The Mistresses of Murder

Disclaimer: Suiseiseki is proclaiming a very important message right now: "The Queen of the Mystery owns nothing of Rozen Maiden, desu! So don't sue her, desu! Thank you, desu!"

Author's Note – Thanks to Ancient Death and Kannalover for the reviews. Enjoy!

Ch. 2:

Shinku was tossing and turning all night long in her case. Instead of reliving her memories of her past life – as she was supposed to – she was beset with nightmares.

She, Suiseiseki, and Kanaria were facing three dolls. One she recognized as Kaede but the other two faces were obscured. As she looked around, she saw that they were in a most bizarre world. Everything was upside down. Buildings were protruding from the ground above them. They were standing on a vast expanse of blue – the sky. All of a sudden she heard a laugh.

"Welcome, Rozen Maiden. We have been waiting for you." Shinku tensed as did Suiseiseki and Kanaria. They did not like where this was going. "We have something that you might like." She lifted her finger towards the ground above. Shinku looked up and almost fainted. Suiseiseki burst into tears. Kanaria started screaming.

Souseiseki and Hina-Ichigo. Floating lifeless above them, their two Rosae Mysticae nowhere to be found. Unless…

Shinku looked at Kaede. She was holding two very familiar pink crystals…

Shinku woke up panting and flew the top of her case open. She saw the sunlight streaming through the still-unrepaired window. "Jun!" she cried.

Jun woke up with a start. "What, Shinku?! What happened?!" He hurriedly put on his glass, his head whipping in all directions, his eyes searching for danger. However, when he saw Shinku standing in her case, he calmed down. "Shinku, what is the meaning of this? I mean, you woke me up for noth – "

"So a premonition of my two fallen sisters is nothing?" said Shinku as icily as she could. Jun froze (no pun intended). Suiseiseki and Kanaria opened their cases, eyes wide.

"What did you say, Shinku, desu" asked Suiseiseki softly. Kanaria stayed quiet, worry streaming through her green eyes.

"I had a premonition of us, the Mistresses of Murder, and our fallen sisters." Her statement was met with gasps of disbelief.

"What happened?" asked both of the dolls (Suiseiseki added on her "desu" of course). Shinku related the premonition exactly as she remembered it.

Jun had not moved from his position on the bed. He was in deep thought. "Shinku, if the Mistresses of Murder have Souseiseki and Hina-Ichigo in that messed-up world, how are you going to get them back? I doubt that they can participate in the Alice Game."

"We will still fight. Remember, I saw that all three of us were up against all three of them: it does not seem as though we have to take them one-on-one."

"That's right, desu," said Suiseiseki. "I will do anything to get Souseiseki and Hina-Ichigo back, desu."

"Me, too," exclaimed Kanaria emphatically.

"Well, let's go get something to eat. No good to think on an empty stomach." Jun got up off of the bed and picked up Shinku and Suiseiseki after opening the door for Kanaria. They trotted down the stairs and went into the living room. Nori looked up from the kitchen. "Good morning, everyone. I have smiley-face pancakes!" She flipped the half-done second batch in the skillet. "Give me about two minutes and we can all eat together!"

"Thank you, Nori," said Shinku. "But right now, we all need to tell you something very important." She, her sisters, and Jun told her the story about last night and Shinku's dream.

Nori 's face became more anxious as the story progressed. "I don't like these Mistresses of Murder at all. Please be careful, all of you." She paused. "If you need me to do anything, just ask."

"Thanks, Nori-chan," said Suiseiseki and Kanaria. All of them sit down at the table while Nori finished up on the pancakes. She served them and they all began eating in subdued silence.

After about a half-hour of eating, Nori started clearing the table. "Alright, everyone, I am going to go shopping for tonight's supper. Be good while I'm gone. I do not want another staircase incident." She glared at Suiseiseki, Shinku, and Jun, who all too-well remembered Nori 's rage.

"Don't worry, Nori," said Shinku. "We'll stay in line." Suiseiseki just looked down at her shoes. Nori waved at them and headed out.

"Now we have to think about these Mistresses of Murder," said Jun matter-of-factly. "If that Kaede doll is coming at midnight, we have to be as prepared as possible."

"Jun's right. We cannot risk any surprises, especially if my premonition is correct. We might have to fight them."

"But we don't know their powers, desu," said Suiseiseki. "I know that Shinku's power is manipulating rose petals, Kanaria's is her violin, and mine is with soul trees, desu. What are theirs, desu? "

"That's what worrying me," added Kanaria. "What if our powers prove useless against theirs?"

"We cannot worry about that because it is out of our control. We will have to engage them in a fight to ascertain what they are capable of. Just to be safe, let us bring a mirror so we can activate an N-field and escape."

"Good idea, Shinku," said Jun. "Right now I think we all should rest. We'll need everything we've got before he meeting. The last thing I want to do is drain my energy supply – something tells me that you" – he indicated Suiseiseki and Shinku – "are going to need it."

They all trudged up the stairs. Jun slid into his bed as the dolls climbed into their cases. This is going to be a very, very long day.