Okay, I know I promised an update for Wizard of Oz next, but I have writers block on that, and I felt like doing this instead. So sue me already! I wrote this chapter at around two in the morning, so if it's an incoherent mess blame it on that.

Useless trivia time! First up, Sam and Max happen to be the name of a comic/cartoon/game crime-fighting duo, in which Sam is an anthropomorphic detective dog (like Kunkun!) and his partner Max is a hyperkinetic rabbity-thing. They're pretty funny actually. Eike Grimm is the name of one of the characters I created for my writing competition entry (you know, the one I finished at the end of last year and kept going on and on about). I liked the name that much I decided to use it again here. Laplace no Ma (Laplace's Demon) gets his name from mathematician Simon Laplace, who created a thought experiment called Laplace's Demon, which involved an imaginary entity that could foresee the future. Finally, the preview at the end of last episode is a spoof of a recurring element from 60's TV series Mission: Impossible, which I'm a big fan of. Yes I do know about the modern Tom Cruise movies. The TV show is way better.

Thanks for the reviews you awesome bunch of fantastic people. I love you all to bits. I'll shut up now and let you read the new chapter, assuming I haven't scared you off yet or made you fall asleep. So, umm, enjoy!

Rozen Maiden: Märchen

EPISODE TEN

Turnabout

A doll collector. Doesn't sound very scary, does it? It doesn't exactly carry the same weight behind it as, say, gangster. Or cult leader. True enough, Sam and Max had once been asked by an old associate who they where working for now, and when they answered, their old friend had almost exploded with laughter. Sam and Max had worked for gangsters in the past. And worse. For them to admit with a straight face that they were now in the employ of a doll collector ... it had to be a joke, surely?

Eike Grimm was no joke. He'd gone up against drug cartels and crime syndicates, and walked away with a Kaiser Soze reputation. People laughed when you said doll collector. They stopped laughing when you said his name. The man was an urban legend. It was said he was over a hundred years old and had sold his soul to a demon. His enemies wound up horrifically dead despite being inside locked rooms or, in some cases, heavily fortified compounds. And that was just the ones that were found. It was not uncommon for people he disliked to drop off the face of the world entirely, never to be seen again. That he was a fully grown man who collected girly dolls was not something you should laugh about, not if you wanted to wake up tomorrow.

Sam and Max knew all of this, which was why they were both using all of their self control in order to avoid gulping when their employer walked into his office and sat down at his desk. For someone with such a reputation, Eike wasn't much to look at. An attractive middle-aged man with steel grey hair and matching eyes, wearing an old-fashioned three piece suit that was white as snow. He examined the ebony black doll case resting on the desk in front of him.

"And you say you were unable to find the key?" he asked his two hired henchmen. His voice was as grey and colourless as his appearance. Sam cast a nervous glance sideways at Max before answering.

"It wasn't there. I think Rozen was smart enough to hide the key separate from the Box."

"I see..."

There was a drawn out silence, during which time Eike stared at the Box. He was finding it as difficult to look away as Suigintou had. It drew your gaze like a black hole. The silence wore on, growing increasingly uncomfortable in the stifling heat of the office. Eike liked the heat, which Sam and Max thought odd for such a cold person. They started to sweat, and not just because of the ambient temperature.

"You don't really need the key, surely?" Max said at last, desperate to break the oppressive silence, "Just give me a couple of minutes with the thing and I'll have it open for you, boss."

Eike finally looked up from the doll case and regarded Max, his expression inscrutable. He got up from his desk, slowly, and crossed around to stand in front of the two men. Even though Sam towered over Eike and had a build that could handle bare-knuckle boxing with a grizzly, he was afraid. If the boss wanted them dead for failing to find the key, he held no illusions as to his life expectancy.

"Give me your gun," Eike instructed Max. Max did so without hesitation. It had been reloaded since the insane battle at the Rozen Manor, and the safety was on. Eike flicked the safety off. While Max did his very best not to break down into a babble of excuses and explanations, Sam thought he saw something moving out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't make out what it was though, and his attention was soon drawn back to his boss.

Eike Grimm brandished the deadly weapon for a moment and then turned. He opened fire, three, four, five shots at point blank range. All aimed directly at Pandora's Box. Sam and Max flinched with each shot, their ears ringing from the noise of gunfire in the confines of a room. When the last brass casing finished rolling across the richly carpeted floor, Eike lowered the pistol.

The Box was completely unharmed. It wasn't even scratched. There were however several crumpled bullets on the desk beside it. Eike scooped them up and turned back to Max. He extended his hand expectantly, and when Max held out his own the doll collector dropped the flattened rounds into his palm. Max winced as his skin was scorched from the still red hot slugs, while Eike calmly flicked the safety back on and shoved the gun into Max's shoulder holster.

Turning away, he produced a handkerchief and wiped his hands clean, before sitting himself casually back behind his desk. He seemed, if anything, mildly annoyed. Sam risked speaking. "You want us to go back?"

"No, don't bother. You're right; Rozen wouldn't have been stupid enough to lock the box and then leave the key carelessly nearby."

"What if he has it himself?" Sam suggested, "He's not exactly an easy person to find."

Eike actually smirked a little at that, which was a good sign. They might make it out of the room in one piece after all. "Very true. I doubt he kept the key though. Laplace said that the rules of the Alice Game severely limit his ability to act while the Game remains in effect. He must have given it to someone." Eike tossed his handkerchief on the desk and clasped his hands together, brow furrowed in deep thought. A moment later he seemed to realise that they were both still present and waved them away irritably.

Sam and Max departed, relieved and not a little amazed to be leaving the office with their lives and their jobs still intact. They began muttering to each other as soon as they were out of earshot, whilst Eike returned to staring at the Box. So close and yet so far...

"Max is a reckless idiot," said a voice, "You should let me deal with him."

"Perhaps I will," Eike answered, "It is so hard to find good help these days, after all."

There was a barely perceptible flicker of movement and the room's remaining occupant showed herself. She was a doll, and a living one judging by the fact that she was walking and talking. Her hair was a deep shade of pink, tied into a ponytail and held in place by a hairband adorned with violet roses. Her eyes were also pink, but darker in both colour and what lay behind them. She wore a dress composed of overlapping black and white layers, one black and one white stocking, and shoes that would probably break a shin if used in the same fashion as Suiseiseki used hers.

"Is it really Pandora's Box?" she asked, gesturing to indicate the doll case on the desk. Eike nodded.

"Oh yes. Exactly as Enju and Laplace described it. We're one step closer to realising our dream."

The doll's outline flickered and she vanished, reappearing on the desk itself. She knelt down and touched it, as if to affirm that it was no illusion. Her expression was one of amazement, as if she were touching a holy relic. She might as well be. Pandora's Box was legendary. Opening it had supposedly released evil itself into the world, but the Box was also said to contain hope. That was the reason she and her master had sought it for so long. Hope.

"I can ... I can scarcely believe it," she whispered, her voice filled with awe. Eike reached across the desk and picked her up. He then leaned back and cradled her lovingly in his arms.

"I told you I would find it," he said, his voice softer now, and carrying far more warmth than before, "I promised I would find a way to make you human, Rosetta. This is it. All we need do now is find the key."

The doll, Rosetta, reached up and brushed her hand tenderly across her master's face, her normally iron expression softening just as his voice had done. She smiled faintly. "And then we can finally be together. Then we can be happy."

Eike held her close and stroked her hair as he stared at Pandora's Box, his mind calculating and scheming, devising some plan to make that dream a reality. Someone, somewhere had the key to this Box. Whoever they were they had better watch out, because he was going to get it. One way or another.

Suigintou moaned as she started to drift up through the layers of deep sleep she had recently been occupying. Something felt ... strange. Oh yes, she had slept in Megu's bed again. Why her Medium insisted on such a thing was a mystery to her, and it did Suigintou no favours. A Rozen Maiden was meant to sleep in her case. In all honesty Megu didn't insist that strongly, and Suigintou could sleep in her case if she chose to. It was just ... doing this made Megu happy, and for some inexplicable reason making her happy made Suigintou happy as well.

Her eyes fluttered open and she found herself staring into the slumbering face of her Medium. Correction; should have found herself facing her Medium, however what she actually found lying opposite her was not human, and had only one eye. One yellow eye.

"Good morning, big sis," said Kirakishou, grinning widely at her. Suigintou sat bolt upright, wide awake now and feeling a potent surge of panic and fury at the sight of her youngest and unquestionably craziest sister. Kirakishou sat up as well, glancing about with evident curiosity. "Why do you not sleep in your case?" the seventh doll asked, seemingly puzzled.

"What are you doing here?" Suigintou demanded, blatantly ignoring the question. She tensed, ready for a fight, though Kirakishou showed no sign of looking for one. She smiled instead and clasped her hands together against her chest.

"I came to visit you, big sis. I'm so terribly lonely..."

Suigintou's response was to launch herself at her sister, knocking them both from the bed. She pinned Kirakishou to the floor and snarled. "Where's Megu? If you've harmed her-"

Kirakishou chuckled. "Why Suigintou, you're so very protective of her, aren't you? And you sleep with her at night no less." The rose that existed in place of her right eye extended out towards Suigintou's face, prompting the first Rozen Maiden to pull away in disgust. She released her little sister, who sat upright and grinned slyly at her. "If I didn't know any better I would say the two of you were lovers."

Suigintou scoffed and got to her feet, not bothering to respond to Kirakishou's goading. The rose retracted and she stood as well. "Your Medium is downstairs preparing breakfast," she said simply, "She was delighted to receive a visit from her angel's little sister."

"What do you want? You're not exactly welcome here."

"My, how ungrateful - after all I have done." Kirakishou endeavored to appear indignant, though this soon changed to the open admiration she often displayed when in the presence of her eldest sister. "I only wanted to see you, Suigintou. Is that so hard to believe?" She reached out and took a hold of Suigintou's hand, her one eye wide, her expression disconcertingly honest. "You have so much love in your heart, big sis; love for Father, for Shinku, even for your Medium. Is it too much to ask that you have some for Kirakishou too?"

Suigintou stared at her for a long moment, wondering what her game was. She'd known since they had met that her little sister held a fascination with her, yet she found it difficult to believe that she had dropped by simply to pay a social visit. Unable to figure it out, she pulled her hand away and scowled. "Leave," she snapped, "I want nothing to do with you, is that clear?"

Kirakishou actually seemed hurt by her words, and for a brief instant Suigintou felt as if she had kicked a tiny kitten. Then again the very notion of comparing Kirakishou to a harmless and adorable kitten was as insane as the seventh doll herself was. Before either of them could say anything further, the bedroom door opened to admit Megu carrying a breakfast tray.

"Oh, good morning Miss Angel. Did you sleep well last night?" Megu asked as she entered and placed the tray on the floor.

"Yes," Suigintou replied, glaring at her little sister. Kirakishou stuck her tongue out and then giggled, before turning eagerly towards Megu. The girl knelt before the breakfast tray and handed the seventh doll a plate filled with chocolate sweets and cakes. Kirakishou took this with wide-eyed glee, whilst Suigintou stared at the plate in puzzlement.

"That is what you are having for breakfast?" she asked dubiously. Her sister plopped herself down without the slightest bit of grace and held a cupcake up in rapt anticipation.

"Ever since gaining a body, I have had an insatiable craving for ... chocolate," she answered. She devoured the cupcake and the look of ecstasy upon her face was borderline obscene. She wasted no time in tucking into the rest, and seemed to be enjoying the snacks altogether too much. Suigintou turned away from the sight of her little sister, feeling ever so slightly dirty after watching her eat for some peculiar reason.

"What would you like, Suigintou?" her Medium enquired. Suigintou knelt down before the tray and blanched.

"I'm not hungry. Just some tea."

"It's nice to meet one of your sisters," Megu said as Suigintou took a sip of tea and winced in dismay at the taste, "You should invite them over some time. I'd really like to get to know them."

"Some sisters come without invitation," Suigintou muttered darkly, shooting Kirakishou a significant look. The seventh doll, having finished her 'breakfast' now, licked her fingers clean and then basked in the glow of such a wonderful taste, ignoring Suigintou's snide remark.

"Did you enjoy that?" Megu asked the white-clad doll earnestly, her own teacup half raised to her lips. Kirakishou clutched her hands to her face and smiled one of her lunatic smiles.

"Wonderful," she gushed happily, "No one has ever given me breakfast before. You have my most heartfelt thanks."

Megu giggled and lowered her cup. "Are all of your sisters so nice, Suigintou?"

Suigintou glared at the smiling Kirakishou, wondering just what the little psychopath was up to. "Actually ... she's the worst," she replied flatly, realising how absurd that sounded given the circumstances. When Megu left to take the dishes downstairs and wash up, Suigintou confronted her sister and demanded an explanation.

Kirakishou sighed. "You still do not believe me, do you? I came to see you, sis, nothing more."

"You're an even worse trouble maker than I was," Suigintou countered angrily, "I don't buy this little lost lonely girl routine for one second."

For a long while her sister said nothing. She remained sitting on the floor and stared off into space. Just as Suigintou was about to lose patience, she spoke, her voice oddly quiet. "Think back. Think back to all those years spent alone. No home. No Medium. No sisters. Just yourself and your hatred." Kirakishou looked around and fixed her single eye upon Suigintou, her gaze boring into her big sister. "Did it ever ... tire you?"

"What?" Suigintou said, momentarily taken back by her strange question. Kirakishou didn't explain. She lowered her gaze and ran her fingers across the floor, as if tracing an unseen image.

"So tired," she murmured, "I never sleep well. I dream a troubled dream of deep forests and labyrinths and neverending ... neverending ... never ..." Kirakishou tilted her head as she started to repeat herself like a broken record, and Suigintou watched her odd behaviour as if mesmerized. She stopped suddenly and got to her feet, before snatching a sly glance at her big sister over her shoulder.

"What is it?"

"I have a favour to ask," said Kirakishou. Ah, thought Suigintou, here we go. She folded her arms and narrowed a pair of deeply suspicious eyes.

"Oh yes?"

Kirakishou looked away. "Will you ... brush my hair?"

That ... was not what Suigintou had been expecting, and for a moment she was at a loss for words. Brush her hair? What? Why? She stared at the odd little doll open-mouthed, her suspicious nature trying to find a malicious motive for such a request yet failing completely. "Brush your hair?"

Kirakishou blushed. Given what was known about her this was perhaps the last thing anyone would expect her to do, yet there was no mistaking it. She clenched her hands tightly, her one eye closed. "Yes. Will you. Will you please. Brush my hair."

Since Suigintou had still not figured out what ulterior motive Kirakishou might have, she gave up trying to guess and shrugged. "Fine," she conceded with a puzzled sigh, "I must say ... I don't understand you at all."

They sat on Megu's bed together and Suigintou used one of her Medium's hairbrushes. Kirakishou removed the roses tied into her hair and then waited patiently while her big sister did as she'd asked. After a few silent minutes of doing this, Suigintou was startled to see that there were tears running down Kirakishou's cheek.

Across town another doll was getting her hair brushed, but this doll seemed much more cheerful about it. Hinaichigo giggled happily as Tomoe ran a comb through her golden blond locks and adjusted the ribbon in her hair.

"There you go."

"Thank you, Tomoe!" Hinaichigo beamed at the girl. Tomoe picked the little doll up and carried her over to the waiting doll case. Hina climbed in and peered up at Tomoe with her bright green eyes. "Are we going to Jun's again?"

"Yes, Hina. I have to go to school again today, so I'll be leaving you there with your sisters, okay?"

Hinaichigo hesitated. "Is Jun not going to school with you today?" she asked quietly. Tomoe winced and shook her head. No, Jun wouldn't be coming to school with her today, just as he hadn't come yesterday, or the day before that. Nori told the school that he was feeling sick, but the truth was he was just plain afraid to go. Almost being shot to death could have that effect on you.

Carrying Hinaichigo in her doll case, Tomoe said goodbye to her mother and left for the Sakurada house. Nori welcomed her as usual and ushered her in, and Tomoe wasted no time in letting Hina out of her case once she was inside.

"Good morning, Souseiseki!" Hinaichigo greeted her sister enthusiastically, waving her arms for added emphasis. The Gardener twin stared stoically back at her.

"Good morning, Hina."

"I take it Jun is..." Tomoe glanced past Nori towards the stairs. The look on Nori's face was answer enough. Jun hadn't left his room since he and the dolls had returned from Lebensbaum. The dolls were gloomy and more than a little reluctant to talk about what had happened. Eventually Suiseiseki gave Tomoe and Nori the abridged version, which was bad enough. Jun Sakurada was a mass of insecurities, yet even a strong person could be expected to have some kind of reaction to being held at gunpoint by a pair of armed thugs. It was enough to give anyone a bad fright.

"I'm sure that he just needs a few more days rest," Nori said, as much to try and assure herself as Tomoe. After telling Hinaichigo to behave herself, Tomoe left with Nori to go to school. Hina and Souseiseki waved them both off. Once the door was shut, Hina glanced sideways at her sister.

"Souseiseki, where's Shinku and Suiseiseki?"

"In the living room. Nori made you something to eat if you're hungry."

They were indeed in the living room, and Hinaichigo made sure they both knew that she'd arrived by jumping up and down and shouting a greeting to them. Suiseiseki, who was watching television, gave a half-hearted reply, but Shinku was silent.

"Shinku! Shinku?" Hinaichigo stared up at her stern sister, who was currently seated in one of the chairs with her nose in a book. She seemed to be oblivious to everything around her. Souseiseki sighed.

"You're wasting your time; that ones been reading Father's journal ever since we got back."

"Unyuu? Father's journal?"

"She found it in his old room. I don't know what's so interesting about it, she won't let any of us read it. Come on, you might as well eat. The Kunkun show won't be on until later."

The general mood in the Sakurada household had not been a pleasant one since their return. They had no idea who had stolen Pandora's Box and thus no clue how to get it back. Jun was curled up in bed, still trembling with fright days after the whole incident, and even Suiseiseki had to admit that she wanted him back to normal. Of course they all felt the absence of Father, who had brightened up their lives considerably the short time he had been around. Now he was gone again and, all in all, things were pretty bleak.

The telephone rang. Desperate for some kind of distraction, Suiseiseki announced that she would get it. It took a bit of effort for her to actually reach it, but whoever was calling was evidently patient and didn't hang up despite the time it took her. She cradled the receiver in her tiny hands.

"Hello? Who's calling?"

"This is Mrs Sakurada. Who is this?"

"Huh? Mrs Sakurada?" Suiseiseki parroted, not understanding. It obviously wasn't Nori as she'd left for school and didn't sound anything like this person. She wasn't married either. Jun didn't have any other sisters did he?

"Jun and Nori's mother," the exasperated voice on the phone clarified. This startled the doll so much that she fumbled the receiver and very nearly dropped it on the floor. She hastily adjusted her grip and held it tight, staring off into space with her mouth open. Jun's mother! Wow. He actually had a mother? Oh wait, of course he did. She'd seen the family pictures, not to mention that whole Kohaku fiasco. Still, it was easy to forget she really existed. What should she do?

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Mrs Sakurada asked after Suiseiseki had been silent for just a tad too long. For a moment Suiseiseki panicked, unsure what to do. Then she realised that it was a telephone, and that Eiko Sakurada couldn't see her. She could quite easily pretend to be a human and the lady wouldn't know she was actually a doll. Ha! This could be fun!

"Sorry, I'm still here! Umm, Nori is at school right now. You just missed her actually. As for the ru-" she paused and then mentally shifted gears. She couldn't call Jun a 'runt' whilst talking to his mother. She coughed before continuing. "Jun is in bed."

"Oh? What's the matter? Nori said he was back at school. And who exactly is this?"

"I'm Suiseiseki of course, Jun's ... girlfriend!" Suiseiseki clamped a hand over her mouth after she said this in order to stifle a laugh. At last, a chance to cheer herself up with some fun. "Jun isn't feeling well today," she continued, "so I totally offered to take the day off and look after the hopeless dolt."

"Jus has a girlfriend?" Eiko asked in astonishment, "Well I ... that's ... how wonderful! It's nothing serious is it? His illness I mean, not your relationship ... of course if the two of you are serious you should say, I mean-"

Suiseiseki stared at the wall while Jun's mother went on. The woman could talk. She cut in as soon as she saw an opportunity. "Oh he's completely fine, Mrs Sakurada! Don't worry about a thing. With Suiseiseki on the job he'll be right as rain in no time. It's not like this is the first time I've had to take care of him, after all."

"What do you mean?"

The devious Gardener doll struggled not to chuckle at her own malicious brilliance. Time for a little payback for calling her a rotten demonic doll so many times! She grinned in such a way that had Jun been there to see her, he'd probably run a mile in the opposite direction. "Nothing really. I mean there was that time he passed out from a nosebleed after he spied my sister and I in the bath together."

"W-what?" Eiko gasped, potentially horrified and astounded by her claim. "I ... don't know what to say."

"It was no big deal, Mrs Sakurada. I mean I so don't mind if your son gets off on seeing me naked, he is my boyfriend after all. I just never expected such an emphatic reaction. He must be very taken with me! Of course he's quite sweet too."

"He ... he is?"

"Mmhmm! After all, he reads me a bedtime story every night before we go to sleep."

Before we go to sleep! Ha! She was especially proud of slipping that in, since it obviously implied that they slept in the same room together. Which was of course true, they did. And Jun did read her a bedtime story most nights. But then often the best way to lie was to tell the truth, as contrary as that sounded. Oh, Jun would be livid when she told him about this conversation! He wouldn't be moping in bed for much longer. And given the way Eiko had treated Kohaku, Suiseiseki didn't feel bad about giving her a shock either. It was win-win really.

"I see," Eiko said at last, once she'd gotten over her initial surprise at Suiseiseki's words, "Well I ... I hope he hasn't, err, acted inappropriate in any way towards you. He is a growing boy, after all."

Suiseiseki giggled, despite herself. "I wouldn't worry about that, Mrs Sakurada, Jun is very in touch with his feminine side."

"In what way?" Eiko enquired, with the kind of tone that suggested she was dreading what might come next. Suiseiseki's grin would have scared a shark away.

"He never said? I swear, I told him he should tell you about it. Honestly, that boy ... well, I'm sure he wont mind me mentioning it. Your son likes to dress up in girls clothes and have his picture taken. He even modeled for a girls fashion magazine. He was quite popular apparently. He's considering taking it up as a career."

The world's most mischievous doll listened intently for the sound of Eiko Sakurada fainting and hitting the floor. Alas, the sound never came. Instead there was laughter. Suiseiseki would have preferred hysterical laughter, but Eiko actually sounded amused.

"Really? My little Jun-kun? Well, who would have guessed..." She chuckled, "I'd quite like to see that. He always was a cute one. Of course I'm biased, but as his girlfriend I'm sure you agree."

She didn't mind? That wasn't right, she was supposed to be freaked out or something! Suiseiseki frowned, slightly annoyed. She had to think up something else. Maybe she could mention the fact that Jun had slept with her father. She did have a picture to prove it after all.

Before she could proceed further with her evil scheme, Eiko finished laughing over the news that her son wanted to be a female fashion model, and then dropped a bombshell on the stunned doll; "Anyway, I just called up to give Jun and Nori the good news. We've got some vacation time coming up, so the two of us will be back soon. Do you think you could tell them both? I'm sure they'll be thrilled. Well, I hope they will."

Suiseiseki mumbled something that might have been a yes, she was too dumbfounded to notice. Jun's parents ... Jun's parents were coming back? Well ... damn.

"I'm really looking forwards to meeting you, Miss Suiseiseki," Eiko went on, "Give my love to Jun and Nori, will you? And give Jun a big kiss to make him feel better; I'm sure he'll appreciate it."

Suiseiseki hung up the phone after squeaking out a goodbye, her entire body numb. Inside, some part of her mind was screaming very loudly. Making fun of Jun to his mother had seemed like a really good idea ... until said mother decided she was going to visit. What was she going to do? What were all of them going to do? How exactly would Jun's parents react when they returned home and found that their son and daughter were co-habiting with a bunch of magical living dolls?

She turned slowly around, and through the haze of shock Suiseiseki was dimly aware that everyone was looking at her, even Shinku. They'd overheard her end of the phone conversation and were now treating her to highly questioning looks that she almost failed to notice.

"What?" she said.