((Um… I feel like I'm talking to myself because no one is reviewing, but anyway… Chapter four is a bit longer than the others. Yes, this situation is very similar to what happened to Oz and Alice… That's intentional. So, uh… Right. Here we go!))
Shatter
A Pandora Hearts Fanfiction
Chapter Four: Bridle
There was complete silence in the Reinsworth mansion. Grace Sorelle was sitting in her chair with her knees drawn up to her chest, her forehead resting against them. Her hands clutched her temples as if she could strangle the terrible, bloodstained memories out of her head. She was vaguely aware that tears were coursing down her face, and her whole body was trembling again. Are you happy now? She was tempted to conclude her story that way, but she didn't. It wasn't their fault that she'd lost everything; she had no one but herself to blame for that.
After several long moments, she forced herself to look up. Everyone's expressions had changed quite a bit from the way they'd looked before she'd told her story. Sharon's hands were over her mouth, her coral eyes sad and sympathetic. Oz seemed even more upset, with a shocked and horrified look on his face, pity shining in his emerald eyes. Alice was staring at Grace, her expression surprised almost to the point of blankness. Grace noted, to her bewilderment, that there was just the faintest hint of sympathy on the chain's face, too. Even Raven was looking as if he regretted his earlier wariness.
The facial expression of Xerxes Break, however, was not so easily deciphered. The usual wide smile was gone from his face, but he didn't look particularly upset, or even sympathetic. He just sat there and looked at her calmly with that single, unreadable red eye.
I… I just don't get it, Grace thought numbly to herself in a rather half-hearted attempt to get her mind off of the past. I can get a clear idea of what everyone else's personalities are like… I could tell right off the bat that their hearts were in the right places, even Alice's… But for the life of me, I can't tell with this guy. I can't tell if he's a good person or a bad one. Nothing. It was unsettling, not knowing whether or not she could trust him. As if that wasn't bad enough by itself, her life was in his hands. If he wanted, he could throw her in jail right now and be done with it. He could even kill her, and he had good reason to, now that he knew how dangerous she was. He'd only be doing his job.
After a moment, Break rose from his chair, eyeing her thoughtfully. "Well. That was an interesting story."
Oz immediately spoke up. "Break, you're not still going to arrest her, are you?" He demanded. "You heard her- she didn't know what she was getting herself into!"
Break smiled patronizingly at the boy with the golden hair. "We'll see." He turned his gaze back on Grace, still smiling. "I think I'd like to meet this chain of yours, Grace-kun," he announced lightheartedly.
Grace stared at him with wide eyes, jolted out of her numbness. "Wait… What?"
"He said," Emily rattled off loudly, "that he wants-"
"I heard you, but- You can't be serious! Did you hear one word I just said?" She felt panic bubbling up in her chest. "Miikai would slaughter you," she cried desperately, "all of you! I wouldn't be able to stop her! Sh-she'd come and start killing again…" A horrifying thought hit her, and she suddenly scraped her chair back and jumped to her feet, eyes alight with fear. "I shouldn't even be here right now! God, what if she comes back while I'm still here with all of you?" She began backing toward the door.
But Break beat her there and stood right in front of the door, blocking her way, still smiling. "Where do you think you're going now?" He inquired pleasantly. "I haven't decided yet whether or not I'm going to take you into custody. Do you really think I'm going to let you just walk out the door?"
"And anyway, your chain couldn't go on a killing spree here, so don't worry about it," Emily chimed in.
"No! You don't understand," Grace insisted, frustrated and afraid. So many had died because of her; she couldn't add these people to the list. She couldn't let that happen. "Miikai is powerful; if she were to come out here-"
"Powerful, huh?" Alice got up from her chair and folded her arms across her chest, a vaguely evil-looking smile on her face. "Well, however powerful this chain is," she went on smugly, "she's no match for me. I can handle her, no problem."
"But-" Grace began to protest.
"Alice is right on that," Oz confirmed slowly. "It sounds like Miikai is strong, but Alice is one of the most powerful chains in Abyss… Legendary, apparently. If it came to a fight, your chain would be at a disadvantage, Grace."
"Not necessarily," Break spoke up suddenly. All eyes turned to him, and he smiled a strange, contemplative smile. "If this chain is who she claims to be… She has a few legends of her own, and her power levels wouldn't be as far behind Alice-kun's as you might think." He was silent for a moment, as though lost in thought. Then he suddenly looked up again and smiled. "Which is exactly why I want to see her in person," he concluded calmly.
Grace was pale as ash. There were legends about her chain…? "B-but- If she's so powerful, and you know she's so powerful, then why on earth would you want to-?"
"Don't worry about the little details just now," Break cut her off cheerily, flapping one hand dismissively. Little details? This guy really is nuts…! "In any case, teatime is over for the time being. Let's go and meet this chain, shall we?" And he strolled out the door.
Grace stared after him blankly as Sharon rose from her seat and calmly walked towards the doorway, stopping next to Grace on the way there. She offered a reassuring smile. "Don't worry; Break has everything under control," she insisted sweetly. "Your chain won't hurt anyone here, so don't be afraid. Everything will be fine." She then turned and followed her peculiar companion out of the room.
Grace didn't move for a few moments. Slowly, she raised a hand and rubbed her forehead with it. I really, really hope these guys know what they're doing…
"Oi." She turned around, surprised, to find a frowning Alice standing behind her. The chain had her arms folded, and was looking at her with the expression of someone trying very hard to solve a riddle. Alice opened and closed her mouth several times as if unsure how to go about this. After a moment in which her expression went from concentrated to frustrated, she finally got out a whole sentence. "Are you… Okay?"
Grace blinked at Alice in near astonishment. The chain scowled at her impatiently. "Just asking," she went on grumpily, "because you looked like you were about to have a giant meltdown a minute ago. You don't seem so upset anymore, though. So… That means you're okay now. Right?"
Grace eyed the girl in bewilderment. My God… Is Alice really a chain, or were my senses just malfunctioning? But no, she could still feel the power coming off the chain girl in waves. "Um, actually," she said after a moment, "the only reason I'm not still in meltdown mode is because I've gone from thinking about my past to worrying about what's going to happen now."
Oz and Raven would have reached the door and gone out a long time ago, but Oz was currently standing a little way behind Alice and watching the show with what looked like a combination of surprise and amusement. Raven was watching, too, with raised eyebrows.
Alice's own eyebrows descended in what almost looked like a confused expression. "Oh." She paused. Then she shook herself and frowned again. "Yeah, well. I was just curious. It's not like I care, or anything stupid like that," she added flatly, and proceeded to walk right out the door without another word.
Grace blinked, bemused, as Oz walked over, smiling, Raven trailing behind him. "That was… odd," she said after a moment.
Oz nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, it was certainly different. I think you freaked her out a little."
Grace turned to look at him incredulously. "I freaked her out?"
Oz rubbed the back of his head with his good-natured smile. "I think so. I guess she doesn't like seeing people so-"
Abruptly, a white-sleeved hand reached in through the doorway, grabbed Grace by the arm, and dragged her out as she yelped slightly in alarm, cutting their conversation short. She stumbled sideways through the hallway as Break pulled her onwards, casting a cheery smile over his shoulder at her. "Stalling will get you nowhere," he informed her blithely.
"Chicken," Emily added scornfully.
Soon they all came out in a wide open foyer-type area with a grand staircase leading down to the first floor. It was here, as soon as they'd reached the bottom of the staircase, that Break stopped and turned to Grace, leaning casually on his cane with his other hand resting on his hip. He looked at her expectantly. "All right, then," he prompted lightly, "let's see this chain of yours."
Grace swallowed. "… You act like I can summon her at will. She just pops up at random, it's not like-"
"You should be able to summon her at will, actually, Grace-chan," Sharon put in. "She is your chain, after all. You can call her to you whenever you wish."
But I don't wish to call her… Grace looked around uncomfortably, fidgeting for a moment. After a few seconds, she let out a tense breath. "Are you sure about this? I mean… If she were to hurt any of you-"
"Everyone here is used to defending themselves against chains," Raven said suddenly. Grace glanced at him, surprised. He hadn't been saying much of anything this whole time. He looked at her soberly. "We can handle it," he assured her dryly. "So go on."
Grace looked around at the others once, as though to gather her courage, and then drew a deep, slow breath. "Okay… Okay." She let her eyes close, feeling the anxiety on her expression.
What if something goes wrong…
What if they've underestimated her…
What if-
"Miikai," she whispered.
For a long moment, nothing seemed to happen. Grace cautiously opened one eye. Oh, thank God. I guess I can't summon my chain after all-
But no, something was happening. The huge room began to brighten; not with the warm, comforting glow of the candles mounted on the walls, but with the cold, pristine luster of moonlight. The sourceless light grew brighter and brighter until it suddenly flashed white-hot, forcing Grace's eyes shut. When she opened them, Break had his back to her, now facing the room's newest occupant.
And it was just as it had been that first fateful day. A large, graceful serpent hovered before them in the center of the room, glowing surreally with the light of the moon. It gazed down at them with those deadly, predatory black and yellow eyes, taking them in.
Grace was frozen with terror, staring up at the beast with dread. This is it… If these guys miscalculated, if Miikai is stronger than they thought… They're all going to… Her heart constricted, and she silently drew her two steel sais from her belt, clenching them tightly in her fists, in preparation for the fight she knew she would lose… As she always did. But hell if she would just stand by and watch it happen.
To her complete astonishment, Break was smiling; a full-fledged grin that took up a good portion of his face. "Well, well," he said softly, his single wine-red eye locked on the moonlit apparition hanging in midair less than twenty feet away. "Beautiful and terrible, just as the legends say. It's a true honor to meet you… Miikai, the Silver Death."
The serpent's eyes narrowed dangerously to two glowing slits as she stared down at Break. After a moment, a quiet sound filled the air; a long, drawn-out hiss that sounded like water hitting a hot stove. "And who," the Silver Death said slowly in that lilting, reptilian voice, "are you, who dares to address me so casually, without so much as a hint of fear…?" Her mouth had not opened once this whole time, and yet her voice drifted easily through the room.
Break promptly performed a low, sweeping bow, and stayed there, head tilted to look up at Miikai. "My name is Xerxes Break." He was still smiling that odd smile, as if looking not at a dangerous chain, but an unopened Christmas present.
Miikai did not reply, but her feral gaze shifted away from him to rake slowly over the faces of everyone else. Oz was staring at her, the brave lack of fear on his face just slightly strained. Raven looked at the chain with grim wariness, and Alice wore an almost identical expression. Sharon gazed silently at the serpent, grave and unflinching.
Miikai's eyes lingered on Alice for a moment, and the chain stiffened in response, violet eyes narrowing. But Miikai just snorted lightly and moved on. At last, the serpent's eyes came to rest on Grace's pale, determined stare. Slowly, Miikai's mouth opened in a sharp-toothed combination of a smile and a snarl. "I didn't think you would summon me yourself, child," she hissed coolly. "It's about time… Have you finally realized how futile your struggling is? Perhaps you've decided to give me a peace offering…?" She looked lazily at the other people in the room. "How wise of you… I was getting hungry."
"No," Grace snapped, clutching her sais tighter as she took a step forward, glaring fiercely at the chain. "You're not going to eat these people. I won't let you hurt them… I won't let you! Never again…" Grace stopped, throat constricting. She swallowed and looked back up at Miikai, her expression frightened but grimly determined. "Never again," she repeated in a whisper.
Miikai actually looked bored. "Not this nonsense again," she said flatly. "You know you don't have a ghost of a chance against me, you idiot… You can't protect yourself from my scythes, let alone anyone else." She casually stretched her arms out, the deadly scythes flexing and flashing. A ghastly smile spread across her face. "You're helpless," her voice whispered coldly. "And that's a lesson that I suppose I'll just have to keep hammering into you." Suddenly the chain reared up, leering down at them ominously-
"Ah, ah, ah," Break cut in casually, strolling forward and wagging a finger at the silver serpent as though she were a badly behaved child. "As much as I'd like to see you in action, I'm afraid I can't let you harm anyone here. Besides, there are a few questions I'd like to ask you."
Grace stared at him, horrified. Oh my God. What is he doing? That moron is going to get himself killed! Miikai paused and looked down at Break blankly, as though marveling at his stupidity. After the initial surprise, however, her lips drew back in a frightening sneer. "Impudent fool," she hissed menacingly, her long body writhing and coiling in the air. "Talking down to me will be the last mistake of your pitiful life!" And, abruptly, she shot down towards the snowy-haired figure, scythes outstretched and glinting dangerously. So fast, like a bolt of silver lightning. Unavoidable.
Fear flooded Grace like a wave of ice water, and she was suddenly in motion as well, sprinting towards them, knowing that she was not going to make it. "NO!" she cried at the top of her voice, the futile tears flying from her cheeks.
But then Break did the impossible. He skipped lightly to one side, dodging the lightning-fast strike.
The huge serpent hurtled right past him, eyes widening in surprise as her scythes scraped harmlessly against the tiled floor, leaving two deep fissures. Recovering quickly, she swooped back around to face him and just hovered there for a moment, long tail lashing slowly, demonic eyes gleaming with anger.
Grace slowed to a stop, eyes wide with astonishment. How…? Xerxes Break turned to face the glowing serpent, smiling calmly, leaning on his cane. "Well, it looks like we aren't going to be able to have a civilized conversation this way, doesn't it," he observed regretfully, his smile never fading. "I suppose there's no way around it, then." He lifted his cane in front of him and spun it twice like a baton. Then, abruptly, he gripped it with both hands and struck the floor with its tip.
The sound should not have been very loud, but it was. The deep, rumbling crash echoed through the room, bouncing off the walls. And then the room darkened, and the floor began to glow. On the tiled floor all around Miikai, a bright blue circle of light flared to life, spinning and expanding. The serpent looked down in alarm as the pentacle reached its maximum width. "No," she barked suddenly, recognition flaring in her eyes, and she hurled herself towards the edge of the circle.
But it was too late. Before she could get out, the blue light pulsed down in waves from above the rotating circle, pulling her down with irresistible force. She struggled ferociously to stay in the air for a few seconds, thrashing and straining, her sharp hisses echoing through the room. But the gravity of the pentacle was too great, and she hit the ground with a loud THUD. She lay there, plastered to the tiles like an insect on fly paper, one side of her face pressed against the floor. Her visible eye burned with unspeakable hatred as she glared up at Break.
Break laughed and walked closer. "Good thing I decided to leave the restriction spells from last time in place," he said lightly as he stopped a few inches away from the edge of the circle and leaned down a little to examine the immobile chain. "This would have been much more troublesome if I hadn't."
Grace stared at Miikai in astonishment as the serpent let out a wordless, frustrated hiss. Just like that, her chain was sprawled helplessly on the floor. Slowly, Grace's shoulders slumped in relief. Oh, thank God… That was so close... I guess he did know what he was doing, after all…
Break smiled patiently down at Miikai. "So, now that that's been dealt with, there's something I'd like to know." He carelessly nudged her silvery head with one boot, paying no heed to her vicious snarl. "I want you to tell me about your powers," he told her calmly.
Miikai bared her needle-sharp fangs at him and hissed menacingly, managing to draw her head about a foot off the ground and struggling to hold it there. "I don't answer to the likes of you, cretin," she snarled bitterly.
He chuckled in response, unfazed. "Now, Miikai-san," he said mildly, lifting his cane and tapping it against the side of his face. "In case you hadn't noticed, you're not in any position to be impolite right now." He suddenly raised the cane and swung it, striking her hard on the side of the head. She let out a hiss of pain as her head fell back to the ground, her reptilian face contorted in a grimace of rage and loathing.
Grace stiffened simultaneously as a dull pain pulsed from one temple. She shoved one of her sais back into her belt and clutched the side of her head with her free hand, eyes wide. What in the world…?
Break smiled condescendingly at Miikai, raising the slim black cane again. "So…" THWACK. "I think…" THWACK. "It would be…" THWACK. "In your best interest…" THWACK. "… To cooperate." He spun his cane once, still smiling, and tilted his head to one side. "Let's try that again. Why don't you tell me about your powers?"
Grace had staggered backwards, now gripping her head with both hands, gasping with pain. Each blow was more vicious than the last… And she could feel them all. Wh-what's going on…? It hurts… How am I feeling this? Is it because I'm her contractor? Does that mean I can feel her injuries?
"Break!" That was Sharon, looking worried. "Break, stop! Grace and Miikai are linked; you're hurting her, too."
"Eh?" Break looked over his shoulder at Grace, who still gripped her throbbing head. "Ah… That's right. I'd forgotten." He smiled unaffectedly at Grace. "Sorry about that, Grace-kun," he said cheerily, "and I apologize in advance for whatever else I wind up doing to this creature. But it's completely necessary. So… Just hang in there, okay?" He turned back to Miikai as Grace stared at him incredulously. "Anyway," he went on brightly. "You were saying, Miikai?"
Miikai's lips were drawn far back over her fangs, and her eyes were narrowed to slits, staring up at Break with silent, seething rage. She let out a long hiss before she spoke. "Fine…" she rasped grimly. "But someday you will pay for this in blood…"
"I rather doubt that," Break replied mildly. "But in any case, go on."
Miikai glowered at him for several seconds in silence. "… Hmph," she snorted at last. "Well… As you already know, I am Miikai, the serpent of the moonlit plains… I'm sure I've been featured in a few legends. I am the fastest chain in Abyss... My swiftness is unmatched, unchallenged." Here she scowled at him grudgingly. "You were extremely lucky that I was off guard when I attacked you," she admitted bitterly. "I did so want to see the look of fear upon your face before I reached you, and so I moved slower than I should have. Believe me," she added ominously, "it's a mistake I will not make again."
Break smiled tolerantly and gestured for her to continue. Her eyes narrowed. "I can enter a human's dreams," she went on flatly. "Or a chain's, for that matter… I can merely observe them, or I can alter them. I'm particularly fond of bringing people's darkest fears to life in their dreams…" She smiled fiercely. When Break's expression did not change, her smile slowly faded back into that dangerous glare. "… Well," she snapped after a moment. "You've heard what you wanted to hear. Are you quite satisfied?"
Break laughed at the chain. "You're forgetting something, aren't you?" he pointed out dryly. "You've left out the power I'm most interested in… Admittedly, it's spoken of very little in the legends, but Grace mentioned it when she told us what you said to her when you first appeared in this world… And the look on your face tells me that you do possess it. How about it, Miikai?"
The serpent's teeth clenched. She was silent for several seconds. "… Fine…" She muttered at last. "Fine. You're right… I did leave something out." She paused. Break twirled his cane, and her lip curled, but she went on. "I am equally adept at hurting and healing," she snarled reluctantly. "I can heal most injuries… I can even turn back a contractor's clock seal, at a price."
"Turn back a contractor's clock seal?" a voice echoed sharply. Turning around, Grace found that it was Alice, staring intently at the chain plastered to the floor.
Miikai's eyes turned to Alice and narrowed. "Yesssss…" she hissed slowly, broodingly. "That's right… For a price, I said." Her lip curled slightly. "But the price is not paid by the person whose seal is reset," she said resentfully. "On the contrary; it's paid by my own contractor, and, likewise, by me. No, it doesn't benefit me in the slightest… So don't expect me to do you that favor. You're a chain as well, I see… So of course you would want to extend your time in this world." Alice's fists clenched, but Miikai took no notice. "But I would be giving up some of my own time in exchange. And that is something I will not do."
Break was grinning from ear to ear. "Ah… So I was right." He laughed delightedly. "Thank you ever so much for the valuable insight, Miikai-san. I'd let you go now, but there's still one thing I have left to address." He strolled forward and knelt right in front of her inside the pentacle; the gravity that held the chain to the floor didn't seem to affect him, Grace noted. He reached out and wrapped a hand around one of Miikai's long, purple horns and proceeded to lift her face to eye level, with some effort. He smiled, right in her face. "From now on," he informed her brightly, "you are going to listen to every word your contractor says to you. Any order she gives, you will carry out swiftly and effectively. If she tells you not to do something, you won't do it. Understood?"
Miikai's black-and-gold eyes widened in outrage, her topaz pupils shrinking chillingly. Her lips drew back in a violent snarl. "Fool! I may be trapped for now, but as soon as you release me, you will have not the slightest hint of control over my actions! I will mutilate every square inch of your body and bathe in the blood from you and your pathetic friends. What makes you think you can tell me what to do and what not to do?"
Break looked down at her for a long moment, his eyes cast in shadow. Slowly, he smiled. "Well, now… I guess I'll just have to show you, won't I?" he murmured. He stood up, letting go of her horn so that her head slammed back into the floor, and took a few deliberate steps back, still with that eerie smile on his face as he leaned on his cane.
And as Grace looked on, the room began to grow darker yet. Soon, the only light came from Miikai and the glowing pentacle beneath her. Grace looked around warily, tensing up. What's going on now…? She looked uncertainly back at Break, and then she froze.
Behind Xerxes Break loomed a huge, shadowed mass. As the combined light from Miikai and the bright blue circle shone softly into that blackness, Grace's eyes adjusted… It wasn't just a dark blob that hovered behind Break. It was something much more frightening. As Grace's eyes widened in fear, she heard a small, sharp intake of breath from the serpent on the floor. She ripped her eyes away from the shadowy creature to glance at Miikai, and what she saw there was not at all reassuring. The silvery chain's eyes were wide with shock, and, alarmingly, with a trace of genuine fear. "Mad Hatter…" Miikai breathed, aghast.
Grace quickly looked back at Break and the chain behind him, and indeed, it sounded like a fitting name for the creature. It seemed to have no body, no head, no nothing; it was simply a huge black top hat adorned with a few violet feathers and roses, swathed in a giant, flowing black cloak with ragged edges that seemed to melt into the darkness of the room. The cloak seemed to be fastened on with a large steel chain with a skull-shaped clasp, and below the cloak… A horizontal slit, just a slash of reddish light, seemed to hover in the shadows.
Break stood casually beneath it, smiling darkly and leaning on his cane. "That's right," he told Miikai evenly as the midnight cloak billowed above him. "And I'm sure you know all about the Mad Hatter's power… It is a chain made specifically to kill other chains." He chuckled as the slash of light suddenly widened a little. "It can neutralize anything that comes out of Abyss…" He snapped his fingers, smiling ominously. "Just like that. Gone forever in the time it takes to blink." Suddenly the slash of light flew wide open, revealing itself to be a huge, perfectly circular red eye.
Miikai let out a choking sound, the fear in her eyes now kindled to terror. She began struggling to break free of the pentacle, thrashing violently. "All right! All right! Stop! Dismiss your beast!" she snapped, horrified.
Break let out a childish giggle and put one finger on his chin thoughtfully. "What's the magic word?" he inquired innocently, seeming to enjoy this whole display. The shadowy specter behind him stared down at Miikai with that terrible, wide eye.
Miikai hissed in frustration, her eyes never leaving the Mad Hatter. "Pl-… Please," she snarled in an agony of hatred and humiliation and terror, "get that thing out of here, now!"
Break laughed, and the dark chain behind him slowly began to fade. The darkness in the room faded as well, until both were gone, and they were all back in that room lit by warm candles and cool moonlight. Miikai slowly ceased her thrashing and just lay there, eyes still wide and unsettled, gazing warily at Break.
Grace was doing much the same thing, and when she glanced back at the others, she found that they all had similar wide-eyed expressions on their faces… All except Sharon, who was staring at Break worriedly. She looked almost upset.
Break shifted slightly to lean more heavily on his cane, the smile still on his face. "So, Miikai-san," he concluded, "are you going to cooperate with your contractor or not? I really don't think you want to fall victim to such an unpleasant fate, so it really would be in your best interest…"
There was still loathing in Miikai's dark eyes, but now it was mixed with traces of wariness and grim, reluctant resignation. She was silent for a long time. Then, slowly, she let out a long, hissing breath. "Fine… So be it," she said at last, looking suddenly very tired. "You win, Xerxes Break… I am…" her lip curled, and her next words were brimming with bitterness, "… at your mercy."
Break chuckled. "Yes, you are," he agreed cheerily. "And of course you'll listen to anything I say as well as anything your contractor says, ne?" The serpent scowled at him, but nodded painfully. He smiled. "Good! Well, that's settled, then. That wasn't so hard, was it?" He raised his cane and brought it down once on the floor, the sound echoing once again off the walls. As they watched, the bright blue pentacle glowed brighter and slowly rose off the floor and into the air, spinning rapidly. Then it faded away, and the room returned to normal. Grace caught her breath as Miikai slowly rose back into the air, still glaring at Break ominously. But the chain made no move to attack.
Break waved one hand dismissively. "Well, that was a nice chat," he said calmly. "You may leave." Miikai stared at him wearily for a long moment before she began to glow brighter. Moonlight flashed once, and then she was gone.
No one moved for several seconds. Then the smile on Break's face began to fade a little. He allowed his head to droop forward as he leaned heavily on his cane, taking deep breaths. After a moment, a few dry, irregular coughs escaped him.
Sharon immediately hurried past Grace as she made her way across the tiled floor to him. "Break!" She stopped beside him, one hand hovering at her chest uncertainly, and looked up worriedly at his face. "Break, are you all right? You can't afford to-"
"No, it's fine, Ojou-sama," he cut her off, carefully raising his head again and smiling once more. "I'm fine. Don't worry so much." He stopped leaning on his cane and turned back towards them. "That went well, wouldn't you agree?" he asked optimistically as he strolled back in their direction, Sharon trailing behind him, still with a worried crease between her eyebrows.
Grace just stared at him, disconcerted. She had never seen anything like that before… But this meant that her chain wouldn't go on rampages anymore. Grace could stop her now. No one else had to die because of her… Tears of relief prickled at the corners of her eyes, and she rubbed at them absently before she looked up at Break as he headed towards them. "Th-… Thank you," she said simply.
Break snorted. "Don't thank me," he told her mildly as he passed, smiling. "I didn't do it for you."
From behind her, she heard Oz speak. "So… I guess this means you aren't going to arrest her?" he asked dryly.
She turned around to see Break laugh and poke him in the chest with the tip of his cane. "Don't be silly," he said cheerily, "how could I waste a power as useful as that? Of course I'm not going to arrest her." He turned back around to face Grace, a satisfied smile on his face. "From now on, Grace-kun," he informed her amiably, "you're working with us. It will be awfully dangerous, but I'm sure you'll survive. You've got nothing to worry about with a chain that strong under your command. So, you work for Pandora with us, and we'll keep your chain from massacring people… And keep that Chris boy from shooting you full of holes. Do we have a deal?"
It didn't seem like she had much choice in the matter, did it? "Deal," she agreed helplessly, and had to smile. She had made terrible mistakes so far, but maybe she could make up for it now, by helping these people.
Maybe she could do some good, after all.
