Third POV

"You'll be coming with us, Alice." one of the two men spoke. Iris stood still, staring in confusion. Was everyone just going to start calling her Alice all because she fell from London? Blanc smiled at the two unexpected 'visitors,' but there was nothing kind about his smile as he spoke, "It's very unbecoming for two gentlemen such as yourself to intimidate and frighten a young woman like this."

"Then allow me to apologize if we've frightened you." one of the men said. Iris looked in his direction, taking in his appearance. The man had darker skin, blue eyes, and casual black hair with a single blonde streak, dressed in a familiar white and red military uniform. There was also some strange.. tattoo or something on the right side of his neck. It felt surprisingly easy with him, he wasn't stubborn like Jonah had been.

The other man was lighter toned in comparison, with messy red hair, golden eyes, and a lazy expression. He was also adorned in a red and white army uniform, yet his was more doctor-like. Both men alighted their horses and walked over to Iris. "I am the Ace of Hearts, Zero. Our Queen, Jonah, wishes to meet you." the darker-haired one spoke. "And I'm the 7 of Hearts, Kyle. Nice to meet you." the other one said. Suddenly, Kyle smiled at Iris, "Look, if you really want to avoid him that much I'll make up some excuse for you."

A sense of hope flared up in Iris' chest. But it was quickly diminished- "No, Kyle. We're here on official orders- orders which I intend to follow through with." Zero reminded his partner. Kyle only rolled his eyes, "Whatever. I'm a doctor, not a soldier. Just because I'm in this army doesn't mean I'm going to blindly follow everything I'm told." Zero sighed, "I was a fool to bring you along, Kyle." he turned his blue gaze back on Iris, "At any rate, Iris, Jonah absolutely needs to speak with you. He's promised not to be as rough as he was when you first met."

Iris glared at Zero. Did he actually think she was that stupid? Even if Jonah had made such a 'promise,' which Iris doubted he was even capable of, she wouldn't buy it. Not for a second. She couldn't trust these men, she didn't know them, she didn't know what their intentions were. Even if they put up a front and didn't seem to be lying, all men were the same. All men wanted the same thing. And Iris wasn't willing to give in.

Blanc sighed, still smiling, and looked at the young woman stood next to him. "Iris, if you don't have any reservations, it might be best if you go along with them." Iris stared at Blanc in disbelief, "Are you seriously telling me that you're on their side now?!" Despite her aggression, Blanc's smile didn't falter, "Of course not. As record keeper, my job is to keep an accurate log of this country's happenings. I don't get in the middle of political affairs."

"I'm sad our time together has to end so soon, but I trust Kyle and Zero." Iris' gaze hardened, her distrust of them clear on her face. "Whether you decide to trust them is up to you, Iris. What do you say?" It wasn't as if Iris was in any position to refuse. But maybe, just maybe if she were to explain what happened to Jonah, he'd leave her alone. Iris sighed, subconsciously clenching her fist, "..Fine. I'll go meet with Jonah- but on ONE condition. You let me go when this is all over."

Zero smiled, "It's a promise. I like humans like you who are quick to make up their minds. Come along-" Humans? That was certainly an odd way of putting things. Zero firmly grasped Iris and lifted her atop his horse. The girl tensed, that same, familiar itchy burning feeling crawled across her skin. She wanted to tear it off, but that wouldn't work. It never did. "Hold on tight, Iris." Zero told her. Having no faith in her voice, Iris nodded stiffly.

"Yeah, you'd better not let go of Zero. I don't like dealing with patients outside of office hours." As much as Iris wanted to let go just to stop the intense burning, she also didn't want to be a burden. ..A little bit of her own discomfort never hurt anybody.. Did it? "Be careful, Iris. I'll come for you shortly." Iris watched Blanc grow smaller and smaller as the distance grew, until she could no longer see him waving her off.

Deep within the shadows of a nearby alley, two lurking figures watched quietly with interest as Iris disappeared into the night's dark embrace. "First the two armies go head-to-head, now Alice the Second appears. This is turning out to be an interesting night." One spoke, dressed in a long brown trench coat and a white scarf. He had black messy hair with dark eyes to match, one covered by a white patch of some kind. "Yeah, and the new girl is really pretty, too." the other spoke.

He appeared to be younger than the dark-haired man, dressed in a black and pink hooded outfit. He had faded pink hair and mismatched eyes, one golden and the other amber, almost crimson. "The panicked look in her eyes was adorable. It made me want to steal her away." the pink-haired one giggled. The darker-haired one scoffed at his partner, "That's of no importance to me. With all these new developments, we won't be able to stay in the Central Quarter for much longer."

The pink-haired one smiled, "Yep. With you being an outlaw, and me being more or less the same, sounds like a good call." The two men nodded in unison before pulling their hoods over their heads. The dark-haired one's eyes flashed crimson, "Let's get out of here." There was a bright burst of blue light, and then, the two men began to fade away. Right before they disappeared, the pink-haired man's half-moon smile appeared, his mismatched eyes a similar shade of magical crimson.

"Things are about to get a lot more interesting around here."

After riding through town, crossing a large bridge, and passing through a sleepy little village, they'd finally arrived at a large manor. "We're here. This is the Red Army's headquarters. Wait here while I go get Jonah." Zero spoke, his tone flat. "..Okay." Iris muttered. Kyle sighed a breath of annoyance, "That was exhausting. I'm going off to grab a nightcap." "Kyle, you need to report to Jonah first." Zero turned his attention to a man standing guard, "You there, gate guard, make sure you keep an eye on her." "Yes, sir!"

Zero and Kyle left Iris alone with the guard. In her solitude, her worries about how her "reunion" with the Queen of Hearts would play out crawled their way into her mind. "..There's no way it'll go well if Jonah is involved.. Hopefully.. I'll be okay." she muttered under her breath. "Was that a complaint about Queen Jonah I just heard?" Iris whipped her head around, her dark blue gaze meeting the disapproving eyes of the Gate Guard. "I..I sincerely apologize... I did not mean to speak that out loud."

Seeming to ignore her apology, the Gate Guard glared at Iris, "So you DID complain about Queen Jonah. You're in for a world of trouble now." Confusion filtered into Iris' mind, the emotion etching its way onto her face. "..Just for a small complaint? What's so special about Jonah that you can't say anything negative about him..?" she mumbled. "Shut up, you impudent fool! How dare you insult our Queen of Hearts!"

The guard loomed over Iris, cracking his knuckles with a sinister gleam in his eyes. Oh no. Iris felt the panic rising in her chest. How was she to get out of this one? "Hey you! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" A voice shouted from behind, followed by another- "Get away from her."