VERY IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE:

Spoiler alerts for manga until chapter 80. This fic is a semi-AU born out of the latest dark revelations in the series, so it is important that readers are updated as well so that you'll understand what is going on. I do not know what will happen past chapter 80, but I am going to write this fic in the way I think the series will turn out (kind of).

I admit that I haven't planned this out to the very end, so if you have any brilliant ideas, please PM them to me.

The beginning of this fic will start off from where chapter 80 ended. Happy reading!

Chapter 1

"Stop it! Don't…move," commanded Gil as he aimed his rifle at Oscar.

Oscar Vessalius, the one man (other than Gil) whom Oz thought would never want to end his existence, despite the fact that he was never truly human. But now here he is, crouched on the ground with a look ready to kill the one child whose warm touch meant the world to him, all because his own true child was not allowed to exist for the sake of this one.

"Oz…" Oscar began. "Forgive me. I know you didn't want any of this happen, but Jack did. He killed my happiness, and now I must kill him; even if it means killing you."

Oz, standing at the corner near the wall, could not utter a reply. His body was cold and numb while his throat felt dry. He felt absolutely sick. He felt like his body temperature was oscillating between fiery hot and freezing cold. Whenever the waves of cold would come to him, he would clutch the coat in his hands a little tighter, but the thought that his uncle was the one who returned it to him made him fiery hot all over that he just wanted to collapse. His knees were wobbling, but some inexplicable thing (perhaps adrenaline) was allowing him to keep his balance. If he weren't so numb and terrified, his teeth would probably have been chattering as well, but his hyperactive senses betrayed no sounds coming from his mouth.

Oz continued to stare blankly into Uncle Oscar, both seeing and not seeing him at the same time. He also knew that Gil was trying to stare at him, if it weren't for the fact that he was trying to prevent Uncle Oscar from shooting him, but he knew. How he wish he knew more though. For example, he wish he knew how to fix this fucked up mess that arose from one deranged man named Jack Vessalius.

He couldn't blame Uncle Oscar though. It was totally understandable that his uncle would hate him now. After all, he was still Jack in a sense, and Jack killed his uncle's child AND his wife, not to mention the real Oz Vessalius (and the real Oz Vessalius' mother). In fact, he hated Jack too. If it wasn't for him, Oz wouldn't be living a lie right now. He wouldn't be alive at all. The fact was plain and obvious. Everything was Jack's fault, and now Oz, as Jack's vessel, was paying for the consequences of Jack's actions.

Gil could not stop his arm from shaking, but he did his best to keep the rifle aimed point blank at Oscar's head. So far, he was the only person who actually cared about Oz right now. He didn't even want to think about whether or not Ada knew the whole truth. She probably did. And the thought of how she would think of Oz from now on was something he did not want to dwell on, especially not at this point. He was the only "absolute" in Oz's life now, and technically speaking, he did end up breaking his word when he shot his own master, but he was going to make sure that would never happen ever again. If Oz were to lose him, then Oz would probably lose the one last source of his sanity.

Some of the staff from Pandora were starting to gain consciousness. The ones closest to the stairs were first, and they were removing the safety locks from their guns, ready to shoot Oz. The one thing that kept them from pulling the trigger was the fact that Oscar seemed like he would do it first, considering that he was closest (literally) to Oz. Moreover, if they made one false move, Gil just might pull the trigger on Oscar as well.

"Oscar-sama," Gil began. "Are you sure about that? I'm not saying I understand your pain but please reconsider. Oz didn't want any of this to happen! And while Jack is inside him, killing Jack would kill Oz as well! Do you really want that? Doesn't Oz mean anything to you anymore?!" Gil's voice rose to the point of hysteria, and the gun in his hand continued to shake. He didn't want to do this, but he had to.

"Gil, I…" Oscar hesitated.

"Oscar-sama!" By now, all of the Pandora staff had regained consciousness. "Please hurry and shoot him! The Baskervilles will come after us and the rest of Pandora if we don't!"

"Oh shit" Gil muttered, and with his honed reflexes, he shot the ground right next to Oscar and made a mad dash for it with Oz in tow.

"Gil! Where are we going?!" Oz cried, regaining his awareness.

"To the Nightray mansion. Vincent will let us take shelter there. We have to get out first and think about the situation carefully. Too much has happened, and we need to time to recover. I think Break is on our side as well, but I don't think we'll be able to rescue him from the Baskervilles at this rate."

"Gil, that's enough! Didn't you hear Uncle Oscar? He has every reason to want to get rid of me!"

"I'm not about to let you die in a place like this! I don't care what the others' reasons are. You are my master, and I will do everything in my power to keep you alive!" Gil's hold on Oz tightened. He knew what his master was thinking; that he wasn't worthy of existing at all because he was a fake, that even though he didn't want any of this to happen it was still his fault because Jack was inside him, and that there was nothing he could do but accept everything. Gil knew; knew that his master was kind and selfless to a fault, and that nothing would make Oz feel like he had no reason to repent for this, especially with his life and nothing less.

Oz cringed. Gil's hold was a little too tight for comfort, but he knew that his servant was just afraid to lose him forever. He didn't know whether or not to be thankful for having Gil at his side. He was thankful that Gil continued to be the one "absolute" in his life, but at the same time he wanted to slap Gil and just tell him to get some common sense that he was a Baskerville and that he shouldn't be here siding with the "enemy". Tears welled up in his eyes; from relief or anguish, he couldn't tell.

Still, selfishly, the one thing he was sure of was that he didn't want to die. Not just yet.