There will be more character deaths in the future. Should I shift the rating to M now?
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.
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I am the Queen
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Breaching the Queen's Maze, Alfred just declared war against Clubs. These led him to feel quite weak for a time, leading to his discovery of something his Jack was secretly doing. However, he dropped it for a later discussion.
The declaration racked the Queen of Clubs, making her go through another punishment from her possessed queen. It was relieving to know something was indeed happening to the Clubbish king, yet all was ruined by the assault.
Despite leading a strong front against the enemies, Elizabeta ended up fighting Alfred on her own. She fought with a weakened body, leading to her eminent death by the hands of the raging Spadanian king.
Before Alfred was the possessed king, yet he had no assurance this encounter will land Arthur back to his arms.
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I am the Queen
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Sadly, the frontal attack was not a diversion alone. It was indeed another force to take down Clubs. Yao was leading it, and due to lack of preparation from the other kingdom (more that the king does not even care), the rival army was able to infiltrate them. The Jack sped inside and tried to look for both his king and his queen. However, he was intercepted by some knights trying to win a losing war.
He was not as well-known as his king in terms of fighting, yet he had always been one of the best fighters Spades had. He single-handedly took care of five knights all at once with his exceptional skill with spears. He advanced to the next corridor where more knights were waiting for slaughter him. However, the only luck they had was the royalty of Spades not having enough time to make sure they were all dead. He smoothly advanced through the corridors until faced by a single enemy.
Yao let his spear down, but not his guard. He glared at the enemy who was on a wheelchair, with a sword on his lap. He watched the enemy's every move as he spoke, "You used to be one of the fighters I would be very wary to meet, aru, but now, you can't even stand. It's such a shame a severe infection had to decay you while you're still alive, Jack of Clubs."
Roderich smirked briefly before running his fingers along the length of his sword, "It's such a shame indeed; however, I do not stand here to hinder your cause, Jack of Spades. You are here to retrieve the queen, aren't you?" He erased his smirk and stared directly at Yao's dark eyes, "He's for your taking."
"I don't understand, aru. Do you think I'll fall for a trap?"
"Trap or not, you'll go, won't you?" The other jack turned his chair around and rolled away, "He's in the highest point of the castle. I can't guarantee his life, but I can guarantee his body."
"Why? Why are you betraying your Crown?"
The jack looked at him and turned away, "The Crown had been long poisoned. The Black Joker had his doubts and suspicions. Take the queen away and never let− the King of Clubs get near him again." He opted to disappear around a corner, "Be wary of the knight in the corridors ahead. Take the east hallways to avoid most of them. You don't have much time before your king dies."
"What are you talking about, aru?" Yao followed him slowly, seeing him enter a room.
With glowing green eyes, Roderich stared at him, "I can see everything that happens inside this castle, Jack of Spades. Hurry and take the queen before the man who used to be my king gets done with yours."
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I am the Queen
Rei Haruno −Sakura no Imooto
Chapter 11: The Siege of Clubs part 2
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The loud grumbling of the walls and the loud screaming of the fighting knights stung his hearing, making him rouse from another deathly situation. His half-lidded eyes scanned the dark room weakly, trying to see if someone would be there to hurt him. He could barely move with all his scars and bruises, more likely when he was still bound to the wall by heavy chains.
He knew what he was going through was way worse than the tribunal with the archbishop of Spades. Unlike there, he could not even speak nor perceive his surroundings. His vision was indeed impaired, relying heavily to sounds to get by the dubbed eternal darkness.
Arthur remembered the possessed king spoke of taking his magic back from him through consent, yet he could still do so by force. Extracting the energy he released through pain and brutality. It was the worse time of his life yet. He only wanted to go home and see Alfred. To think about it, Alfred was fatally hit by the king's sword. He did not even know if his king survived such grave wound. He was all out of hope until light drew on the wall next to him.
His blurred sight recognized light, and light alone. It was as if the door opened and someone walked in. What made him rattle the chains was the voice of the man calling out his name.
"Arthur! Don't worry, I'll set you free, aru."
Yao used his sword to break the chains and helped the queen off the wall. The Jack grabbed a curtain and wrapped Arthur with it while the queen was grasping for breath. His heart was beating so loud, his hands shaking in relief, excitement, glee, and fear. His Jack helped him out and walked him out of the room, trying to get out of the castle to have him treated.
"Y-Yao, w-where's Alfred? Is he doing alright?" Arthur asked the Jack on their way out the castle, not being able to see that well.
"I hope so, aru. He must be fighting− the King of Clubs." The Jack responded minutes before he stopped walking. Arthur felt the pause and rubbed his eyes, trying to see. Instead of calling out, the two royalties remained silent as they saw Alfred lying on the corridor before them.
He was not just there. He was tossed from the next hall where he was fighting Schrott. Alfred coughed out blood as he forced himself to stand up. Schrott, or Ivan in their eyes, walked in as well and smiled maliciously at the other king− only to notice Arthur and Yao at the side. The Jack pulled out his spear, preparing for anything. Arthur clenched his teeth strongly, keeping himself from trying to attack the possessed king.
"I see your friends found you, Arthur." He spoke, bypassing the king, "The question is can they get you out of this place?" He brandished the sword, making his intentions known to the two.
Yao let Arthur go to the wall as he brandished his own weapon. With the blade pointing at the possessed king, Yao spoke with a somewhat worried tone, "What is happening to you, Ivan?"
"He's not Ivan anymore!" Alfred yelled as he weakly got up, soon being joined by his queen who tried to help his king stand even though he couldn't do it well himself. The king continued after nodding at Arthur, handling himself on his own by then, "He's just borrowing Ivan's body, but we still needed to kill him regardless where he hides."
"Unforgivable." Yao whispered, glaring at the possessed king.
Schrott looked behind him and then in front of him before laughing out loud. This made them attack the Clubbish king who, in turn, raised his hands as if producing so much force to push the two away effectively. However, the two used their weapons to hold themselves down before attacking again. The green king faced the two blue royalties in a close-ranged fight, but since he had sorcery up on his sleeves, he had something to counter them.
The sorcerer king blasted Yao away with another force field before parrying an attack from Alfred. The two kings clashed their swords together and tried to overpower each other. Schrott smirked and knocked the Spadanian king back with his sharp summoned hands. These hands pierced through the king's shoulder and abdomen, pinning him against a wall. Yao would run, but he was caught in the rubbles Schrott made to keep him occupied.
"Ah, such poor king, aren't you, Alfred? Dying in search of his queen who was not even deemed to exist. Wake up, King of Spades; your queen is not even human. Why all these desperation?" Schrott chuckled as he whipped his sword to clear some blood from it. He then raised it before the king, planning to drive it through his very heart. When he moved to do so, Arthur suddenly ran towards him and pushed him off with so much force he could muster, making both of them break through the weakened wall− down to the ground outside the high castle.
"Arthur!" The blue king yelled as they fell off. The hands vanished, and he was able to stand and peer from the hole they made as Yao made it out of the rubble, running towards his king. Alfred then saw Schrott spawning a shadow horse with Arthur behind him. The green king finally fled the castle with the blue queen. Instead of giving up, Alfred slid down the hole, hoping to find a stray horse from some knight at the ground. Yao would follow, but some Spadanian knights called for him.
The King of Spades ran after the silhouette while looking for a horse in the bloody battlefield in the grounds of the castle. He then saw Yao's horse running around and whistled to call for it. Luckily, it came to his calling and let him ride it to chase the King of Clubs who took his queen away. The two kings rode through a path where no one hindered, soon disappearing into the horizon.
Moonlight shed faint light on their path as the two kings raced away from the crumbling castle. Schrott looked behind him, seeing an impressively persistent king of Spades. He would just think Alfred was crazy for doing so, but this young king knew about him being Schrott Fleisch. He knew he was facing the king of sorcerers in a fight that seemed to never end.
The people of Clubs were the only ones blessed by the kingdom's luck− not Schrott. His life force was running low, and he might end up relinquishing his hold on the King of Clubs if things get ugly. Ivan was right when he told him Alfred would not stop. He was a persistent bastard− of all people, he knew it the most.
Alfred was also low on energy and life force, yet he kept on secretly healing himself using his time magic− especially the wounds on his abdomen and shoulder. His queen was there in front of him, and he was almost there in getting him back from this scheming sorcerer.
The path was long, and both were almost at their limits, yet they kept on going until one falls down.
They rode for hours, and the spawned horse was staring to disintegrate. Schrott had no choice but to grab the unconscious Queen of Spades and jumped off before it faded into the darkness. This scene before Alfred sparked his determination to catch them faster. However, Schrott stopped to aim his palm at the King of Spades. Luckily, Alfred hopped off the horse before he blasted the poor steed away.
The King of Spades rolled off to a side and unsheathed his sword, challenging the possessed king, "Unhand my queen, Schrott! I'm not allowing you to take him with you!"
"Ah, still up for a fight, aren't you, King of Spades?" The possessed king laughed and started wheezing in weakness. Alfred took it as a chance to attack, only to be fooled. With a critical amount of the king of sorcerer's life force, he blasted Alfred away from him and deep into the cliff next to them.
Alfred would fight back, but his body was too weak to endure anything anymore. He could only watch himself fly away from his beloved queen and land along the steep slope of the cliff. His rendered-lifeless body rolled through the dirt and sharp rocks down the path to the foot of the cliff.
Banging his body against a big rock, the roll was done damaging the poor king. He even tried getting up and walking away from the rock, forcing himself to find a way to get back to where he just saw his queen. Using the rock as a wall, he tried to stand. His blurred vision only saw darkness until a faint light came into sight. He waited until the light grew nearer, only to see knights patrolling the area spot him. Alfred motioned to draw his sword, only to slide down the rock and lost consciousness once again.
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I am the Queen
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With the fleeing of the king and the death of the queen, Clubs surrendered to Spades after such a bloody siege of their kingdom. Even though the kingdom was taken by surprise, it was still a hard battle between the two armies. Spades did not truly aim to take control of Clubs, yet this opportunity proved to be helpful as a means to rule out threats to their Crown. With the absence of the king and queen of Spades, their Jack was in charge of taking control of the luckiest kingdom before the commander could take up the position.
The next morning, Yao was deploying knights to make sure Clubs would stand down the whole time Spades was ruling over it. It was impossible, but it was the kingdom of Spades− they were willing to do everything to ensure that. For now, Clubs had to accept the dire fate of their Crown.
The aristocrats, the knights, and the commanders were all imprisoned in their castle's dungeon. The maids of the castle were the only ones allowed to work and tend to the Spadanian knights in the castle of simplistic beauty. Any hostile action resulted to death so everyone was wary of committing any patriotic actions against the Spadanian Crown.
Unlike the others, Roderich was not among the ones who were imprisoned in his own dungeon. He was chosen to be the intermediary between the citizens of their kingdom and the Spadanian commander to take over. Also, he secretly led Yao to the Queen of Spades, and this fact led Yao to the green Jack's chamber that day.
The blue Jack knocked and opened the door, seeing Roderich sitting next to an open window overseeing the castle. Yao could tell he knew he was there so he just started talking right after closing the door behind him, "Jack of Clubs, Roderich Edelstein, I want to speak with you."
"I'm listening," was his short reply, eyes still outside the room.
"You have not told me about this whole− situation about the King of Clubs. What do you know about this, aru?" Yao stood there, waiting for his answer. He heard what Britannia, Alfred, and the oracles talked about the other day, and he thought Spadanian royalties were the only ones who knew about this certain secret. Hearing about someone who knew something was wrong piqued his interest.
"Is it true? The king fled last night?" The Jack seemed to change the subject upon the utterance of the topic. It was understandable, yet someone from the kingdom of power, evil, and knowledge would not back down that easy.
"The King of Clubs fled. The King of Spades followed him, though." He walked to the open window and gazed out as well as he talked, "You said the Black Joker had his doubts. About what, aru?"
"There's something more than just a pursuit of dominance when the King of Clubs took the Queen of Spades. That's all I know." Roderich answered before he finally looked at Yao who looked back at him as his tone changed, "I'm feeling tired from the speeches towards the people. Please let me rest."
The Jack knew he was lying, and he knew exactly why he was. Yao wanted to ask some more, but knocks came to the green jack's door. Roderich let the person come in, only to see the head of the maids peeking from the crack of the door. She opened the door slowly, starting with a heavy heart.
"Your Highness, what about the queen? Her Majesty− she's−"
"I know." Roderich sighed, and he looked at Yao again, "The Queen of Clubs is already rendered harmless to you and your Crown. Please let us bury her properly."
The blue jack saw nothing wrong about a funeral and burial of the longest-serving queen during the War of Colors. He let them guise her for a funeral with the Jack of Clubs overseeing it as well. Right now, the Clubs did not have a formidable leader to assure the victory of their cause. All they had was a king who ran away in the middle of a decisive battle.
The Jack of Clubs left the chamber with the head of the maids after gazing at the other jack for a moment. Yao, who was there on his own, was left to stare at the sight of the whole castle of Clubs from the window its Jack stared. Ignoring the abundance of candles in the jack's room, he stayed there while thinking of the words Roderich mouthed before he left.
'There is one true enemy, and it's not any of us.'
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I am the Queen
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Grief shrouded the maids and the Jack as they peeled the sheets covering their valiant queen. Elizabeta's eyes had dried with her tears staining her face, while her body was pressured to fight more than it ever could. The sharp blade of the King of Spades left a clean cut on her neck, showing how swift she earned her end. The maids groomed her in the clothes of the dead while Roderich took her head in her arms.
It was so poor for her to end this way: betrayed by her own king and beheaded by the king she despised the most. Roderich knew everything that happened in that staircase hall, yet he was too occupied waiting for the coming of the blue Jack. He chose ensuring the retrieval of the Queen of Spades than his own, one that loved him the most. It was a choice that had to be made− in assuring a better future for everyone.
Yet Spades failed him, if he could blame them.
The women asked for the head to be sewn to her neck. It was to be presented to a multitude so they wanted for the queen to look proper even after death. She was a queen who had achieved what most kings had and most queens never would even dare to try. She fought for the Crown even with a weakened body, and they wanted to give her the utmost honor they could. They would never present her with her head off her beautiful body.
While some were changing the queen's clothes, two women were sewing her head to her neck. The sobbing of the maids was as evident as the loud ripping sound the thread was making. It was questionable that her body had not smelled nor did it decay, yet they cried all the same. With the head completely reconnected to her body, the women finished redressing her− and light gently embraced her body.
The maids and their jack were taken aback by the scene, and the fact that her body floated in mid-air. Soon, the light swirled, and her cuts and bruises started healing on their own. The women doubted the phenomenon, while Roderich clenched his fist in dread. After some seconds, the lights faded as well as the body was gently laid back on the ground. The women loomed their heads to inspect their queen− only for her eyes to open.
"−bert."
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End of Chapter 11
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Thank you for reading! Please review! Ooooh, she came back, but what are your certainties nothing will go wrong?