and i'm back! god, too many things happened these two weeks. i got literally addicted to fire emblem fates and for probably at least a straight week thought of nothing but. so basically my schedule after school was go work out for thirty minutes, do homework asap then fire emblem until i simply couldn't anymore. the only reason i slowed down around chap20 was because i didn't want to finish the game too quickly and that i needed to write lol. but yeah. the OST was, and still is!, my main writing track for the next 10? 15? chapters

also, i don't want to talk about the world's status right now. in some weird way, i hope this update'll lift everyone's spirits. but seriously, america, what in the everloving fuck? jesus, i went horseriding for the entirety of this week and even on thursday HK time we were looking at results while scoffing down sandwiches and doing crosswords. don't want to talk about the reactions. i know i'm lucky, living on the other side of the world, but it hurts so much to see my wonderful internet friends living in the states worry and cry about what's going to happen to them. so to all my sweet american readers, i'm sorry.

heavy a/n aside, lots and lots (!) of reviews this week, so they're all downstairs? quick question where did you all come from?


as always, i do not own the selection nor hetalia. these belong to kiera cass and himaruya hidekaz respectively. disclaimer for blatant mpreg (sorry), best friend visiting, and some dramatic old faces that you all thought i forgot about well you're wrong because he comes in with a bang

pun definitely intended


The scene is set in the Hearts kingdom, two weeks before where we left off from the last Arc.

"Here is your new study, Your Highness – I hope that you find these facilities to your liking?"

"Er, thank you very much." Kiku said, gingerly taking a step into the new office. It smelled of brand new paint as Kiku had requested a paler shade of red in the room, and had arranged to put in some glass panels for easier accessibility. The furniture was all brand new, Feliciano and Ludwig had both seen to that, and with a squeak Kiku set himself in his new, red velvet chair.

"Are all the measurements to your satisfaction, Your Highness?" Sophia, now his new assistant and advisor, asked, folding her book down and flashing him a smile.

Kiku nodded, but internally he was squirming in discomfort. The Mark hadn't fully formed on the small of his back yet, so even though he felt the title of Queen of Hearts, he still thought the title Your Highness was unfitting for someone of his status.

"Is it all right if I have a little time to tidy up? Thank you, and please extend my thanks to the King and Jack," Kiku said, pulling a little at his bangs. "Thank you, Sophia."

"No problem, Queen Kiku!" she laughed teasingly, then closed the door and went to wherever the couple stayed.

With a sigh, he waited until her footsteps had subsided before taking a look at his suitcase and beginning to unpack it in the room. It was full of those tattered books that he had stuffed in the suitcase when Arthur wasn't looking, a set of pictures, and the first outfit that he had worn to the palace. Hesitating for a moment, he slipped it on, relaxing in the comfortable, familiar fabric that was so much different from the new world that he had just been placed around.

Pulling out his chair, he organized a few pictures around his desk, making sure they faced away from the door in case any visitor would ask about them.

The first one he put on was a picture of him and Arthur when they were first admitted to the holding facility. The landscape behind them had changed since they had left, a Spades flag in the background instead of the now Hearts flag on its pole, and Arthur was missing a few teeth but he was grinning broadly and his arm was slung around Kiku's neck. Kiku himself looked a little embarrassed, but was offering his own smile accompanied by a little thumb up.

The second one was a slightly worn polaroid of the Hearts Elite with Feliciano, Lovino and Ludwig, right after the balloon fight. The King's normally slicked back hair was messy and soaked, but the Jack was smiling broadly and the Ace was half smiling into the camera. Scarlet's hair was stuck to her face and Toris looked like he was nursing an hurt hand, but all eight of them, including a soaked Kiku who had thrown on an overcoat to hide the shirt sticking to him, were all genuinely smiling, not just for the camera but themselves.

Kiku let himself smile for that one, clearing away a spot of dust before bringing up the frame of the next one.

He nearly dropped it.


He didn't even remember bringing it to the castle in the first place. Maybe Arthur had snuck it in?

The frame was the simplest of all, if it could even be called a frame in the first place – instead, it was just a simple picture festooned between two slates of glass. It was crumpled and a little disturbed at the corners, but as Kiku turned it around in his now trembling hands, the smiling outlines of his and Heracles' faces were as clear as ever.

Here he was, thinking that he had managed to completely forget him. It had been so many months ever since he had ever allowed himself to indulge in his own thoughts.

Surely…he was gone?

Taking a deep breath, he pulled out a drawer, ready to stuff the glass and him into it, concealing those memories forever-

He made the mistake of turning it around again. Heracles' messy handwriting stained Kiku's eyes, and it wasn't until he could see the distortion on the glass that he realized his eyes were watering.

Kiku quickly put the glass down on his table and swiftly went to wipe his eyes, opening his curtains and nearly being blinded by the new, very bright view of his surroundings compared to those of his old room.

The sun had reached near the top of the hill when Kiku was called for by another one of his new maids to the highest turret in the castle. The four turrets in the Hearts castle stuck out like four sore thumbs, but there was a sweet charm to them if you looked at a certain angle. Kiku had half a mind to decline, as he wanted to make sure his workspace was tidy and presentable, and let himself indulge in more memories. But per the fact that his Mark was not fully formed, and that it would be exceedingly rude to decline the offer of two members of an esteemed Primary Suit, he sorted his remaining loose papers in a marked brown folder, then followed his maid to where the King and Jack were.


A place where the glamour and safety of the Hearts Palace is a world away, masses of people are lying in wait.

The cold was biting. It seemed like his fingers were completely numb and gangly from exhaustion, and he gingerly reached for the plastic pack of water. It took a few tries because his mind was so muddled from exhaustion and confusion that it took a few swipes to finally get a good grip on the sterile bag of slightly muddied plastic.

So different from his freezing hands, but as soon as it was in his grip he had tore it open and water had chilled his hoarse throat, it felt like heaven on earth.

The roaring clatter of gunfire stung his already battered ears and sense of hearing, and he wished that he could cover his ears and mute all his senses. But with the little experience he had, he knew that he would be shouted at and put on thin, flavourless food for a week for showing weakness.

"For all men that have not picked up their dry rations, form an orderly line! All those wanting more than their share will be subject to immediate, severe punishment!" the lead general for their regiment was calling loudly again, and Heracles feebly wondered how he managed to preserve his voice. Too many of his fellow soldiers had practically lost their voices calling commands under the guise of the gunfire, and he probably only kept his by wrapping his throat in his hands every so often he was waiting for his round. Many called him stupid; almost all called him suicidal for looking like he wanted to throttle himself. He just bore them out with the flickering of the gas lights. No fireflies. It was far too cold for them to come out, anyway.

He watched men of all shapes and conditions – the lucky few that had kept all their limbs and strength and senses were always first in line, in front of those limping, guns still strapped to their backs, their movements ragged and gaunt. Heracles tried to keep his gait light and small, his arms wrapped chiefly around his thin uniform as he shuffled into line, watching his breath billow out in clouds as he kept his strength and slow walk. There really wasn't much of a rush needed for dry foods.

The real rush was when they served out hot food in the evenings. The men that could run did, but instead of eating it straight away they wrapped as much of their bodies deemed natural, such as hands. Many times had he seen people hold bowls to their foreheads, to their cheeks, to their lips, rubbing it chiefly against a patch of exposed chest or rolling up a sleeve or pant to warm up a forearm or a calf. Heracles usually idly rolled it against his neck, hoping it wouldn't aggravate the half open wound there. Only then did they eat the now lukewarm meal, hands roughly grasping the crude, bent utensils that were given out. Beforehand, they actually resembled the ones that they used at home, but the soldiers themselves had to wash the entire supply of cutlery. But now, that the winter months had really settled in, the water gave the men's hands frostbite and their hands were rubbed raw after a few weeks. Only until half of an entire regiment's hands were deemed unfit to handle a gun that they stopped making them wash the utensils.

"Ohy, dream boy, snap out of it," one of the soldiers snapped, and Heracles shuffled quickly forward, trying not to acknowledge the stares at the two of them.

When his regiment was still located in the warmer regions of the Easterns, he'd had some more free time to himself as the training stage was only eight hours a day, leaving him with some free time to do whatever he wished. Mostly, it was sleeping, which was where he got the nickname of 'dream boy'. Heracles didn't like it all too much, but he knew that he could be called worse like some of his fellow soldiers.

There was that…and the constant references to 'his girl at home'.

"Karpusi, you. Curfew's at ten thirty, no earlier." the general said sternly. "Go back to your polishin' and practice some sniping and don't get on a tether. No napping off anymore, boy."

Heracles simply nodded in a monotone movement, then clutched those dry, stale crackers in his hand and walked away, dragging his boots.

Fates, he didn't need a girl at home. He was in love with someone that was almost definitely a queen already.

How does that make it any better? Heracles cursed himself inwardly as he managed to find a patch of rock not completely decimated by the melting snow.

I still hope I can come back to you, you know. That's why I keep on fighting – not just for Cards, but for you as well.

He collapsed onto it, his mind casting back to the wilting, red chrysanthemums in the old camp, their petals curling into onto themselves.

The other men were talking amongst each other, but they were quiet nonetheless, all sounding a little miserable.

They rubbed the crackers over their mouths before putting them in, to try to drag them and the flavour out as long as possible.

Heracles picked his up and did the same. The stale taste did nothing for his appetite, and he couldn't taste the difference between dust and the cracker.

He watched dismally as another man two meters away from his lit his cigarette, the dirty smoke joining his breath. Heracles paid him no heed, just a flicker of annoyance at the blatant light that the enemy could probably see from the-

The world seemed to freeze as the man let out a cry and jolted back. His chest was torn apart by the gunshot, his pale coat stained with the crimson horror of blood.

His face mirrored Heracles' fear, as he let out a last choke before his hand smashed into the snow.

The screaming and shouting of soldiers echoed over the camp as boots stormed past.

His cigarette landed and rolled out of his limp hand.

The flame sizzled upon contact with the ice.

It rolled into the snow before it deflated.

A thought came into his diminished mind, as if he was in a dream.

Deep brown eyes, huh?

Heracles had less than five seconds to stagger off the rock, gagging, his eyes desperate.

Before the bullets started flying.

He rolled over to the other side in a panic.

He heard a woman's scream from the other side.

A black, heavily built machine – probably hers - fell to the side, and Heracles could still see its blinking light.

Fear shot through his throat. Was it a bomb? Was it going to detonate?


The enemy's bullets found bloody marks in necks and legs and eyes-


A breath passed his lips, surely one of his last.

He watched the cloud dissolve into nothing as another agonized scream hit the air, fading as well.

You made me promise to come back to you. I will not stop trying.

Heracles buried his chin in the stained snow and prayed for the last time as he felt a man's boot, heavy and stained with dirt and ice.

It clamped on his head with a sickening crunch.

Pain bloomed out there, like a drop of scarlet paint into clear water.

After another moment, a gun clicked into place above his left arm.

His eyes went cold with terror.

The pressure, his assailant's foot, was on his back.

Aimed right above his chest. It would definitely hit.

Whether or not it was close range, he would not know.

The snarls of the gunfire blinded him.

The dark mutterings of his killer covered his senses.

…Kiku?


Hearts.

A week later.

"What do you think? Do you like it? Do you think it's pretty?"

Kiku gave him a cheerful smile, and looked confusedly at Ludwig, who shook his head and patted his shoulder.

"Feli, it's not for Kiku, it's for the baby," he laughed good-naturedly. Kiku knew that the king was in a very good mood, simply for the fact that he was laughing. He had only seen the king's expression go from careful neutral to a wan smile – creepy or not – and this was the second time he had seen him laugh, other than the time he had found out that Feliciano was expecting.

"Ve, but I want everyone to love it too! We worked very hard on it, you know." Feliciano said. As he turned around, the light caught on his Iron Cross, given to him by Ludwig.

"I love it, my Jack," Kiku said, his gaze softening as he looked around the little room. It was one that they would use when the baby was young, hence the proximity to the King and the Jack's room.

The skill that Feliciano had inherited from being a painter's son was proudly showed off in the paintwork.

Little ducklings and dogs were drawn on the walls, each one lovingly hand painted on top of a monochrome yellow background. Knowing their love for stories, each one definitely had a name and story to them. Multi coloured polka dots adorned the area around them, and as Kiku craned his head up a brightly painted blue sky greeted him, along with a radiant sun and fat, creamy clouds. This room was almost like a living painting. It wasn't very furnished as a room, but it was stunning nonetheless.

"No more formalities, remember? Call Ludwig and I Feliciano and, well, Ludwig!" he protested in return, patting his shoulder. "But I hope you liked the dogs. I hope our baby will grow up to like them as much as Lud does!"

"The ducklings were the Joker's idea," Ludwig continued, leading him around the room, letting his eyes wander over the paintings. "He seems rather interested in the cute things."

Ah, the younger Joker, Gilbert Beilschmidt. He was the King's brother, and occasionally stopped over in Hearts. This was usually illegal seeing as he belonged to Diamonds of late, but King Francis was rumoured to be a very kind man and let him visit Hearts on the ground of being related to the King.

"Oh!" Feliciano commented, and Kiku and Ludwig turned around. The Jack's eyes were curious, rather than something bad. "Is that the outfit you wore the day you came to the palace?"

Perplexed that he could remember such a fine detail, he nodded, and Feliciano seemed to survey him with approval.

"Hmm, do you think he should wear that as well when we formally introduce him, Ludwig?"

"I think it sounds like a fine idea," Ludwig said, and he turned to Kiku. "What do you think? That rather suits you, actually."

"Er, I think that it sounds like a lovely idea." he replied with a nod. Sometimes he could not help but appreciate how much counsel the two members of the Primary Suit had already given him in the short time they had been together.

The two of them looked satisfied enjoying the room, and he was keen to follow suit as well – until Feliciano made a sound of excitement and Ludwig quickly rushed to his side.

"Kiku! The baby's kicking, come and see!" he called, and with close fascination he put his hand on Feliciano's slightly swollen stomach and felt a sensation, like little butterfly wings fluttering against his hand. Gathering up the folds of his garment, he leaned in a little closer, and pressed his ear to it.

The fluttering feeling grew more intense, and the feeling was amazing to him; to have a little life grow inside him as if it was normal. Feliciano's body was never made for this function, but the magic in this world deemed it possible in such a painless way.


At that moment, Feliciano cried out, and Kiku jerked back, his eyes alighting with fear as he stumbled away from the Jack, his hands trembling as he doubled in pain. The Jack clutched the railings of the makeshift crib, and nodded twice to Ludwig, who in turn rushed to the side of his husband, removing his gloves and urgently pressing his hand to Feliciano's clammy forehead.

"Pressure point, Feli?" he asked, but Feliciano simply shook his head in response and Ludwig nodded in return, getting up.

He walked out of the room, but his walk was brisk and not the type of urgency that Kiku expected it to be.

"Your Highness?" he asked nervously, following suit as they walked down the turrets and approached the foyer. "Is there someone I should fetch?"

"Ah…" Ludwig said, pausing then looking at the big clock in the foyer. "Ah, can you go back to the nursery to look after Feliciano? He'll probably be around by now…"

Confused by the order but tempted to obey nonetheless, he bowed quickly and in a flurry of robes, ran back to the nursery, expecting to hear screams as he walked up.

But there was nothing. No shouts, no cries of pain. Just an eerie visage of silence, falling upon the quiet rooms.

Kiku practically forced himself up those stairs up to a pace that he could not handle, his chest heaving and his breath coming in quick pants.

He didn't even bother with knocking and entering as he flung open the door and ran in, his heart thudding with the terrifying possibility that Feliciano would be dead and his baby as well, the heir, that this would be all Kiku's fault-

"Feli!" he cried in horror. "Are you all-"

Feliciano's wide, doe like eyes looked up at him. His hand was still on top of his slightly swollen stomach, and he was still sat in front of the crib, but other than that there was no blood, no sign of trauma.

It was like nothing had happened at all.


HE'S BACK

and i killed him sorry sorry

the pun tho no regrets


mailbox

anon #1 - man, you just remembered i've practically forgot about the diamonds kingdom lmao. come to think of it, that one little scene really early on didn't do much justice. and yes, switz would use a crossbow! i was thinking that he'd be something like an archer and/or prefer long range weapons.

pastaaddict - *rubs hands together* yes, she has. i'm not letting her go out without a, um, bang!

cameranon - oh, er, he'll come back into the picture soon, don't worry. he is sort of the main character really :)

oh, who am i kidding - you have been busted come to skype to collect your sentence

russia says hello - that means a lot to me woahh. i think this arc is going to be pretty long...hopefully not 100 chapters? lol. and thanks! i mean, i rarely see fanfic sequels doing well/having enough demand, so i've been thinking of at least a prolonged break after i finish cards. there's not even a title or anything yet, so it's still all plot bunnies for now!

hearthorse11 - there's not much elite action here at all, unfortunately! although i feel like kiku's story is also semi important...and dad alfred seems super cute, whoever he ends up with! you sound like you had fun, and i'm very jealous of your hamiltrash day lmao. converting her is also god's work child, don't forget

historichallucinations - welcome to the party! ohhh my god thank you very much! that means so much to me ^^||

anon #2 - good. sounds like a plan, but don't mind me if you catch me slipping some angst into our crops of fluff...

anon #3 - boi don't judge me too hard but i've never been in a relationship and they've never actually said those three words but thanks...now if you don't mind me i'll just go do my oh shit whaddup and unicycle out of here...

anon #4 - tbh i think the gods blessed me with this review so thank u

galacticspoon - the uttermost satisfaction. reading my story has granted you 20+ years of life. you leveled up-

regine - wait what? 50 chapters? lmfaoooo i didn't even realize. and you've been with this since february - god i feel old lol. and if you haven't read the book, i'd say you might want to put it off until you've finished it off. this arc is really different from the books, but it took a small element from the ending so spoilers all the same haha. but um, this arc is mainly about eliminating the candidates so that we have our queen and still manage to build their character arcs, and tying up all (or most of the loose ends, muahaha) so that the story feels mostly complete. there's also a pretty explosive ending, i'll leave you to guess what/who it's about ;)

1. just saying, it might not be mpreg...it could be normal pregnancy. but that's spoilers as well so i'll leave you to ponder hehe

2. ah yes, katya the joker! we'll see her around the spades palace more in this last arc, especially with the trials, definitely. and no, peter's not here just yet!

3. tino's child! oh yes, he'll be coming in probably near the end, and i'll be sure to include a happy dad berwald.

4. hm, i do think rochu's a very good 'forbidden relationship' type of couple for some reason. but i think due to yao's temperament and ivan's relative distance they might not have as much time to chat as they would have liked...

5. not to upset you, but since katya is ivan's sisteri did think it would be sort of unfair to exclude natalya haha. natalya's backstory will be elaborated deeply on this arc...andi think that unlike ivan she doesn't like to let emotions get the better of her, which partly explains her distant/sometimes icydemeanour. but she did recognize him!arthur will be back soon,i promise! he's not dead or 's such a sad romantic at heart tbh. but angstyrochu is the best, don't worry!


reviews, favourites and follows are what will keep me writing, so please go ahead and leave them!