Chapter 2
Quälende Gedanken
Troubled Minds
Shinku felt awkward standing in front of a large full-body mirror. Eyeing herself from the mirror tilting her head from side to side. This was the second time she wore this dress. It never ceased to amaze her how Mitsu had found something like this for her.
Her shirt was white with frills going down on her chest and on her waist, puffy shoulders, slightly too long sleeves with a wide opening for hands and two black lines decorating the ends of the sleeves. Collar resembled something out of a sailor school uniform with some frills and two black lines, decorated with a light blue bow tie showing under the sleeve. Her light blue dress was a short, down to her thighs and open, revealing white puffy undergarments, which ended at her knees, tied up with two white bows. Long white and black striped socks came down from knees ending up in small black doll shoes. She was topped with a light blue bow with two black stripes lining the ribbon's ends.
The feeling of shyness crept on her cheeks. She didn't want to go back to Sakurada household wearing this. It was embarrassing to be seen like this. Honestly, what would Jun say if he saw this? He would laugh until he died of cramps. Suiseiseki was floating behind Shinku, waiting impatiently for her to open the N-field's door to Sakurada's. They were currently floating over an empty space, with several other exits to other N-fields and places in the real world. Usually depicted with a door, sometimes with a large mirror like this one and rarely with other "openings" such as windows and ponds.
Suiseiseki had her "Micchan-version" on as well. Her long red pleated dress went down to her knees, and was continued with two long white boots with small bows on it. Her red dress was lined with black lines of frills and two black bows. Her shoulders were as puffy as Shinku's, with white sleeves ending up in three layers of frills. Yet another lining of frills decorated her white collar and she had a beret, matching with her pleated dress. Her hair was tied from behind with two black bows as well.
Unlike Shinku, Suiseiseki was eager to show her new dress to Jun. According to her fantasies, Jun would fall for her in the first split second he sees her. She would be sitting on a throne while Jun waved a large palm leaf to keep her cool in the burning heat and…
"Shinku! Start moving already -desu! I need to hurry back -desu!" Suiseiseki hurried Shinku with a small prod on her back.
"Do-don't you hurry a lady when she needs to prepare herself!" Shinku defended herself.
"A lady -desu? You look like a child in those clothes -desu! Just like that mini-Ichigo! Compared to elegant and delicate me you look so immature and unsophisticated -desu!" Suiseiseki haughtily explained.
"How rude! Clothes do not make a lady! What's inside the clothes is what makes lady a lady!" Shinku snapped with a slight red tone on her face from anger. She finally lift her hand and placed it against the mirror's surface. Slowly the surface begun to glow brightly, indicating that it was ready to be entered.
The dolls had had to visit Kanaria's strategic base, Mitsu Kusabue's home, for some new clothing. Their previous dresses were still quite dirty from yesterday's dough and Jun's blood. Additionally, the smell was horrible enough to make the birds fall to the ground as they passed Sakurada's house. That's why Nori had taken the dresses to a special cleaner and the dolls were ordered to visit Micchan and loan a new set of clothes for a day or two. Having escaped from Micchan alive, they were now making their way back home.
"No-now that we're here, m-maybe we should first look around here before we go ba-" Shinku hesitated again and was interrupted by Suiseiseki who pushed her through the glowing mirror.
Upon hearing that Jun's visit had been fruitless, they had decided to begin searching for the lost Roza mysticas. First from their own N-fields and later Souseiseki's and Hina Ichigo's empty N-fields since a Roza mystica should return to it's original owner's N-field if left alone. After that, they would slowly search the closest N-fields and widen the searches every day. They really didn't have any clues on where the mysticas could be if the first choices failed and just searching the closest N-fields to Rose Garden was deemed to be the best idea.
Shinku and Suiseiseki appeared into a familiar closet. Dozens of boxes, hanging coats, tied up rugs, sacks of old clothing were laying around left and right, forming a path forward to where the exit was. Shinku took a few steps and just stood there, pondering whether she should really continue or turn back. Suiseiseki rushed past Shinku with a determined look on her face. Nothing could stop her now, she had some wooing to do.
Jun was upstairs studying algebra when the dolls arrived to the house. Rubbing his cheek, which seemed to have swelled for a reason or another, he tried to concentrate but the pain made it hard. Only if the dolls hadn't used their full power on him, this might've never happened. Of course he might be considered to be partially in fault for his own pain, but it was well worth it. To be able to give back some of the verbal abuse back was pretty satisfying in the end.
Suiseiseki stopped right behind Jun's room's door which was slightly open. Clenching her fist in front of her face she concentrated. The next few actions would be crucial for her plan.
"Right, just do like baroness otter did in the episode two weeks ago -desu! The otter knows the best -desu!" she pumped up her fighting spirit.
Jun's studying was interrupted by a sudden chill which ran along his spine. He turned to look at the door and there she was. Suiseiseki in her new attire, trying to give out her best pose by leaning to the door's frame with left leg slightly bent revealing her jointed knee a bit, right hand touching her beret and left hand resting on her hip.
Jun stared blankly at Suiseiseki and his eyebrow twitched a bit. What the heck is she planning again?! Usually, he would've laughed until he couldn't stay in any upward position, but he had been traumatised by yesterday's events. With his mouth twisted in a clear attempt to suppress laughter he simply replied:
"T-that's a cute outfit," and turned back to his desk, sweating profoundly.
It was now Suiseiseki's turn to stare at Jun's back. How could've her cunning plan fail yet again? It worked so well for baroness otter. Wait? Was Jun implying that she was less attractive than that bloody otter?! Breaking the pose her anger kept rising as she closed in on Jun's left leg.
Jun kept sweating as he heard the steps come closer by every second. He figured that if he played it out like nothing had happened, he would survive to see tomorrow. Well at least the dinner. He began turning his chair to face Suiseiseki again but he was cut off guard by a shoe that prevented him from turning the chair. The result was that Jun lost his balance and began falling with the chair on his side.
Suiseiseki nimbly dodged the falling human and watched him collapse from the chair, hitting his jaw to the floor and banging his legs as the chair tipped over. Suiseiseki sneered as she walked over Jun, pressing hard on each step, proceeding back to the door.
"That's what you get for saying that I'm less attractive than an otter -desu!" she said over her shoulder and slammed the door shut.
"Why me?" Jun whined from between the chair and the floor.
Well, at least he survived Suiseiseki. Now Shinku still remains. The thought of another murderous doll made him shiver in horror. Rubbing his chin he got up from the floor and decided to go to the lion's cave. Taking a deep breath he stepped outside from his room and made his way downstairs, where Nori was watching the news and Suiseiseki was pouting next to her.
Jun looked around but couldn't see the proud doll anywhere. As if looking for his own demise he turned to Suiseiseki.
"Umm… do you know where Shinku is? Didn't you two come back together?"
Suiseiseki glared coldly at Jun and turned her head away letting out an audible "Hmph!" at the same time. However, she did point towards the large closet with her right hand thumb over her shoulder. Following the direction Jun noticed something peeking from behind the sliding door to the closet. The shadow quickly retreated back inside before Jun managed to catch a better glimpse of it.
"Hmm? Shinku, is that you…?" scratching his head, he went to the door and knocked it. No reply.
"Shinku, are you there?" Jun repeated and prepared to slide open the closet door.
"Don't you dare open that door Jun" Shinku warned him behind the door.
"But what's taking you so long?" he replied in frustration.
"A lady needs her time to prepare herself!" she again relied on the same excuse as earlier with Suiseiseki.
"Okay okay, I understand, take your time milady" Jun snorted kiddingly and turned his back to the door.
"What is the matter with me?" Shinku thought. She stood sternly behind the door and looked down at her hands. Was she always this shy? No, definitely not. This isn't like her.
The few seconds that went by felt like small slices of eternity but she couldn't lose to Suiseiseki here and now. She shook her head and clenched her fists. If that useless servant as much as looks at her funnily, she'd whip some manners straight into his spine!
Shinku pulled the door aside slightly which encouraged the door to creak enough to get Jun's attention towards it. Jun braced himself, since he still needed to keep a straight face if he wanted to stay alive. He couldn't even imagine what could be the worst that could happen if calling Suiseiseki "cute" means an almost broken jaw. With a large gulp he turned back to look and the door and the doll standing in the opening. The instant his brains realized the sight he was looking, his mouth twisted into form which could be described as partly a smile and the rest being lip biting to the point of bleeding. He already knew Shinku was actually quite cute under that proud exterior but this was just too much. He felt like laughing yet for some reason he wanted to hug her hard and rub his cheek on hers. She even had a cute blue bow on her head, just to top it off. Then the dreaded question came:
"H-how does it look Jun?" Shinku asked blushing heavily turning her head as if she was checking her dress.
Right Jun. This is it. The moment you've been dreading. Think quick, think quick! Jun's thoughts ran inside of his head.
"W-well…it's quite…different" he hesitated while keeping his smirking at minimum.
"Different?" Shinku seemed to expect an explanation.
"Err… I mean, it fits you," he wiped some sweat from his forehead into his sleeve.
"F-fits me? Because it's different? What is that supposed to mean?" Shinku was now starting to sound worried.
Jun literally froze on Shinku's last question. This was most definitely not going the right way. He pleaded his brains to work a decent reply but it failed him. Luckily he had prepared a cunning and devious plan for a situation like this.
"Jun?"
Shinku looked directly in his eyes, trying to get an answer out of him. Jun suddenly twitched and turned. After a split second, he was gone.
"H-he ran?!" shocked Shinku gawked.
Shinku's amazement lasted only a few seconds and she had regained her posture. Now that Jun had seen her in this overly cute dress, the pressure was off of her. Taking interest in the soap opera Nori and Suiseiseki were watching, she decided to join them on the couch. She took her place next to Suiseiseki on the right end of the couch.
"What did he mean by being different?" Shinku thought out loud, as if asking from Suiseiseki.
"I'm sure it was nothing to worry about. You look so cute that I could just hug you really tightly!" Nori replied suddenly, looking at Shinku over Suiseiseki's head.
"Control yourself Nori, I do not wish to receive any more physical affection after that visit. Micchan can be quite a handful" she sighed.
"Suiseiseki looks very cute in that dress too, like a small model! But why are you pouting like that?" Nori worried.
"Hmph! He called me uglier than an otter -desu! I'm not talking to him anymore -desu!" Suiseiseki explained with her nose held high.
"Oh really? Is that so?" Suiseiseki's words surprised Nori.
"Maybe he does need some re-education again" Shinku pondered. This made Suiseiseki nod her head furiously in agreement.
"You're absolutely right! I'll help -desu!"
"Honestly, what a rude servant he is. I have been here for a long time now and he still hasn't learned how to treat a lady."
"So true -desu!"
The two dolls nodded together as they signed yet another pact which surely didn't include the use of silk gloves and pleasant words to Jun. Nori sighed as she lowered her head.
"Jun… why is it so hard for you to be nice to them?"
Few blocks away the misunderstood boy was still running down the street, cursing his life and the two dolls that were so deeply involved in it.
- - -
Shinku stepped out from a bright rectangle of light onto a red carpet over parquet, making a small knock. As the light dimmed down, one could now recognise the rectangle as a large mirror, lined with golden roses and vines. To her left was several crimson curtain decorated windows which displayed the view to the front yard of the mansion. Bright rays of light permeated the darkness of the chamber showing the other end of the long room and a small table which Shinku could easily recognise from her dreams. It was the table she always drank her tea whenever she was sleeping. The table along with the large chair and most of the room was created to match that memory, the dream she often saw.
The weather however was always cloudy and somewhat dark in her dreams but in her field she preferred the clear sky with a decent amount of sunlight. Outside the white manor was large fields of red roses and a gentle wind was carrying dozens of petals around which never seemed to touch the ground nor fly too high and disappear. Between the fields was a road, which used to lead the horse carriages to the front of the manor. The road went around a roman-style fountain and seemed to go forever disappearing only after one's eyes couldn't see any further.
Behind the mansion was a lush forest of birch trees mixed with firs. It was sparse enough to let the light shine on the ground giving birth to several types of small forest flowers and underbrush like heather and tall grass. However not a single bird could be seen flying above the trees or any other living beings on the ground. It was quiet enough and Shinku had always enjoyed the silence which let her enjoy the tea or just her thoughts. This had been becoming harder by every passing day since Hina Ichigo and Suiseiseki moved into Sakurada's household.
After a quick glance through the window she walked out from the room, into a corridor with a few other doors on the same side. Turning to her right she passed several paintings as well as the two doors before arriving to the end of the corridor with a large oak door. She tipped her head to the figures of authority that hanged from the walls as she opened the door with a handle placed conveniently low enough for her to open it using her cane. She now appeared to a large ballroom from the second floor. With two ascending stairs from both sides, merging together in the middle and descending to the first floor. Obviously it was built so that the ladies of the manor could show off to the crowd as they descended the stairs to meet the guests. However there was no one to show off to, there never had been guests in Shinku's N-field. She preferred to settle matters elsewhere without letting anyone see the field she had built with her heart.
Shinku made her way down the stairs and as she arrived to the middle point of the room she looked around and finally closed her eyes. She held her hand up over her head and silently boomed a simple command which made several round circles appear on the parquet. She swayed her hand above the circles which turned into images. They portrayed different places within her N-field switching to different places every time Shinku waved her hand above them.
Five minutes passed quickly and the fact Shinku couldn't locate the mysticas confirmed her feelings. As soon as she had entered, she noticed that there were no foreign entities or objects in her N-field. Sighing she decided that she had seen enough and it would be a waste of time to stay here any longer.
Trotting slowly back to the room where she entered from, she took her time to smell the air and run her fingers along the walls as she went by. She could've left through the mirrors in the ballroom but she preferred to use that one exact room and its mirror. It had been a while since she last came here and she wanted to enjoy it, at least for a few more minutes before disappearing again into the glowing mirror.
- - -
Sparkling fresh water rained over a small sprout, making it glow with faint green and white light. Within few seconds the sapling grew a few inches higher creating a few new leaves as it rose. The gardener, to whom the ornate watering can belong to, was smiling like a gentle mother as she watched it reach higher than the surrounding grass. Standing straight, Suiseiseki span around within the green scene, stealing a glance of her surroundings. This was just one of her many favourite spots within her field; surrounded by high trees was a small pond not larger than Jun's room. The pond was surrounded by white, red and yellow flowers. Trees' roots were running along the forest floor and a mushroom or two could be seen growing near them. High bushes had grown here and there, seeking support from the trees and from each other with their vines.
This lush place was the place where Suiseiseki often liked to be alone, with only the butterflies and other small pretty insects, which she deemed as "not annoying" as her company. Souseiseki had visited this place once, maybe twice, but usually Suiseiseki brought her along the other places of her garden. Now Suiseiseki really wanted to show her this place since it had changed so much from the first time she had visited this forest pond. Unfortunately she hadn't found her sister's mystica from either her own nor from Souseiseki's field, so she wasn't able to fulfil this small wish of hers.
Suiseiseki sighed as she made the watering can disappear in a bright flash and patted the dirt off of her red pleated dress. Closing her heterochromatic eyes she uttered few short incantations and the pond started to shine bright white. Suiseiseki took one last glimpse behind her and reluctantly jumped into the pond, disappearing without a splash. She headed home.
- - -
The sound of delicate violin echoed in the vast concert hall, which could fit several hundreds of spectators. The rows of seats were covered with red velvet, sticking out from the otherwise wooden interiors. The balconies would have been reserved for dozens of nobles, who would come from great distances to listen to her music, but no one knew about this particular hall.
On the stage stood the source of the clear music: a small doll clad in yellow, handling an adorable violin precisely and accurately. This particular tune was from Pachelbel's Canon. The tune sounded lonely and sad with only one instrument playing inside this huge empty hall. The violin yearned to be played to the one person she wanted to meet the most, her Father. This whole hall stood only for the sake of performing to him, at least that was her opinion about it. Every single detail, the golden rose engravings, the red velvet, the dark green curtains were made in his honour.
Suddenly Kanaria was interrupted by her artificial spirit, which floated around her head, tinkling loudly. Kanaria opened her emerald eyes and deciphered the silent words of the yellow ball of light. She nodded and lowered her violin, bowed to the audience that did not exist and walked of the stage, without a single person applauding to her wonderful music.
One day she would play her violin to Father… one day.
- - -
Shinku appeared from the stuffed closet, only to notice that Suiseiseki had been waiting for her already. Suiseiseki had her head downcast, staring sadly at the floor. It didn't take a Kanaria to guess the answer whether she had found the mysticas or not.
"I see…" Shinku silently whispered.
Suiseiseki slowly walked back to the living room, knowing that Nori was there, ready to comfort her. She noticed that now especially she could use some kindness. Normally she'd be seeking it from her sister or vent her frustration on Jun, but currently neither were available. Jun was still out, having been away for almost 2 hours now. Thus Suiseiseki went for the next best thing.
"Is Jun here?" Shinku questioned.
"No…he's still out," Suiseiseki replied over her shoulder.
"Honestly, first you can't get him to leave the house and now he doesn't come back in hours? What a troublesome servant" Shinku commented as she shook her head. Shinku looked at Suiseiseki's back as she made her way to the living room.
"Suiseiseki."
Suiseiseki came to a halt. She waited for Shinku to continue, without turning to face her.
"We'll find them. Maybe not today but maybe tomorrow or the day after that," Shinku assured her.
Suiseiseki nodded and gave a little smile but hid it from Shinku. Suiseiseki's head rose a bit as she continued towards the couch where Nori already sat. She sat beside Nori and gently grabbed Nori's sleeve as they watched the ever so boring quiz show.
After reassuring Suiseiseki that they would surely find the mysticas, Shinku had decided. She'd visit one more place for today where the mysticas might be. Her N-field. She had hoped that Jun had already returned, since she expected to run into some trouble. Surely she would notice and take action, but Shinku's own words she had said to comfort Suiseiseki, also gave herself more determination to risk it.
Shinku turned back to face the mirror from where she just came. She placed her finger on the reflecting surface but nothing happened."She has locked her field… Jun, I will have to borrow a hint of your energy…" Shinku murmured to herself. This time the mirror slowly started to shine. The light fluttered as if it would've disappeared at any given moment.
"There we go."
She looked down at her dress quickly and hesitated a bit. Maybe there was someone else she didn't want to show her overly cute self to. She sighed as she prepared herself to enter Suigintou's N-field.
- - -
A dark blue heel hit the wall behind it, making a small clopping sound. The high heeled boot was nervously swinging up and down, hitting the wall, as the owner sat on the windowsill. Arms crossed on her chest, Suigintou had been irritated since Jun's little visit. However, irritation was not the only emotion she was feeling.
Something had happened to her. Something she did not imagine would ever happen. She touched her waist with her right hand, pushing her finger slightly into the fabric. For a moment she was completely petrified. She quickly pulled her hand back, as if she was worried that something would break, and exhaled again. Something had definitely happened.
Staring forward with her magenta eyes Suigintou had roused Megu's curiosity. This was one of those rare moments when Suigintou showed a deeper feeling other than indifference right in front of her. Megu ran her eyes slowly along Suigintou's boot then switching to her eyes, measuring her frustration carefully. She noticed that Suigintou was looking right back at her with an annoyed look in her eyes.
"What?" Suigintou snapped.
"Is there something bothering you?" Megu asked and smiled, knowing the answer already.
"Hmph! It's none of your business" Suigintou tightly replied.
"If it's about that boy who visited me… that makes it my business as well, doesn't it?" Megu sweetly confronted the doll. Suigintou turned her head away and Megu interpreted this as a silent agreement.
"That boy said quite idealistic words, didn't he? Too bad that in real world they are just a bunch of cute words…" she continued as Suigintou remained silent.
Cute words? Suigintou frowned. Those "cute words" had been bothering her for a day now. Whether they were true or not, what Shinku did was unforgivable. How could she play with her like that?! Suigintou suddenly startled upon the realisation that she had been thinking about those times again. It still ground her, the words, the pity.
Enough of this! Suigintou thought as she shook off the feelings again and turned back to the patient. She hadn't been able to gain more mysticas to help her "broken" medium. Why did she care about that anyway? A similar position? Absolutely not! At least not anymore. She had been acknowledged by Father while Megu was… Suigintou found herself unable to finish the sentence. Instead she looked sharply at Megu and opened her mouth:
"You want me to use your energy, right?"
Megu looked slightly happy and nodded quickly. Like Suigintou expected her to do. This foolish girl, when would she get through to her?
"Then get better. I have no use for a medium if she's weak even before I draw energy out of her," Suigintou coldly explained.
"But you already know…I can't get better…my heart…" as Megu was replying, it suddenly dawned to her.
"Suigintou, you said you would actually use my energy if you could?"
"Uh, I didn't say that! I just said that IF you really want me to use…" Suigintou tried to defend herself, but Megu was too excited to properly notice it.
"And did you worry about me?"
Megu was overjoyed by the fact she had perceived. However she failed to realize that usually she hated to worry others but when it came from her angel, things were different. Suigintou's cheeks gained a slight tint of pink and she tried to hide any signs of concern.
"F-foolish human! I merely-" her sentence was cut short, when she felt something out of ordinary.
Someone had just entered her N-field. Who could dare to step inside her domain? Suigintou stood up, with her magenta eyes full of anger she leaped out from the window. Her wings swished against the wind as she took off quickly, disappearing from Megu's sight.
This took Megu by surprise at first but quickly made her giggle a bit. How cute that her angel actually blushed in front of her. After a minute she remembered Suigintou's words again. Taking a small peek to her left, she saw her grey meal. Maybe she could eat a little bit more. Just a little bit.
- - -
Cold breeze hit Shinku's face as she flew between the old and abandoned 19th century buildings, peering through them as she went past. It seems that the snowing, which had been common in this N-field, had stopped, making it easier for Shinku to fly and not to forget the added visibility a clear sky brought. It was still chilling but It didn't bother Shinku, who stopped on top of an old pharmacy to look around. Dozens of buildings surrounded her, with silent roads which no one had ever walked on. Darkness was overwhelming but it didn't seem to limit her vision at all as she searched anything out of ordinary from the distance. Slowly her gaze rose to look at the mirrored town above her. It was as silent and eerie as the one she had been skimming through.
"Suigintou… I wonder when you'll let this town feel a touch of warmth…?" Shinku sighed silently.
Her eyes caught a glimpse of an old church, or rather the ruins of one. This seemed to be the place which she visited when she was going to settle things with Suigintou. Back then Suigintou was actually trapping Jun as she was wrestling with the broken dolls. Come to think of it, there's not a single one lying around anymore. Looks like she has changed a little bit after Megu became her medium. Shinku smiled at the thought. She has so much hatred in her, maybe she has finally let some of the bitterness disappear?
Shinku descended on to the stone pavement and continued by foot. A chill ran through her spine. Suddenly, a torrent of black razor sharp feathers swished right above her head, hitting and penetrating the stones in front of her, splitting them into smaller pieces. Shinku quickly span around and indeed, right where Shinku had just been, on top of the broken roof of an old pharmacist was the dark angel herself.
"My my! Who do we have here? A fool of a little sister is it? And what stupid kid's clothes you're wearing today, Reiner Saphir? Konpeki!" Suigintou almost guffawed as she saw Shinku in her new dress.
"Ko-konpeki?!" Shinku gawked in shock, this was the reason why she didn't want to be seen by this particular person.
"Well well, aren't I quite rude to the guest…or should I say pest?" Suigintou's eyes quickly narrowed as she focused on the intruder.
"You know very well that I didn't come here to meet you Suigintou!" Shinku managed to collect her composure.
"So, a pest it is, eh?" Suigintou spread her black wings wide apart with sadistic glee in her smile.
"Nor did I come here to fight you," Shinku quickly continued.
"Then just WHAT are you doing in my N-field?!" Suigintou snapped in anger.
"I'm looking for something," Shinku gave a puzzling reply sternly and stared right into Suigintou's eyes.
"Looking for something? From here? Are you stupid or something?" Suigintou smirked at Shinku.
"However, I don't think I'll find what I'm looking for… at least not from here," Shinku turned her body sideways towards Suigintou, who seemed to be somewhat frustrated.
"Looks like you are quite agitated Suigintou, you're spouting vulgarities even more often than you usually do," Shinku continued.
Suigintou's body twitched slightly. Grinding her teeth at Shinku, she launched a feather straight towards Shinku, who effortlessly blocked it with her cane which she materialised in a split second from the rose petals she conjured from her small palms.
"My, by the looks of it I hit the head of the nail," Shinku amusedly commented.
"I should just rip you into pieces and grab your Roza mystica while I'm at it, Shinku!" Suigintou hissed.
"I think you've heard about it already, Suigintou? That it's not necessary anymore…" Shinku smiled heartily at Suigintou. Suigintou froze. That was the second thing that had bothered her all day. She sneered, trying to show Shinku that she didn't care.
"What's with that painful looking smile Suigintou. You can't hide your uncertainty with such fake grin," Shinku pushed on.
What was she all the sudden? Some sort of psychic, being able to read her that easily? Damn her!
Few of the black feathers slowly floated in her hand and formed a long sheathlike object. It flashed purple and soon Suigintou was holding up a vicious sword in her hand. Swinging it swiftly around, she then pointed it at Shinku.
"I'm still not going to go play the Alice game, Suigintou, but I will defend myself. I have a duty which I must fulfil," Shinku explained sternly, without a flinch in her voice.
"A duty? A duty to become junk perhaps?" Suigintou gloated.
"Hardly. A duty given to me by Father."
Shinku said the magic word, Father. This simple show of favouring towards Shinku made Suigintou's blood boil. Gawking in anger, the dark figure leaned forwards, preparing for an attack. Shinku prepared her cane and lifted it towards Suigintou, ready to take her on if she were to attack.
"Shiiinkuuu!" Suigintou shrieked as she started to dive towards Shinku.
The black winged doll's blade was met just before it would've made a larger slash on the white blouse and driven to the side, making Suigintou miss and almost stumble to the stony pavement. She regained her balance and landed on her feet, sliding back on the stones like it was ice. Expecting a quick retaliation, Suigintou moved her wing in front of her to protect herself. However, Shinku had just stood there with no intention to retaliate. Shinku could see the surprise in her opponent's face.
"I told you, I have no intention to fight seriously."
"Are you looking down on me, Shinku?!" Suigintou hissed.
"That is hardly so. Don't make me repeat…" Shinku suddenly stopped her sentence.
Shinku had thought of something. She could fight her a bit, even though Suigintou had the upper hand. It was her N-field and Jun wasn't here, making power draining a lot more inefficient. Plus there was the small chance that Suigintou still had the mystica. However, Shinku felt confident and this way she could make sure whether Suigintou had the mystica or not.
"I guess I can entertain you for a while, Suigintou!" Shinku defiantly said with a small smirk on her lips.
"Don't take me lightly Shinku… one mistake and you're junk!"
"Taking you lightly? Maybe… If you're really that serious, you should show it to me. So far you've not even managed to make me change my posture, Suigintou," Shinku taunted her.
Suigintou ground her teeth in anger and spread her wings wide open. She let out a huge blast only a few feet away from Shinku, who struggled to maintain her shield of rose petals. The stones were lifted and shattered from the road and the buildings shook and crumbled under the pressure. Even with the protection Shinku had she was pushed back along the road.
As the pressure wave finally subsided, neither of the dolls could stay on their feet as the buildings started to collapse, partly on to the road. With a small hop they both rose above the street and the buildings, looking carefully at each other. Suigintou smiled wickedly over her small victory.
"Oh my! Looks like your… posture… suffered a little!" Suigintou grinned.
"You had to go that far just to make me move? Surely you can do better than that," Shinku began to taunt her again.
Suigintou's grin changed into an expression of pure spite. She unleashed her black feathers towards Shinku, creating a hard wind to disturb Shinku's concentration. Shinku prepared herself by spreading her petals around herself and waited for Suigintou's next move. She didn't have to wait for long. Suigintou charged forward, holding her sword on her side. Shinku held her cane with both hands towards the oncoming opponent, glaring at her.
Suigintou placed her other hand on the sword as well, preparing to thrust as she entered the mix of her own feathers and Shinku's petals.
"SHIIINKUUU!" she screamed disappearing just a mere second before pushing the sword forward, leaving only feathers in front of Shinku.
"Wha-?!" Shinku startled for a split second, then she saw something with the corner of her eye.
Turning right quickly, swinging her cane at the same time she managed to parry Suigintou's sword. Trying to push it back with all her might, she suddenly lost her balance as the pressure disappeared along with the whole blade and the doll that held it. Shinku's face was hit by the multitude of feathers that were left behind. Covering her face she quickly span around. Left? Right? She stood there in the air. A sudden disturbance in the rose petals she had spread around alarmed her.
"Above!" She shouted out as she leaned back, managing to partially parry her opponents foot that tried to leave its mark on her face, but the impact threw her back towards the stony pavement.
The dark angel dived after the white and blue opponent, launching piercing feathers as she lunged forward. Shinku swung her cane, blocking one feather after another while trying to create a pillow for safer landing with her other hand. She knew that it wouldn't help much at this point but even a small bit might count. Her main problem laid ahead, if Suigintou were to crush into her after she had hit the ground, it would be the end of her. She remembered the earlier petals she had spread around and decided to use them.
"You seem to concentrate a bit too much what's in front of you!" warned the falling maiden as she brought her hand which was creating the pillow from behind her.
"What?!" shrieked the black figure.
Shinku pushed her hand forward, then clenched her open hand into a fist, with a small glow of red surrounding her fist. This caused the petals above them to turn into sharp needles. Then she moved her hand as if she was pulling something that she had just encased within her fingers. The red needles began to dart towards Suigintou. She quickly covered herself with her wings, but the needles pushed Suigintou into a nosedive as well while keeping her contained within her wings.
After a split second Shinku smashed into the pavement. Even with the small barrier, the impact was fierce. She screamed from the pain as the stones broke under her back and sent pebbles and dust flying. A short moment later, Suigintou also crashed into the stones with an audible yelp. Rubble flew high and far giving off small clouds of dust.
Both dolls were lying on the road, gathering back their strength and breathing heavily. Shinku turned to her side to watch as Suigintou rose on her knees with the help of her hands.
"Why…why did you… warn me?" Suigintou hissed under her silvery hair that covered her face from Shinku's vision.
"I told…you.. I will not… fight to kill," Shinku managed to whisper as she was still catching her breath as well.
After both of the dolls managed to get back on their feet, they glanced at each other. Both had small rips on their dresses with several spots of dirt covering the places that were ravaged the worst by the dust and rubble. Shinku had had enough for now. Her question had been answered.
"It seems that we're still quite even, Suigintou."
"Hmph! It's foolish to even compare our powers, you have always been a second grade doll compared to me in strength!" Suigintou gloated.
"It looks like I won't find it from here either…" Shinku said to herself, not minding what Suigintou had just said.
"Are you ignoring me?! And what rubbish are you suddenly spouting?" Suigintou demanded an answer.
"Suigintou," Shinku sternly begun.
"Even if you know that there are other ways to become Alice, you still insist on playing the Alice Game?" Shinku's eyes thinned.
"Of course!" Suigintou replied as it was the simplest question in the world.
"Why?" Shinku queried.
"Do YOU know what the other ways are?!" Suigintou blurted.
"No. But for me that's good enough reason not to fight. I will just have to find out what the other ways are," Shinku explained.
Suigintou seemed rather angry, which was no wonder after the short and fierce battle, but having blown off most of her steam she was actually quite calm inside. Giving a quick thought over Shinku's words, she shrugged them off.
"How long do you think that will take?! I want to see Father NOW! Alice Game is the fastest and the only way I know how to meet him," Suigintou gave her opinion.
"Is that really the only reason you wish to gain the mysticas?" Shinku suddenly confronted her.
"W-what?!" gasped the opponent.
"Aren't you forgetting that I had your mystica for a short while?" Shinku pushed on.
"Q-quiet you fool! Megu has nothing to do with this!" Suigintou tried to cover what seemed to have been revealed to Shinku during that short time she was talking about. Shinku's face got a more serious expression as she continued:
"Do you really trust Barasuishou's words that much? Don't you forget that she and Enju manipulated us for their own purposes?"
"I saw Megu feel better when I used some of the mystica's power on her!" Suigintou protested.
"That might've been just a reversal of power transfer, which only helps for a while. Would you really know what it was? You haven't had a medium before, have you?" she hit the end of the nail.
"That's none of your business!" Suigintou was quick to shout her opinion. Shinku lowered her head and turned away from Suigintou. She slowly started to walk away, clearly disappointed.
"Where do you think you're going, Shinku?" vexed Suigintou asked. Shinku stopped. With sad eyes she looked over her shoulder at Suigintou.
"Suigintou."
"Wh-what?!"
"Even if we ignore Megu's part in this, do you think that Father would like to meet you after you've slaughtered your sisters to meet him, all the while knowing that there are other ways to achieve this?"
Clearly shaken, Suigintou did not say a word of reply. Shinku did not stay and wait for her to answer and flew away, hurrying back to the entrance she had used earlier. This was the perfect moment for her to retreat without further hassle. While Shinku had disappeared, Suigintou was still standing there, expressionless, frozen.
"That's not fair…" she whispered quietly.
"That's not fair, Shinku!" she repeated but this time roaring and clenching her fists by her sides.
As if she needed more things to bother her. Would Father really hate someone who became Alice through the Alice Game? It was he who made the rules, wasn't he?! But…Father…he loves his creations, doesn't he? Suigintou frowned in annoyance. For now she decided return back to Megu. Her song always seemed to soothe her troubled mind.
With a swift leap Suigintou arose and flew away, deep in her thoughts. If she had paid attention, she might've noticed a pair of keen eyes, that had been enjoying the show for quite a while now. As the dark figure disappeared from her N-field, the eyes closed and merged with the surrounding darkness and once again silence fell upon the wrecked ghost town.
- - -
Jun removed his shoes silently, hoping that no one noticed him entering the house. The ring's heat and glow had driven him back from the lengthy "walk" he had been on. From the looks of it, Shinku had used some of his power, not that much, but enough to alarm him. However, he wasn't too keen on seeing her or Suiseiseki right now.
The stairs are right there, if he could just sneak up…"Jun," a voice called to him.
Jun froze into an awkward position, like a thief caught red-handed. Slowly he turned his head towards the source which came from the direction of the old closet, behind the staircase. Indeed, there she was, the doll he had earlier ran away from. Quickly he observed the current status of her dress. Small rips and dirt all over the white blouse and blue skirt.
"What happened to you?" Jun sounded worried.
"I met an old acquaintance," she replied.
"I will need you to clean and repair this dress for me," Shinku continued her words with a familiar command.
"But of course, 'Jun, do this, Jun do that'…wait? You're not mad at me anymore?" Jun noticed that Shinku wasn't spanking his tender parts.
"Why should I?" was the answer, as casual as ever.
Jun's mental self did the proverbial "high-five".
"Ah, uhm, for no special reason really…" Jun quickly covered himself. A door opened to Jun's right and Nori popped her head from the kitchen. With a big smile she greeted the two:
"Welcome back Jun, Shinku! I just made a few snacks, so come in to the living room and eat them with us."
The word "us" gave Jun the Goosebumps. With a slightly frightened voice he asked:
"Eh… Nori, is Suiseiseki still angry?"
Just as he had finished, he noticed the devil herself next to Nori's feet. His pupils shrunk in terror as he heard the next words:
"Shinku, you're back -desu! I think it's time to begin the re-education we talked about –desu!" which Suiseiseki uttered with a hint of sadistic glee in her voice.
"What am I going to do with you, Suiseiseki," Shinku sighed.
"What do you mean –desu?" slightly confused Suiseiseki asked.
"Do you really want to hurt him?" Shinku interrogated her.
"E-eh…?" Suiseiseki went silent and backed away a step or two.
"Why not just make him brush your hair and forgive him?" Shinku suggested.
"W-what?! How can I let that rude mini-human touch my hair –desu?!" Suiseiseki quickly protested.
Suiseiseki flushed a bit as she turned her head away from the two. Jun seemed slightly surprised as well. Didn't Shinku say something about hair being special to a lady? Then again, instead of "re-education" he very much preferred some "community service" instead, then again, brushing her hair doesn't seem so bad, does it? Nori warmed up to the suggestion as well:
"That's a good idea Shinku! Come on Suiseiseki, please make up with Jun, maybe I'll get something special from the fridge as well!" she cheerfully supported Shinku's idea.
Suiseiseki quickly ran to the living room and sat on a couch and seemed to sulk, keeping her head down. Jun looked worriedly through the door at her. Was she still mad? Suddenly her head rose and stared right at him. With a slight tint of pink on her cheeks and frowning eyes she yelled:
"What is taking you so long you pathetic mini-human –desu! Come and brush my hair –desu!"
"I'll bring the hairbrush," Nori happily tapped Jun's shoulder and disappeared into her room. Sighing, Jun surrendered and with a posture of a sloth he slumped towards the waiting doll.
"Fix this, brush that… geeze…" he whined quietly, but secretly he was quite happy about the outcome.
"Honestly… everyone's so dishonest to their feelings… but I guess it's bearable once in a while," Shinku bemoaned. Now standing alone she quickly glanced around and dusted her dress. Frowning deeply she felt slightly provoked.
"I let him see me in this messy dress…"
She suddenly startled and blushed as she realized what she had said.
"It looks like I have a hint of dishonesty as well."
- - -
"I see… so she has been tainted…?" a soft, sparkling voice inquired.
"Tainted, milady?" the voice of a refined gentleman asked. The nails of a very light skinned hand scraped the wooden table it had been resting on. With a slightly more displeased sound the girl spoke:
"If what you have told me is true, then she… is hesitating now. What once was so determinate and… pure… has been tainted. The seed of doubt has been planted in her…"
"That would be one way of saying it, I would rather use the expression 'she realizes that there's a crossroad ahead'," the long rabbit-eared gentleman replied.
The owner of the pale hand was sitting in front of an old round table, possibly from 18th century with a matching set of 4 chairs. The table seemed to have dozens of older scrapes, just like the ones that had appeared on it a few seconds ago. The lapine gentleman was standing behind and slightly left from the much shorter girl who seemed to be suppressing her anger.
"May I inquire what you will be doing now milady?" the rabbit-demon broke the silence.
She turned her head and stared with her one bright yellow eye to the rabbit's slanted eyes. Her long white hair flowed over her chest like the finest of silk veils and the white rose accessories with vines on both sides of her head created two thin and long strands of hair, accentuating the beauty of her hair.
She leaned on her slender hand, still staring at the demon. Her other eye was covered with an eyepatch with yet another white rose and its vines decorating it, matching with her attire, which was only slightly pinkish in colour to highlight her pale skin and white hair.
Even Laplace's Demon had to admit, her stare was piercing. That one eye along with the expressionless face made him turn his face away from the doll. If someone dared to doubt Rozen's skill, one look in that eye would surely kill any disbelief down from its roots.
"I'll do it myself."
The demon's head quickly turned back to the doll. Not sure whether he heard right, despite his long ears he was tempted to ask her to repeat the words but the girl had already guessed his intentions from the furry face, which rarely showed any clear emotion.
"Now that Suigintou is useless… I guess I'll have to do it myself then… it's a pity, I was hoping to become one with her again… we were together the longest you know."
The sound of her voice felt oddly glad, even though she had just been irritated by Suigintou's "tainting". However, this wasn't the main reason why the gentleman had been surprised.
"Milady, might I remind you that the spirit can not leave the N-fields without a proper container?" he mentioned politely.
"Then there's two options, right? Either I find myself a body or then… they will come to me," the voice still had the same sparkling and gentle sound to it as she spoke.
"I see. Will you be using those two to lure them in here?" the demon interrogated.
"You mean these two?"
Suddenly two bright balls emerged from under the table, where she had kept them. Both of them had lost some of their original glow but they still were bright red with several halos surrounding them, defying physics by floating around her right hand. She let them go around her hand a few times until she pushed them over the table.
"No," she bluntly answered as she was inspecting them. After a short pause she continued:
"They still have an ace up their sleeve… that human," she bit her lip gently.
"Ah, you mean the young meister, Sakurada Jun?" Laplace's demon specified.
Still keeping a close eye on the mysticas, she seemed to think about something. Luckily for the curious demon, the silence didn't last long. Her head swiftly turned back to the rabbit. She beckoned him closer, as she grabbed one of the balls of light with a tight grasp.
"Hina Ichigo…" she quietly whispered and smiled at the sparkling ball of light. Licking her lips she looked at it with the eye of a predator, ready to swallow its victim.
"You do realize that you won't actually be able to become one with the mysticas without a body as a melting pot?" the demon reminded her.
"Of course! But that does not mean that I can't drain some of its power… and give a little… 'gift' of my own," she gently snapped back at him.
As she finished talking, she bit her teeth into the mystica, which flickered as if it was scared, trying to get away from the predator. After a few torturous seconds had passed, she started to exhale deeply and the mystica glowed greenish a few times, then returning back to its original glow. The white doll now licked her pink lips again as if she had enjoyed a feast like no other. She then repeated the process to Souseiseki's Mystica.
"Mmh… Delish!" the doll noted as she pushed the two Mysticas towards the demon.
"Milady?" the demon hesitated.
"I gave them a hint of my venom… it will feed power back to the medium, poisoning him slowly…" she explained casually.
"Aren't you forgetting something, milady? Once they receive the mysticas, they are again free to bond with anyone. Knowing Souseiseki, she would surely go back to the old watchmaker and it's possible that the berry would go back to it's original picker," Laplace's demon stated.
"That's likely to happen… but you see, to lesser mediums such as the old man and the 'picker' you mentioned, the effects will be much worse. When they go down one by one, to who do you think both of them will go to?" she explained mischievously.
"I see. Why are you giving these to me then, milady?" he inquired again.
"You can make sure that they get them… but don't let them find those two too easily, you don't want to draw any suspicions, do you?" she suggested.
"Very well, I shall entertain them and myself then," the rabbit said as he accepted the mysticas and continued:
"I shall now take my leave, expect me to make my move within a week or so."
As he was about to disappear into a hole he had made by cutting the spatial space, she had one final wish:
"The next time I see you, I hope you have something interesting with you… the last 'toys' you brought didn't last long."
Laplace's demon nodded and then bowed to give his farewells and disappeared into the rip. The sparkling doll was left alone in her N-field, which was oddly familiar to someone who had a large mansion in her heart as well. However, this mansion was not fit for living as it was partly collapsed and the rest was creaking under its own weight, ready to crumble into a heap of old rotten wood. The fields lacked any flowers, just spiky rose vines, oozing with black and green venom. The forests had no place in her N-field, other than the snags and the hollow trees which had turn grey over the time. Towards the everlasting dusk was nothing but wasteland with a large white crystal growing up here and there. It was a wasteland in which only the wind lived its fickle life, picking up dust and sand from the ground and whisking it away endlessly.
Nothing of beauty was left in this desolate place, except for its owner:
The pure white doll called Kirakishou.
Author's notes:
That sure took a while. I began writing it before I released the first chapter and then it just dragged and dragged on for a long time, before I really got into it and finished it. With this chapter I wanted to further stretch the beginning before a small time jump (some days), tell a bit about the dolls' N-fields, further let Suigintou "grow" and to introduce Kira with several questions which remains to be answered later. I based her off from what I knew from manga (which isn't much) and what I thought she'd be like (or wanted her to be, you decide that). Well, Bara did affect me a bit in her creation, but I figured that Kira displays a lot more emotions compared to her, so I based her mostly on the manga version.
I started to use italics and a few bolds here and there. Also, I decided to put short paragraphs right after the "describing" sentences to eliminate really short and somewhat silly looking paragraphs. Some I left as they were for added effect.
N-fields (or parts of them) were somewhat easy to come up with, I just took the most obvious choices for them. Yorumi proved useful for adding some details into Shinku's field, so a special thanks to her for that.
I noticed that I kind of liked writing the fighting scene, whether I was successful or not and even though I had to keep it short for plot's sake. I mostly used the powers you've seen in the anime already, so I didn't have to come up with much new. Luckily the two have a lot of different ways to use their powers, so it wasn't hard for me to pick the suitable ones.
I think the chapter's title is quite self explanatory, I changed it a few times, but the idea stayed the same.
Random "interesting" points:
"The otter knows". I just had to choose an otter, since it also knows what knowing is. Yes, it's a reference to something which has made me laugh so many times, so I just couldn't resist when I was choosing the animal for the scene.
Pachelbel's Canon is probably my favourite classical piece and for some reason I find it extremely easy to recognise from just few notes. It's amusing that the first time I heard it and learned its name was when I saw Death and Rebirth (Neon Genesis Evangelion) and I instantly fell in love with it.
Konpeki is pretty much equivalent word for Shinku in japanese, meaning "deep blue" or "azure". This word amused me the most from the choices, so I chose it for Shinku's nickname.
Thanks to:
Edgewalker for beta reading and support
Yorumi for translation help and info