Good news, we're over halfway through the story. I'm stuck in a temporary writers block, but I'm almost done writing the stroy. Okay, so this chapter gives us some information regarding the mysterious Anastasia, and a twist is ahead, so sit back and enjoy.

Have you noticed todays date? 9-10-11. lol.

I do not own Pandora Hearts in any way.

Chapter 16: Confrontation

"Come on! It's the weekend!" I exclaimed as me and Leo walked into the room we had been taken to when we had first been taken to Pandora. "I mean, I had to endure my sister's constant yelling 'cause she found out we work here now, but you interrupt me and Leo when we're just relaxing and drag us back here!"

Sure, that was true. Earlier, I'd been thinking over this weird dream I had last night, even though I'm still realing about the truth that me and Sasha are decendents of Elliot Nightray, when Maverick came and interrupted our lunch. In short, I had to tell Sasha we worked for Pandora, and she totally flipped. Luckily, Maverick helped us escape her wrath, but I was still pissed off at him for causing such an uproar.

"I'm sure it's important if he came by so early." Leo said to me.

Oh yeah, speaking of dreams...last night was really strange, because of the dream I had. All morning I had been trying to figure out the questions I wondered about it, which had kept me quiet for most of the time. I also took note that Leo seemed to be more, um, quieter than usual. Not that it wasn't normal, but it was bugging me for some reason. He looked a little tiered this morning, and when I asked him if he was still half asleep, he just told me that he didn't get much sleep.

'I know it's a stupid question to ask myself, but, is it possible he had the same dream as me?' I wondered.

"So, exactly why did you call us here?" I asked Maverick as we sat down at a table.

"The two who you said attacked you during your first mission," He explained. "I looked into the people you described."

"And?"

"It would seem that these two are Baskervilles."

"What?"

"Heather and Daniel Baskerville, brother and sister." Maverick said, leaning back in his chair. "However, the question remains, what exactly were they hopping to gain from taking that book from you?"

"Maybe it's because they want to know the location of the five black winged bird-like Chains." I inquired, even though I knew that was the truth.

He smiled at me. "Now, how did you come to such a conclusion?"

"I don't know why or what their goal is, but that's what they said to me on Friday night," I paused and closed my eyes. "When they kidnapped Leo at the dance."

"Kidnapped?"

"Yes." Leo spoke up. "I was taken by those people and she came after me. She rescued me from them too, with the help of her Chain."

"You have a Chain, Carrie-kun?"

I nodded. "Yes, and it's one of the Chains they search for; Raven."

His smile grew wider and this time he leaned forward, interested in the news that I had Raven. "Well, well. This is a sudden surprise. I guess we have another objective then." He then looked over at Leo. "And what about him? From what I understand, and what the records say, he holds Jabberwock, correct?"

"Not anymore. The contract must of broke when he died and was cast into the Abyss."

"How troublesome. What could they want with those five Chains?"

"I have no idea, but, speaking of our first mission." I looked him straight in the eye. "I have something to ask of you."

"Yes?"

"Before we left the library in Reveil, I found a journal in the storage for the records. The name said 'Anastasia'. Now, last night, I had a strange dream."

He looked even more interested, and Leo suddenly seemed interested too. "Explain, please, Carrie-kun."

"It was winter and the snow was falling down. In the blink of an eye, a girl ran past me and up the steps of a mansion." I explained, recalling the things that had happened in the dream. "I followed her inside and a maid called her Anastasia, which could only mean that girl is the owner of the same journal. I continued to follow her and found a boy she called Aaron. Based on the interaction between these two, and what I've read in the journal, I'm pretty sure that the boy she talked about in the journal is Aaron. For some reason, that girl reminded me of myself, and lately I've been seeing things in dreams that seem familiar. Do you know anything about this Anastasia girl?"

Maverick was silent for a moment, but then he answered me. "I see. I think I could help you understand that." He stood up and smiled at me. "Come with me."

"Good. Leo, would you-" I looked back at him, only to find him holding one hand to his head and leaning against one side of the chair he was sitting in.

"You okay?" I asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, just a headache." He answered quietly.

"You stay here then, I'll go." I turned back to Maverick, ready to learn this truth. "Lets go."

"Ah, Carrie." He suddenly interrupted. "Before we talk about Anastasia though, I have something in my office to share with you first."

As she walked away, my thoughts began to drift back to the dream from last night. The mystery surrounding the two teens from that vision had been on my mind all day. Whatever Maverick was going to share with her about that girl might just answer some of those questions I had.

Although, when I really thought about it, it was starting to make sense. The whispers of memoeries I'd seen and heard, the familar look of that girl, it was starting to click.

Maybe, knowing this is a far speculation, me and Carrie are tied to those two somehow, and, if they know Alice, Jack, and Glen, maybe we're tied to the Tragety of Sablier.

I'll wait for her to get back, knowing she could possibly shed some light on this, but, I don't think that was going to answer the biggest question I had; why Anastasia looked so much like Carrie.

Well, whatever the case, I would really like to hear what she says after she comes back.

Speaking of Carrie, lately, I've been getting a strange feeling whenever I'm around her. Every time she smiled happily, it made my heart feel lighter for some reason. Back when I had cried in her arms, she had cried slightly too, and when I caught a glance at her face, I felt a sudden twinge in my chest, like it hurt to see her cry.

She had been with me from the very first day we met, and, even though we were friends, I couldn't shake the fact that some part of me wanted us to be something more. She wasn't Elliot, that was for sure, but she seemed to stabilize me in some way.

Every graceful step she took, every smile, everything about her, down to her soft beige hair and her ice blue eyes, it was like a dancing light.

It's quite odd. So, I wonder, could I, maybe, possibly...be falling in love with her?

"Okay, let's set this aside for now." I said, folding a piece of paper and putting it in my pocket. "You say you know something about Anastasia?"

"Of course. I do have a file on this girl, and, ironically, whether you want to hear this or not, it involves you."

I tilted my head to the side as he went to a cabinet and opened it. "Eh? What does it have to do with me?"

"You said this girl reminded you of yourself." He said. "Well, here's a sketch of her, according to descriptions of this girl."

He handed me the sketch and I just about dropped it when my eyes saw the girl's face. Her hair was longer than mine, but her face looked almost like mine. She wore a dress just like the one I saw in my dream, and her figure was slim, like mine. In all, this was what Anastasia looked like in the dream, and now that I look at her picture, there were hints of me in her.

"She...she looks like-"

"Like you?" Maverick finished for me.

"Yeah."

He chuckled as he opened the file. "There is a legend. It says that after a soul dies, it wanders for 100 years before being reborn. You've heard this, no?"

"Sure. Those things were said about Jack Vessalius and Glen Baskerville 100 years after the Tragedy of Sablier."

"Well, after you and Leo joined Pandora, I noticed that you seemed similar to young Anastasia. I did some research and came to a conclusion."

"Which would be what?"

He came closer to me, making me nervous. "You are the reincarnation of Anastasia Mouchette."

I was beginning to wonder how long they would be talking. It had only been a few minutes, but I was getting a bit impatient, and I wasn't feeling too good right now. I hadn't gone with Carrie because I had suddenly gotten a headache, and now it was getting worse. For the past few days, I had been getting headaches like this frequently, but I never told her, simply because they weren't as bad as right now.

A groan escaped my lips as set my glasses on the table and leaned forward to let my head rest on its cool wooden surface, not like that would help any. I drew in a breath, trying to relax while I waited for Carrie.

"The incuse."

I slowly lifted my head up to see who had said that, but there was no one here. That's odd. If there was on one here, then who could of possibly...

"Still remaining."

I froze, realizing it. 'No. No, it can't be! Why, after it finally stopped? This can't be!'

"Shut up!" I hissed. "I don't need you intruding into my life anymore, so just be quiet."

"It was never your choice."

"I told you to shut up!"

"You think you outran it, you think it vanished from here, but it's till there, invisible to yourself." I grabbed my head, my hands tightly grasping my hair. The earlier pain had now turned into an intense dagger-like pain that pulsed throughout my skull, and is it just me or is it getting warmer in here? Everything had started spinning, and adding along to the current pain I felt, It was too much.

"I can't take it!" I bolted up from my seat and rushed out of the room, not being able to stay in there any longer. I ran out into the hall and collapsed onto my knees, breathing heavily as beads of sweet started to roll down my forehead, my eyes looking at the floor.

"Ah, foolish boy." The voice spoke up again. "I may not be here this time around, but a fragment remains, and that seal remains too."

I tugged on the collar of my buttoned shirt desperately for some reason, but then I felt something else.

"Ahh!" I cried out as I fell to the floor. My chest felt like it was burning.

"See. You still can't outrun it." It said mockingly, although, it had a familiar dark tone in it.

'S-someone help...p-please!' I thought desperately as I lay on the floor struggling against the searing pain, continuously pulling on my shirt, clutching the fabric.

Then, I thought I saw a black feather on the floor a few feet away. "No one can hear you, so sleep."

Everything became too much; the explosions of pain in my head, the burning sensation in my chest, the beat of my heart growing faster, this voice...all of it. Everything around me began to blur and I felt like someone else was here, pushing me into that dark void and taking my place. I couldn't think, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't do anything.

Her name echoed around as I lost control and let the pain consume me.

'Carrie...'

"Anastasia Mouchette." Maverick started to explain. "She was born in 1705 to the Mouchette family, a third rate noble house. Although, she spent most of her time around the Vessalius house. It is said that she was friends with Jack Vessalius and Alice, but her closest was that of a certain Aaron Chapman, a boy also of a third rate noble house."

"Yeah. In the dream, and in the journal, these were both clear. She addressed him as a very sickly, shy, and stubborn person." I added.

"Correct. However, it is said that she, along with that boy and many others as well, died in 1711, on the day of the Tragedy of Sablier."

"I still don't see why you would think that I'm her reincarnation."

"Like I said, legend says that a soul will wander for 100 years until it is reborn, and you say you see familiar things in dreams. Well, I guess it's gone through the cycle twice if you truly are her reincarnation."

"Can souls do that?" I questioned.

"Of course. Glen Baskerville's soul did, always repeating the cycle."

I was quiet for a few minutes, trying to think this through, but then I turned my eyes up at him. "That's what Raven said to me, saying that I was tied to that day. But, I've been thinking about something else too. Raven also told me that Leo is tied to it in some way too."

"What are your thoughts then?"

"I sensed Raven's words to hold true. So, I've been thinking. Anastasia's friend, Aaron, I can't quite understand it, but somehow, there's a certain shine in his eyes that reminds me of-"

I was cut off by a loud bang, well, more like an explosion. Me and Maverick cast a glance at each other before we dashed back to the room we were previously in. There was a light smoke in the area and it took a few moments for it to dissipate before we saw what awaited us here.

The entryway was destroyed, and the hall outside the room had a gaping hole in it. And among other things, Leo was gone.

"What happened here?" Maverick wondered.

"I don't know." I said as I looked around. Then, on the table were we had all been sitting at, I saw a pair of glasses, Leo's glasses. "Maverick, look here."

He came over to me as I picked up the glasses. "Aren't those the glasses that Leo-kun wears?"

"Yeah." I answered putting them in my pocket. "But why are they here?"

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Carrie-kun, since he's missing at the moment, why don't you go find him?"

I tightened my hands into fists and decided to follow his suggestion. "You're right."

"Good. I'll try and figure out what happened, so go find him."

"Got it." I said as I gave him one final look and dashed off, going through the hole that had been created and outside to search for him.

"Leo!" I called out as wondered around. At this point, I wasn't even at Pandora any more, I'd ended up in the park instead.

'How eerie.' I thought. 'There's no one here.'

True, without anyone here, it was getting spooky. I cupped my hands around my mouth and called out his name again. "Leo!"

A sudden gust of cold air made me finch as I continued on towards the pond. It was a clear day out, but it was a bit chilly, which was odd because it was supposed to be warm today. Then again, this season did waver when you're talking about weather conditions.

Just then, a feather floated past my field of vision. I turned my eyes to watch it as it floated down, and as it hit the ground, the sun shined on it just at the right angle to make a glare off it. Now I could see that it was a black feather.

'Huh?' I picked up the feather and stared at it. 'I didn't accidentally release Raven again, did I?'

That couldn't be it, because I couldn't feel its power. But then, where did this black feather come from?

"Carrie."

Another gust of cold air came by as I stopped walking and I slowly turned to face that voice.

"Leo." I said, smiling. "I'm so glad I found you."

As much as I was glad to have found him, there seemed to be something different. The atmosphere around him seemed dark and tense. Here, I could faintly sense the power of a Chain, and it was different from Raven's. To put it simply, it was a more intense power, and laced with crazed furry.

"What are you doing here?" He asked in a tone that was almost monotone.

"I should be asking you the same, but, something happened at Pandora while I was talking to Maverick about Anastasia, and when I came back, I found that you were gone." I explained. "Now that I've found you though, we have to go back. Let's go."

"No. I won't join you." He answered plainly.

My eyes widened in shock. "W-what?"

"I'm not going back with you."

"Leo, what are you talking about?" I asked anxiously, wanting to know what exactly what he meant.

"I believe I just said that, didn't I?"

I shook my head, letting out a small chuckle and starting to walk towards him. "Ah, Leo. Did you hit your head or something? But, come on. We have to-"

Just then, I heard a soft swishing sound, like something was cutting the air itself, and then there was a light sting across my cheek. Slowly, I brought my hand up to where I had felt that, only to feel something wet on my fingertips. I looked at my hand and saw blood there; something had cut me.

"Things have changed." He said, gazing on at me.

"Le-" I was cut off again when I saw something come towards me out of the corner of my eye. In the next moment, I let out a cry of pain as it made contact with my arm. I slapped my hand to the wound, realizing that whatever it was had only grazed my arm.

I looked up to Leo, only to see a few feathers in the air, and a chain returning back to him. The wind had picked up around us to a wild pace, and through it, I could see his bangs being blown back, revealing his eyes, but something had changed.

His eyes were no longer that beautiful violet, but a dark sliver-ish black.

"I think it's about time that you face it." He spoke, the ground faintly glowing beneath him. "I am not the person you once knew. That person is locked away, and for this one moment, I am no longer 'Leo'."

'What? How could he possibly not be-' Then it clicked in my mind. 'Oh no. No way! That's impossible! How can it still be there?'

What I had just realized, It did inded seem imposible. However, thinking back to what that Baskerville girl had said, how he reacted when she pulled back his bangs and he struggled against her, sounding afraid. When he had spoken to me, his voice held a darker tone, almost like that evil person from long ago. It was all very clear, and it was something I was deeply afraid of, but I thought was no more.

'Glen Baskerville...he's still there!'

"Moreover, you are a very volatile existence, and I have to erase you for that."

'Erase?'

The ground that had been glowing faintly beneath his feet now lit up completely. More black feathers erupted into the sky and more chains started to emerge. I had to cover my eyes for a moment, but when I could see again, I could see eyes much like that of my own Chain, however, this one was different.

A creature appeared behind him that was rather large, pitch black except for its piercing red eyes, and looked like a cross between a bug and a bird. Its wings were black as well, and as it looked down at me, I knew what this was.

This was a Chain, one of the five legendary black winged bird-like Chains, and said to be the most powerful. Somehow, I don't know how, it was still in Leo's possession, even if he didn't know or the incuse wasn't visible. What I was facing wasn't entirely Leo, and the creature was his Chain that he was still contracted to, even now.

Jabberwock.

Yeah, I know, but I felt like wanting to do that (insert evil grin). Next time, confrontation between Carrie and Leo! As always, feel free to reveiw. Much appreceated.