Welcome darlings to my new Cardverse fanfiction!
Sorry that I'm not updating my others, I just want to upload all of my ideas before classes restart :P
There's really not much to say at the moment except that I hope you enjoy~
BetweenDreamsAndReality proudly presents: Cascade of Cards
Warnings: None.
Disclaimer: I do not own hetalia.
Alfred scribbled scratchy lines turning the blank piece of parchment into a work of art senselessly. Currently, he was propped up on one of the stone benches, pink tongue slightly sticking out of his poised lips for concentration, and attempted to finish his sketch of the royal garden.
It was a gorgeous orchard, not the largest in all of the land, yet reasonably grand. A small fountain sat in the middle along with a weeping willow tree bearing golden clocks all waiting to be harvested only by the Queen of Spades. Beds of blue flowers, the official color of the Spade kingdom and royalty, encompassed the bench Alfred sat working feverously to finish his quote-unquote masterpiece.
But the thing he loved the most about it, was its freedom.
Sure the castle was nice and all, nice being an understatement, but not having to spend five extensive and tedious days contained to its stoned walls was what Alfred desired. Today was the first free time he had in days since the Diamonds' deck came for an uninvited visit and, frankly, he missed the sun beating on his pale cheeks and the serene sounds of the wildlife chirping around him.
Instead, he heard another sound; a foreign sound. Something that sounded like light footsteps of a lost passerby. That was very uncommon for Alfred as he was confined to the castle as if he was delicate glass or gem that would break with a mere touch.
"That's pretty good," an accented voice said behind Alfred, startling him onto the cobblestone ground. He chuckled and apologized "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He held out a pale hand to help Alfred return to his feet.
He was obviously not a servant due to his unrecognizable face but he was not a peasant or traveler either obvious by the fabric of his emerald tunic.
"Why are you here? You know you should not be trespassing," he said trying to sound strong and stern like his father but ended up in a voice more horse and shaky.
He snorted and rolled his strikingly green eyes. "And who are you to tell me what I can and can't do, my mother?" The stranger scanned the young blue eyed blonde twice and retorted "you're dressed like her, at least."
Alfred scowled and stood up without the mysterious stranger's help. He wiped the dirt of the clothes he was garbed in from this morning's lessons consisting of a silk blue tunic tucked into his brown trousers with his ink stained fingers. The maids were certainly going to have a fit when they see his clothes all muddy again.
"Where are my manners? Kirkland. Arthur Kirkland," he held out his hand for Alfred to shake.
He shook Arthur's petite hand and asked with curiosity "you're a Kirkland?"
Arthur nodded in response, a bit lost for words. The Kirklands were well known across Spades, possibly the other three kingdoms, for being powerful wizards and wealthy nobles as well.
"I didn't know they had a son," he stated remembering the few encounters he had at some of the royal parties which usually consisted of gawking over how mature Alfred was looking lately. "You must be a very powerful magician and that must explain your hideous eyebrows."
"We prefer the term 'conjuror' and not yet," he admitted looking down at his black suede shoes. "And my eyebrows are not that large!" he shouted shielding his untamed eyebrows from the young flaxen blonde obviously receiving that comment more often than not.
"Whatever," he said and waved his hand in the fresh air of springtime.
"I'm seventeen, so I've got plenty of time." He shook his head allowing his wiry blonde strands to fall in front of his emerald orbs. "Enough about my silly rubbish, what about you?"
Alfred shrugged. "I'm…Matthew! Matthew Williams!" he said choosing the name of his favorite servant instead of his real one. He couldn't let anyone, especially a 'conjuror', know that he was the crown Prince of Spades. What if he used his magic to kill the heir? Anyways, he would never find out since they would probably never encounter each other face to face again. "I'm a servant here at the castle for Prince Alfred."
"You're very well dressed for a servant," he noted seeing as, even being a noble, his clothes were not nearly as fancy as Alfred's. His emerald green tunic and black trousers were no match for the gold laced clothes Alfred was forced into. "And very young as well."
He scratched the back of his neck. "The King took me in after my parents died," he lied hoping Arthur wouldn't catch on to his lie.
He nodded picking up the sketch book. "And you're also an artist?"
A light pink blush tinted his sun kissed cheeks. "Not really. It was just a sketch, really."
Arthur began flipping through the pages of the book, each drawing as beautiful as the last. "What about this one?" he asked stopping at the picture of a spade shaped clock blotted in dark ink.
"I dunno." He shrugged and gazed down at the picture he drew this morning. "Saw it in a dream or something."
Arthur's lips pursed together in thought. "Interesting," he said with a smirk and looked up at the position of the sun. He slammed the black book shut and gasped "oh my, it is getting late. Nice to see you Matthew."
Alfred could only smile back watching the green eyed blonde disappear into the dark green hues of the forest.
"Am I done with my studies yet?" Alfred asked his father fidgeting in his blue padded chair. The two were in a study connected to the King's antechamber primarily used for signing important documents and other royal tasks. The study itself was spacious with a shelf of books lined against the south wall and two mahogany desks aligned to the west. Hanging on the high reaching cobblestone wall was a realistic, almost lifelike, landscape of the Spades castle dating from the beginnings of the kingdom.
Alfred's father, George, sighed and placed his strong palm on his son's shoulder. George was an influential and valiant King beloved by all of his citizens. His eyes were the color of dusk on a summer evening framed in circular gray wired glasses. His maize colored hair, slightly greying from age, harmonized perfectly with the gold crown kneaded into his tresses. "You have so much more potential than wasting your time drawing pictures of the garden."
Alfred pouted crossing his arms over his chest crushing the blue vest and white cravat he sported with his sheer strength. "It's not a waste of time!"
After the encounter with Arthur, he had been eager to return to the garden in hopes his mysterious friend would return. During his studies, the thought of seeing Arthur again contaminated his once studious mind. Alfred wanted to memorize every curve of his scowling lips and every hair above his twinkling jade eyes.
He placed a hand on his hip managing to wrinkle his royal blue garments a bit. "Whilst drawing you could be studying."
Alfred blew a stray strand of golden hair out of his sapphire eyes.
His father folded himself in the extra chair and sighed. "You're almost of age, Al."
He rolled his eyes. Here we go again, he thought mutely.
"And if you want the power of ruling an entire kingdom, you have to accept your responsibilities," he said taking the gold crown out of his silk wheat blonde curls and placed it into Alfred's.
Alfred looked at himself in the mirror placed in front of him. Something seemed off, but he couldn't quite place what it was.
"What a fine king you will make," he said confidently staring at his son with intrigued indigo irises.
He slumped back into his desk chair and rolled his eyes. "Great." He instantaneously took off the sapphire studded crown and situated it gently on the wooden desk. His eyes glazed over watching his reflection in the gold.
"Milord," a young servant said shakily after knocking twice on the open wooden door. He was overall lanky and had scraggily shoulder length brown hair to match his anxious personality.
"Yes, Toris? Is something wrong?"
"You are needed in the throne room. The deck wants you to sign something," he explained. Although he hailed from the Clubs kingdom, he was the King's loyal personal advisor.
The King nodded and messily placed the crown back on the top of his head in haste. "Of course Toris. Come along Alfred." He pushed the blue padded seat out and escorted Toris to the throne room.
Alfred smirked crookedly and did the same, except for the fact that he took a sharp left for the garden, not the throne room.
"Looks like you can't resist my charm," Alfred teased with a small giggle noticing Arthur was already waiting in the garden for him; although it was quite the opposite. Alfred was infatuated, almost intoxicated, by Arthur.
He was sitting on the bench where the two first met only days ago and plucked petals from one of the blue roses found only in this specific garden. His emerald gaze looked up at the young King's toothy grin and adverted his eyes quite flustered. "Well…I, err," he stuttered with a pink blush growing on his ivory cheeks. "How is your art coming along?"
Alfred slumped onto the bench beside the conjuror. He exhaled and replied "terribly. My tutor thinks it is a waste of time and I should be spending my time on more important things."
"Like what…?" Arthur asked leaning closer to Alfred, their pale skin brushing against each other.
Alfred shook his head allowing his mid length hair of fall in front of his blue orbs. He stood up and stated firmly "we shouldn't be doing this. What if someone catches you?"
He waved his hand and stood beside Alfred, only a few centimeters taller than the other. "They won't."
Alfred narrowed his eyes into small slits wanting to protect his new, and only, friend from the wrath of the royals. He didn't even want to think how his father would react knowing he met a stranger. "How can you be so sure?"
Whilst his eyes were shut, he began chanting foreign words. His voice smooth and dark as he continued reciting. His emerald irises shot open and he announced "open your palm."
"Huh?" Alfred asked uncurling his fingers to see a real spade shaped golden clock ticking to the beat of his heart. It reflected the sun's glistening glow as he twisted its face by the chain.
Almost out of nowhere, Arthur pecked the Prince's cheek.
Alfred wiped off the spit with the back of his palm. "Ew, Artie dude, that's gross."
"It was a thank you," he deadpanned with a scowl. "And it's Arthur!" he fumed hating the childish nickname of Artie. It made him sound like a lower peasant or servant instead of a well-mannered Kirkland.
"Sorry, Arthur. You could've at least said something," he answered with a pout locking his arms in front of his torso. In his defense, he was only thirteen and this was definitely not something he was interested in, yet. However, he felt his heart flutter and his face fluster as his mind begged for more.
"Cheer up lad," he said lifting the younger boy's chin and brushed his lips against his own.
When the blue eyed blonde opened his eyes, Arthur was gone leaving him only with the savor of his lips lingering on his breath and the spade shaped clock.
Alfred knew this feeling he would one day regret, for a royal can never love another.
TBC?
A/N: *shrugs* I'm not too sure that I like this cardverse fic so much, it is definitely not as complex as my other yet is overall cliche and overused. *sighs*
In case you didn't catch the ages: Arthur=17, Alfred=13 and on a side-note George=48
George is an OC and is definitely not going to be a major character in the story actually I think, if I end up continuing, this chapter may be his only appearance. I took the name George from George Washington; one of America's "founding FATHERS." HAHAHAHA I'm clever :)
This is just prologue btw so chapters will be longer.
I was going to make all of the chapters names of card games but I couldn't find any that matches this chapter in specific so I threw away that idea. Urg. Instead, they are named after colours. Yeah for colours~
Please vote on my profile for which Disney movie I should use as inspiration for an aph fic 3
Also the image does not, in any way, belong to me. Picture belongs to shachaai on tumblr. However, I could not find the original post and instead found a link on deviantart. Sorry :( Link: SpadesValiantAce . deviantart art / Discovery - 291975624? q = meta%3Aall + boost%3Apopular = Cardverse & qo = 444 & catpath = & order = 0 & offset = 444
Please leave me a review to know if I should continue...