That was the devil's whisper, the devil's temptation...
--That night changed the course of my life...
The story of Pandora Hearts actually began a hundred years before the events shown on screen, on the night the city of Sablier was utterly destroyed. Every cause and effect, every grudge between the characters, all began with that one night. But the story itself begins at the coming-of-age ceremony of Oz Vessalius, heir to the Vessalius family, the leading house among the four ducal families. Long ago, they joined forces to fight the Baskervilles, who sought to destroy the world, and emerged victorious.
At the ceremony, Gilbert, a servant whom Oz regarded as a close friend, was controlled and used Oz's blood to open a passage to the prison for the most serious criminals, Abyss. In this prison, cut off from time and space, Oz came face-to-face at the brink of death with Alice, the girl who had often appeared in his dreams and would ultimately change the course of his life. Her spirit's title was the Bloody Black Rabbit, and her combat power surpassed that of any other spirit. Alice formed an illegal spirit contract with Oz and helped him return from Abyss to the real world.
But in the real world, it seemed that ten years had passed. Oz's dearest friend from the past had already grown up, while Oz himself was like a child cast adrift, small and alone in this unfamiliar world. His only companion was Alice, now in spirit form, whose life or death was unknown. The spirit contract Oz and Alice had made was illegal, so there was a time limit on how long he could use her power. If he exceeded it, Oz himself would become a low-level spirit and fall into Abyss. Even so, the two decided to fight together and survive until that time came. Alice wanted to find her lost memories, while Oz wanted to uncover his own crime. In this world where time itself had become chaotic, they decided to support each other and seek the final answer from fate.
