Chapter 1: Chain Links
Seven years is a long time to be separated from your best friend. Everything had changed but Gilbert Nightray was never without thoughts of his lost companion. His life would have changed with or without the disappearance of Oz Vessalius but he imagined a simpler existence without witnessing the opening of the abyss.
His agreement to cooperate with Pandora had, at first, been solely motivated by his drive to find a way to rescue Oz and regain a sense of equanimity in his life by restoring the familiar presence of his best friend and master. At first the days had been marked by confusion and explanation, the revelation of Pandora's existence and introductions to a barrage of people whom he did not know but would become essential to his goal. One of the most crucial and, indeed memorable, was the presence of Xerxes Break. The man came across to most as a deranged, sick-humored clown, but Gilbert had always been peripherally aware of the haunting aura that surrounded Break, as if he were wearing a cloak of dark shadows to match the ones clouding the left side of his face.
With the initial financial support of Sharon Rainsworth and his eventual adoption into the Nightray Dukedom, Gilbert began his training to identify and hunt the creatures of the abyss to gain the answers he sought.
On his eighteenth birthday, Gilbert had received a formal invitation from the Rainsworth family, signed by mistress Sharon herself, to visit their estate. It was the first time he had been formally addressed as a Nightray and he had been reluctant to attend at the pang of guilt that came with the name that still didn't feel like his own.
That night had changed the course of his orientation into Pandora's ranks.
6 years earlier…
Gilbert entered through the huge wooden double doors and into the entrance hall of Rainsworth Manor. The dim hall was only illuminated by rows of glowing gas lamps along the walls leading up to the stairs and the large empty room felt like the prime location for a wake. It was after midnight, and he had been eighteen for about six and a half minutes, and the silence was to be expected for this hour, but the soundless vacancy of the room seemed to stretch like long arms reaching up into the walls and invading every room. Then he heard a chuckle and the peace was broken. Gilbert sighed.
"Well, well, so you did come after all, little raven," came a familiar voice echoing down the stairs. Gilbert looked up at the first landing of the staircase that wound to the left and saw Break staring down at him, his face, along with that of his pet doll Emily, illuminated by a lantern dangling from the fingers concealed in his sleeve.
"Well when a letter arrives with a Rainsworth seal it's not exactly a request," said Gilbert as he began to climb the stairs to meet Break. His footsteps sounded heavy on the ancient wood, the walls agreed as they bounced the sound back and forth toward the top of the house.
Break snickered. "You come when we call like a good little pup. Though I'm not sure if it was us or if the Vessalius who taught you that."
Gilbert sneared at the remark and ignored the prick at his heart. "You should watch what you say about my family as Pandora has, so far, taught me little that is useful" Gilbert replied with sinister ice in his voice. Break's smile never faltered. They were standing eye to eye now.
"Hmmm, by the end of tonight, you may think differently, Raven." Break began to lead the way to the next floor but quickly paused and turned to Gilbert. "Then perhaps, if you truly feel that way, perhaps we have been wasting our time with you."
He was watching Gilbert's face. "You make me nervous."
Gilbert said nothing else as they made the climb to the next landing where there was a door standing ajar, casting a streak of light across the carpet. He imagined a maroon color would show in the light.
The door opened to reveal a brightly lit parlor room with a leather sofa and armchair set surrounding a squat table supporting a heavy-looking vase with yellow roses. Each piece of furniture was slightly aligned to face the waist-high fireplace blocked by a grate. At the furthest end of the room a circular luncheon table was set with a white cloth and an elaborate set of silverware and china. A tiered tray sat in the center, each level stocked with a different sweet. The smell of warm cake permeated the room even though the towering window near the table was open to the night air. There was a slight chill and a chance of rain so the table had been arranged inside instead of the balcony.
Sharon Rainsworth was the only inhabitant of the room. Gilbert did not know that this room was actually Break's private parlor but Sharon often took liberties with the space for her guests because she enjoyed tea on the balcony. She sat peacefully at the table facing the door with a cup of tea at her lips. She only acknowledged their entrance at Break's boisterous outcry.
"Sharon-chan! The birthday boy has arrived."
Sharon looked up over the rim of her cup and her eyes smiled. "Happy Birthday, Gilbert," she said.
Gilbert started internally at the sound of his old name. It rang in his ears like an old, unappreciated song.
"No one uses that name for me anymore," said Gilbert.
"Today is your birthday. We should use the name you came into the world with," replied Sharon. She gestured to the seat in front of her and motioned for Gilbert to sit.
Hesitantly, Gilbert took a seat across from Sharon and shoved his hands into the deep pockets of his coat. Sharon noticed and he saw her lip tweak in disapproval. Gilbert internally relished in her discomfort at his completely feigned but effective obliviousness to the etiquette she had so proudly tried to teach him. He imagined Oz smiling across the table at him and that this type of childish rebellion would have made him proud.
Gilbert eyed the young woman as she continued to sip her tea through pinched lips. Her full, purple dress spilled out through the gaps between the arms of the chair and down toward the floor, her tiny feet barely visible beneath the mountain of fabric.
Finally, setting her cup down, Sharon addressed him. Neither of them noticed how Break had decided to lounge on the sofa with his feet dangling over the arm rest as he discreetly unwrapped a caramel square.
"Tonight is a special night, Gilbert. We have asked you here to deliver some very exciting news," said Sharon with her hands folded in the lap of her gown. "Pandora has begun a new strategy to investigate the entrance of the abyss."
The news did little to perk Gilbert's interest. The little information he was able to overhear during his short visits to headquarters revealed that there were always new theories being shared about the abyss and the creatures that could exist inside but that was where it stopped. Theories. It was like wanting to know the taste of wine in a bottle but unable to find the cork. Tremendous desire but no way to put it all to good use.
At the thought, Gilbert scoffed but it was so quiet he doubted Sharon had heard him. She had.
Sharon continued as he stared blankly at her.
"We have decided that it does little good tracking illegal contractors as most of the evidence we gather there is from the eventual crime scene when the Chain has fulfilled its time. So we have decided to investigate how a Chain exits the abyss by asking the Chain itself, meanwhile minimizing opportunities for illegal contracts to be made as they remain within Pandora."
Gilbert sat up in confusion. "But how will can you filter the Chains' entrance to Pandora? The only way you could deter them from fulfilling contracts would be to have a direct line from the opening of the abyss to headquarters, and last time I heard that was impossible considering no one knows how the entrance is summoned!"
Sharon smiled uneasily and laughter came from the other side of the room. Break had been quietly sharing his caramel bite with Emily as they spoke.
"Ahhh, but nothing is impossible if it happens once."
Break sat up and stared at Gilbert over the top of the sofa.
"When your young master was dragged into the abyss, Pandora was able to record the different waves and energy distortions that permitted the entrance to appear. Once we had that, we were able to track it and, eventually, we were able to concentrate that energy in a location where we could safely monitor its activity."
There was silence as the two allowed the information to process. Gilbert could barely believe what he was hearing. For so long he had been forced to chuck knives at targets, dodge fields of obstacle training, and meditate on sounds in dark rooms, feeling like an aimless soldier losing sight of the horizon, only to be reminded of his driving purpose.
Pandora had secured the entrance to the abyss, essentially providing him with a doorway to Oz. This was the development he had been praying for.