A/N: Please review and help me improve
Disclaimer: I don't own Pandora Hearts
Chapter 2 – Witches' Forest
"Hey, Alice." A girl with brown hair and pink eyes said while entering a small cottage made of wood. It was located outside the town and was guarded by the forests so that no one beside the villagers could enter. The size of the village wasn't that big, probably enough for a hundred people or so…
"What is it?" The girl inside the tent asked. She had brown hair and purple eyes, she was eating a plateful of meat like she hadn't eaten for 3 days.
"Our food supply is almost zero, you shouldn't eat too much." The girl said to her.
"Fine, fine, I'll go hunt some wild boars or something…" She said getting up and finished her food as fast as she could.
"But…"
"Hmm…?"
"No… nothing, I'll come with you." She said to Alice.
"Are you sure?" Alice asked, still unsure that a gentle girl like her would hunt wild boars.
"Sure." She smiled and went along with her
Pandora Forest
They got into the forest, the trees blocked the sunlight, not all but most of the light, it was quite big, people might get lost if they wander too deep into it, but these girls had gotten used with the forest, after all… their ancestors had already lived there for the past 1000 years. Wild boars were the most common edible creature in the forest and so they relied on them as their main food. Fish and birds were also common, but they were mostly small and there were others specializing on catching them, while Alice's specialty was catching wild boars.
"Spotted one!" She ran over a wild boar that was drinking water in the river, with no mercy, she beat the poor boar to death and said proudly, "Gotcha! Look, Sharon, I got another one!"
"Great!" Sharon answered and approached the girl, "Lets return. It's getting late." She said, "I think 5 is going to be enough for now."
"Alright, I'm getting hungry anyway." Alice replied and walked towards the village, Sharon followed behind her, it was getting dark, they had to mind their step. They arrived at the village not long after they decided their return. Most of the villagers were already asleep, but there were still a few awake
"Hey, how is it going, Alice? Did you get a lot today?" A man with tattoo on his face came and greeted her. He carried a hoe around.
"I got 5, Fang." She answered proudly.
"Really? That's good, I think it'll suffice for now." He replied
"Yep, if this girl here didn't eat all of them in a night." A pink haired girl said pointing her hand toward Alice
"Mind your own business, Lottie!" She fought back.
"Want to fight…?" She challenged Alice
"Sure thing." Alice accepted and so they started rolling on the ground and fought each other.
While waiting for the crazy girls, Sharon and Fang talked a bit.
"How is it going on your side, Fang?" She asked
"Not that good, the field isn't as fertile as it used to be, and I thought it was still fine last time I planted the rice." He answered
"That's troublesome… your rice field is an important source of food for us." Sharon said
"Yeah… but Doug's animals is growing great, I think they will be fine for now." He said
"But… based on the information I acquired from Ada this morning, the kingdom is planning to rise its force against us. They are planning to exterminate us. If they attack us, we and Doug's animals might be in danger." Sharon changed the subject into a more serious one.
"Really? This is bad…"
The crazy girls had finally stopped fighting, they returned to their house and slept. So did Sharon and Fang, the village was really peaceful at night, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary.
That night, Alice had a dream, in the middle of a rain, she was crying, she could feel her life being sucked away as she screamed, "Help me... Oz" She didn't know what it meant, it was all too weird, just too weird, she was screaming a name that she didn't even know before.
The next morning
"Alice! Let's play!" A kid barged into Alice's house early in the morning, her house was a one story house, she lived alone and it was just like a room, the kitchen, the dining room and the bedroom was all in one room, except for the bathroom which was separated with a wooden door, the house's roof was made from hay and so did all the house here, "Alice! Alice!"
"Argh… wait for 10 more minutes okay, Phillipe. I'm still sleepy…"
"Get your ass up, Alice!" A loud voice could be heard from outside.
"Ugh… Shut up, noisy Zwei!" Alice shouted after she was woken up by Zwei's voice, "What do you want!"
"Echo and Zwei are going to go hunt some fish… please take care of Phillipe…" Zwei's twin, Echo said softly.
"Why do I have to…?" Alice complained, "There're others that you can ask."
"Fang's busy with his rice fields, Sharon said she have something important to do, Ada is gathering information in the town, Doug is minding his animals, and Lottie is still asleep." Zwei explained to her
"Alright, fine, though I can't tolerate the last part about Lottie sleeping." Alice finally gave up
"Then, bye." Zwei dragged her twin and left immediately after she said her farewell.
"Hey, Alice, lets go to the forest!" Phillipe said full of spirits.
"Forest…? Why don't you come with Zwei from the very start!" Alice shouted at him
"No way… Echo will definitely stay silent all the way and Zwei will talk all the way, it's more fun to be with you." He answered
"Yeah, it's actually unbelievable for them to be twins…" Alice muttered
"… Let's get going!" He grabbed her hand and started dragging her around.
"I'll walk by myself, brat!" She complained, "Plus, hunting a few more boar might be a good idea…"
"Teach me! Teach me!" Phillipe insisted, he had always wanted to be of use to the villagers. The witches' descendants were not always females, he was one of the male descendants, his mother was a witch, but he inherited none of her powers because he was a boy. Fang and Doug were also the same, there were also others who were like them. But they never betrayed the witches, after all they were all like family. This place was home for them.
"Later, grow bigger first!" Alice said to him, "I'll teach you how when you grow up…"
"Alright! You promised me, okay!" He said
"Yeah, when you grow up, okay?" Alice replied
"Yep!"
Meanwhile…
"Grandmother…" Sharon bowed in front of an elderly woman wearing black robe with a unique symbols.
"Sharon, you know why I called you here?" The woman asked her
"Yes, regarding the kingdom…" She answered
"… I cannot let this be." She said
"…"
"Sharon, I want you to protect this village at any cost." She ordered
"Yes, grandmother."
"Leo!" Sharon's grandmother, Sheryl, called for someone, not long after a boy with messy black hair came back. He wore big glasses and red robes. He carried a book around.
"Yes, Ma'am." He answered
"Bring me THAT." She ordered
"You mean THAT." He asked to confirm.
"Yes, THAT." She answered.
"Okay." He went inside a his room, it was just like a library, or more precisely, it was the library.
"Grandmother, the thing you asked could it be…"
"Yes, it's the forbidden book, if… by chance, we're to be eradicated, please find the one who is able to cast the forbidden spell." She said
"But, grandmother, it is forbidden, right?" Sharon asked, "Like… there will be consequences… right?"
"…"
"Grandmother…"
"Sharon… please understand this… a sacrifice must be made in order to maintain the peace…" Sheryl said with a sad face, she didn't want to sacrifice any of her 'family', but she had to… of the witches were to be exterminated, then a disaster will come, and no one would want that.
"But…"
"I too… don't want this, but… the King did not understand a thing, and explaining it to him would be pointless as I have tried it a few moths ago and it failed." She explained further.
"Grandmother…"
"Ma'am, I have gotten the book." Leo returned with a book on his hand. From the look of it, it seemed old. It was dusty and inscribed with various symbol that Sharon couldn't understand.
"Sharon… place take this, I entrust this to you, you must not let anyone touch this book, except for the chosen one." Sheryl took the book from Leo's hand and gave it to Sharon. Sharon accepted it and held it tightly.
"Grandmother, may I ask a question?" Sharon asked
"What is it?" Sheryl asked
"The chosen one, what is she like?" Sharon asked
"The chosen one is a girl with the power to destroy, but her heart is kind, she might be here amongst us, she might be not." Sheryl answered
"What will happen to her if she cast the spell?" Sharon doubtfully asked, though she knew the answer wouldn't be too far from her imagination
"She…" Sheryl began with an eerie tone, "She will be a seal… an eternal seal… she will seal the darkness below, and it's our job to provide her with our support, until the day that the seal will be broken again... by someone or something which I don't want to think about. No one shall see her alive, no one will…" She finished
Sharon heart was pounding hard against her chest, she could feel cold sweat in her palms. That person will die… she had always wanted to live in peace, yet this just had to happen…
"I understand… I will take a good care of this book." Sharon walked out of her grandmother's office and returned to her house. Sheryl was the leader of the witches, she usually stayed in her office, that's why she returned alone.
"Ma'am, shouldn't we tell her…?" Leo asked doubtfully
"No, she'll find that girl by herself. Plus, that girl is not ready yet, we should wait patiently." Sheryl answered
"I understand, Ma'am." Leo answered and he returned to his room, or library to be more precise. He was the librarian, he took care of all the spell books for the witches, but he himself didn't have any power over magic, yet his good memory allowed him to remember every single spell in the library.
Pandora Forest
"Look, Alice! There's one over there!" Phillipe said to her
"You have such a great eyes, that might come in handy someday!" She said putting down all the KO-ed boars on her arms and went for the third one, she mercilessly KO-ed it in one strike. The poor boar fell into the river.
"Alright, let's get it up." Alice went into the water, Phillipe followed her. She took the boar and walked up to the surface.
"A-Alice!" Phillipe panicked
"What!" She shouted back
"A-A-A M-Man… there's a man here!" He shouted
Upon hearing that, she walked back into the river, no man should enter the forest. At least outsider weren't allowed to. The man's body was stuck between three big rocks and so his body wasn't swept away.
"What should we do? Should we kill him?" Phillipe asked
"Wait! He's wounded…" Alice said
"T-Then…"
"But I cannot remove him from the rocks, should we kill him instead?" She asked back
Phillipe didn't answer, he simply stayed silent until a voice broke the silence
"Hey, Alice! Phillipe!" A white bob haired girl with her identical twin walked towards them, "What are you doing?"
"Look! What should we do?" Alice asked while pointing at the man's body
Zwei's eyes widen in fear as she took a look at the man.
"He's wounded." Echo simply said, "But he's stuck between the rocks." Echo touched the body and thought for a moment, "He's a hunter." She stated
"Hunter?" Alice muttered, "He isn't from our village, is he?"
"No, I never saw him before." Echo said
"I'll call for help." Zwei dashed back to the village, not long she was no longer visible
"Look! His left eye." Echo said
"W-What?" Alice took a closer look. She was startled for a moment there, the eye was badly damaged and blood flowed out like a river
"It probably hit a rock." Echo said
"Hmm… we should wait for Zwei." Alice suggested.
"Good idea, how many did you get?" Echo changed the topic
"Three, you?"
"11, Zwei got 11 too… so 22 in total." Echo said
"I see… that'll be enough, I think…" Alice said
Phillipe just stayed silent seeing the girls talking casually after seeing a dying man in front of their eyes.
"Hey! I got some help!" Zwei's voice could be heard from the distance.
"Great!" Alice smiled
Zwei took Fang, Doug, and Lottie along with her. All of them were running. Immediately after they arrived at the scene, Fang jumped into the river and tried to lift the big rock with his hoe, but it didn't even move an inch. Doug also tried the same, both of them did it at the same time and it still failed.
"Move back!" Lottie stepped forward
"Lottie…"
"Earth witches have their own way in doing these kind of things." She explained as she casted a spell and the ground started shaking, the rock moved a bit from the original location, but it was enough for them to take his body and return to the village immediately. Sharon tended him, in the end, his left eyes couldn't be saved, but his life was. The wound was probably caused because of a fight with wild animals, most probably wild boars.
5 days later
"Whe…re…? He asked as he opened is eyes and looked around. By that time, Sharon as the medical specialist, was the only one around.
"Ah, have you woken up?" She gently smiled and walked towards him, "What's your name?" She asked
"Name?" He said with a small voice, almost as a whisper, " It's… Kev –"
"Uh... sorry?"
"Ah… Break… my name's Xerxes Break." He answered
"I see… you can stay here for now, please don't move too much for now." Sharon said as he lay down quietly there.
"Y-Yeah..."