N-Field, where he was able to defeat her once more. I won't explain exactly what he did, but it was certainly enough to be final. Kirakishou possessing a body now is troubling news."
"...Why is that?" Yang asked the obvious question.
"Because, as I understand it from Laplace-no-ma, all of the other Rozen Maiden have now been released into the world. Such was Laplace's intent."
Yang didn't understand what that particular piece of awfully disquieting news had to do with Kirakishou, apart from the underlying concern of the Alice Game inevitably occurring as the dolls all battled around Remnant. But she figured it was probably something critically important.
"You don't get it, do you?" Suigintou asked, snapping Yang out of her thoughts.
Reluctantly, she shook her head. "Sorry. It's all a bit new to me."
The eldest Rozen Maiden shrugged and waved off her concerns nonchalantly. "It's fine. To explain, if all of my younger sisters are present and accounted for, then there's nobody missing. And if there's nobody missing, then there's nobody for Kirakishou to possess. And, yet, here she is, existing in this world regardless. How did she do it, I wonder?"
Yang blinked. Stared. That was indeed a damn good question. The underlying concern of all of the Rozen Maiden being released goes unsaid, but the idea of Kirakishou somehow managing to physically exist outside Suigintou's understanding was… worrying. If the eldest Rozen Maiden didn't know how it had occurred, then Yang could only wonder about the answer.
"A semblance, perhaps?" the idea came to her suddenly, to the point where she blurted it aloud.
Suigintou blinked, before giving an appreciative hum at Yang's suggestion. "Those bizarre powers you all possess? It's possible, but I doubt it. A world will either possess, or not possess, Rozen Maiden. If my understanding of your semblances is correct, this world shouldn't have been able to conceive of both of them together. We have never possessed semblances, thus we never will. Thus they cannot exist."
This world? There it was again. More than a few times, Rozen Maiden had been referred as, or referred to, otherworldly things. She had been assuming it was some artsy manner of speaking about their beauty or some nonsense like that, but was something else going on?
"What do you mean, about 'this world'?" Yang questioned, unable to stop herself from prying despite her earlier reservations. "You say it almost like-"
"-There's other worlds," Suigintou finished for her, stunning Yang into silence. "Well, less 'other worlds' and more 'alternate realities'. Think of it as being like branches in a tree. Surely, you must have realised upon first being exposed to Kirakishou, that the Rozen Maiden are inherently different on a metaphysical level. No doubt you've felt similar for me, albeit to a smaller degree."
...Yang wondered, nay, pleaded, that one day the insane revelations about Rozen Maiden would stop. She missed the days when she thought they were all just a bunch of crazy sisters fighting each other for some sick freak of a Father. Everything was simple then. Easily understood, albeit weird.
"Right…" Yang muttered, helplessly shaking her head. "Of course. Other realities. Sure. Why not?" she questioned rhetorically, groaning. "Any other insane revelations for today?"
"Hah. Probably not," Suigintou chuckled amicably, the laugh proving infectious as Yang gave a light laugh of her own. Eventually, the two settled and Suigintou frowned. "You know, you're actually taking this awfully well. I do quite like that about you. Coming over here, to this strange little dream of yours, I had originally planned to force you to accept me as your doll and use your strength to win the Alice Game, but I do believe I've come to genuinely enjoy your presence, human. I never expected you to amuse me."
Suffice to say, Yang was more than a little wary about the idea of being forced into contracting with a doll. But, as Suigintou said, she had also come to enjoy speaking with the Rozen Maiden. She was nothing like Kirakishou. It was clear that she had been burned in the past by the crazed blonde doll, considering what Suigintou said about her Master, and she was actively trying to fight against Kirakishou in her own way.
Yang could respect that.
"...Same here," Yang answered with a small hesitant smile. "I think, if you want to, we could work together. I don't know how this whole Alice Game plays out, not exactly, but I do understand that inevitably it'll lead to us needing to fight against both the other dolls and their Masters-slash-Mediums. If it'll help us stop Kirakishou and save Ruby, I don't mind helping finish this Alice Game with you."
Suigintou nodded a little slowly, as if in thought. "Good… good. Then, I ask this of you; become my Medium, and together we will win the Alice Game and defeat Kirakishou, once and for all."
"And save Ruby," Yang added immediately, narrowing her eyes.
The crimson-eyed doll curled her lips up into a smile. "Of course," she leaned forwards. "...Do we have a deal?"
It was pretty obvious what Yang was going to choose.
"Well, yeah, sure. What do I need to do to, er, finalise the agreement?"
As if in response, Suigintou's wings extended as the doll leaped into the air. "All you need to do, Yang Xiao-Long, is agree. Circle the correct response."
Buildings began to crumble, removing any chance of Yang responding as words died in her throat. The world began to shake around her, yet the continuing speech from Suigintou came crisp and clear as if whispered to a lover.
"Choose to wind, and I shall be your doll."
Yang awoke with a gasp of air, her hands clutching a certain faded letter.
"...Choose to wind, huh?"
The words came out strange, unnatural to hear in reality compared to the dream. And, yet, oddly enough they felt right.
WILL YOU WIND?
"Are you sure this is the place?" a young boy asked, fidgeting in place and looking around anxiously at all of the people.
There were just so many people.
"Yes, I already told you dozens of times. This is the place. We just need to find them."
They were inside the city known as Atlas, a mechanical creation that seemingly floated above the lesser city of Mantle in a tale of both opulence and sheer technological know-how. Even being here and seeing it all with his own eyes was something that continued to impress him even hours after arriving in this strange, twisted alternate reality.
When Laplace had first explained the situation to him, Jun had been distrusting, borderline disbelieving. The enigmatic rabbit entity was controversial at the best of times, acting solely in the interest of the Alice Game with seemingly no regard to any of the players besides the casual nonchalance offered to participants of various other sports by their respective referees.
And, yet, Jun could not deny that Laplace had been helpful in the past. It had simply not been trustworthy.
Such was the confusion that surrounded Sakurada Jun and his dolls when Laplace had first come to them, speaking tales of an alternate reality that had found itself home to the Seventh Doll of the Rozen Maiden series.
He was no stranger to the idea of alternate realities, of course, having witnessed first-hand the fiasco surrounding the unwound college-aged version of himself. During that tale, Kirakishou had connected the two alternate realities, the 'wound' and 'unwound' worlds, together and used this connection to influence his alternate self into constructing a body for her using parts of a fallen Rozen Maiden. Souseiseki, he believed.
However, that matter had been an isolated incident and, due in part to unwound Jun's own inner strength, had been resolved in a matter which Jun had assumed enough to rid the world of Kirakishou's influence for good.
More so, as Shinku had argued, the concept of a world that both did not possess Rozen Maiden nor a Sakurada Jun, should not have been accessible to the Seventh Doll. There was no thread to follow, no branch from the tree of dreams to cling upon, no manner of intrusion by the powers of a fading doll without a Master.
And, yet, in the end, Laplace had been more than compliant in assuaging their concerns by showing them all a display of Kirakishou's Palace of Beginnings physically manifesting and overtaking what Jun understood to be a sizeable portion of a great landmass. Those crystals that had appeared, had most certainly belonged to the seventh doll's N-Field. His numerous experiences with her machinations could attest to that.
Eventually, they had all come to a decision- to see if Laplace was speaking the truth, by following the creature into the N-Field and seeing the supposed world of 'Remnant' with their own eyes.
It had been, by far, beyond any of their expectations.
Sakurada Jun had awoken to a freezing landscape overlooked by a distant sun fleeing a broken moon, where the final dredges of sunlight were quickly swallowed up by the frozen winds of a rapidly-approaching winter's night.
Beside him, however, lay all of his dolls. And they were far taller than they had been previously. They could almost pass for humans in their late teens, were it not for the readily apparent ball joints and their other more distinguishing features. Much to his relief, the doll's clothes had seemingly sized up alongside their wearers, avoiding an otherwise awkward moment.
The dolls had taken their new 'growth' in stride, taking no manner of pause in commenting on their newfound superior height in comparison to his own. Thankfully, they had quickly noticed his discomfort in the cold and decided it was best to get a move on and find shelter. Shinku's artificial spirit, Holie, had even been kind enough to conjure him a puffy red jacket, which had most likely saved his life.
After their initial travel, Shinku had been able to detect that they were not inside an N-Field, supporting Laplace's supposed theory of an alternate reality. However, it had been when maddened beasts straight out of a Brother's Grimm story had attacked them, that Sakurada Jun had truly believed that this was an alternate reality and not some illusionary world.
The creatures had been defeated easily, fading away into a horrid jet-black smoke, but the lingering reveal of their existence had been more than enough to push Jun into accepting that Laplace had been telling the truth. Another world did in fact exist, and if the image Laplace showed them was also true, then Kirakishou had gathered enough energy in order to physically manifest her Palace of Beginnings within the plane of reality.
Shinku had stipulated a possible amount of 'seedlings' that Kirakishou would require for such a thing to be possible, and the number was astronomical. Beyond anything he could have possibly imagined.
And, yet, she had stressed that it was indeed possible, and his experiences with Kirakishou could attest to the idea that the doll would be willing to achieve such if such an action meant that it would push her towards her goal of becoming the perfect girl.
Regardless of the possibility of such a grand-scale massacre having occurred, Laplace had urged the group to depart from the wilderness and head towards a place known as 'Mantle', which was something akin to a city in this strange world. Following their arrival, Laplace had promised to explain the situation further.
What Jun had found instead, had been a gleaming opalescent city hovering above a destitute urban environment looking like it was taken right out of Suigintou's N-Field. It had been this ruined set of impoverished buildings and starving citizens that had been identified as Mantle, while the city hovering above was known as Atlas.
As soon as Sakurada Jun had entered the city of Mantle, he had immediately been shown the wonders of technology in the sensation of warm air, feeling much the same as turning on a heater during a cold night. Several nearby onlookers had chuckled good-naturedly at his over-the-top sigh of relief, muttering about how all travelers supposedly had the same reaction upon first entering the city.
Sakurada Jun and his dolls had been out of their element at the time, strangers in an unknown land fighting for a Game that none knew of, barring the contenders themselves. And, yet, they had all voiced their thanks for the simple wonders of heating. As it would appear, even his dolls had begun to feel the creeping chill of the Atlas(Atlesian?) winter's bite.
And, then, Laplace-no-ma had appeared once more, but the creature had appeared different, clad inside the body of another. As it had explained, it was a law of this world for a creature like itself, that a body is required at all times. Shinku had been most notably silent following Laplace's speech, looking almost lost in thought at the time. It had taken the numerous attempts of Jun's other dolls in order to finally break his first doll out of her self-imposed silence.
The group had been directed to journey upwards to the floating city of Atlas, to where an event would be held which featured several influential figures of the world of Remnant, several of which held their own unique connection to Kirakishou and the Rozen Maiden as a whole. The event was to be hosted by the Schnee Dust Company at their private residence, of whom this family was well known throughout the world of Remnant.
He had been about to voice his incredulity of a company selling a product known as 'dust' when the enigmatic referee had handed Jun a box.
Containing clothes.
Laplace had supplied clothes for him. Laplace had given him a suit. Sakurada Jun had most certainly never worn a suit before and had, much to his dismay, spent so long in the dressing room of a department store in Mantle that Shinku had impatiently marched into his room and helped him dress. The doll had been red-faced at the time, yes, but it had paled in comparison to his own mortified blush. When the two of them had exited the dressing room together, the ensuing argument between all of his dolls had managed to get them kicked out of the store.
How in the world the store clerk hadn't realised that she was yelling at a group of dolls was anyone's guess, but Jun likely believed it had something to do with the height of the dolls. They had merely assumed the worst and hadn't bothered to look any deeper into the matter.
Jun had attempted to explain his innocence, but his dolls had been far too indignant at the clerk's assumption that they had all fired back in their own unique ways, which had caused quite the stir. Security had eventually been called and Jun had been forcefully escorted outside along with all of his dolls.
As it would appear, and as the referee of the Alice Game had explained previously, the humans and… 'faunus' of the world, which were essentially humans with animal traits, spoke fluent English. It had been made apparent that this was the only language spoken when Sakurada Jun was able to speak the language fluently despite having never learned to speak a language outside of Japanese. Shinku had speculated that it was the same law that had altered the height of his dolls that had enabled this feat. Shinku appeared to be able to circumvent this language stipulation with some degree of effort, although she deemed it a pointless endeavor, as attempting to speak Japanese would only arouse suspicion.
Speaking of, were it not for Laplace arriving just in time under the 'disguise' of their would-be security escort, Jun had wondered if he would be in some kind of fantasy-world prison, with all of his dolls endlessly bickering around him. Instead, the creature had instead secured a… bullhead, which Jun personally believes to be a terrible name for a flying machine, and had flown them all up towards Atlas. Complete with individual passports which identified them as foreign diplomats of all things. It had been an unnerving experience as a whole, sounding like something out of a knock-off spy movie than an actual event occurring in a reality alternate to his own.
As soon as they had landed, Sakurada Jun had been directed by Laplace-no-ma to journey towards the Schnee family mansion, of which the referee explained was the central venue for the gathering that Laplace was so intent on getting them all to attend. Shinku had advised that they all follow the plan of Laplace for now, of which his other dolls had eventually agreed after some deliberation.
It had been made abundantly clear over his time as a Master for the Rozen Maiden in the Alice Game, that not a single doll fully trusted Laplace-no-ma. None would fully explain the reasoning for their mistrust, nor did any of them particularly need to do so in Jun's eyes. The creature naturally gave off an untrustworthy air. Considering how long the Rozen Maiden had been around, Jun could only speculate what the dolls had endured against Laplace's Demon. As a result, he would trust their assessment of the creature. When it came to the Alice Game, they were, by far, the wisest in plotting the right move.
Unless they were Kanaria, of course.
Regardless of the fact that they were all relatively immature in practically anything outside of the Alice Game, most of the dolls possessed some obvious strategy in combat during the Alice Game itself. What was a little bit of childish immaturity in the face of that? Jun himself was aware that he was pretty childish at the best of times. It wasn't as if he could hold it against them. They were all his dolls and he loved them for it.
Not that he would ever say such a thing aloud, of course. It would be his little secret, so as to prevent tensions from rising and causing unnecessary complications that the likes of Kirakishou would be more than delighted to exploit should the opportunity arise.
"...That's a pretty big mansion…" Suiseiseki commented, clutching his left arm tightly and gazing upon what would have been quite the expensive property back in his own neighbourhood. Were it any other situation they were in, Jun would have commented on how grabby the tsundere gardener was being at the moment, but in the face of this different world, he couldn't exactly blame her for staying close.
They were in the residential district, following the directions of a helpful couple that had been more than comfortable in speaking to the 'polite young man'. Shinku had been more than amused at the couple's description of him, going as far as to send him a tiny little smile that continued to hang on to her face as they swept through the city.
It was rather vexing. To him, it seemed almost as if Shinku was pleased with the comment. Borderline proud.
"Look, Master," Souseiseki chimed in from some distance away, pointing towards a poster on a nearby billboard.
SCHNEE DUST COMPANY
VALE COMMEMORATIVE GALA
ALL WELCOME
"Vale Commemorative Gala?" Jun murmured to himself, bewildered. "Laplace wants us to attend a dance?"
"It does sound rather strange," Shinku agreed with a nod, the blonde-haired red-clad doll moving towards Souseiseki and glancing up at the poster. "Perhaps, it is in relation to the topic of the event?"
Before they could continue, a new presence made itself known to the group.
"Excuse me? Would you all happen to be here for the Gala?"
He was a short, rather portly man with brown hair on the precipice of balding, with an impressive moustache framing an aged face that had clearly been through many hardships. His eyes were light brown, looking warm and friendly.
The man seemed to be middle-aged, wearing an elaborate black vest over a white-collar long-sleeved shirt, accompanied by black trousers and shoes. A silver pocket watch was poking out of one of his vest pockets, connected to the vest by a chain.
"...What business of it of yours?" Suiseiseki huffed snappishly, grasping Jun tighter and looking away from him. He looked at the doll weirdly, not at all used to this kind of behaviour. Typically, her ire was aimed directly at himself, for some perceived slight. It was certainly rather strange to be seeing her behaviour from this perspective.
Glancing over at the other dolls, their reactions seemed to be more on-point. Shinku appeared as indifferent as ever, regarding the unknown man as a queen in some fantasy anime would regard one of her peasant subjects. Souseiseki, however, had tensed and appeared to be trying to decide if the man was some kind of threat.
"Please, please! I mean you all no harm," the man waved his hands in surrender, before taking a slow and blatant bow. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Klein Sieben, butler to the Schnee Family. I could not help but notice your interest in one of our signs, and decided to indulge my curiosity."
"The Schnee Family?" Shinku murmured, sending Jun a heated look, no-doubt recalling Laplace mentioning this family as being the target of Laplace's involvement at the current time.
Sakurada Jun could only assume that Shinku was curious to see what the Alice Game's referee was planning with this Schnee Dust Company and their commemorative gala.
"...Yes, you could say we were a little curious…" Jun eventually answered, his mind quickly informing him of how very long it had been since he had conversed with a complete stranger, or practically anybody outside the Alice Game.
The confused look that Suiseiseki shot him was almost worth having to feel his sudden bout of social anxiety. The older of the twin-gardener dolls looked like she hadn't a clue why Jun would be talking to this man.
"Oh, I see, so you weren't planning on attending this night? Did you perhaps have some other plan instead?" Klein asked politely, glancing at Jun's suit.
Thankfully, Shinku came to the rescue.
"My… associates… and I were originally planning on attending a dinner at one of the local establishments, but it would appear there was an accident and the venue was unfortunately closed."
Associate? Huh. That was a first. Typically, Shinku enjoyed calling Jun her servant, followed by quickly requesting a cup of fresh tea. It was of starch contrast to the likes of Suiseiseki who preferred more typical insults over his height, or Souseiseki who politely called him Master despite her contract with the unwound Sakurada Jun.
"A shame to hear such a travesty, young Miss," Klein frowned, shaking his head. "With everything that has occurred at Vale, it is surprising to hear a business being forced to close up shop for the night."
"...Why's that?" Suiseiseki asked, scrunching up her brow curiously.
Klein gave a low frown. If he was displeased by Suiseiseki's manner of speaking, he certainly didn't show it. Which, Jun figured, spoke leagues about his skill as a butler. From all the manga he's read over the years, if he was forced to listen to some noble drone on and on, he would certain have spoken his mind.
"The incident in Vale caused a number of refugees to flee to neighbouring kingdoms to seek shelter. Considering the nature of Atlas and our technological innovations, a great many were so inclined as to travel here as quick as their feet could take them. Business has been booming ever since, albeit in a far lesser mood as one would expect."
"...Yes, I can see that…" Jun muttered, looking around him.
Despite what Jun would have first thought about city life during a late Winter's afternoon, the city seemed to be quite populated at the moment. Civilians seemed up in arms about an upcoming election of some sort, while a military figure by the name of 'General Winter' seemed to be on the lips of every gossiping group of civilians that they encountered during their journey through Atlas.
"Hm, quite," Klein nodded in his direction, following his gaze to the numerous group of civilians. "Following the death of General Ironwood, General Winter has been dead-set on establishing appropriate housing and supplies for the population, going so far as to completely open up Atlas to Mantle. It has secured her, and by extension her father, quite the substantial boost in popularity."
"I see…" Jun muttered, raking over the new information in his mind.
From what he could understand, this 'General Ironwood' had been a major figure in Atlas, until his death prompted another to take his place. This new figure, General Winter, enacted reforms that brought with them a sizeable boost in popularity.
It made sense. He vaguely remembered watching news shows on the television when he was younger, that featured journalists speaking of political figures that had done similar actions prior to or immediately after their election.
He could only wonder, however, why Klein was speaking about it now. It seemed strange to him just how readily the man had been willing to speak about the subject. Was it in some way connected to the-
Commemorative gala. Commemoration. Acting as a memorial of an event or person.
Only then, did he realise.
This General Ironwood… he died in Vale, didn't he? This Schnee Dust Company is hosting the gala in response to General Ironwood's death at Vale, or they are at the very least using his death in order to raise awareness of the event itself. A charitable organisation mourning the loss of an influential figure, or a calculated plan in order to increase popularity? Hmmm…
Sakurada Jun could only begin to wonder how Kirakishou played into this, of how far she had extended her vines into this strange world.
Nevertheless, it bared a closer inspection. His time spent combating the seventh doll had taught Sakurada Jun to follow every thread, every vine, in order to discover the true breadth of her influence. Oftentimes, he had found it to be far more severe than originally thought.
"You seem quite surprised by this knowledge," Klein observed casually, eliciting a tense spark of concern from Jun's trio of dolls. "Are you all visiting Atlas, by chance?"
In other words, he's asking if we're one of these refugees impacted by the event in Vale. An event which, no matter what I say, I cannot ask about directly without arousing suspicion. Eugh. This is why I hate talking to people…
"...You could say that," Jun smiled, a brittle little shadow of a smile.
Klen's brow softened and the man bid a hasty bow. "Ah! I see! How callous of me. You have my apologies for speaking in such a manner. It was not of my design in order to remind you of a horrid event."
"It's fine," Jun spoke immediately, before quickly adding a quick response, "I've had time to adjust. We all have. However, we're still a little new to Atlas, you see."
The man, Klein, hastily stood back up, looking relieved. He figured that the butler had been through all sorts of verbal tirades at the behest of his employers, just by the fluidity of his apologetic demeanour.
Nobody apologies so quickly unless they feel guilty. It had been something that Jun's homeroom teacher had taught him, after Jun had refused to return to his school.
"Very well then," Klein adjusted his tie, despise the accessory already being tucked in properly. "Despite my earlier blunder, I do hope you all enjoy your time in Atlas. It is a beautiful kingdom and the home of innovation, you see."
"...I don't doubt that," Jun muttered, looking around idly at all the gleaming mansions dotting the floating city, before his eyes found the Schnee gala sign. "...Actually, we were admitted rather curious about the gala. Our… last event…" he trailed off momentarily, glancing at Shinku and noticing her intense look, before continuing, "...was rudely interrupted. Is it still possible to attend this event instead?"
"The gala?" Klein paused, before continuing at Jun's uncomfortable nod. "Why, yes indeed! It is free for all to attend, you see. Even including all of the recent additions to Mantle and Atlas, Master Jacques has permitted as many people to attend as they desire. Even faunus."
"Master Jacques?" Shinku inquired all of a sudden, peering unblinkingly at the portly butler.
"Jacques Schnee, of the Schnee Dust Company," Klein responded immediately. "It is by his charity that this Gala was designed in the first place. You see, his youngest daughter, Weiss Schnee, was in Vale at the time of the incident. Lady Weiss and her teammate, Blake, were some of the lucky few to escape unharmed."
...They were present at the event which lead to the death of a famous military general, yet were able to escape unharmed? Jun's mind pondered, curious.
"...Will they be there?" he inquired.
Klein paused, before giving a hesitant nod. "I do believe so, although you must allow for some measure of uncertainty during these trying times. They have been through a great ordeal, of which I needn't explain to you all, of course."
"...Right. Of course," he nodded, uncertainly, before glancing over at his three dolls. They each gave him small nods, supportive. He smiled, before turning back to Klein. "As we said, we're still quite new to Atlas. Can you point us in the right direction to this Schnee manor?"
Klein smiled. "Of course. I'd be happy to help. Please, follow me."
A/N:
Hello again! It's good to publish another chapter. How are you all going? I was a bit anxious about this chapter, to be honest. What do you all think?
Introducing some of the Rozen Maiden, alongside their allotted Masters, has been a long time coming in this story. I'd debated around a few different 'pairings', so to speak, but a choice few needed to be used over all others. Sakurada Jun, for instance, is a major part of the backstory for the dolls and, especially in Kirakishou's and Shinku's case, defines much of their character. To rip away his dolls seemed unnecessarily cruel. So, he has them all, balance be damned.
Suigintou and Yang, meanwhile, are essentially two damaged girls bonding over mutual pain, hiding behind this strange sense of bravado. Fun to write, sad to understand. I wanted to do something special for Suigintou, of whom I'm aware is something of a fan-favourite among readers. I figured that she would be the type who wouldn't just lie down and accept whatever Laplace told her without going to have a look of her own, leading to her personally speaking with Yang inside a dream.
What did you all think of Atlas and Mantle? I went with a scenario in which I imagined how Winter would act if Ironwood suddenly wasn't in the picture. Opening up Atlas to Mantle seemed fitting for her character, while Jacques capitalising on the popularity to boost his own was essentially something that wrote itself with how fitting it seemed. Klein being Klein was also quite nice, being a something of a charitable man with a keen eye.
That's all for today. It was fun writing this and fun writing to you all again. Please, let me know what you all think. Until next time~