Pandora Hearts: The Novel

The Melody

The back garden is beautiful. We tread under marble archways, sunlight filtering through and bathing the stone floor with warmth. Ivy plants have clung all around the walls over the years. A few crumbling stairs lead down to the center of the garden, a large, circular ground lined with violet flowers and bushy trees.

I feel Ada pick up pace behind me. She pulls on my sleeve and looks up into my eyes with her large, emerald green ones.

“Hey, brother, what’s the Abyss?” she asks.

“Oh,” I reply. “It’s a prison where they lock up bad people. People say you can never get out once you’re taken there.”

She turns towards Gil. “Is that the prison in that book you read to me?”

Gil puts on a friendly smile. “Yes. They say that a messenger from the Abyss visits those who have committed deadly sins, and takes them away to a terrible place.”

Ada seems to be absorbing in that thought. Being locked up in a gruesome place for eternity, never to see the people you love again. Never to see light again. I don’t like the way her forehead creases in worry. A little frown is forming on her tiny lips. She doesn’t seem to be noticing her blond hair falling over her eyes. Why did I and Gil talk to her about it? Six-year-olds shouldn’t hear stories like that.

“Forget about it, Ada.” I say. “It’s just a stupid legend. Anyway, look, Gil!” I open up the package eagerly. A golden robe decorated with black lines lies inside. I hold it up to examine it.

Gil marches over to me. “Huh? Isn’t this a bit small for Young Master Oz?” he asks.

“Silly. Don’t you worry about that.” I grin. “’Cos you’ll be the one wearing it.”

Gil looks stunned. His face turns pale and his almost golden eyes grow wide. “Huh!?” he practically yells at me.

“Well, Gil, the truth is, you’re going to be in today’s coming-of-age ceremony too!”

He looks like he’s about to faint. This encourages me to continue. “Since my clothes would be too big, I asked Uncle Oscar to have it made just for you!” Even though we are both fifteen, Gil is shorter and thinner than I am.

“What is this!? I did not know a thing about it!” he yells again.

“Of course I didn’t tell you! I wanted to see you all flustered and in a panic!” I reply, laughing.

“No, Young Master…you must not do this. P-Please ask someone else right away …”

“Don’t worry, Gil. It’s not a huge role. You just need to put a robe on my shoulder at the end of the ceremony. No one really has to do it, but I’d like you to-”

“No, that’s not what I meant!”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“I am but a servant! I have no right to be part of a ceremony like that!”

I shake my head. “No, Gil. You won’t be coming as a servant. I want you to be there as my friend.”

“That is even more unacceptable!” he screams. Beads of sweat are rolling down his face, matting his black hair against his forehead. His eyes stare right into mine. “An orphan like me being Young Master’s friend … what would the nobles around you say?”

I sigh. “I don’t care.”

“Master will scold me, you know!?”

A sadness washes over me. I look down at the cracked floor. “Don’t worry, Gil. He doesn’t even come home for his son’s ceremony because of his work. He wouldn’t bother to come back just to scold you.”

The instant those words leave my mouth, I regret saying them. Gil is silent, but I know for a fact that he is blaming himself for talking about Father. Ever since that incident, we had a silent agreement to keep Father out of our world. And we did. However, deep inside of me –

A melody starts playing somewhere. Such an angelic, exquisite tone, so pleasing to my ears. Where is it coming from?

“What … is this music?” I mumble.

I find my feet already shuffling forward involuntarily, searching for the source of a music so beautiful. A strange feeling stirs inside of me. I need to find where the music is coming from.

I hear Gil say, “Huh? Young Master, do you hear something?” but his voice seems so weak and so distant. The music grows louder. So flawless. I have to reach it. I have to.

A loud crack pulls me back to my senses. I feel the ground beneath me shaking. Two more cracks, followed by a snap, and I find myself sinking down. The ground beneath me has given away. Before I have time to register what’s going on, I hear Gil yell, “Young Master!”

I am falling, falling into the ground. I can see Gil next to me, falling along with stones and leaves. Has he jumped into this chasm with me? I reach out and hold his hand, waiting for the impact.