The garden of the Spades Kingdom was somewhat of a wonder of the world. It was easily one of the most exquisite places in the land with its constant grooming by the castle staff. The most beautiful of flowers from the Spades lay here, dancing in the wind, and never wilted. The assortment of the flowers in and of themselves was enough to take away the breath of just about anyone.

The flowers, however, were not the favorite part of the garden for a certain resident of the Spades castle.

No, it was the bushes and hedges which had grown over the years into a maze of sorts.

The maze was a complex series of twists and turns that confused those who had been at the castle for years. It was the exact reason why that certain resident loved it so much. It was the perfect place to be alone and hide from her older brothers who tended to pick on her when she was younger.

Not anymore. She thought as she held a golden pocket watch in her hand.

This was no ordinary clock though. This one was magic and it had chosen her to be the next Queen of the Kingdom of Spades. That was how it always worked for every royal and Jack in the Spades Kingdom.

She fingered the glass covering the hands of the clock reminiscing about the day she had found out she was queen. At first she had been a bit taken back that she was the new royal, but then again it made since as she was the daughter of the last king and queen.

Her long, golden hair swayed as she walked out of the maze. A guard stood at the entrance awaiting her presence.

"Your Highness." He said.

"Yes?"

"It's the Jack. He's been found and brought back to the castle. We are waiting for you in the throne room." The queen straightened.

"That's very good." She started to walk back to the castle only to pause and turn her head back to the guard.

"What of the King clock?"

"It has yet to be found. Is there anything else I can do for you your Highness?"

"No, thank you." She let out a slightly disappointed huff as she walked through the doors to meet the new Jack of Spades.

Alfred wiped beads of sweat off his head as he looked at his work. He had been tasked with extending the job of extending his employer's porch and he had finally finished. It was a good thing to as it was high noon in the middle of the unbearable summer heat.

He ran a hand through his dirty blond hair as he packed up his tools. Once he finished with that he knocked on the front door of the very expensive looking home he had been working at to receive his pay. It wasn't much money, but it was enough to put food on the table at least.

It was too bad to. He had hoped that if he managed to put in a little bit more work this week he could finally buy a new pair of shoes which he desperately needed.

After receiving the money he was owed, he began to make his way home. Well, if you could even call it a home. It was more like a shack quite frankly. But, it did serve its purpose however.

The young man lived alone with the exception of his sister, Madilyn. She was home on certain nights and Sundays as she was in the maid business and tended to stay at the home she worked at.

As threes, his sister and him were just two steps up from being the caste of the homeless; aces. Because of this, it was harder to find higher paying jobs or more attractive jobs such as teaching, modeling, art, music, or sports. There simply wasn't the time or the money for it. For a three most work was limited to either hard labor, such as construction or dirtier jobs like mining, or being a servant or maid.

Twos and threes also had a terrible time when finding a decent paying job which often required them to work more days and longer hours. If you were an ace it was impossible to find any work at all. At least a five and a six can find well-paying jobs.

The young man walked through the door of his little shack and looked around. It was small, with only two rooms, the bathroom and the main area.

Alfred put his earnings from the day into a jar which he kept in a cupboard under the sink. For whatever reason, the jar seemed to be a lot bigger today. Maybe it had to do something with the bills that he had to pay last week.

He heard the door open behind him.

"Hey Maddi, how was work?"

His sister gave a depressed sigh as she added her pay to the jar.

"That's not very much." He said as he tilted the jar toward his face. The other blonde, still in her work clothes, sat down on the edge of the cot the two siblings shared. They never had the money to buy another. It's not like it bothered them though, they had always shared a bed ever since they were little.

"I dropped a nice plate when serving dinner so they took it out of my paycheck." Alfred gave a small chuckle.

"Stick it to them, one plate at a time. They're rich enough to buy another set if they wanted to."

"They're also rich enough to fire and replace me should they deem me unfit."

She sighed.

"We need my income too."

Her brother sat down next to her and patted her on the shoulder.

"It's fine. You know what?" His sister looked up from her hands.

"What?"

Alfred smiled.

"I've got the feeling that good things are coming to us and when they do you won't have to work for those old, cranky suits anymore."

"I sure hope so." Her face began to lite up. "I'm glad that at least you seem to be optimistic about the future."

"Well you remember what dad always used to say. If we feel down and butt-hurt nothings ever gonna change. We've got to keep our heads up." Alfred's face softened when he mentioned their father. A year ago their parents had been in a horrible accident which resulted in both of their deaths.

"Now come on, let's what we can make around here, I'm starving!" He rose and started to walk to the kitchen. His sister was hot on his heels.

"Alfred, don't you dare! I am not letting you touch anything after what happened last time!"

Alfred woke up to the sound of movement in the bathroom. He sat up and stretched, letting out a huge yawn as he reached for his glasses. He slid them on and squinted to try and adjust his eyes to the dark.

He would have loved to stay in bed, but he knew he had to get up or he would be late. He grabbed some clean clothes from the dresser and went to use the bathroom as his sister came out, ready to leave to work. They said a small hello and goodbye to each other as they went on with their morning routines.

The blond was careful not to knock over any candles as he started the shower. Ever since his mother and father had died, he and his sister had been tight on money and were forced to choose which bills to pay. In the end, they had decided that running water was more important than electricity.

At least they had running water. Alfred thought of a two he once knew who had to walk over a block just to use a bathroom because they didn't have any pluming or electricity in their own home.

The water started to run cold halfway through his shower. He loved his sister, but why did she have to take skin boiling showers? Was that just a girl thing?

Alfred turned the nozzle and grabbed a towel to get dried off. He didn't know why, but something about what he said last night to his sister about something good coming stuck with him. He had a certain feeling about today, and as he walked out the door, he could only hope that he was right.

I came up with this a while ago and it's just been sitting in my head. This is my first fic ever so it might suck a little. I don't know, but hey if you like it good for you.

I've read a lot of Cardverse AU's lately so I felt like I should try my hand at writing one too. I really like the idea of it and it seems pretty cool. Also yes, Canada and England are chicks. I like their nyo versions, whatever, fight me. I just feel like I never really see anything for them so I'm just giving them some appreciation.

Anyways, now that that's over, tell me what you think!

I do not and never will own Hetalia or any of its characters…