Yay, another multi-chap for Pandora Hearts! This'll be short…more like, an episodic adventure or something…I just wanted to roll with this idea. If it gets liked, I might add some villainy from the Nightray family or something…*just likes the idea of Oz and Alice trapped in a bottle or something* Or not. Either way. XD So please enjoy! :D XD~
"Why are we doing this again?" Alice grumbled as she picked up a rather dusty blanket and tossed it aside with a huff.
"Because it needs to be done, quit complaining, stupid rabbit." Gilbert said with a flicker of annoyance in his gaze as he organized a few stray books.
Oz surveyed their 'progress' thus far…they'd been in the basement for nearly two hours in an attempt to track down any clues that they might find about the past and about the Abyss. It was Uncle Oscar who had rather suddenly come up with the idea and they'd begun out enthusiastically enough…until they'd seen what a rat pack the basement was…it seemed more and more like the generations of Vessalius had just thrown in everything but the kitchen sink, but ah well…if they could just find something.
"Well what are we lookin' for anyway?" she grumbled again. "Some kinda book, or what?"
Gilbert seemed like he might snap at her but Oz answered first in a cheerful tone. "A book would be great, Alice. You focus on that, 'kay? Maybe we'll find something about Alice here, if Jack left anything behind."
Alice's eyes widened slightly and then she looked away. She hadn't really mentioned her memories lately, and Oz wasn't certain whether she had given up the search or was just sufficiently distracted. "Yeah, maybe." she finally said as she idly picked through some objects.
Sharon and Break had politely declined to assist although Break had been quite jovial about how good it was that they were. More like he wanted them to do all the work and then nose his way through the results…
Something glinted up on a shelf and it caught Oz's attention. A flash of a sparkling blue reflected in his eyes and he stepped over some piles to reach the shelf. Oz stood on tiptoe and snatched the object curiously, only to have a shower of dust and a few random objects rain down on him that had been disturbed when he'd pulled it.
"Oz!" Gilbert was by his side in an instant as he hauled the other up by his shoulders and patted him off for dust. "Are you alright?"
He huffed a bit of dust out of his mouth before he smiled up at Gilbert sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm fine…I was reaching for…this." he held it up and inspected it.
Attached to a chain of gold was a blue sapphire stone in the shape of a circle and gilded with intricately curved edges. He, Gilbert, and soon Alice stared at the jewel a moment before she snatched it from Oz's hands to examine it.
"Huh, it's got some kinda words on it, but I can't read them."
Gilbert plucked it from her hands to examine it and he squinted at the words before he shook his head and handed it back to Oz. "I can't make them out either…they seem to be in a different language. It must have belonged to a lady of this household, at some point or another."
Oz stared at the sparkling jewel for a moment before he pocketed it with a chuckle. "I'll ask Uncle Oscar about it later…"
Gilbert frowned slightly. The last time Oz had said those words to him, it had been about the pocket watch the day of the Coming of Age Ceremony…and then he hadn't seen his precious young master for ten years. "Maybe you should leave it be…"
"Don't be such a worry-wart, Gil, you said it yourself, it's just probably someone's old trinket." he smiled brightly up at his cautious servant.
Gilbert didn't seem pleased but he didn't argue it as he nodded his head. "Later then…"
Several hours more of searching produced some unusual items, including a certain box.
"Hey, Oz, look at this." Alice pointed out a little wooden box. Inside were some strange little packages, and little metal rings and balls as well as a little instruction booklet with people in some rather odd positions. "What are they supposed to be doing?" she queried as Oz came up beside her.
"Huh…I'm not sure…it looks like it'd hurt though, hey, Gil? Do you know-"
Gilbert, who had looked from over their shoulders, snatched the box from Alice's hand with a crimson flush on his cheeks he slammed it shut and slipped it into a pocket of his jacket to be disposed of later. "It's…nothing. Just a game."
"Ohh! Will you teach me us to play then, Gil?" Oz asked brightly as he tugged on Gilbert's sleeve.
Gilbert's face went from crimson to scarlet in an instant as he stammered. "O-Oz! N-No! I-that is…it's a game for adults." he regretted those words instantly, but there they were. Images of 'playing' those games with Oz flashed in his mind and he felt the strong urge to slam his head into a wall.
Oz frowned up at his servant suspiciously. "Gil…"
"Oh, look at the time…you must be hungry, right? I'll go make some dinner…right now." Gilbert raced out of the room before Oz could stop him and Oz huffed a bit. He was going to figure out what the box was about, if only because Gilbert seemed to want to hide it.
"That seaweed-head is hiding something…" Alice growled.
"Don't worry, Alice." he smiled slyly. "We'll figure it out."
By nightfall, they hadn't made progress in that area, but Oz was confident that he could find that box and, or bully Gilbert into telling him. Either way would work just fine. "Giiiil~ Hey, Gil, where are youuuuu?" he called through the hall in amusement. Gilbert had made himself scarce since dinner. That box must really be something special, and irked him a bit that Gilbert had some sort of 'adult' knowledge that he himself lacked. Little upstart.
Oz's hands bumped against himself as he walked and he felt the weight of the necklace in his pocket. "Oh yeah…" he murmured as he pulled it out to examine it. Beside him, Alice peered at it with faint curiosity as she gave a little sniff. "Smells funny. Kinda familiar too."
"And it feels warm…" Oz noted as he held the stone in one hand and brushed a thumb against it. They entered the drawing room and found no Gilbert, but he took the opportunity to move closer to the fire to attempt to read the words again. "…it's so faint…p…par…sel…vas..?" he pronounced the word slowly as he tried to sound it out and squint against the wavering firelight.
The stone suddenly felt red hot in Oz's hands and he dropped it in surprise as it began to glow.
"Oz! What-"
A brilliant flash of blue light enveloped the room and when it faded, the necklace lay on the ground, glinting in the firelight…
But Oz and Alice were gone.
I was going to use latin for the words, but I couldn't find ones that translated the way that I wanted to it's just a fictional language that doesn't need a meaning. XD I really haven't figured much out with this story, I just envisioned the adventures of a shrunken Oz and Alice and the cuteness of Gil finding his lil' master. XDDD Eventually. And by the by, *le gasp*, what's in that box, Gil, you sly raven, you! XDD ;D~ (it's nothing important, I just thought that it was an amusing addition, is all XD) if you don't get it then don't worry. I don't want to corrupt any innocent little minds XDD
