WolfGirl01: I have to admit that would be amusing to see in a horrify 'Oh God They Finally Meet' sort of way. I could see both Vongola and the Vindice working exceptional hard to prevent that from ever happening only for them to accidently meet making all their efforts to that point futile.

bunny nami: Harry never did have a concept of time as to him time had little to no real meaning in a cupboard, he never went to school or had any education and when doing 'chores' the end results were always the same even if he finished on or before his time limit was up. The only reason he even knew the holidays and years was due to Dudley's constant complaints.

As for Jager... He's still hopeless with time and could easily go through a week without realizing so much as a hour has passed. Thankfully, he had Bermuda and the other servants in Veckenschtein Manor to prevent such things from happening often.

BlueAutum12: That'll be explained further into the story so no spoilers until then. I noticed but thank you for pointing it out.

Chapter 4

"This is going to end horribly."

"Jager, you need to think positive."

"Alright, I'm Positive this is going to end horribly."

Bermuda understood regret just as well as he understood guilt and fear but it didn't mean he had to be happy about it when it decided to show its face. Especially when it resulted in Jager avoiding him like a Plague.

For the first week, the dark eyed child had allowed it- choosing to watch the emerald eyed boy from a distance as he would stare at his hands in mute horror and refuse to touch anyone in obvious fear of a repeat of the 'incident'- but he absolutely drew the line when Jager began to isolate himself from him.

Jager was His, dammit.

The younger shouldn't be avoiding him- the thought to even attempt to do so should have never clouded the other's mind- instead the other child should be standing just a step behind him at his right hand. If Elias wasn't dead already, Bermuda would have killed him himself for managing to worn his way into Jager's mind and fill it with doubts.

Jager was His. No one, not even the dead was allowed to twist the other away from him. Yet that was exactly what Elias was doing- even dead the bastard was a nuisance- but nuisances could be dealt with. Guilt and regret could be erased and fears eased.

This was an easy fix- something Bermuda knew he could solve- if only he could figure out where Jager was hiding from him now.

Right, so where would I be if I was a child who contemplates too much and just committed my first murder?

If Jager was honest, he knew he shouldn't be hiding from Bermuda- the emerald eyed child knew the soulless eyed one hated it when he disappeared without a word or reason- but he couldn't help himself.

He had blood on his hand and no idea exactly how it had happened, so how was he supposed to prevent the next corpse laying at his feet from being Bermuda himself?

Which was why he had spent the last week avoiding the older child like a plague.

He had promised to keep Bermuda safe but how was he supposed to do that when he, himself, was the threat? How was he to protect Bermuda when he didn't even know what happened or why it happened? How could he stay by the other's side when. for all he knew, just touching the other could kill him?

Had he known what the younger was thinking Bermuda would probably accuse the emerald eyed child of being ridiculous- Bermuda had promised to make everything better and he did... Well almost everything but these doubts floating within his mind- Jager knows that but he still couldn't help himself.

Even if Bermuda had enslaved him- Jager wasn't blind, he could see what was in front of him. Though strangely enough he was happier as a slave then he had even been when 'free'- the older was his best friend and closest companion.

He couldn't- he wouldn't- risk it.

Not Bermuda.

Tightening the grip around his legs, Jager closed his eyes and rested his forehead against his knees.

Maybe he should leave? He didn't know how to protect Bermuda from himself but if he wasn't here... Bermuda wouldn't be in danger due to him... Right?

Really, he should have known better- After all, Bermuda wasn't one to just let go of anything that was his without an all out war over it first- but he didn't otherwise Jager would have insisted everything was fine and vanished into the night instead of informing the other of his plans and reason- vainly hoping the other would understand- when the dark eyed child stumbled across his hiding place.

'Though I have to ask Jager, exactly how did you manage to break both your legs while sulking inside a cupboard?"

Simultaneously, two sets of eyes one an unnatural emerald and the other a soulless void- glanced towards the curious maid as she set down a silver platter holding their lunch.

"I tripped/ He fell."

"On what?"

After all, the last time she had looked there had been nothing to trip on in the small barren room hidden beneath the stairwell. Hell, there wasn't even enough room to stand in the cupboard! Surely no one was clumsy enough to break both of their legs in a room where they couldn't even stand.

"Stupidity." Both children deadpanned as they outright ignored the obvious confusion with the woman's earthy eyes.

Despite his excessive research, Bermuda don't stumble across a sure fire way to prevent Jager form subconsciously accessing his magic again; so the dark eyed child does what he believes to be Just:

He removes anything and everything that could possible tempt the younger child into accessing his 'Gift' again. Dolls, black candles, ancient tomes, tapestries, anything that could be traced back to magic- even if it was only the slightest of connections is removed and sealed within the attic; therefore out of the emerald eyed child's reach.

After all- besides the basement and his Father's Bedroom- the Attic was the only other place Jager wasn't allowed access.

"Bermuda, what is this?"

A dark brow rose as soulless eyes observed the younger child stare in confusion at the pastry the elder had placed before him.

"Its a cake Jager."

"Cake?"

The youngers brows furrow as unnatural emerald eyed the plate in open suspicion- honestly one would think he had placed a bomb in front of the younger instead of an every day sweet- not for the first time, Bermuda feels something ugly- a burning inferno that demands he rip, tears, torture and kills whoever was behind that look- flares beneath his skin but quickly pushes it down.

Today was a special day. One he wouldn't permit anyone- not even himself- to ruin.

"Its a sweet. I just.." Taking a breath, Bermuda allowed a soft smile- that he would deny to his dying breath should anyone else ever see or mention it- to appear on his face, "I realized you've been here almost a year now and we've never celebrated your birthday so I thought I'd get you a Birthday Cake."

For a moment silence fills the room as emerald eyed finally pry theirselves from the plate in front of their owner only to dart towards the other child.

"Thank you, but-" The voice cuts itself off into a low mumble as though the younger was unsure he should even voice whatever was plaguing him now.

"But?"

Was there something wrong with the cake? As far as he knew Jager didn't have any allergies and everyone loved chocolate...Right?

"Bermuda," emerald eyed glanced away from him instead focusing on the other's hands as he took a deep breath- to likely gather his nerves- before glancing upwards once more with a firm resolve now shining within his open confusion.

"What's a 'Birthday'?"

And just like that the ugly feeling within his chest was back tenfold.

If Jager is honest, he has no idea what he did wrong- Maybe he shouldn't have asked but Bermuda had always told him to ask if he didn't understand anything and he would try to explain it- but maybe if he requested Forgiveness now that unnerving gleam would leave the older child's Soulless eyes.

"Its not enough."

"Bermuda?" Jager couldn't help but question at the other's mumble- What wasn't enough? Forgiveness? Was there some actually truth to those rumors of the dark eyed child being capable of reading minds?- as he took a slight step backwards.

"Its not enough," the older child repeated, his eyes gleaming with something Jager didn't recognize yet still managed to set off every mental alarm in the younger's head. Honestly in that exactly moment Jager was sure he was staring at a complete psychopath- the sort that befriended you before murdering you in a way that took days with a rusty axe in the shed. Had it been anyone else they probably would have done the logical thing and ran for their lives instead of taking a step closer to said 'psychopath'.

"Ber-" the younger of the two begins to call out once more- hoping to snap the other out of whatever madness had consumed him- only to be cut off as he fount the ground beneath him and staring into an expression that probably would have psyched out the Devil himself.

"Just cake isn't enough for a First Birthday, Jager."

Wha?

"But Don't worry-"

Why were they moving towards the window?

"-Ill make this-"

Wait a moment, surely Bermuda didn't mean to...

"-A day you'll-

After all, weren't they on the fifth floor?

"-Never forget!"

"Bermuda!"

Crash!

He shouldn't be there.

If Jager is honest, he's supposed to be in bed- trapped within the hold of the cuddle monster that was Bermuda- at that moment yet sleep invaded him or rather he invaded it. Since he had been taken in by Bermuda, Nightmares had become all but a thing of the past though there were some night were they managed to creep their way back into his mind.

Tonight was one of those nights- a faint dream a crimson hair and emerald light that matched his eyes- which was why he had been on his way to the kitchen- standing within the shadows on the stairway- when he had saw it.

At first he didn't recognize what it was- believing it to be but a trick of moonlight and the shadows-and therefore had not thought much about it as he continued down the stairwell until the smell of rotting meat reached his nose.

He knew this smell- the pungent scent mixed with a tinge of sickening sweetness- he had smelt it before when accompanying Bermuda into some of the darker sides of the town:

The smell of a decomposing corpse.

For a moment, the emerald eyed child hesitates as he realizes the closer he comes to the ground floor the stronger the scent of rotting meat and cheap perfume becomes.

Had he been anyone else, Jager probably would have turned around then and there fleeing from the horror movie setting- alone in a creepy old house with little to no lighting and slowly making his way closer to the obvious danger without so much as a stick for a weapon- in favor of rushing back to his bed and hiding beneath the covers where safety- aka Bermuda- was.

Yet -despite Bermuda's best attempts at drilling self preference into the younger- Jager never quite seemed to have caught onto that subject and easily breezed past it without a thought. Which was why instead of doing the logical thing, the emerald eyed child took a breath to calm his nerves and continued down the stairwell.

Honestly, he should have turned back while he had the chance.

He wakes- when the moon is at its highest point in the starless sky- to a cold room and an empty bed. The soulless eyed child is not sure why but that worries him. His bed should not be empty, someone- a small emerald eyed child - child be there but he's not.

Something is wrong, his mind whispers to him, something concerning his missing companion.

For a moment all Bermuda does is lay upon his back- staring at his bedroom ceiling as though it held the secrets of the universe- before sighing softly, "Jager, what have you gotten yourself into now?"

Silence is his only answer.

After a moment of listening to the unbearable nothingness, the dark haired child kicks off his covers before standing, slipping on his housecoat and slipping out his bedroom door to search for his missing companion.

If the silence within his room is unbearable, its damnable outside of it- and what does that say for him that he cannot even walk anywhere alone without a sense of disease- without of soft steps and softer breathing of his extra shadow behind him.

Bermuda finds himself halfway down the stairwell before his smells it:

A mixture of copper, rotting meat and cheap perfume.

It wasn't that time of the year already was it? Soulless eyes dart out of the closest window taking in the Blood Moon within the sky.

Gods Damn it, a snarl leaves his lips as Bermuda quickens his pace- jumping several steps as taking them individually would take too long- in an effort to reach the emerald eyed child before he could enter the kitchens least the other suffer through an 'early retirement' like so many other unfortunate souls- who witnessed too much- had done.

Later Bermuda would wonder if the Gods had cursed or blessed Jager as he finds the younger child standing within the shadows of the kitchen doorway; staring with emotionless eyes at what Bermuda knows will be the body of a 'retired' - yet not quite dead if the slight noises are to be considered- servant hanging from a post by its neck as its blood was slowly drained into a bucket waiting before.

A strange look of determination flashes within the younger's eyes as he begins to take a step into the kitchens but Bermuda is faster. The soulless eyed child doesn't hesitate as he swiftly wraps an arm around the younger's waist- lifting him clear off the ground. It would seem he needs to work harder on putting meat on those bones- as his other hand covers the youngers mouth before carting the emerald eyed child backwards.

Someone up there must be on their side as he just manages to cart Jager- who thankfully doesn't put up a struggle- into a passageway and seal it only seconds before his father storms by- holding that accursed tome and a sharp ritual knife- into the kitchen.

"One day, you and your accursed luck will be the death of us both, Jager."

Chapter 5

Jager must have been cursed as an infant.

It was the only thing that could possible explain the others rather 'Unique' luck in Bermuda's opinion.

"Jager," Bermuda spoke in a whisper as he vainly attempted to ignore the constant twitch his eye seemed to developed, "Your very existence is a Jinx."

A heavy sigh left the six year old crouched next to him as small shoulders slumped inwards and emerald jewels looked anywhere but towards Bermuda himself, "I know."

After all, how many other people went for a walk on a rather well known- and equally well traveled- Nature Trail only to accidently stumble across a Mothering Dragon who, by all rights, shouldn't even exist outside of Myths of Ancient Wonders, Heroic Legends of Old and Childish Fairytales?

The first time Jager meets Lsye Bechte, the emerald eyed child decides he doesn't like her- and no, it had nothing to do with how she was draped over Bermuda like a spare cloak- despite her gentle smiles and kind nature.

There was just something about her that doesn't feel right- something that had his stomach twisting in knots every time she smiled his way with warm chocolate eyes- let alone natural.

While Jager couldn't find the words he desired to explain the feeling, the emerald eyed child could say there was something about the other girl that reminds him too much of a mixture of Pig, Horse and Lord Veckenschtein to the point even the strange voice in the back of his mind warns him not to permit her his back- Not to trust her.

So he doesn't- Even if he has to tolerate her presence as he refused to leave Bermuda alone with her for any reason once so ever though none really questions it. It was well known he was Bermuda's extra shadow and the other servants kept granting him this strange pitying look or giggling every time one of them caught him glaring at the white haired girls back- After all, the voice had never led him astray before.

"Jager," Bermuda's soft voice interrupts his thoughts like a hot knife trough butter, "If you keep glaring like that she's going to simultaneously combust."

The emerald eyed child could feel his pale skin flush darkly in embarrassment at the elder's words. Had he really been that obvious?

"Yes. Is there something you wish to tell me, Jager?"

For a moment, the younger child contemplates answer but what would he say: Sorry, I don't trust her because a voice in my head said not to? Right... He could already see the white jacket and the padded room waiting around the corner.

A frown twists upon Bermuda's face as soulless eyes narrow in both concern and caution, "A voice in your head?"

For not the first time, Jager ponders wither or not there's actually any truth to the rumors concerning His Master's ability to read minds. Maybe he should look into one of those tinfoil hats Pig once wore to keep out 'mind reading, brain devouring aliens'.

"For the last time Jager, I cannot read your mind."

Right... Jager was willing to bet that was what all mind readers would claim if asked.

Bermuda could not help but face palm as an aspirated groan slipped through his lips. He was going to kill whoever kept placing this 'mind reading' conspiracies into the younger's head.

If Bermuda was honest, he didn't like Lsye Bechte all that much.

Something about the blond haired girl reminded him too much of his Father yet he also knew their lives were short and most never lived to see twenty. So the eleven year old bared through their meetings- gritting his teeth more times then not- with the constant reminder that he had brave through it; not for him but for Jager who never left his side.

Wither she realized it or not, Lsye owed the emerald eyed child her life otherwise she would be nothing but a corpse for how many times she invaded his personal space.

So Bermuda had to admit he was surprised when he caught sight of the younger child glaring death into the blonde's back with poisonous emerald eyes. Huh, so Jager wasn't staying with him to ensure he didn't commit murder after all.

Honestly, it kind of disappointed the eleven year old Veckenschtein but those emotions were quickly swept away with the thought Jager would rather suffer with him then leave him to face this alone.

Still, he could not allow this to stand.

"Jager," The soulless eyed child speaks up softly observing as the other jerked slightly to attention at the sound of his voice, "If you keep glaring like that she's going to simultaneously combust."

Unfortunately it was a very real possibility considering he still hadn't fount a way to block Jager's access to his magic.

Though he would never admit it aloud, Bermuda finds the flush that appears on Jager's face at having been caught in the act utterly adorable. Just as long as it was only directed at him that is.

Neither of them notice the chocolate eyes observing their every move nor the slight scowl that briefly twists upon what many would consider the face of an angel.

It would seem there were going to be some unforeseen complications to her plans after all.

Since she was but a toddler Lyse Bechte knew she was destined to be Lady Veckenschtein as the Gift of Foresight had ran strong within her family.

She knew from an early age she would marry Bermuda von Veckenschtein, who would never truly come to love her but would complete his Duty to both Her and His Family. He would be her everything- supplying for her and loving her enough to aid in her baring him three successful Heirs- yet her nothing at all. Forever just out of her reach as he would keep his distance and throw himself into his work to avoid coming home to her.

Their romance would not be one of undying Love and Passion but of Duty and Honor.

She was okay with that though, she had fallen in love with the him of her visions therefore she would be capable of loving enough for the both of them.

It was her Destiny.

Or, at least, it used to be.

Something had happened- something had change- leaving Her and Her Family blind to the future. Yet with what sparse pieces she could see, Lyse came to realize something:

Bermuda was not with her.

She was not Lady Veckenschtein. There was no Lady Veckenschtein.

She knew she had to fix it- to repair what had been broken- yet she could not find the problem. At least not until she stumbled across her Bermuda smiling in fond amusement at it.

The anomaly, the only that didn't belong.

For if nothing else, Lyse had memorized all the paths of the future and not in a single one of them did this 'Jager' exist.

Yet there he was:

A small child with unnatural emerald eyes and face such a dark shade of crimson he resembled a lobster as Her Bermuda granted the anomaly a concerned look with soulless eyes full of warmth.

Honestly, she had not been aware Her Bermuda was capable of such a look but now that she knew, Lyse wanted nothing more than for it to be directed at her- for no doubt then it would prove he truly loved her- instead of the Third Class Servant.

She cannot help but scowl upon seeing the way Her Bermuda treats the Servant: His Loves hands lingering a bit too long to be anything but the touch of a Possessive Lover- never once did it cross her mind the touch could have been something else entirely- who did not wish to part from their Partner.

It would seem there were going to be some 'unforeseen' complications to her plans after all but that would not stop her. She would become Lady Veckenschtein no matter what tactic - be it underhand or legit- became necessary.

She would rid this world of the Anomaly and then...

Then everything would go back to how it should be.

Everything would be perfect and she would marry the Love of her life- even if she knew he would never truly love her- and spend the rest of His Days with him until the Checkerface Creature would appear and steal Her One True Love away from her.