King of Hearts=Charles

Queen of Hearts=Marianne

White King=Cornelia

White Queen=Euphemia

Red King=Schneizel

Red Queen=Kanon

Prince of Hearts=V.V.

White Knight=Suzaku

It had been exactly one month since the first great croquet game ended in the victory of the King of Hearts, and only nobility was allowed to play it at all. The King, Queen, and Prince of Hearts were doing exactly that when the White Queen showed up with her King in tow.

"What are you doing here?" thundered the King of Hearts.

"Now now dear, she is nobility too, therefore under our stipulations she is allowed to play," the Queen of Hearts reprimanded.

"Correct," the White Queen replied. "And I am here to challenge you once again as we agreed."

"Agreed?" the King asked loudly.

"Yes. Do you not recall that all of us agreed to meet up here again for a rematch exactly one month after our first game?"

"I remembered," a voice called down from above. The Red King and Queen had arrived on the Damocles. "Let us commence with our rematch."

The King of Hearts frowned and was about to argue again, but his Queen reminded him that he had easily won the first one. Why not do the same in the second one?

"We are all agreed then," the White Queen noted. "Let us set up the game. I will be the host this time."

Each competitor chose the same color as last time and over on the side lines, the White King muttered again, "How original..."

As the stakes were hammered in and the wickets set up again in the classic figure eight, the Red King slapped down three large piles of documents before each competitor, including himself. "This is an agreement form stating that this game will provide a conclusive decision on what is to be done afterward."

"You mean it states that whoever wins gets their way?" inquired the White Queen.

The Red King shrugged. "That would be a simpler way of putting it."

The King of Hearts leafed through quickly and signed the last page, as did the White Queen. The Red King simply skipped to the back page and signed. He had written the document after all...

"Now that that garbage is signed, we can finally beg-"

"Wait!" came the voice of the Red Queen. "We need an announcer for this match!"

The White King face-palmed. "This again?"

"I will be your announcer!" squealed the Prince of Hearts. "I did a good job last time, didn't I?"

"NO!" came the resounding response of the assembled crowd.

"Hmm..." The White Queen thought for a moment. "I am your host for this game, so I will decide who shall announce." She scanned a thoughtful eye across the crowd.

One man stood up. "White Queen, I beseech you to choose me as your representative to act as announcer."

"Request granted, White Knight," the Queen replied with a smile.

The crowd started whispering amongst themselves. "The White Queen has always favored the White Knight."

"But he's one of the most respected in the world!"

"The Knight of Zero, he is called."

They all simmered down as said person they were talking about took the front stage and began to announce the game. "It seems that this time the King of Hearts has started off in the lead. The Red King and White Queen are close behind him though. This will most certainly be a tough and close match for the competitors."

"Ha ha! That's my King!" the Queen of Hearts laughed from the sidelines. The Prince of Hearts was beside her, still sulking about not being chosen as the announcer.

"The Kings and Queen are now passing through the middle wicket, meaning they have completed one quarter of the game's length. As they approach the final two wickets before the half-way-point stake, they are all so close together there is no way to tell who is winning. The leader changes with each stroke of the mallet!"

A hush fell over the crowd as the King of Hearts, Red King, and White Queen all touched the half-way point.

"Now for the journey back. Who will pull out this victory?" the White Knight had so far manged not to put his opinions into his commentary as the Prince of Hearts had. "The White Queen is beginning to surge ahead going into the final leg. She passes through the middle wicket with one quick tap of the mallet. But the Red King and King of Hearts are not trailing far behind. Yes folks, this appears to be one of those games that will go down to the final stroke."

"The King of Hearts is up for his stroke. If he places this one perfectly, his next stroke will gain him victory for the second time amongst these competitors." The White Knight fell silent as the King lined up his stroke. He hit the ball perfectly on-line, but too hard. It sailed past what would have been a perfect position as the King groaned in anguish. Victory had slipped through his hands!

"The Red King now lines up his shot." This time, he hit just a few feet too short of the perfect range; opposite of the King of Hearts.

"And now, if the White Queen can make this shot, she will have the victory on her next stroke," noted the White Knight. "And she makes it!" Fans of the Queen in the crowd cheered. Two strokes later, as the King of Hearts and Red King frantically tried to make up for their earlier mistakes, the White Queen took her victory.

"Thank you, thank you," she told the crowd, taking the microphone from the White Knight, who bowed and kissed her hand in a very chivalrous way.

The White King frowned. Was that a slight blush on the Queen's face?

"I am proud to announce that croquet is now open to all people!" the Queen proclaimed.

"Hooray!" shouted the crowd.

The King of Hearts was moping in the background as his Queen tried fruitlessly to console him in his grief. Though even she was upset that he had squandered the chance to keep the game of croquet open only to the nobility.

The Red King, though, did not seem as disappointed as he should have. Did he have something more planned?

Oh well, for now, thanks to the White Queen, croquet was open to all!