A/N:Glad to see that some people are happily supporting me on this story! I have only read the first ten volumes of Pandora Hearts, so maybe some of my information isn't entirely up to date, so correct me if I am wrong on anything! I know that Oz is the B-rabbit, blah, blah, blah, but that will be explored later on. Some things will not happen like I said before.
Chapter 2 Shadow
Here she was, all alone. She was always living this way, as long as she could remember. She was always by herself, even though her doll friends were by her side and Cheshire was as well, she was always alone. Not in the physical sense, though. To put it better, she desired true companionship. As much as she liked her dolls and her cat, they didn't replace real, living, breathing humans whom she could talk to and relate with. Fortunately, at least Jack, Glen, and Oz visited her. Jack hadn't been by in a while, though.
She wondered just what he was up to, though. Oz had promised her a couple of days ago that he would visit her and so far he hadn't lived up to his promise. He hadn't stayed by her side. Was it possible that even Oz would see her for a freak and ditch her? No, that was impossible. The young girl wrapped her mind around a mental image of the young boy. His sparkling green eyes were filled with such warmth and purity that it was hard to not get enthralled by their gaze. He was by far one of the best playmates and friends she could have ever wanted. After all, those mean boys Gilbert and Vincent were never that nice, either.
But what she really wanted to do was see Jack. The other side of her wanted to see him badly, too. She always talked about him, too. That made her jealous.
I wish Oz would just hurry up and come here already. I'm tired of waiting for him to show up.
Are you certain that he hasn't abandoned you? You are a freak! Anyone can see that he probably prefers me over you!
Shut up, Intention of the Abyss. Keep your filthy hands off of Oz.
How do you know he hasn't given up on you? You're not like me! I'm much better than you, Alice!
Don't talk to me. Just go away. Jack doesn't want to see you, either.
How dare you insult me! Jack would love to see ME! Me, me, me, me, me! Say, I wonder if he's coming now? I hear someone coming. I think it's that nasty brat Vincent, I think it's Vincent, I think it is.
How do you know?
I can tell. You see, he has a filthy odor. Even down in HERE, I can smell his depravity coming no matter where he goes.
Alice sighed and stopped talking to the other side of her. The other side of her was the Intention of the Abyss, a being that controlled the abyss and only had eyes for Jack. The two of them never really got along, but they agreed to exchange bodies every once in a while. Intention, or Alyss, as she called herself, would get to be with Jack (and sometimes Oz) and Alice would entertain the dolls down in the Abyss. Alice didn't really like the Abyss that much; she much preferred being back in the tower where she could have Cheshire, Oz, Jack, and real humans for companionship. However, when she was in the Abyss, she didn't have to worry about Vincent or Gilbert coming and being mean to her. The plus side was that the Intention of the Abyss hated Glen and she loved seeing how defensive she got whenever he showed up at her door. Jack already knew about the entire thing.
Oz didn't know a thing about the Abyss or the fact that there were two girls with the name of Alice. He simply assumed that she was just whimsical, like an ordinary child. Of course, he was only seven years old, so it wasn't like he was old enough to understand those sorts of things yet. Perhaps when he was older, he would meet the OTHER Alice. She had met him before, but he had no clue who she was. She preferred to keep it that way. If Oz found out, she would most likely lose one of her closest friends.
The Intention of the Abyss loved making her life hell. Every time she came, something would go wrong that she wouldn't be informed of until she got back to her body-one of her dolls would be missing because Alyss had broken it, Gilbert would be threatening her saying that she said something nasty about Vincent when Alice didn't even remember saying such a thing. She was used to having two sides of herself now. It was odd how one could grow accustomed to something extraordinary if they dealt with it for a long time. For example, if a human could lose an arm in an accident, they could get used to going without their regular arm like it was nothing.
She sighed as she heard the footsteps the Intention of the Abyss had mentioned come up to where she was and then the door swung open to reveal the last person Alice ever wanted to see-that stupid boy with one red eye and golden eye standing there. There was an evil grin on his face like always-when wasn't there one on his face, though? She frowned at the vile kid in front of her. "What do you want, Vincent?" She growled, putting her hands on her hips.
The odd-eyed boy smirked slightly upon seeing her angry face. That was the creepy thing about Vincent, Alice thought-he got a kick out of seeing people get scared or become upset when he taunted them. Yet his brother Gilbert acted like he was a saint who had never done anything wrong any time Alice had tried to explain that Vincent had started everything. So if there was one thing that both she and the Intention of the Abyss actually agreed on, it was the fact that they...
"...I'm allowed to come in here if I want to. We're such good friends, aren't we?" He said, putting a lot of emphasis on the word friends. His eyes flitted around to each shelf where Alice's dolls were all lined up neatly, each of them staring at him with wary, anxious eyes. Though they were inanimate, they were very much alive-each of them had their own feelings and could talk if they wanted to-it sounded so contradictory, she knew, but it was the truth. "What a nice collection of dolls you have here, Alice. Perhaps these are your only friends. You're such a freak that it's no wonder why nobody likes you. Your friend Oz is such a loser! Why does he even come to play with you, anyway? Oh, I know why...because he's a freak, too!"
…...both really hated Vincent. Both of them would be very happy if he died. The Intention of the Abyss would often tell her how many ways she came up with in her mind to kill Vincent, torture him, or maim him. Alice refrained from such things, but seriously the boy drove her up the wall. And it seemed like he was coming by more often, much to her horror. Sometimes he had even been here when Oz had been here and had picked on him, too. But if there was one thing she could never forgive, it was anyone picking on Oz.
"Shut up, Vincent! Get out of here this instant! You have to obtain permission before coming in here, you know! This is my room, not your playhouse! Now beat it before I tell Jack on you." She threatened, though she knew it would do no good. Nothing really scared Vincent, and that was his problem-he was too conceited, too arrogant for his own good. One of these days, something bad would happen to him because of his arrogance and she hoped she could actually witness that scene. It would be ever so delightful.
He shook his head in disbelief. "What made you so grouchy, my dear Alice? I came to tell you something very important about your dear little friend Oz. Want me to tell you why he's a reject of society and why everyone hates him so much? I'll tell you why-it's because he's..."
But before he finished his sentence, Cheshire came towards him and hissed. Cheshire then decided that it was time to defend his master, so he sunk his claws into Vincent's leg. Vincent shrieked in pain and tried to pry the feline off his leg, but to no avail. Cheshire continued digging in and wouldn't stop, so Vincent decided to take matters into his own hands-he grabbed the feline and flung it away from him. Cheshire went flying and hit one of the shelves, knocking a few dolls over and breaking some.
Alice screamed in terror and instantly rushed over to Cheshire's side. "Don't hurt Cheshire!" She exclaimed. She glared at the child sociopath, who trembled slightly. She knew he was in pain, but she couldn't bring herself to feel sorry for him, because after all, he had hurt her poor cat many, many, many times.
That's what he gets for messing with us...
"Shut up." She growled under her breath. She did not like the fact that she kept on sticking her nose in situations where she did not belong. "Go away and stop haunting my mind."
The only response she got was a high-pitched laugh that sent shivers down her spine. It was by now a well-known fact that anything and everything in the Abyss was insane, but the Intention of the Abyss was by far the most demented girl Alice had ever met, and the fact that she was related to her really scared her. Even Glen Baskerville couldn't stand her, and that was amazing, considering how intimidating he was in appearance and manner. However, he was kind to her, though it wasn't very kind of him to lock her up here all the time and never let her out to see the outside world.
"Vincent, are you in here again!?" A high-pitched voice cried. Alice's fists tightened. Wherever the annoying, bratty boy was, inevitably his babyish, overprotective older brother would follow. She despised Gilbert very much, and could not understand how or why he was Oz's best friend. Sure enough, a familiar black-haired young boy came running in, but he froze as he took in the scene-broken dolls on the floor, along with an angry Alice sulking over by the window holding her cat, and...a wounded Vincent, who was whimpering and holding his injured leg and trying to prevent the blood from seeping down onto the floor.
Instantly, his first thought was that Alice had done something to him. Fury rose up inside him and before he knew it, he raced over to his brother's side and put his arms around him. "Vincent, what's wrong?"
His younger brother stared up at him with sad eyes and looked like he was almost about to cry. "Niisan, I just came in here to talk to Alice and she got mad at me and her cat attacked me. Now my leg is hurt and it's all her fault!" His bottom lip trembled as tears threatened to spill out of his eyes.
Gilbert's eyes narrowed as he turned to stare at Alice. "Did you do this to him?" He asked coldly. When she refused to answer him, his fists tightened even more. "I said, did you do this to him?"
Finally, she turned to face him, her purple eyes full of anger. "No, he started it by intruding in here when he's not wanted. You two can't just come in here and do as you like. You have to ask for permission."
"It's Gilbert. Gilbert is here! How we hate him!" One doll, a blond-haired girl shouted.
"Gilbert is a meanie who likes to pull Alice's hair! Gilbert is a big crybaby!" Another, a black rabbit, taunted.
"Gilbert needs to leave! Gilbert needs to leave!" All of them chanted. Alice, or rather...Alyss, grinned evilly at him as she turned to face him. An insane smile made its way on her face. "You heard them. You have to leave. You can't just come in my sister's room without asking."
"Your...sister? What are you talking about?" Gilbert asked in utter confusion. Was this girl schizophrenic or something? Perhaps she was even crazier than he imagined. He never knew that she was this crazy. "Anyways, you hurt Vincent really bad! You need to apologize!"
"Cheshire did it because he was bullying my sister. Therefore, he deserved it." Alyss said, turning to face him. She pushed a piece of her brown hair out of her face and smirked at him. There was something unsettling about her presence today. She seemed more...talkative and creepy. For some reason, she didn't seem like the quiet, friendly girl who was driven to tears every time he pulled her hair.
"Say, do you think Jack will come today? I've been waiting for him! I sure hope Oz comes as well. Then we can all have tea, we can play the piano, and we can play with my dolls all day! Say, why don't we kill Vincent? That would be very fun, right, my beloved dolls? What do you say, Black Rabbit?" She said, moving a few tables. The dolls started chanting along with her, including the Black Rabbit:
"Kill Vincent! Chop his ears off!" The Black Rabbit shrieked.
"Why don't we boil him alive in a pot?" A doll suggested.
"Interesting suggestion. However, I highly doubt Jack will be able to carry something like that with him. Why don't we just cut him to pieces!" Alyss chirped happily.
"W-What's wrong with her? She's mad!" Vincent exclaimed.
Before they could do anything else, the door opened to reveal two figures: Jack and Oz. Both looked very shocked upon seeing the insane rambling of the dolls. Instantly, the dolls started chanting happily.
"It's Jack! Jack is back!" The same blond-haired doll chanted.
"Yay, Jack is back!" Another one exclaimed.
Alyss's face brightened upon seeing Jack standing there, so she charged straight at him and engulfed him in a death hug, much to Oz's shock. Oz stepped backwards, not sure what to say or how to react. "Oh, Jack, I've missed you soooo much...oh, hi there, Oz."
Oz blinked for a few moments before he finally gained the courage to speak or even say anything at all. "Alice...is it just me or is there something different about you? Oh, hi Gil!" He cried, waving at the black-haired boy, who smiled slightly. Oz's eyes widened as he took in the injured Vincent and the hissing cat that was now by Oz's side.
"Cats are drawn to me." He said before smiling and trying to pet Cheshire-but upon seeing Cheshire bare his fangs at him, he backed away. "Maybe Cheshire's not in the best of moods today."
Jack frowned. "Hey, Alice. You two switched places again, huh? I thought as much the second I walked in here. Alice doesn't usually talk so loudly."
Oz frowned. "What are you talking about, Dad? She seems just like she always does." He said, before walking towards Alice. To his surprise, she frowned at him for a moment before she smiled.
"My sister has told me so much about you!" She cried.
"Your...sister? You have a sister, Alice?" Oz stammered.
"Oh, Vincent, why don't I give you a bandage and treat that cut of yours? You and Gilbert should get going." Jack said gently.
"But I wanted to say hi to Oz-" Gilbert said.
"Was that why you came down here? I wonder if that's the truth." Alyss said, smiling evilly. Vincent shivered slightly. This Alice creeped him out. He wasn't sticking around. Fear was a rare thing for Vincent Nightray to admit to having.
"Let's go, Gil."
"See you later, Gil!" Oz said naively, waving at his friend, who waved back sheepishly before exiting.
"I wonder what sort of mischief they were up to." Jack said to himself before turning to "Alice." "Well, well, have you gone and traded places with Alice again?"
"Dad, what do you mean by traded places? She still looks like the same Alice I know." Oz remarked in confusion before glancing at his father.
"Well...it's hard to explain, Oz. There are two beings known as Alice. One lives up here, and the other...lives down in the place known as the Abyss."
"No way! I thought that that was only a legend! Cool!" Oz cried.
"Well, one has brown hair and the other has white hair. They both have the ability to trade places with one another. So the one you are seeing right now is The Intention of the Abyss, or Alyss as she calls herself." Jack said.
"Hello...Alyss." Oz said sheepishly. "Intention of the whatchamacallit sounds really, really, long and hard to say. I'm Oz."
"I know. Alice told me all about you. I'm Alyss. Nice to meet you, Oz."
Alice frowned as she sat in the Abyss. "Damn you, Alyss. I don't want you playing with Oz."
