02 – Welcome to
Cardverse
“Your Highness.”
Scarlet eyes meet a calm blue,
the latter belonging to a tall, sturdy man sitting on a throne. He looks down
at the other, and allows a small smile to curve his lips. The crown on his head
was golden, encrusted with heart-shaped gems varying in shades of red. He wears
a deep maroon cloak, black pants peeking out from the bottom. The shoes on his
feet are the same shade as his cloak, with black shoelaces tying it up.
“My Knight.”
The so-called knight wears a
fitted red top with black buttons in the middle, going down in a vertical line.
His pants are black as well, and a quiver is attached to his right pants
pocket, containing a silver sword inside. He bows respectfully to the king and
soon speaks in a monotonous tone.
“You have yet to find a Queen for
your Kingdom.”
The King sighs.
“I know that well.”
“The Kingdom of Hearts
This King was a little amused at
the seriousness in his Knight’s voice.
“Gilbert, this is not a matter of
life and death.” Gilbert sighed, running a hand through his hair, and soon stood
straight with his arms folded over his chest. “You know that. My matters are
mine, and your matters are of course, your own.”
“Look who’s talking,” he grumbled
to himself, but soon managed a smile. “Arthur will go crazy if he doesn’t find
someone for his own Kingdom, kesesesese.”
“Has anyone found a Queen yet?”
“No news from Alfred, Yao , or Lovino yet.”
Gilbert put on his serious face once more. “I’m guessing they haven’t, yet. No
one seems to do it for them.”
“I’m not the only one seeking,
then.”
“That’s right.” He plopped down
next to the king, who didn’t speak of that. “Come on, Ludwig. The Royal Flush
will be happening in a matter of time.” His expression darkened. “No Queen
means a re-election of Kings. No one wants that.” But Ivan does, he added bitterly in his mind. “Re-election of Kings
means a re-election of Knights as well. I don’t want that whiny Roderich as a
Knight, damn it!”
“Calm down,” sighed Ludwig,
massaging his temples. His head was starting to ache. “The Royal Flush has months
to go before it finally arrives.”
“You’d better get yourself a
queen, Ludwig. I swear to it, if I lose my position on Knights thanks to you…”
Gilbert grumbled to himself. “…blast it all.”
* * * * *
“Where in the name of hell are
we, Elly?!”
“W-Why are you asking me, eh?
You’re the one who pushed me in!”
“So you expect me to know the
answer?”
“Ask Rianne, I bet she knows, it
was her tree!”
“G-Guys, I don’t even know there
was a hole in there!”
“ENOUGH!” bellowed Reese, who
dusted dirt off her pleated yellow skirt. “I don’t know where we are and more
especially, how that tree hole got us here, but our main priority is getting
back to Rianne’s house as soon as possible!”
Still silence filled the air.
Tricia looked up, seeing a clear
blue sky. How did they end up there…? She looked around her afterwards, and
realized that they stood at a crossword. A sign stood at the very middle, four
planks of wood nailed to it spelling out different places she couldn’t name or
was familiar with.
To North was Herzen, the word
painted in red.
To South was Diamants, painted in
deep orange.
To East was Tréboles, in green.
To West was Spades, in a dark
blue. That was the only word she could recognize.
“Oi, you lot…take a look at
this.” She pointed at the sign.
“Spades?” Elly questioned, frowning
a little. Rianne glanced up at the red-colored word. “Is…is this a sign leading
to a city, or something?”
“Elly, we aren’t even sure if
it’s going to bring us to a city,” sighed Rianne. “The only word we can recognize
is Spades, and that isn’t even giving us any clue about it at all.”
Irritated, Reese folded her arms
over her chest.
“This is really bloody amazing.”
Her voice held nothing but sarcasm. “We all fell into the stupid tree hole and
landed up in the middle of nowhere.”
“At least help out,” Tricia
snapped. “We’re trying to identify where the heck we are, and all you do is
whine and moan about getting yourself into a lot of-”
Crack.
They all stopped and looked at
each other.
“…Elly, did you step on
something?” Rianne asked slowly.
“No,” replied the brunette,
slightly unsure. At the same time, they all looked down at their feet, looking
for a suitable item that must have broke. There was none. Reese looked behind
herself, seeing a looming forest that they quite didn’t notice before. “Maybe
it came from over there?” she pointed far off into the patch of land.
Tricia blanched.
“Hell no we’re not going in there.” On the inside, the other three
agreed. “I’m not going to go in and let myself be eaten by some freaky-looking grizzly
bear-”
“Or be loomed by the intimidating Jokers.”
Reese screamed, jumping back at
the sudden sight of a horned man. His hair shone a light blonde in the faint
sunlight, and his eyes gleamed a soft violet. Tricia yanked her away and the
newcomer chuckled faintly, playing with a deck of cards in his hand.
“Lost, girls?”
Another moment of still silence
came.
Rianne saw the broken tree
branch, hanging loosely from a tree that towered above him.
“You broke that.” she said
simply. He looked at her and aimed a smirk.
“Right you are, girlie.” He
extended a hand. “Joker’s my name.” hesitantly, she took it, and he gave her
hand a light shake before pulling away. “As I was saying…” he eyed the four of
them. “…you’re all lost?”
“What’s it to you?” snapped
Reese. Joker gave her a malicious grin.
“Feisty, are we? At least I
didn’t jump back and scream like a child,” he cackled. Reese’s cheeks reddened
and she ended up scowling even more. “Let me lead you, girls. The four kingdoms
you see,” he jerked a finger at the sign, “hold nothing for you but malice and
cruelty, injustice and fear.” His nose wrinkled. “Nothing but Cardverse scum.”
“Cardverse?” Elly repeated.
He turned his eyes on her.
“Yes, Cardverse.” A low chuckle
escaped his lips. “That’s the name of this place.” Looking back at the sign, he
went on. “See the names on that sign? Those are the four kingdoms that rule
over this place. The Hearts
Kingdom
“Did you say Kingdoms?” Rianne
asked. “Kingdoms…like the ones with a King?”
“Green eyes is catching on fast,”
Joker noted, sitting down on a rock. They noticed he was barefooted and still
played with the deck of cards. “Right you are. Of course, Kingdoms need their
own King.”
“Take us to the nearest Kingdom,”
Tricia interjected. “We’ll get out of here when we find out more about this
place.” Joker frowned.
“Didn’t I tell you? The Kingdom’s
full of deceit!” he tried, now shuffling the cards. “All of them are! Listen to
me, girls-” his ear twitched, the horns on his head doing the same. “Damn it.
Just as I was about to succeed,” he muttered to himself, getting up soon and
moving away. The four girls looked at him in confusion.
“Hold on, where are you going?”
demanded Reese, but was cut off at the sound of heavy, approaching sounds of a
horse’s hooves racing towards the area. Joker made an irritated face, going
back to his tree.
Soon, a white horse stopped in
front of the youths gathered. They staggered back.
On the horse was a tall man with
dusty blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Glasses lay perched on his nose, as
well as a certain strand of hair sticking up on the top of his head. A long,
dark blue cloak adorned his figure, and the girls could only make out dark
brown pants on his legs, as well as knee-high black leather boots laced up.
“Oi, you, get away from them!” he
hopped off the horse, brandishing a sword from its case. The hilt was a
shocking blue, adorned with sapphire-like spades.
Joker sneered.
“Knight Jones.”
“Joker, just do me a favor and
get away from these ladies, will you?” he stood in front of the four in a
somewhat protective manner. Elly frowned.
“Excuse me, we don’t need
saving.” He turned his head and grinned at her.
“Nonsense, miss! I’m a hero, and
heroes always save the damsels in distress!”
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