Sorry this took so long, I had writers block. I should have this episode wrapped up by the next chapter, assuming my brain decides to cooperate (it didn't this time). OC alert for this chapter as well.

Rozen Maiden: Märchen

EPISODE 5

Amber Flame

Kanaria groaned and opened her eyes. There wasn't a single part of her body that didn't ache magnificently, and someone was going to pay for that. Just as soon as she figured out where she was and what exactly had happened. She vaguely remembered chains.

"Are you unharmed?" asked a familiar voice. Kanaria searched through her memory and found it filed under 'Shinku'. She blinked a few times and then sat up.

It was dark. Boy was it dark. She was in a room of some kind, filled with junk. Old toys, ornaments, bits of furniture wrapped in dust covers. She could only see by the light from Pizzicato and Holie, and the far reaches of the room remained shrouded in an impenetrable gloom. She was also imprisoned in what appeared to be an oversized birdcage of some description. Glancing about, she spotted Shinku and Hinaichigo in similar cages. Shinku was watching her, whilst Hina was still apparently unconscious.

"Not really," Kanaria mumbled at last, whirling around to try and find some way out. There was none, and the cage was sturdy enough to stand up to repeated shakes. "What's going on?" she whined.

"I do not know," Shinku admitted, "It would appear that we are prisoners."

Pizzicato buzzed at Kanaria's ear, prompting her to turn around. She watched the artificial spirit zip over to a sprawled heap on the floor not far away. As her eyes better adjusted to the poor light, she realised that it was Nori. She was chained and shackled to the floor, and was not moving. Shinku followed Kanaria's gaze, her eyes widening.

"Nori!" she called out, "Nori! Wake up!"

"You're wasting your time," said a voice. It was an distinctly odd voice, with eerie harmonics to it, and came from the darkness opposite where Nori lay. Both dolls turned to the sound of the voice, but could see nothing.

"Who is there? Show yourself this instant!" Shinku demanded boldly.

"You're in no position to be making demands," it said, "Especially since this is my house."

Shinku frowned and clutched at the cage holding her captive. What did it mean by that? "Who are you?"

Something moved in the darkness. Shinku tried to direct Holie towards the unseen figure, but her artificial spirit stubbornly refused to go anywhere near it, as if it was afraid of whatever was there. The light cast by the two spirits did manage to outline something, and if she strained Shinku thought she could just make out someone standing there, watching her. Someone short, as short as a doll.

"Who am I? Why, I'm just a worthless piece of junk. An unwanted toy that was played with and then discarded. Forgotten and left here to rot, just like any old garbage."

Kanaria barred her teeth and shook her cage again for emphasis. "Let us out, y'hear!"

The figure shifted as it regarded her for a moment. "Be quiet," it said. In the darkness, they both saw two eyes glow with a fierce orange light. Before Kanaria could say anything further, her teeth and lips had clamped together and she could not part them no matter how she tried. She mumbled for several seconds and clawed at her mouth, but to no avail. Her shoulders sagged and she fell silent.

"Much better."

"My name is Shinku, and I am one of the Rozen Maiden dolls. I am sorry if you feel you have been wronged, but I assure you that it was not our doing."

"Rozen ... Maiden? I know that name ... yes, now I remember. Father told me about you. The seven Rozen Maidens, competing to become Alice. You should have let me play as well. The game would already be finished."

Shinku didn't know what to make of that. She peered into the darkness, straining to try and see the figure more clearly. "Who are you?" she asked again, "What is your name?"

"My name?"

Suddenly the speaker was there, right in front of Shinku, the move so sudden that Shinku jerked back in alarm, gasping with shock as she did so. It was a doll, barely an inch or so taller than Shinku, with long cherry red hair tied in a ponytail by a white ribbon. She was garbed in an eighteenth century style coat made from orange velvet, a short ruffled skirt and knee-high leather boots laced up at the front. She glared at Shinku with orange eyes of questionable sanity, a sneer of barely concealed disdain contorting her otherwise soft, rosy features.

"My name is Kohaku," she said, her voice taking on a more normal tone now, "And I want my Master."

Jun sighed and shut the door to his sister's room. Whatever had made that noise, there was no sign of it now. He'd searched everywhere, even under his own bed. Nothing. Something bumped into his leg, though it was only Suiseiseki. He glanced down at her.

"I don't know why you're so afraid," he said, "If we did run into a ghost or something, it'd probably be more scared of you than you are of it."

Suiseiseki looked up at him with wide-eyed apprehension. "What do you mean by that?"

"Just that you're the scariest thing in this house by far. Ow! What the heck was that for?" he winced and rubbed his shin. Suiseiseki huffed and folded her arms.

"Honestly human, you have all the charm of an alligator with tooth ache. Would it kill you to say something nice about me once in a while?"

Jun frowned. "I could say the same thing to you," he held his hands up defensively when it looked as if he was about to receive another kick, "Okay! You're nice. In your own way."

Suiseiseki held off on delivering another blow, though only just. "In what way?"

"Umm..." Jun searched his mind, thinking hard. Wouldn't it be nice if a ghost came along now, he thought. The spirit world failed to oblige him though, prompting him to actually come up with something. He scratched his head. "Well, you do make really nice roasted tea. You care about your sisters a lot, and you and Souseiseki help out with the chores."

Suiseiseki lowered her foot, suddenly feeling bad for hitting the puny human. "And?" she prompted, wondering what else he could come up with.

Jun slumped down and leaned against the door, staring up at the ceiling as if he might find the answer written there. It wasn't, of course. He 'umm'd and 'ah'd a few more times. "Well ... you're good with plants, and you always liven the place up. You're not as bossy as Shinku and Souseiseki are. You can be really kind when you want to be."

"Go on," Suiseiseki urged, almost unable to believe her ears. Jun regarded her wearily.

"You're kidding, isn't that enough? What more do you want me to say?"

Suiseiseki turned away, her nose pointed into the air haughtily. "Hmmph. Well, I suppose that will do for now. See Sui Dream? The puny human isn't a completely worthless lump after all. Wonders will never cease."

Jun sagged. "Geez, well don't let it go to your head, you could still use a lot of work."

Suiseiseki spun back to face him and waved her tiny finger under his nose, a smirk spreading across her face. "You so forgot to complement me on my looks, though. What's the matter, don't you think I'm pretty? Well?"

That caught him momentarily off guard. He looked about, but there were still no ghosts or eerie spectres come to his rescue, and unless he wanted another bruise on his shin then he should probably answer. He swallowed. "I guess so."

Suiseiseki blinked. Then she whirled around and buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking with mock grief. "I'm hideous!" she wailed, "I'm as ugly as the ugliest duckling, this is terrible! I'm so ashamed! How can you even stand to look at me?"

"Err..."

"I should lock myself in a tower somewhere to spare the world the sight of my ghastly features, lest I turn people to stone when they gaze upon my unsightly and horrific visage!"

"Don't you think you're over reacting just a little?"

"Oh cruel world, why do you torment me so? What did I ever do to deserve such a curse? Why me? WHY?"

Geez, though Jun, she can really act. They should put her in the school play - she could do Shakespeare with the best of them. He leaned forwards towards her, already regretting what he was about to say.

"Look, you're not ugly, okay?"

"You're just saying that. Such a hideous and deformed creature is not worthy of your pity."

Oh for crying out loud ... "Okay! Fine! You're very pretty, Suiseiseki. I mean it."

She still had her back to him, but she lowered her hands and stared straight ahead, grinning. "Really? You think I'm pretty?"

"I just said so, didn't I? Now can we get back to the others? Maybe they've found something."

Suiseiseki faced him with a rather convincing bashful look, a curled hand raised to her mouth. "Thank you Jun, it's very nice of you to say so. I'll be sure to let everyone know what you think of me."

"Oh man, I knew I should have kept my mouth shut," Jun muttered, getting to his feet. He made for the staircase, Suiseiseki trailing behind him. She chuckled.

"You're very pretty too, Jun."

"Just shut up already."

"No, really you are. That shot of you in the peach coloured dress, with the sandals and the ribbons in your hair ... I'm thinking of having it framed."

Jun stopped abruptly, causing Suiseiseki to walk into him. She rebounded and looked up at him. He was rooted to the spot and staring at the top of the staircase. She peered around his legs and saw what it was that had prompted his reaction.

It was a ghost.

Suiseiseki screamed and latched onto Jun's leg as if it were a lifebelt and she was drowning. The apparition, a black and white image of a doll she didn't recognise, ran towards them, laughing. The laughter sounded off somehow, as if they were hearing it through a thick sheet of glass. The ghost ran right through them, seemingly oblivious to their presence, and they both felt a chill at its passing. A few seconds later they saw a second ghost, this one apparently chasing the first. It was of a girl about the same age as Jun. They managed to move aside to let her past this time, and watched her jog down the hallway and disappear into Jun's room.

"Okay," said Jun after a while, "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know," Suiseiseki admitted, the initial shock and fear she'd experienced fading, replaced with curiosity, "I thought that girl looked familiar though."

"Really?"

She stared at him, scrutinizing his appearance as she turned the idea over in her head a few times. Yes, the resemblance was definitely there. She nodded. "I thought she looked a little bit like you, Jun."

Cautiously, they followed the ghosts into Jun's room. Sure enough, there they were. The two apparitions were on the floor, and both seemed very happy. They gave no indication that Jun and Suiseiseki were there at all. One of them was definitely a doll, given her stature and old-fashioned attire. The other ... Jun blinked, just to be certain he was seeing straight. Suiseiseki was right, the girl did look a little bit like him. She was wearing a school uniform, though it was of an old design that hadn't been in use for at least twenty years or so.

"These aren't ghosts," Suiseiseki said, not taking her eyes off the two laughing figures, "We're seeing an imprint of past events."

The girl lifted the doll up over her head and whirled her around, before setting her down carefully. She spoke, and again her voice sounded oddly distant. "The holidays are finally here," she said, "so I don't have to go to school tomorrow, or the day after, or the day after that..."

"That means you'll stay and play with me?" asked the doll, a hint of uncertainty noticeable in her voice. The girl heard it too, and frowned.

"Of course I will. I told you that once the holidays arrived we would be able to spend more time together."

The doll looked away, her expression downcast, a stark contrast with her behaviour a minute ago. The girl rested her hands on the floor and leaned towards the doll, her brow creasing with worry. "Kohaku, what's wrong?"

The doll, Kohaku, turned away from her. Jun couldn't be sure, but he thought she looked about ready to cry. She rubbed quickly at her eyes, as if aware of that fact herself, and then shook her head. "Nothing, it's nothing. Really."

"Hey, if something's bothering you then you have to tell me, okay? We promised never to keep any secrets from each other. So tell me what's wrong."

Kohaku's hands curled into fists and trembled. She seemed as if she wanted to yell out something and was barely stopping herself from doing so. Her head bowed low and she blinked several times to keep her eyes clear. "Now that you don't have to go to school, does that mean ... does that mean you'll be spending more time with that Sakurada boy?"

Jun started with shock. Sakurada boy? What was going on here? He stepped into the room and advanced towards the figures with the slowness of a glacier, feeling the weight of something pressing unseen down on him as he watched the events unfold before him. Suiseiseki waited at the door.

"What?" The girl seemed taken aback. She hesitated. "Maybe. I guess. Why?"

Kohaku's hands clenched even tighter with sudden anger. Her eyes narrowed and she whirled around to face the girl, struggling to keep herself under control. "Now who's keeping secrets?" she snapped, "You're in love with him, aren't you? Admit it, Eiko!"

"No way..." Jun breathed, unable to believe what he'd just heard. He sank to his knees, a foot away from the girl that looked so much like him, and extended a hand towards her ghostly white face. "Mom?"

The girl spluttered, completely thrown off guard. "W-what? I ... no! We're just friends. We've always just been friends."

"Liar!" Kohaku stamped her foot. Pearly white tears were streaming freely down her cheeks now. "You've been spending more and more time with him! Do you think I haven't noticed the way you've been looking at each other? Laughing together?"

"It's not like that, Kohaku," the girl insisted. Even though she seemed earnest, Jun knew she must be lying. This was his mother after all, and the boy Kohaku was accusing her of spending time with was his father. His fingertips passed through her face as if it were no more substantial than smoke. Kohaku fell to her knees, her hands lying limply on the floor, a look of forlorn despair on her soft face.

"It is like that," she murmured, as if speaking to herself, "You look at him the same way you used to look at me. You told me you loved me, once. I believed you. I believed you when you said we'd be together forever."

"Kohaku..." Eiko reached out and placed her hands on the doll's shoulders, though Kohaku did not react at all, save to wince a little. Before either of them could say anything else, Jun heard a new voice, the voice of an adult. It sounded even more distant, and called out seemingly from downstairs.

"Eiko! Sakurada is here!"

Eiko glanced over at the doorway where Suiseiseki stood, though she was clearly not seeing the Rozen Maiden. Kohaku looked in the opposite direction. "Go," she said, the word barely above a whisper. Eiko turned back to her, tears gathering in her eyes, threatening to spill down her face at any moment.

"Kohaku, I do love you. I promised we'd always be together, and I meant it with all my heart. Don't be like this."

Kohaku shook her head sadly, a wry smile appearing on her face. "It's my fault. My fault for thinking you could ever love a doll as much as a human. Go. Your boyfriend is waiting."

Eiko hesitated for a moment, wanting to say something to comfort the hurt doll, but her mother's voice called out again from downstairs. Jun looked up as she stood, waited a moment longer, and then made for the door. She vanished before she reached Suiseiseki, and Kohaku was gone too.

"I had no idea," Jun whispered, completely stunned by what he'd just witnessed. His mother ... his own mother had a living doll when she was a young girl. And she'd never said anything. Not a word.

"Jun, look," Suiseiseki pointed. He looked up and saw that the ghostly apparitions were back again. Something was different though. Some time must have passed since the scene he had just witnessed. His mother rushed into the room, though she was wearing normal clothes instead of her school uniform. Kohaku was sitting on his bed now. Something seemed ... off about her.

"I have it right here," Eiko said, hurrying over to the doll. Jun recognised the ornate winding key in her hand. She knelt before the bed, and Jun realised that the doll must be winding down. Kohaku was making sudden, jerking motions, and he heard the distinct sound of gears grinding and clicking. Suiseiseki finally came into the room and stood beside Jun, watching the scene unfold.

Eiko took a hold of Kohaku and reached around with the key, no doubt intending to insert it into the back of the doll and wind her up again. She stopped suddenly, and were it not for Kohaku's juddering spasms, Jun might have thought that the scene had frozen. Kohaku closed her eyes.

"You ... you aren't going to wind me. Are ... you."

Eiko pulled back, the winding key still in her hands. She couldn't bring herself to look at the doll. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Kohaku opened her eyes, which were filled with empty loneliness. She reached out with a twitching arm and brushed her fingers against Eiko's cheek.

"You promised we'd be together," she said, her voice as dull and lifeless as her eyes, "Be together forever. Ever and ever."

Eiko sniffed, staring at the key in her hand, still not daring to look at the doll. "Forever is a long time, Kohaku."

"You said you ... said you loved me. Me."

"I grew up."

Kohaku's arm fell limply to her side as the effort to move it became too great for her. Her head clicked back and forth, like a clock with a broken minute hand. She seemed blind now. Her eyes were open but saw nothing. Only darkness. "This is ... is all my fault. My fault. Maybe if I'd been ... been a better doll. If I'd been a better doll, you wouldn't ... you wouldn't ... hate me. Me."

Eiko closed her eyes tight and shook her head fiercely, splashing ghostly tears across the bedroom floor. "Don't say that, that's not true Kohaku."

The spasms were becoming less frequent now, slower. "Please don't ... don't leave me Eiko. Don't leave. It's getting dark. I don't like. Don't like the dark."

Suiseiseki clutched Jun's sleeve tightly, growing increasingly upset at watching the events before them. He wasn't exactly thrilled by what he was seeing himself. He felt a lump in his throat that he couldn't dislodge.

"Kohaku, It's ... for the best."

Kohaku slumped forwards against her chest, and Eiko wrapped her arms around her. Just before she stopped completely, Jun heard the doll's last words. They were almost inaudible, but he heard them all the same.

"I. Love. You."

And then she stopped. Eiko held onto her for several moments longer, and Jun wanted to scream at her that she was being stupid, that she could wind the doll up again if she wanted to. She had the key. Kohaku wasn't broken. But that was the problem - she didn't want to. She laid the doll down on the bed and put the winding key beside her. Then she dried her tears, steadied her breathing, and stood.

"Hey, Eiko, your mom said I should just head on up..."

Jun and Suiseiseki turned to see a boy standing in the doorway, a black and white ghost like the other two they'd been watching. It took Jun a second to realise that he was looking at his own father. A part of his mind pointed out that his dad had terrible taste in fashion, even for such a long time ago.

"Right, sure, it's fine," Eiko sniffed one more time and gave a light cough, "So what do you want to do today?"

He stuffed his hands in his pocket and nodded towards the bed. "What's that?"

Eiko glanced around. "Huh? Oh, nothing. It's just a doll. Come on, let's go. It's stuffy in here and I could use some air."

They faded away, leaving Jun and Suiseiseki alone together, save for the green light of Sui Dream. The artificial spirit floated in front of Jun's face and pulsed at him. He didn't understand what it was trying to say, and he didn't care. He turned his head away, glaring into the dark corners of his room, feeling a deep sense of anger and frustration gnawing at his mind. The irony of the whole thing was not lost on him. He just ... couldn't believe what his mother had done. And then he knew. He knew where he would find Shinku, knew who was behind all of this. He stood.

"Come on," he said, "lets get Shinku."

Suiseiseki blinked. "You know where she is?"

"Yeah, I know. She's with that Kohaku doll."

"But ... where?"

"My mom discarded that doll when she was done with her. Like she was just a broken old toy. A piece of junk. Where do you put all your junk to keep it out of the way?"

Together, they both looked up at the ceiling. Suiseiseki gasped as she realised what he meant.

"The attic!"