I just finished a very graphic Gil/Oz vid. I don't understand how you tube could have missed something so graphic / but ah well. Yes, this'll be Oz/Alice. I love Oz/Gil as brothers. (contrary to the video I just watched XD) I figure if anyone, Gil'll end up with Break or my OC. Which is almost like ending up with - ANYWAY! XD I added a snippet of Break-POV to the end of the last chappie, so that this chappie is purely Oz/Alice. My intense thing will probably come up shortly…which will take the story into the next phase! That I have half-invented. *horrible planner* Ah well. I'll roll with it XD And…I finally updated my profile! Just in case anyone cares. Just sayin' XD *shamed by wasting precious writing time to do such nonsense* XD *procrastinating because Witchy has no idea what to do with this chappie ;-; filler, much?)
"Oz…are you…alright?" Alice's soft query snapped Oz from his thoughts and he looked over at her, flashing her a bright smile.
"Yeeees! I was just thinking. About Liam's present. I think he'll like it!" Oz spun around, clutching the gift-wrapped box 'happily'.
In truth, Oz's thoughts since the moment he'd woken up had been about Gilbert. His servant wasn't well, he knew that much. Gilbert's usual gloom had become downright depression and he was concerned for the other. Ever since Sablier, his mood had gone down and he'd seemed…distant somehow. There was something plaguing Gilbert, and though he knew Gilbert better than anyone-he was sure, he wasn't sure that that 'something' was.
Alice huffed. "Yeah right. I still think you should've gotten him meat. But fine. Give him that creepy doll if you want. I don't care either way." she said loftily, and Oz smiled.
"Come and see! Once in a lifetime…the amazing magician, Lucero the Magnificent!" A crowd had gathered outside of a make-shift stage where a man in brightly colored clothes was doing little tricks. Sleight of hand, wand-waving, pretty standard 'magic' fare.
But Alice didn't know that. "Oz!" she tugged his arm excitedly. "Look!"
Oz was a bit surprised. Alice had seen things most people couldn't even dream of, and she was fascinated by a little card trick? Still, at least she was happy, that was something, wasn't it? So smiling, he allowed her to lead him to the stand to watch as the man did his 'magic'.
By the time the act was nearly done, Oz had to say, as far as magicians went…this 'Lucero' character was pretty good. A few of the tricks he'd never seen before. Candles bursting into flowers that burst into petals of fire…manipulating water to form shapes…making a young woman with an orange flower in her hair disappear in a box…and then-
"And for my last trick…I'll pull a rabbit out of the hat!" Lucero announced, his grey-eyes dull even as he smiled.
Alice froze and Oz tensed, not certain of how she would react.
Lucero reached inside of his magician's hat and yanked out a squirming bunny rabbit.
"That…bastard." Alice hissed.
"A-Alice.." Oz chuckled hesitantly. "It's just a trick…really, it isn't-ah-Alice!"
Alice pushed and shoved through the crowd, Oz struggling to follow behind as she made her way on stage and leapt up, glaring at Lucero. "You sneaky bastard…what's the idea? You have something against rabbits?" she growled.
"Alice!" Oz came up behind her and grabbed her arm, trying to tug her away. "It's only a trick, the rabbit will be fine-"
"That's not the point! Can't you see it's hurting?" Alice tugged her arm away, glaring at Lucero whose grey eyes had darkened to the point of being nearly black-not that anyone would have noticed such a detail.
Oz sighed. Alice acted like she cared for nothing when in reality…she was just a big softy. Sort of. Particularly where rabbits were concerned, it seemed, and he couldn't blame her for that. But he couldn't let her go running around beating up any magician whose path she crossed…or anyone else for that matter.
"What's the meaning of this?" Lucero demanded. "Get off of my stage, hey!"
Alice had rushed forward and snatched the rabbit from his hands, holding the trembling rabbit close. It was a curious shade of black, and Oz had never seen it's like…well, with Alice being the obvious exception in a manner of speaking.
Lucero gave her a look of pure dislike with his fists clenched, and Oz frowned. What had gotten him so worked up? "Ah, so sorry about this, we'll be going now, Alice…give him back the rabbit…Alice?" the expression on her face was strange.
"Hey, Oz…I think I smell-"
"Fresh meat! Get your fresh meat here, while it's hot!" a vendor shouted from the back of the crowd. "Fresh off the grill! We're having a special!"
Alice's focused expression became one of excitement. "Meat!" she cast a sneering glance at Lucero. "Try something like this again and I'll kill you, got it?" with that, she leapt off the stage and ran.
"Alice, Alice!" Oz chased after her, disappearing with her into the crowd.
Lucero's eyes, now pure black, narrowed in what could only be described as hatred. "Bloody Black Rabbit…" he hissed. The crowd before him was getting agitated now, but no one seemed to think to catch Oz or Alice. But he couldn't let them get away, they had his-
"Alice! What were you thinking?" Oz, out of breath, pulled short beside Alice who was contentedly chewing meat while holding the trembling bunny in one arm, occasionally stroking it with a now meat-sticky hand.
"I-wrm..svng..th..bnny."
"What?"
Alice swallowed. "I was saving the bunny. Obviously." she snorted. "Magicians. Bastards. All of them." she said decidedly before chomping down on more meat.
Oz sighed, reaching out his hand to stroke the rabbit. It had brilliant violet eyes, he'd never seen those on a rabbit either. But it figured that a magician's rabbit might be a bit odd, right? Although he'd only ever seen them have black-eyed, white rabbits…and they way they flicked between Oz and Alice, he'd have sworn that it understood them. But that was silly, right?
"It's not nice…but it's not nice to steal either, Alice.." Oz chided lightly. "Ehh…" at Alice's sudden glare, he scratched the back of his head and chuckled. "Oh well, right? I guess he's yours now…Alice is ready to have a pet, then?"
Alice blinked. "Huh?"
"Well…now that you've taken it, you'll take care of it, right? Because if you let it go, it'll only get captured again…or eaten…" Oz pointed out, trailing off at Alice's look of horror.
"Bastards! What kind of sick place is this? Eating little rabbits…bastards.." she began muttering things too low for him to understand, but he got the basic message, she was very pro-rabbit. "Fine! I'll take care of it. It's name is…Little Bloody Black Rabbit." she announced.
Oz, who had been smiling despite himself, now lifted a brow. "Little…Bloody Black…Rabbit?" he repeated slowly.
Alice looked quite proud of herself. "Yup. It's great!" she announced. "I have a pet! My own pet!" she suddenly exclaimed, looking thrilled and Oz let the issue of the name fall. Alice was just too cute sometimes…
"I won, Oz! I won all on my own!"
Oz nodded, keeping up his smile. "Well then…we have Liam's present, and you have a pet…should we head back now?"
Alice nodded, still looking excited. "I'll teach Little Black to bite that clowny bastard and seaweed head…and to do tricks! Just wait and see…" she gave a maniacal little chuckle.
The ears of the rabbit in her hand lowered before it's eyes closed, as if trying to block out everything around it.
"It's Lulie! She's gone missing!" a woman cried and Oz and Alice came to a stop in walking while the rabbit's violet eyes shot open. A woman was clutching an orange flower head band in her hand…stained with blood, speaking to a small group of worried looking people. "They only found this…she wouldn't leave it behind! She was taken, I'm sure of it! Her father gave this to her just before she died…she wouldn't…" the woman sobbed.
Oz's eyes focused in on that orange headband, why did it look familiar?
"And for my next trick, I shall make a member of the audience disappear…now who shall it be…ah, yes…how about you, miss? With that lovely orange flower in your hair…"
The woman from the trick, she had disappeared from the box and Oz had assumed that it was part of the trick, that she was a member of his crew and not audience but…
"Alice…that magician…remember the trick where the girl disappeared, into the box..? She was wearing that." Oz said, jaw slightly clenched.
Alice's eyes widened and then narrowed as she pondered that. And then she seemed to remember something with a faint scowl. "Oz…when we were up there…I wasn't sure at first, with all those other smells but I think…I did…I could smell the Abyss…Lucero smelled like a Chain."
Don't you just love how I went from no ideas to this? I was hoping to give them a little adventure. Now I might have another OC. But it'll fit in nicely, just like the OCs that are actually in the show/manga! So basically…I kick butt. Or something. I lost my train of thought. XD I played with the idea of the bunny, well, I can't give away too many spoilers but lets say if it bit Oz, he'd start becoming a rabbit…*imagines Oz with cute lil bunny ears and a frantic Gil* XD but naaaahh. We'll keep this fic on track…maybeh. XD But now I don't feel like I'm rushing things! XDD