A/N: This is a bit of an AU chapter. :)
Theme: Rebirth
He was climbing. Up, up, up… He couldn't stop. He didn't know why. All he knew was that he had to climb. He had to fly. He had to get out of there, out of this deep, dark dungeon…
Alyss said the new Glen Baskerville took Chains under his wing. New Chains, Chains that wished to see the world above. It had been so long… He needed to be the one this time. He had to be picked. He couldn't stay another day in this darkness. He had never seen light before, but something in his soul told him that it was wonderful. He knew that he wanted to see the light as much as he knew, by the burning in his gut, that he could breathe fire.
The young drake clawed his way through the darkness, going up and up, never stopping. The Abyss was vast and immense; he had such little time! Glen would come any time now.
In the deep shadows, a glimpse of white caught his attention. Even without a clear look, he knew who it was. The blasted White Knight. Swerving to the side, he plunged forward and plowed into the giant armored chess piece and both of them barreled off course. The Knight shrieked, wriggling from his grasp and darting away, white hair flowing.
"Back off, you overgrown lizard!" she* hissed, eyes glowing gold. "This time is mine!"
"Not a chance." With a reptilian roar, he leapt at her, boosting his momentum with a flap of his wings. He caught a fistful of her hair, and hurled her around behind him with it. She was flung into the darkness, and he hurried to resume his climbing. The doors. The doors! He had to reach the doors!
He saw them. Just above, waiting for him. They would open any moment and let the Glen in.
With an ethereal scream, the Knight burst under him, rearing her head to knock into his ribs. Even through his armor-like scales, he felt a rib crack and shrilled in pain. Before she could pass him, he dug his talons into her, and, passing through to the next level, revolved around and slammed her into the invisible floor, using all his weight against her. He wrapped her hair in his hand to get a better grip, and slammed her head against the ground. She thrashed, swinging her head like a club, and screamed so loud his ears throbbed, but using his wings to press down, he held her. He couldn't let her take away his chance!
The doors creaked. Startled, he looked up. The Knight took her chance and threw him off, slamming him into an invisible wall. His bones strained, and he howled, clawing at her face, her eyes, her hair, anything to get her off.
"Enough."
It was as if an invisible hand reached out and yanked the Knight off, sending her careening into open Abyss. She stopped herself, took one look at the now open doors, and bowed low. Picking himself off the floor, he managed to follow her gaze.
Glen Baskerville stood there in the middle of the darkness, shrouded in his red cloak. His ruler, his king. Battered though he was, he lowered himself into a bow, and felt the weight of the young duke's gaze on him. Pale hands reached up and pulled the red hood back, revealing a head of black hair, and gleaming silver-black eyes.
"What is your name?"
"My lord Glen," said the Knight from her place groveling on the floor. "I am-"
"Not you." Glen ignored her, looking at him and awaiting his answer.
Grimacing, he lifted his head and stood proud, extending his wings to show their span. He needed Glen to see him as a mighty Chain, or he wouldn't be chosen. "I am Draco, my lord Glen."
"Draco… I feel like we've met before."
Draco searched his memory. He had never met a Glen before, especially this newly-appointed Glen. He was young, they said. Only 16. And bitter, after the loss of a dear friend… They rumored that he wanted to find the Will, and reverse time. For what? No Chain knew.
He shook his head. "I have never met you, my lord Glen. If I had, I would have remembered you."
Glen studied him closely, narrowing his eyes. Quite suddenly, his eyes widened and he looked surprised. And then, once more, his mask was stoic again. In that brief break, the boy had looked much younger, and much less imposing, almost like a completely different person…
"You have both come to seek a contract, I presume," he said.
Draco nodded, while the Knight groveled closer. "Yes, my lord Glen. It is the highest honor to-"
"You talk too much."
The Knight shut up, and Draco gained a new level of respect for Glen. He didn't seem afraid of the Chains or the Abyss in the least; not that either could do anything to Glen even if they wanted to.
"Draco… come out with me."
Draco raised his head, looking to the Glen with awe. Had he… really just asked him to exit the doors?
Glen smiled – it was forced; bitter, indeed – and beckoned him toward the doors.
"But… mustn't you forge the contract here, in the Abyss, my lord Glen?" Draco asked, but stepped forward. Who was he to refuse if Glen told him to follow?
"I want to get a better look at you. I need light to do that."
Light… Draco couldn't resist the grin. He was going to see the light.
As the doors opened wider, and Draco cast a grin over his shoulder at the Knight. She was glaring at him, and he knew that if they ever met in the world above, it would be a battle to the death. She would not let him live past another encounter.
The sentiment was mutual.
He followed Glen to the doors, and gazed at their might. Once he stepped through them… he would be out. He would be in the world above, he would be in the light. And maybe, if Glen liked what he saw there, he would even get a contract, and then he would get to stay. Not just any contract, but a contract with Glen Baskerville.
He stepped through the doors.
The world shifted, and he felt as if he were hurled forward at a great speed. Then, he was falling, but only a short distance, before he sprawled on a hard surface with a thin, soft cover. A floor of some kind… What was the layer of fuzzy red stuff, though?
Funny, he had materialized in physical form. Other Chains spoke of being contracted, and then put into Limbo, to await their contractors' calls. But perhaps it was because he was not contracted yet… He could feel the strain of being outside the Abyss wearing on his bones already. Using his wings, he reoriented himself, and his gaze searched for Glen. He found himself to be surrounded by others in red cloaks, other members of the Baskerville clan. There were many of them. More than the stories told. Perhaps this Glen had added to their numbers, replenished those lost in the Great Tragedy…
There was Glen. Standing, to his right, in a rectangle of light from a window – a real window! One that looked outside and let in the most brilliant…
"Impossible."
He looked back to Glen, puzzled. He tilted his head. Glen was staring, again wide-eyed, staggering back with his gaze locked on his. Draco was confused. Had he done something wrong?
Just the thought spiked fear in him. Would Glen send him back?
Standing and hearing his claws scrape on the floor, he suddenly realized how much heavier he felt. His tail no longer flowed so weightlessly behind him; it took muscle to hold it and his wings up, as well as his neck. It was so strange to have a form more than shadow.
Before Draco could say a word, Glen stood before him, holding out a hand. A cut bled crimson, contrasting with the pale skin. "Make a contract with me."
Draco was surprised at the suddenness of it, but wasn't about to hesitate. He bit on his own hand, and then clasped his massive paw around the human's small appendage.
"Aren't you supposed to be my servant!?"
Leo was hyperventilating by the time he reached his quarters. He'd broken through Glen after… after…
It was the voice that first caught his attention. In the recesses of his mind to which he had retreated, he'd heard the echoes of a voice he never thought he'd hear again. Glen had humored him, and asked if they had met before. The dragon Chain had answered negatively. Then, Leo had wanted to see it for himself. He took his eyes back, and took in the dragon's appearance himself.
It was massive. An impressive beast of sleek muscle and gleaming blue-black scales. But what had gotten his attention were the eyes.
Cobalt blue. Shining like sapphire moons, and hauntingly familiar.
He sat back on his bed. His hands were shaking. He looked at his right hand, and the bandage surrounding it.
And then, in the light…
The dragon had dark purple streaks interrupting the black of his body. One formed a lighter-colored mask over his eyes, save for one, single scale. That single scale was black, and reminisced of a small beauty mark at the corner of the dragon's left eye.
That had done it, and Leo had formed a contract with the Chain.
Now, he sat in his chambers, fending off intrusions by the Glens; he had to think!
How was it possible? How could it be…?
She… She** had said she would take care of him before they sunk into the Abyss; he had been dying in her arms, bleeding, suffering the consequences of rejecting Humpty Dumpty. But that was all months ago. Since then, Glen… Glen had destroyed Pandora. Glen had captured Oz at long last, and thrown him into the Abyss to once again be Oz, the B-Rabbit, forbidden to resurface. Glen had reestablished the Baskervilles in their place of power, and had reduced the Vessalius dukedom to ash.
And Leo had let him.
But now… if it was even possible…
"It is an honor," Draco had said. "I do not think you know how great an honor it is to be contracted to you, my lord Glen."
Leo had stared at him, then. Studied. Daring to hope. Perhaps there was a way to get him back, he had thought. Perhaps, if he could come back as a Chain… his being, what made him who he was, had to go somewhere. Deep in the Abyss… perhaps he could find him.
"Call me… Leo."
*This White Knight is a Chain of my own invention, a replacement that Alyss made since she killed Albus.
**This is a reference to my OC, Nerys Winterspell, and her part in Elliot's rescue. While I haven't written that story yet, I will soon. So hang tight.
A/N: Again. This is not a pairing oneshot. And since I haven't done a disclaimer in a while: I DO NOT OWN PANDORA HEARTS. If I did, Elliot wouldn't have died. XP Reviews are appreciated, and will be rewarded with a ride on chain!Elliot's back. :3
~Penelope
