Disclaimer: I don't own Pandora Hearts.
Summary: Pandora Hearts has become a world parallel to a chosen group of people who have a strong sense of imagination. These people live in the future as well as another country. They are the opposite gender of the person inside their mind.
Pandora Hearts Parallel Worlds
~ Chapter One: Volume Five – Ozera's Witness ~
It was just as Oz Vessalius had remembered. Jack Vessalius had smiled with spoken words of confidence. "Only you…can find the B-Rabbit…!" The young blonde breathed heavily as he rushed forward in search of Alice, the Black Rabbit. Where are you…Aliiice…? He neared a lit entryway. What…is this smell…? I can smell smoke and…and something else…?
A bright, white light blinded him for an instant and the ground trembled as rubble scattered about. Before he knew what had happened, his emerald eyes stared down at a bloody, gory scene.
Ozera Vessalius gasped and her eyes widened. The horror of her abrupt day vision distracted her. "AH!" Her body smacked the hard, wood floor with a thump. Wh-What on earth? "Ouch." It stings, but I'm all right. She sat up, her right hip and thigh in pain from the impact with the floor. A determined expression came across her face and seeped into her eyes and she nodded. "Right!" I refuse to give up! Not now, not after I've worked so hard!
I've got…I've got to find her quick…! "Alice…!" Oz frantically searched for Alice.
A strange voice echoed inside Ozera's mind and she didn't think as she screamed, "ALICE!" She immediately regretted it and felt her cheeks heat up as embarrassment nipped at her consciousness. She clapped her hands over her mouth. Kyaaaa…Did I just…?
Ravina Nightray clattered the doorknob and swung the bedroom door open. "Hi, sis! What'cha up to?" The bedroom door banged into the wall and she stood there in the doorway.
She removed her hands and turned off the music. Then, she turned around and glared at her younger sister. Jeez, I swear, I've got zero privacy around here! With a deep breath and a slow blink, she tried not to retaliate in a totally cruel manner. "Okay, Ravina Nightray. I've told you time and time again. As a reminder, please, at least knock before you enter my bedroom, for you may very well have just now been scarred for life by my nakedness."
"I…I didn't do anything wrong…I…just…just…for Gil!"
Ozera turned her back to her younger sister with slight recoil. Her lips trembled as she whispered a stammered, "Vuh…" Vincent Nightray? N-No! Lin Nightray? I-I don't know!
"Kuh. Ha. Ha ha…Kuh ha ha...Yes, that's right! I...didn't do aaanything wrong…'cos…these are aaaaall dollies. Fu-fu…fu-fu-fu…How terrible…" The child shoved at the corpses that surrounded him. "Poor thing…Hee. Hee. Hee. Hee. Who did this…to you…?" There was a squelch as he dug into their bodies and pulled out their intestines. A look of despair enveloped him as tears gushed from his eyes. He ripped their eyeballs from their bodies and an expression came over him that made it seem as if he had lost himself in his insanity. "Fu-fu…See, I…know the truth. Shall I tell you? It's him…It's all because of him! The sky…the earth…and me! We're all dyed red! This too is all…'cos of hiiiiiiiiiiim!"
Oz realized that Vincent had totally mutilated Jack and he rushed in to stop the little boy from his insanity. "Stop!"
Ozera dove towards the floor, arms reached out and eyes wide. "St-ah-p!"
Ravina crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. "Are you all right, sis?"
A bile substance rose in her throat. "Just go!" I don't trust her not to laugh at me!
She pouted. "Fine, then, I'll leave." She shut the door behind her when she left. There's nothing I can do, or say. It's her bedroom. I can't just invade. She needs her space.
Please, Ravina, I beg your forgiveness. Ozera breathed heavily as she squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears as if to shut out loud noises. Tears gathered in her eyes as she whimpered, "Please, go away. Please, go away." A single tear dripped along her left cheek. It took every ounce of control not to allow the physical agony to cause her to go insane and behave stupidly.
The splatters of blood that surrounded the corpses terrified her and she struggled with the urge to scream. It didn't matter how hard she tried because no scream could be produced. She backed into a corner, hugged her legs to her chest and buried her face. What is it that I am seeing? Oh, why must I see such awful things?
Oz's excited expression turned into one of terror as he watched Alice collapse into a bloody corpse before him. "A…lice…?"
Ozera struggled not to hold her breath. She fought to drive away the horrors that tugged at her mind, but found that they leaked in from all directions. Gotta find a way out, I've gotta find a way out. Something, somewhere, there's gotta be. It took every ounce of sanity left inside of her to fight and to hold on. I feel as if I'm dangling by a thread! The hairs on the back of her neck stood on edge as a chill crept its way into her body. Her stomach knotted and she fought not to allow nausea to overwhelm her.
Oz trembled and backed into the nearest wall as he stared with wide eyes at Alice's bloodied form. Alice died. A hundred years ago in this place…she died as a human. By someone's hand…she was murdered.
Ozera trembled uncontrollably. Wh-Why does she have the same hair and eyes as Alec? Her lips formed the first letter of her crush's name.
She was murdered – The painful pound of his heart interrupted his thoughts. "Ah…! Guh! Ah! AGH!" His heart pounded faster. My chest…feels tight…!
Ozera's heart cracked in random places. The poor boy inside my mind is in pain and I can't soothe him. She admired a green dragonfly for its rarity, beauty and wings to fly. Often had she dreamed of her flight to faraway lands. I wish I had wings so that I could just fly away. I want to comfort others in their time of need. Little did she know, her strong sense of imagination had connected her to a parallel world called Pandora Hearts.
Another day vision washed over Ozera and she covered her head with her arms. "EGYAH, D-Don't touch me!" She wildly kicked about and her feet stomped the floor.
Oz gave his attacker an icy look and Jack Vessalius' voice demanded, "Don't touch me."
Jack had taken over Oz's body. In this case, Jack was the adult and Oz was the child and adults were more apt to believe adults, or at least a child possessed by an adult. "Quiet down…servants of the Four Great Dukes."
Jack tried the best to his ability to soothe the fears of the people before him, for this is why they retaliated and attacked Oz and Alice. "There is no need for concern. This boy is not your enemy. I am borrowing his body to talk to you…as there is something I must convey to you all."
Jack introduced himself to a curious Alice and the rest of the audience. "My name is…Jack. I, who crossed swords with the Baskervilles…and stood as witness to the tragedy of Sablier with my very own eyes – I am Jack Vessalius!"
Ozera stared out into deep space as she whispered to herself, "Jack." A vivid image of Jack appeared inside her mind and she nodded. "Right. Jack." His hair and eyes remind me of Jessa.
Jack had a gentile smile and kindness reflected in his eyes. "I apologize for confusing everyone, but even if you can only spare me a few minutes, won't you hear me out?"
Oz stared at the crowd gathered before him, eyes glazed over. He appeared about to pass out. "As I just mentioned, there is something I must convey to you all so that the tragedy of Sablier is not left to take place on this land a second time around! As you all know…I once confronted Glen Baskerville…the head of the Baskerville family. Now, I, who faced him then…declare thus here – Glen Baskerville yet lives! And he shall bring calamity upon this land once more!"
Ozera felt her heart lurch as it had begun to pound painfully hard inside her chest. She breathed heavily and a strange sensation came over her. She desperately wanted Jack to use a gentler tone in his voice.
Oz reflected Jack's sad expression. "Your disbelief is to be expected, I suppose. However, it is the truth. As I believe you are already aware…the Baskervilles' objective is to obtain the intention of the abyss. And to that end did they offer up a sacrifice to the abyss…in the form of the mass annihilation of Sablier."
Oz approached the crowd, possessed by Jack. "At the cost of many lives, we prevented them from achieving their goal, and the Baskervilles disappeared after they lost Glen."
"When the one whom we wait descends upon the promised land, the bell will toll to break the silence. The blade of a friend glitters crimson and the drops carve a path to a distance place."
Ozera gasped and her tongue slipped. "Guh-Gilbuht!" Gilbert Nightray? Gilbert's hair and eyes reminded her of Ravina, her younger sister, as an adult. An image of Raven flashed inside her mind and it reminded her of Ravina as she was at present. She blinked and stumbled upon her words. "Ruh-Rahven?"
Oz swayed. "Aah…Looks like I'm running out of time…You who serve the Four Great Dukes. Let me say this again. Glen Baskerville is alive. And you can be certain that the Baskervilles will be seeking out their master as well as Pandora's four doors. And they shall once again bring about the tragedy of Sablier upon this land! However, my soul is always with this boy. He shall guide you and eventually become the key to defeating the Baskervilles. Protect Oz Vessalius at all costs. You, the noble knights who serve the Four Great Dukes…this is your duty!"
Oz collapsed as Jack left his body. "I thank…all of you…"
Jack noticed a feeble child with his legs hugged to his chest and his face buried in his knees and his hands pressed against his ears. "Oz…I'm sorry…I gave you a fright, hm…?" Jack had pushed Oz behind him when he possessed his body in order to defend him.
The child shook his head, but didn't utter a word.
He gently placed a hand upon Oz's shoulder. "And I also apologize for taking over your body at my own whim. Forgive me." He began to glow. "I'll be disappearing for a while…All of these appearances haven't been easy for me as I am now."
Ozera pondered the situation. Oh-ho, honey child. Why so frightened? He saved your hind end. I'd be grateful.
Oz pleaded with Jack to stay and tell him more of the story. "Please wait. There're so many things I still want to ask you - !"
Jack just closed his eyes with a smile. "Oz…Someday I'll tell you about myself. About Alice. And about Glen Baskerville. I beg you…Whatever it takes, please stop him…He is…my one and only friend…!"
Tears blurred Ozera's vision and her heart ached. Why?