Hey, I'm back with another story, and it's the sequel to my previous story 'Straight for the Heart'. I will admit, it's not as long as the previous one, but I felt like I left unanswered questions there so I'm like, 'why not?', and also, Retrace 65 screwed up my previous one. That's how this came to be.

The Baskervilles are still on the hunt for the three remaining bird-like Chains; Gryphon, Owl, and Dodo. Raven is held by Carrie, and Jabberwock by Leo. Along the way though, memories of the past come back to haunt Elliot, Carrie's powers continue to grow stronger (and more uncontrolable), and Leo learns more about the boy simply known as Aaron. Moreover, all three of them will discover the hidden truth of 200 years ago.

In case you haven't read the first story (which I suggest you do before reading this one), here's a recap...

Carrie Strata led a seemingly normal life, that is until she is saved from falling to her death by a boy later known as Leo. Afterwards, Carrie not only discovered a great deal of hidden secrets, but discovered a new enemy as well. She knows she holds the Chain, Raven, and later learned that she and her sister are descendents of Elliot Nightray. Meanwhile, both her and Leo are experienceing strange dreams, which lead them to discover the truth about two people who were killed durring the Tragety of Sablier. And somehow, along the way, Carrie discovers and succeds in finding a way to bring back Elliot, reuniting Leo with his master. Later on, after learning a shocking truth, Carrie manages to seal Jabberwock and remove a fragment of Glen from Leo. All is peaceful now, but secrets still remain.

Now the search begins, as does this story as well...

Prolouge: Rainclouds Cover The Sun

"As members of Pandora, we shall now pass judgement upon you!" Carrie proclaimed, shouting her battle cry into the air. She knew perfectly well what she was saying, it's just that this was her offical job as an agent of Pandora to find and arrest illegal contractor (among other things besides investingating anything related to the Abyss); this was her way of saying it, making her intentions clear.

Herself, Leo, and Elliot had been chasing after an illegal contractor for a few days now, and just when they finally got this person cornered, they called out their Chain.

'Great. Another Card, another battle.' She thought to herself.

Carrie had already unsealed the power of her Chain, Raven, and Leo and Elliot drew their swords, ready for battle. Carrie noticed Leo's hesitation as he held the sword, so she figured he wasn't used to the feel yet. The only reason Leo was useing a sword is mainly because he was hopeless with guns. however, over the last three months, Elliot and Carrie (who applied her skills in fenceing), had taught him how to use one. Even though his glasses and bangs obstructed most of his eyesight, he had still become pretty decent with using a sword. This would serve as his weapon until he could manage to control and use his Chain, Jabberwock, which had been sealed inside him for the time being.

"Ready?" She asked her two compainons.

"Ready." They replied in unision.

The illegal contractor didn't reply to them, but the Chain threw out a hiss. However, within a moments notice, the battle began and it was as if time had begun to blur.

The contractor and the Chain were two seperate enemies. Carrie had gone after the Chain, while Leo and Elliot took after the contractor. Much to their suprise, the contractor was qiuck and able to fend off the two swords that were being swung towards him, the contractor having a weapon on him as well. Carrie's opponent was just as quick, not as powerful as her Chain, but was quick too, despite it being a Card.

Ocasionally, Carrie would catch a glance at Leo, who seemed to be doing well with the sword. In the past few days that they had been searching for the contractor, Carrie and Elliot had leanred that Leo didn't do so well spending hours on end trying to find their target in the dead of winter. Though he never complained, he would always be exhausted and frezzing by the time they were done, which would always be late at night, the cold clearly wearing down on his small and fragile body. Both of them had been concerned that he might of caught a cold or something, but when mornning came around, he seemed to be fine.

What Carrie had been worried about, was that she might be working her boyfriend too hard. He was fragile to begin with, and he barely ate, so he was as thin as a rail, but he would always reasure her with a smile.

Becomeing lost in this memory, she almost forgot about the Chain. One of its arms tryed to crush her as it came down, but she jumped out of the way, landing on her feet with ease. She breathed in and looked up at the Chain, a meancing look in its eyes.

Leo looked to see her qiuck movement just as he blocked another attack from the contractor, smiling at her grace. However, he was unaware of the Chain, and glancing at her had been enough of a mistake for letting his gaurd down for a mere second. He heard a swishing sound in the air and turned to see one of the Chain's arms come right at him. His eyes widened and it knocked the air out of him upon impact and sent him flying into the wall of a building.

His head hit the wall hard as it crumbled from the force of his body impacting it, and the last thing he remembered was his body being numb with pain as he fell back and his mind slipped under, everything fading away into a silent empty void.

A sudden cry from behind her made Carrie turn around just in time to see Leo get slamed against a wall, hitting it head on and immedently losing consciousness as the wall fell apart.

"Leo!" Elliot exclaimed, rushing over to his friend. It took Carrie a second to register what had happened, her powers starting to flow more rapidly.

"Damn you." She hissed as she whipped her head back around to face both opponents, her eyes narrowing into threatening slits.

One chain came out and wrapped around her arm, the point resting in her hand. She charged at the Chain and jumped up, letting the weapon in her hand impale and slice down the Chain. A storm of black feathers erupted from the slice as she passed through it, landing behind the Chain as is started to disolve. Her icy eyes were a cold blank as she stood up, a combination of black dust and feathers.

"Wh-what are yo-" Carrie held up held up her hand, stopping the contractor from speaking. He seemed to be frightened by her power.

"Hush." She said in monotone as she approched him. "Now, fall asleep so we can finish up here."

She lightly touched his forehead, and upon her touch, the contractor fell unconscious. She bent down and removed part of his clothing, catching a glance at the incuse; halfway around. She once again stood up and took a deep breath, sealing Raven's power.

"Leo!" She heard Elliot exclaim again, bringing her back to reality. She quickly turned back to them and rushed to their side. Elliot had pulled Leo from the rubble of the wall and had laid him on the ground. She knelt down next to him and saw the damage done to her friend.

There was a large gash on his head that went slightly across his forehead, red blood now trickiling down his face, and, from what she could tell, his hands might need stitches, due to the fact that they looked pretty banged up. Lastly, Elliot held his servant's glasses, one of the lenses cracked.

"Hey, Leo. Are you alright? Answer me." Elliot commanded "You're my servant, so answer me."

"Elliot, wait." Carrie interupted him, looking at Leo more closely, now seeing other things besides his injuries. His brething was short and ragged and when she felt his pulse, she notcied it was unsteady. His body was becoming colder with every passing second and his face was becoming ever paler, which was adding to Carrie's concern for the noirette.

Above them, the clouds were starting to cover the last few faint rays of sun, and a light drizzle had started, an unusual wheater occurance for this time of year.

"Something's not right here." She concluded.

"What do you mean? He's just unconscious." Elliot said, getting annoyed with her.

"No, that's not it. I mean, yes, but there's something else." She put her hands on his shoulders and shook him lightly. "Leo, can you hear me?" She asked, trying to coax him awake. She then slipped a hand underneath his head, and she could feel blood there. "Leo?"

"Carrie, it's not working." Elliot spoke up.

"Obviously, Elliot. But, just, give it a minute." In truth, her voice was trembleing as she continued to say Leo's name, asking him to wake up.

"Dammit, Carrie! Something's wrong, he's seriously hurt!"

"Leo, say something, please!" She was just ignoreing Elliot at this point.

"Carrie, he needs a doctor!" Now he was pratically yelling at her, clearly worried for his friend too.

"Shut up!" She hissed back at him, her voice becomeing more tense and shaky. "Leo, come on, wake up. Don't do this to me. Wake up, Leo. Please, wake up! Wake up!"

Nothing was working, he just lay there unmoving and deathly still.

"Wake up!"

Don't worry, he's not dead. I could never bring myself to do that. The next chapter will explain things more though and what has happened to the trio since this incident, so keep an eye out for it. Also, feel free to provide your speculations on that too. I hope to have it up soon, in a few days if I'm lucky, but that might be ether sometime next week (Chistmas Eve maybe), or New Years Eve, only because I'm now working on 4 stories at once. Plz feel free to reveiw, 'cause I really appreciate it.