I'm back! Yay! XD And here is chapter 10 of The Little Chain! Nope, this isn't a dream, it's really happening!
My mom just got done editing the whole thing, and now let's all celebrate the arrival of chapter 10. Gosh, I can't believe I made it this far in the story line. ^^;
Well anyway, sorry for the long wait everybody, but I want to thank you all for being patient. Now just to tell you all, I have recently started school about 2 or 3 weeks ago. It's going to be different now that I'm not going to be starting in September through the second week of June. But that doesn't matter anyway; summer will be over in one week. Also, I believe I'm going to have so much school work and all that it may take a while to update ]: But I'll still continue with the chapters as long as I can manage, like I promised!
Blah, blah, blah; enough talk, onto the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pandora Hearts, or The Little Mermaid story, they all belong to their rightful owners.
…
The Little Chain Chapter 10: Spring Fever
It was now the month of April, the rainiest month of the year.
It was early afternoon, and the sky turned dark as the huge clouds passed by, making the atmosphere a clad grey. The clouds were doubling up on each other, menacing. The smell of the arrival of the rain was heavy in the air, as was the electricity; it was the expectation of a coming storm.
A crash of thunder sends everyone's hearts pounding. The sky continued to be lit up as the citizens waited for the rain to finally fall upon them. Moments passed in anticipation, until finally the rain descended down from the heavens upon the earth.
Alice ran out from the mansion and raced along the fields, the droplets rolling off of her in sheets and sending shivers through her body.
She danced all around the meadow while the rain drenched her sun dress and hair. The rain blurred her vision, yet she stared up at the sky, opening her mouth. She let the sweet rain land on her dry lips and parched tongue. The brunette then lost all balance, and rolled down a hill.
Once she stopped, she tangled herself in the cascaded parched earth, the smell of wet soil lingered in her nostrils. She then got up, and raced along somewhere else.
Later that day, she was at the lake, playing in the mud. Like a pig, she rolled, ran around, and even tossed some up in the air; camouflaging herself.
She then decided to go for a swim in the lake. Running in, she dove into the water, the squishy dirt slipping off her skin.
Once she was rinsed off, she watched the passing storm progress aggressively. This rain had been eagerly anticipated and now it had arrived with welcoming arms. Alice stood there, looking up at the greyish atmosphere, as the rain crashed down on her; the liquid running down her neck and dripping from her fingers.
Her sundress was a pale brown in color, and her hair had grass, dirt, and who knows what else; all tangled in her locks.
'I', Alice thought, 'Am like the earth beneath my feet. Others will go before me, and take what I found as precious and priceless.'
Once that was said, she took a handful of water from a little puddle, and splashed it along her face. She then let herself fall backwards, hitting the ground softly.
Alice loved the rain, it was beautiful, but snow would be her most favorite weather. Mother Nature nurtures her trees and plants with milk. She loved all her plant creations deeply, but wished that everyone would water the ones she cannot get to personally.
All this beauty and grace that she can almost taste it. Something like this could never harm a chain like Alice.
…
Oz was walking down the halls of the mansion, how he ended up there, who knows, but he didn't care. He was too lost in thought that he didn't have any idea where he was going, so he just roamed silently through the house.
A clash of thunder interrupts his train of thought. The sudden uproar gets the blondes' attention, and he walks towards the window; wiping away the thickening fog on the glass in the process.
'Goodness, it's raining cats and dogs outside. It hasn't stop since morning.' Oz thought, as he watched the rain fall endlessly.
Oz then spotted something on the ground, something that didn't blend in with the color of the earth. When his vision focused more on the object, he could make out that it was wearing white clothing and that it had brown hair that was stuck everywhere on itself.
"Alice?" he pondered. The pieces then were coming together when he saw the shape of arms and legs.
"Alice!" he exclaimed, realizing who it was.
Oz ran down the stairs and hallways in a quick pace. He swung the door open, and finally caught up with the brunette. He turned her over on her back, and cradled her in his arms.
"Alice, are you alright!?" he pleaded; he got no response from her.
"Good lord Alice, you're as cold as ice! We have got to get you inside." He said. He carried her in his arms as he ran back inside the mansion.
Oz ran to the nearest bathroom, he laid her in the bath tub, and turned the handles to let the water run out of the spout. He kept adjusting the handles till it made the water turn to warm temperature.
Once the water was below Alice's neck, Oz took a damp cloth and cleaned away whatever was stuck to her face.
"Alice, can you hear me? Wake up," he said, "Please wake up." The voiceless brunette then starts to flutter her eyes open weakly.
"That's it…" Oz said. The teen girl's eyes then finally open, meeting the prince's eyes.
"Oh thank heavens you're alright. You gave me quite a fright." Oz said, relieved. Alice titled her head and gave him a small smile.
"Do you think you're strong enough to stand?" he asked. She nodded, and started to rise. Only to feel that her head had all of a sudden started swimming, and caused her to fall in the blondes' arms.
"Alice, what's wrong?" Oz asked. Looking at her face, he saw that her cheeks were flustered, and she was breathing heavily.
Oz put a hand to her forehead. "Alice…you're burning up." He then scooped her up into his arms again.
"We better go find Mrs. Kate." He said. With that, he searched throughout the halls.
…
Oz, Ada, and Mrs. Kate were waiting patiently outside of Alice's room.
Once Oz reported to Kate about Alice's symptoms, she immediately called to have a doctor come right over. After what felt like hours, Oz and Mrs. Kate started to get a little worried.
"I hope everything's alright in there." Oz said.
"I hope so too." Mrs. Kate agreed. At last, the doctor came out of the room calmly.
"How is she doctor? Will she be alright?" Mrs. Kate asked. The doctor sighed.
"Well, I'm afraid the mistress has come down with something that doesn't look or sound too good." He said.
"Well, do you know what it is?" Oz asked. The doctor adjusted his glasses.
"I'm not sure," he said, "But I do know that her signs are that of body weakness, nausea, stomach pains, and she has a fever of 103."
"Oh dear…" Mrs. Kate said, putting a hand to her mouth.
"I suggest that she needs a lot of rest and sleep. Give her cold baths, make her drink a lot of liquids, feed her lightly, and take her temperature regularly to keep a record of it." He explained.
"As for the medicine," he said. He then took out a little green bottle. "Here, give her this twice daily to help treat the sickness."
"Thank you doctor." Mrs. Kate said, taking the bottle.
"If there's anything else or if she doesn't get any better. Contact me." He said.
"Is it alright if we visit her now?" Oz asked.
"Certainly, she's resting right now." The doctor answered.
As the doctor started to leave, everyone entered into the dark room. Upon seeing Alice resting in slumber, or at least she was trying to, they all observed as she was breathing heavily and shivering under the covers; and was sweating a little.
Oz rubbed her covered body comfortably. Everyone exchanged worried glances.
…
Alice woke up the next morning with a pounding headache, as she realized that the room was still dark almost.
Raising her weak body up, she yawned, and then felt nauseous. After five seconds, she threw up in the bowl that Mrs. Kate left for her. Well, there goes whatever she ate last night.
Alice weakly looked up at the clock on the wall; it read 5:30 in the morning. 'Well isn't that just perfectly wonderful, I'm up before everyone else.' She said to herself, sarcastically.
Great, now what? She wasn't allowed to get out of bed, she was too weak, and the doctor said she needed a lot of sleep and rest. Plus, she couldn't call anyone at this hour, and she didn't have the voice to do it. All she could do was wait momentarily for someone to come and treat her with any kind of medicine they came with.
Throughout the next few hours, the brunette wondered what she should do. Alice would try and find sleep again, but due to her fever, headache, body aches, and stomach pains, it was hard for her to concentrate. The chain wished that there was something to distract her from all the sickness she was having.
Her fever was annoying, it kept making her body go from hot to cold, making her push the covers off of her and then hogging them again.
Her body was so sore, that it wasn't funny. It felt like she was battling someone or something, and her enemy's attack slammed hard against her torso; sending her flying through the air before hitting a wall. And the enemy did this repeatedly.
Just then, the sounds of shuffling broke the silence in the room. Alice turned her head to the left side of the bed, and found Raven groggily waking up on the couch.
"What time is it?" he asked, holding his head. Standing up, he read the time on the clock, it said 7:55.
A silent cough then escaped from Alice's lips, Raven turned his attention towards the brunette.
"How are you feeling B-Rabbit?" he asked.
Alice weakly reached for the chalkboard on her nightstand, and started writing her response down.
'Like crap, what else?' the writing said sarcastically. Raven sighed.
"Still feeling terrible huh?" he said. He then pulled up a chair next to her. "You should know better than to go out in the freezing wet weather, with barely any clothing on." He stated, jugging.
'Hey! It's not my fault that we don't get to have this kind of weather in the Abyss!' Alice wrote next, protesting.
"The Abyss or not, you still should have known better than to get yourself very ill like this." Raven said.
'I've never gotten sick in my life seaweed-head! How was I supposed to know the consequences!?' she spat back. 'Here's a better idea seaweed-head, let's change the subject.' She concluded next.
Before any of them could bring up a different topic, Alice's stomach growled so loudly, it sounded scary in the echoing room. She plopped her body back down on the mattress, annoyed at how her hunger made her stomach hurt even more.
A knock on the door magnified the echoes against the walls. The chain-people looked towards the door, staring at it intently.
"Alice, it's me." The familiar voice called. "I brought you some breakfast". If you don't mind, I'm coming in now, ok."
Once said, the jiggle on the door knob alerted the two, and Raven quickly went into hiding under the bed. The door then finally opened, revealing Oz with the meal tray. Relief filed the room.
"Good morning Alice, did you sleep well?" he asked, walking to the other side of the bed. Alice scribbled down her reply.
'I was perfectly fine, until I woke up at five in the morning with an annoying head pain and stomach.' She said.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that Alice. It's normal for things to happen like that." Oz said, seating himself down in the chair.
"I came up here as soon as I could after breakfast." He said, handing her the tray. "I was at least able to give you one of the dishes that were served today."
Alice looked down at her tray; it served soup, an egg on French toast, crackers, a bagel, tea, and the medicine bottle.
"Sorry it's not much, but the doctor said to eat lightly. "Oz said. Alice shrugged her shoulders.
After another roar in her stomach came, she quickly scooped up the toast, and took many bites of it. Before her stomach consumed the substance, her guts felt like puking all of it out. She put a hand to her mouth, before any of it could come out. Oz giggled.
"Take it easy Alice" he chuckled out.
Alice slowly swallowed the food, and a few seconds later, her nausea soon faded away.
For the whole time, the two teens continued chatting about random things, while Alice ate her breakfast. The food was alright, but it was still a shame that she had to miss out on all the food that was being served today.
After Alice took her medicine and everything, Oz gathered everything in the tray, and left saying that Mrs. Kate might come by and do the next thing for her.
Once the blonde left the room, Alice sunk her half sore body into the mattress, burying her face into the pillow. She curled herself into a ball, getting herself as comfy as possible. A smile appeared on her face as she let out a happy sigh.
'It was nice that pretty boy here gave me this feeling, it's somehow making me rest easier.' She said to herself. With that, she drifted off into slumber.
…
"Alice?" a voice called, while knocking on the door repeatedly. "It's Mrs. Kate, dear."
The annoyed chain princess woke up exhaustedly to the woman's racket disturbance. Well that spoiled her tranquil thoughts. How dare she!
As Alice raised her weak body into a sitting position, Mrs. Kate entered the room and hurried over to the brunette.
"I'm so sorry to wake you Alice dear. But I do think it's time to give you you're cold bath treatment." She explained.
Alice wearily looked at the clock, 12:00 it said; she had been asleep for three and a half hours.
She was going to reject the offer and kick the old hag out, but then the fever beat her to it by boiling her body temperature up almost, but not quite.
Immediately, she grabbed her chalkboard, and wrote down 'Lead the way.' Alice climbed out of bed, and followed after Kate…
Alice sat her bare figure in the tub, while the fresh low temperature water treated her fever. She had a damp rag pressed against her forehead, and her brown dark locks were pulled back into a high ponytail. She kept using one of her feet to turn one of the handles on and off, doing this repeatedly out of boredom. She was also holding a glass of water.
Mrs. Kate gave her a tea pot of water, so that she can drink as much fluids as she could. Alice thought that taking a cold bath would put her in a difficult situation, but once her body adjusted to its temperature, she was completely okay with it.
And for some strange reason, the woman added some alcohol fluid to the treatment. How in the world was liquor going to help?
Alice's lips touched the cool cup of water, and took a sip. She then sank deeper into the tub, relaxing to the feel of the frigid water.
"Greetings Alice!" a voice shouted through the window.
This sudden action causes Alice to be totally freaked out, which caused her to splash around in the tub; dropping her glass in the process. She covered her chest with the rag, and eyed the familiar one eyed man peeking out through the opened window.
'Break!' she mouthed, screaming, as she splashed the water at him.
"Oops-y! I forgot to knock!" Break chirped, putting his fingers to his lips. He then closed the windows shutters, knocked, and then reopened them again.
"Greetings Alice! Forgive my rude welcoming. But I came to see how you were doing. Raven told me you were feeling rather ill today." He said.
Alice growled at him. She picked up her chalkboard, and wrote her response down.
'As a matter of fact, the rumors are true, clown.' She said.
"Well, in that case, how is our highness feeling today?" Break asked.
'She's feeling a bit better, thank you very much.' Alice responded back. 'Although, her body is still a bit sore.'
"Well I'm happy to hear the she'll be alright." He said. "Is there anything else to report, if I mind asking? Like, has there been any more progression towards you and the prince?"
As Alice thought about his question, she poured herself a new glass of water. She then wrote a new sentence on the board.
'I don't know. I think I'm still stuck at the very beginning.' The writing said. 'I don't know what to do or how to get to the ending. Because 'm still clueless on this feeling I have for him.' Alice then took a big gulp of her water.
'I mean, am I supposed to do something first Break? Or does he have to do it first?' she asked next.
"Whatever do you mean Miss Alice?" Break asked.
'I mean, am I the one who has to make the first move on him? Or should that be the other way around?' She wrote next. Break pondered.
"I think we should wait and see if the prince makes the first move on you, and then we'll see what happens. If not, then I'm afraid we're going to have to come up with a plan then." He said. Alice looked at the ring or her drink.
'Gee, wonder when that'll happen.' She wrote, sarcastically.
"Be patient Alice, only time will tell." Break said, pressing his finger to his lips.
…
Once Alice's bath treatment was done, she dried herself off and dressed in a new nightgown. Headed back to her room, she decided to sit by the window sill.
Grabbing a blanket, she wrapped it around her body, and seated herself on the antique couch close to the window.
It was a rather peaceful scenery; most of the sun was out today, rather than just the endless dark clouds. The birds were chirping, the flowers were blooming, the bugs were chatting, and the smell of the wet soil filled the air.
As the atmosphere rolled continuously on, Alice let herself drift off in her thoughts, giving up on paying any heed to the world around her; and she let herself stare off into the blue. The voiceless chain had several memories playing through her head, past memories of when she was still living in the Abyss.
She was remembering the time when she was only a small child and was running down those palace floors of her home; her and her sisters were chasing one another out of fun.
They were playing a game where one of them has to be the predator, and the rest of them as preys have to avoid being tagged by the predator, or they'll be it.
She remembered being chased all the way outside of the palace walls, and into the gardens where she hid herself in. She then stumbled upon glowing colorful butterflies, weird.
They eventually lead the adventurous little brunette away from her home and off somewhere random in the Abyss.
After chasing the last colorful insect, little Alice found herself lost in an unknown part of the realm, frightened half to death.
She could remember the images of her surroundings when she was in that situation, didn't know where to turn, what to do; this all caused her to weep in fear.
She continued walking till she didn't have the strength to do so, and so she hid under a rubble house, and began to cry more.
Later that day, she could hear voices calling out to her, getting louder and louder as they came closer.
At last, her uncle came to her rescue, and little Alice, with a strangled cry, she lunged towards him. Oswald held her protectively to his chest.
The little brunette had not ever been happier than to see someone come for her deliver.
After that recollection ended, Alice remembered nothing else and drifted off into slumber.
…
Oz walked down the long halls, peering at each opened room as he passed them. The house still felt silent and slow today, although he was quite sure that no one but himself was in the mansion. He only stopped strolling when he thought about the voiceless brunette.
"Maybe I should go check on her." He said to himself. With that, he made his way to her room…
Raven leaned against the window sill, the window opened to allow the fumes of his cigarette escape elsewhere.
He had no earthly idea what to do; he had only come back inside the house to check up on the princess. Once he found her sleeping peacefully by the window, he really hadn't come up with anything else after that.
He then flicked his half-finished cigarette out the window, not wanting to consume it anymore. He stared at the sun trying to come out again in the clouds, resting his chin on his hand, and his golden eyes were drooping sleepily.
Just then, Raven heard faint footsteps outside of the princess's room. As they came closer, stopping right by the door, panicking, Raven concealed himself inside the wardrobe…
Oz knocked calmly on the door, not wanting to intrude on anything.
"Alice?" he called.
He cautiously opened the door and went in. Once he entered the room, he found the voiceless brunette sleeping peacefully by the window.
Oz smiled at her and gave her a soft chuckle; the girl was cute when she's asleep.
The blonde figured that he should put her on the bed; if the girl was deciding to rest then the best choice would be on the mattress.
Walking up to her, he cradled her in his arms, walking up to the bed and laying her down on the soft sheets.
As he covered her with the blanket, he stopped just below her abdomen, when something about her caught his eyes…
Raven stayed cautious in his hiding spot. He peaked out through the crack between the doors, seeing what was happening in the room. The person who came in was the prince, he watched as he scooped up the princess and laid her down on the bed.
It was only then that Raven got suspicious when the boy stopped in his tracks, and looked down at the brunette…
'She looks so…appealing…' Oz thought to himself.
His pupils dilated to take in the sight of Alice's sleeping form. The sunlight made the brunettes skin glow, it was a bit pale in color. The brown locks swept over her angelic like face, eyes still closed in peace.
Oz could hardly breathe; he stood there watching the atmosphere around her with her wearing nothing but a white nightgown. He had always thought that the brunette looked somewhat lovely in white, but now in shining lace and flowing silk, she could have made angels jealous.
The blonde admired all of her beauty. Oz then found himself suddenly leaning in towards her…
Raven flinched as he watched the prince leaning in on the brunette. 'What is he up to?' he asked himself, 'He's not…'
Raven then put a hand to his mouth when the last words came to his thoughts…
'What am I doing?' he asked himself, 'What's happening to me?' Oz then felt her hot breathing touching his lips, he paused.
'Why am I suddenly being sucked in by the girl I…befriended?' he stammered. His thoughts whirled in a confused clutter as he leaned in ever-closer.
Split seconds before lip contact, the voiceless brunette opened her eyes, and the first things she saw were the alarmed green eyes of the prince.
For a few embarrassing seconds, the two of them just sat there, staring in absolute surprise into each other's eyes. Oz finally spoke.
"It's not what you think Alice, I swear! I-I went to go check on you, but I found you asleep by the window and I just reckoned that I should put you on your bed! But I didn't plan to wake you up!" he exclaimed, sweating all over. Alice only blinked at him.
Holding a hand to her mouth, she scribbled down on the chalkboard.
'Did you just…' her sentence stuttered.
"What!? No, no Alice! That was nothing, nothing to know at all! Really!" Oz denied, laughing. The brunette raised her eyebrow.
"Um…I gotta go! It's good that you're feeling better Alice!" Oz exclaimed, as he sprinted out the door.
After he was gone, Alice sat there confused as ever. 'What the hell was that all about?' she asked herself.
She put her fingers to her lips, as she blushed lightly. What did that close contact with his lips mean?
…
Oz closed the door to his room and sunk down, eyes wide and chest heaving.
What in the world just happened back there!? He was just being a gentleman by bringing the girl to her bed, and then, and then…
'No, I shouldn't be thinking that way!' he yelled through his mind, 'Especially not towards Alice. I can't possibly be having any romantic interest in her!'
The prince didn't want to believe that he had actually tried to kiss a girl, who not only is his friend, but was also not his savior. And he, by the way, still had no idea where her whereabouts were.
'It was a moment that meant nothing at all.' He then thought. 'There's really nothing to worry about.'
The Vessalius boy sighed and finally relaxed, having to sort that mess out of his head.
"But still…" he stammered, "I'm still surprised that kind of moment happened…"
…
A week had passed and Alice was in healthy conditions again.
She, Raven, Break, and Gilbert were all in the gardens, discussing what they should do before Alice's time is up.
"Ok, we've got to think of a plan to get that boy to return the same feelings to the B-Rabbit; we only have nine in a half months left." Raven stated, pacing around.
"Phew, we got a long way to go." Gilbert said.
"I have a question; did the prince boy make the first move on her?" Break asked, raising his hand.
"What do you mean?" Raven asked weirdly.
"I mean did he try to…" he paused to giggle, "Make lip contact to Alice?" Raven was taken aback at his question.
"Yes…as a matter of fact, he did…" he remarked. "Why do you ask?" he questioned suspiciously.
"Because I told Miss Alice that we'll see what happens, if, the boy makes the first move." Break explained.
"So what happens now?" Gilbert inquired.
"Well, I suggest that Alice here learns more about her feelings towards the prince. Just so we can get that out of the way, and so that Alice understands and knows what it was the witch told her to do." Break indicated, looking towards Alice.
The brunette, however, was a little bit busy playing with her lips. Apparently, the girl still had no clue what that lip contact meant.
"Alice dear." Break called. Alice looked at him. Break walked up to her.
"Alice, I was just suggesting to the boys that in order to understand and know what the witch is asking you to do. You have to know what the feelings are that you have towards Oz. So I think you ought to learn more about this feeling, so in that way, you know what the lip contact is and what it means." He explained.
Alice blinked and looked down at her chest, where her heart was suddenly getting excited. She put her hand to the spot.
Well, if finding out what the unknown sensitivities she had for the prince, was going to be the only way she was going to figure out how to reach her destiny. Then she was going to do whatever it takes to learn about it…
…
Chapter 10 is now done and over; Oh No's! D8) Ha, ha, ha! Sorry, but that's how it is. :D
Anyway, Squeal! Oz is starting to have more feelings for Alice, now we all know something is starting right now! XD Now all we have to see is for our heroine to figure out the feeling of love. Then, we can finally see some major romance later on! Yay! XD
Also, I'm not sure if I got the medical research correct in the Victorian period. I mean, all I know is that they would get plenty of rest, take cold baths, and they probably had medicines that only did little on their sickness. IDK, but let's just forget about it for now.
I'll say this again, thank you all so much for waiting without posting mean or impatient comments. I love you all!
One more thing, if I remember correctly, I think there are only seven more chapters left. I don't know, it's been a while since I've written anything. Please don't hate me! T_T
Well, pray that I'll see you all next month, bye!