Mr Gray Knight
Rating: T
Summery: A tragic casualty in the escalating war against the Baskervilles forces Liam to do the unthinkable and go into the Abyss to make a desperate deal with the Will of the Abyss.
Characters: Liam and The Will of the Abyss
Comments: This is only part one of a quick little fic that sprung from the prompt below, I hope the no one minds that it kind of ended up being about Break anyway. Additionally the March Hare makes just about every cute noise that I can find in the thesaurus, this is entirely due to a piece by calliope-love which features the many adorable noises of March Hare.
There'll be a sequel, more about the consequences of what Liam has done than this one was.
Prompt: "I would just like to see someone else besides Break (Kevin) meeting Will of the Abyss, whether it's to ask her to change the past or they just randomly fell into the Abyss or whatever. This doesn't have to be as a pairing or for smut, although I certainly won't object if it goes that way! Angst or general insanity is also fine."
Of the many things that Break had told him about the Abyss he had failed to mention it was so cold. There was actually ice on the face of the grandfather clock and icicles grew down from the shelves of the bookcases while the floor, black and white checkerboard, just like Break had described, was covered in a thin layer of snow.
Liam shivered and hunched into his coat, if he had known it would be this cold he would have dressed better for it; but Break had neglected to tell him many things, this was just another to add to the list.
From beside him there was a gentle chitter of concern, he dropped the broken pieces contract mirror (they were of no use to him anyway now) and reached up to stroke the fluffy ear of the March Hare comfortingly. "Thank you for taking me here." he told the chain, which chirruped sadly at him. It had expressed that it rather liked being contracted to him, it had been quite fond of its master. But it understood why he had to do this, which was why it had forgiven him for sending it back to the Abyss that it didn't much like. "You'll get another contractor." he told the chain, "A better one."
The Hare nudged him and burbled in a way that seemed to indicate it would have preferred him as its contractor. Liam chuckled and ruffled its fur. "I would have been for longer if I could have. But the only way I could have gotten to Her was to break the contract and let you take me back with you. I'm sorry."
It was hard to read the expression on the face of the chain, and now that he wasn't its contractor Liam couldn't sense what it felt but the way it leaned into his hand seemed almost adoring.
He gave the soft fur one last stroke before he said, "You should go, this place won't be safe for you once She realizes we're here."
The chain leaned in close for a moment, nuzzling its face against his, it chittered as if to say, "Be careful." He smiled and wrapped an arm around the chain, hugging it for a moment, "Thank you." he murmured and let Hare go.
It chirruped one last time at him and then drifted up, passing through a hole in the ceiling and out into the Abyss beyond.
This was it. Liam straightened his spine; there was no going back now, even if he wanted to. There was only one path.
He crossed the room, ignoring the way the cold was seeping up through the soles of his boots, and pushed aside the curtains that led to the next room.
She was there, sitting in a high backed chair, her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. Her chin rested on her knees and she seemed to be sleeping, except there was frost on her eyelashes and the ice that twinkled, jewel bright, in her hair. There was snow in drifts around her chair, almost as high as the seat itself and icicles dripped from the arms of the chair.
And, but for the perfectly white hair, she looked just like Alice.
Liam swallowed nervously, then said, "Will of the Abyss?"
Something moved in the snow bank next to the chair, a small creature shook off the snow covering it and glared at him with glowing red eyes. It was a doll.
As he stared at it in confusion it spoke, expect its painted lips never moved. "Alyss!" It called, "Alyss, wake up! We have a guest,"
The girl stirred, her eyes flickering open. "I didn't invite anyone here." she murmured, sleepily.
"An uninvited guest." the doll said.
The Will of the Abyss' head snapped up, her eyes open and stared right at him. "What a rude guest." she growled. "I did not invite you here! Get out!"
The pure force of the words hit hit him so hard he was thrown out of the side room and slammed into the other side of the next chamber, driving all the breath out of him violently. He slid to the frozen floor, choking for breath that wouldn't come for a few moments. When he finally manage to force a breath into his flattened lungs he pushed himself up on his arms to see that the Will of the Abyss had only just now come to the door of the room.
She was shaking the ice from her hair, laughing as it tickled to the floor. Glancing around the room she took in the frozen furniture with another laugh, then she swept an arm around the room crowing, "Wake up, everybody! We have a guest!"
There was a hiss from under her feet, where the snow had melted to water. Around the room icicles shrunk down to nothing and the water splashed into puddles on the floor. The dusting snow dissolved instantly into nothing, evaporating away around him as he pushed himself to his feet, one arm still to a chest that ached from impact.
The puddles dwindled as they evaporated so fast they left plumes of vapor behind them and soon the floor was completely clear, the air was even warmer than before. Little red eyes blinked to life on the shelves, the toys cackled as they woke, some of them spinning of the shelves to turn enthusiastic circles in the air.
"Alyss is awake!" chanted the puppets.
"Awake is Alyss!" sung the dolls.
"Awake, awake, awake!" chattered the rest of the toys.
This was what Break had told him the Abyss had looked like, a brightly checkered floor, a round room, manic toys, and a laughing girl dressed in a white wispy dress who spread her arms around the room, "Everybody, look! Mr Uninvited guest is here!"
The focus of the toys made sweat trickle down the back of his neck, those shining little eyes were not all friendly.
"Uninvited?"
"How rude!"
"What a rude guest he is."
"Quiet everyone." The Will of the Abyss said, reaching out to pull one of the dolls into a hug against her chest. "You're scaring our new guest."
Silence fell instantly, though there was still a low chuckle from one of the shelves.
"So, Mr Uninvited Guest," the girl turned her smile on her, looking far too much like Alice in one her more endearing moments. "How did you get here if I didn't call you?"
"I-" his throat was dry, he had to swallow and lick his lips before he could could speak again. "I broke the contract with my chain. When it came back here I followed. I need to talk to you."
"You came just to see me?" The girl's voice was breathy in excitement, "Why, Mr Uninvited guest! How lovely. How perfectly, perfectly lovely!" She did a little dance of glee, holding the doll out before her like it was her partner, her wispy dress trailing out behind her as she did a full turn. When she faced him again her smile had spread out into something a good deal less innocent than before, she tossed the doll behind her and it yelped when it hit the floor. "Then you know what I am, human. Why do you come to me?"
"I need you to change the past." he said.
"Oh, that. You're another one of those," she tossed a lock of white hair back with a huff of impatience. "Why should I care about your pathetic wants?"
"Because Xerxes Break is dead."
The Will of the Abyss made a dismissive gesture, "The name means nothing to me. I really don't care what you-"
"Kevin Regnard is dead."
Her hand froze in the air, about to make another gesture. "…dead?" she echoed. "Really dead?"
He nodded, grimly.
"He's dead?" Tears leaked from the girl's eyes and she threw herself to the ground, sobbing. "But he promised! He promised! He said for me he would- would-" the rest became incoherent in tears as the toys around the room set up a clammer of protests that completely drowned out any chance of hearing her words.
"Oh-no!"
"Alyss is upset!"
"No, no, bad, bad!"
A crack arched out from where the Will of the Abyss was sobbing, ruining the perfect symmetry of the checkerboard floor. Liam staggered as a tremor rocked the room, send toys flying in all directions.
"Wait!" he shouted, but he could barely hear his own voice over the shrieking of the toys and rumbling of a piece of the ceiling falling in. He threw himself back across the room, narrowly missing being smashed by a falling beam and dropped to his knees next to the girl.
She was sobbing, "Promised, promised, promised, promised," interspersed with the occasional, "Jack!"
"I came here," he still had to shout over the ruckus but this close she had to hear him, "To ask you to bring him back."
The girl's hand snapped up and silence cut through the room so quickly it left Liam's ears ringing. The Will of the Abyss looked up at him, tears still on her cheeks but a sly smile on her lips. "You're sane."
He blinked at her, surprised.
She reached up and grabbed his face, pulling it down close to her, peering into his eyes, "You're perfectly sane, aren't you? All the people that come here have gone insane a long time ago but you… even my white knight wasn't as sane as you are."
"I-I'm not an illegal contractor." he said, barely able to force the words past his lips. This close the Will of the Abyss was very pretty, but also very terrifying.
"Ohh-h." she said, drawing the word out so it had multiple syllables. "Then how did you know to come here?"
"Xerxes-I mean Kevin, told me." With her smile slitting even wider it was hard to remember the logical argument he had carefully worked out what seemed like a very long time ago. "I… I need you to change the past so Xerxes doesn't die in the Baskerville attack on Pandora."
Her face formed into a pout. "But I've already gone and changed the past for him. It won't all nice and neat even if I bring him back. Especially for you, Mr Uninvited Guest. It will be really, really messy."
"I don't care." he said honestly. "Let me pay the price, just change the past."
With frown she let go of his face, straitening the glasses she had knocked askew with her grab. "Why does Mr Uninvited Guest care so much about my white knight that he's willing to sacrifice himself to resurrect him? What does Mr Uninvited Guest get from this?"
"Nothing." he replied immediately. Now that she had let him go he could sit back, which he did.
"Then why, Mr Uninvited Guest? Why will you do this?"
"Because the world needs Xerxes Break. The war needs Xerxes Break." Liam sighed and ran a hand through his hair, he hadn't slept since the Baskerville attack and it was suddenly catching up with him. "But the war really doesn't need Liam Lunettes all that much."
The Will of the Abyss clapped her hands merrily, "Oh!" she crowed, "Mr Uninvited Guest is a white knight too! No, no, wait. He can't be white, he's selfish."
"I'm- how an I selfish?"
The looks she gave him up through her bangs was sly and malicious. "Because you'll pay most heavily for this wish. Mr Grey Knight."
He opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by the Will of the Abyss, who leaned forward to press her smiling lips to his. The world froze and narrowed down to that one point of contact. She was everything darkness was supposed to taste like.
He didn't even notice the world go black around him.