Chapter 4
"We need Jiri Baskerville."
"Oz…how do you know about Jiri?" Gil asked, confused. Had Jack known about Jiri, in turn revealing her to Oz? Jiri's identity was a secret exclusive to the Baskervilles. Perhaps Glen was that close to Jack and the former revealed it to him? That must have been it.
Oz, sensing Gil's apprehension, shook his head. "No, Jack doesn't know all of this. Otherwise I'm sure he would have taken extra precautions against Jiri. I remembered her because I had actually met her in person."
"And…when was that?" Gil asked once more. Oz seemed to know a whole lot more than he had been letting on. Then again, he did just find about out his true identity in the blink of an eye because of Jack. Who knows what else Oz had learned in such a brief span of time?
"Remember when I told you that one of my bodies disintegrated because I absorbed Lacie's last fragment so that I could deliver it to Jack?" At Gil's silence, he continued, "My memories from that disintegrated body had to go somewhere else, seeing as there was no body anymore. But my other body was with the Will of the Abyss, so Jiri guided my memory fragments to my other body in the Abyss."
That last sentence made Gil stop in his tracks. "Wait," he began. "Jiri guided you back to the Abyss?! But…but how?!"
Oz, who had been walking towards the mansion, also stopped walking. He turned around, looked at Gil for a good five seconds, and, seeing no traces of deception on Gil's face, asked, "Gil, how much do you know about Jiri?"
"W-Well, I know that she's been around longer than any of the previous Glens and that she acts as some sort of adviser to them. That's…about it," Gil finally finished.
"Hmm, I see. That does confirm my theory then. This is starting to look good for us," Oz tried to smile cheerfully as he usually did, but somehow, it came out softer and more subdued than he would haven wanted it to be.
"Oz, what is going on?" Gil asked (as it seemed like it was the only thing he could do now; god, he felt so powerless about everything. And here he was supposed to be the one to help Oz!), worry etching onto his face.
Seeing Gil's darkening expression, Oz chuckled softly and patted Gil's shoulder. "Relax. I just wanted to make sure how much you knew about Jiri. From what she told me, I did suspect that the entire Baskerville clan didn't really know much about her, and your answer just confirmed it. Jiri is actually the personal guide of the Will of the Abyss. You know that the Abyss is a vast place, and you can't exactly tell in which part of it you're going to land. But sometimes the Will of the Abyss wants certain people to end up in her dwelling place right away, and it's Jiri's job to guide her guests for her. I found out about that when she escorted my memory fragments back to the other half of my body."
"I see. So, seeing as you need her to get rid of Jack, are you saying that she's going to send Jack to the Abyss?" Gil guessed.
"Exactly. It's kind of like how my fa—I mean, how Zai Vessalius sent me to the Abyss, except he sent both my body and soul there. Since Jack is pretty much just a soul fragment now, we only need to send that part of him to the Abyss, so that his body, which I'm using, can stay here. And Jiri has the power to do that. She can separate Jack's soul from mine and send only him to the Abyss. By doing so, Glen and the other Baskervilles won't have any reason to pursue me because without Jack, I am without a contract, and of course no one would command me to sever the chains holding this world."
"But Oz, how do you know that Jiri is here?"
This made Oz smile sheepishly. "Process of elimination. Not once had I ever seen her with the other Baskervilles, and while I thought there was a chance that they could just be hiding her until the right moment came, I couldn't detect her anywhere at all in Pandora Headquarters. You know how Chains give off distinct scents? Even the Baskervilles themselves, who are very close to their chains, have developed that, and I don't smell Jiri's scent anywhere. But somehow, I thought that this was the only place left which held a strong connection to the Abyss and which we hadn't checked yet. And considering Jiri's role as the guide to the Abyss, I inferred that she'd be somewhere with a Door to the Abyss, and this was it. The closer we got to the mansion, the more I could detect her scent, so I'm positive she's in there."
Gil nodded approvingly, and allowed a small smile to light up his face.
"Hey!" Oz chuckled. "What's up with that smile, Mr. Usually-worrywart-Raven?" he teased.
Gil blushed, but allowed himself to smile once again. "It's just that…while you were explaining Jiri to me, I thought you were going to do something drastic and have yourself dragged back to the Abyss again or something. I'm glad that you intend to stay here as Oz."
Oz, momentarily stunned, smiled softly. "Don't worry. Gil…I promise you that Oz will always be here."
Uncomfortable with the current atmosphere, Oz shook his head one last time, as if trying to vanish such thoughts away, and looked at Gil seriously once more. "Let's go, Jiri's waiting."
And with that, the pair ran to the door, with guns ready in case they met an opposition.
Fortunately, the room was dead quiet, and it looked absolutely abandoned, just like when Oz had visited it upon his return from the Abyss. Still, both of them remained cautious, tiptoeing carefully up the stairs where Oz had climbed ten years ago to fulfill his oath. Well, his oath as heir to the Vessalius dukedom, which didn't really apply anymore.
As they reached the last step at the top, Oz looked at the clock he had sworn his pledge on. It had resumed moving after he was sent to the Abyss, and it had not stopped ticking ever since.
"Gil…" Oz began. "I can sense Jiri here, but she's not fully in this world right now. I can feel that she's in that small border between the Abyss and this world, and I need you to use Raven to open a small path for me so that I can communicate with her."
"But Oz, what if she drags you back into the Abyss or something? We can't fully trust her! Let me go with you," Gil said, worry increasing the pitch of his voice.
"No," Oz said firmly. "You'll be needing all your energy to summon Raven and open a path small enough to let Jiri come here. Moreover, you'll have to worry in case Pandora and/or any of the Baskervilles get here first."
Gil, realizing that Oz was right, turned his back towards Oz and faced the door. "Fine, but don't do anything dangerous!"
"I won't." Oz promised.
Gil finally summoned Raven and commanded it to open the Door to the Abyss. "Don't go too far inside. You might not be able to get out!" he called out to Oz.
Oz nodded his head, despite knowing that Gil would most likely not have seen it. He couldn't trust himself to speak, especially with what he was going to do next.
As the Door to the Abyss widened, he could make out an old woman in a red cloak, her golden eyes a distinct glow in the darkness of the borders of the Abyss.
"Jiri," Oz greeted.
"Oz Vessalius…no, B-rabbit…" the old woman hissed.
As the woman approached the entrance, Oz did as well, and the two stood at the very borders of the two worlds, seeing eye to eye.
"Jiri, I'm here to make a deal with you," Oz said.
Just as Gil was about to look in Oz's direction, the doors were banged open and the Baskervilles bounded inside, with Glen right in front.
Gil fired his bullet right at Glen's feet and shouted "Don't move!"
"Don't move or what?" Lotti teased. "Or you'll shoot? You forget that we don't die that easily, Gilbert. Now hand Oz Vessalius over!"
"Not a chance!" Gil cried as he commanded Raven to fire his blue flames towards the Baskervilles.
Glen/Leo shielded them with Jabberwock's wings, but the wings did not come out completely unharmed. "Buy me some time," he commanded to his servants as he prepared Jabberwock to generate a powerful energy beam.
"Yes sir!" Lottie and the others replied. They ran as fast they could, doing their best to avoid Raven's flames. They would definitely not come out of this unscathed, but if they could just get to Gil and kill him, then Oz will be easier prey.
Gil, sensing the Baskervilles' plan, started firing more of his bullets as well. He was in a panic. He had to protect Oz and hope he would make it in time. He could not allow the Baskervilles to ruin his plan. He had to do something.
"Just a little longer Gil!" Oz cried.
A loud click clack hung in the air, and Gil realized he was out of bullets. While Raven continued unleashing its flames, he began to reload. It was a lot harder now that he only had one arm, and his panic didn't help one bit.
Lotti, seeing an opening, took a dagger out of the pocket of her cloak and threw it in the air, aiming towards Gil's forehead.
Gil finally noticed it but it was too late for him to react. As he was about to close his eyes and brace himself for the impact, Oz's scythe had deflected it in time.
"Sorry to keep you waiting Gil," Oz said with a smile.
Sensing Jabberwock's impending fire, Oz summoned more of his power and slashed his dark energy towards Jabberwock, preventing the latter from destroying everything in sight.
"Glen Baskerville, don't interfere. I'm here to finish Jack once and for all!" Oz declared. And with that, he ran towards the clock and summoned B-rabbit's chains.
Glen, in a mad panic, ran towards Oz and Gil, but Gil blocked his way with both his gun and Raven.
"Don't come any closer!" Gil cried.
With a frown, Gil and Glen began their battle. Glen unleashed his sword, while Gil tried his best to throw Glen off balance with his bullets.
Suddenly, the earth began to shake, and the Door to the Abyss opened wider, allowing Jiri to cross to the human world.
Glen, surprised by Jiri halted in his tracks. "Jiri…"
"Hush child. I have made a deal with B-rabbit, and I assure you it will work in our favor," the old woman remarked.
"What is the meaning of this? Jiri, I demand an explanation!" Glen barked.
"Come now, child. Allow me to do what I must." And with that Jiri touched Oz's forehead and cried, "To the soul which has been abandoned by this world, awaken!"
The room fell silent, only to be broken by Oz's pain-filled screams.
"Oz!" Gil cried.
But before Gil could get any closer, Oz shouted "Don't come any closer!" A few seconds later and Jack's form was taking shape right across Oz, with Jack bound by B-rabbit's chains.
"Let…me go!" the blond man shrieked in rage. Jack struggled in his restraints and was trying to return to Oz's body. This mental struggle between the two blonds was taking a toll on them both; Jack's soul was rapidly fading away, and Oz was close to losing consciousness.
"Hu-Hurry!" Oz cried out.
And with one last nod, Jiri approached Jack and touched him on the forehead, crying out, "Jack Vessalius, for endangering the world and going to great lengths to satisfy your selfish desires, you must be punished!"
B-rabbit's chains, along with another set that were clearly Jiri's, wrapped around Jack and quickly sent him to the deepest recesses of the Abyss in a flurry of flashing red light.
Just as Gil was about to sigh in relief, B-rabbit's chains suddenly made loud, clanging noises. By the time the red light had faded, Oz was enveloped in his own chains, with Jiri standing to his right.
"Oz! What's going on?!" Gil shrieked.
Oz, somewhat strangled by the chains, managed to release a choked laugh. "I'm sorry Gil, but I did make a deal with Jiri after all. While Jack may be gone, B-rabbit is still here, and in turn a threat to the chains supporting this world."
"Oz, stop talking rubbish! There's no way I'd let you—"
"Quiet child," Jiri commanded as she paralyzed Gil with her magic circle. And before Glen and the others could react, she did the same thing to them as well.
"Jiri, what is the meaning of this?" Glen asked, dumbfounded.
"Fear not, Glen-sama. This is not an act of betrayal. I have made an agreement with B-rabbit and I assure you that it is in line with our goals of preserving the stability of this world."
"What are you talking about Oz?!" Gil howled. "Don't you dare hurt yourself! Think of Sharon, and Break…and…and Alice!"
At the mention of Alice's name, Oz smiled softly, closed his eyes, and used his slightly freer right hand to tilt the scythe towards his neck.
"Gil…when all this began I had said I wanted to help Alice regain her memories because I believed that that would lead me to discover what my 'sin' was."
"Oz…don't…" Gil choked, tears unwittingly streaming down his cheeks.
Oz nodded his head and opened his eyes once more. "My sin, Oz the B-rabbit's sin, is the very fact that I exist!" And with that Oz swung his scythe full force towards him. Once more a blinding red light illuminated the room, and the clock that had begun to move had ceased on the stroke of midnight.
A/N: Now, don't you all worry. Everything is far, far from over. For the most part, things are going according to my plans, but who knows, life is unpredictable that way. :D
I hope you're all enjoying the story so far, because I sure am enjoying writing this despite the hasty narration which pretty much sums up my capabilities as a writer. I'm glad to at least be able to write more than a thousand words now. XD
If I may be a little selfish, I hope to get AT LEAST 3 more reviews before I release the next chapter. I already have a draft in mind, but school will be starting soon so I need to worry about that first. Please please motivate me. I tell you, increased reviews will definitely make me write faster.
Anonymous Guests Review Reply
A: Why thank you! I was worried about filling up as many loopholes as possible, and I'm glad it all somehow worked out in the end. To be honest, my theory didn't start out with the blood mirror. I was hell bent on something a little different, but the eventual loopholes that arose from that particular theory made me resort to the blood mirror instead.
Paz: As I was thinking my original theory, I realized that I had totally neglected that fact! But then, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that that part about Jack not sinking into the Abyss soon afterwards was an actual loophole in the story! (who knows, it might be clarified later on in the story, but I am diverging as early as now at least) I guess thinking about it over and over again really helped. In fact, I was so shocked upon learning that Oz was the true B-rabbit, but as I reread the previous chapters I realized that there was so much foreshadowing that I was so stupid not to notice!