Disclaimer: Look down, back up. See that plot, that is mine. See those characters, sadly, they arn't mine. But if I was Hidekaz Himaruya then those characters would be mine.

In every deck of cards, there are four suits, the club, the heart, the spade, and the diamond. There are thirteen cards in each suit, making the total number of cards in the deck fifty-two. But all to often, we forget about the other cards. The jokers.

~.::.~

I blame my friend Anatolia for this whole mess. If she hadn't asked me to go with her to that bloody lake then I am positive none of this would have ever happened… Though that could either be good or bad. Good because my life wouldn't have changed. I would have gone about my days as I normally had, get up, eat breakfast with my brothers and my mother, go to school, stay after to attend to my vice-president duties, go home, eat dinner, do homework, go to bed, and do it all again in the morning. Bad, because my life would have never changed… Soding "destiny" as Anatolia likes to call it. Either way, that is where my story starts, at that bloody lake.

Anatolia and I had known each other for several years, ever since we were ten I believe, and I still could never predict what she was going to do. One day when we were in eighth grade, she came in, having chopped off all of her hair and stripped every trace of color from it. When I asked her what she was thinking she responded,

"I got some gum in it, so I cut it off."

"But why is it bleeding white?" she looked at her hair.

"Hm. Well, I was going for green… But it looks like that color washed out pretty quickly…" Se then resumed staring off into space, while simultaneously doodling. She was an enigma.

So, when she called me up one day during the summer of our junior year, being asked to go to a lake was by far the most normal thing she had asked me to do, ever… I should have known it would all get turned around the second we arrived. But I didn't.

"Check out this rock Arthur! It's so pretty!" Anatolia crooned, picking up the dirt-covered rock.

"Hm, It is quite nice… Don't tell me you are going to do what I-" she proceeded to stand up and chuck the rock as far as she could into the lake. I deadpanned.

"You're a soding git. You know that correct?"

"That I do Arthur. That I do." She responded, brushing off her hands and heading off in search of another rock to throw into the surprisingly clean water. I sighed and returned to the platform I was sitting on. It was going to be a long day.

I was just about to return to the world of Sherlock Holmes and his colleague Watson, when something sticking out of the sand like dirt caught my eye.

"What in the world?" I reached down and brushed off the shimmering object.

It was a playing card, but the back was elegant with a blood red "K" in the middle, shimmering golden designs weaved in and out of the K, creating the look of golden vines wrapping around a tree of blood. Flipping the card over, I found that it was a joker, but the picture was unlike any joker card I had ever seen before. The J's in the upper left and lower right looked similar to the K on the back, only the designs going around them were blue. The image of the joker was that of a young man with blond hair that was only a shade darker than my own, a single arched cowlick seemed to defy gravity. Perched atop his golden head was a pair of aviator goggles that had a shine to the glass. His clothes consisted of black pants with some pockets along the legs and some tattered chains and belts hanging loosely from the sides. His shirt was a simple tan color but over top of it was a brown jacket that was pushed up at the sleeves, revealing his forearms. On his wrists were bracelets that looked to be made of leather and belts. Draped over his shoulders was a black cloak that was tattered and had holes in the bottom. The cape spread out around him, creating a look of strange ferocity and strength.

But the thing that my eyes were drawn to first and foremost in the picture was the young man's face. A smirk that bordered on the line between childish and dangerous graced his lips and his fine eyebrows were arched and added to the calculating look that he had. He also wore a pair of square framed glasses that shielded the bluest pair of eyes I had ever seen. These eyes sparkled with a look of youth, but seemed like they held an age, that no young person should have, hidden behind them.

It was a stunning picture, and the card looked slightly old and very well made. Nothing like the cheep cards that you could pick up at any store for a dollar. I heard Anatolia call for me and I quickly pocketed the card for further inspection upon my return home. In my haste I almost didn't notice as the card-man's smile seemed to brighten from a smirk to one of joy. But I just pushed the thought away from my mind; after all, playing cards' pictures didn't change.

That was impossible…

~.::.~

Once I returned home, ignoring my younger brother Peter's rattling on about how I was a jerk and that I never paid any attention to him, I hurried up to my room and hopped onto my bed, removing the playing card from my forest green board shorts. I lay there for a long time, examining the card, flipping it over, and memorizing every detail of the beautiful object. Though, every time I looked at the man on the front, I couldn't help but feel that the image was changing, as absurd as that sounds. Every flip, the smile would seem broader or brighter, the eyes would look more excited and playful, and the expression in general seemed to become happier? I sighed.

"It is completely impossible for playing cards to change. I must be loosing my marbles." I grumbled, putting the card on my bedside table and rolling over to face my window. I stared up at the clear, white moon dangling in the black sky, the stars flickering and dancing around it.

"What a strange joker card…" I mumbled and I felt my eyes slowly slip shut, sleep suddenly claiming my body that was defiantly not tired just moments ago.

This is where my story began.

And my normal life ended.

A/N: I'm terrible. I can't believe I'm writing this too. Dammit. I should be working on HV&EATW (Figure it out if you don't know it) but I'm not. I hate my brain. :I srsly. This isn't Beta'd so, forgive my terrable grammar and spelling. Yes, this is a multi-chapter... No I don't know when updates will be. Sorry. My life is BEYOND crazy right now. I just auditioned for my community theater's musical, so THAT's nerve-wracking, also I have homework and stuff. But I will write every chance I get. Once life calms down, I'll get back on my writing kick. Promise.

On another note, Thank you to everyone who wished me happy birthday. I know I promised an Alfred/Matt brothers story, but I got like 500 words in and lost motivation... and internet. :I I hate my computer. I'm pretty much at it's mercy for when I can get online. But, anyway. I hope you'll enjoy this story. :I Hopefully the plot doesn't suck too bad... I tried more description. Really I did. Anyway, off to go chip away at that iceberg of homework. I think I'll get through it, I mean, my boat's called the Titanic. :I /bricked for terrible sense of humor./