See, told you all I'd have the next chapter up soon! Also, the new chapter of the manga is out (Retrace LXVII: Lacie), and I'm still confused. Anyways, we'll find out what happened to Elliot, and, once again, Ash has some very interesting data that will get them closer to their goal. Meanwhile, Leo finds out about the shocking truth behind his illness.

I do not own Pandora Hearts in anyway.

~Sucker Punch~

Chapter 7: Into The Snowfall

The unfinished letter fell from Leo's hands, which were now trembling with fright. His heart was racing wildly in his chest and the pain he had felt there earlier was now coming back, much stronger now as he backed up against a wall, slamming his back against it as he slid down. He had put a hand to his chest, clutching the fabric of his nightshirt against the pain and trying to calm his heart, and obviously this tactic wasn't working No one could see it behind his long bangs, but the noirette's eyes we wide in an absolute panic, those deep purple orbs reflecting his fear.

Leo was alone in this semi-dark room, and at this time, it wasn't good to be alone. He had known what he was feeling was always caused by his own stress, and right now it was spiked through the roof. He couldn't be alone, not now of all times. Elliot had always been with him whenever something like this happened, but now he was totally alone, no one to notice his frantic and shallow breathing. Would anyone even notice if he passed out right then and there, which was very possible because he felt extremely faint and the room kept spinning round and round.

He still couldn't believe it, all those words he had heard before, they were lies.

(Flashback)

The noirette was sure Gilbert had left the room, and now was the right time to find out just what exactly it was that Gilbert wasn't telling him. Leo had asked the older Nightray if he knew anything about his illness, something that Elliot hadn't told him, but he had gotten no closer to finding out what that was, and Leo could tell right away that Gilbert denied it.

'This is it,' He thought to himself, his hand on the door handle. 'I'm going to find out what those two are hiding!'

The room inside was dark, and Leo couldn't help but feel nervous. He had never snuck into someone's room before, and, frankly, he didn't like it and found it to be creepy. However, he knew this was the only way he was going to get some answers. Ever since Elliot had left, maybe even before that, he felt like Elliot knew more to Leo's illness than he was letting on.

Quickly, he located a desk and was able to make out an object lying on top of it; a letter. Grinning, he walked over to the desk and picked up the letter. He was barely able to read the written words of the letter that was yet to be finished, but he could tell it was Gilbert's hand writing, and it was addressed to…Elliot?

'Maybe this will give me some clue.'

And so, he began to read the letter silently to himself.

~Dear Elliot, I wonder how you and Ash are doing. Anyways, I'll make this quick and too the point; I hope you find what you're looking for because you need to hurry back as soon as you can. Your servant's health is deteriorating faster than when it started.~

"Huh? Why would Gilbert be writing about me and telling him to hurry back?" The noirette wondered out loud. "There's no rush about anything."

He decided to read further into the letter ~His fever hasn't gone down at all, and now he's coughing up blood, he can't even eat much of anything at all. Do you think it's possible he might start to lose his senses next?~ Leo was starting to become even more nervous, dread creeping into his weak heart. ~I don't know how much longer that boy has left. Elliot, he misses you, and he wishes you were here; maybe you should have told him before you left.~

"They were hiding something!" Leo continued to read, but the last line held a devastating truth.

~Elliot, I'm sorry your servant was poisoned.~

Poisoned.

The word echoed in his mind, and the sudden realization crashed down on him like a wave. He felt dizzy as he realized that the reason he was so terribly sick was because it wasn't caused by any illness, it had been caused by poison.

'I was…poisoned? And, Elliot…he…'

Pain blossomed in his chest, his whole being overwhelmed with this shattering truth.

(End flashback)

Leo couldn't believe it. All this time, he had gone on believing that he was just sick, believing he would get better, Elliot supporting this notion. No, that was far from the truth. It had been something that had been in his bloodstream from the start; It was poison that made him so ill.

Poison; it was inside of him, flowing through his veins, breaking down and corroding the inner workings of his body. It explained everything, right from the start. When his stomach had been bothering him and making him queasy on that evening five days ago, it wasn't because of the food he had been eating, it was because poison had entered the noirette, and when he had been sick afterwards, it was because his body was trying to get rid of the poison. Looks like it had been too little too late though.

Leo had been right, he was dying, and Elliot knew about it all along.

"Leo-kun?"

He could barely hear this voice, but he could tell it was Gilbert. Leo was too distracted by his shallow breathing, and the nauseous feeling now rising within him to notice that the raven had kneeled down beside him of him. He felt as if the room was closing in around him.

A cold sweat covered Leo's face as a hand was placed on his shoulder. "What are you doing in here? What's wrong?"

The noirette couldn't answer, but as he tried to get up, he pushed Gilbert out of his way as he collapsed onto his hands and knees, convulsing as he puked up the acid of food he hadn't eaten, blood once again coming up too. Maybe it was because of the truth that he had now just discovered, or maybe because of how high his stress levels were. Based on his breathing, Leo was sure that he was having another panic attack, and, although he wasn't alone now, he would rather have Elliot by his side.

"He…he knew…!" Leo coughed, his words becoming choked. "Elliot knew!"

He was right, Elliot was abandoning him, leaving him in the dark forever, leaving him to fade away until there was nothing left, leaving him to die.

"What are you talking about, Leo-kun?" Gilbert asked, sitting Leo up and bracing him with his hands.

His light had abandoned him.

"I was…poisoned." The world titled and everything blurred as he fell unconscious into the raven's arms.

There was something warm covering him, and he knew his head was resting on a single pillow.

'What happe- ow! My head!' He did feel a light ache in his head, and he wondered what had caused that. Cracking one ice blue eye open, he had to shut it against the light the blinded him for a second.

"Oh, Elliot! Are you finally awake?" That was Ash's voice calling him. Now fully opening his eyes, he winced against the light, but he could see the blurry figure of the chestnut haired girl looking down at him, her hair dangling down and brushing against Elliot's face, which annoyed him greatly.

"Mind getting your hair out of my face?" He growled at her.

"Sorry." She pulled away from him while Elliot struggled to sit up. His eyes were now adjusted to the light and he looked around to find that they were back at their room in the inn.

"What happened?" He asked her, putting a hand to his head, only to find that bandages were wrapped around it.

"The stage collapsed and you were knocked unconscious, and you also suffered a concussion." She explained. "It wasn't that bad, just a minor one, but you were out cold for the rest of the day. It's now 6:30 in the evening and snow is falling outside."

"That damn stage was old anyway, it was bound to collapse."

"I wouldn't say that for certain, but we can figure that out later." She left his bedside and grabbed a pitcher of water from an small table nearby, finding a glass and pouring the water in it. She came back to Elliot and held out the glass of water for him. "How are you feeling?"

"A little better now." He replied as he took the glass from her. "Did you find out anything about the antidote?"

"No, but I think I've got some useful information about the poison."

"Well, tell me what it is already!" He demanded, not wanting to wait a second more.

"After the stage collapsed, Algood helped me pull you from the rubble." Ash started to explain. "As I was wrapping bandages around your head, me and Algood started to talk. At first, it was me talking about how I became interested in fencing, and then he brought up his hobbies; studying and cataloging poisons. He told me of one new particular one he was studying called Valily."

"Valily? What exactly is that?"

"I'm not sure, but he told me it's made from crushed flowers of something called Lily-of-the-Valley."

He was about to take another sip of water, but he froze when he heard this name. "I've heard of that flower. It's vague, but familiar."

"You know of it?" Ash asked in a calm tone.

"Not much, but I've heard its flowers are poisonous." He replied.

"No wonder he told me he wears gardening gloves while handling those." Ash sat down on the bed next to Elliot. "Anyway, he told me that the crushed flowers can produce a liquid that is nearly clear like water. He sent a sample off to a colleague and he got the test results back soon after. Algood then said that he wondered what would happen if a human just happened to ingest the liquid. Of course he then told me that he wouldn't actually test it on a person, but I wasn't entirely convinced by that."

"What were the results of the test?" Elliot asked as he passed the glass back to Ash.

"While you were asleep, Algood showed them to me." She replied, getting up and putting the glass next to the pitcher of water.

"And?"

Ash shook her head. "All the same symptoms Leo-kun has; headache, nausea, fever, there was even a note about all 5 senses being lost. It's a slow poison, and I'd say by this, your servant only has about a little less than two weeks at the most."

'Two…weeks?' Elliot took all this information in, realizing this horrible truth behind the poison that was slowly killing Leo. Yet, even though it was hard to understand, all the dots were starting to connect.

"Elliot-kun?" Ash had now moved back to her friend, trying to read the expression on his face.

"Leo…" His hand curled into a fist and he looked at Ash with a fiery determination in his eyes. "This is him, he did this to Leo. Ash, I'm sure of it!"

"It all makes sense now. And, not to put a damper on things, but I think he might be catching onto us." Her tone suddenly changed into a serious one.

"Why would you say that?"

"I know he was looking at me while I observed the support beam that had collapsed, sending a chain reaction across the whole stage. I don't think it was an accident, I think someone made that beam collapse on purpose, someone working with Algood. Plus, he said you and me looked familiar. It might be only a matter of time before he figures out, if he hasn't figured me out already."

"We have to move now then!" Elliot proclaimed, pushing the sheets of his bed off him.

"Elliot-kun, we can't not now, especially with the injury you sustained to your head." Ash insisted, pushing down on his shoulders.

"Ash-"

"You need to rest, both of us do. We have a limited amount of time, I realize that, but we can confirm this all tomorrow and get home in time."

Once again, Ash's logic had proven to be correct; what both of them needed was rest and to organize their plan. They could pull it off within a day or so, and they could get the antidote back and administer it to Leo in time.

Not resisting the chestnut haired girl any longer, he lay back down, a hand covering his face. "We have to act quickly though, the more time we wait, the more damage that poison can do. To make things worse, he has a cold on top of all this; I could tell before we left."

She sighed. "That would explain that horrible coughing whenever I came by."

"I just hope we can find that stupid antidote, if there even is one."

Just then, Ash removed the hand that was covering Elliot's face. "Elliot-kun, everything will work out. Leo-kun won't die. I can't explain this feeling, but I know that…Leo-kun will survive."

"How can you be sure of that?"

Ash only smiled. "He'll live."

Ash is so optimistic. I'll have the next chapter up in a day or two, so I hope you can wait patiently for it. As always, feel free to leave a reveiw.