I do not own Pandora Hearts in any way!
Speech Key:
"The" – Oral/Normal Speaking
'The' – Thoughts
'The' - Telepathic Speech
AN: AAAHHH! I'm almost finished! WAAAAAH! I'M DEPRESSED! I DON'T WANT IT TO END! But…-sigh- like all good stories, they need to end sometime.
Enjoy the chapter!
The Altered Rotation
oO~A Step to the End~Oo
Oz, Break, Gilbert, Alice and a humanoid Cheshire stepped out of the carriage and looked around at the ghost town before them.
(AN: Oz is wearing the same thing he wore in Retrace 2: Escape and everyone is wearing what they normally would.)
Buildings just about demolished, though some were still strong enough to stand tall. Not a single soul inhabited the town. Not a sound but the eerie whistling of the wind could be heard.
"So he decided to reside in the very place he had 'died'," Oz muttered.
"But why here of all places-nya?" Cheshire asked. The very same question that had been on everyone's mind ever since Oz had read that final letter from his father.
"I don't know myself," Oz admitted, "But I believe it could be that since everyone knew that Glen Baskerville had perished here at Sabrièl, we'd never thought he would reside in the very place where he 'died'."
"Clever," Break commented.
"Gilbert," Oz said, gaining said person's attention.
"What?" the black-haired man replied.
"When we meet Glen," Oz said quietly, "do NOT use Raven unless you absolutely need to. Save him as a last resort if you cannot fight any longer."
"Why?" Gilbert asked, wanting to know why he couldn't use his Chain's power to fight the very person that started all of this 'obtaining the Will of the Abyss' nonsense.
"Raven was originally, Glen's Chain back in the day," Oz answered, ignoring the shocked looks he was receiving, "He somehow also managed to form some kind of a bond with the other House Chains from each Duke House. And, from what Jack and I managed to learn while I was trapped within the Abyss, he wanted to possess you through Raven in order to take charge of his house physically, but was too weak to do so."
Raven looked shocked that he could have been possessed by the very man they were trying to destroy, or seal him away permanently at the very least.
"Shall we head over to the Church, then?" Oz suggested before starting off in the direction of the large bell-tower belonging to the church in the distance.
-Sabrièl Church-
The Church looked slightly demolished, though it was just about the only thing in town that look almost untouched.
What with its tall bell-tower and the bell still there. The inside was furnished with deep-cheery-wood pews, a large organ stood at the very front of the church and a light green carpet covered the aisle and the front of the church.
Besides the windows broken and a few of the pews slightly damaged, the only other thing were the two large bloodstains standing out against the green of the carpet; each stain about five feet from the other.
Pandora~Hearts
"So this is where it all took place," Break muttered under his breath, as his only red eye glanced around the building, though lingering mostly on the bloodstains.
Gilbert's haunted eyes, however locked straight onto the bloodstain closest to the organ. "That's where he died isn't it? That's where Jack died." He pointed to the stain he was looking at.
Alice's and Cheshire's heads snapped to where their black-haired comrade was pointing, before they looked at Oz, wanting to know if it was true.
Break, on the other hand, looked on in interest, but there was no denying the curiosity that shone in his red eye.
Contemplating on how he would tell them without frightening them too much, he sighed and just decided to get it over with.
"Yes," Oz answered finally, "That was where Jack himself had died after stabbing his once best friend, Glen Baskerville, through the heart." He glanced down at the sword strapped to his side.
"But how did he die if…" Gilbert trailed off.
"Jack was already covered in wounds from when he and Glen clashed swords," Oz replied, "And although the pain was finally catching up to him, the one person he never expected to harm him, killed him."
"Who?" Alice's voice trembled as she heard about the loss of her once dear friend.
"Vincent Daggersmith," Oz stated, "now known as Vincent Nightray."
"Vincent?" Gilbert choked out. He knew what his brother was capable of and that his brother certainly wasn't right in the head, but this…this was going too far.
"Gilbert," Oz, turned to his best friend, "I know you don't want to remember anything, and nor do you remember much. But you died to protecting Jack from Glen and once you were dead, Vincent seemed to…lose it; I suppose you could say that he lost that last shred of sanity he had as having you with him was what kept him happy and sane. After killing Jack with Glen's fallen sword, he went after the person that he believed to be the reason for all this bloodshed; Alice."
At this said girl looked at her Contractor curiously.
Seeing this, Oz began to explain. "There is a reason why Glen had kept you locked away. He didn't want anyone to know his secret. Somehow Vincent found out that you were somehow related to the Will of the Abyss. And from what I've learned, he knew some things about the Abyss itself and he must have remembered that the Abyss warps time and can help undo the past as well. And so, in hopes that he could change the past in some way, he killed you to get to the Abyss. But he had killed Cheshire only to torture you."
"What was Glen Baskerville's secret?" Break asked.
"Lacie," Oz replied.
"The song?" Alice asked.
"No," Oz turned to looked at them all, his back to the organ, "Lacie was Glen Baskerville's lover…and wife."
"He kept his wife a secret-nya?" Cheshire asked, confused.
"Not exactly," Oz answered, "Everyone knew that Glen and Lacie were together. But what no one but Glen himself knew, was that Lacie gave birth to a pair of twins."
"Twins?" Gilbert murmured.
"Twins," Oz confirmed, looking at Alice.
Said girl hadn't seem Oz glance at her, but Break had caught the look and an unreadable expression crossed his face.
Oz saw the expression, but said nothing of it, and instead turned to his comrades. "Are you all ready, then? Once we go, there is no turning back. Glen will be in hisrealm and he will be able to do just about whatever he so chooses in it. He will have no control of us, but he will of our surroundings. He won't be expecting us, so I suppose it will be bit of a shock, but Glen is never surprised for too long and takes things in stride."
Everyone nodded determinedly.
The gold-haired male turned back to the old organ and sat down upon the [dusty] stool and positioned his hands and fingers.
The lovely melody echoed off of the walls and into the ears of those inside.
(AN: Note that the tune he is playing is the one Elliot Nightray had played in the Latowidge Academy episode.)
After playing just about the entire thing twice, a tremor shook the Church as what looked to be a literal rip in the air suddenly appeared.
"How fitting," Break muttered, "the very song he created will lead to his downfall..."
"And that," Oz said, "would be our cue. I ask once again, are you all sure?"
They all gave a nod once more before stepping into the tear and straight into the unknown dimension.
A bientôt,
TsukiyoTenshi