A Joker, An Ace and The Queen

Thank you everyone that gave support on the first chapter. It makes me super happy and motivated. After a wait, here is Chapter Two where some more faces pop up.

The hall was never silent, the drone of the clocks occupying all space in the room. They ticked in time, each second a sounding echo as they moved in heart beat with their master. The Queen shifted in his throne, crossing his legs in the opposite direction. His guards stood at the door, motionless as the world continued around them.

A voice spoke over the sounding ticks, a mantra of the rules of time and space but Arthur had heard the words enough times they were only a faint buzzing to him, rivaled only by the sounds of his own faithful time keepers.

Everything in the Hall of Spades worked on the power of the King and Queen, stopping and pausing as they pleased. He had always found it amusing somewhere in his mind that he moved it forward and his partner backward, only in complete still and harmony when paced equally by the pair.

Arthur had grown used to this game, the one Alfred always played when times and dates were arranged. He did not even tilt his head - emerald orbs unfocused as his King appeared from the thin air, seating himself upon his throne at his Queen's side. The tension in the room grew thick for a moment as their powers met and slowly began to mingled in peace, then the room was still again, not a guard flinching.

"You're late," the elder blond stated, head still rested on his hand. The clock at his side slowed to a stop, the hands freezing with a loud tock.

"Am not," the other replied childishly, flashing the gold, spade shaped time keeper that stood in his lap. "Exactly on time, not a second late."

They sat in silence for a moment, accustomed to the little game they always played. The King and Queen of Spades could only be late if they intended to be - they were always on time. It was the nature of things.

"What did you find out?" The Queen asked simply, straightening to give his partner a long, cold look. The younger male shrugged, a child almost to his father beside him. The knowledged one and the fool.

"No one knows where he went. They said the other Joker got to him first, he's a loose canon now."

Arthur sighed, his breath whistling over his teeth.

"He will find way here eventually."

"It isn't like a fairy tale, buddy," the elder joker sighed, running a spindly hand through his thin hair. "King and Queen are just titles. They can both be girls or both be guys or a bunch of he-she no bit dicks. Got it?"

Peter nodded, a bit wide eyed as Gilbert spoke to him. They had been talking for what seemed ages as they moved through the molted forest built upon greens and browns. He held the man's other hand tight, swaying it above him as he jumped over downed logs and scared strange, multi-colored birds. He seemed to know what he was saying and it fascinated him - like a story without a hole in it, no matter what you asked.

"Like my Papa and my Father," he stated, watching his feet as he walked. "They love each other very much and they are both boys."

The albino frowned only the slightest, eyebrows arching in subtle confusion and amusement. "Ah, yeah. Cool for ya, dude."

Somehow the silence remained comfortable, the two Jokers walking in parallel to each other. The young boy was thinking, sky orbs conveying his concentration upon his thoughts.

"Do they all love each other, Gilbert?" he asked finally, releasing his bony hand in order to scale a rock carefully, ending at the same eye level as his new caregiver. "The Kings and Queens."

"No," he responded almost instantly, tucking both of his hands into the pockets of his rag tag jeans. "I told you how they all come together because of their powers, 'ight?"

The young Joker nodded, following along on the bolder ledge. He had repeated a lot of what he already known from his Papa - the King and Queen of each suit where chosen because their powers completed each other. When together, they were stronger than anyone else in their suit and Kingdom. Gilbert had explained it a bit different, but it was mostly the same.

"Well, then no. They're pretty much stuck to each other 'cause they are powerless without the other. It's totally up to them weather they like each other or not, too. Clubs, for example," the silver haired man rambled, tuned into the shifting colours in the sky, "cannot stand one another. Little Elizabeta sleeps on one side of the castle and the bastard old King Ivan on the other."

Peter had grown used to the other's constant language that he'd stopped looking surprised by it.

"But then you got like the Spades," he continued, grabbing the boy by the armpits to hoist him down and onto the earth. "Who are totally smitten or whatever with each other. It's just a bunch of titles, the rest is up to them."

He laughed, taking up Gilbert's hand again. "That's good. That means that they only have to love each other if they want to, then they are always happy. Right?"

"... right."

His small feet hurt in the soles of his new, dark shoes. At his side his pocket watch swung, bumping between their legs as in turn his small fingers began to ache as well. Peter was ready to inform Gilbert of his ill standing when the loud shot broke the silence, disturbing the trees and the calm.

He turned and Gilbert was no longer there.

You're kind of a pussy, dickwad!

What? The boy froze, clutching his watch to his chest. Why would he be saying that now and where did he go? A loud shot ran out again and he brought his hands to his ears, squinting as it echoed inside his skull, pounding loud.

Jesus, ya kinda suck too. Get better aim next time.

He was occupied scanning the trees, anywhere, for the dark outfit and flashy expression of the elder Joker. Almost overly occupied - unnoticing of the blond who entering through a break in the trunks. Dressed in gold and bronze, he stood out vividly against the earth. Scowling, the mystery man pointed the barrel of his gun in Peter's direction.

The boy screamed as the next shot clearly missed him, whistling the air and shattering the very noise once more.

Ya would be a bit more threatening if you could actually do some magic, prissy face. What kind of Jack are you? You're makin' the kid cry, too.

Hiccuping, the young blond realized the elder companion wasn't even talking to him, rather to the gun wielding man that had emerged completely now from the thick, alive forest. It seemed to bow and dance around him, the branches leaning and touching as if apart of the new blond Jack.

"You're sort of useless," the mystery gunner stated flatly, gun still pitched in hand, waiting. "I have no use shooting you today, just go away."

The newly named Joker listened as the two argued, the occasional gun fire shaking his ear drums, the vibrations stunning his watch for the smallest millisecond. Feeling unharmed now that he realized he wasn't apart of the conflict, he watched in dumbfound as the other blond seemed to dance around and shout at nothing.

"Kind of funny isn't it?"

The voice was so soft and pure it caught Peter off guard, his voice stuck as if someone had wrapped him in a warm blanket. He turned slowly to the young girl, her hair similarly bronze but her expression lighter and certainly not weapon toting. The trees had seemed to still, the branches arching back for the sky.

"Vash always does that, he's my bruder, so it's sort of his thing," she explained further with a laugh, sitting upon a stump that seemed to almost grow for just her. The blond girl patted the area beside her, beckoning Peter's small presence. "He takes his title as Jack to the Diamonds a little too far."

The young Joker hesitated, clutching his watch to a chest for a moment as she spoke, the plants and the trees bending again almost at each breath she took. She was pretty but as aged as him almost - only a few years older, maybe. As Gilbert and the supposed Vash began their cat calls again, Peter took the seat beside her.

"I'm so happy I found you, because I want to help you, Peter Väinämöinen, the little Joker with the watch of Spades."

He stared blankly at her, freezing up as if all the heat in the world had escaped him again, the blanket more like a noose. It was eerie hearing her speak his name as if she knew him, and he shook his head 'no' in the slightest in reaction.

"A lot of us are looking for you, my bruder is good with these things so I'm happy to have had the honor to met you first."

"I have Gilbert," he said in defense, the clearing empty now with only him and the blond girl who knew his name. It was her turn to smile thinly as the sun rained through the toned canopy and she grasped his free hand. His other traced the lens of his watch in desperation.

"Can I only help you once and I want to help you get home before anyone else can take you. Any wish, and I can only do it once. No strings attached. You don't belong here. You need to go home."

He swallowed hard, pulling his fingers away from hers. The tree stump had grown into almost a lounge, enclosing them slowly from the world with the tree tops the only sky above them. The smile was still on her face, and how he wanted to go home. Papa and Father where there.

"My King and I really would love to help you, but I cannot without your permission," she edged, tilting her head the slightest, the flower in her hair dropping a single petal down into his lap. The girl reached for his hand again and the small blond shied away, wielding his watch as his only defense.

"No," he informed her in his soft voice, "no, I don't want to talk to anymore of you people. G-Gilbert's helping me and that's that, please, no." His sky blue eyes were dropped, covered in overcast clouds as he thought out his words. Peter didn't know who to trust anymore - he wanted to stay where he was, not be taken somewhere else on his own that may or may not be his home. Nothing had exactly been making sense to him and he had thought the other Joker was helping him at least.

To his surprise, she only smiled larger and nodded her head with a single articulation. She stood and the limbs slowly crawled away, retreating to their places as Oaks and Firs. Kneeling, she took up his free hand once more, and almost stunned, the smallest Joker watched as she kissed the top of it ever so gently. "If you find me and my King again, I would be happy to grant your wish, any wish. It's a favor from the Diamonds. Please, think about it."

Lili stood, lifting the hem of her golden weave dress as she stepped out into the clearing. Not a thing was out of place, the dirt firm and dappled as before. From the forest came the Jack from earlier, and Peter couldn't hear their words as they conversed ever so softly. Together they turned to him but only she waved, leading the way through the trees in the same silent fashion as they had arrived.

Peter screamed as Gilbert's hand landed firmly on his shoulder.

"Settle down kiddo, seesh. You just had audience with the Queen of Diamonds and her prissy little Jack, I'd be a little more than solemn if I were you," he said on a breath, twirling almost on a heel, dark spaded tail bouncing behind him.

"They're the only ones that don't want to kill you right now."

Everything had suddenly seemed to creak and growl at him, and with the others words at mind, nothing was at peace for him. Peter watched the hands of his clock, legs folded beneath him as he sat on the ground. Everything felt better when he was focused on only one thing, and right now that simple thing was home to him. Gilbert was in the tree above him, a leaf dislodging occasionally and fluttering to the earth beside him.

For once, he thought the silence between them was going to choke him.

Standing, the small Joker came to the base of the tree and traced his nail into the bark, staring up at his care taker. The stared down childishly before leaping down and occupying the space beside him. Gilbert ruffled his hair and took up his hand, holding it as they began to walk again.

Walking was all they ever seemed to do since they departed from the hole-in-a-tree house.

"So, what the long face for, baby cheeks?" he asked, glancing here, there and everywhere.

The man's palms didn't feel comfortable anymore, not in the way they used to reassure him that he had someone there beside him. It wasn't like walking hand in hand with his Papa or when Father would carry him. Peter let his hand slip away, cradling instead his watch. The elder Joker eyed him carefully, but shrugged.

"Alright," he stated sourly, rubbing his palms against the front of his dark shirt. Gilbert sighed through his nose as he picked a string on the outside of his pocket, tilting his head as he examined the orange hues filtering through the clouds.

"Aren't hurting my feelings here."

It was hard for him to tell the time here in a world that never seemed to follow the same agenda, the sky more of a rainbow during the day then a spectrum of blue to yellow and into the dark starry cover. There wasn't a farmer on the hill to bring in the sheep for supper, nor a cattle in the field that only mooed in the morning right when Papa was finishing with breakfast. The blond little boy was lost, and his only companion was a watch.

It dangled below him, a pendulum from the over hang he was seated on. There wasn't a light in the sky, the moon only reflecting the dark instead of the rays of the sun. Peter sighed in the chill, crossing his arms as he smacked his heel back against the rock face. Everything inside of him felt so wrong, like a clock wound out of tune.

Gilbert's thick and similar hoodie slipped over his shoulders, but the little Joker gave no recognition to the movement. In actuality, his body hunched the slightest backwards and it fell onto the cold earth behind him.

"So, what did I do this time that caused ya to run away and not look back?" He snorted, dangling his legs over the edge, so spindly and long they almost grazed the water only a short bolt below them. "If you didn't want ta sleep over there, ya should of jus' told me that."

Peter shrugged, rubbing at his eyes with the heel of his palm, dirt still caressing the creases of his skin from his mad dash through the trees.

"Ludwig was always good with that, pretending to like things I did that he really didn't," the elder Joker informed sadly, gathering his discarded clothing and bunching it in his lap. Fumbling with the zipper, he played with it in the darkness. "I know ya got no reason to trust me kid, but right now, that's all I'm lookin' for."

The blond boy glanced up, still wordless for everything the older man was saying. It was a nagging feeling to hear Gilbert say such things, Papa and Father had always mad sure he was nice to everyone. He poked his finger into the chain of his watch, jumping it through the air as it swung.

"I got here because my own little brother didn't trust me, an' if it can get you out of here, I really wanna show you to give me a lil bit of faith."

Testing his grounds, he used the sleeve of his clothing to brush the stray tear before it fell from Peter's cheek.

"I want to go home," he responded hoarsely, wrapping his free hand into the thick fabric. It felt horrible, and for how often he had been shedding tears as of late, he felt as if he held no ground anymore. Maybe if he cried enough, pity would send him home without another thought. The forest seemed to mock his thought, a lone bird laughing at him in the night fall.

Slowly Gilbert's arm wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him close, shushing him over the top of his head with the gentlest of breaths.

"It's alright. We all do. You're going to run the well dry soon, y' know."

He followed in the silver haired's steps, clinging loosely onto his tail as they walked as if in a makeshift leash purely of his choice. Gilbert was uncaring, a small smile pressing to his lips that was apart from the usual smirk he carried.

Curious long before when the forest turned from earth to chromatics, a field of coordinating flowers in each direction around them, Peter picked up speed to bounce closer behind as he spoke. "Gilbert, where are we going?"

The taller Joker shook his head sideways as if ridding an annoying sound from his ears, but his distaste wasn't in the question. "I have someone who owes me a favor. She's jus' a big enough bitch we have to do some walking to find her."

"Oh," he stated casually, switching his hold as he latched onto Gilbert's offering hand. The flowers danced, the violet petals brushing against his bare ankles.

"She'll... be able to help you, she's kinda old around here and can pull some strings."

The blond boy had already grown used to the notion no one really aged around here unless intentional, but he couldn't help but still picture this nameless woman full of wrinkles and smelling like Mr. Carriedo's Grandmother. The flowers in the air reminded him of her stale perfume.

"It'll be kind of hard to get to her, but, after that," the scarlet eyed man continued, giving the smaller hand a little squeeze, "I really can't promise you anything, pudge butt. One step at a time."

"That's alright, I trust you."