Disclaimer: Pandora Hearts does not belong to me. I am but a humble and super duper addicted fan of it who decided to make a fanfic of my all-time favorite manga and anime.

YAY! I totally enjoyed writing this chapter. **nods** I'll try and put LOTS and LOTS of Oz x Alice fluff in the next chapter. :D

DUN DUN DUN DUUUUUUUN~~~~ And the plot thickens!

Alice: Meat...

Me: Meat...

Alice: Do you wanna...?

Me: Yeah. Let's go eat some meat! XD

Alice: YEAH!

Enjoy!

::{ Narrator POV}::

Oz's fifteenth birthday party ended a week ago. Alice was in her room, studying for her exam. Unlike Alyss, Alice procrastinated and always left everything to the last minute. Thus she was studying while Alyss was in the Lumière Kingdom, having tea with Jack in the Vessalius' rose garden. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," said Alice, not taking her eyes off the book. The door opened and in came Glen and Lacie. Alice was surprised that her father actually came to visit her.

"Do you need any help, Alice?" asked Lacie.

"No," replied Alice then thought about what she just said. "But I think I can use some exercises."

"Alright," said Glen. He took Alice's pad of paper and started scribbling complicated Math equations and fill-in-the-blanks Science questions.

After a few minutes, Glen slid the pad to Alice, who picked it up and stared at the page, wide-eyed. "Are you freaking serious?" cried Alice, slamming her fist onto the table. "We haven't learned this yet!"

"I'm dead serious Alice," said Glen with coldness in his voice. "You're a smart girl. Use your head and dig deep. You should find the solutions there."

"What the heck?" exclaimed Alice, scratching her head in frustration.

"Now, now dear," scolded Lacie, wagging a finger at Glen. "Don't be too hard on her."

Glen shook his head. "If she really is all that great and amazing, then she should be able to do this. But since she can't do it, then I guess she's not worth all that praise." Glen shrugged.

"Is that a challenge…?" asked Alice, grinning viciously. "Fine then! I'll show you I can do this and prove you wrong!" She then laughed haughtily and proceeded to answering the questions.

"Oh my," said Lacie, trying to stifle a giggle.

After an hour, Alice handed the pad to Glen, who examined it. He nodded and said, "Good work," he said and Alice's face lit up. "If you were trying to disappoint me!" Alice scowled. "Twenty-five out of thirty! You can do better than that!"

Alice ground her teeth as Glen scribbled down another set of questions. He handed it to Alice who immediately set to work.

Meanwhile, Oz was playing in the garden with Gilbert. Literally. A blond boy was playing with a crying, dark-haired boy tied upside-down to a tree, swaying from side to side, a cat dangling in his hair.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" cried Gilbert, much to Oz's pleasure. "Y… Young Master! Please…! Stop! Please put me down!"

"Cry out some more, Gil!" replied Oz, raising his voice to be heard over the poor boy's screams.

In the castle's rose garden, Alyss and Jack were having tea.

"Jack, let's play by the lake later, okay?" said Alyss with a sweet smile.

"Of course," replied Jack. "No need to rush. We've got a whole week to spend."

Alyss decided to stay over in Lumière Kingdom for five days in order to stay closer to Jack, who, of course, accepted her request wholeheartedly. And the two were spending alone time together while Alice studied hard.

A few hours of studying passed and Alice was drained of anymore energy. Glen noticed this and said that she could have a break. Alice smiled gratefully and rang the bell in her room to call for a maid.

Fifteen minutes passed and no one came still. Therefore, Alice excused herself, deciding to go check on the maid. She went out and closed the door behind her. As soon she stepped out of the room, the smell of rusted iron filled her nostrils. She looked around and saw that the walls were spattered and the floor was soaked in blood. Alice recoiled in horror, her back hit the door and she slid down on the floor. Immediately, the blood seeped through her dress and her hands were colored red.

Alice gulped and gathered all her courage. She wiped her hands onto her dress and stood up. The dark-haired girl walked down the corridor with determination, hand over her nose and mouth to keep out the pungent smell. Carcasses of the castle's previous occupants lay all around. Everything was stained dark red and the whole place reeked of death.

Later, Alice smelled burning flesh. She felt a surge of panic rise inside her and she ran back to where her parents were. As she ran, fire spread out through the hall. The curtains and carpets were on fire and Alice had to stick to the wall to prevent herself from stepping onto the burning carpet.

Finally, she reached her room, where she had last left her parents. She rattled the door with her shaking hands and when she managed to open the door, Alice found Glen and Lacie spread out on the floor, unconscious.

"Mom! Dad!" cried Alice as she ran to them. "Dad!" She shook Glen. "Mom!" She shook Lacie. "This isn't funny!" Tears were running down her flushed cheeks and told herself that everything will be alright. Alice turned to her father. "If you don't' wake up, who'll make those stupid equations and questions for me?" Then she turned to Lacie. "If you don't wake up, who'll take me on those boring walks in the garden?" She sobbed. "Don't joke like this… It's not funny…"

For the very first time in her life, Alice felt weak and truly alone. No one could help her since everyone had been killed. Her parents were unconscious, possibly dead. Alyss was in another kingdom and it would take hours, maybe days for her to come back and help. Alice couldn't contact her anyway and even if she did try to, when will the message arrive? Moreover, who will take the message to Alyss? Everything had fallen apart for the dark-haired girl. Her world had crumbled before her very eyes. Alice had lost everything.

Suddenly, she felt pain shoot through her head. A wooden log dropped beside Alice, creating a clanking noise that seemed to echo in Alice's ears, along with the crackle of fire around her. The amethyst eyed girl felt warm liquid ooze out from her head, trickling down her cheek. She lifted her hand up and stroked her face, the liquid staining her hands. Alice looked a saw blood on her fingers. She turned around and saw the silhouette of a woman before the dizziness overcame her and everything went black and disappeared.

WAHOO! Reviews please! Reviews inspire me and keep me writing for quicker updates, so please review!