Un-beta'd. So if you see any mistakes, please tell me! ^^ (I'm also looking for a beta reader, since my friend has been busy lately and I don't want to keep bothering her.)

I do not own Pandora Hearts.

Reviews are what motivate me to keep writing.

"I didn't even know you had used Raven on the boy," Vincent said, he was leaning against the wall while gazing tiredly at his brother's back. Gilbert was sitting on the prince's bed, leaning over his unconscious body, checking if he had a fever... when he was finally done he was both relieved and confused. It seemed that the boy was just sleeping; yet his right hand still hurt from whatever had happened. "I used it the moment his chain attacked me," he explained without looking up, a frown appearing on his facial features. He had rushed out of the Garland mansion as soon as he had felt the pain, knowing something was wrong with Oz. Dalia had understood and didn't even bat an eye when he apologized, had simply smiled and told him she'll send one of her servants later that day to measure Oz for new clothes. "I must have been away for too long causing the chain to wake up form his slumber,"

"Which broke the seal you put on him," Vincent concluded, he said it as if it was a matter of fact while both brothers knew it was more then that, they didn't know what could have happened, if Oz still didn't trust them, that alone could be the reason for his chain to attack them.

Gilbert nodded, "I'll have to strengthen the seal then." He sighed, exhausted. Oz seemed to be only sleeping, he could wake up any moment now, at least that's what he hoped, perhaps this was some sort of abyss related comatose? In that case he didn't know what to even give the prince to make him wake up again. He gently touched the teen's forehead and put the seal back. Black feathers twirled around the room.

Vincent didn't even comment when he saw the large shadow of a raven hanging over his sibling, he didn't shudder even though Raven's atmosphere was bloodcurdling. The young man remained still and gazed at the taller male with fascination. Gilbert had easily made the contract with this chain, something the Nightrays have been trying for more then a hundred years. Who would have thought that when they brought those two orphaned street rats into their house, raised them as their own, one of them would have been Raven's chosen one?

It was also the reason why they left; the other Nightrays couldn't stand the sight of an orphan having made a contract with one of the most powerful chains. The gatekeeper of their household had been given away to some filthy peasant… it had been years ago since Gil had last set foot into that mansion while Vincent often still visited his dearest family, he was in Duke Nightray's council after all. Also, out of all his siblings, he had liked Elliot the most. He wondered what the teen was doing now…

Raven disappeared and not a minute later, the prince was already waking up, he shot up straight as if someone had thrown a bucket of ice-cold water over him while he reached out towards something that wasn't there, only Gilbert gazing at him with concern, "Ali-" his eyes were wide open in shock, of course when he understood where he was his features changed to realization, his shoulders slumped. Alice wasn't here at all…

"Oh…" his eyes finally found Gilbert's concerned face, "Gil?" seeing a familiar face made him relax a bit, and when Gilbert smiled in relief, he smiled back.

Vincent's eyes widened when seeing the genuine smile,

The Raven was surprised as well; Oz actually smiled and appeared to be truly happy. How badly had he hit the ground?

"Oz… are you... a-alright?"

The prince nodded, getting a hand through his messy hair, "Yes… Yes, I'm fine." He breathed out a chuckle, "Sorry, I just-…" his eyes widened just a bit, "I fainted?"

"Pretty hard actually," Vincent nodded, "Had us worried there for a second, but you seem to be alright albeit a bit…" what was the word for this situation even the blond wondered,

"Nothing, you're fine." Gilbert rolled his eyes, "Does your head hurt?"

Oz shook his head, no, the truth was he couldn't feel better, a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders now that he knew Alice had woken up, the bond between the two had been fixed for a split second and that had been enough to wake Alice up. The reason why she had been unconscious this whole time was because her exhausted body couldn't stand that their bond had been broken because of something, whatever it had been, it had been gone long enough for the two to find each other again. Just what they both had needed, knowing that she was there, that he could find her, reach out to her…

"I'm fine." he repeated those words again, and this time it wasn't a lie.

And that is when his stomach told the whole room it was not alright after being neglected for weeks.

Vincent snorted in amusement when hearing this, "What time is it anyway?" he asked no one in particular, Oz immediately reached into the pocket of his pants only to realize he hadn't used his pocket watch for weeks, had he been so lost that he had not even noticed his most treasured object was missing. "Where's my watch?"

Gilbert's eyes widened, he then stood up to go and get it, it had been lying on the desk this whole time, he had put it there when changing Oz's clothes when he had been sick.

Not once had the prince asked after it, so of course he was surprised by it. Oz was already getting out of bed and met him halfway on his way back, smiling softly when he touched the familiar object, he hadn't even realized how much he had missed it.

"It is already late, how about I'll make dinner?" Gilbert then offered,

"There's no need, I've already made soup." Vincent spoke, "I'll warm it up and then we can eat," he smiled softly while leaving the two behind in the room to talk a bit more, "Make sure to tell our prince the good news." he said over his shoulder, knowing that whatever progress the boy had made would be lost.

Oz furrowed his brow, "What news?"

Gilbert sighed, knowing well enough what his brother did, "Listen Oz," he spoke getting a hand through his wavy hair, "I've been wondering, do you… like staying here?"

He sat down on the small bed and easily guided the teen by his hand to the bed so that he could sit next to him,

"I…?" the prince clearly didn't know how to answer to that, he simply furrowed his brows, confusion written all over his face.

So the taller male spoke, "Because I've been thinking, that it might be better for you to take you somewhere more… luxurious."

The boy clearly disapproved of this opinion as you could read on his face, yet he remained silent, "I have a friend from the higher class, her name is Dalia Garland, perhaps you've heard of her?" probably not, the Garlands really were not a well known family, the best place to hide Oz if you asked him really.

"Her family had been invited but couldn't attend due to personal reasons," Oz spoke, frowning.

"She'll be taking care of you from now on,"

There was a long silence, "…Why?" the Vesalius finally breathed out in confusion,

"Why?" Gilbert smiled sheepishly, "Oz, you're still royalty, and while I do not know what you're planning on doing now that things have turned out like this, honestly, I get that you need all the space and time to give everything a place, but you can't stay here. It's not the place for a prince."

"I really don't mind being here." The blond said, "Actually I-…" he quickly shut up, he had wanted to say this place felt more like a home then the big palace he had lived his whole life in, with the long corridors, the empty rooms, servants that weren't even allowed to look at him… for a long time, home had not been a place for him but the people surrounding him, this was the first time he actually called a place 'home' and he realized it didn't even belong to him. Oz Wondered if Gilbert and Vincent even wanted him here.

"Of course, I'll still be there often… actually, lady Dalia and I think it's better if I stay there a few nights as well for you, that is of course, if you want me there, if you rather have Vincent there… I'd completely understand."

Gil would be there as well?

Oz smiled softly, while he shook his head, "No, you're fine… thank you. Really, for everything." There was so more he wanted to say, but his mind couldn't find the right things to say.

"Someone will visit us later in the evening to take up your measurements, so you can wear clothes your size again." Gilbert then offered kindly,

"I was finally getting used to these clothes though," the boy joked softly,

The young man breathed out a soft laugh when hearing this, "They make you appear even smaller though,"

To this, the boy scowled, "You should know that all people in my family are rather tall!"

"Everyone except for you," the raven easily joked,

"I will grow! We're just late bloomers-" ah… his eyes grew wide when realizing there was no longer a 'we' just him. He breathed in, looking away, he wanted to reach out towards Alice, like they always did when one of them was upset. He had been engaged with her for so long, the bond had been made as soon as they met for the first time, it had become a part of their lives yet now all he could do was reach out into the dark.

He had been so lost without her, hadn't even realized how much he had gotten used to Alice being a part of his life. There was no one else closer to him then her, he had shown her everything there was to show about him, she knew his deepest secrets as did he know hers. And now that he knew she was safe, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Gilbert noticed his change of mood, and without a second thought, pulled the boy in a tight hug. It made him remember all those times years ago, when he held his sibling's trembling frame in his small body. Years had passed since then and Vincent had made it rather obvious that he no longer wanted to be held like that, Vincent had grown, had become much stronger and had proved more than once shown Gil that he could take care of himself.

Oz was different, his whole world had just fallen apart, everything he knew had been taken away from him and he didn't know how to deal with such a thing. So Gilbert tried to rebuild that world as much as possible, he sighed. Letting his chin rest on the boy's head. He felt how the teen took in a deep breath, relaxing in his arms.

This wasn't like him at all

Oz closed his eyes, breathing in the scent that had become so familiar to him in those past weeks. How long before the raven would get tired of taking care of him? He wondered to himself. When that thought entered his mind like a droplet of poison in water, he gently pushed the man away. "We shouldn't let Vincent wait too long," he softly spoke, offering him a weak smile.

It seemed like the young man wanted to say something, but in the end, he shook his head and followed the boy out of the room, into the kitchen where Vincent was waiting for them at the wooden table with a bored expression on his face.

Their food was already warm, all they had to do was sit down and dig in. The very first minutes were spend in silence, at the end, Vince seemed to get tired of it and asked after Dalia, not even bothering to hide the fact that he really did not care at all. Everything he said or asked seemed to have a hidden meaning, the prince noticed while he followed their conversation, he was chewing on a piece of freshly baked bread, not even noticing Gil was pouring some more soup in his bowl.

"Oh joy," Vincent sighed tiredly, "Duke Garland is doing better again, which means Dalia will be visiting us more often then." Sarcasm was dripping off his voice while he rubbed his temples in annoyance,

"Actually, I'll be visiting her more… since Oz will be staying there from now on."

Vincent's eyes met Oz's for a second, the boy actually froze when this happened, the older male's anger was not directed towards him at all, he noticed. He really couldn't stand Dalia Garland it seemed, Oz had only seen her once or twice at parties from the Baskerville kingdom. Not once had he talked to her, he had been talking with his cousin, Jack at both times while keeping an eye out on Alice who had been forced to talk with her. Dalia and her father were the last remaining Garlands, there had been rumors about one of the Nightray's adopted sons marrying her. Which would mean he'd have to give up the name and become a Garland if they wanted to make the family name live on.

His head hurt when he thought too much about it, so he simply dropped the subject altogether and listened to the brother's conversation while finishing his second bowl of soup.

"Have you even bothered to ask if our beloved prince wants to spend time with a complete stranger, or are you thinking about yourself –"

"Vince!" Gilbert's tone left no room for any argument, he narrowed his eyes. For a second it looked like the blond brother wanted to argue more but he then yawned and gazed outside of the kitchen window while letting his chin rest in the palm of his left hand. The raven then glanced at the boy's empty bowl and how he was still chewing on a new piece of bread, without slowing down a bit he grabbed the empty bowl and poured some more soup in it, wondering if the prince even noticed it as he was gazing with a slightly curious look at Vincent. As if his brother was a puzzle that needed to be solved.

Of course the moment the tall male put the bowl down in front of him, he blinked a few times and actually noticed what was happening. For a second, he got scared that the boy would refuse to eat it, but was more then surprised when the prince offered him a small smile and muttered a thanks under his breath before he started eating again.

"Honestly, why haven't you married her yet, though. It would have solved a lot of problems."

"You know why, Vince." Gilbert sighed, this wasn't the first time they had this conversation, but it was the first time they actually fought in front of someone else. The two brothers didn't even pay much attention to the new family member, it was as if Oz had just as much right to hear what they fought about as Vince and Gil.

The blond sibling smirked, fake-amusement written all over his face as he spoke, "Don't give me that 'she deserves someone better' nonsense again, we all know that the only person good enough here, in Dalia's opinion, is you. Stop wasting time, and-"

Oz !

As if bitten by a wasp, the boy stood up from his chair, almost pushing his half empty bowl down the table as he did so. His eyes looked around the room, from where he thought the sound had come from, but all he saw was the door that lead towards the garden… there was no way of course… "I'm sorry," He blurted out and almost ran towards the door, hoping that he wasn't making this up and that the Alice would actually be standing there…

It felt like someone had punched him in his gut when he opened the door and there was no one waiting there for him, only the cold evening wind ruffling his hair, as if it tried to comfort him.

"Oz?"

His ears were ringing.

"What's wrong?"

He was going to throw up-

"Oz!" again. Alice's voice was ringing through his head, her voice was soft, more like a whisper but he could still hear her, "Get away from R...a...ve...n-!"

Gilbert's hand on his shoulder broke the connection completely, and he found himself leaning into the touch while breathing out through his nose, the puzzle he had been so desperately trying to make in as little time as possible fell on the floor and he knew he could start all over again, yet he couldn't find it in himself to get upset about it.

"I… thought I heard something," he finally spoke.

"Should we be worried?" Vincent asked, he didn't seem to care much at all.

The prince shook his head, "No… it was just my imagination."

Someone knocked on the door.

"Or not…" the raven mumbled, "Wait here."

Vincent of course, got up as fast as possible while not making any sound. He only took two steps and he was already standing beside Oz, placing his hand on his shoulder in a protective way while his older brother slowly walked towards the door. The Vesalius noticed the gun he slowly got out of the back from his pants, he held his breath while Vincent gently pulled him farther away from the hallway.

Gilbert opened the door-

And Vincent burst out in laughter.

"Dear god, do you see me for a burglar, Gilbert-kun!" a middle-aged woman gasped in shock as she entered the tiny house without waiting for permission, a scowl appeared on her face when she saw Vincent holding his stomach in amusement. Clearly not happy to see him here, interesting.

"Ah, and this must be the boy miss Garland spoke about!" she almost ran towards the teenager whom had been frozen to the same spot, she cupped both his cheeks in her hands and gave them a painful squeeze, "I see puberty hasn't hit on you fully yet, now has it, dear?" she smiled at him, her lips were blood red and the prince almost feared that if she would kiss his cheek he wouldn't be able to wash it off for a whole day. Like that one time Aida had found his mother's old make-up bag and had drawn a heart on his cheek while he had dozed off in the library. "Just like your cousins then, huh." She laughed.

"M-my what?" both Vincent and Gilbert grimaced when hearing the crack in the prince's voice, looking elsewhere.

"Vincent and Gilbert, of course!" the woman grabbed him by his wrist and all but dragged him towards the window so that she could see him in a better light, she pushed up her round glasses while placing her hands on his shoulders, then both his upper arms, "They were late bloomers as well," she easily lifted both his arms up and told him to let them stay there while touching his waist, ignoring his surprised squeak,

"Oh dear," Vincent said in a mocking tone, "Please do keep touching him, maybe I can finally report you for child molestation."

"You're still upset about that sailor uniform, isn't it, Vincent? Honestly, I thought you looked adorable in it." She gave him an evil smile, the woman ignored his annoyed 'tsk' while she continued her conversation with Oz as if nothing had happened. "Miss Garland told me everything. How you wandered around the whole country to find your two older cousins who've been missing for years now. Like a little hero!" she opened her brown leathered bag, "A cup of earl grey tea please, mister 'too mysterious to greet an old friend' please."

"You know where everything is," Vincent faked a yawn,

"Vince." Gil sighed,

Oz gazed with big eyes at how fast the younger sibling responded to his brother's call, "Of course you didn't have much of a choice, since your mother was just as terrible as your aunt."

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch your name," the prince interrupted her while he let her take his measurements,

"Oh goodness! That's because I haven't introduced myself yet. It's Fallon, dear."

"Auntie Fay, it is then!" the boy cheerfully smiled at her, easily noticing the scowl on her face when he called her 'auntie'. Both Gil and Vince stopped for a second with what they were doing, amazed at how fast the blond had found out her one weakness.

Her age being pointed out.

When his green eyes met Vincent's, he saw the smile of approval appear on his face before the blond turned his head again and pretended he didn't know any better. "It was quite an adventure, I will admit." He then spoke. "I'm glad I just ran into them when I wanted to give up,"

Fallon nodded, a sad smile appeared on her face. "You really are the sweetest, that is why I will make you only the best of clothes!"

"Oh please, no sailor costumes." Vincent murmured in the background.

"Those I only make for you, dear~"

"Glad I found a better tailor."

"Now listen here, you brat-" she said while glaring at the young man from under Oz's left arm, "You were so much cuter when miss Garland and I found you running away from your brother because you broke his favorite toy and thought he'd kill you," The blush on Vincent's face and the nostalgic smile on Gilbert made it more than obvious that this was an hilarious story to tell, "You should have seen it, boy." She made eye contact with Oz, having finished taking body measurements, "Tears were rolling over his cute round cheeks," with her hands she showed how the tears had fallen, happy to see the amused expression on the youngest person in the room's face. "and he tried to hide from us, but I thought he had done something terrible; So of course I stopped him, and he all but had a panic attack when Gilbert-kun finally found him.. oh it was so adorable. He and the Nightray's son… what was his name again…" she frowned, "Ell-…Elliot!" she nodded to herself, "Had been sword fighting inside the manor and he accidently beheaded the teddy bear Dalia had bought for him… and well; Gil was very attached to it, since it was his first teddy bear Ever." She sighed, "Which is very sad, knowing that he was fourteen when he got it, but anyhow. Our little Vincent over here felt so guilty, that he couldn't even look him straight into the eyes for a whole day."

"And was he very angry at him?"

That's when Fallon almost lost it, "He didn't!" she said while holding her stomach, "He had been more worried about Vincent then the teddy bear," she laughed. "Honestly, those two."

Oz gave the two brothers a curious look, both had different opinions about the memory, it seemed. The prince found himself smiling at the thought. Not even realizing it, those people had become part of his home as well.

"Raven?"

The first thing Break asked when the connection broke once again between Oz and Alice, with the help of his chain, Mad Hatter, they had succeeded at giving her some time to reach out towards the boy. They didn't have much time to talk, but an interesting name had left the brunette's mouth. One that got everyone sitting on the edge of their seats.

Alice nodded, "I-I could feel-… it was him! I'm sure of it!"

"B-but, Raven hasn't had a contractor for a long time." Abyss shot up from her chair, "Are you sure it was him?"

Alice was about to answer, but both Elliot and Break were faster. "You're wrong," the Nightray sighed,

The albino clearly wasn't happy to be interrupted but let the youngest Nightray son talk,

"Elliot… don't tell me you…" Abyss gave him a confused look, to which the young teen turned his head, ashamed of what he was about to tell.

"For some reason, raven refused to make a contract with any of the Nightrays. That is… until they adopted two boys." Break hummed, amused.

"My adopted brother, Gilbert, made a contract with raven. Under command of Pandora." Elliot admitted, he shrugged off Leo's comforting hand on his shoulder, clearly not in the mood. "The reason why you don't know is because my father refused to accept the truth. Raven was supposed to be our gate keeper, but instead of a Nightray it choose someone…"

Alice didn't let him finish, "I don't care! Where is this Raven now?"

"I-… I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"Gilbert-kun has left the Nightray household as soon as things got out of hand, they weren't very happy with the fact that he could make a contract with a chain while the others had tried for years. Not to mention, his brother Vincent…"

Abyss furrowed her brows when hearing this name, not knowing why, the name made bells go off in her head. "... well let's just say he isn't a very lovable person."

Alice didn't even seem to notice the opportunity to tease the clown with this new piece of information, clearly this Vincent person was someone the hatter hated with such a great passion.

"Where are they?" she repeated her question, determination written all over his face.

"I sadly do not know," Break admitted, surprising everyone in the room. It wasn't often someone could slip past Break's watchful gaze, this Gilbert-person must be very talented. "Gilbert-kun and I have worked on several occasions together, so he knows how I work. Knows how to hide from even me,"

"So then, we only have once choice." Lottie finally spoke, after having stayed in the background this whole time. "Alice-sama was able to contact him because Raven had left his side long enough, all we need to do is wait for Raven to leave his side once again."

"That could be forever!" Abyss protested,

"Even so, it is the only chance we've got. Unless Oz finds a way himself,"

They gazed at Alice, only to be disappointed when she shook her head. "Oz trusts him, I don't know what sort of person this Raven is, but Oz didn't even hesitate when he touched his shoulder. He easily broke the connection without noticing... so…" she almost broke down right then and there.

It wasn't Abyss who was there to catch her sister when she was on the edge of crying. Leo's eyes widened when he saw his master rush to her and pull her in a hug, hiding the furious blush on his face as he did so. Both Lottie and Abyss were surprised when the proud princess did not push him away but instead welcomed the comforting though, crying softly in his arms like the miserable person she felt she was. "It's not fair!" she sobbed in his arms, "He's mine!"

"I know… it's not fair."

"But can you blame him, really?" Lottie then asked softly, lowering her gaze when all eyes fell on her. "He lost his family, the whole country thinks he's a traitor, can you blame him for seeking comfort from a stranger who probably helped him when there was no one there?"

"I should have been there!" Alice all but screamed at the young woman, "Oz is my fiancé, I should have been there to catch him!"

"Alice, you were poisoned…"

"So was Oz!" she let go of Elliot, "He got out of that messy situation all on himself! The Will knows what he has gone through before he got saved by this Raven person- all because I was too useless!"

"Alice!" this whole situation was messed up, no one was acting like they used to. "Who... who did this to us..?" she finally asked the question that has been burning on almost everyone's lips.

Who was the one that took all of this away from them?

Break met Lottie's gaze, the young woman's eyes widened when she realized that he knew who did it. "Xerxes… who?"

One simple glance towards the white haired twin and they knew enough, whomever it was, he did not want Abyss to find out yet. Which meant it was someone close to her.

Leo noticed their silent conversation, he glanced at his master, Elliot gritted his teeth. "That bastard!" he hissed so that only the raven haired teen could hear him.

"I thought he had died as well…" Leo whispered in his ear,

"Apparently not."

"Don't worry, boys." Break hummed amused, "After we give Oz-kun his rightful throne back, I'll make sure he'll wish he was."

"That… didn't go as well as planned." Reim said while gasping for air, next to him stood Sharon who seemed to be in a slightly worse condition then him, her ponytail had gotten loose and her dress ripped to shreds. The Lunette acted quickly, removing his jacket and throwing it over her shoulder so that she could hide some of her body. The guards their low-classed chains had burned holes into their clothes. Sharon's chain had been stronger, so it wasn't that odd that she had fought more, even if Eques was meant for gathering information. Reim felt useless for not being able to protect her like he had promised Xerxes, but right now, there wasn't any time to dwell too much on that

"We need to warn Xerxes," he said.

Sharon nodded, "We won't get out of this place, not with all the guards here. I can't use Eques anymore." She almost collapsed on the floor, too tired.

"Sharon-sama…" he tried to catch her but she refused to accept his help, always the proud woman. "I need a moment…" she said between two breaths.

"What if… I-"

"Don't even think about it." She glared at him, "We will both get out of this place. I will not accept you being a decoy."

Reim nodded, "Then let me carry you,"

"D-don't be ridiculous!" the girl sputtered,

"Sharon-sama, you're clearly too exhausted. Besides, Xerxes would never forgive me if he saw you like this."

The girl smiled when hearing this, "No… he wouldn't." she hugged the warm fabric closer to her body, shivering slightly. "There's a hidden passage just around the corner, Oz-sama used it a lot."

Reim nodded, grateful that the prince had taken his time to figure out all of the secrets of this castle, he gently picked up the duchess. He hated to admit that even though Sharon wasn't heavy at all, he had trouble carrying her. Not used to this sort of exercise.

They didn't get far of course,

Sharon almost let out an annoyed sound when two guards stopped them, behind them stood the traitorous Vesalius who was the reason of all this misery. "Perhaps now is the time to act as a decoy, lady Sharon." Reim whispered in her ear.

Sharon sighed, but nodded anyway.

"One…" he whispered in her ear,

"Two…" the girl followed,

"Three." Both whispered at the same time before he young man fell on the ground while Sharon gracefully jumped out of his arms, "Reim!" she screamed his name.

No response.

They both waited a little bit longer, Sharon knew the knights had let their guard down once they saw the man loose conscious.

"You did this!" she shouted at the blond Vesalius, seeing the shock on his face as she backed away from her friend whom had just collapsed on the floor, his face was an unhealthy pale color. Tears rolled over her cheeks as she shook her head. "Reim… Reim…" she sobbed, one of the guards rushed towards the man, to feel his pulse.

Eyes widened in horror, "Sire… he is…"

"No!" the girl screamed.

"Oh bother…" the new king sighed, "Get the girl-" eyes widened in shock when he saw Sharon had vanished from her spot, the only evidence she left were the heels she had worn.

"Sire, what do we have to do with the corpse?"

"Leave it for now, find the girl!"

"Sire…"

"What!?"

"The corpse has just vanished."