Rozen Maiden Fan Fiction ❯ Dream of Something Better ❯ Our Gathering ( Chapter 21 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

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 21

Rikou woke up early the next morning when he felt something slap his cheek.

`Suigintou, what did I do now…?' He asked sleepily.

Rikou opened his eyes, and to his confusion, saw that Suigintou was lying next to him fast asleep. He looked around the room further and standing in front of the bed was the culprit.

`Ugh, it's Suigintou's sister.' Rikou said hazily. `What do you want?'

`Are you aware that it is 6am in the morning?' Shinku asked.

Rikou looked over at the clock that read `6:09am'.

`Yeah.' Rikou replied. `What about it?'

`You should be awake by now!' Shinku said confidently.

`Why? It's Sunday, so I can sleep in.' Rikou argued.

Shinku whipped him with her hair for the second time that morning. `Tea in the morning is always prepared at 6am. Hurry up, you are nine minutes late! Why does Suigintou not discipline you about these sorts of things?'

`Well, she doesn't usually wake up until around 10…'

`Don't argue!' Shinku whipped him. `You have tea to prepare!'

`Fine, I'm going, I'm going!' Rikou got out of bed, being careful not to wake Suigintou. He knew from experience that Suigintou could get in a very foul mood if she was woken up against her will.

Rikou went to the kitchen and began preparing Shinku's tea. Shinku sat on the couch in front of the coffee table and waited for her tea.

Rikou brought her the tea that she wanted a few minutes later. Shinku took one sip and instantly made a face.

`Rikou, this tea is too cold, make it again!'

Rikou sighed, and went back to make Shinku some hotter tea. When Rikou brought the tea to Shinku, she made another face.

`Rikou, the ratio of water and milk is not right. Do it again!'

For Rikou, that was how the morning slowly progressed. At 8:00, he presented Shinku with her eighteenth round of tea.

`Rikou…'

`Yep, I've already started making another one.' Rikou jumped in before she could finish her sentence.

`I was going to say how good this lot of tea is.' Shinku took a sip. `You learn well.'

`Thank goodness that's over.' Rikou said, not realising that his morning problems were far from over.

`Rikou!'

Rikou turned to see his worst nightmare standing in the kitchen doorway. Suigintou was up, and she did not look happy.

`H…Hi, Suigintou!' Rikou said nervously. `What's gotten you up so early?'

`I was woken up by the racket that you two were making!' Suigintou said angrily. `I could hear the whole thing from your room!'

`What?' Rikou asked. They weren't being that loud where they?

`All I could hear for the past hour and a half was `Rikou, this tea is this, this tea is that'!' Suigintou yelled. `And your complaints about making it all over again!'

`Well, you weren't the one dragged out of bed at 6am in the morning to make tea, were you?' Rikou rebutted.

`If you didn't want to do it, then why did you bother doing it?' Suigintou argued back.

`She would have whipped me with her hair if I hadn't!' Rikou yelled, pointing at Shinku, who was calmly sipping her tea in silence.

`Stop being such a baby!' Suigintou shouted at him. `No wonder you were the target for the evil dolls' kidnap plan! You're so stupid and defenceless!'

`Well, at least I don't have mental breakdowns once in every three days!' Rikou yelled. `You keep sooking about things that don't matter, like your name! What would be so offensive about that?'

`The hell you would know!' Suigintou screamed, not bothering to stop the tears falling from her eyes.

Suigintou began sobbing. Rikou watched in shock as Suigintou buried her heads in her hands and continued to cry.

`…Suigintou.' Rikou reached out to touch Suigintou.

`DON'T TOUCH ME!' Suigintou slapped his hand away from her.

`You know what I think you need? Sometime to yourself!' Mirien announced her presence in the kitchen.

Mirien scooped up Suigintou and proceeded to carry her out the room. Before she left, she stopped and pointed at Shinku.

`There's another living doll in this house. Rikou, tell me where it came from?' Mirien asked, with suspicion.

`Well, actually there's two. The other one is sleeping in her case in my room…' Rikou said nervously.

`How long are they staying here for?' Mirien asked.

`Not long. Only a couple of days. I promise, they'll be gone by the end of the week coming.' Rikou said.

`They better be, before I deal with them myself.' Mirien muttered as she left the room.

Mirien cradled Suigintou, as she wandered down the hallway.

`Suigintou? Do you want a bath or a shower or something? That can help sometimes…' Mirien asked.

Suigintou nodded, and Mirien showed her to a room with a bath, a shower and a large mirror. Most of the room was white, with the exception of the mirror and the light-grey tiles on the floor.

`I'll leave you then.' Mirien left the room and shutting the door, leaving Suigintou to herself.

Almost immediately afterwards, Louise's form appeared in front of Suigintou and sat down in front of Suigintou. She was wearing her normal attire, and her face revealed concern.

`You had a fight with your medium?'

Suigintou nodded. Louise leaned forward, and cuddled Suigintou, who had began to whimper.

`If what he said to you really hurt you, I can kill him if you like.' Louise said thoughtfully.

`No…I d…don't think that's necessary.' Suigintou muttered.

`Are you still going to see the twins?' Louise asked.

`Yes, I might as well.' Suigintou mumbled, wiping away her tears as she began to undo the ribbon around her choker.

Louise took that as her cue to leave and began to fade away.

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

Suigintou exited the bathroom after she had showered, and calmed herself down. Her hair was slightly wet from her shower, but had been brushed into its normal style. She was wearing her normal dress, without her shoes, which she always took off when she slept with Rikou.

`Do you feel any better?' Lyn asked when Suigintou noticed her in the hallway.

`You know about what happened? Suigintou did not remember Lyn being present when she had argued with her medium.

`I could hear the two of you arguing, even in my case down the hall.' Lyn replied.

`I see...' Suigintou sighed.

`Remember, you're supposed to go to the twin's house with Shinku.' Lyn said. `She really wants to see them again, and she's been waiting for you since she finished her tea.'

`I know where I'll be going.' She muttered, as she walked past Lyn. `Has she really been waiting for me that long?'

Suigintou walked into Rikou's room and found Shinku waiting for her, just like Lyn had said she would be.

`We better be going soon. I would like to spend as much time as possible with my sisters.' Shinku stated.

`I know. I also need to discuss the events that have happened over the past few days.' Suigintou told Shinku. `Though, in that household, only Souseseki is ever interested in things like that, the rest only care about crayons and food and child's things…'

Shinku prepared her case for the flight, as Suigintou watched from where she stood near the bed.

`I'm sorry…about what happened this morning between you and your medium. I didn't mean to cause something like that.' Shinku said sadly.

`It doesn't matter that much.' Suigintou shrugged. `My medium is stupid. He doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut.'

`Still, I am sorry for causing the whole incident before…'

`ARE WE GOING OR NOT?' Suigintou snapped, turning to give an evil glare at Shinku.

There were a few moments of awkward silence, before Shinku sat in her case, and made it hover above the floor. `I guess we are then.'

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

`This is the sky.' Joenna instructed her new sister, as she pointed at the sky in the picture book she was reading. `Sky!'

`This is the sky.' Joenna's sister replied.

`Very good Sherry! You learn fas…'

`This is a tree.' Joenna's sister Sherry continued, pointing at the said object in the picture. `This is a car. This is the grass. This is a plant. This is a flower. This is a bird. This is a cloud.'

`WOW!' Joenna glomped on Sherry. `YOU'RE. SO. CUUUUUUTE! Where did you learn all that?'

`Souseseki taught me yesterday.' Sherry replied. `I want to read books.'

`Hooray!' Joenna exclaimed. `Now you have a goal in life, you can work hard at it and do your best!'

`Yes, sister.' Sherry said dully, continuing with her picture book by turning the page.

Suiseseki snickered as she looked over at the two dolls from her corner of the room. Suiseseki had found one of Rina's old maths textbooks and was eagerly reading it to find out what would happen to X.

`They're so funny ~desu!' Suiseseki whispered to herself. `Joenna is more immature, although Sherry is younger ~desu!'

`Isn't that like you and me?' Souseseki asked, as she walked over to Suiseseki. `You are older than me, and you're not the most mature either. That could also be said about Kanaria and Shinku, or Hina Ichigo and Kirakishou. Our age or creation order doesn't affect our maturity.'

`I know, I know ~desu!' Suiseseki said, wanting to get back to reading about X. `But, it's just so funny watching them ~desu!'

Souseseki took a glimpse at what Suiseseki was reading. `Advanced Mathematics for Year 11? Do you even understand any of that?'

`I've been following X's adventures since he appeared in the `Mathematics for Year 8' text guide, so of course I know what he's been doing ~desu!' Suiseseki replied.

`Suit yourself…' Souseseki sighed.

Suddenly, a brown suitcase smashed into Rina's window, and landed in the middle of the floor. The lid of the case opened, revealing the occupant.

`S…Shinku?' Suiseseki stuttered, before dropping her book, and running to hug her sister. `Shinku! Where have you been all this time ~desu?'

`See? I told you Shinku was alive!' Joenna yelled triumphantly.

Suiseseki broke her embrace with Shinku, and began fixing the window using her ring's power.

`It's nice to see you, Shinku.' Souseseki said. `What have you been doing all this time?'

Shinku briefly went through the details of her life in the mansion with Lyn, and the short period of time she had stayed with Suigintou and her medium.

`I see.' Souseseki stated. `You do know about Joenna and her sister over there?'

`Yes, I met them during the battle at the mansion. They are Enju's children, correct?'

Souseseki nodded.

Shinku turned and saw Joenna's sister reading a picture book about a puppy. She had her lavender hair pulled up into a ponytail with a thick scrunchie. She wore a dark purple singlet with floral trim, and a fancy indigo jacket overtop. She wore a pair of grey, doll-sized track pants, and dark purple rose sandals.

`Do you have a name?' Shinku asked.

`Yes. It's Sherry.' Sherry replied, staring up at Shinku.

`Where did you get your clothes from?'

`Rina found them for me.'

`Isn't she sooooo CUTE!' Joenna exclaimed cuddling her sister again.

`Sister, I believe you should stop doing that.' Sherry said in an attempt to get Joenna off of herself, but Joenna wasn't listening.

The group of dolls heard a knock at the window, and saw a less than amused Suigintou standing outside the window that Suiseseki had fixed only a few moments ago.

`Oh dear, I seem to have forgotten that Suigintou was with me.' Shinku said. `Can this window be opened?'

Rina's bedroom window was opened, and Suigintou was let inside.

`Why did you leave me? I thought we were supposed to b e travelling together?' Suigintou snapped at Shinku.

`You were going too slow.' Shinku stated. `The speed is hard to control with cases.'

`You should have told me that earlier!' Suigintou yelled.

`I thought you already knew! You have a case don't you?'

`They always argue…' Souseseki said with a sigh, turning to stare at Suiseseki.

`Oh…Oh right!' Suiseseki got the silent message her twin was trying to convey. `Suigintou, come make some tea with me ~desu! I hear your tea is very nice ~desu!

`Wait…When…' Suigintou was dragged out the room by a very determined Suiseseki, leaving Souseseki, Shinku, Joenna and Sherry in the room.

`Shinku, did something happen to Suigintou?' Souseseki asked. `Her temper is worse than usual…'

`She had a fight with her medium this morning.' Shinku replied. `Although she won't admit it, I think they've become very close. They even sleep together.'

`Oh…Oh really…' Souseseki said in confusion.

`I believe she also wanted to talk to you about the battle events. Apparently, the rest of this household isn't that interested.'

`Well, if it involved this `X' Suiseseki would happily listen to anyone talk.' Souseseki laughed. `Simply, I don't think battles and Alice Games matter too much to them.'

`We're back ~desu!' Suiseseki announced, dragging Suigintou into the room. `And we bring tea!'

`What was the point of that?' Suigintou asked.

`Just sit down and enjoy the tea being offered.' Shinku said. `Joenna, Sherry, would you like some tea?'

`YES PLEASE!'

`Yes.'

The six dolls sat around Rina's coffee table, and chatted over tea. Suigintou got her chance to explain to the dolls what had actually happened during the battle, and was only interrupted when Joenna spilt some of her tea. Shinku did some explaining herself, of what had happened in the last era, and some of the dreams she had had with Suigintou and the figure in them.'

`So, all we need to figure out now, is what the black figure was.' Souseseki said in thought. `Do you have any idea, Suigintou?'

`Not a clue.' Suigintou lied.

`Can I have some more tea?' Sherry asked.

`You can.' Suigintou leaned over to grasp the teapot, but instead she felt a disturbance deep within her.

She began shaking, and her breathing became rapid. Suigintou began to glow a faint white. A few crystalline tears ran down her cheeks.

`Suigintou!' Shinku yelled, but she was fixed the the spot. No matter how much she wanted to move, she found she couldn't.

Suigintou glowed an even brighter white, and began gasping for air. Her hair floated gently around her, and her eyes slowly turned blank.

Suddenly, a white light shot out of her back.

`Suigintou!' Shinku yelled, suddenly realising she could now move.

Shinku ran around the table, and caught Suigintou as she fainted. The glowing slowly faded, but Shinku continued to shake Suigintou in an attempt to wake her.

Shinku turned back to the table, and saw that the four dolls sitting there were all gazing at an area behind her.

She looked back, and saw the person she least expected to see emerge from the white light.

`Father?'

`I see you still remember me.'

Shinku became as shocked as the four at the table. Her Father was here, and he was talking to them. Almost all of them.

`What happened to Suigintou?' Shinku asked.

`I used her as a means to enter this world. She knows what is going on, but she is too exhausted to react. This is the first time the four of you have gathered at once.'

`Father…Why did you come here?' Shinku asked.

`Put simply…I want to use your Rosa Mystica's to heal Alice.'

`Why ~desu?' Suiseseki asked, snapping out of the shock of seeing Rozen.

`Kirakishou, your youngest sister, became Alice by winning the Alice Game. But, even as Alice, she seemed…upset over something. We lived peacefully for a while, but one day not too long ago, there was a rip in the N-Field we were living in. The four most powerful Rosa Mystica's she had, other than her own, saw the means to escape using the rip, and therefore awakening you. But Alice has become very sick, and the only way to make her better is to take the Rosa Mystica's back.'

`You can't force us to give up our Rosa Mystica's!' Suiseseki yelled.

Shinku sighed sadly. `Even if we wanted to, now that we are alive, no human can extract the Rosa Mystica from us, against our will.'

`Kirakishou is very ill, and it could be fatal. If you let her die, the Rosa Mystica's she takes with her will become lifeless too.'

`Hina Ichigo and Kanaria…' Souseseki said.

`That is correct. You have a choice. You can give up your Rosa Mystica's to save the three, or you can keep them and let them die.'

`You can't do that ~desu!' Suiseseki replied angrily. `Why aren't you all defending me? You agree too don't you ~desu?'

Both Shinku and Souseseki didn't reply. They both looked at the ground ahead of them, and Shinku cuddled Suigintou closer to her.

`I will give you three days to decide. I will be here in this room on the third day, you can tell me your decision then.'

Rozen held out a rose. `If you need to contact me before then, pull a petal off this rose.'

Shinku reached up and took the rose from him.

`Suigintou, wake up!' Rozen clapped his hands and Suigintou's eyes shot open, and she sat up.

`Father, isn't there any other way?' Suigintou asked. `Why are you making this happen?'

`The only way to heal Alice is to give her back the Rosa Mystica she has lost.'

`Alice is Kirakishou, right?' Suigintou asked.

`Yes, you already know that, you heard my conversation with the rest.'

`C…can we see her?' Suigintou looked down at her shaking hands.

`Suigintou! She's a monster, why on earth do you want to see her?' Souseseki yelled.

`I can grant you that favour.'

A set of golden gates appeared in the room, next to Rozen.

`Go through this portal, that will take you to Kirakishou. But, you can only enter and exit once. So think wisely before you do. I will be seeing you here in three days.'

Rozen began to fade away, and within a few seconds he was gone.

The six dolls were silent, and the only sound came from Sherry stirring her tea with a spoon. She put her spoon down and stood up.

`I am going to leave now, and you should too, Joenna.' Sherry stated. `This is your decision to make, not ours.'

`That's fine with me.' Joenna said quietly, standing up to leave. Joenna had been feeling quite awkward with the Rozen Maiden's since Rozen's appearance. Joenna and Sherry left the room, closing the door behind them.

`What do we do ~desu?' Suiseseki asked sadly.

`I…I don't know.' Shinku muttered.

`Maybe we should talk about this later…' Suigintou said.

`Later? We don't HAVE a later ~desu!' Suiseseki said angrily. `We only have three DAYS left ~desu!'

`Unless we decide not to take up Father's offer…' Suigintou said dully.

`Suigintou! How could you even consider that?' Souseseki said, in shock. `Our two sisters' existences are in jeopardy!'

`So what?' Suigintou snapped. `Hina Ichigo and Kanaria were just spoilt brats, who were used to being tended to by the likes of you! And Kirakishou? She deserves to die for what she did!'

`We would do the same for you…' Shinku mumbled.

`You would not have!' Suigintou argued. `If I hadn't met me in this era, you wouldn't even give a damn about me!'

`Suigintou!' Souseseki yelled. `We can't afford to be arguing, and making personal decisions about this! We need to decide as a group what we're going to do!'

`I think we should visit Kirakishou first, before we decide anything.' Shinku suggested. `There was no point summoning the gates, if there was no reason to use them. Kirakishou is weak, and she won't be able to hurt us.'

Suigintou looked away from the group. `Fine.'

`That sounds good to me.' Souseseki agreed.

`I suppose I should go with you ~desu.' Suiseseki sighed.

The four dolls stood and approached the gates. Shinku gently pulled the handles outward. The four were blinded by a white light, as they entered Alice's domain.

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

A/N

As you can read, the end is drawing ever closer, and the plot is slowly revealing itself. If I follow my plans, there will be two more chapters and an epilogue. I may add another chapter, depending on whether I have enough material, but I highly doubt it. So, keep your eye out, the end is very close!