The Prospective Lake (Pandora Hearts Modern Day)

Ch 3. An old mans fool

Oz opens his eyes. A drifting sound passes his ears. The sky is too white and the light too bright. He lowers his sight. At first everything seems blurry. It feels like someone just drove a truck through his back. It hurts like terribly and he's feeling ever so stiff. After a few long breaths reality slowly comes back to him. Who he was, what had happened. His name was Oz. Oz Vesalius. He was at a school conference. And he was shot. His uncle shot him.

Too stiff and terrified to do anything else Oz lies still for a second, trying to make some sense out of all the fuzz he'd been though. He was shot...yes. Then why...why was he still alive? Or was he?

He was lying on something wet. Disgusted at first he tries lifting his fingers from the ground. And a second later he puts them down again, seeing how it's only grass. Grass, grass in heaven, grass, wet by the morning dove. There was a light blinking in the distance, disturbing his eyes. What a strange thing. Can grass grow on clouds? The sun is rising. Oz turned his head. He was in a forest.

At least that makes sense.

With new powers gathered he pushes his body up. Where on earth was he? A shackle rang in his ears. His eyes shot back at where his back had been laying a second earlier and found a pile of chains laying bare on the ground behind him.

No wonder the grass wasn't comfortable.

Picking them up he find several of them cut off on the middle. His eyes blink, suddenly taking in this new memory. Yes...something had happened. Afterwards. He was shot in the head...and then he wasn't. He was still dying, but he was also falling. And then there had been this girl appearing. Out of nowhere she had dived down with him, swinging a scythe to unshackle the chains dragging him down.

He tried to think of something more that could help, but the more he tried the more his head hurt. She had worn something red...or maybe white.

Still confused he looks around. Trees, everywhere. If this really was heaven he didn't think he'd mind at all. It was actually pretty beautiful. The placed seemed to have this peaceful feel to it, only disturbed by the wind rising from the trees.

Still with quivering feet he stumbles over dots of grass until he is greeted by one of the forests keepers. A deer, resting it's heels next to a bush with purple berries. Oz always loved animals and took a second to breath in the moment. The deer was nibbling on some berries, several of them falling to the round. A light purple color has stained the fur in the corner of its mouth. Then the wind falls through the trees again. The deer twitch its nose before it abruptly looks directly at Oz and the moment is gone. The deer stalks away on his long legs.

Being the first sign of life, Oz is compelled to follow. He runs through high bushes, though more wet grass and is almost hit by a tree. The second he stops to take in his breath the deer is gone. He sigh, regretting having followed the animal in the first place. If there was a search party for him he better stay in one place, his uncle thought of him at least that much. But then the memories of earlier came back. Too much to think about, and not really sure what was real, he shoves the reasoning away and follows a small track to his right.

There was a beaming light coming though the trees. He had seen it ever since he woke up, but now it was stronger than before. It didn't seem like it came from the sun. Following it to the end he almost lost his balance again, this world was getting more improbable by the minute. And no thanks to awful noise in his head.

There, in the middle of the green and wet forest, stood an abnormally big metal box. It was like looking into a mirror. "So you're what's been bugging me this whole time" he told it. And again (and probably also for the tenth time this day) he leaned backwards, hands on his hips. "No wonder my eyes couldn't stand sleep anymore. There's been a treasure waiting for me here this entire time!"