Kevin let a sigh escape from his lips, his breath crystallising in the cold winter air. He fiercely rubbed his hands together to create some warmth. He was walking through the thick snow on his way home from training when he passed by the icy graveyard, the tombstones shining in the Christmas sun.

The thirteen year old paused for a moment to stare and the awe inspiring sight, his gaze drifting over the glistening sheets of ice that sat atop of each carefully carved grave stone. Then, something caught his eye. A brilliant gold shone among the pure white snow, creating such contrast in the peaceful scene.

Kevin slowly edged his way closer, into the graveyard, weaving his way among the many homes of the dead until he reached the place where the gold had shined from. Bending down, he took hold of the tresses of beautiful yellow hair and gently tugged a doll free from its nest beneath the snow.

Kevin frowned. Never had he seen such a weird thing – the dolls hair was a silken mass of gold, but her skin was a mid summers day blue and her dress a marvellous rose pink. She had a painted black mouth, shaped in a crooked smile and white circular eyes rimmed in onyx.

"You found her." Kevin turned to the voice and found a girl standing mere feet away from him, her white dress and chalk hair blending in with the brilliant pure snow. The girl took a step forwards, her bare feet leaving soft imprints in the shimmering frost. "She's always wandering off, that one. Someday I fear I may lose her forever."

The girls gaze flickered down to the doll in Kevin's hand before her purple eyes fluttered back to meet with his red ones – blood clashing with deep amethyst. She held out her pale, delicate hand, her palm facing upwards.

"You don't mind, do you?" She asked, gesturing with her other hand to the blue doll. "I don't wish to part with her just yet."

Kevin only nodded before handing the doll over to the strange girl and watching as she ran her fingertips through the objects gold tresses before traces the twisted smile on its smooth face. She didn't look up when she next spoke; she just kept tracing the dolls features, giggling softly.

"She likes you, it seems." The purple eyed teen cooed, finally meeting Kevin's gaze once again. "She hardly ever smiles like this."

"Kevin!" Both looked around at the same time, spotting the shadow in the distance, surrounded my cold fog. "Kevin, where are you?"

"It looks like you have to go, Kevin." Said boy looked back at the girl, seeing her place the doll on her shoulder and begin to turn away, walking into the fog from which the shadow was emerging. "Thank you for finding her."

"Kevin!" Again, Kevin looked back to the shadow, watching as more features zoomed into focus. He then turned back to the mysterious graveyard girl only to find that she was no longer present. There weren't even footprints in the sand.

"Kevin, there you are, I've been looking everywhere for you." Kevin didn't look away from the spot that the girl had been standing in, his red eyes just stayed trained on the obscuring mist. "Kevin?"

Suddenly, the boy snapped out of his daze and looked up into the worried eyes of his father, feeling a light blush fan across his cheeks at his lack of attention.

"Y-yes?" He stuttered, more from embarrassment than the cold, although that was a contributing factor.

"Are you ok? You seem rather odd."

Kevin just shook his head and smiled, reassuring his father that he was fine, just daydreaming is all. His father seemed content with the answer and said that they should be getting back home and that dinner was waiting. Kevin only nodded and followed after his father, throwing an occasional glance over his shoulder in hopes that the white haired maiden would be there again. But no, she was not, and there was no sign that she had ever been present in the first place.

And Kevin was starting to wonder if she actually had.

Maybe it was just the cold playing tricks on his mind, after all.


They were dressed in their finest clothes, dainty masks poised on the bridges of their noses. He watched from the sidelines as Master St. Clair and his wife twirled in elegant circles around the dance floor and sighed, feeling the boredom of being a mere watch dog sink in. Not that he didn't like his job – he did, and he was very dedicated – but sometimes he just wished for something, anything to just disrupt the peace even for a brief two minutes.

Nearly six years had passed and yet Kevin had still not forgotten that encounter in the graveyard, only now he just wrote it off as a foolish child's imagination. That had been something unordinary – that had been something he longed for once again.

"Kevin, my boy." Master St. Clair said, letting go of his wife's hand and watching from the corner of his eye as she walked over to get herself a drink. Then, he turned his gaze to his faithful knight and beamed. "Are you not going to dance, young one?"

Kevin sported a small smile for his boss before slowly shaking his head, bowing it slightly.

"Ah, alas Master, I shall not." He said, before gesturing to his feet. "It seems as though I was gifted with two left feet instead of one. I fear that if I dance tonight I will only end up making a fool of myself."

Master St. Clair chuckled and patted the young nineteen year olds shoulder, his rosy cheeks slightly shiny in the light of the halls candles. Then, something caught the boy's eye and everything around him blurred into nothing.

A flash of white and the slightest hint of purple.

Kevin blinked, wondering if he had actually seen that, or if his tired mind was playing harsh tricks once again.

"Kevin, is everything alright?" The world swam back into focus and Kevin shook his head, the noise of the ball flooding back into his ears. Kevin then smiled weakly at Master St. Clair.

"Yes, master, everything is fine." He paused and looked back to the door where he had seen the brief flash of pure chalk white. "You don't mind if I take a small break, do you? I think some fresh air is well needed on my part, my head is starting to swirl."

Master St. Clair didn't answer for a moment; he just looked Kevin over before sighing and nodding.

"Of course my boy, you deserve a break. Go on, I will see you again at the end of the ball."

Kevin nodded his thanks before pushing his way through the crowd of nobles and out into the brisk winter's night. He immediately felt the chill on his skin, but ignored it as he scanned the darkness.

Then he saw it again – the swirl of white and flash of purple.

Kevin began to walk towards the sight before breaking into a soft jog, rounding a corner of the noble's house and entering into a lush garden that on this full moon was basked in a glorious shine. The white haired girl was sitting on the edge of a fountain when he spotted her, her amethyst gaze set upon the star lit sky.

If she heard him approach, she didn't show any signs of it. It was only when he was a few steps away that she spoke, flicking her gaze down to the familiar blue doll at her side.

"She wanted to see you." Her voice was as soft as he remembered it and she didn't look a single day older. "I think she missed you."

Kevin looked at the doll and smiled.

"Well, even though I find this weird to say, I think I've found myself missing her too. Both of you actually."

There was silence before finally the girl looked up, her unforgettable purple eyes meeting his own.

"I always liked your eyes, you know." She said. "They are such a pretty colour. Red like ruby's."

Kevin took a step forward and perched himself on the edge of the fountain, next to the doll. His line of sight wandered off into the darkened mass of rose bushes and he found himself looking at everything yet nothing at the same time.

"Like ruby's?" He chuckled. "People usual compare them to blood, after all, they are devil's eyes."

"Emily likes them too."

Kevin looked up into purple and noticed for the first time how incredibly pale her skin was. It almost reminded him of an old story his mother used to tell him, the story of young miss Snow White.

"Emily?" He found himself questioning, and in reply the white haired girl just picked up the doll with her nimble fingers and made it wave at him. He smiled. She smiled. The doll smiled.

"This is Emily. She is my favourite doll, although she can be quite moody at times."

Kevin laughed before he heard a shout of his name from the house. He instantly recognised it as his Masters and sighed, closing his eyes in the process.

"Always interrupted, aren't we?" The white haired girl said, looking off in the general direction of the door to the manor.

"It seems so."

Another shout, this time louder. It seemed as if his Master was ready to leave, meaning that of course, Kevin's time at the ball was over too.

"We will meet again." It was as if the purple eyed girl had read his mind. "I doubt that Emily will not want to see you again, for some reason she had become attached the being know as 'Kevin Regnard'"

Kevin chuckled and stood, before looking down at the doll and taking one of her wooden hands between his fingers, kissing it gently and causing the white haired girl to laugh.

"Well," he said, both to the doll and to the purple eyed mystery. "I look forward to meeting you again."

Then, as another shout echoed through the night from his irate Master, Kevin took his leave, slowly walking away from the fountain where the girl and her doll once sat. Once, because as expected, when the red eyed man looked back, they were nowhere to be seen and just as before, there was no indication that they had ever been present.

But this time, Kevin knew that she had been there – he knew that this time he hadn't imagined her and that one day, they would meet again.


He didn't see her again. Not when he went away with the young St. Clair girl, nor when he came home to find the family he was meant to have protected slaughtered. She didn't show in the months that followed and she definitely didn't show when he was made the proposal.

'Do you wish to change the past?'

She was never there, and once again his mind began to drill in the possibility that she wasn't real, that he had just imagined everything. But he didn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it. She was real and he knew it.

People started to call him a monster – blood red eyed monster.

Slowly, as time wore on and he sunk himself deeper into his own personal hell, his only companion the bloodthirsty chain, Albus, Kevin's vision and memories of the white haired girl began to vanish, along with the picture he had burned into his brain of her doll, Emily.

His only quest now was to change the past – to revive the family he had served for as long as he could remember, to spare their daughter from the pain of losing absolutely everyone.

So, it was not surprising that when he met her again, he didn't recognise her – he didn't link her to his past nor remember any of the times they had met and talked. No, he didn't realise who she was at all.

'My name is Alice.'

She had danced around the room in her white dress, happy as can be and not intending at all to revive the broken knight's memory of her. No, she was content to leave him as he was – she needed something from him anyway and it would be hard to take something so precious from him if he remembered. So she left him in blankness as she pulled his ruby eye from its socket.

'I'm giving it to Cheshire.'

Cheshire, her cat. Her cat who had had his sight so cruelly ripped from him. Things were going fine, everything according to plan. That is until he showed up and ruined everything. The world began to shatter around them and Kevin's mind fell into disarray as pieced of his memory began to return and he no longer found himself angry at Alice for taking his eye.

'Alice!'

He had yelled her name and she had looked around, instantly seeing the emotions swirling behind his one remaining red eye. He hadn't fully remembered, but there were hints of recognition burning bright and Alice felt a tear trickle down her cheek. She was instantly over to him, one of her cold hands laid gently on his cheek.

His skin sparked at the touch as if he had felt it before, but alas, he could not feel for the life of him where. She knew he didn't remember, but she didn't care – he didn't need to, his feelings were strong enough that even without his memories he would help her.

'Will you grant me my wish?'

It was a wish she had wanted ever since she had been alive, and the feeling of wanting to be free only intensified when she met Kevin, wanting to experience more friendship than just those fleeting meetings. He still wanted her to change the past for him, and she was willing to, just so long as he would help her.

'Then please…'

Tears had begun to leak from her violet orbs.

'I don't want to be the Intention of The Abyss anymore…'


Things still confused him so. Those amethyst orbs were lodged in his brain and he wanted to know where he knew them from, because he knew – he didn't know how, but he knew – that he and the Intention had met before. Perhaps in another life? Or perhaps in aspects of Kevin Regnard's life that his new persona, Xerxes Break, had forgotten?

When arriving at the Reinsworth manor one evening after another day at Pandora Headquarters, Break found a strange object lying just outside his room.

A doll.

The dolls hair was a silken mass of gold, but her skin was a mid summers day blue and her dress a marvellous rose pink. She had a painted black mouth, shaped in a crooked smile and white circular eyes rimmed in onyx.

Unconsciously, the contractor picked it up, feeling an electric spark shoot through his body and the feel of the smooth wood and he could not shake the feeling that he had seen this before too; much like the feeling he had gotten after having the Intention of Abyss's hand laid across his cheek.

He hadn't realised he had been staring wide eyed at the creepy children's toy before a young voice snapped him out of his daze, drawing him back into reality.

"What's it's name?" The youngest maiden of the house asked, looking curiously at the object in Break's hand.

Break raised his only visible eyebrow and looked down at the young miss Sharon Reinsworth, then he looked back to the doll.

"Name?" He echoed. "What ever do you mean, My Lady?"

Sharon giggled and poked Break in the side at least three times.

"The doll, silly." She chided childishly. "She needs a name."

Break frowned and looked back at the doll for a moment, taking in its warped smile and wide, eerie eyes.

"Emily." The name just seemed to fall from his mouth and he surprised even himself with how easy it seemed to come. He hadn't even thought of anything when the words had left his lips, yet the random outburst seemed to feel so right. "Her name is Emily."

He smiled. The doll smiled, and somehow, it seemed as if she was smiling just for him.

"Well, would you and Emily like to come have tea with me and Mr. Charles?" Sharon held up the stuffed bunny that she always carried with her and Break's smile just grew.

"Why, My Lady, I would love too." He then placed Emily gently on his shoulder before taking Sharon's hand and letting her lead him out onto the balcony.


'Emily always did seem to like you…

Kevin…'


'This is just an idea I had about how Break got Emily. I know it's a bit strange, but Emily's strange, don't you think?'