A/N: Because I brought in a bucket-load of characters in the last chapter, I have to follow them all in this chapter, and because they're going to split up in Cheshire's world, it's going to be kinda herd to keep track of them all, so I apologise if this chapter gets a bit confusing.
Cheshire moved with such lightning fast speed that no one realized what had happened until too late. In a second, he had leapt to the bottom of the stairs and, exactly like last time, slashed Gil across the chest. Gil stumbled back and fell over the edge of the balcony, disappearing into the blackness.
"Gil!" Oz and Vincent shouted out, both running to the edge, trying to see where he had fallen.
"Echo-Chan!" Break shouted from behind them. Both turned to see Echo's right arm hanging limply at her side, a thick trio of bloody slashes running from shoulder to fingertips. As the dagger fell from her right hand, she ran towards Cheshire, her left hand clutching the dagger under her long sleeves. Cheshire dodged easily to the side, and held out his claws for Echo to run straight into them. Cheshire pulled his claws out from Echo's chest, and stepped away as she collapsed. Licking the blood off, he turned to Break.
"Yamane," Vincent whispered. Dreamily, a clock-work dormouse faded into view as Cheshire leapt towards Vincent. Suddenly, he dropped to the floor. Vincent ran towards Echo, and pressed his hands to her chest to stop the bleeding.
"Vincent-sama, keep Cheshire asleep using Yamane," Break called to him, "We should be able to get out of here soon and we can help Echo-Chan then. Baskervilles," he shouted to the group standing passively near one of the corridors, "Go find Gil. Ignore everything else you see, just look for Gil." The Baskervilles nodded, and Fang and Doug turned to walk down the corridor. Lottie winked at Oz.
"I'll see you later boy, and Jack." Laughing, she ran after her brothers.
"Oz-kun, you follow me, we're going after Alice." Break turned and began to walk up the stairs.
"Wait, what about Echo?" Oz called, looking at Vincent, who seemed about to fall apart.
"She will be safe soon enough. For now, we need to be more concerned about Alice" Break said, not turning around.
"Vincent-sama..." Echo whispered as she heard footsteps going up the stairs. For some reason, it was hard to breathe, and Vincent was pressing down on her chest, which felt wet and sticky. Her master turned to look into her eyes.
"Don't talk, Echo. Try and stay awake. It's okay; we'll get you fixed soon." As he said those words, his eyes filled up with tears that fell onto her cheeks as he leaned over and kissed her gently. Echo felt the corners of her lips pull up into a tiny smile as he pulled away.
"You look so beautiful when you smile," Vincent whispered. "I promise I will never, ever hit you again,"
"Yes, Vincent-sama," Echo replied. Vincent laughed, and pressed her chest a little more firmly, so that no more blood would escape.
"Lottie, Doug," Fang said quietly. They had been descending through Cheshire's world for almost half an hour, when they passed a garden that looked almost like the Bezarius garden a hundred years ago. Lying in the centre was Gil. Lottie rushed towards the fallen Nightray, knowing Vincent would kill all of them if anything had happened to his brother. He was breathing lightly, and his scratches seemed to have stopped bleeding, but his shirt was a dark red, and his face was almost white.
"Hey," she said, waiting for him to respond. "Hey!" she shouted again, and this time, he turned his head towards her voice, and struggled to open his eyes.
"He's fine, let's go." She announced to her brothers, and started to walk back the way they had come from. Doug reached down, and pulled Gil to his feet. Fang and Doug walked either side of Gil, supporting him, while Lottie walked ahead, keeping an eye out for any danger.
"Oz..." Gil whispered, unable to raise his voice.
"...Is with Xerxes, looking for B-Rabbit-kun." Lottie finished for him.
"Xerxes, eh?" Fang echoed her, "I didn't know you were on first-name terms."
"Well, I like to keep my enemies close." Lottie turned, giving him her trademark manic grin. "Plus," she continued, turning to face the front again, "there may be a few things you don't know about,"
Fang and Doug rolled their eyes. They knew Lottie's sense of humour, and knew there had been nothing between her and Break, but Gil didn't know and couldn't help thinking Charlotte Baskerville and Break? What the hell? as he struggled to continue placing one foot in front of the other. Finally, they reached the place where Vincent and Echo had stayed. Gil's eyes widened as he saw Echo's broken form lying on the ground. Vincent looked up, and smiled when he saw Gil, clearly torn between his loyal servant and the brother he was so loyal to. The two Baskervilles sat Gil on the bottom step just beside Echo.
"Are you all right, Gilbert?" Vincent asked, not moving his hands from Echo's chest.
"Yeah," Gil nodded. "What happened to Echo?"
"Cheshire," Vincent spat out, turning to look at the unconscious chain.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and spiderweb cracks ran through the floor and the walls.
"Impossible!" Gil said, and they all turned to look at him for an explanation. "This feels like B-Rabbit's power, but it hasn't been unsealed," Gil held up his left hand.
"Well, it looks like the real battle is beginning," Fang said to Lottie.
"Yes," she smiled back, "You might want to hold onto your girl, Nightray," she laughed at Vincent, "We're going to the Abyss."
"Break?" Oz called, trying to keep up, "How do you know where Alice is?"
"I'm following the direction Cheshire came from," Break replied absent-mindedly, indicating to a trio of scratches running along the walls.
"Break?"
"My, my, you do ask a lot of annoying questions,"
"You've been to the Abyss before, right?"
"Yes,"
"Well... the Abyss turns people to Chains, right? Doesn't that mean you can't spend much time there because you'll turn to a chain even faster?" Break laughed
"Well, well, Oz-kun. Despite appearances, you are very perceptive. Yes, that might be true, but the same is true for the rest of us. Save Echo, we have all been in the Abyss."
"Break?" Break paused, and turned to face Oz, frowning.
"Why do you need to find the Will of the Abyss?"
"Oz-kun..." Break closed his eye and sighed, "Do you remember after you first left Cheshire's world, and we had tea together? Right after Jack appeared using your body before Pandora Headquarters?"
Oz nodded.
"Do you remember I said that I would respond to your questions? Not answer, but respond? Sometimes, I need you to trust me even if I cannot tell you everything."
Oz nodded again, thoughtfully. It's something to do with his contract with the Mad Hatter, he decided. Break stopped and turned to Oz with a finger over his grinning lips. He pointed to a door that was slightly ajar at the end of the corridor. Silently, they approached it, and when they were near enough, pressed their eyes against the crack to look inside.
The Will of the Abyss and Alice were locked in a seemingly unbreakable embrace, both looking at but not seeing the mirrors on the surrounding walls, their minds in a place that existed a hundred years ago.
"My, my," Break said, walking into the room, with a huge grin on his face, "Isn't this nice? But I'm afraid we have to go now, Alice-kun."
"Stupid clown!" Alice shouted, instantly stepping in front of her white-haired twin, who was staring at Break with wide, shocked eyes.
"Alice!" Oz shouted, following Break. Alice looked at him, and gasped.
"Oz!" she said, taking a step towards him.
"No!" the Will of the Abyss grabbed hold of her wrist, "I won't lose you again!"
"I'm sorry, but I may have to disagree with you there," Break replied, "You have no power here, this is not the Abyss. Have you forgotten? I control the Mad Hatter." Oz noticed that as Break said this, he did not summon the Mad Hatter.
"Well, then, maybe we can settle this on more even terms!" the Will of the Abyss shouted. Her eyes were not angry, as Oz expected, but were filled with childish desperation.
"Alice!" Alice shouted, just as the Way opened and the Will of the Abyss jumped into it, pulling her sister with her.
"Oz-kun!" Break grabbed hold of him.
"You're still blind, aren't you?"
"Yes, and I am relying on you to keep me alive." Break said as the Way pulled them in.
A/N: I promise a lot more AlicexGil action in the chapter after the next chapter, the next will follow Alice and the Will of the Abyss, hopefully I can get it uploaded soon. LottiexBreak for another fanfic? I'm sorry I keep borrowing a lot of imagery from the series, I'll try and be a bit more original from now on.
