Chapter 9-May your paths cross once more

Jack rubbed his thumb against the smooth surface of the pocket-watch and stared at the item with a somber expression. How many times had he heard the soft, gentle melody Lacie would sing as the watch released its childish tune? It seemed almost ironic that a rhythm so childish and merry would be accompanied by a voice so full of life, but with a hint of sadness and despair.

Lillian's revelation about her existence answered some questions but left just as many uncertainties. Something about her felt familiar, but he couldn't place his finger down on why. Although there was one thing he realized- the girl reminded him in some ways of Lacie.

Both girls had dynamic personalities, they were full of abundant energy and life, but there was a hint of sadness and madness in their theories, logic, and mannerisms. When Jack had first met Lacie he thought she had a few screws loose in the head, but that's what made him appreciate her in the end. Her refusal to adjust herself to society's standards; and let them morph her into another being entirely, someone boring and apathetic.

Lillian exhibited these similar traits, but she wasn't as headstrong as Lacie, but nonetheless she was a fireball in her own unique ways.

Lillian had mentioned she knew about the existence of the Will of the Abyss, Lacie's daughter who was the human incarnation of the Core of the Abyss. But Lillian claimed to have never actually met her face-to-face, she continued to mention the Will of the Abyss seemed to be confined in her own realm and did not seek the company of others except the cat called Cheshire, who was now deceased.

As Jack brooded over these thoughts he continued gazing at the pocket-watch remembering happier times.

The sudden stillness in the air caught his attention, glancing up he was meant by the pale complexion of Lillian. Startled, he jerked back slightly but calmed once realizing it was her.

Lillian smiled warmly at him and said in her musical voice, "Tuning me out?"

Luckily for him, she had stopped ranting ages past and had assumed the motions of conducting a plan she deemed- "Save the princess."

Though she's an oddity in herself, the girl seriously lacks an imagination.

He kept these thoughts to himself to avoid having his face ripped off by her untapped power. He couldn't pinpoint why she possessed such strength, but nonetheless he didn't wish to find out why.

Jack smiled sheepishly at her, "Sorry, my mind has been elsewhere."

She bent over slightly and shifted her clenched hand under her chin, "Is it because of your encounter earlier with Oswald?"

Jack blinked, she knew of Oswald? "Yes, but mind if I ask how you know his name?"

She smiled mysteriously at him, "I have my own methods of finding out information."

Jack stared at the orange clad girl with confusion. Just what the hell did that mean?

"Anyways," she clapped her hands together, as though finalizing that this discussion was over, "let's jump straight into business."

Floating backwards, Lillian held out her hand, palm up, to produce a white ball of light. Jack stared at the small, circular ball of energy with obvious signs of memorization. He couldn't lie and say the energy's pure white glow wasn't beautiful to look at.

"This right here is part of my power, I'm able to extract images from the wave currents in the Abyss to produce this," while she talked the white ball began to demonstrate this ability. He could see images of people laughing from someone's memory and then it shifted to show gloomy images of chains floating around endlessly.

Jack continued watching the ball change images randomly as she watched his reactions. She rolled her hand causing the ball to stop its motions and return to normal.

"As you can see I can halt the ball's ability any given time as its wielder," shaking her hand the ball returned to showing different displays of the Abyss.

"But now that we got this demonstration over with, let's discuss the current predicament," Lillian assumed a sitting position in the air. "As I mentioned earlier there are several realms in the Abyss and there are just as many inter-connected pathways which can change locations at any given time. It's an endless maze where routes can lead you to your desired location or wind you up trapped for eternity."

She smiled at the horrified expression on Jack's face, "I made the last piece of information up, but there is some truth. It is difficult following the black holes' paths because the end result is not always the same."

Jack absorbed all this information with heightened awareness since he wasn't certain for how long this alliance would last. Any given time one of them might fall victim to angry emotions and abandon the other, he knew from personal experiences with his mother. One minute she loved him for resembling his father, the next she despised him for being the reason the bastard left or so she claimed.

"Currently, Lacie is somewhere in the inner realms of the Abyss. While we are located at the midway point," she informed him.

"The Abyss is layered?" he asked with skepticism.

She glanced at him with perplexity, before saying in a clarified tone, "You could put it that way if it helps to simply the information. In our location, we still have the capability of moving between realms at any given whim. You could say that within the middle and outer realms, we are still the controllers of our paths."

She might as well say fate.

Right now all the information she was sprouting was giving him a headache because it made sense, but at the same time he hadn't a clue. Pondering over this information, he realized only permanent members of the Abyss would calculate these facts.

"While we have free will, unfortunately the same could not be said for your Lacie," she said sullenly.

On that note, Jack's head shot up. His eyes widened in alarm and Lillian waved her hands in a sign of appeasement.

He swore a pact under his breath that if the Abyss was causing her any harm he would rip these dimensions apart if he ever found the means to do such. The image of Lacie being constricted by millions of dark, pitch-black chains made him shudder. The angrier he grew the more intense the hellish images became. Until he saw her bright smile turn into an expression of pure anguish as she was blindfolded and placed over a fiery inferno.

"Wait, wait, hear me out before angering. She is not in any harm, but you could say she is permanently stuck as of right now."

A feeling of relief washed over Jack and he could feel his muscles loosen. The energy of B-Rabbit decreased as his placidity increased. The images of Lacie being tortured were replaced by her soothing, tender smile and he pondered over whether or not things would be all right in the end.

Jiri's words returned in that instance, about a bittersweet ending instead of a tragedy if he chose the right course to take. Did the cryptic old woman's words serve as a point?

"What does that even mean?" Jack asked in annoyance. His headache was about to switch into a migraine because things just kept getting more complicated. He kept seeing the faces of three different women, the old croon followed by the peculiar maiden followed lastly by the imploring teenager, and then things transgressed into memories of a furious Oswald and their interrupted battle. Musing over these memories, he could feel himself tire under the weight of his past actions, or failures as he considered them.

Could things get anymore complicated?

Lillian sighed thankfully, "The Abyss isn't allowing her to leave because of certain complications. I believe the Core is trying to keep her safe, whether it's the actual Core or the Will of the Abyss I can't determine."

She lowered her gaze and a faraway expression came over her. While she usually portrayed herself as a young teenager, Jack could see hints of an ancient being when she seemed to mediate over these notions.

"Right now, it's not apparent on whether or not the Will is trying to protect her mother?" he inquired.

She shook her head and said in a small voice, "No."

"These complications you mentioned?"

She raised her head to stare at him with a somewhat tired expression, " The reason she isn't allowed to leave is because her memories are sealed."

Jack scoffed and threw his hands up, "Oh yes, because an amnesiac woman would cause such a disturbance, how could this logic delude me? Does the Abyss steal memories of Children of Misfortune, instead of ripping them to pieces, and then trap them within its' clutches for all eternity?"

Are you mocking me Abyss? You keep that precious girl locked away because her amnesia will get her injured? Hasn't she been hurt enough by the laws set by the Glens? Why not let her undergo the 100 years recycle and let her back into the world she loves once more since you refuse to kill her.

"You don't have to phrase it that way," she pronounced with a tired sigh. Her statement earned an eye roll, which made her glower at him.

He really needed to tread carefully in his word selection since she obviously didn't like her precious Abyss being spoken crudely of. Currently, he was deeming her a childish idiot for not seeing how despicable this place was. It was a real hellhole whether she wanted to admit it or not.

A sad pang hit his heart that Lacie didn't possess the capability of remembering him, he had searched for her endlessly and wanted to hear her question human existence once more in her analyzing style. He loved hearing her talk because she always made him question his existence where he had stopped caring long ago.

And now she wouldn't remember why she thought about the world in such a precocious manner.

After he relapsed into silence as a sign for her to continue, she resumed her explanations. "Despite your criticism, a woman with no understanding of the Abyss would be harmed beyond recognition if she didn't have a means of protecting herself," her voice became condescending as though the answer was obvious. "There are many mysterious beings in this place and not all of them are as cowardly and fragile as you make them out to be."

She pointed a finger at him, and said in a grave, accusative voice that was alien to him, "Never forget Jack that without the small dosage of B-Rabbit's powers still harbored in you, you would have been ripped apart ages ago."

And now Lillian had succeeded in making him feel small and puny. Under her accusing look, he felt like folding into himself and disappearing.

A smirk formed on his face, like he was going to feel defeated when the person he sought after was so close to his grasp.

Lillian scowled at the self-assured expression he now displayed, she continued though with hesitation, "But there is a way to free her."

The smug look dropped and he leaned in to stare at her intensely, he heard her mutter under her breath something along the lines of well that got his attention. He ignored her sarcasm and silently pleaded for her to continue.

Lillian moved the ball out to the side, "The only way for Lacie to leave is for someone to open up the Seal which keeps her confined."

He opened his mouth and began asking, "What is this seal you speak of? How do I bre-"

"I've figured out that the way to break the seal," she interrupted tersely, "is to find her memories."

Jack tilted his head back to release a loud groan, "Do you realize how long this could take? There could be thousands of memories flowing through the gates between Earth and the Abyss? And I haven't exactly got a way to return to Earth now that the damn brat is fighting against me."

She shushed him and Jack had the right mind to send a wave of energy at her; but then he recalled what happened the last time he attempted attacking her and he halted in these actions.

"I'm way ahead of you sunshine," she replied drily, referring to his golden braid of hair, he frowned at this comment," I've noticed overtime that as Lacie begins to recollect past memories the Seal confining her weakens."

Jack felt slightly pleased by this piece of news, so the Seal wasn't impenetrable after all.

"How much has the Seal been weakened since her stay," a hint of desperation clung to his words. He silently pleaded to the Will of the Abyss or whoever was listening that Lacie had regained half her memories.

Lillian's saddened expression answered his question, "It's only weakened by a small percentage, but that doesn't mean we should fret."

While she was overcome by a determination he couldn't fathom, he stared at her uncomprehendingly, "And praise tell why we shouldn't we be troubled by these revelations?"

Her usual beaming grin returned full-force, "Because I've found out where her memories are located!"

In that moment, Jack felt the notion of kissing a young girl full force on the lips, but the idea of kissing a child held him back. But nonetheless he found it within him to be eternally grateful for this small piece of good news.

"Where are they, Lillian?" he said with a burst of unexpected excitement, the gloominess had faded replaced by pure joy.

Lillian moved the ball back to hold in-between them, "Hold your horses, Jack. Okay, that's where this little bundle of joy comes in. The thing has detected unusual amounts of energy flowing between both worlds, since I requested the energy-or ball of reminiscence as I like to refer to it as- to pinpoint anything related to Lacie it has served its purpose well."

A self-confident glow built on Lillian's pale skin, she murmured some ancient chants to the ball of reminiscence and the thing shot to life displaying small areas of the Abyss where light began to build.

He couldn't figure out their exact locations, but he began to count them, he lifted his finger up to count the dots, "There's one, then two, and then…"

"Three," she added in, "there are three locations where they are located."

Jack stood up abruptly and began gliding away. He could hear her yelling, "Hey, where are you going exactly?

"I'm going to go look for them obviously. Come on, Lillian, keep up!" he began to pick up speed.

Lillian released a groan that could travel for miles; he halted in his glide when he noticed she wasn't coming. He looked at her curiously before asking in a dubious voice, "Aren't you coming along? I thought you wanted to help me find Lacie?"

The teenager sent him an icy glare that made the man shiver with slight apprehension. He questioned on what made her angry this time, when he took notice of her evaporating into thin air. He gasped at her sudden departure and began circling around to see where she had wandered off. He was silently worrying that he had finally annoyed her to the point of leaving. His worry grew as seconds ticked by and right when he though she was truly gone, she teleported right in front of him.

One minute she had vanished in thin air, the next she appeared right in front of him as though she had popped out of a black hat. Her eyes were closed and after she had materialized into their current location fully, her hair and dress began to settle down.

When she opened her eyes, she gave him a furious glare and said in a pissed tone, "First off, don't run off when I'm still in the middle of an explanation."

Jack asked in a dumbfounded voice, "But what more is there to explain?"

"Second off, the memories are not just small specks of light you idiot," she retorted.

"Oh." He really hadn't thought this part over, in his belief he thought the memoires were just small pieces of glowing flecks traveling around the Abyss. He had been in a rush to find them before the memories floated off but now he saw that this wasn't exactly the case.

"Yes," Lillian produced the glowing ball of energy once more and lifted up three fingers for him to see with the other. "The memories are not just random distortions of floating energy, they are actual balls of energy contained in the form of three items."

After emphasizing the last piece of information, she proceeded to jab the three fingers into his face as though the procedure helped clarify her point.

"Okay, I understand I acted instead of thinking things though," he replied, while trying to slap away her fingers.

"Exactly! Hallelujah, he understands," she responded wryly. "And now then, according to my belief I think these memories are trapped within three objects that once came in her possession."

Possession?

Jack awkwardly ran a hand through his golden locks and questioned how many things Lacie could have possibly owned or given away. The amount was infinite and he felt slightly defeated by this realization.

He could hear Lillian prattling along and decided he needed to focus his attention in on her once more, "Yes, that would be the obvious answer." She kept floating back and forth while holding on to the ball of light, "But they couldn't be just any item, they had to have held some particular importance to her."

"And that could be anything," Jack stated.

"True, but Jack you claim to know her well, there must be some material possessions which you can recall her keeping a keen eye on."

Jack mused over this, but Lacie had never seemed the type to show much concern over material items. She was the type to enjoy spending quality time with those she cherished instead of counting her riches.

Everything was looking hopeless since he had made Saliber disappear and probably causing any item of importance to disappear entirely.

All hope seemed lost to him at this moment.

Jack leaned over in a defeated posture, when he felt something slip from his fingers. The item dangled in the air and he took notice of a glint appearing from the item. Lifting his hand up, he was greeted by the old pocket-watch that played the tune he had loved so much. Oswald had been very protective of this watch since it contained the melody he had written for Lacie, also Jack had come to find out Lacie had given him the originally tuneless pocket-watch as a Christmas gift.

Jack stood up in alarm and gazed at the pocket-watch intently. The harmless item twisted back and forth in the air innocently. The inanimate object was lucky that it couldn't see the fiery determination coming over the young man.

"Lillian?" Jack said.

The girl continued her prattling, oblivious to his current realization, and Jack stated her name again. She was still oblivious to his newfound information when he turned and said in a heated voice, "LILLIAN!"

His roar made the teenager cover her ears; closing her eyes she squished herself into a tight ball to block some of the noise. A failed attempt since her ears were currently ringing from his explosive use of her name.

"What is it?" she asked hesitantly, fearing another outburst that could make her go deaf.

"Do you believe one of the three items could be currently owned by another party that originally belonged to Lacie?"

Lillian stared at him in confusion, and he repeated himself in annoyance.

She said in a confused tone, "I don't see why not, I believe these items can be anything but the main aspect is that they have had to have held some importance to her."

Taking notice of his intense gaze, she asked, "What makes you ask this?"

Jack, still holding onto the item, answered without once averting his gaze, "I think I've found the first item."