Summary:"Oz?" asked Alice, bewildered "Who's Oz?" In the end, he managed to save them all, to stop both Glen and Jack, to change their past for the better and avert the end of their world... this was the price he had to pay.
Also, this is AU after chapter "95: Vincent" and so anything that happens after that chapter will not be included in this story.
Disclaimer: I, the author of this fanfiction, do not own Pandora Hearts or make any profit from writing this story. Pandora Hearts belongs to Jun Mochizuki. The cover photo is one I found on the internet and adapted, it belongs to the person who made it, namely Kodoko from deviant-art who colored and Jun Mochizuki who made it in the first place, and I claim no ownership over it. I write for my own entertainment and, hopefully, that of others. This disclaimer applies to all other chapters and this fanfiction as a whole.
Warnings: nothing too graphic, some cursing, there will be some confusion at times as this is mystery and it's Pandora Hearts, also spoilers abound.
AN: I've wanted to do this for a while, though I'm a bit nervous now that I'm posting it. I put a lot of thought and effort into this, so I'm just nervous about what people may think of it. This is my absolute favorite manga out there and now that I have a good plot in mind, how could I not write this? Admittedly, I should be finishing off other stories but I just couldn't resist. The manga's going to end soon, so I just wanted to post this before it makes me drown in the feels all over again. I hope you like it!
P.S. If you're looking for good PH fics, check out the Lovely Pandora Hearts community. As part of its staff, an avid reader and an extremely picky person, I can guarantee quality.
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Illusionist
by Starlit Skyline
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Chapter One: The End
His feet were pounding against the ruined floor and his desperation was only driven to further extremes when he saw the puddle of blood that's only growing and growing and the ocean it made just kept spreading as he crashed to his knees in the crimson liquid, beside the curled figure that seemed like a lonely island in a sea of red.
His hands shook as he gently touched the man's shoulder, turning him slowly to his side.
His blonde hair was dirty and matted with his own blood, but his eyes still held some awareness in their depths.
"Gil?" the voice was barely a whisper, a quiet and infinitely tired croak from already chapped lips. A bead of incarnadine dripped down his chin almost lazily. The wound in his abdomen had been too deep, it seemed, for even the Baskerville bloodline to heal completely. He could hear Ada crying quietly in the background.
His face could have been anything – from frustration to desolation to anything in between – but Gil still felt the tears gathering in his eyes and let them fall freely. "Idiot! Why'd you have to go and do this?"
There was no answer, and he's already driven to the edge of hysterics as he shouted.
"TELL ME!"
Gil's body folded in then, over the figure on the floor and shudders with the pain in his chest.
"Why?"
He felt a hand then, sluggish but warm still, tug at his sleeve weakly. He opened his eyes again, shaking his head. The figure below smiled sadly.
"Gil..." he whispered, and maybe he was about to say something more, maybe he should say something, but everything ended when the coughing fit began. It was harsh and loud and wet and Gil had only ever heard the sound from dying men. Men he'd killed with his own hands.
"It's alright," he whispered and stroked the fabric on the back of Vincent's black coat, offering the meekest of comforts – to the one below, to himself, he didn't know. "It's going to be okay." He repeated the words over and over even though he didn't believe them himself. From the smile the blond was giving him, he knew Vince didn't believe it either.
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Once upon a time has to be the worst way to start a story, in Break's opinion at least. But, really, he shouldn't care. His story had already ended and he was nothing but a soul floating in a bottomless Abyss.
He'd never been too fond of fairytales either, but once upon a time and in a place he could no longer reach, he used to read them to his little Mistress Sinclair. She'd always smile that bright smile of hers as well, asking "How does it end? How does it end?"and he'd answer, deciding to humor the little girl and privately amused by her antics.
"How?" To this day, he still remembered her laugh – childish and innocent and coated in the memory of halcyon days. "Why, like any other story would, of course – happily ever after!"
Oh, how he wished that were true.
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His sword was coated in blood.
He heard as the crimson flowed and slipped off the slick blade of his sword to taint the floor – drip, drip, drip– and steadfastly ignored the sound. He ignored the flames all around him, the sound of wood burning and the stench of charred flesh and blood.
His footfalls were determined and unwavering and his eyes were the coldest shade they'd ever been. He felt numb even as a raging inferno licked at his insides while the outwardly one filled his lungs with smoke.
This was the end, he knew. He could make it right now, correct every mistake he's ever made.
He wanted him gone.
He could fix it. Fix everything.
His footsteps were loud and unwavering but as Glen walked through the ruins of the world he couldn't help the way his chest was constricting painfully every so often and how much he just wanted to stop.
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The sky was falling, she dully noted as she looked up at the vast blue above. It was cracked and even missing some pieces in some places, like a broken vase. Yes, a vase that had cradled their world at its bottom, but was now shattered and permitted parasites to infest its interior.
Her head was swimming and her heart was beating so fast it was painful, but whenever she'd tried to get up before she'd just stumble and fall down again. Her hands shook whenever she held herself up by them and her legs wouldn't ever support her weight. She'd screamed at herself to get up, to keep fighting, but she didn't even have the energy to do that anymore. Cheshire couldn't help her anymore either, he was dead after all, and this time it was for good.
She's fading fast from this world and perhaps all others and she knew it. Everything around her was coated in red and rubble and the screeching in her ears was like the screams of millions and the shattering of glass.
A shadow loomed over her, waiting to devour her, to end her.
She was never one to admit defeat. Never one to give up or relent and never one to lose like she was doing now. But what was the point anymore? Her limbs were heavy and her eyelids dropped on their own, her long lashes obscuring the blurring picture of desolation all around.
Alice closed her eyes and hoped it would end soon.
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She stumbled through ruined streets as buildings collapsed around her. She was running, or at least trying to as she tugged and dragged the dead weight on her shoulder. Liam was leaning heavily on her as Lily Baskerville trudges ahead of them. Lottie and Doug had gone after Glen, Oz and the others.
Lily stopped on an outcropping of stone and concrete, the remnant of some fallen building, and turned back to them.
"The way's blocked!" Lily yelled, jumping over rubble as she made her way back to them. Just as she reached them yet another tremor shook the earth, this one even stronger than the one before. Windows shattered and glass rained down, the buildings creaked and walls begun to crumble.
The town of Sablier was old, its houses were aged and toppled over like dominoes.
Sharon has just enough time to register that she would never see her grandmother again before she sprang into action.
Black flames burst out from under Lily's shadow, forming a watery puddle beneath her feet. Without hesitation, Sharon threw Liam's battered form towards the smaller girl. Despite her height and body-age, Lily had good reflexes and caught Liam's body as it crashed into hers. Lily had looked up with a squeak, surprised, and then fell down Sharon's rabbit hole.
Sharon wasn't sure where she was sending them, didn't know what to do but hope that it was enough. She took a step forward and the world crumbled around her.
She screamed and broke out into a run. There was no time to expand the portal, she'd have to reach it herself. Her sprained ankle protested but she didn't care, she just needed to make two more steps. It was all she could do before the world came crashing down and the flurry of bricks hit her small body, burying her beneath their weight and the dirt of the landslide.
Sharon didn't know this though, she knew nothing.
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His life was slowly being drained from his body, at the pace of a mortal wound bleeding out. He was familiar with the feeling.
Liam could feel hands, small and delicate, pressing frantically against his abdomen in a desperate attempt to save him. His glasses were broken and there was a big crack on the right lens, but he could still see Hell being unleashed on the earth.
He could do nothing to save it. It was over, the sensible part of him reasoned through his sluggish, panicked brain. Every other part of him, from his heart down to his very soul, was screaming at him to get up and... do what?
Run? Where to?
Fight?What? There was nothing there to fight.
Hide? What good would that do?
Live?
All he could do was try to heal himself. And fast. He needed to get up and find Miss Sharon. They'd gotten separated at some point he couldn't remember. His head didn't seem to be working properly.
He wanted to sleep though, yet he knew he had to get up. But March Hare is whispering,whispering You should sleep,sleep. and it's so tempting to just close his eyes and lose himself to oblivion.
"Xerx, don't throw your life away."
He closed his eyes and choked back a sob.
Get up! Get up! Get up!
He had to get up, had to keep moving even if every bone in his body was broken. He has to keep going because of the others – for the others.
Where were the others? Were they even alive? And even if he found them...
...how could he possibly hope to save them?
No, this wasn't the time for doubts, because time was running out.
For all of them.
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He stood on the edge of universe and stared into the abyss of time.
He couldn't help the grin that came to his face, crazed as it was, and felt the heavy, blood-stained cloak he was wearing sway with his movements. Echo's cloak. The one she'd been wearing when he'd killed her.
He pitched forward and for a moment it looked like he might fall in but then he caught himself. Barely. But not yet. He had to live.
His smile widened even as tears carved their paths down his ashen cheeks.
"I don't like you, I hate you. Jack, but..."
How foolish...
...how brilliant.
"...make a deal with me!"
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AN: Be sure to leave me a review and tell me what you think! I'm dying to know!