AN: Thank you to all those who've enjoyed the story! Special thanks to Espadakatsukreuz XIII, mady.98, Paxloria, for reviewing :).

Hope you enjoy one!

Ch. 2: Two sides

"Young Master, Break is right, you can't just act so carefree about this. Now that there's word circulating about your return, there's no knowing who might be looking for you," Gilbert Nightray's cautious words did not faze Oz Vessalius at all.

"Gil, call me by my name! It may have been ten years but I still see you as my close friend. And I'm not afraid, I've got you and Alice, and I've even got Break. Let whoever wants to find me, find me. I've got questions for them too," Oz was still adjusting to the time frame he was dropped into by Abyss. His best friend, Gil, who was once significantly shorter than him had grown ten years older while Oz remained the same age and height. Oz still wasn't used to looking up at his best friend when speaking to him, in fact, Oz wasn't used to anything.

"Oz, there's someone coming," Alice snapped as she felt almost a shiver down her spine. Alice held her weapon tight as she heard the doorknob shake open. However, it was not who she was expecting.

"Oz, there seems to be someone asking for you," Break casually entered the common room with a lollipop in one hand.

"He says his name is Ciel Phantomhive. Pretty short kid, an eye-patch, dresses well. He seems to very adamant in seeing you, a bit rude how he came without an announcement," Break said nonchalantly.

"Phantomhive? I'm not too sure who this Ciel is, but my family is very close to the Phantomhive's! They must be here to help!" but before Oz could get up to greet who he taught was his ally, Gil instantly moved to block Oz's way.

"Oz…much has changed since you were gone. After you…disappeared, something happened between the Vessalius and Phantomhive family..."

Suddenly, the door to the common room busted wide-open. An adolescent boy dressed in elegant colors of royal blue and black came stomping in. A mysterious man wearing a formal butler uniform followed shortly after. Alice and Gil shot up to their master's defense, but Oz raised his hand to stop his friends from coming any closer.

"Oh, Ciel Phantomhive! Now I remember, you're Earl Vincent and Countess Rachel Phantomhive's son, I remember you when you were just a little -" but as soon as Oz was about to give his nostalgic speech, Ciel had crudely interrupted him.

"I am the sole Earl of the Phantomhive house now and don't give me such casual attitude," Ciel barked as he tossed a photo of Oz ten years ago during the Phantomhive and Vessalius picnic insight, "so the rumors are true, you've returned after a decade and you don't even look a day older! What kind of lucrative magic is this!"

Oz was puzzled, "but the Vessailus and Phantomhive family have been so close for centuries, I don't understand."

"Master Oz… things aren't the same as they were ten years ago," Gilbert told him reluctantly, self-conscious about the fact that the heir of the Phantomhive house was in the same room.

Ciel's eyes burned with the desire for answers. Even his butler, Sebastian, was a bit taken back at his master's intense rage.

"Are you mocking the Phantomhive name! Your family first blames mine for your disappearance and now you return without even a single scratch!" Ciel yells with fury, but Oz was unable to absorb anything that was happening.

"My father blamed the Phantomhive's… for my disappearance?" Oz was completely dumbstruck. His father would have never blamed the Phantomhive's for such an incident and ruin the long-built relationship with the Phantomhives, which his father had cherished so greatly. Oz was starting to become anxious as he remembered that his father was still alive in this future timeframe. Because their relationship was almost nonexistent at its best, there was no part of Oz who wanted to even see his father after these ten years.

"I'm sorry, erhm, Cie—or Earl Phantomhive, but I'm definite that my father would have never attacked your family with an accusation like that." Oz uneasily bit his lip, muttering, "he wouldn't have even gone through the trouble of accusing anyone, actually."

His father's look of disgust and his condescending tone were forever embedded into his mind. Unable to recall a time when he and his father even got along, Oz never understood what he had done to make his father hate him so much.

"I DONT BELIVE YOU!" Ciel's harsh voice echoed through Vessalius mansion. Oz's anxiety grew bigger as suppressed memories of his father flooded his mind. Back in Abyss, there was no need to ever recall those memories back into his life. He had forgotten that sometimes reality was even crueler than the darkest pits of Abyss.

Alice sensed Oz's growing misery and was on the verge of yelling back at Ciel to protect her contractor, but Gilbert had stepped in to defend his long time friend and master.

"Oz wouldn't lie about something like this!" Gilbert knew better than anyone the bitter relationship between Oz and his father, "Oz's father… Duke Zai Vessalius, he's not the conventional father..."

At that moment, the wall suppressing the deep hatred for Oz held for his father started to crumble down. Experiencing so many emotions of resentment and rage, Oz's body began burning up. Oz's darker side had won control.

"MY FATHER HATED ME, HE WOULDNT HAVE GIVEN A DAMN EVEN IF I WERE DEAD!"

The pain in Oz's voice was almost as disturbing as the pure wrath that engulfed him at the moment. Oz's body began to shake tremendously, and his face seemed almost twisted. Because Alice couldn't bear to see her contractor in so much agonizing pain, she tried to reach out for him but Oz turned his back away.

Ciel was completely dumbstruck by Oz's outburst; he never thought that someone like Oz would be harnessing so much angst. Oz's breakdown caused Ciel to forget about all the questions and fury he had in himself.

Ciel understood the pain of not having parental figures for guidance, but their situations weren't exactly the same. While Ciel had his parents snatched away by the crime of arson, Oz's father, by his own will, chose not to care for his son at all. Ciel saw this as a bigger grievance, for a parent to give life to a child just to end up abandoning it. It went against human nature, the instinct to care for one's young.

Ciel saw the sorrow and pity in Oz's eyes and was reminded of his own. He realized that Oz was not so different from him after all; in fact Ciel felt this level of comfort from knowing that he was not the only one letting his bitter past consume him. He looked to his butler, Sebastian, trusting that he would know how to handle this. Sebastian paused for a while as he was analyzing everything he knew about the Phantomhive and Vessalius family history.

"Could someone have falsified the feud between the Phantomhive and Vessalius household?" Sebastian theorized.