Hey, it's been a while! And I'm sorry this chapter is a tad bit short. I was getting bored and I needed to create a scene between the two here. I'm still trying to comprehend the last chapter and how I'm gonna make it wok here. Also, I went to see 'The Lorax' today. Best 3d movie ever. Tomorrow I'm gonna go see 'Act of Valor'
peppermint-twertle: I'm not really sure what gave you the impresion the last chapter was in Elliot's P.O.V. It was clearly Mark the whole time. And yes, I did watch the superbowl (is there even any relivance any more).
Xitlait123: Thanks so much.
I do not own Pandora Hearts in any way.
Chapter 8: Monochrome Memories
(Flashback)
"We've already failed once. Those two will be on their guard..." He says.
"That was all your fault! I thought a fast acting poison would give us enough time to behead him once he died." The other retorts.
I can only stand hidden here, my hand curled into a fist and I am frozen in place, not yet believing those words I hear uttered by my own brothers. There isn't really any way to easy describe this, but I do feel an overwhelming anger boiling inside me, threatening to spill over. I mean, this is just... unbelievable!
I don't understand! I don't understand!
"Please, Claude..." Ernest insists. "We've already come this far."
"Alright, alright..." He's given in? He's agreeing? Why?
"Come on, let's go. It would be a shame to die in a fire we started ourselves."
No...no! There's no way! Why?
'I can't believe it! I can't believe it!' I yelled silently, but furiously. 'What the hell are they planning to do?'
"I'll teach them a lesson!" I hissed under my breath, my sights now set on this as my grip tightened on the hilt of my sword. I won't let them get away with this!
"Yes, alright."
They'll pay for this!
"And once we've gotten rid of those two... we'll dispose of that Leo as well."
. . .
W-what...?
"I don't know how Elly can stand to keep him around." Ah, this pain again; so...sharp. But, Leo... "We'll find him a proper servant ourselves."
"You know, to be killed by the Headhunter is to acknowledged as a member of the Nightray family." Ernest chuckled with a dark melancholy "Could we offer a higher honor for the three of them?"
That laughter I heard then was like being stabbed. I just...couldn't believe it.
I heard their footsteps fade away as they walked on, only leaving the sound of crackling flames, and I was still frozen.
"I can't..." My sword that I had been previously grasping fell from my hand, clattering as it hit the floor. "I can't..."
I kept repeating that over and over.
"I can't... I can't, I can't!"
Obviously someone heard me.
"Of course you can."
Someone...no, something's presence was here, right behind me, but I couldn't turn to face them; I was still overcome with that same pain as before, a needle sharp one that kept me from moving.
"We must kill... both of them!"
Huh? Kill? What was this thing saying?
"Don't worry, you're not going to kill them yourself." I slid down against the wall, this mysterious pain becoming unbearable. "As they said, the Headhunter will be doing the killing."
That was the last I heard from that voice before I blacked out altogether.
(End Flashback)
"Oi! Eric, are you listening?"
That girl's voice, Ceail's, snapped me out of that memory and brought me back to reality. I whipped my head back around to face her and she just looked at me with those surprised ruby eyes. I suddenly remember that I'm sitting on the couch at home.
"Gah! What the hell do you want?"
"You looked like you were in a trance or something." She says back to me. "You were asking me about my family. All I did was say that my parents were originally killed in a fire, and then you go all zombie-like."
Wait, that's what triggered it. "Stop that! Don't talk about it."
"Huh? But I-"
"I don't want to hear it, dammit!"
Ceail stared at me wide eyed, seemingly taken aback by what I had said. What? She wouldn't stop and she had started to bring up bad memories, ones that can never be erased. Back then, I had to face them. I can't and will never forget the previously locked memories, but I'd rather not be reminded of them.
"Fine." She said finally. "But you were the one who asked me first."
At last, she had dropped the conversation, and so, as we sit here on the balcony of the house, a cool breeze accompanies the silence in the air.
Ceail, she doesn't know about my real identity, and I don't plan on telling her ether. There is something about her though, given the fact that she's got a curious sense and skilled in the ways of being perceptive (like Leo). It's not anything significant, but I'll have to be a bit careful in case she does end up pestering me about stuff like that, like how I was lost in an old and painful memory.
Speaking of which, what she had said about her parents dying in a fire did somehow trigger it again. They weren't locked like the last time, no. Carrie knew almost the entire story from what she could piece together, and from what Leo had told her, and even then, when I had talked to her about the nightmares that had plagued me back in my old time, faint memories resurfaced; those weren't locked away ether, because I was no longer contracted to that demon.
I rejected the Chain that took away my family and warped my memories, and now I have a new family to protect; my friend and servant, Leo, and my metaphorical sister, Carrie.
No way I'm gonna tell Ceail anything about the Headhunter (the Chain to be more precise), or about anything that happened that dreadful night.
"So, what are you reading?" Oh, she must have noticed the book.
"Carrie wants me to look up some info on Gryphon for some reason." I lie. This is of my own whim to research the Chain belonging to the Vessalius Dukedom (If it still exists. Carrie said all four still did). We both know there's something about those five Chains that the Baskervilles want, we just don't know what yet. In fact, it might be a good thing we already have two of them.
"Interesting." She smiled and sat down next to me. "Maybe I can help."
"You know anything besides what you told me when we met?"
"Well, Luke never told me much. There was one thing though."
"Tell me then."
She closed her eyes in thought for a moment, as if searching her memories. Finally, she opened her red eyes and spoke. "Luke told me that around 200 years ago, the Chain was in the possession of the father of the Vessalius heir. Reason being, the heir was already in possession of a Chain, and he and the Chain became famous in the battle of the Two Powers."
"Two powers?" I questioned.
"Yes. One of them was Oz Vessalius, and the other was Reo Baskerville."
Reo. Doesn't she mean Leo? Carrie told me that she learned that after I died, Leo went mad. He had attempted to send Oz back to the Abyss. Carrie would never lie about something like that, because she, in all honesty, would never make that up.
"I was surprised, but the name in the records...they got it wrong"
"There was something else there about the latter." Ceail continued. "It would seem that...there was the possibility Oz killed Reo."
"It wasn't 'Reo', but 'Leo'."
Confusion and realization hit me at the same time. Ceail was talking about Leo, but not as how she knows.
"What? How?"
She stiffened at my sudden exclamation. "It would seem that the cause of death was a deep cut wound, something impaling and going straight through him. The only evidence that points to this was when Oz suddenly attacked him."
'Oz, that brat? Why would he do such a thing?'
"Of course there is no certain proof to back this up, but it's the closest hint anyone's got."
'You're wrong!' was what I wanted to yell, but I couldn't. That would cause even more problems besides my fake identity. She doesn't know yet that 'Reo' is actually 'Leo', whom I had introduced to her.
"Forget it." I quickly said. "What were you saying about Gryphon?"
"Oh. The father of the Vessalius heir was the possessor of Gryphon." Ceail started to explain again. "But after the battle of the Two Powers, both the Chain and the possessor disappeared without a trace. No one knows what happened to them."
"I take it Gryphon had been long since lost then."
"Exactly, but Luke's research pointed in a different direction. There was something he wanted, but also something to prove. I just don't know what."
"Great. Just great." This new information wasn't really helpful. Although, something else had been unearthed in the process.
Something had happened then, and I wonder, did it really happen. I was not among the living at the time, but still, the thought of losing someone else, even now...
"Claude... please wait!"
Even now...
"Eric."
I looked next to me, only to be surprised that Ceail had positioned herself even closer. Her eyes seemed to glow with a brighter red now as she glanced up at me with a blank face.
"If something is bothering Eric, perhaps something makes him sad, he can always talk to Ceail about it."
I chuckled at her. "Thanks for your concern, but I'm perfectly fine."
"Hmph. Why would you say that? Do you think I'm some helpless child who wouldn't listen to the likes of you?"
"No, I never said that."
"Well listen. These watchful red eyes and me will listen. Now," She rose suddenly and stood in front of me. "Isn't it about time we go visit Leo?"
Oh, right. I had been so preoccupied with my research that I forgot entirely. However... "We can't, Ceail. It's too late."
She glanced over at a clock hanging on the wall; 8:40 P.M. All she did in response was shrug. "No problem."
"What are you talking about? We can't possibly go there."
"Shut up and don't worry. I've got a plan."
Oh the clever antics of Ceail. With the new chapter of Pandora Hearts coming up, I guess it will only be fair to say that the truth will be revealed here as well. It just might affect everyone though, except the only person who knows. As always, feel free to reveiw.
