Rozen Maiden: Märchen
EPISODE ELEVEN
Bait and Switch
Jun opened his eyes. He could do this because he was not dead. This came as something of a surprise to him. After taking a moment to confirm that he had not in fact just been ventilated by a tiny piece of high-speed metal, Jun refocused his gaze back upon the weapon that had recently been the centre of his attention. To his immense relief it was no longer aimed at him. This was not because Grimm had had a last second change of heart - rather, his brother Emil had shoved at his hand just enough for the shot to whistle past Jun's startled face.
"Stop it!" Emil pleaded, his eyes puffy and red from crying before. When his big brother ignored him and swerved the gun back to its original target, Emil moved to stand directly in front of the weapon, the barrel pressing against his shirt. He flung out his arms as if offering himself in Jun's place.
"Get out of the way," Eike warned, his voice dangerously low, almost feral.
"No! If you have to kill someone then kill me!"
Eike released Rosetta, the limp doll sliding silently onto the grass. He then stood and shoved Emil aside, effortlessly sending his brother hurtling to the ground. In three quick strides he was upon Jun, pressing the still-hot barrel of his gun against Jun's forehead. Jun, for his part, was far too terrified to do much more than shake and stare at Eike with wide, fearful eyes. His terror was not aided by the murderous look that Grimm held in his own eyes, twisting his features into a ghastly visage of hate.
"Please! Please Eike, stop it, just ... just stop ..." Emil whimpered, clutching at his arm, which would soon bruise thanks to the forceful shove Eike had given him. Even though his begging did not make Eike back down, it did succeed in giving him a moments pause, his finger freezing a hair's breadth away from pulling the trigger once more.
"Is this what she would have wanted?" said a calm, cool voice. Eike blinked and glanced down at the speaker. Shinku stared up at him, as she had remained standing beside Jun the entire time. Now she was between Eike and Jun, though her short height and Jun's adult stature prevented her from directly putting herself in harms way.
"What?"
"Rosetta, I believe her name was. You loved her very much, I can tell by how deeply her loss affects you," Shinku said, fixing him with her intense blue gaze, "I confess I was not well acquainted with her, yet I find it difficult to believe she would wish to see you behave in such a fashion."
Eike glared at her, some of the rage he felt towards Jun redirecting towards her instead. "You're right - you didn't know her. Rosetta would want me to avenge her death."
"But she is not dead," Shinku countered, "She is lost to you, it is true. Her soul sleeps now in a faraway place, a dark and lonely place indeed. I know because I have been there myself."
Eike very nearly snorted at her words, turning his full attention back to Jun, his grip on the gun tightening. "That sounds close enough to death to me that it makes no difference. You took her away from me. When everything I've done has been for her sake, you came and took her from me. She was irreplaceable, and now she's gone."
"I didn't-" Jun started to say, somehow finding his voice despite finding himself once again with a gun aimed at his very favourite head.
"Shut up!" Eike snarled, his hand trembling from the effort of simply not firing, every nerve screaming at him to do so. "All I wanted was to be with her! I promised her I would make her a real girl, make her human, so we could live our lives together and be happy. What chance do we have of that now?"
"None whatsoever, if you pull that trigger," Shinku answered for him. This puzzled him enough to stay his hand just a moment longer.
"What do you mean?" he demanded, frowning, his eyes blurring as grief threatened to overwhelm his boiling anger. Jun glanced down at Shinku without actually moving his head, wondering the same thing. Wordlessly, Shinku strode over to Rosetta, knelt beside her and laid her pink-haired head in her lap. Eike struggled to watch her from the corner of his eye without letting Jun out of his sight.
"The man you hold at gunpoint is your one and only chance to be reunited with her," Shinku explained patiently, "If you kill him then she shall truly be lost to you forever. Spare him, however, and perhaps he might be able to call her lost soul back from the darkness."
"You're lying," Eike muttered, not sounding entirely sure of that yet not willing to let a flicker of hope into his stricken heart. "Only a Maestro can do that, and they're about as rare as a blue rose."
Shinku regarded Eike with an expression of utter certainty, her lips forming a very slight smile. "In that case Mister Grimm, would you kindly stop pointing that weapon at my precious blue rose. He has a doll to repair."
Jun held his breath and Emil watched on with equal breathless anticipation. Eike finally tore his gaze away from Jun and stared intently at Shinku, trying to gauge the sincerity of her words. The fifth Rozen Maiden radiated confidence like a nova, there was no denying it. After a very strained silence, Eike lowered his gun.
"Sheesh," said Jun as he sagged with relief, "What is it with people trying to shoot me lately."
He knelt beside Shinku and the broken figure of Rosetta, biting his lip with worry. He did not share Shinku's certainty. Glancing nervously between Eike and Emil as they watched him, he leaned close to Shinku and lowered his voice to a whisper.
"Listen Shinku, I don't think I can do it."
"I have faith in you, Jun," Shinku assured him, her confidence in his skills never once wavering even in the face of his own self-doubt. "Were it not for you I would have only one arm. Were it not for you Kohaku would still be lost. Need I remind you her injuries were the same as this doll's?"
"But that was different!" Jun hissed.
"Oh?"
"Rozen helped me then. I couldn't have done it without him."
"And my arm?"
"That was in my dream world, Shinku, and besides that was just an arm. This is a little different."
"I see," Shinku tilted her head and regarded Jun with a faintly exasperated look that he seldom saw her use, "Very well then Jun, give me your hand."
Jun blinked and frowned. "Huh?"
Shinku extended her palm expectantly towards him. "Your hand, Jun. If you insist on being such a useless servant then I simply have no further use for you as my Medium. I will release you from our covenant together."
Jun pulled away from her as if she'd stung him, yanking his hand further still from her as if protective of the rose ring he wore upon it. "What? You can't be serious!"
"I trust that there is no levity in my voice? I am entirely serious."
Their eyes met, Shinku daring him to just give up and surrender the bond they shared together. She knew he wouldn't. He knew he wouldn't. He knew she knew he wouldn't. He silently cursed her stubborn pig-headed attitude. When Shinku saw him accept the situation she smirked teasingly.
"You did swear to serve me, Jun."
"I did," Jun admitted with a heavy sigh of resignation. Shinku shifted Rosetta towards him.
"If it makes it any easier, your life depends upon your success."
Jun winced slightly and then scowled at her. "It makes it harder, Shinku, not easier."
He struggled to remember what Rozen had taught him during his brief visit. It was instinctive. He didn't need to consciously know how to fix her, his fingers knew what to do. He just had to relax and let them work, as if he were sewing or typing. Laying the broken doll flat on the soft ground before him, Jun extended his hands over her and tried to recall how he had felt the time he'd repaired Shinku's arm. The elation that had coursed through him. The self-assurance that he would fix her in order to bring a smile to her face, no matter how difficult the task might be. The desire to make her happy.
His hands moved. A shining golden thread sprang from his fingers and began to knit the open wound in Rosetta's torso shut, just as it had done before with Kohaku, and before that when it had reattached Shinku's dismembered arm. Eike gaped in astonishment at the sight and Emil audibly gasped. As the golden light shone in Shinku's eyes, she smiled warmly.
"Good boy, Jun. I knew you could do it."
Within seconds it was done, all trace of damage gone. Even Rosetta's dress was repaired flawlessly, leaving no indication that she'd ever been harmed to begin with. As Jun pulled his tingling warm hands away, Rosetta glowed with a bright inner light and floated into the air. The grass rippled as if blown by a fresh breeze, the cherry trees rustled and rained more blossoms down upon them. Finally the mended doll sailed back down into Jun's waiting hands, the aura of light fading from her.
Rosetta opened her eyes. She could do this because she was alive. This came as something of a surprise to her.
"Eike?" she whispered, blinking up at Jun. He balked slightly at this.
"Err ... no, not exactly."
"You did it," Eike breathed, scarcely believing what he was seeing, "How? You can't be a ... that was cheironomy," he regarded Jun with a faint expression of awe and amazement, "You're a Maestro."
Feeling light-headed and a little giddy, Jun stood and held Rosetta out towards him. When she saw Eike she all but sprang at him, the two embracing as if they hadn't seen each other in years. Eike actually laughed out loud and excitedly spun around the garden with her. Shinku stood and brushed some stray cherry blossom from her dress, whilst Jun sank to his knees, utterly exhausted and drained.
"That was amazing," said Emil, approaching him and rubbing at his swollen eyes, "How did you do that?"
Jun stared at him for a long moment. "Magic fingers," he finally replied, wiggling his digits at the boy. Emil chuckled at that. When Jun turned his attention back towards the happy couple he remembered some of the things Eike had said before. Things Jun had been too preoccupied to pay attention to at the time, owing to having a gun shoved in his face. Thinking back to them now, his eyes narrowed somewhat.
"Grimm," he called out. Eike stopped and turned to him, still exhilarated. Jun pressed on. "You said before that you wanted to be together. That you just wanted to be happy."
"Yes."
Jun sighed heavily and removed his glasses. "You don't need Pandora's Box for that. She doesn't have to be human for you to live your life with her. If you really love her then it shouldn't matter to you that she's a doll. Should it?"
Eike shook his head, wordless. Shinku meanwhile stared at Jun, and Jun stared back. When he spoke again his words were meant as much for her as they were for Eike and Rosetta.
"Just because she's a doll doesn't mean you can't both love one another. You can still be happy together, because she's just as much of a person as any human. That's what really matters. If I were you, I wouldn't waste a wish on making her human. I'd wish to be with her forever. I'd wish..." Jun smiled at Shinku, "I'd wish to live happily ever after with her. Just the way she is."
Safely inside her own N-Field, Kirakishou set Pandora's Box down upon a crystal altar. She danced and hopped before it, giggling uncontrollably, barely able to contain her own excited anticipation. At long last she had the thing she'd sought. The Box. The means to end the Alice Game once and for all, and for her - the seventh Rozen Maiden doll - to at last become Alice.
Taking the key from around her neck, she slid it into the lock and then with exaggerated reverence opened Pandora's Box.
"Okay," said Kanaria, "Listen up everyone, because this is where the plan gets a teensy bit complicated ... remember a while back when the seventh doll stole Miss Kashiwaba's soul tree?"
Jun grumbled and rubbed the side of his head. "Not likely to forget that in a hurry. Do you have to bring it up again?"
"What's your point?" Suiseiseki snapped irritably. Kanaria scowled at her, annoyed at the interruption.
"My point is, you guys were able to find her tree by using the emotional bond she shared with Jun to follow the connection between their dream worlds."
"Yeah, so?" said Jun, "How does that help us here?"
Kanaria groaned. "Isn't it obvious? We have spare doll cases at Micchan's new shop. All you have to do is alter one to make it look like Pandora's Box. Suiseiseki stays here with Miss Kashiwaba and the fake Box, whilst Souseiseki comes with us to steal the real Box. As soon as we lay our hands on the real thing ..."
Tomoe flipped open her cell phone and opened the new text message she'd received. It was very brief, consisting of just one short word.
Go.
"It's time," she said, turning to Suiseiseki and showing her the message. The Gardener doll nodded and called forth Sui Dream.
"Ready, human?"
Tomoe set her phone down and laid back on the couch. "I'm ready."
Seconds later a swirling grey vortex opened up above the sleeping girl, a doorway into her dream world. Hoisting the fake Pandora's Box Jun had prepared earlier, Suiseiseki leapt into the waiting doorway and vanished from the Sakurada house.
"Souseiseki!" Suiseiseki waved cheerfully to her twin sister, who approached from across the branches of Yggdrasil, the world tree. The Gardener dolls stopped as they met, each holding an ebony black doll case. In Souseiseki's hands was the real Pandora's Box, snatched mere minutes ago by Shinku and Hinaichigo. In Suiseiseki's grasp was the fake that would take its place.
"How are things going on your end?" Suiseiseki asked.
"Alright, so far. We did run into a little trouble, but I think it'll be okay."
"Oh?"
"There's a boy named Emil who caught us stealing the Box," Souseiseki explained, "But he seems to want to help us.
Exchanging a few more words, they each went their separate ways. Souseiseki followed the branch Suiseiseki had just came from, which would lead to Tomoe's dream. Suiseiseki would retrace her twin's steps and emerge in Jun's dream.
All according to plan.
Suiseiseki floated down from the doorway into Jun's dream, landing lightly in the security office with the replica Box in tow.
"Suiseiseki! You made it!" Hinaichigo exclaimed, waving her arms enthusiastically.
"Well of course I did, what did you expect?" She hastily closed the doorway to dreams and kicked Jun until he awoke.
"Ow! Will you knock that off you rotten demonic little doll?"
"Quiet human, and take this." Suiseiseki held up the fake Pandora's Box. Grumbling, Jun took it from her and then stifled a yawn, still a touch sleepy since Lempicka had put him out like a light. A moment later the office door opened and Emil returned.
"I think it's safe, but you better hurry, I don't think you have much time..."
Kirakishou peered into the open Box. Slowly, she reached into it and removed the contents.
It was a Detective Kunkun plushie. Kirakishou squeezed it, causing it to emit a digitally recorded message in the voice of the great detective himself.
"See you again next time, Kunkun!"
The seventh doll twitched once, then twice. Then she screamed and tore Kunkun apart. She scattered stuffing and stitching in a frenzy of rage, before turning her fury on the Box, smashing it to splinters. Finally she fell to her knees, threw back her head and shrieked, the sound echoing through the empty crystal hallways of her palatial N-Field.
When she could screech no more, Kirakishou lowered her head and fixed her single eye upon the odd figure sitting across the room.
"Fair is foul and foul is fair," said Laplace no Ma tauntingly.
Kirakishou glared at the demon, her breathing fast and shallow, her rage still boiling just bellow the surface. She had been tricked. Duped. Swindled. Cheated. She had tried to play nice and let them all off easy, but no longer.
No. No more games. No more games but one.
"It is time," she said at last, "to begin the Alice Game again."
Laplace: And so at last we come to it ... the final Alice Game. The curtain has risen upon the grand finale and the stage is set for the ultimate performance. You will not want to miss this. There will be action, drama, romance, mystery and surprises enough to dazzle and confound you. Truly all good things must come to an end, and now the bell tolls for the end of the Rozen Maidens. It has been an enjoyable ride, an amusing diversion, but soon the light of truth shall at last shine brightly upon the victor of the Alice Game. One by one the players shall leave the stage, until only one remains. Enjoy the final chapter of this fairy tale, for there shall be no encore. Next time, on Rozen Maiden Märchen ... will there be a happily ever after?