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"Now's our chance! C'mon! Let me finally grind these sons of bitches into the ground!"
"You'll get your chance, I promise. However, I've already promised the first kill to someone else~"
"That's right. That wimpy little Jack is dead!"
It had been several years since King Ludwig and Queen Kiku had been crowned the rulers of Hearts. These years had been filled with prosperity and peace. Many occupants of the kingdom had been referring to their reign as the Years of the Golden Hearts.
Young Feliciano Vargas, the Jack of Hearts, skipping happily through the halls. Staff of the palace would stop and smile at him as he skipped past. Feliciano was the most carefree Jack the Kingdom of Hearts had seen in a very long time, yet he still knew how to get his duties done.
With the years that passed since the marriage and coronation of the King and Queen came years of recovery from heartbreak, but Feliciano was recovering, slowly but surely. It was rather difficult watching the man he loved get married to another and then watch them rule together, but Feliciano knew as well as anyone that it was as good as treason in Hearts to disobey your parents orders. Ludwig's parents wished for him to marry Kiku, and so Ludwig did.
As Feliciano was distracted by his thoughts, he did not notice as he wandered into a part of the palace unknown to him. When he noticed the cobwebs coating the walls and the broken windows, he realized that he had stumbled upon an abandoned section of the palace.
Now, Feliciano was not one for bravery. He felt himself growing nervous and started to panic that he was perhaps lost. Soon, he remembered the song that he and Ludwig used to sing together when they were younger that would always calm him down.
As he explored the abandoned portion, Feliciano began to sing to himself, "Draw a circle, that's the earth. Draw a circle, that's the earth. Draw a circle that's the earth, I am Italia!" The Jack smiled as he remembered all the happy memories connected with the song and began to calm down.
He soon stopped in front of an old supply closet, realizing that he was in fact very lost. Feliciano sighed; Ludwig would not be happy with him once he found him. Feli was so distracted by the thoughts of how angry Ludwig would be, he almost failed to notice the creaking noise of a door opening.
Almost.
Feliciano whirled around to see the closet door opening. Failing to see a possibility of danger in this situation, he leaned closer to the door. When the door was completely open, the closet remained pitch black. Inside the closet, a pair of glowing red eyes opened. From the light cast from the eyes, Feliciano could see the vague outline of a face.
The Jack's curl began to frizz up as he began to feel unbelievably terrified. The person in the closet's lips began to curl up into a wicked smile. "Hello, little Jack. Would you like to help me start a war?"
Feliciano gasped and turned to run away. Before he could even move an inch, he felt a hand over his mouth and he was dragged into the closet. The door snapped shut behind him and he heard his captor clicking his tongue at him. "Tut tut, little Jack," the voice whispered, "That wasn't very polite."
Feli felt the cool metal of a knife caress his cheek. He could hear the grin his captor wore as he spoke and slit his throat.
"You shall set everything in motion. Sweet dreams, little Jack."
Halfway across the world, in the Kingdom of the Spades, King Alfred was performing his normal duties. He sat on his throne, his Queen by his side, and listened as people throughout the Kingdom came to him with their problems. He listened patiently and tried to solve each problem as quickly as he could. Alfred still had to check the future for issues before he could finally call it a day.
Thankfully, not many people had decided to visit him that day. As soon as the last man was ushered out the door, Alfred zipped off his throne and to the room that he had dubbed 'The Room of Time.'
Kind of dramatic, but it also sounded completely and utterly badass.
Once he reached the room, he let out a small smile as he looked around. Soon after he and Arthur had been crowned, his mother had passed away. The Room of Time held one of his last memories of her and always gave him a sense of calm.
Making sure that the door was securely locked behind him, he took the Watch of Spades out of his suit pocket and began swinging it back and forth. The watch began to pick up speed and he was transported to the future in a flash.
When he opened his eyes, he was not in fact standing in the Castle of Spades as he wished to be. Instead, he was standing in a pile of rubble. Alfred whipped around, searching for the familiar Spire of Clubs in the distance or perhaps the Tower of Diamonds, but nothing. All he could see was destruction. He heard the clashing of metal in the distance before he finally heard someone scream.
It wasn't just anyone's scream, however, it was Arthur's. Alfred let out a shriek, "Arthur!" He clutched the watch in his hand tightly and muttered, "Take me back, take me back!" The images in front of him slowly began to fade out, but not before he heard bone-chilling laughter and another scream.
With a stumble, he landed back in the present. Breathing heavily, he unlocked the door and rushed out of the room. With a bang, he swung open the doors and called out, "Yao!" A young Chinese man with his hair tucked into a ponytail rushed into the hallway. This was Wang Yao, his Jack of Spades and childhood friend.
"Yes your majesty?" he said. Alfred scowled, an expression that seemed to mar his usual cheerful face. "Call the Meeting of the Suits. I have something that I'd like to discuss."