Forgive me for being four days too late! But hey, Happy Birthday CrazlyLady! Or like all the other people on Fanfiction know her, Ozbert Fangirl! And surpriseeeee... I told you I would write another story for you then this... Haha! (I totally suck at surprises. This is super lame.) Hopefully you like this! I do not own Pandora Hearts.

This was beta-read by the amazing: Luscina's Lullaby

This wasn't supposed to happen.

The boy finally stopped running, he almost fell against the cold damp wall, gasping for air like a fish on land. He felt exhausted after having ran for more than an hour, this wasn't good. His body had already been weakened as he had been sick for more than two weeks now; it was only thanks to his chain that he could still manage to stand. The prince could not hear the Baskervilles behind him anymore, so he allowed himself the short break. His vision had become blurry and the world started spinning right in front of his eyes. This really wasn't good…

A sharp pain pierced through his chest, he would have fallen if not for a large shadow behind him reaching its hand out to the Vesalius, stopping him from falling. It was gone as soon as it had appeared,

Hah… hah… how long before he'd collapse? The boy wondered while coughing, looking around the dark tunnel he had escaped through. He wondered how much longer he would have to run before finally seeing the daylight again. How long had he been running anyway? Longer than just a few hours, Oz knew that much.

"I should…" he mumbled softly to himself, the teen pushed himself off the wall and tried to start walking again, his legs could no longer carry him and he finally collapsed onto his knees when the shadow was too slow to catch its contractor. "-Hah, sorry… B-rabbit," the boy chuckled tiredly, "Guess I'm not worthy of being your contractor, after all."

The chain kept its mouth shut, instead looked around the dim tunnel with its crimson red eyes, it could not pick up any sound so allowed its contractor to rest a bit longer while he kept an eye out. All he was now was a dark shadow, a mysterious mist surrounding the small boy with two large red threatening eyes. B-rabbit's contractor smelled of blood, sweat and fire. How much longer before his weak human body would lose the fight of staying awake?

Oz needed to keep moving, otherwise he'd lose consciousness for sure and then they'd both be screwed.

"I know," the prince commented, having sensed his chain's worries. "How's Alice?" the blond boy slowly got up, he was panting and every step felt like it would be the last before he'd collapse again.

There was no response, only the pain in his chest. "She's in pain…" Oz coughed again, furrowing his brows when tasting blood on his tongue, "What's happening… to me?" he muttered softly while he kept walking, using the wall to lean on. His chain had disappeared again, but he could still feel its presence. Meaning he was nearby. Oz wasn't the type to talk much to himself, and B-rabbit had made it clear it was not a good listener, yet it kept silent whenever its contractor spoke… knowing that the only reason the Vesalius was so talkative even though he was exhausted, was to stay awake.

The boy's clothes were burned, ripped, covered in blood and dirt… you would never guess that this boy, covered in burn wounds and bruises, was the crown prince of the Vesalius Kingdom; Engaged to princess Alice Baskerville of the Baskerville Kingdom. She was the youngest princess, yet it had been her that was chosen to be the next queen alongside the future king. That night, there had been a ball to officially announce their engagement.

But things hadn't gone as planned… the large mansion that the current king, Glen Baskerville, had chosen just for this occasion, the mansion that had taken months of hard work to be prepared for this special evening, had burned down to ashes. Many people were burned alive. It was a miracle Oz had gotten out of it, if only because Alice had reacted quickly and pulled them out of a nearby window when the roof collapsed in front of them. Oz had pulled her close during their fall, so that he would hit the ground first; Alice hadn't gotten hurt, yet why did Oz's chest so much? Right where the seal was… the seal that connected his chain, B-rabbit, to hers, The White Rabbit.

The Baskervilles had pointed their accusing fingers towards the Vesalius', it was their fault. They had set the house on fire. They had never wanted this engagement to happen, all they had needed was an excuse to get all the Baskervilles together so that they could strike!

"Not that it makes much sense," Oz pondered aloud, the images of what had happened hours ago flashing in front of his eyes, making him even more dizzy. This wasn't good at all. "There are holes in the plan, large enough to fit an elephant in it." The poor boy coughed again,

.

Alice had tried to defend him, "Even if that's true, Oz knows nothing of this!" she had shouted, standing between him and her uncle, Glen was nowhere to be seen, and everyone knew the worst had happened. Levi Baskerville had not survived the fire. Alice had always trusted her uncle; she had favoured him above her own father, and this was the first time she had not listened to him. It was the first time, Oswald's anger was directed towards her, and as much as the girl tried to hide it behind her arrogance, bravery and pride… Oz saw her shivering in fear and the tears in her eyes, ready to spill over her dirtied cheeks. Her hair was a mess, and the beautiful dress that lady Sharon had helped her choose was now only a shadow of what it once was….

"All the Vesalius' have just proven to us tonight that they are good liars, what makes you so sure that this thing-" what happened to Oz's father? "-Is telling the truth?"

"Because I know my fiancé!" Alice screamed, "I would only bring dishonour to my household if I could not, as his future wife, know that my soon to be husband was a liar!" It was the first time she had even talked like that, Alice had hated the marriage. For a long time, she had hated Oz as well because of this, until she had gotten to know him. 'If it's you… then I don't mind getting married.' She had then admitted.

"You've already brought dishonour on the Baskerville household, foolish girl!" a Baskerville had then shouted, "For standing between Glen and a traitor."

"Glen?" the girl had laughed arrogantly, "My father still hasn't shown up yet! As long as we do not know for sure that my father is dead I refuse to listen to you!"

"Alice, don't try lying to yourself-" her twin sister had said softly,

"Our father is okay! He will show up any moment now and I will see with my own eyes that he is okay!"

"Alice…" he was only causing her trouble, surely they could talk this out?

"Silence, you disgusting Vesalius!" another Baskerville shouted at him,

"Who do you think you are?!" Alice had pointed an accusing finger at that person, "Listen up! I will kill anyone who dares come close to Oz!" and to prove her words, she had summoned her chain, just like B-rabbit it could change into a huge intimidatingly sinister shadow, yet when it showed it's true appearance, it was a chain as big as a house, as white as snow and so clear that you could see right through it. The chain seemed to always be covered in blood, and wore an identical outfit to the B-rabbit. It held up its scythe, ready to attack.

But Alice did not have to protect Oz for long, "Young master!" Miss Kate came running out of the small crowd of survivors; Alice was too focused on the Baskervilles to notice, as was her chain. Miss Kate didn't come across as anything particularly special, so it paid no attention to the middle-aged woman at all. The brunette grabbed her master by his wrist and dragged him away from the girl, of course Oz protested, he could never leave Alice like that! "Would you rather have me explaining to the princess that her brother died because he wanted to stubbornly prove his innocence?"

"Aida is alright?"

"Lady Aida has already left with the other guards," a guard had spoken-

.

Thinking about it, Oz realized the guard had been lying. God knows what happened to his precious little sister, all he could hope for was that she got out of the fire safely.

"Hah, I can't walk anymore…." He muttered weakly while coughing up more blood. His whole body hurt. This was no good, he was going to faint in this dark tunnel. Would they even find him? He had just kept running, not even trying to look at which way he was going.

"Perhaps I'm just walking around in circles… everything looks the same after all." He sighed, "Do you think I'll ever see the daylight again?" he then joked; "That sure sounds dramatic… don't you-" he coughed again, more blood dripping down his chin. "This… is new," he leaned against the wall heavily,

They're coming. an eerie voice whispered in his mind, B-rabbit had spoken.

"Are they?" he hummed softly, letting himself slide down against the wall, silently ordering his chain to close its eyes. There were no more red lights, everything turned dark, and the boy kept quiet. Waiting for the Baskervilles to catch up with him-

"I'd thought that you wouldn't have given up without a fight, boy." Lottie sighed, she slowed down when she saw the boy sitting down on the cold ground, honestly… she would have never thought to have seen the poor boy in this sort of state. The young woman had actually grown to like him. She had talked with the young prince at the ball, and had listened to his cousin Jack's jokes. She was still wearing the same beautiful black dress from earlier that night, though it no longer looked as beautiful as it originally had been, the red Baskerville cloak hid most of it, but Oz could see she had suffered as well. And yet here she was, following the new Glen's orders like the loyal woman she was.

"I'm too tired," the boy answered honestly, breathing heavy, he felt relieved that it was Lottie whom found him, they had known each other for some time now, surely she could help him convince Oswald- no, Glen that there must have been some misunderstanding.

"Then I guess taking you back to the palace won't be difficult," she spoke calmly while reaching out her hand to him, Oz gazed at her hand before accepting it and letting her help him to his feet.

"How's Alice?" he then asked quietly, catching the Baskerville off guard for a second,

Her eyes became sad when thinking about the princess, "As always, you're worrying about others, when it should be your own life to worry about..." she knew the prince was a hopeless case, so sighed, "There was poison in some of the food, princess Alice... ate a lot at the party... She's suffering."

"You know I didn't do it," Oz then spoke, "I would never do this! I-I didn't know about this-" he wanted to see Alice, the boy started coughing again, Charlotte gazed with big eyes at him, this boy- this small and weak boy that barely knew how to protect himself... how many times has she seen him trying to protect others, trying to protect Alice… there was no way that he knew anything of this. "I know," she then nodded and glanced over her shoulders at the other two Baskervilles, new members of the family," both waiting patiently for her to tie Oz's hands behind his back, seal B-rabbit's powers so that they could leave. "That's why I'm letting you go," the woman acted fast, summoning her chain Leon, the albino lion stood between the Baskervilles, Lottie, and Oz. Standing in front of the young prince, defending him,

"Lottie-"

"Go, boy!" she said firmly, "Don't you dare slow down!"

"You'll get hanged for this, traitor!" one of the Baskervilles shouted,

"Not if you two won't be able to tell anyone," she smirked, "Leon!" the woman then pushed the prince away, "Go!"

For a second, it seemed that Oz wanted to hesitate but then he nodded and ran away, it seemed like that was all he was good at. The boy took a deep breath, luckily B-rabbit was by his side to bring him some light, otherwise he might have not seen the stairs that led him down… "Honestly… how much deeper must I go?" he pondered aloud, while running down the stairs.

"It sure is busy, today." Vincent hummed while mounting his horse to move aside for the two guards,

"They're looking for the Vesalius'," his older brother, Gilbert, nodded. His horse carried all their belongings so he did not sit on it, and instead let it follow him through the crowd. People were gathering around to watch one of the guards beating a young man that had joked about the Vesalius' starting a new war, it was for the best if they just stayed out of it. The workday was over, so heading home was the best option.

"Ah right, rumors said they poisoned the Baskerville's princess after all," Vincent nodded, "How odd… I don't remember anyone from the Vesalius' coming to me though."

"Don't say that so loud," Gilbert sighed while taking a drag from his cigarette that he had just lit up, honestly he was exhausted and just wanted to go home. If one of the guards caught wind of Vincent selling illegal potions; they'd be in trouble for sure. As if they didn't get enough attention already when people saw his younger brother's one red eye. That was the reason why Vincent wore a long cloak with a hood that would hide his face.

"It's true though," the blond haired young man said with an amused tone. They had reached the city borders by then, heading off into the countryside, where they owned a small house with a big enough garden to grow their own medical plants. Since Vincent was good at making poisons, it was illegal in Baskerville, the best way to grow those plants without getting too much unwanted attention was for them to open up a pharmacy… if it wasn't for Gil, his brother would have gotten caught by now. While he did not like what his brother did, he knew they needed the money in order to survive. That is, if they did not want to live in the streets again.

"So you admit it's your poison?" he then asked,

"Surely I would recognize the effect of my own poison,"

"Honestly…"

"To think my poison got so famous that it's used on the royal household, it sure is a great honor."

"You really don't know where to draw the line, do you?" his older brother glared at the child of misfortune,

"It's their own fault," Vincent shrugged while that amused smile never left his face, "You know how they treat the queen, even though she is a child of misfortune herself. The royal household has always looked down on children of misfortune," he hummed, "You hate them as well, right, brother?"

Because they made the life of his brother a living hell, Gilbert kept his mouth shut, but his thoughts were written all over his face. He sighed while throwing the cigarette away, instead choosing to gaze up at the sky. "It's going to rain again,"

"It has been raining for a whole week," Vincent nodded, "It wouldn't be much of a surprise."

"No it wouldn't…" he replied whilst following the road, golden eyes then widened for just a second, "Ah, didn't you say no one from the Vesalius kingdom bought poison from you? How are you so sure that makes them innocent? They could have just sold it?"

Vincent nodded, "I never said I'd think they were innocent, I was just thinking aloud, brother." He hummed,

And that seemed to be the end of their rather pointless conversation, both brothers didn't mind being in each other's presence and remaining silent. Just walking alongside each other was more then fine, Gilbert started thinking about what he could prepare for dinner while Vincent's thoughts remained a secret.

It was quiet, for a long time… the walk home by foot was a good forty minutes, yet both males did not seem bothered by the silence at all.

Neither brothers would have thought that if they had left work a little earlier or a little later, they would never have bumped into a certain someone-

Because on the road to home, there was a small building, the door had disappeared a long time ago so the staircase that led through the tunnels underground was clear to see. Those tunnels connected both the Vesalius and Baskerville kingdom, it was used in the war years ago to smuggle people and weapons from one country to another, however they hadn't been used in a long time… though they wouldn't be surprised if Glen ordered the Baskervilles or guards to start using them again.

They would have never imagined that someone would actually walk out of the building, covered in dirt and blood, coughing so hard that he couldn't breath. "Vince," Gil warned his younger brother to slow down the horse, in case the person was dangerous… not that he looked all that threatening a person at all, on the contrary he looked very much like a small boy. He hadn't even noticed the two brothers.

"Ah-…" Gilbert tried to call out to the boy, but he would never get a response,

Because that boy was none other than the runaway crown prince Oz Vesalius, whose sick body had finally gave up. The boy tried to break his fall, which was hard, with an unfocused gaze… at the end he collapsed and all the lights went out as soon as he hit the ground.

"Oh my," Vincent mumbled amused, "It's raining," he then held up a hand, the first droplet had fallen right on his white horse's head, and it was followed by many others.

The prince had collapsed on a muddy road, with only those two strangers to take care of him.