It's been a long while. Please don't kill me for this~
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, Cardverse!Hetalia or any character that has copyright. I only own the plot and the dialogues involved. Some references had been used, but they are not fanfics from any author.
Warning: In contrast to what I normally do, I will put this in Rating T because of lack of violence, gore, strong language and mature themes. I hope it stays that way. [Character death for this chapter.]
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I am the Queen
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The day in Spades was welcome with the arrival of Arthur's mother, Britannia in the lands of the Spades. She was given immediate audience with the wounded king, where she argued about how the king could save the queen.
Soon, they were summoned by the oracles, only to have Alfred listen in to the true nature of Arthur's existence to the Crown as well as the story behind Britannia's involvement to the other queens.
In an unknown chamber, Arthur woke up in the presence of the person who possessed the Clubbish king. He was also briefed about what this man wants from him, leaving questions inside his head to which Alfred had answers.
Right now, an invader came to the Queen's Maze, bringing another declaration of war with him.
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I am the Queen
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The three queens eyed at the man peering from the crack with disbelief. It was the first time a non-Queen was able to access the Maze- even though the access was forced. Kiku could only shake her head to forget the shock and tried to stand up despite the rambling of the ground.
"What are you doing here, King of Spades!? How did you get here!? This is a sanctuary for queens alone!" The Heartenese queen spoke, earning the attention of the intruder.
"It doesn't matter how I got here." The king answered, yet slowly getting out of breath, "I came here to deliver a message, more like a threat." He held the crack to retain balance, one hand pointing at the Queen of Clubs, "I'm declaring a direct assault on Clubs today! You shouldn't have taken my queen away f-from me!"
Alfred grabbed his head once before continuing, "If you don't willingly give him back, I will- I will-" The king was weakening fast. "I will burn Clubs to the ground!"
"W-What?" Elizabeta gasped before trying to defend her castle, "We do not have the Queen of Spades!"
"Your king- or whoever you think he is- took Arthur." Alfred tried to stand, the tremors worsening, "I think I made myself clear. Fear me, Queen of Clubs; you have not seen me really mad."
The king then ran off deeper into the crack, the tremors subsiding. Soon, they were transported back to the mirror rooms, confirming the disappearance of the king in the maze. Elizabeta could only give soulful looks to the two other queens before leaving the maze completely.
The Queen of Clubs woke up from her sleep, shooting up to a sitting position. She then pressed a hand against her face, groaning loudly. It seemed to be noon time, but she was still staying in bed. She was bare with only sheets covering half of her, making bruises and cut marks visible in her body. The worst one was the one on her neck, which appeared like a hand mark.
Surprisingly, everything looked new.
The man lying next to her noticed her sudden actions, and decided to get up as well. He reached for her back to take her attention, "Elizabeta, is everything alright?"
"I just had a nightmare. I'm going to take a walk. Just stay here, Roderich." She then leaned towards him, kissing his lips before leaving the bed. She slipped into her clothes, soundlessly flinching as her bruises hurt as she moved. She then waved at the man before walking out of the room.
Elizabeta took a deep breath and held her neck gently, slightly feeling the bruise. She then whispered to herself, "He took the Queen of Spades- a sorcerer. I don't care if he threatened me yesterday, but I must find him and take Arthur away from him-"
She straightened and walked as the same dignified Queen of Clubs. "He who took King Ivan's identity."
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I am the Queen
Rei Haruno−Sakura no Imooto
Chapter 10: The Siege of Clubs part 1
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Alfred rose from bed with a hand pressed against his head. He just broke into the Queen's Maze, first thing after setting a small camp along the way towards Clubs. They had marched right after he talked with Britannia and the oracles, seeing his mission as a race against time. However, his troops needed to take a break and eat their midday meal so they had to set up a camp. The king was not particularly hungry so he just slept, breaking in the maze while he's at it.
However, like any other high-level spell, this activity took a toll on his body. Another good amount of life force was used, but it was something he could regain along the way towards the luckiest kingdom. It would have been better if he did not come, but it was a basic law of warfare- only the scared and the weak charge unannounced.
Looking around, he did not find Yao inside his tent. He was supposed to be there, resting there with him. Anyway, he held his forehead as he tried to stand. He was mildly light-headed, yet he knew he would be back to optimum condition the moment they reach Clubs. He walked out of the tent and found his troops, enjoying the break.
"Your Majesty," A commander knight came to him and reported, "We're ready to go when you are. The knights have eaten and are already well-rested."
"Prepare everyone; we're moving out. I want to reach Clubs fast. We'll attack when the night sets in." Alfred spoke normally to hide his temporary weakening, his eyes on him briefly before he tried to find his Jack in the scene, "Also, did you see the Jack? I need to talk to him about something."
"I saw him at the back of the campsite, Your Majesty."
"Okay, do what you're asked." The king left, not letting the commander notice his sloppy trudging. The king shook his head once in attempt to deal with the weakness and headache. Soon, he saw Yao at a distance. He was holding a pigeon with a strange-colored collar, and it looked like he was whispering to it. There was a note rolled and tucked against one of its legs, making it a messenger pigeon.
Yao finished whispering and eyed at it momentarily before releasing it to fly away from them, towards the direction of Spades. The Jack then whispered, "I hope you'll get the note through this time, aru," loud enough for the king to hear when he reached him.
The King of Spades tapped his Jack, and then Yao flung to him. The king managed a smile, yet his eyes were glaring, "Haven't heard from someone lately?"
"I'm sorry, Alfred." Yao only whispered in response.
The king would ask, but he needed to be concentrated with his one task. He only eyed at the Jack before dropping the matter, "Let's talk about that non-Spadanian pigeon later. For now, we're getting Arthur," the king turned his back at him before talking, "and I need you to be there as my Hand. We've been together for quite a while, Yao. You know well enough not to betray me."
"I'm not betraying you, Alfred," was his assurance.
In contrary to Yao's words, the strange messenger pigeon flew all the way around the forest and rivers to ensure not being seen by any knight marching towards its destination, Clubs. The pigeon flew a long way until it landed on an open window sill in one of the towers of the Clubbish castle. The pigeon stayed there until a big hand took it and pulled out the note before letting the pigeon go.
'It must be suspicious for me to send you this note right now, but he really wants you to return our Queen. He's desperate. Also, why aren't you responding to my messages?'
"He must be writing this with so much anxiousness. So short and almost wrote the coded message in scribbles." The King of Clubs chuckled before he took his cup of wine from his table, relaxing in his chair. It was something he was not supposed to do, more likely when he knew the King of Spades was up to something− brutal.
The possessed king then snapped once near the candelabra on the table next to his bottle of wine. The wick ignited, and the unneeded light gave a yellowish glow to the objects next to it. He held the parchment over the flame, making it catch fire and burn until nothing was left but its ashes. He got up from his chair with his cup of wine, the flame dying on its own. He leaned against the window and sipped some from it.
"It must be so nice being the King of Clubs. Being feared by your power alone, yet you found some time socializing with the Hand of your one true enemy. Now I understand how carefree you were in roaming your own castle, not realizing someone could rob everything all of a sudden. You're still conscious deep inside, aren't you, Ivan?"
Schrott sighed with a grin and continued conversing with the life caged within the back of his mind, "You know, Ivan, I felt so good when I was extracting some energy from the Queen of Spades. You must have felt so powerful making such a strong person beg for mercy like that. I know I couldn't get all of it that way, but at least I can get some back. Enough to protect me from the rage of the other king. Alfred will kill me, you say? Would it alarm you if I say he will kill you as well if he does so? Then again, no human can defeat the king of sorcerers. I am Schrott, and I will end humanity."
He drank his cup empty before knocks came to the door. The door opened with a crack, revealing a determined green eye of the Clubbish queen. She spoke loud enough for her king to hear, her voice strong and brave unlike the last time she faced him, "I wish to have a word with you, Your Majesty."
Schrott walked to the table and laid down his cup before answering, "You may come in, my queen." He filled his cup with wine as the queen entered his chamber. She stood in front of the door, suspiciously in her armor. Schrott chuckled as he noticed she was staying quiet, "You look like you do learn, my queen. Good, good. You may speak now, Elizabeta."
"We received word that the King of Spades is heading towards our castle in search of his queen. He claimed that you have Queen Arthur of Spades. Do you?" She spoke with a strong stance, yet her mouth was shaking at some point. She was not scared of him, yet she feared what might happen.
Just yesterday, her king changed. He was more open in being brutal to his constituents and other nobilities unlike before. Two days ago, Ivan was more of what he was remembered to be by everyone in the castle. Yet yesterday, his attitude took a wild swing for the worse. He almost killed his queen by beating her up when she questioned his changes and suspicious decisions to suddenly invade Hearts.
"Would it bother you if I do?"
"What are you going to do to him?" Elizabeta's eyes glared way stronger than earlier, making Schrott annoyed by it. He walked away from the table to the female, the cup in hand. The queen balled her fists briefly before stretching her fingers in case she had to draw her sword all of a sudden.
"Don't look at me like that, my queen. You do know what's going to happen to you. I thought you're learning."
"Where is Arthur? Want do you want from him?" She unsheathed her sword, "How is Ivan involved in this?"
I am the Queen
Roaming around in his wheelchair, Roderich came to a room to where he brought a lighted lamp. It was already dark, the sky covered with a curtain called night. He knocked on the door and opened it slowly until the crack was wide enough for him to get in. The room was awfully dark; his lamp was the only source of light. He closed the door behind him before rolling his chair towards the bed concealed by curtains. Putting the lamp on a drawer, he stopped next to it and spoke, "Elizabeta, how are you doing?"
"I can't believe− Ivan can do this." The queen answered from inside the curtained bed, "I will never forgive him."
"I don't think it was still Ivan, Elizabeta." Roderich murmured before he drew a curtain with his fingers, shedding light on the queen, "How can you convince yourself it's still our king?"
She was in her undergarments, revealing most of her skin− and most of the cuts and bruises she received from the possessed king again. Her lip was busted this time, and one of her eyes was half-lidded due to bad bruising around her eyes. Once again, it was another held-back assault.
Her weakened eyes gazed at the Jack before tears rolled down her face, "What do you mean? It's still our king." She stifled a sob, carefully wiping her eyes with it. She was not crying because of the pain; she was crying because someone finally said it. It was detrimental for royalties to doubt each other so she was keeping herself silent until earlier, trying to forget this unshakable feeling the king was not the king she knew anymore.
"Months back, Gilbert came to see me about this peculiar feeling. That was when I realized something was happening to Ivan, but I could not point it out for I might lose my head. Listen to me, we have to−"
The Jack's plan was interrupted when a bell resounded along the corridors of the castle. The queen jumped off the bed quickly, enduring the pain of her predicament, to put on her clothes and armor. Roderich rolled towards the window and seeing knights ran towards a certain direction.
"They're here." Elizabeta spoke as she strapped her sword band around her waist, "Spades. The blasted King of Spades finally came to meet his end. Stay here and have something to protect yourself, Roderich."
"You're fighting the King of Spades in that condition? Is that a death wish, Elizabeta?" The Jack glared at her and rashness, yet she did not answer while putting necessary accessories.
The queen opened the door and looked at him over her shoulders with a helpless smile, "Don't worry, Roderich, I'll be back to you." Yet a whisper lingered as she closed it, "Maybe."
With that, she walked opposite where the knights were going, knowing that Spades was trying to be clever by attacking at night. She also thought of the frontal attack as a diversion, and she might know where the enemy knights could go. There was this place in the castle where the stationed knights could have been isolated under an attack. She grabbed a running squire and told him to call on knights to come with her. All knights who ran past her ran back to follow her as she heavily walked towards the supposed entry of the enemy. She was able to take some men with her by the time she arrived before a big double door. Even with an aching body, she kicked open the barred door− revealing the clueless guards. Before they could even ask what was happening, two separate arrows came to hit them dead. The queen unsheathed her sword and gestured the knights to attack, thwarting the supposed soundless infiltration of the Spadanian knights.
Blood bath painted the entrance as both sides clashed. Elizabeta was enduring the stress on her body as she diverted her fury towards the possessed king to the enemy. She was loudly groaning, delivering heavy slashes to anyone who dared to stand before her. She was more of a monster than she ever was, finding the lives of these Spadanian knights a perfect cooling agent.
However, she noticed someone ran past everyone else, successfully getting inside the castle. She flung her head to see this man covered in a dark cloak− slaughtering knights who were trying to stop him from inside. Her instincts roared inside her before she took off to chase the man. She never saw his face, but she could tell the King of Spades from the way he swings his sword.
Of course, Alfred was not oblivious he was being chased. He would fight the queen on the spot, but he had a more important task to do. He needed to find Arthur before anything else happens to his queen. He did not know where he could be, and he did not know who would be there to greet him. All he knew was that he needed to take him back home.
Elizabeta knew the castle more than Alfred would ever have. She seemed to know which hallways to take to get in front of the assaulting king. Instead of following him, she took another route around the castle. This misinterpreted action relieved the king for a while, making him start kicking doors down. Alfred was just going around to where his feet would take him, raiding every possible place where he could find Arthur. One time, he opened a room where the maids where hiding. They all cried and screamed for mercy, but he walked in and grabbed the youngest of them.
"A room where the King of Clubs doesn't let you go in, where is it?" He spoke monotonously, murderous intent written all over his eyes.
"A-Attic!" The maids cried in behalf of the one grabbed, making him throw the maid back to them.
He did not care slaughtering anyone; he just needed to get to where Arthur was. However, when he got to the staircase lobby, Elizabeta sent a jump attack at him. He rolled out of the way and glared at the state of the queen. However, she did not flinched under his gaze and continued attacking. He did not have any choice but to get rid of this annoying Queen of Clubs.
He brandished his sword while they both walk in a circle, wary of each other's attack, "Queen of Clubs, you could stand down tonight, and you're not going to die. Fighting in that kind of condition will get you killed."
"Are you afraid of me, King of Spades?" Elizabeta smirked before she launched an attack at him.
The two exchanged blows, something Elizabeta's body would not be able to handle for a long time. If only she was fighting for her king, she would have stepped down at that very moment, but she was fighting to protect the glory of their Crown. She did not want Alfred to just trample their sovereignty while he was just on a rampage to find a missing queen. She knew it was a big disadvantage, but she wanted to fight. What the possessed king did to her was not an excuse to forsake the Crown.
He was running out of time. Alfred was focused on the fight with the strongest queen alive, yet he was trying to see if the possessed king would be there. He could be running off with Arthur at that very moment. If he spent more time playing with a desperate kitty cat, he might just miss the chance to save his queen. He needed to end this quick, and the queen was begging for it anyway.
At one powerful swing against each other, Alfred broke the queen's sword. His swing missed her entirely though. Seeing an opening, she stabbed the king with her broken sword, but that attack got her caught. Alfred grabbed her by the hair and flipped her around until she was on her knees and back turned against the king. His sword was in the back of her neck, with her arms too tired to do anything anymore.
She held back the tears to roll down, knowing what could happen next. However, certain clapping came from the top of the stairs. Both royalties eyed at the figure, and they saw the King of Clubs descending from the stairs. He spoke with a imitation of Ivan's childish chuckling, "Ufu~ congratulations in invading Clubs, Alfred."
"Schrott." The King of Spades uttered a different name with strong resentment and disgust, making the possessed king smirk differently. As the other king unsheathed his sword, Alfred slowly swiped his sword through her, ripping the queen's head off her neck.
Tears rolled down from her eyes, the queen muttering a name of a man she would never see again.
The queen's body fell to the floor, soon followed by her head that was dropped from the king's hand. He then vigorously brandished his sword, taking the blood off the blade. The raging king pointed his sword at the possessed king, "Tell me where Arthur is, or I'll make your head roll down the stairs with this queen's."
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End of Chapter 10
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Thanks for reading! Please review! I badly need it right now.