Yao had the feeling that today would be a very long day. After the deaths of Antonio, Lovino and Kiku yesterday, the other Royals were too stressed to partake in a meeting, so Arthur had Yao meet with them individually to get their stories. He was awake late into the night putting everything together, and now had a concrete timeline to be referenced.
As everyone gathered into the meeting room, Yao took a look around the table. On his side of the table, Alfred was in the middle, with Yao to the left and Arthur to the right. On the left side of the table, Queen Lilli was in the middle, with Matthew to her left and Emil to her right. On the right side at the table, Ludwig and Feli sat together whispering. At the far end of the table, opposite to the Spades, two empty seats were waiting for the Jokers.
Yao took a quick glance to where Lilli was whispering with Matthew. The poor girl had suffered the most so far, having lost the three people most dear to her in the Deck. Yao knew she was very close to Francis and Antonio, so those deaths stung for her almost as much as Vash's. Since the Queen and Ace had to escape Diamonds as quickly as they could, Lilli didn't even get the chance to grieve for her brother until after Antonio had also passed on.
Yao noticed that Matthew was gently holding her hand, and he realized how much the Spade Ace's presence was helping Lilli. Matthew had comforted her through everything the day before, and Lilli eventually dozed offs in his arms after the sun set. Alfred had found them holding each other in their sleep this morning, and Arthur was lucky to get the idiot out of the room before Matthew woke up. Yao could already see that the night of rest had helped Lilli immensely.
Yao took a look at the other side of the table, and noticed that Feliciano's signature smile was nowhere to be seen. When it became apparent that the Jokers and Aces didn't rescue Lovino, Ludwig ended up dragging the hysterical Jack out of the room to explain what happened to the Ace and Queen of Hearts. Feliciano's wails of despair were loud enough to pierce eardrums through the walls.
"Okay, let's get this show on the road," Peter exclaimed as he and Gilbert entered the room and took their seats.
"The Absorbing is an old prophecy, assembled a few centuries ago by the Four Queens who were in power at the time," Gilbert began, "The prophecy speaks of the end of the Four Suits, and how the Deck will unite under one banner. The only concrete information was written in the Ledgers of each of those Queens. During the events of the last few days, I consulted the memories of previous Jokers, and there was only one who could identify what the glowing magic and the burnt Marks meant. This same Joker was alive at the time the prophecy was made, and the Queens allowed him to know that these strange things could only be caused by the Absorbing."
"The Clubs must have figured it out," Alfred said, "They somehow knew that the Absorbing had begun, and they already took a huge advantage over us."
"It certainly sounds like it," Yao concurred, "According to what we have witnessed the last two days, we can conclude that Roderich took Vash's Mark, Ivan most likely took Francis's, Elizaveta took Kiku's, Natalya took Lovino's, and Matthew took Antonio's."
"This is going to be lots to keep track of," Emil commented, "Wouldn't it make sense to find these Queen Ledgers?"
"Unfortunately, Elizaveta set Lilli's study in Diamonds on fire, and all the Diamond Queen Ledgers have been destroyed," Peter stressed, "Whatever information would have been written by Queen Juliana is lost. Gilbert also heard Elizaveta talk about searching Kiku's study for Heart Queen Ledgers, so it's possible that those ones have also been destroyed."
"That's not entirely true," Lilli confessed, "Antonio told me his family has been studying the Absorbing for years. Before her death, Queen Jeanne had lent him the Ledgers of Queen Juliana, so that Antonio may continue his research. He was telling me about this just before the Club Royals arrived the other day, so the required Diamond Ledgers should still be on his desk. He had read all he could on the Absorbing but it wasn't enough information, so he had recently asked Queen Kiku to look in the Hearts Ledgers."
"Are you implying that Kiku knew about the Absorbing?" Ludwig asked.
"I believe he did," Lilli continued, "The report I received from Kiku the other day had a note for Antonio slipped into it without a seal. It said that Kiku had found discussion of the Absorbing in Queen Valencia's Ledgers, but he wouldn't share it unless Antonio revealed how Diamonds was involved."
"Hold on a second," Feliciano interrupted, "Did you just say Queen Valencia?"
"Yes, I did," Lilli replied, "Valencia would have been one of the Four Queens who assembled the prophecy."
"Lovino and Kiku gave me Valencia's Ledgers about a month ago," Feliciano divulged, "I was told they would have information that I would need, and that I should keep them safe!"
"You have Queen Ledgers hidden somewhere?" Ludwig exclaimed, "Why the hell didn't any of you tell me about this?"
"I don't know why they didn't tell you," Feliciano faltered, "They were more insistent on making sure I knew where to find them, in case they… in case they weren't around to retrieve them when the time came."
"Well, I think that time has come," Alfred took over, "We should arrange some trips to Diamonds and Hearts, in order to retrieve those Queen Ledgers, while Arthur can help us find the ones for Spades. I'll take a wild guess and say we won't be getting to the Club Ledgers easily."
"What about the Timepieces?" Matthew pointed out, "Antonio said we should check those as well, it might be tied to everything somehow."
"If we are going to check the Hearts Timepiece, Ludwig and I both have to go," Feliciano noted, "What if the Club Royals are still there?"
"Let me find out, hold on a second," Peter said, and the others gave him a moment to channel his powers before continuing, "They are not a problem. The Club Royals are returning to their own castle, probably to regroup before their next move."
"Okay, we have a plan," Gilbert summarized, "Peter will take Ludwig and Feliciano to Hearts, while I'll take Lilli and Matthew to Diamonds. The rest of the Spades will stay here and find the Ledgers of the Spade Queen who ruled at the time."
"Why is Mattie going to Diamonds?" Alfred whined.
"Because he is technically the Ace of Diamonds," Gilbert sassed.
"Don't worry, Al," Matthew reassured, "Nothing will happen. We'll be back before you know it."
"Well, let's get going," Gilbert said, walking over to the Diamonds pair, "Lilli, you might want your handkerchief right away, I'm certain the dead bodies are stinking up the place."
"Wait a moment," Yao reminded, "Does anyone know which Spade Queen would have written about the Absorbing? We'll have to search through Arthur's entire study for the right Ledgers, after all."
"Oh yeah, of course," Gilbert chuckled, concentrating for a moment, "It would have been…. Ah yes, Queen Guinevere of Spades! Find the Ledgers of Queen Guinevere, we'll be back shortly!"
Gilbert grabbed Matthew and Lilli, and they teleported away, as did Peter with Ludwig and Feliciano moments later. Yao was alone in the room with Alfred, Arthur and Emil.
"I should imagine that everyone will return at different times," Emil assumed, "I'll inform the housekeeper to prepare for scattered lunches. I'll also get some quills and paper for making notes."
"Thank you, Emil," Yao acknowledged, "We'll be in Arthur's study, looking for Guinevere's Ledgers."
Author's Notes
So, they're now going to try to figure out what the hell is going on here. A bit of a spoiler: the next three chapters are going to reference a LOT of the tiny hints I've been dropping through the entire story so far, so now is a good chance to re-read some of it. None of you have jumped at guessing anything yet in the reviews, so now's our last chance to see if any of you could catch onto anything before the truth is revealed...