Rozen Maiden Fan Fiction ❯ Dream of Something Better ❯ They Who Fear the Unknown ( Chapter 19 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Rozen Maiden. I do, however, own Rikou Daijima, Mirien Daijima, Anira Hanagami/ Rina A. Gamihana, Morielta, Scylla, Lyn, the `Master' and the personality of Joenna.

 

Chapter 19

Suigintou hated the man standing in front of her for so many reasons.

 

`Enju…' she hissed, as he walked towards her.

 

`I knew you wouldn't forget me.' Enju said kneeling down in front of Suigintou so he was at eye level.

 

`How could I forget you?' Suigintou yelled. `In the last era you forced us to kill each other, and now in this era you are forcing other dolls to kill us instead! For what?'

 

`Just as the Advanced dolls told you, I like collecting dolls.' Enju replied.

 

`No Enju, there is another reason, and I know you're hiding it from me!' Suigintou yelled at him. `Tell me what it is!'

 

Enju sighed. `This is going to be hard to explain to someone as stubborn as you, Suigintou. So, instead I'm just going to show you. '

 

Suigintou studied Enju, as he walked towards a cabinet covered by a red cloth. Enju looked older than he had in the last era, but he still had that same air of suspense around him, and that had only strengthened Suigintou's hate for him in the previous era.

 

`Are you ready, Suigintou?' Enju asked with a smirk.

 

Suigintou did not reply. Instead, she growled at him and gave him the most intense stare that he had ever seen in his entire life. Enju shook off her stares and returned his focus to the cloth covered cabinet.

 

Enju gripped the cloth and pulled it off. Under the cloth was a doorless cabinet, but the thing that shocked Suigintou was what was inside the cabinet.

 

Inside the cabinet there was, what outwardly looked like, a finished living doll. The living doll was naked and was being weakly propped up by one of the cabinet's sides. The aspect of the doll that shocked Suigintou, was that the living doll had the same face and hair as Barasuishou. Suigintou could not tell whether the eye colour was the same, because the eyes were closed.

 

`…Why?' Suigintou asked in her shock. `Why are you trying to recreate her?'

 

`I'm not trying to `recreate' anyone.' Enju said. `Although this may look like Barasuishou, this newer version is much more powerful, and this one is sure to better Rozen when I get it working.'

 

Suigintou rolled her eyes. `That story again…' she thought to herself.

 

`Why do you keep trying to better Father, when it is impossible to do so?' Suigintou asked.

 

`Not as impossible as you think.' Enju said. `You don't even know half of what I do. Where should I begin? When I restored you about two weeks from the battle Barasuishou died in…'

 

`Th…That was you who restored me back then?' Suigintou cut in. `I thought that Father did it!'

 

`If Barasuishou ever told you that `Father' did it, she was referring to myself, not Rozen.' Enju replied. `When I restored you, it gave me a chance to study you, and find out how you worked. I wrote down all the observations that I made and put them to one side, because Barasuishou was doing a very good job terrorising you.

 

After Barasuishou crumbled, I returned to my workshop in another N-Field. I was very distraught over Barasuishou's death, and this only made my hate of Rozen grow even stronger. I found the records of the observations that I made then, and spent nearly all of my time studying them and trying to create a better doll.

 

Although I followed the diagrams and notes to perfection, there was something missing. The living dolls I made during this period, although they functioned correctly, only reached Barasuishou standard and nothing higher, and the Rosa Mystica's were not complete. I destroyed all of the living dolls I made during this period.

 

Although the designs were not perfect to Rozen Maiden standard, because they still worked in a similar manner, I decided to sell the designs to a company that produced dolls. And that was when…'

 

`…The living dolls came into being.' Suigintou said. `So you are the reason why all these average living dolls exist!'

 

`Yes, that is correct.' Enju said nodding his head. `Because I was the creator of the living doll design, I made a lot of money and became a billionaire.

 

I used a large proportion of that money to buy living dolls that claimed improvements to the original design. I would study the living dolls I brought, and then would keep them around the mansion in glass cabinets. From my study of improvements to the design, I created another living doll, in hopes that she would be able to be better than the Rozen Maidens.

 

But, she failed. That living doll I made was weak and stupid. I tried to destroy that living doll, but I made the mistake of giving her all of Barasuishou's features. I did not have the heart to destroy her, so I sold her to a second hand trader. I don't know what happened to that one.

 

From combining the many observations I made from studying you, the Advanced dolls, and the other living dolls that have become improved from the original design, I was finally able to create a living doll that can best a Rozen Maiden!'

 

`Then, what do you want me for?' Suigintou asked in frustration.

 

`Ah, I was just about to get to that.' Enju said walking towards her with his left hand closed into a fist. He stood over her, as he began to speak again.

 

`This living doll is not another ordinary living doll. From the studies and experiments I have done, I know that this one is capable of powering a Rozen Maiden's Rosa Mystica. And that's where you come in.'

 

`If you want my Rosa Mystica, you can't have it!' Suigintou replied. `You definitely can't fight me for it, and I won't give it up willingly for you! And you already have Shinku in captivity don't you? Why didn't you use hers?'

 

`It was a tough choice between Shinku and yourself.' Enju told her. `The two of you are about equal in power. The only reason she was stronger in the last era, is that even when you had a medium, you refused to use her power.

 

When I put a Rozen Maiden's Rosa Mystica in an average living doll's body, the Mystica will loose all it's memories as a Rozen Maiden, but it will still have your personality engraved inside it. This process doesn't work if the Rosa Mystica gets absorbed into another Rozen Maiden, instead the Rosa Mystica stores the memories until it registers that it is back in it's original body.

 

I decided on you, because although your Rosa Mystica will lose all memories of `Suigintou', once it enters a normal living doll's body, you will still have your original personality. From what I planned to do, Shinku's personality was too warm and forgiving. So I chose you.'

 

`And what made you think I would so willingly give up my Rosa Mystica for someone like you?' Suigintou hissed.

 

`This.'

 

Enju held out his left hand, revealing a tipped balance. `I found this in your dress pocket while you were still unconscious. I have re-installed it, with the instructions that you will do anything that I tell you to do.'

 

`I won't consume it!' Suigintou yelled at him.

 

`Bad luck.' Enju snickered.

 

Enju grabbed a knife off the desk, and held the tip against Suigintou's neck.

 

`Consume it, or there will be unfortunate consequences for you.' Enju said, pressing the tip gently against Suigintou's neck.

 

`Kill me then.' Suigintou stared directly at him. `I would rather die than submit to your plan.'

 

Suddenly, a black leather strap wrapped around the arm that was holding the knife, and pulled it in a backwards direction with such force that it began to bleed.

 

`Stop hurting Suigintou.' Joenna, who was standing at the door with her whip, stated with confidence.

 

`Oh, we were just talking about you, weren't we Suigintou?'Enju smiled.

 

`Really, I don't remember…' Suigintou thought back though what Enju had told her. `Wait, Joenna is the doll that you made? That must be why she looks so much like Barasuishou…'

 

`Hello, Joenna.' Enju smiled at her. `Do you remember me? I created you.'

 

Joenna looked very confused. The whip loosened, and Enju was able to pull it off.

 

`Don't trust him! He is the Master! He tried to kill us!' Suigintou yelled.

 

`If Suigintou doesn't trust you, I don't trust you either!' Joenna yelled at Enju. She looked around, and her eyes fell on the other Barasuishou looking doll. `Why does that doll look like me? I want answers!'

 

`Awww, it looks like you have a fan, Suigintou.' Enju leaned forward to pat Joenna on the head. Joenna summoned a few glass shards, much like Shinku's rose petals except made from sharp glass, and aimed them at Enju's hand. Enju grumbled when his hand began to bleed from the glass cuts.

 

Enju tried to grab Joenna again, but she jumped onto the desk and flung her whip around, hitting Enju in the back and causing him to fall over.

 

Joenna jumped off the desk and stood on the ground, holding her whip in front of her.

 

Enju stood up, and ran over to Suigintou. He leaned over her, and slammed the tipped balance against her forehead, forcing her to absorb it.

 

`NO!' Joenna screamed, as she ran over, but by then it was too late. Suigintou had fully consumed the tipped balance.

 

Enju stood back and watched Suigintou for any signs of personality change. He thought things were going to plan when Suigintou began pulling on the chains that restrained her, as she began to scream.

 

Then, Suigintou began to glow a bright white. Suigintou's eyes were no longer cerise, and instead they glowed white. Her wings glowed white and brilliant.

 

Suigintou pulled against the chains that held her wrists, and to Enju's shock she pulled the chains apart. Although Suigintou still had the locks on her wrists, she was not longer attached to the wall.

 

Suigintou held her hands to her ears, and continued to scream. As her screams began to cease, she dropped her hands from her head. She was still glowing as she stood up.

 

`No, this isn't right!' Enju thought as he stared at Suigintou. `The tipped balance did not react in the right way!'

 

Suigintou turned to Enju and summoned her sword. Her sword also glowed white, due to the effects of the tipped balance.

 

`You threatened to hurt my host.' The voice that came from Suigintou's mouth was a mixture of Suigintou's voice, and another higher and crueller sounding voice. `For that, you deserve to die!'

 

Suigintou raised her sword, and Joenna, who was hiding in the corner of the room, covered her eyes.

 

Joenna did not see what followed, but when she re-opened her eye, she turned to see what `Suigintou' had done. Enju was laying on the ground and a small puddle of blood was beginning to form around him.

 

`I…Is he dead?' Joenna thought.

 

Suigintou turned to see Joenna trembling in the corner of the room. Joenna closed her eyes again, and prayed that Suigintou would change back to normal before she was killed.

 

Joenna waited a while with her eyes closed, so she decided to see what was going on. When she opened her eyes, Suigintou was nowhere to be seen, and the door was closed.

 

`Did she leave?' Joenna thought to herself. After looking around the room, Joenna confirmed with herself that Suigintou had indeed left the room.

 

She stood up, and turned to leave the room as well, but her eyes wondered back to the Barasuishou looking doll that Enju had made.

 

`That doll is kinda my sister after all.' Joenna mumbled.

 

She grabbed the red cloth that had once covered the cabinet and wrapped it around the doll. Joenna looked around the office and her eyes fell on a slight glow behind the desk. The glow had not been very obvious, and if Joenna hadn't been looking very hard, she wouldn't have seen it.

 

She crawled underneath the desk, and found a medium-sized safe implanted in the wall. The safe glowed slightly, and Joenna instantly knew what was inside. She summoned a small shard of glass, and it went into the lock that was on the safe.

 

The safe clicked, indicating that it was now unlocked. Joenna pulled at the door, and there, crammed in a very small space, there was hundreds, if not thousands of the white Rosa Mysticas. They were being held in place by a glass shield that covered the opening to the safe.

 

Joenna summoned a large glass shard and slammed it, with great force, at the glass shield. The shield broke, and Joenna had to put up a purple shield around herself to stop the hundreds of Rosa Mystica from slamming into her as they flocked out the safe and towards the room that the doll the Mystica belonged to was being kept. Joenna stared the Rosa Mystica with awe as they flew through anything between the Rosa Mystica and the doll.

 

Joenna watched as the last few Rosa Mystica flew through the walls of the room, and then they were gone. She looked back down at the safe and saw eight Rosa Mystica that were sitting on the bottom of the safe, and weren't making any attempt at all to escape.

 

`Either these Rosa Mystica did not belong to a doll, or the doll that they belonged to no longer exists.' Joenna thought to herself.

 

Joenna then saw one that was shining very brightly. She picked it up and held it in her hands. `This one still shines brightly, although it doesn't belong to a doll. It must be unused.'

 

Joenna walked over to her sister, and pressed the Rosa Mystica into her forehead. Joenna's sister glowed for a few seconds, and then she began to move. Once Joenna's sister had opened her eyes, Joenna asked her a question.

 

`Hey, can you walk?' Joenna asked.

 

`Yes, I can.' The doll replied. The dolls voice was soft, and quiet.

 

`Good then!' Joenna said, pulling the doll to her feet. She ran out the room, dragging her sister with her.

 

Joenna's sister struggled to run and keep the red cloth covering herself at the same time.

 

`May I ask, why are we in such a hurry?' The doll asked.

 

`It's a long story, I will tell you later!' Joenna said. `But for now, we need to find Suigintou before she destroys anything else!'

 

`E…Excuse me?' The doll asked again. `But who is this `Suigintou'? Why is she destroying things?'

 

`You'll see what I mean when we see her!' Joenna yelled. `I hope she hasn't done anything else…'

 

Suddenly, Joenna ran around the corner and banged into someone else! Joenna fell over, pulling her sister down with her.

 

Joenna looked up and saw that she had ran into the blonde doll that had directed her to Suigintou earlier. This time, the blonde doll was accompanied by another blonde doll, dressed in red, who was standing directly behind the blonde doll who had given Joenna direction.

 

`What are you doing here?' Joenna yelled.

 

`I may ask the same question to you! What are you doing here?' the blonde doll replied.

 

`My name is Joenna, and I'm here participating in some kind of battle!' Joenna stated. `What about you?'

 

`I'm Lyn, and I formerly lived here.' Lyn said, standing up and brushing herself off.

 

`Is that Barasuishou? Why do the two of you look like her?' The blonde doll dressed in red pointed at Joenna's sister.

 

`Excuse me, what is a Barasuishou?' Joenna's sister asked.

 

`It's only coincidence. This is the third time I've been called Barasuishou.' Joenna said.

 

`My name is Shinku, I am the fifth Rozen Maiden.' The blonde doll told her.

 

`This is my sister.' Joenna said, standing up and helping her sister stand up with her. `She is currently unnamed.'

 

`I am unnamed?' Her sister asked in confusion.

 

`So, what were you two doing?' Joenna asked.

 

`We are escaping this household for good!' Lyn said. `What were you doing?'

 

`Well…' Joenna went on to explain all the things that she had seen, and how she had ended up here.

 

`So, that's what that stream of white Rosa Mystica's was!' Lyn said. `I was beginning to wonder!'

 

`So, Suigintou did not act in the way that the tipped balance made her?' Shinku asked.

 

`No, she lashed out and killed the Master instead! Suigintou has gone crazy!' Joenna said.

 

Shinku remembered the dreams she had had before, with the black form hovering over her. `So, the tipped balance compresses your personality?'

 

`Yes. Why?' Joenna said.

 

`I think I know what happened to her! Where is Suigintou now?' Shinku said frantically.

 

`I don't know! I was looking for her right now when I ran into you!' Joenna replied.

 

`I think I know how to stop this.' Shinku said. `We need to find her now!'

 

`But Shinku, if we don't leave now…' Lyn said looking down.

 

`My older sister is more important.' Shinku said confidently.

 

Lyn looked towards the exit and then looked back at Shinku. `Fine, I'll go with you.'

 

The four dolls began to run up the hallway that Shinku and Lyn had just travelled down, in the hopes of finding Suigintou.

 

o:o:o:o:o:o:o

 

Souseseki looked down at her attire. The battle had begun an hour ago, and in that hour her outfit had been ruined in all ways possible. She looked over at Suiseseki, and she saw that Suiseseki had not come out much better. Suiseseki's bonnet was now missing, and her outfit was ripped and torn everywhere.

 

Scylla, who was standing across from Suiseseki looked out of breath. Morielta did not look tired or worn out at all, and still held her scythe out in front of her.

 

Souseseki lunged at Morielta again, but in her state was easily over powered. A column of slime grabbed her and flung her to the ground. Morielta stood over Souseseki and held her scythe over her.

 

`You get too weak, to easily.' Morielta raised her scythe and as she was about to bring it down on Souseseki, Souseseki saw something sharp go through Morielta's chest.

 

Morielta dropped her scythe, and it landed just above Souseseki's head. Souseseki gasped as she realised that it was Suigintou who had stabbed Morielta.

 

But, somehow Suigintou looked different. Her whole body and her sword were glowing and her eyes were a blank white, instead of their usual colour.

 

Suigintou pulled her sword out as Morielta dropped to her knees, and began to hack into her back. When Suigintou was done, Morielta dropped to the ground, dead.

 

Souseseki crawled over to Morielta and saw that she wasn't moving or breathing. She looked up at Suigintou, and slowly backed away from her.

 

`How dare you…' Scylla leapt at Suigintou, the snakes on her hands expanding as they neared Suigintou.

 

Suigintou raised her sword and cut Scylla's hand off. Scylla whimpered as she stared at the stump that was once her hand.

 

Now that Scylla was defenceless, Suigintou hacked at her mercilessly, until, like Morielta, she fell down, dead.

 

Suiseseki, who was still floating in the air, stared at Suigintou in horror. When Suigintou turned to face Souseseki, Suiseseki flew down from the sky at stood in front of Souseseki.

 

`STOP RIGHT NOW ~DESU!' Suiseseki yelled. `If you lay one hand on either of us, I'll punish you ~desu! Do you…hear…me…?'

 

Souseseki stood up next to Suiseseki, to see what she was confused about.

 

When Souseseki saw that Suigintou was glowing brighter and brighter, she grabbed Suiseseki's hand and ran with her towards the exit of the courtyard.

 

The last thing Souseseki saw before they exited, was a light that shot out in a spherical shape, slowly crushing anything in it's path.

 

o:o:o:o:o:o:o

 

Shinku, Lyn, Joenna and Joenna's sister arrived in the courtyard, just in time to see light shoot out from Suigintou, which slowly moved outward, crushing anything in its way.

 

`What's happening?' Lyn yelled over top of the noise that the sphere was making.

 

`I think Suigintou is being forced to release some of her old power, to make room for the new power flowing into her.' Shinku yelled back.

 

`How do we stop it?' Lyn yelled in response.

 

`There is a way to stop it.' Shinku whispered to herself.

 

`Pardon?' Lyn yelled. `It's a bit hard to hear you know!'

 

`I'm going to go stop it. Lyn, stay here and protect Joenna and her sister.' Shinku yelled.

 

`But…'

 

`I don't need to be protected!' Joenna yelled.

 

`What are we protecting? Joenna's sister said hazily.

 

`Just stay here with me, and you'll be fine!' Lyn yelled at Joenna and her sister. `Are you sure that whatever you're going to do will work?'

 

`I'm sure.' Shinku said with a smile.

 

`Fine, you do that then.' Lyn yelled back. `Good luck!'

 

Shinku put up a shield of rose petals around herself, and headed into the sphere.

 

The light was blinding and Shinku struggled to see through her rose petal shield and the blur of light that streamed by her. Finally, she reached the centre of the sphere, and found Suigintou on her knees, looking blankly upwards towards what would have been the sky.

 

Shinku enclosed Suigintou within her shield, but Suigintou continued to stare up at the sky.

 

`Suigintou, can you hear me?' Shinku asked.

 

Suigintou did not respond, and Shinku knew what she had to do. She put her hand on Suigintou's forehead and fed power directly to Suigintou. She could feel Suigintou was beginning to power up, and prayed that her prediction would work.

 

Suigintou screamed, as she expelled a mass of power at once, coving the entire mansion and destroying everything in its perimeters.

 

o:o:o:o:o:o:o

 

Lyn saw the power explosion and put up a blue shield to protect herself, Joenna and Joenna's sister from the blast. Once Lyn was sure that the surge had sub-sided, she took the shield down and turned to see Shinku standing in front of a kneeling Suigintou.

 

Suigintou was still glowing, but the glow began to fade. When it completely disappeared, Suigintou's eyes flicked back to their normal colour, and she fainted on Shinku.

 

Lyn ran forward to where Shinku was. `Well, what ever you did, it worked! Now that Suigintou is healed, can we get out of here?'

 

`But, who will take care of…?' Shinku began.

 

`Joenna, her sister and those twins are here to look after her. Come on, lets go!' Lyn said.

 

`…OK' Shinku said, laying Suigintou on the ground.

 

And with that, Lyn and Shinku left the destroyed mansion for good.

 

o:o:o:o:o:o:o

 

Rikou began to stir from his unconsciousness late that night, in the belief that he had only woken up from a bad dream. Mirien had long gone to sleep, and the apartment was silent.

 

He rolled over towards the wall in order to go back to sleep, but as he rolled over, his hand accidentally hit something. Rikou knew that something was wrong when the thing that he had just hit began to move.

 

Rikou turned over, and switched the bed light on.

 

`Please, turn that off…I've got a really big headache…'

 

Rikou recognised the voice, and he was not shocked when he saw Suigintou lying next to him with her back facing him.

 

Rikou noticed that underneath her eyes, there were lines of stress and tire. Her eyes also looked red around the rims.

 

`Has she been crying?' Rikou thought to himself.

 

Rikou shrugged off his thoughts of Suigintou's unhappiness, and instead complied with Suigintou's earlier request, by turning the bed light off. He then lay down next to her, and slipped into a peaceful sleep.

 

o:o:o:o:o:o:o

A/N

WOOT! Now, we move into solving problemo numero dos! Which you don't know what it is yet, hehehe.