CHAPTER ELEVEN

Alice woke to find herself lying on a hard, narrow cot, staring at a whitewashed stone ceiling.

She sat up and looked around, frowning. She seemed to be in a cell of some kind, empty except for the cot she was sitting on and a bucket in the corner. She wrinkled her nose and massaged her temples. The painful pressure in her head was back.

"Idiots," she muttered to herself. "Imbeciles. Locking me up. Shouldn't have even…tried…"

Staggering across the room, she found that the cell was partitioned. She only had one half to herself, cramped and uncomfortable, for the other half was blocked off by a wall of iron bars. There was a chair on the other side of the cell, a lamp, and a secure looking door.

She was shot through with sudden rage. How dare they even TRY to keep her contained with iron bars? PITIFUL!They would regret locking her up, if it was the last thing they felt...whoever 'they' was…

There was some writing on the door. 'PANDORA', it said.

Ah. Gil. He must have knocked her out and brought her here. HE WOULD PAY. She slammed her fist against the stone wall.

She grabbed the iron bars and attempted to wrench them apart, but was met with searing pain and an utter unwillingness to budge. She yelped and withdrew her hands quickly. The bars glowed red for a second , then faded back to normal.

So. The cell was protected, with powerful seals and enchantments. She was going to have to be clever about this one. Oz was probably locked up in one of these rooms too. Don't think about the pink one. We can just leave her here. She'd have to get out of here herself before she could rescue him.

Alice turned away from the bars – the very sight of them was starting to infuriate her – and began to pace, keeping her head down, thinking deep thoughts, and trying to come up with a plan. It was pretty damned hard, though.

Exactly one thousand two hundred and fourteen seconds later, the door opened and closed behind someone, and she whipped around.

It was Gil.

She screamed like an animal and flew at him, slamming the bars again and again with her bare fists. Pain shuddered through her, and numerous bruises and burns blossomed onto her skin, but she ignored them completely. Flecks of foam collected on her cheeks and her crazed eyes burned and she gnawed on the bars like a wild thing.

Gil sat down on the chair and waited for her to finish.

"I placed you in one of the most luxurious cells here," he told her once he had a bit of a gap of silence in which to speak. "The cells for Chains, like the one the Dark Unicorn was in, are just empty rooms. They aren't even lit. This is a human cell."

"Thanks for the honour," Alice growled, wiping her face.

"No one here thinks you deserve it," said Gil. "They want you dead."

"And what makes me so special?"

"You're B-Rabbit," he said. "You're contracted to Oz. You're one of the most human Chains Pandora's ever encountered."

"There's a lot of Chains around now that were humans very recently."

"For the record," Gil said, "I don't think you deserve it either. But Oz is still my master. I believe that you and he never attacked Sharon. I have to keep believing that." His fists clenched. "And that means I have to do the best I can for him. He cares about you, Alice. And no one's on your side right now. So, I will be. For him."

"I don't need your pity," she snarled.

"I wasn't offering it," he snapped back. "Listen, Alice, don't you realise what you've DONE?"

She crossed her arms.

Gil sighed. "We might as well keep things simple. Alright. Tell me who attacked Sharon Rainsworth."

"Easy. Lotti Baskerville and that Chain of hers," she said, yawning.

Gil snorted. "I can't wait to tell Break." He took out a notepad and began jotting things down. "Lotti Baskerville…her Chain is Leon, right? The shape of a lion?"

"Yeah. It's dead now. Gil, will you please let me out of here so I can kill you?"

"In a minute…so, you and Oz are completely innocent of the crime of assaulting the Lady Sharon?"

"Yes," she grumbled. "How do you know I'm telling the truth, though?"

"Truth enchantment on that side of the cell," Gil said absently. "Alright…done."

"Now can I kill you?"

"Why do you want to kill me so much?" he asked calmly.

"You knocked me out and locked me up!"

Gil let out a strangled laugh. She eyed him suspiciously.

"I don't know how I can laugh," he said, his voice shaking, his head falling into his hands. "It's just…so...huge. It's horrible. I can't …can't comprehend…look, you've jumped out of one fix and into a much bigger one. It's not about Sharon anymore. It's about the whole city."

"Explain."

"The city of Leverru is burning," Gil said abruptly. "All of the buildings are ruined except for this one. Powerful Chains roam the animals are dead. Those who aren't dead or horrifically injured are starving to death or fleeing, having lost everything. The staff of Pandora have abandoned all other missions, regardless of importance, and have returned to headquarters to…to…we don't know what. The city is dying."

Alice sat back down on the cot. Her eyes were blank with shock and horror.

"The Unicorn," she growled.

"No," Gil said, and then he stood up, the chair falling to the ground. "You."

"What –"

" B-Rabbit. You did this." His face was twisted in anger. " Alice, YOU DID THIS! They're already calling it the Tragedy of Leverru, and guess what, you stupid rabbit? YOU CAUSED IT! One hundred years later, it happens again, and everybody dies."

He turned away, and his shoulders beginning to shake.

"And where am I in all this?" he whispered. "Giving you a nice cell and defending you. I can't…I need…I don't want Oz to be angry…"

"You're disgusting," Alice said, emotionless.

"I know. I know."

He left.

She just sat back and watched the seconds pass her by. Tick. Tick. Tick. Oz was not here. He was somewhere else. He was coming. He was going. He was coming. He was coming for her, and she was certain of this. The ruined city would have its revenge. It would drag her down into Abyss, and it would laugh at her, and the Unicorn would prance among the bleached bones of the city and it would grin.

Oz was coming for her.

Alice began to cry.

xxx

Break – have you captured Lotti Baskerville yet? I think her Chain might be the key to killing the Unicorn for good. Do you see? A lion. A lion to defeat the Unicorn. It might just work.

The note lay discarded on Sharon's bedside table. Her knuckles were clenched and white on a new missive.

Lady Sharon Rainsworth –

Leverru has been destroyed by B-Rabbit. Oz is nowhere to be found. It appears that Pandora has been laboring under the misapprehension that they were the ones who attacked you. All Pandora missions have been called off. It's being called the Tragedy of Leverru, or the Second Tragedy.

Alice says that Leon, Charlotte Baskerville's Chain, is dead, if that is any comfort.

Break is very busy, but I'm sure he'll visit you again when time allows.

- Gilbert Nightray

She was asleep by the time Break entered. He walked to the bedside table quietly, read the unfinished note in Sharon's handwriting, nodded to himself, and left without a word.

xxx

"Promise me you won't kill anything," Lotti said as Oz opened his eyes. His head ached, and he felt bruised all over. His clothes were sticky with mud.

"What? What?" he yelped, scrabbling around for a weapon. "What is it?"

"You're not going to kill me, then…? Good. Have some food." She handed him a loaf of bread, an apple and a raw fish. "Here. Cook it yourself if you want it cooked."

The fish smelt slightly off, the apple was bruised and the bread was charred, crushed and kind of stale. He gulped it all down anyway, starving. Only then did he look around.

They were sitting next to a stream on a wooded hill, sloping down towards Leverru. The stream trickled downwards towards the main river and the city.

"I had to drag you all the way up here," Lotti said. "Believe me, it wasn't easy. After that I was too tired to build a fire, so the fish is raw. Still, it's good food. Shame the marketplace is ruined now. Here, have another apple."

"The city," Oz whispered. "Leverru…"

It was crushed, ruined, burning. He could smell smoke and panic and death.

"Yes. Courtesy of your friend B-Rabbit, if you remember," Lotti sighed, plucking at her corset. "Y'know, I'm going to have to do something about this…"

"Alice," Oz said.

A fleeting expression of dread crossed Lotti's face. "What?"

"Alice," Oz said. "Where is she?"

"Where…where we left her, I suppose…"

Oz snarled a lion's snarl. He spread his wings, and unsheathed his claws, sharp as razors.

"Tell me where she is," he said, his voice shaking. "Tell me where you're hiding her."

"She's still down in the city! I'm sorry!" Lotti said wildly. "We had to leave her there, she was wrecking the place – she would have killed us too –"

"LIAR!" Oz sent her flying with a swipe of his paw, and sent his clock-swords to hover over her, close to her throat. "You're LYING to me!" He strode closer, fists clenched, his eyes burning. "Give. Her. BACK."

"I don't have her –"

"ALICE!" he screamed, flicking from boy to lion, boy to lion, there and back until Lotti couldn't tell which was which. "ALICE! ALICE!" The clock-sword jabbed closer, drawing a bead of blood. She took several shaky, gasping breaths, attempting to shuffle away.

He stepped on her hand, grinding it into the mud. "Do you even realise, do you have any comprehension of the power I have right here? I could kill you like that." He clicked his fingers.

"I –"

"SHUT UP!" Oz slapped her viciously, then slashed his claws across her arm, drawing blood. "Shut up, you – "

Something in Lotti snapped.

"Oz Bezarius," Lotti told him, her voice clear and bright and furious, "if you want her, go and find her."

He paused. Staggered. Took a step back. His face was stricken, pale.

"Go on. Don't let me keep you. Worthless old liar, me."

He shook his head, disbelieving. "I'm – I'm sorry –"

"GO."

He backed away, then broke into a run. Lotti watched him go.

Once he was a fair distance away from her, she sighed and stood, then gathered up the last of the food and went to follow him, down into the fire and wreckage and the army of Chains.

It wasn't like she had anywhere else to go, after all.

xxx

It'll get better, I promise! ;_;

Hey, did you read chapter 57 of the manga? It was so epic! I can't believe *spoiler* and OMG *spoiler* SERIOUSLY MOCHIJUN WHYYY, DOCTOR WHO HAS SCREWED MY BRAIN OVER ENOUGH AS IT IS, PLEASE HAVE MERCY ON MY TIRED MIND. So if you haven't read it, then go read it. Double thumbs up to Jun Mochizuki!