"I wonder… where am I? I feel really light…"

I looked around the area as my eyes slowly opened, surprised at what I was greeted with. Stairways on the ceiling, blood-stained carpets, poisonous plants, dead people…

Was this… the Abyss?

No… it wasn't just that. It seemed different somehow.

"Is anyone there?" I called.

No answer.

Giving myself a light smack across the face, I decided to head forward. My feet trekked along the red, blood-stained carpet; before I knew it, a stairway had appeared before me. I blinked, wondering where it came from.

The moment I took that first step, the area turned pitch black and I began falling.

I screamed.

"Ahhhhh! Where the hell am I?!"

I sprang up with a shriek, falling right off what I assumed to be the couch. I heard the sound of rain tap against the window, making the already-bitter situation seem even more depressing. Without doing much thinking, I groggily shook my legs back and forth as I sat back up.

"It's fine… was just some bad dream…" I told myself.

My heart was racing. For a dream, it sure seemed unbelievably real.

"Oh? Alva-san, are you all right?"

I recognized that familiar voice and way of speaking. Break had sat just slightly right of the window, staring into my eyes with a puzzled expression. Expectedly, a pink lollipop was sitting in his mouth.

"Good afternoon~" he said while his candy dangled in his mouth. "Looks like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed today."

"Why am I in this room, and… on the couch?" I immediately questioned.

"You don't remember? Reim-san requested for a meeting between the three of us in regards to your chain," he said with a tacky smile. "He was concerned about your health as it seemed to be dwindling quite fast due to its use. The meeting ended about thirty minutes ago and you fell fast asleep almost as soon as Reim-san left."

"Oh, right… how did I forget, now?"

A tingling sensation then corroded my body – I responded by gripping myself tightly, turning away from the hatter.

"Is something wrong~?"

I coughed to adjust my voice with haste.

"Nothing, just a bad dream. We all get them, you know."

Break didn't look too satisfied with my attempt at convincing him and immediately dropped his smile, looking at me with somewhat of a disappointed expression.

"Very unconvincing," he said, gobbling up the stick of the lollipop. My eyes exploded in size: that couldn't have been possible. Was he even human? "You need to take lessons to improve that flaw of yours."

A knock was heard, intervening my response while snapping me out of my bewildered daze. It took me a few seconds to comprehend the situation, but I readily gave the man on the other end an okay, allowing him to make his way into the dimly-lit room.

"Excuse me, Alva-sama," stated a formally-dressed man with an almost blank expression. "It appears you have a letter. I was asked to deliver it to you by Sharon-ojousama."

"Huh…?"

I blinked, curiously taking the envelope out of the man's hand. I examined its navy outer layer, almost hesitating in flipping to the front and finding out who could possibly have sent this.

"Thank you," I said.

The man bowed and quickly left the room, shutting the door behind him before taking his leave. Break sat up, crossing his legs in front of him lazily while eyeing the letter sitting firmly in my grasp.

"God, I just gotta flip it over and see who sent it. It isn't that hard, is it? On the count of three… one… two… three!"

The room was filled with silence as I took it upon myself to finish this deed once and for all. The sound of my own heavy breathing seemed to dominate all other forms of noise for just a split second. Break itched closer to me, plopping his head down onto my shoulder playfully while looking down at what was making me so stunned.

"I don't recognize that name," Break said with a smile. "Orlando Rayne?"

Just then, I realized how close Break was to me and went red. I shooed him away, watching the white-haired man laugh in amusement while sinking away into his own portion of the long, silver couch.

"I don't know how I remember this, but…" I began, pulling out the letter contained inside the small blue envelope. "I think he's my dad. Been a while since I've seen him."

"Oh? Perhaps this visit could help clarify all the things that you don't know about…"

He hit the nail right on the head.

I had to see him, because I had to find out more. I couldn't let myself hang around like this without knowing more about myself.

I nodded without making eye contact, reading through the fancy scriptwork. I took a deep breath as the message came to a close, throwing the sheet aside without much care.

"He says he wants to come meet me…" I held down my nose bridge as I spoke.

"My, my. Someone doesn't seem too satisfied about seeing their parent after many years have passed. Are you perhaps afraid to tell him about our relationship~?" he joked.

"No! That's not it, shut the hell up!" I blurted out. "I just don't like him… well, I don't really remember him, actually. But for some reason, something tells me this'll end badly…"

"Did he specify a date on which he'd like to meet?" Break flapped his sleeves with a smile, eyeing the table in front of him and picking out the cake slice he was most interested in. "If it worries you, you should make arrangements for a bodyguard during your trip."

I grabbed the paper and did a double take, noticing a new piece of information not visible to the naked eye.

"Oh, you're right, it does say…"

"It would've been easier if he just called," Break said, puzzled. "Very strange."

"Ugh, tell me about it. He wants to meet at the bridge in about two hours. God, he's an idiot. I bet he totally forgot the time it takes for mails to get delivered – I barely have time to get ready now!" I screamed, tugging at my hair. "But only very wealthy families have phones, so maybe where he lives now, he doesn't have access…"

Break took my concern to his advantage and pulled the letter out of my grasp, watching the action go unnoticed as I flailed amidst all the confusion. The hatter hastily read it over, not very satisfied with what he'd seen.

"Hey, where's my letter?" I returned to normal as I suspiciously eyed Break, noticing he was now sitting with his back facing me, trying to hide all evidence. "You're not very good at lying yourself, Break. Anyways… I'm going to go or else I won't make it in time."

"Shall I get you a bodyguard, Alva-san?" he asked, turning his head around. "It could be dangerous."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. He's my father, after all… I'm sure I'm just over-thinking things. I've never met him before so it isn't in my place to assume he's a bad person. Plus he told me to come by myself, so no bodyguards."

"That's exactly it," Break stated in a serious tone. "You do not remember him; therefore, you do not know what kind of man he is. I'm on my way to see ojou-sama so I cannot attend, but it will be no problem to assign you a bodyguard if you feel you need it."

"Oh, I'll be fine," I retorted. "Stay here, okay? I'll be back soon." I waved him off and exited the room, feeling the slightest cold glare shoot through me from behind from the one and only Break.

I dismissed it promptly, walking forward and making a right to where Sharon's room was located. I gave a gentle knock and pried open the entryway, gazing around Sharon's room before allowing my eyes to meet hers.

"Sharon, I'm going out to see someone," I called, giving a wave to the female sitting at the small table. "That okay?"

The Rainsworth princess shot her head up to look at me; in moments, her calm expression collapsed into an uneasy one.

"Are you sure, Alva-san? Would you perhaps want a bodyguard? I could easily arrange it."

"Her too? They worry too much."

"I'm fine," I sighed, picking out a coat from the nearby closet. "Do you mind if I use this? I don't have anything that could fight this weather."

"Of course, Alva-san," smiled Sharon kindly. "There's no need to ask; what belongs to me also belongs to you. We're sisters now after all, right?"

I gave her a crooked smile but accepted the gesture. The two of us had become very close and practically saw each other as family – I had to admit, it was a very pleasing relationship.

"Well, I'm off, then. I need to hurry or I'll be late."

Sharon gave a nod, dismissing me from the room.

I was down to only an hour and a half remaining. I ran down the elongated hallway, pulling my jacket on in the process; there wasn't much time to waste. As I was running, someone made their way from the corner of the hallway. My eyes widened and I swiftly hit the "brakes", stopping centimeters before the man just in time. In front of me stood a surprised Reim, who had a look of terror on his face.

"Oh, Reim-san," I said apologetically. "Sorry about that. I'm in a rush."

"I heard from Xerxes. You're going to see your father, aren't you?" he adjusted his glasses as he spoke. "Normally I'd suggest waiting it out until we find some information on him, but it appears you don't have time. We have people investigating at this very moment, so if he is revealed to be a threat, we'll send someone out immediately."

The atmosphere was quiet; no one was around and neither of us said another word. I didn't want to think my own father would be a dangerous figure, so I tried my best to dismiss the thought. I sighed and calmed myself down by tapping my forehead, looking up at my superior. Although I was generally a higher status than him, Reim definitely had a much broader knowledge of things than I did.

"All right… thank you, Reim-san. I appreciate all of this, and I'm sorry for troubling you."

"T-This is my job," Reim suddenly said uneasily while giving an apologetic bow. "Please do not think you are causing me any trouble."

"He's too kind. I'm glad we're friends," I laughed to myself.

"You need to loosen up a bit, Reim. We're friends, aren't we?" I said, dropping his honorific so our relationship wasn't as stuffy.

"W-Well… yes, I suppose we are," he finally admitted, glasses slightly sliding off of his face due to uneasiness. "I wish you luck, Alva-san."

I nodded, waving him off. I prepared to take a step forward but froze, realizing something was very, very off.

"Um… Alva-san?" asked Reim.

"Er, which way's the exit again?"

I saw a slight small smile tinge at his facial features.

"That way…" he pointed as he spoke.

LATER:

"Man… this rain turned into snow so quickly. I can't believe it's already winter," I sighed.

My pale snow jacket managed to do its job and keep me warm… however, my mind was doing an extremely good job at driving me crazy and making me feel even colder. I eyed the sky passively, watching gray clouds loom overhead. "Well, no use in standing here. The bridge isn't too far off, only problem now is getting there in this weather."

I headed off along the right path, following the trail that was most familiar to me. I stuck my hands in my pockets to keep them as warm as possible and swayed back and forth gently with the wind to keep myself warmer, allowing my mind to wander.

I almost felt like I was in a trance. It really did feel like the snow was telling me to turn back.

"I swear I'm going to get lost because of this weather. Maybe I should've asked for a bodyguard or requested a carriage. That freaking moronic dad of mine…."

After a few more moments of challenging the painstaking weather, I found myself in the appropriate destination. What used to be a lovely brown bridge sitting above a lake was now coated with white; the water underneath that used to house so many fish was now entirely frozen over. I held an arm in front of myself to shield my eyes from the snow.

As if on cue, I heard footsteps treading through the snow. I looked over in said direction, noticing a man dressed similarly to me with short brown hair and a beard that somewhat resembled Oscar's. He had a cigar in his mouth, making me wrinkle my nose in disgust and back away.

I didn't like smokers.

"U-Uh…" I began. "Dad?"

"Oh my, if it isn't my little girl! Ever since I moved across country, I've been missing you very much," the man dressed in black said. "How have you been? I'm sorry I couldn't get in contact with you. There was an issue with the money and I had to move away so outside families wouldn't get suspicious."

"I've been… good, I guess?" I replied, unsure of what to say. This guy's voice almost seemed desperate, which made me feel somewhat uneasy. "But why did you only now decide to get in contact with me? And how did you find out where I was?"

"A Nightray boy with heterochromia told me where you were. I had to wait it out until I could see you because of suspicion."

"Nightray boy with heterochromia… does he mean Vincent?"

"What's… the matter?" he said almost in fright. "You seem a little scared… how cute you've become, though. I'm glad to know I have such a pretty daughter."

"A lot of time has passed, dad," I rolled my eyes. "You know, we all grow up. That kind of stuff. It's been years since I last saw you.

"Hmm, I suppose you're right. But… I thought I told you to come by yourself?" the man said abruptly, narrowing his eyebrows.

"Huh? I did come myself..."

"Then what's the deal with that man behind the tree?" he said, pointing to his left and making someone's familiar face to poke out from behind the trunk. I was about to scream.

"Break, you idiot! I told you not to come!"

I made a snowball and threw it at him, which he quickly avoided. He laughed and made his way over to me.

"Why if it isn't Xerxes Break. I'm very unsatisfied with you stalking my daughter!" my 'dad' complained, trying his best to keep an angry composure to frighten Break so he wouldn't get any closer.

"He knows you? What the..."

Break, however, continued moving forward and stopped as soon as he was next to me, glaring at the man before us.

"Wait… why is wearing the same thing he always does? Isn't it a little too cold for that?" I trailed off.

"Oh my, that's quite an accusation you're making. It's unfortunate to say, but you're mistaken, Rayne-san," the hatter said calmly while pulling out his blade. "It seems that you're the one stalking my cute girlfriend~"

"Ehh?! That's bull, Break! Pure bull!" I whispered behind him.

"Stop domineering," said my dad, adjusting his tall black hat as the wind picked up. "But this is quite unexpected coming from a man such as yourself. Xerxes Break… a man who was said to always live in solitude and never involve himself with such feelings. I guess that's changed now, hasn't it?" he questioned, laughing like a generic villain from a comic book.

"Goodness… your father is quite a nuisance, isn't he? He's speaking in such a shaky tone," Break smirked while continuing to point the blade towards the 'guy' – for lack of better term, as I was finding it hard to consider him family – who was backing away slightly but trying his best to hide that.

Break grabbed my shoulders and pulled me into his chest from behind, watching the one before us turn enraged.

"Oho, this makes you angry, doesn't it?" Break laughed sadistically. "How I love to see you in pain."

I swallowed. What worried me more was how Break was becoming more and more sadistic; his touch was almost lacking any form of emotion.

"Let go of my daughter!" he took a deep breath. "There's no way I'd let her marry someone like you!"

"Oho. Who she chooses to marry is up to no one but her. You're the one that's domineering now~" the hatter replied devilishly.

"What are you trying to accomplish by arguing over me? Break isn't my boyfriend and I'm not marrying anyone!" I seethed.

"See, even she said no! Back away!" the man added, assuming I was on his side.

"I'm afraid that's not possible… at least, not until you tell us what we don't already know."

I slapped my forehead. They weren't even listening to what I just said, were they?

"I'm not telling anyone anything!" the man yelled loudly, causing the ground under the three to tremble. Suddenly, a thick cloud of smoke appeared behind the tall figure dressed in black, revealing a Trump Card. "I'll have my Trump kill you, Xerxes Break!"

"You can't be serious," Break laughed. "Trumps are the weakest chains from the Abyss; surely you don't hope to defend yourself with that."

Break lunged forward with his blade, slicing the Trump in front of him instantly. I watched with my mouth hanging open. Having received too much damage, the chain disappeared into a hole that formed underground; my 'dad' fell down from fright and backed into a tree.

"Is that all?" Break pointed the blade to the man's face, not intending to show any mercy. "How pathetic."

"Break, wait! He may be an idiot, but don't hurt him," I pleaded, which surprised even me.

"T-That's right!" the middle-aged man chanted. "You tell him!"

"If you were told he was involved in your disappearance all those years ago, would that change your mind?" Break spoke while withdrawing his sword.

"What….?"

There was silence for a moment; I looked down onto the snowy floor, just now realizing that the blizzard subsided and was replaced with gorgeous, gentle snowflakes. A cold breeze swept past.

"Is that true?" I finally asked.

"Why would it be true?" The man's knees went numb as he gazed into Break's crimson pupil. "Come on; don't blame your father for this."

"No use in hiding it anymore~" Break laughed happily, twirling around as if he were part of a circus. "You've been found out, old man."

"It's something I had to do," he admitted, eyes staring lifelessly ahead. "I didn't want to do it. I really didn't want to."

"Do what?" I questioned impatiently.

"I didn't want to do it. I was just so distraught over my dead wife. It was so hard to go on without her, so I…"

"You… did what?" I questioned as I neared him, curling my hand into a fist. Anger seeped out of me to such an extreme that I could no longer hold in my rage. I prepared to chuck my fist straight at his face, imagining him with a black eye, but Break swiftly stopped me. I didn't realize how fast he was; I almost didn't have time to even blink.

"Don't waste your time, Alva-san."

The hatter smiled at me before glaring at my dad with near-murderous intent. He walked up to the man, picking him up by the collar and dragging him upwards as he tried to squirm free.

"People like you are the most pathetic," Break said, dropping him painfully down onto the cold, rough ground. He winced as his face met the icy stone ground, crawling away into a tree. "Now, Alva-san, shall we take him into custody? I already have reinforcements from Pandora~"

The moment the hatter finished his sentence, a group of a dozen individuals revealed themselves from amidst the nearby forest, surrounding the shaking middle-aged man. I shot up in surprise; each person had their own chain to accompany them, which made it all the more surprising. I expected such from Pandora, but actually seeing it in person still left me baffled.

I then turned around, staring at my 'dad' angrily.

"You're going to pay for whatever you did, you piece of-"

Before I could finish my statement, Break covered my mouth with his sleeve.

"Now, now. A lady should watch her language~" he laughed, pulling cookies out from his pocket while watching enthusiastically as the man was carried away in a different direction than where I came from.

"You… you're angry one moment and happy the next. I just don't understand you," I told him.

"But you still love me, right?"

Cue facepalm.

LATER:

It took around an hour for Break to present his upperclassmen with the report on what had happened. I decided to follow after him – which I assumed to be the better option, as I'd probably be questioned – which ended up being the case. I presented the men with whatever I knew; it almost made me feel uncomfortable, as I was giving away information regarding my own private life.

Break smirked as he waved off the Pandora members, holding a candelabrum in one hand.

"Looks like the snowstorm has completely subsided. How fitting; even the weather was going with the flow of the events," he gulped down some candy and laughed. "Now that we're alone, Alva-san, there's something I want to say."

"What is it?" I asked without making eye contact, staring off out the window.

"You always seem to be in need of rescue, and I am not very satisfied with it," he began. I blinked, tilting my head in confusion. "For that, I must punish you."

"W-What? I'm not always in need of rescue. If you didn't show up, I'd probably have used my chain to fight him off! You just have a habit of-" I froze as Break grabbed my shoulders and looked at me straight in the eyes.

"Mm…" he muttered.

I raised a brow, giving him a light punch in the face.

"Just tell me, Break!"

"Hm…" he continued muttering incoherent nonsense as if he were deep in thought, ignoring me.

"Well? God, just say it, you Willy Wonka!"

Break then snapped his fingers, as if he had decided on an idea.

"I'm going to make you fall asleep."

He then waved his finger in front of me as if he were trying to hypnotize me. I allowed my eyes to trail after his finger but remained unaffected.

"Drat, I really thought that would work~"

"…why would you want me to fall asleep?" I asked, not understanding the logic behind that.

"So you can sleepwalk again," he said as he clasped his sleeves together happily. "I thoroughly enjoyed the last time it happened~"

"….oh. Well too bad, cause it's not going to happen," I said shyly, remembering what had happened. I sucked my teeth and turned around so my back faced Break, intent on hiding my embarrassment. Break, however, pulled me into his chest from behind the same way as he did earlier.

"You can't hide from me~"

"G-Gah, at least ask! Besides, I'm sure you like your candy more than me!" I spat. "Now, get off!"

I turned my body around and attempted to push him away but instead ended up knocking myself as well as Break down onto the couch on accident. Momentarily, I realized I had now been on top of Break in a very… awkward position. My mind died at that moment.

"If…" the uncanny man started. "If you'd rather do this instead, I'd happily oblige!" he purposely taunted me.

"Geez, you're so straightforward…" I smiled crookedly, leaning down and allowing myself to be embraced. Upon doing so, I felt a tint of warmth arise from inside my chest… it was as if the sun itself existed inside me.

I didn't even care how cheesy that sounded.

The tingling sensation seemed to last forever with neither of us moving an inch… that is, until someone decided to ruin the moment by opening the door.

Sharon, dropping the plate of tea she had been holding, stood with her mouth ajar as numbness corroded her all over. She pulled out a fan in milliseconds, eyes glinting with evilness.

"Break!" she screamed and whacked him across the head with all her might, tears streaming down her face. "You know the way of a gentleman is to get married first, then proceed with the next step! Hold in your hormones!"

"O-Ojou-sama, this isn't-"

The Rainsworth princess ignored him and pulled out another fan using her other hand, this time whacking the man two times harder than before.

Break was nearly passed out by now as I moved off of him, sweatdropping like a madman. Sharon had been especially scary when it came to romance and something as big as this was sure to set her off completely.

"Hmph…!" whined Sharon as she crossed her arms, moving over to pick up the cups of tea and plate she had dropped. It was a good thing the ceramics had landed on the carpet instead of the floor; otherwise, Sharon would have had yet another tragedy to deal with. "I'm going to go get someone to clean this up, so please wait here. And Break…" she looked at him evilly, making him twitch. "Don't think of doing anything while I'm gone!"

Sharon stormed off, leaving us devastated by ourselves. I looked at Break and poked his lying body with a spoon, leaning down to his level to see if he was dead.

"Are you alive?" I asked uncomfortably. "Earth to Xerxes Break…"

He didn't reply. I watched him shift around and rub his wounds amidst a wince. Suddenly, I spat out a laugh.

"A-Alva-san…" Break said amidst his suffering. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," I choked out, trying to hold in my tears and laughter. "I'm just thankful for all of this."

"Mm, you're satisfied to see ojou-sama do these things to me? I didn't realize I was hated that much…" he grinned in frustration, getting up on one knee before he forced himself back up completely with a grunt.

"No, you're not hated. I love you, Break," I admitted, leaning back onto the couch while putting my arms behind my head. It took me a few seconds to realize what I said, but it didn't really worry me; I meant it in more of a friendly way.

"Was that a confession?" a slightly surprised Break asked, preparing to head out the door. Although he probably did enjoy spending time with me, there were times when duty called.

"Maybe~" I mimicked Break's annoying tone. "Interpret it how you wish."

"Goodness me, things sure seem to be getting heated, don't they? But joking aside…" Break's tone became serious. "Your father is being questioned as we speak. Make sure you prepare yourself for the worst so you won't be as disappointed. Now then, I will bid you farewell…"

He pointed his cane at my face before giving me his trademark smile and heading off… into the damn cupboard.

I ran towards it and busted open the door. Of course, no one was there.

"How the hell does he keep doing that…!"

A certain abusive Rainsworth female returned to my room with a maid behind her to snap me out of my phase, all ready to clean. She glanced around the room, getting hit with the surprise that Break was gone. Sharon took this as her chance and sat next to me on the couch, inching closer to me as the maid busied herself.

"Alva-san, do you remember the deal Break and I made?" she said with stars in her eyes, clasping her hands together romantically. "I decided to go easy on you two since Break is such an idiot: I want you to teach Break how to dance!"

"You call that going easy?!" I responded with a gasp. "I can't even dance that well!"

"Oh, but you will think about it, won't you?" she began and sipped some tea that I didn't know even existed. "I'm sure you'll be able to whip him into shape by giving him commands. He's always been a bad dancer."

"Uh... he's usually the one that whips me," I told myself. "He's too dominant."

"Is something the matter?" Sharon asked with concern. I looked at her with discomfort before turning away; in response, Sharon looked down onto her knees. "I just want what's best for Xarx-nii."

It would be an understatement if I said I was only a little bit surprised.

Sharon very rarely called Break by this name and it came off as something very foreign to me. Albeit Sharon could be insane at times, it was nice to know she truly had good intentions.

"I'll think about it… but I'm not very good at it, so…"

"Oh, Alva-san, don't worry. Reim-san told me you were quite a good dancer, actually."

I felt like a brick hit in the face.

"W-Who told him that?!"

"I'm not sure," she giggled. "But if he says so, then you must be."

"T-Thanks, Sharon… but it's been a while since I danced," I reminded her.

By now, the maid had finished cleaning and replaced the soaked carpet with a brand new one. She called over to Sharon and announced her completion, bowing as she graciously exited the room. I released a long overdue groan, leaning into the couch and closing my eyes.

But then, I got an idea.

Half-opening one eye, I took the letter my father had sent me and tossed it over the table and into the fireplace. I watched the sheet disintegrate and suddenly felt a brim of satisfaction overcome my body.

"I don't need him. After all, I already have a new family… right here in the mansion."