Disclaimer: Pandora Hearts belongs to an extremely talented individual by the name of Jun Mochizuki.

Chapter Two: Playing Dead

Lord Rufus' study was spacious, with a large, polished oak desk at which the Duke was currently sitting. Reim stood rigidly in front of the desk while the Duke idly flipped through a thick book. "If you are to be a useful servant to me, you will need to have this." He said, looking up from his book to hold something aloft. Reim stared at it. It was a gold chain, with an ornate cross pendant hanging from the center. He blinked. He had seen his father wearing one of those. "With this, you are officially a member of Pandora."

Pandora? Reim thought. As in the organization that fought chains that had come from the Abyss? That Pandora? Seeing his panicked look, Lord Rufus spoke. "Do not worry. I will not send a child to the battlefield; you would only be a hindrance. No, your primary duties in Pandora will be deskwork. A fitting job for one whose talent is reading, do you not think so?"

Reim stepped forward to accept the pendant, relief washing over him. He wasn't going to have to battle those monsters after all. As he took the pendant, he noticed a small round mirror that had been hidden behind the cross. "Lord Rufus, what is this mirror?"

The Duke pointed his closed fan at Reim. "Just because you are not a field agent does not mean that you should not know how to fight. That is a Carcere, an item used by Pandora in which to keep the blood of your contracted chain. With the use of this blood seal mirror, a clockwise seal will no longer appear on your chest, and unlike illegal contractors, you will not be dragged into the Abyss. However, in exchange, the amount of power you can draw out from your chain will be less than that of an illegal contractor."

"Y-you want me to form a contract with a chain?" Reim stammered.

"Of course." Lord Rufus replied. "Being in Pandora means you run a high risk of meeting an illegal contractor, regardless of if you are an office worker. With no fighting skills, how do you intend to defend yourself?" Duke Barma stood. "Follow me."

Reim obeyed, scuttling after his master. Lord Rufus led them down a seemingly never ending set of spiral stairs. As they reached the bottom, the walls opened into a large, round room. On the far wall was a huge black door, its immensity stretching to the ceiling.

"This is one of the four Doors to the Abyss that was given to the Four Dukes long ago. It is my duty to protect this Door, as my ancestors have done before me." He looked down at Reim. "Go and touch the Door. You will feel all the chains in the Abyss, and their intense desire to escape. You must not waver in the face of their power. Once you find a suitable chain, say its name and take its blood, but remember: do not drink it. Place it in the Carcere that I gave you. Do you understand?"

Reim nodded, trembling as icy fear waltzed up his spine. He haltingly stepped forward and placed his right hand on the Door. At first, nothing happened, then quite suddenly, everything turned an impenetrable black. Huge, leering chains appeared before his eyes. They jeered and cackled.

"Look! A boy!" One shrieked. "You want to form a contract with us, brat?" Another hissed. Reim shook with terror, trying to yank his hand away from the Door, only to find he couldn't move. Several silver shackles shot out from the darkness and wrapped around his wrists and legs, dragging him into the black mass, the red eyes of the chains glaring at him hungrily.

Reim screamed, terrified, when a hand swiftly grabbed the back of his collar and yanked him backwards. He landed on his back with a thump, looking up at the elaborate ceiling of the Barma mansion.

"I thought I told you not to let yourself be overwhelmed by the power of the chains, lest you be consumed by the Abyss." Lord Rufus' voice sounded, his voice disgusted. Reim stood quickly, and dusted off his pants, all the while trying desperately not to cry. "I-I'm sorry Lord Rufus." The Duke turned toward the steps with a sigh. "I suppose you are still too young for this."

Reim took a deep breath and blurted out, "Wait! Please… please let me try again." Lord Rufus stopped and turned to face Reim, a slightly surprised look on his face. "Oh? You are more courageous than I thought. Very well. You may try once more."

Reim swallowed hard, then grit his teeth and approached the Door once again. This time, the darkness swallowed him the moment his fingers touched the Door. "Look who's back." The chains laughed. Gathering his courage, Reim shouted at them. "I want to form a contract with one of you! Please–" The chains laughed harder. "You? With one of us? We will give you to the Will of the Abyss as an offering, boy!"

"C-can't we be diplomatic about this?" Reim tried. "I only need a little of your power… please! Chains of the Abyss! Contract with me!" Abruptly, the chain's raucous laughter faded, and a small ball of white light danced in front of him. Reim stared in astonishment as the sphere expanded into the form of a giant, floppy-eared rabbit. It was dressed in a tattered cloak, with a worn top hat to match. A large ribbon adorned its neck, and the rabbit regarded Reim with sleepy eyes. It opened its mouth and trilled softly. It was a sound unlike any rabbit Reim had ever heard.

He looked up at the chain uncertainly. "Y-you'll contract with me?" The rabbit cocked its head, then began floating closer to Reim. Its soft light wafted over him, and he was consumed with such tender warmth it was startling. How could a chain be such a gentle creature? As it bobbed closer, Reim reached down onto his neck and lifted up his pendant, holding the mirror right side up. The chain leaned forward slightly, and grabbed one of its ears in its mouth. It bit down just enough for some blood to well up, then it dangled its ear above the mirror. Reim watched in fascinated horror as the blood gathered at the tip of the chain's ear and dripped onto the Carcere. Immediately, the mirror turned a deep red, and a clockwise incuse could be seen on its surface.

Unconsciously, Reim's mouth moved of its own accord, and he spoke the words, "March Hare." Reim blinked. How had he known that? Before he could ponder it further, the March Hare gave a lopsided grin, and slid forward into Reim's chest, disappearing. Finding that he could move again, he lowered his hand from the door and let it fall to his side. The darkness receded immediately, and he was back in the Barma mansion.

"You were successful then." Lord Rufus said behind him. It wasn't a question. Reim turned to face him, and smiled tiredly. "Yes."

The Duke watched him with a bored countenance. "Which chain?"

"The March Hare."

Lord Rufus' eye twitched, and his expression darkened ever so slightly. Reim faltered. "Lord Rufus?" His lord's eyes narrowed, and he looked down at Reim with an unreadable expression. "The March… Hare?"

"Yes," Reim replied carefully. Lord Rufus turned abruptly and stalked up the stairs, hair whirling behind him. Not knowing what else to do, Reim hurried after him.

"The March Hare is a useless chain."

Reim froze. "What…?" They were back in the study, with the Duke sitting at his desk, tapping his finger on its polished surface.

"The March Hare is useless." Lord Rufus repeated. "It has no abilities; it cannot attack, nor can it defend. It is useless."

Reim felt his heart sink. To say that he was disappointed would have been the understatement of the century. Not only had he failed to meet his own expectations, he had also disappointed Lord Rufus. How could he be useful to the Duke if he had a chain that could do absolutely nothing? Why couldn't he have a powerful chain that could shoot lasers from its eyes or something? Or a chain that could turn invisible? Or one that could breathe fire? Or–

"Reim!" The Duke snapped. Reim flinched, coming out of his brooding. "Y-yes Lord Rufus!" Duke Barma sighed, resting his fan on his lower lip. "The March Hare has no abilities whatsoever and is the most pathetic chain in the Abyss–" Reim shrank back from his master's harsh words. "–is what everyone at Pandora will say. However, the March Hare has one ability that renders it not completely useless."

"It does?" Reim asked, hope creeping into his voice.

"The March Hare has the power to make you appear dead."

After a few moments of heavy silence, Reim finally managed incredulously, "As in… playing dead?"

"Yes. You will be able to fool anybody. With its power, your heartbeat and breathing will stop, and you will gradually grow cold as corpses do. It is your last line of defense; if you are being attacked and see no hope for survival, use the power of the March Hare. When your enemy sees that you are 'dead', they will likely abandon you. However, this ability does not heal your wounds, and the amount of time that you are in this state of suspended animation is quite erratic." Duke Barma paused, his gray eyes boring into him. "Reim, you are not to tell a single soul of this power, do you understand? If the enemy were to know of this, then it would be rendered completely meaningless. You are also only to use this power as a last resort. No one knows of this ability but you and I. Keep it that way."

"Yes Lord Rufus." Though he was still unsure of how useful 'playing dead' could be, Reim was relieved that his chain wasn't completely useless.

"Reim," Lord Rufus said, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I want you to use the power of the March Hare." Reim was taken aback. "Wha– now?" Duke Barma smiled. "I wish to see exactly how convincing this 'playing dead' truly is. So use it."

Easier said than done. Reim thought. He didn't even know how to use his chain's power. Um, March Hare? I know it's sudden, but I need to use your power, He called out in his mind. A soft warble came in response, and the March Hare materialized behind him.

Lord Rufus stared up at the chain, his face half hidden by his metal fan. "So this is what you look like, March Hare. However, this could prove to be a problem. You must use the Hare's power without calling out the chain itself, or your little act will be ruined." The Duke told Reim.

"I… will try my… best." Reim panted. Maintaining the March Hare's power put an enormous strain on him, both physically and mentally. March Hare, I need you to come back inside of me; you can't be visible. Reim told it. The Hare trilled in obedience, and dissolved into nothingness, returning to within Reim's body. "Lord Rufus, how is thi–" he never finished as his vision failed him and he collapsed into a lifeless heap on the floor.

When Reim awoke, he found to his surprise that he was in his room. In his bed to be exact, the covers pulled up to his chin. He sat up and looked around. Everything was a blurry mess. Where were his glasses? He fumbled around on his nightstand until he located his spectacles, shoving them onto his nose. The last thing he remembered was trying to use the power of the March Hare. Did that mean it had worked?

Reim scrambled out of bed and charged out the door – only to run headlong into one of the maids, Marietta.

"Reim!" she gasped. "Is it alright for you to be out of bed? Is your fever down?" She placed a cool hand on his forehead.

"I– what?" Reim asked in confusion.

"We were all so worried when the Master said that you were sick, and that it was contagious so to not go into your room."

"Oh." Reim said, catching on. "Right. Yes, I'm fine Miss Marietta. It was just a little seasonal flu, I think. Thank you for your concern."

Marietta didn't look convinced. "Are you sure? Maybe you should take the rest of the day off. I'm sure the Master wouldn't mind."

"No, really, I'm fine." Reim said, backing away. He turned and hurried down the hall, calling back, "Thank you though!" As he made his way through the mansion to Lord Rufus' study, he met several other servants, all of whom asked how he was feeling and to not overwork himself. When he finally arrived outside of the study, Reim stopped and knocked. "Lord Rufus? It's Reim."

"Enter," came the Duke's muffled voice from the other side of the door. Reim obeyed, shutting the door softly behind him. Lord Rufus wasn't sitting at his desk, but actually on the floor, surrounded by tall stacks of books and scrolls.

"Roughly 4 hours." Lord Rufus said absently, not even looking up from the book in his lap.

"Sir?"

"The period of time that you were 'dead'. It is quite convincing. Not even my chain could discern that you were alive. Now all you need to work on is not bringing your chain forth."

Reim beamed. "Yes Lord Rufus!"

"Nevertheless, this still leaves the issue of you being defenseless against attacks. Thus, I have arranged for you to go to Pandora and be trained. Many people in Pandora do not have chains, so they are trained with other weapons. An agent from Pandora will come to collect you in the morning, so be ready and packed by then, for your stay may be long."

Reim bowed. "Yes Lord Rufus." As that seemed to have been his dismissal, Reim turned and exited the study, heading back to his room to prepare for his journey to Pandora.

Author's Note: Yay! A review! Thanks so much to Lamy for reviewing. Your words are greatly appreciated. Again, I have gone through and tried to clean up any typos. If you find any more, please let me know and I will be sure to correct them. I would also like to thank all those who have Favorited/Followed my story. You guys make me so happy :D