This chapter is all told from Carrie's point of veiw. I watched a movie last night called Jabberwock, and it so reminded me of Pandora Hearts. (you know what I'm talking about.) It didn't look anything like the one in the manga though, so I went back to my room about halfway through, that and most movies have bored me this week. (except from when I watched Battle: Los Angeles two days ago! Epic!)

I do not own Pandora Hearts in any way

Chapter 17: Fire and Ice

"Jabberwock." I hissed.

Jabberwock; a wretched Chain that I despised so much. Even though it was faithful to its contractor, it was aggressive and reckless, not to mention those crazed eyes. None the less, Jabberwock was extremely powerful, and it would unleash its power upon command. Even with its threatening stare, I knew that I still needed to help Leo. However, if I was to have any chance at this, I needed to fight back with my own dark Chain.

"Raven." I softly called. The wind howled around me, the chains emerging, dark feathers swirling. It responded to my command and the ground lit up beneath me as it emerged. I heard its shrieking cry ripple through the sky as its power started to flow through me. This time, I was in control.

"Seems you've called out your Chain." Leo said.

"You think I have a choice?" Seriously, I didn't have any other options.

"No, that is what your instinct tells you. Even though your intentions are clear, Raven can't match the power of this Chain."

"Just, please...stop!" My voice sounded broken. The chains fueled by my emotions and laced with Raven's power lashed out at him, but they never touched him, nor Jabberwock. It was as if they were being blocked.

"You stand and fight, that is commendable, but it's hopeless."

"No, that's...Leo, snap out of this. I know you can!"

"You're just a pathetic little girl. You nor Raven can change what was already decided."

"Leo..." I cried. "Stop it!"

He didn't reply, only raised his arm and a silver iron chain shot out towards me, a wild and fast moving one.

"Leo!" The chain was coming at me, it's sharp point ready to pierce my flesh. And yet, Leo just stood there, watching me with those dark eyes.

'No, Leo! Why is this happening? Why can't I reach you?'

There was no stopping the chain coming straight for me.

"But you could. You know that."

The senery changed in a blink of an eye, and I wasn't in the park anymore. I was in a world surrounded by black with small orbs of light here and there and I was standing in a pool of water. There were also iron chains here. They slithered around, but for some reason didn't bind me inside them, they just kept hovering around me, like they were walls.

"To think, we'd never get to really talk this way, and in such a dreary situation."

In front of me, I was barley able to see feathers, but I saw those eyes, the piercing yet menacing ones that I knew now as those of my Chain.

My mouth formed that name of the ominous Chain. 'Raven.'

"Heh...Carrie." Raven said, its dark and distant voice echoed all around me. "That fragment inside that boy is of Glen Baskerville, right?

There was a mocking tone in its voice, but I could tell, it knew about the current situation.

'Y-yes. I believe so.' I was surprised at my own voice, how scared I sounded. 'I don't know why or how. He was the container 200 years ago, so why? Why was there a fragment left in him?'

"There are many mysteries in this world. Yours and Leo's are examples." Raven replied. "Things from 200, even 300 years ago, it's a mystery. The fragment imbedded inside him, that too is a mystery. But he is still there you know? Just open your eager eyes, and look inside. You'll find him."

'You don't get it. Leo...he won't listen to my words, like I'm nothing anymore.' My eyes forced themselves shut tightly as I looked down at the water. 'His eyes, the ones he hides...they're not violet anymore, there a treacherous black, like gazing into the depths of the Abyss...'

"I can see that, my dear, but he hasn't forgotten you." I was taken by surprise and looked up at Raven.

'Eh?'

"A swirling mix of emotions is within him, and yet if anyone could do anything, it would be someone close to him, someone like you."

'Me? But what can I do?' I shouted. 'There's no way I could ever snap him out of this, and I don't understand why? He's submerged in darkness, and that fragment locked him away, his current state won't recognize me nor care about who I am, even if you are my Chain and I am his friend!.'

"Yes. But only you...only you can reach his heart." Raven said. Suddenly, something that felt like hands covered my eyes. "Because you are the descendent...the descendent of Elliot Nightray. And from 300 years ago, you have that power."

'I...understand.' I replied as fingers parted over my eyes.

Everything snapped back into reality, I was back in the park, and time was speeding back up. There were dark swirling clouds everywhere, a dark aura radiating from Leo, a vicious black bird above him, and there was a chain coming right at me.

In one quick movement, I raised my arm in front of me, and another chain came up to block the one attacking, following the motion of my arm. The chain receded and I lowed my arm, bringing my gaze up to met Leo's. Those eyes were filled with darkness, not the deep violet that I knew.

"Leo," I started. "Why? This isn't like you. Why are you letting yourself become overruled with the same dark emotions that I used to have?"

"Little girl, you don't know anything." His voice was flat and monotone.

"Yes, I do!" I yelled. "Look, I don't understand the basics behind this or why exactly you were chosen 200 years ago, why there's still a fragment within you, or how we are both tied to the

Tragedy of Sablier!"

"Because you can't comprehend these things from the past."

'No, that's not it. It's a diversion from what I see.' As if without any command, my feet started moving on their own. They moved onward towards him, because I knew what to do. Like Raven said, I have that power, even if I don't understand what is it or why I have it.

"That might be true, but I do know this." Those haywire chains just keep coming, but I block them, just moving my had slightly in each direction. Now, I'm no more than 10 feet in front of him, the wild air blowing around us. "I know these emotions that tear away at your heart, I've felt them too."

"But yours were those of when you found out Jack was dead and this body would be the next container."

'W-what?' Did this fragment know things from Sabiler that tied to me and Leo?

"T-that's not the point!" My emotions were boiling over, my desperation stretched to a limit. "Leo, where did you go?"

"It wasn't your choice to make. These feelings you show now, they don't affect me."

That was a lie, an absolute lie! "Liar. You've had these emotions. 'Cause, I was that way at one time, but, I overcame it. Before I met you, it wasn't as strong, but I would lay in my bed, wide awake listening to rain, and I wanted to be something worth remembering, not a lonely face."

I stepped closer, he didn't flinch from me, but was staring at me with those black eyes. "It all changed when I met you."

"Go on, Carrie." Raven's voice echoed in my head.

"Leo, look at me." The wind was wilder now, our hair blowing wildly in the wicked air. "This isn't right. I don't want this, and you know Elliot would of agreed with me!"

His eyes grew wide, and I saw hints of faint violet among the darkness. I knew he didn't really talk much about Elliot, simply because he didn't want to, but this was the only way to reach his heart. I was pouring all my thoughts, my feelings into this effort.

"He wouldn't want his precious servant to be this way, he would of fought for you. It wasn't your fault back then. So now, I...I will fight in his stead!"

I cupped his head in my hands and pulled him into a kiss. It was just a sudden impulse that made me do this, and honestly, I didn't expect my first kiss to be like this. We were friends, but somewhere inside me, I longed for us to be more. As I found myself lost in the moment, somewhere within it, everything circled back around, giving me it's clearance.

Whether I was a friend of Jack 300 years ago, a descendent of Elliot, or the inheritor of Raven, beyond that I was just a young girl. A small wandering young girl. Here and now, it doesn't matter. The things about Leo, they don't matter ether. I want him back, I want him to be here with me, I want...to be us.

'Please, Leo. I know you can hear me. Open your heart, free yourself, break free.' I was trying with all my will, praying to the heavens for light in this darkness. 'Leo, I'm begging you...come back to me!'

I felt the wind calm down, and a warm feeling ran through me. I slowly disconnected my lips from Leo's and pushed back his bangs, which had covered his eyes again, and looked into those violet pools. The black inkiness was receding, that calm violet being let in. The black bird above us faded away, and everything had returned to its quiet state.

As I gazed into his eyes, it's was as if he realized everything. I put my hands on his shoulders, but I felt tears in my eyes.

"Ell-" He blinked before realizing it was me. "C-Carrie..."

His eyes closed and he fell into my arms, sinking to my knees as I caught him in my grip. I put my arms around him and held him close to me.

I knew there was still feelings of guilt in his heart, and it was hurting him. Even though, he was calm, observant, and affected by very few things, I've seen him when he broke down and cried. He wanted to protect me, I knew that, and it wasn't because I discovered to really Elliot's descendent, or because I looked like him and inherited his personality, but it was because...

"Carrie, thank you. You've opened my eyes to so many things. You are the kindest person and I think of you as...a close friend."

Those words, they were imbedded in my mind, and ever since, I've wanted to give him some sort of light to help his world shine brighter. I wanted to find some way, to let his feelings about his master's death be forgiven, I wanted him to let go of his guilt, and I...

I wanted Leo to be comforted by that light which had left him an apology.

(Flashback)

"Carrie-kun, we do know one thing."

She turned to Maverick, her interest perked by this. "What do you mean?"

"Well, unbeknownst to everyone but a few members in Pandora, including you and me, we've discovered rumors of a scripture linked to revival." He explained.

"A scripture?"

"Yes." He took a paper of his desk and handed to Carrie. "We've confirmed the title of this scripture is called La Prière pour les Morts."

She looked at the title and recognized the words written there, having studied the French language in the past.

"Prayer for the Fallen" A scripture linked to revival. A thought began to form in her mind, but then her eyes widened, looking up from the paper and staring at Maverick, who was just smiling. "Wait, I've heard that this was an old French song."

He laughed, as if it was a joke. "Yes. But it turns out it was also the name of an ancient scripture written 250 years ago. The words are the same, and I knew that you'd be interested, considering that friend of yours."

'Ah, Leo...' Her dear friend, Leo. Back 200 years ago, his master, Elliot Nightray, had died at Oz Vessalius' second coming-of-age ceremony, which had gone awry, and quite horribly at that. Afterwards, he'd been taken into custody by Pandora, and the records said that he had started to go insane, saying it was his fault Elliot was dead.

Carrie believed differently, she believed it was all because of that Chain, whose name she had come to hate, but she knew Leo still felt guilt in his heart. Ever since they had met, it was there, and it was becoming more apparent, not just affecting him physically, but mentally as well.

'If this scripture really does exist, then maybe, just maybe...'

"Hmm. You're thinking about bring back your ancestor, his master and friend, Elliot."

Carrie shuddered and her grip tensed on the paper in her hand. "H-how...how the hell did you-?"

"You're easy to read." Maverick replied. "I've seen how you react when Leo-kun talks about him, and that time, when he let it all flow, you felt pity."

She blinked, but then sighed. "And so the master psychologist strikes again."

"Quite, quite. If you were to find said scripture, it would be of good use, not only to you, but to Leo-kun as well. However," He walked up to Carrie and took her wrist, sending a shiver through her body. "A one-way use at that requires something. Not a soul, nothing drastic, but it would require the blood of a direct descendent."

He let go of her, smirking as he sat back down on the desk.

"But, since I inherited Raven, I'm...already qualified, aren't I?"

(End flashback)

Tears slowly rolled down my face, but determination filled me, a new goal set.

I won't die easy, and I won't let the mistakes of 200 years ago to be repeated in this time. My story of Raven being my Chain is similar to that of Elliot and the Chain Humpty Dumpty, but things have already changed.

This wasn't caused by Leo, even if I don't remember. I have a legal contract with Raven, contained in the blood sealing mirror. He will rise through this, and not go insane like last time, which drove him into that madness and gave more strength to Glen Baskerville, whose spirit dwelled within his soul back then.

Things have changed now, and I will help and protect Leo, no matter what. If I die, it would be for those I care about and I will fight against everything that comes my way, but I won't die yet.

"Leo, I promise, right here and right now," I said, knowing he couldn't hear me, but I wanted to say it. I needed to say it with my own voice, the heavens above as my witness.

"I'll...I'll definitely get Elliot back!"

Hah! A new goal is set, filled with determination. And it appears Carrie will not rest until she achives this goal. Feel free to reveiw, as always.