I do not own Pandora Hearts in any way!

Speech Key:

"The" – Oral/Normal Speech

'The' – Thoughts

'The' – Telepathic Speech

AN: I don't it's quite that long, and it's more of an explanation chapter, so don't expect too much to happen.

Enjoy the chapter!

The Altered Rotation

oO~Lacie's Tale~Oo

Oz stepped cautiously through the halls of what seemed to his home, following the singing to its source. However, curiously enough, the voice continued to repeat the same verse over and over.

The robin's home is a nest o'erhead
The bees, they nest in a hive instead
My baby's nest is his little bed
Bye, baby, bye

Suddenly he saw a shadow flit by with the echo of footsteps behind it. 'What could that have been?'

'Oz,' came Jack's voice, 'Be careful. Something seems…off about this place. I'm pretty sure you've already noticed that this can't really be your home, correct?'

Oz nodded slightly. 'I know…something feels familiar, too. I just can't figure out what…'

Just then, the signing stopped and a giggle was heard.

Wanting to find out just what was going on, Oz ran towards the source of the voice, finding himself being led down several different halls, sometimes being led down one that he'd already been in.

After a few moments, Oz realized that he was no longer in his hone, but the manor he'd stayed at during the time of his Coming of Age ceremony.

The giggling grew louder and the gold-haired man ran after it to a place he knew quite well. And just as expected, he was led to Lacie's grave.

But the one thing neither Oz nor Jack counted on was the transparent young woman sitting atop the gravestone.

Pandora~Hearts

She had long brown hair, much like Alice's, a fair complexion, and deep red-violet eyes. Her hair was left down to touch the backs of her knees.

She wore an azure gown with layers of green showing through. White laces decorated the ends of the sleeves and the edges of her skirts. Upon her feet were a pair of simple black shoes and a small brown bunny doll was hugged within her arms.

Pandora~Hearts

(AN: I'm not going to go into much detail, so just use your imagination)

"Hello, Oz," the young woman greeted, "I've wanted to speak to you for a while."

"Who are you?" the gold-haired male demanded. "How do you know my name?"

"You know of me, Oz Vessalius," the woman smiled gently. "My name is Lacie Evengale."

"Lacie…" emerald eyes widened. "But how?"

"This dimension is alive, Oz," Lacie explained patiently. "Glen had ordered it to separate you from your companions, but left it up to the dimension itself to come up with something to do with each of you. I managed to intercept you just as my other daughter did with your Alice."

"Intercept me?" Oz inquired.

"My soul has been floating for quite a while now," Lacie explained. "I 'latched onto' Glen, you could say, because I needed to find some way to stop his plans. When you and your companions walked into the dimension, I realized that one of you could help me and so I separated myself from him and searched until I found you."

"What makes you think I'm ideal for this task?" Oz asked quietly.

"Because you're the one that has taken care of Alice," Lacie said as though it was obvious.

"What do you want me to do?" Oz asked. "I only know that Glen needs to be stopped. I've no clue as to what I can do to make that come to pass."

"It's best if I start at the beginning," Lacie said, sitting on the ground and motioning for him to do so as well.

"I am a Child of Ill Omen," she began, "Children of Ill Omen are special people that have a direct connection to the Abyss. Most of us travel to the Abyss and live there after a certain amount of time here in this world. We are also considered a taboo, of sorts, by some. In order to prevent an outbreak of Chains, some Children are sacrificed, believing that it will maintain the balance between the two worlds."

"But you never travel to the Abyss, did you?" Oz said gently.

Lacie shook her head in negative. "NO, I didn't. I was too scared. I first found out about being a Child when I was sixteen and after living for so long, hearing of nothing but horrible things about the Abyss, I was just too frightened to do what most Children would. But then things changed when I met Glen."

Her face took on a slightly dreamy look. "He was a charming young man, and handsome, too. Everything a girl could ask for. He and I courted for a time until he proposed to me on my eighteenth birthday, to which I agreed. And it wasn't long before I found myself pregnant.

But I soon noticed that Glen was growing distant; leaving for many hours, even days at a time. I barely saw him for more than a few minutes when he was at the manor. I couldn't, for the life of me, understand why. And so I was never able to tell him that I was expecting. And when my baby girl, my Alice, was finally brought out into this world, something happened. A portal to the Abyss opened and Alice was surrounded by a light. And when the light pulled apart from my little girl, I saw another girl identical to my Alice, but with white hair. I thought I was hallucinating until I heard the child give out her first cry.

But just as I was about to reach for her, she disappeared, along with the portal. I soon realized that because I never took that trip to the Abyss, it decided to make a decision for me and take my child, or at least one of my children, as compensation. Because I gave birth, my gift as a Child of Ill Omen was passed down to Alice before that part of her was separated and taken into the Abyss."

Lacie's face grew sad and solemn. "About a month after that, Glen returned home, demanding to know why I never told him I was a Child of Ill Omen. It was the first time he'd ever snapped at me in our time together. And it was also the first time I noticed a small glint of insanity in his eyes. And when he saw Alice, he went mad, thinking that I'd given myself to another man in his time away. He told me to get rid of my baby, and when I refused, he just left. I tried many times to tell him who Alice's father was, but he would never listen. Soon I found Glen muttering about the Abyss and its power. He also mentioned something about the power of Children of Ill Omen.

He must have found out about my talents being passed onto Alice because two years later, I found him standing over Alice's crib, with a dagger in hand. And just when he was about to kill Alice, I stepped in and took the blade for her. After my death, my soul couldn't pass on completely because I felt the need to watch over my daughter because I didn't trust Glen, not anymore. But it seemed that he must have been somewhat sane for one moment, because he'd made sure that Alice was taken care of. A favour to me, I suppose. I knew Glen wanted Alice for the power he thought she held, and so I watched as my daughter grew up, isolated from the world, never knowing who her parents were. And when she finally has a friend, it's taken away along with her life."

"What do you want me to do?" Oz said after a moment.

"Please, stop Glen in any way possible," Lacie pleaded. "His mind is too far gone in his quest for power and I fear just what may happen if he gains control of the power of the Abyss."

"I'll do what I can," Oz told her, not wanting to make a promise he couldn't keep.

"And there is one more thing," the brown-haired woman spoke. "I've noticed over the years that Glen still believes that I wasn't loyal to him and that Alice isn't his child. A portion of his anger stems from that belief. Please, tell him the truth; it just may give you the opening you need to stop my husband once and for all!"

Oz nodded to the teary-eyes woman and watched as the world around him started to crumble, leaving him in a world of darkness.

"'Tell him the truth', huh?" Oz muttered. "Easier said than done, Lacie. Easier said than done…" he started off on a random direction, hoping to find a way out.

'But at least now we know...' Jack murmured.

A bientôt,

TsukiyoTenshi