And this, my friends, is what happens when Quiet Harmony-Chan and I (AccessBlade) get together to plan a story for all you loyal readers out there. A whole new genre that took two weeks of planning despite the fact that I have about everything due this month.

So now that I have gotten this all off my chest, it is now time to reveal to you what we have written down after many hours of making the damned plot bunnies come out and play.

Disclaimer: Quiet Harmony-Chan and AccessBlade do not own anything to do with the Diamond/Joker/Clover/Heart no kuni no Alice series. We do, however, own the dozen of OCs that are going to turn Wonderland upside down.

Alexios - Prologue

Prince Alexios, second prince and heir to the throne of Harmonia, couldn't shake off the feeling that he and the team he led had walked right into a trap despite the success in retrieving the core of the Ark. Maybe it had to do with the fact that there was no one pursuing them. Or maybe it was because retrieving the core had been a little too anti-climactic in his opinion, which made absolutely no sense considering the destructive power of the Ancient Weapon.

The Ark was a weapon of mass destruction from a time long forgotten that had the capacity to take out entire continents. His ancestor King Aerios had deemed the weapon too dangerous and had sealed it away with the intent of losing it in the passage of time, unable to find a way to destroy it himself.

However, as humanity proved time and time again, there were still fools who wished to use it's power no matter the cost.

The ancient weapon could turn the tide of war for whoever possessed it. Whoever had the Ark literally held the fate of the world in their hands and unfortunately for the Kingdom of Harmonia, it had fallen into the grasp of their enemy: the Stille Empire.

It turned out that while the Stille Empire had concentrated on sending wave after wave of the majority of their forces against Harmonia to keep the majority of their soldiers busy and on the defensive, a small group of soldiers had been sent out to scope for the long lost weapon that was thought to be a legend. It was only thanks to the Kingdom's spies that they were able to catch wind of the Empire's search. Unfortunately, by the time they had gotten this information the Empire had already discovered where the Ark was hidden.

In response to this information that cost them the lives of several of their spies, Alexios' older brother Stephen ordered him to take a team and prevent the weapon from firing at all costs. On such short notice, Alexios grabbed the people he was most familiar with (which included that bastard Philip) and set off. Time was of the essence and he and the team that he picked out could not afford to waste any more; especially when it concerned the Ark, the ancient weapon that had been rumoured to have destroyed several kingdoms in the past until his ancestor had put a stop to it.

With the Ark, the Stille Empire wouldn't even have to go anywhere near the kingdom to over take it. Not when it could easily destroy it from a long distance. One blast from it's canon and Harmonia wouldn't even exist any more. The only thing that left in its wake would be a gigantic crater on the ground. It was only thanks to the weapon having been lost in time for so long and being far from firing ready that they weren't all dead yet.

"This was too easy..." Alexios glanced over his left shoulder to see the puzzled expression on Krystelle, his former Royal Guard (or babysitter as many liked to joke) and now the current Magic Knight Commander's, face. Her lips were pulled down into a slight frown. "Shouldn't there have been more soldiers guarding the Core? Or at least one of the Death Generals in the area?"

"I agree." If Alexios hadn't been holding on to the core, the Prince would have run his hand through his crimson hair in frustration. Why in the world would the Stille Empire leave their greatest trump card so... defenseless? "For something so important, it was too under guarded for my taste."

"Then obviously it's a trap and the Empire has something up it's deceptive sleeve." A second, much colder voice remarked from his right, voicing Alexios' earlier thoughts. It was Prince Philip of Stille; second in line for the throne and probably the biggest traitor to the Empire in its entire history. "If they didn't bother making guarding the core top priority, then they plan on retrieving it from us one way or another later on."

It took every bit of Alexios' will power not to snap back at the other Prince. Instead, he settled for shooting the person in question a dark look before focusing on the path in front of him.

"Over my dead body." Alexios voice was flat and grim. It wasn't a figure of speech either; Alexios would literally die before he let the Ark's core fall into the Stille Empire's hands again.

"Your dead body will probably be the only thing standing in their way after they find us. And that shouldn't be too much of a barrier for the Generals to break through." Even though the Harmonian Prince couldn't see the smug bastard's expression, he just knew that there was a sneer fixed on his face and that he dared him to say something about that comment.

But before he could turn around and give the the Stille Prince a piece of his mind, Krystelle cut in before he could speak.

"Before you two start arguing, need I remind you both that we're currently running away from any possible pursuers that Stille might have sent after us?" There was no trace of amusement in her voice and it lacked its usual softness and cheery tone.

Alexios knew that tone. He also knew not to piss off the usually mild Krystelle when she started using it.

"Right." Alexios bit down on the retort that had been about to leave his lips. He would have to yell at the Stille Prince later when they were out of ear shot of his former Royal Guard.

The next few minutes were tense as Alexios and his companions continued to run in silence. When they neared the rendezvous point, the three of them wordlessly picked up their pace as one with the intent of reaching the allies they were forced to leave behind earlier after an ambush. When they made it to the clearing that they left their other three companions in (that also had plenty of cover in case there were any Stille forces patrolling), it came evident that something was wrong.

The fact that Stille's Six Death Generals were in the clearing was a dead giveaway to that testament.

"What are they doing here?" He heard Krystelle suck in a harsh breath.

"Damn. That would explain why there were barely any soldiers around the Ark." Philip muttered.

Alexios, meanwhile, was wondering just what the fuck the Stille's best and most dangerous fighters were doing in the small clearing. Shouldn't they have been out on the battlefield wrecking havoc on the Harmonian forces?

Why would they be in such a insignificant spot waiting for-

He grimaced.

Shit.

'It was a trap after all...'

While Alexios had been expecting something to arise, he was definitely not expecting them: the Stille Empire's Six Death Generals. Stille's six elite warriors who led the rest of the forces against Harmonia.

Morgan the Swift.

Azrael the Strong.

Orion the Necromancer.

Dahlia the Healer.

Vita the Siren.

Tristan the Dark.

They were the six people you never, ever wanted to meet on the battlefield. An encounter with them typically meant death and only a handful of people survived to tell the tale after any fight with them. Engaging them in a one-on-one battle was tantamount to suicide and each and every one of them were skillful enough to easily wipe out several squadrons of knights at once.

There was a reason they were called the 'Death Generals' after all.

"Ah... I guess you figured it out." The only dark haired woman of the group giggled when she spotted them. "But it looks like you were too late. Better luck next time!"

"Not that there's going to be a next time." A blond haired man in his mid to early twenties snorted.

Alexios felt Krystelle tense next to him, but that came as no surprise. The Magic Knight Commander was always uncomfortable whenever she saw Vita the Siren and everyone knew it, no matter how much she tried to hide that particular fact.

"Good." A blonde haired woman with a stern face stepped forward, dark blue eyes coldly scanning over them before they landed on Alexios. "You kept the Core safe."

That was Morgan the Swift for you; not one to beat around the bush and always straight to the point.

"So we could what?" Philip stepped forward as well, his blood red eyes narrowed until they were nearly slits. "Hand it over to you? Did you obviously think we were just going to hand over the core without a fight?"

Alexios was certain that the temperature in the clearing had dropped below zero when those words left Philip's lips. While he and Philip were allies (a very stretched term to describe their constant state of argument relationship in Alexios opinion), even he could not suppress the shudder that ran down his spine at just how glacial the latter's voice was when he said that. Judging by the momentary unease that he had seen flash through The Swift's eyes, she must have felt uncomfortable at her Prince's words as well.

"If you value their lives, you will."

Alexios, Philip, and Krystelle's heads snapped in the direction of the deep baritone voice. It was Azrael the Strong; he was the oldest of the Six Death Generals and as his title suggested, the strongest out of all of them, though that was only in terms of physical strength. Alexios had engaged in battle with him once before and was not looking forward to any future duels between them; whoever said that he had the strength of a raging bear had NOT been exaggerating.

Thankfully for all of Harmonia he was one of the more saner and honorable generals alongside Morgan the Swift. He may have been the oldest of the Death Generals, but that didn't make him any less dangerous. In fact, his status as a veteran soldier made him even more dangerous. Alexios recalled his father saying a long time ago that the most dangerous type of soldier was one who had grown old; their bodies may have aged but their skills and reflexes they learnt on the battlefield were sharp well honed, making them formidable opponents.

"'Their lives?'" Philip repeated dully.

The Harmonian Prince felt his stomach drop. He had a good idea as to who Azrael was referring to. After all, if the Death Generals were here instead of the comrades he had been forced to leave behind-

Vita the Siren's giggle snapped him out of his thoughts. She, along with Tristan the Dark, stepped sideways to reveal the bound forms of their comrades as well as one dragon in it's civilian form.

Marija. Calista. And Silver and his bonded dragon. All tied up, bound and waiting for them as if they were presents rather than hostages to be used against them.

"Let me make this clear," The Swift's powerful voice sounded through out the clearing. "The lives of your comrades for the Core. If you refuse to comply..." She trailed off. She didn't need to say anything else; the Harmonian Prince knew that she and the other five Death Generals would kill their three disarmed and defenseless comrades on the spot if they did not hand over the Ark's Core.

He also knew that he would be damning the lives of countless millions if he did hand it over.

"It is your choice, Prince Alexios." Ice blue eyes narrowed. "Their fate is in your hands."

'Ha. Damned if I do, damned if I don't.' Alexios was far from the fool he had been in his youth as he considered the precarious dilemma.

When Alexios first participated in the war years ago, he did so with the naivete that he was doing what was expected of him as the Prince and a Royal of Harmonia. He had grown up in the castle of his ancestors, regaled on tales of their heroics. Hearing about the adventures and victories of kings' past had inspired him to strive to become a legend like them and have his name marked down in history; to have his story passed down to his descendants centuries from now when he was long gone from the world.

It wasn't until much later that the Prince realized that his ancestors had censored many things when they passed down their stories to their descendants. Such as the dark side of war.

How Alexios ever got it into his head that war was a means to become a hero and gain glory was beyond him.

The blood spilled from soldiers on both sides.

Villages razed to the ground in Scorched Earth tactics.

The innocents caught in the crossfire between two warring forces.

Alexios had seen it all and much more.

No wonder his father, titled as the 'Wise King', had smiled sadly when Alexios boasted that he would win the war for Harmonia and bring back peace and prosperity to their lands for their people. The man must have known that his son was going to be in for a harsh reality check once he was on the battlefield, but he did not stop him from joining the war, believing in his sons to make their own choices in life and to deal with whatever outcome that came from their decisions.

That had been the last time that Alexios had spoken to his father. A year later the Wise King was assassinated by an unknown hand, though it was strongly suspected that Dark Law, the biggest and most infamous Assassin Guild in the lands was responsible for the Harmonian Ruler's death. They were the only assassins with enough skill and resources to break through the Kingdom's heavy guard and slit the throat of a man who desired nothing but peace and happiness for his people.

While Alexios had learned that war was far from what he originally thought, he never regretted his choice. He had learned more about his people participating in the conflict than he ever would have had he chosen to stay in the castle.

And now he was presented with another choice that dictated not only the fate of his knights (and the traitorous Stille Prince), but those of his Kingdom as well:

His comrades or his Kingdom?

Alexios smiled sadly.

Morgan had given him an easy choice.

As a Prince of Harmonia he had a duty to perform.

As soldiers of Harmonia they had no choice but to carry out his orders.

As a great tactician Philip would understand why he made this decision.

Alexios brought out the Core he had been carefully cradling the entire time while they were on the run and handed it to the Magic Knight Commander. She was the one who he entrusted with what he was planning next.

"Your highness?" Krystelle took the Core from him carefully as he turned to face the Leader of the Death Generals. She must have seen his pain gaze when their eyes met, because her own green-blue ones hardened and she gave a small nod, indicating that she knew what he wanted her to do.

"Have you made your choice?" Morgan the Swift asked. "I will not ask you again: the Core or your comrades?"

"Neither." He and Krystelle said at the same time.

The Core in Krystelle's hand began to glow as she started to charge it with her magic.

When they had taken the Core from the Ark, Krystelle and Philip, both being magic users and therefore magic sensitive, noticed that it had been filled to its' capacity of magical power and was soon ready to be fired. But like all magical artifacts that relied on magic to power them, the Ark's Core had a slight drawback: there was only so much magic it could absorb before it exploded and released all the magic it formerly contained into the surrounding area.

And with the amount of magic that the Core held, it was enough to take out the entire forest and more. The Ark was a means to enhance it's destructive capacity; without it the Core was just a pretty rock. A pretty rock that could take out the entire area if pushed past it's magical capacity, but a rock all the same.

"Wait. What are you-? You plan on overloading the Core?!" The cold facade that Morgan always had when they encountered one another had been replaced by... fear? Alexios would have savoured it if they weren't all about to die. "But that will destroy everything in the surrounding area..." Blue eyes widened in horror.

Alexios saw the exact moment when Morgan the Swift realized that was exactly what he and Krystelle planned on doing.

"Damned if I do, damned if I don't. If we don't give you the Core, you'll kill our comrades and then us and just take it from our corpses. If we give it to you, even if you do decide to spare our lives, we will condemn millions of others to die." Alexios smirked. "At least this way, we take the Stille Empire's best fighters down with us."

There was a loud crack as the Ark's Core could no longer contain the magic it held and exploded.

The last thing that Alexios saw was the world around him flooding with light.

'Sorry Stephen. I know I promised that I would make it back alive, but... it looks like... I won't be able to...'

Do you know one interesting fact when I was writing this? I came up with the Kingdom and Empire's names by looking at my fellow co-author's name!

Harmonia is obviously another form for 'Harmony' while 'Stille' is German for the word 'Silent' which can be associated with the word 'Quiet'.

...

So yeah. Not exactly a necessary piece of information, but a fun trivia fact!

Harmony-chan is going to be writing the next chapter, and I can't wait to read it. Hope you guys enjoy it! And to show your appreciation for the effort my co-author and I put into this story, please review! Really. We love reviews and would seriously enjoy your input into what you think of this!

AccessBlade out!