A/N: So terribly sorry for this dreadfully late update. T_T
But it's here at last... hehe..? There will be one more chapter after this which should sum up this story. Enjoy. :)
All was rather silent. The air was still, and the only movement was the one figure approaching. Murmurs of 'Father' were travelling throughout the stunned dolls.
"My precious ones…" came the soft, loving voice that made all dolls in hearing range sigh in delight.
"Father," Shinku said softly. Suigintou stared, with the slight hint of tears in her eyes. Katsutoshi was looking at Suigintou in slight horror. The other dolls were either surprised or neutral faced like Mitsuru.
"Shinku," Rozen said, just as his face came into view. He was just like his impersonator, his apprentice. But his eyes were warmer, and kinder. "Suigintou…" he went on, listing each of dolls names one by one.
"Why do you all want to hurt each other?" Rozen asked, picking up the nearest doll which happened to be Hinaichigo. The pink doll embraced her father's arms and snuggled into him, saying nothing.
"But, Father, you said you wanted the perfect doll," Souseiseki said despite her condition. She was ashamed for her Father to even look at her, but she had to know if she could still become Alice.
Rozen put Hinaichigo down and looked around at the dolls once more, his eyes lingering on the Rozen Pages.
"I thought I told Shinku that-" he cut off when there was a chuckle in the air. All dolls looked around. It was Kanaria that spotted the source.
"Look!" she cried, pointing up in the direction of…
"Laplace's Demon!" a few dolls cried at once.
"Hello, hello," said the white rabbit in a tail coat. "It's lovely to see all this confusion, don't you think?"
There was a chorus of cries and yells from the dolls before Rozen hushed them and spoke up.
"You are not to interfere with the lives of my dolls again," he said calmly, eyes looking at the red, slanted ones of Laplace's demon.
The rabbit removed his top hat and held it, doing a bow. Then he placed his hat back onto his head.
"Are they really lives or mere fragments?" it asked. "Are they really something called life or merely a hollow shell, perhaps possessed?"
It spoke in riddles as always.
It looked around at each face of each of the dolls, and the faces of Jun and Rozen himself.
"So lovely," it said again. Then he proceeded to bring out the crescent moon and just before he disappeared into it again, he said just loud enough for everyone to here. "Good luck."
Then it was silent again, and most dolls remained silent. Only Rozen was the one who spoke up, in the end.
"Laplace's demon has made me realise something…"
Heads turned in curiosity. Rozen bent his own head, blonde hair falling into his light eyes. "It was selfish of me to expect a perfect doll, Alice. I tried so many ways… even knowing it was wrong to do so."
"But Father-" both Kanaria and Hinaichigo protested, but was hushed by Shinku. Shinku stared intently at her creator.
"I knew I was toying with the lives, like Laplace pointed out, that I had given you all," Rozen continued, voice barely loud enough to be heard. "I knew it yet I still was selfish enough to want an Alice. However, I did try to make myself out in a better light by convincing myself there was another way to become Alice, through the Pages."
Mitsuru and Shinichi shared a glance. Katsutoshi sneered and looked away.
"However, that still ended in fighting, so it must come to an end," Rozen finished, finally looking up. "My dolls, all of you, you are all perfect in each of your own way and there is no need to pursue the impossible Alice now."
Hinaichigo burst into tears. Kanaria sobbed. Suigintou and Katsutoshi stepped forward.
"Is that it?" they said in unison.
"Aren't I good enough?" Suigintou said at the same time Katsutoshi said:
"What is our purpose then?"
"And me, I'm Shinku's medium, what should I do now?" Jun put in. Rozen looked at them all and smiled.
"Live on, without the burden I gave you, simply live."
Those were the last words Rozen said before he turned and walked away. No one stopped him, and when he had turned a corner, Suigintou flew to follow him however he was already gone.
Suigintou proceeded to disappear soon after. No one protested. Shinku remained silent as Jun walked up to her and picked her up with the words. "Let's go."
Hinaichigo and Kanaria sobbed heavily on each other's shoulders as they wobbled over to Jun.
"Souseiseki," Suiseiseki said with a small sob of her own. She reached up and touched the cracked cheek of her twin tenderly. "You're…"
Souseiseki reached up and lowered her hand, but kept her own fingers wrapped around hers.
"I'm okay," she said, not wanting to see her twin cry. She bent down and picked up her top hat with her free hand and put it on top of her mussed hair with a smile. "Let's go back to gramps, shall we?"
Suiseiseki smiled and they both turned in the direction of Jun and the other dolls.
They didn't exchange words.
No words were necessary.
They simply nodded to each other in recognition before Jun, Shinku, Hinaichigo and Kanaria disappeared and exited Suigintou's N-field.
The twins turned to Shinichi. "Would you like to come with us?" they chorused.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to join you, too," Mitsuru added, picking out his monocle from his pocket and replacing it over his eye.
Souseiseki raised an eyebrow. "Of course," she replied. Suiseiseki turned and looked around for Katsutoshi.
"Where did he go?" she asked, looking around but there was no trace of him.
Mitsuru uttered a small laugh. "You might not believe it, but he has had a fondness for Shinku for a while, it's subtle but it's there."
The twins were horrified.
"Don't worry," Shinichi said, smiling. "He's a good doll despite everything, it was just his nature that got him to join the side he genuinely believed would win."
Slightly relieved, they sighed. "So he went with the human?" Suiseiseki asked, much to the chagrin of Souseiseki. Old habits die hard.
"Probably," Mitsuru said, but otherwise didn't seem to care all that much.
"Would you say all's well that ends well?" Shinichi asked, however avoiding looking at Souseiseki.
"There are still unanswered questions, though," Mitsuru said. "But all will be answered in due time."
With that, the four made their way out of the N-field and back to their new house.
"We're home!"