Chapter 52
Queen of Spades?
The huge crowd bustled forward as one, like a single organism, a big, loud, single organism. The only inconsistency appeared in the form of a hole in the crowd of people. A space of about four feet was given to Vincent Valentine, as everyone seemed intent to give him a wide berth. Sam, Aeris, and Wymond took cover inside the circle and used Vincent's apparent repulsive disposition to avoid the crowd. They followed the mass of people to their destination, becoming a part of the flow even though they seemed disconnected from it.
Shinra soldiers in their usual blue uniform stood on either side of the milling crowd, mostly on rooftops to avoid trampling. The only difference between these soldiers and the ones back at Centre Time—that Sam could see, anyway—was the small red symbol of a heart emblazoned on the shoulder of every soldier.
"Queen of Hearts?" asked Wymond, gesturing to the heart symbol.
"Makes sense," Sam agreed.
They followed the crowd, unable to tell which Sector of Midgar they might be in at the time through the wall of people. Suddenly, the people seemed to spill out into a huge space that could suddenly contain their presence. It was a place that none of the quartet had ever seen in Midgar before. It appeared to be a huge, fancy, green, garden.
"Geez," Wymond muttered, looking around at the serene landscape.
"Where'd the fuckin' field come from, dude?" Sam said through a chuckle.
"Flowers, look," Aeris said, excitedly pointing at the ground. "There are flowers growing in the grass!"
"I didn't think that was possible," Vincent commented.
"It isn't," Sam said. "Unless the Lifestream runs under these grounds like it did under Aeris's church."
"Speaking of which," Wymond pointed across Sam's line of sight to the aforementioned structure. "They fixed it up."
The church Aeris and the others remembered was completely different here. It looked like some serious renovations had been done, and most notably, it was now white. The dull, dark, construct that Aeris had frequented, and Cloud had fallen into, was now a shining white building that sparkled in sunlight.
Sunlight?
"The sun," Wymond said suddenly. "Wait, if that's Aeris's church, then shouldn't we be in the Slums?"
"No upper platform," Sam murmured. "Strange."
"Midgar without the city in the sky?" asked Aeris in confusion. "It's hard to believe there can be anything evil about that."
"With Shinra in the mix," Vincent said, "I'm sure they'll find a way."
Amongst the flowers and unrealistically green grass, there appeared to be a large, stereotypical, maze constructed of large hedges. A grand looking golden gate, with an unusually large lock on it, blocked the entrance to the maze. As well, another brilliant white building stood straight ahead. It was about twice the size of Aeris's church, and it wasn't a construct any of them recognized from Centre Time Midgar. This building was built more like a castle, and had a large balcony with ornate decoration all over it.
"Queen's house," Wymond said. "I'd put money on that."
Suddenly, but not unexpectedly, the sound of trumpets blaring brought everyone's attention to the balcony.
"Always trumpets," Sam muttered. "Just once, I want someone to enter on saxophones or something."
Aeris smiled.
Four Shinra soldiers in unusual white armour appeared first on the balcony. Their helmets were fancier, more like that of knights than soldiers. Also, they had different symbols on their armour than the others. Regular footmen appeared to have hearts, whereas these four knights—and they appeared more like knights than soldiers—each had a different black chess piece on their armour. One had a Knight, the second had a Rook, the third was a Bishop, and the final and oddly more important looking one appeared to have a King.
"White Knights," Sam muttered.
"Talking backwards," Wymond replied.
"Red Queen says off with her head," Sam continued.
"Remember what the Dormouse said," Wymond said in a singsong voice.
Aeris and Vincent looked at the two Cetra.
"Jefferson Airplane, White Rabbit, look it up on Limewire" Sam said. "After I explain to you what Limewire is…forget it."
They forgot about it.
Each of the white knights, who Sam named according to their chess piece, broke into pairs and stepped aside. Two to the left and two to the right, in order to make room for the main event: a woman took her place in between the pairs of knights. Sam noticed King, the one with the King chess piece, seemed to stand a bit closer to the woman than the others.
As for the woman, she was the exact opposite of what Sam and Wymond expected. She wasn't wearing red, nor was there any indication of her disposition toward hearts. In fact, she wore black. The attractive woman's nondescript dress was entirely black, along with her hair, and as it seemed, her eyes.
"That's not the Queen of Hearts," Wymond said.
"Spade or a Club, if we're going by colour," Aeris commented.
"She looks like you Wymond," Sam said, looking at the guardian. "She looks like a guardian."
Wymond scrutinized the woman as she began to talk to the amassed group of people below. "I guess so, but that's not possible, why would a Cetra be playing games like this?"
"Maybe she's bored," Sam guessed.
"The reason that you all have been invited here will become clear soon enough," the woman announced in a piercing voice that seemed to draw attention. "But first, you are welcome to enjoy my gardens for the day. Please, spare no expense, have fun!"
That seemed to be all anyone needed to hear, they let out a cheer and scattered in different directions. The crowd dispersed and scattered, leaving the quartet to stand alone in the garden, still staring up at the balcony.
"What's our next move?" asked Vincent.
"Miss Queen of Spades, or whoever she is, is bad news, that's all I know," Sam said.
"I doubt we'll be able to get inside the castle without anyone noticing," Vincent said. "Maybe we should wait to see where this party goes."
"You three do your thing, blend in," Sam looked at Aeris. "Be Aeris in Wonderland. I'm gonna take a look at the other side of the castle."
"Be careful," Aeris said.
Sam headed toward the closest corner of the building. "Chessy Cat, Wymond."
Wymond nodded his understanding, and Sam disappeared around the corner of the castle.
"Chessy Cat?" asked Aeris.
Wymond nodded and smiled an exaggerated smile. "Chessy Cat."
