Heart of the Cards
******
Chapter Nine: "You're Too Smart"
(Blaine's P.O.V.)
I tucked Will in a little tighter, pushing his hair out of his eyes. I always liked Will's hair. It wasn't thin and damaged like mine, but it wasn't thick and oily either. The only thing I didn't like about it right now, was that it was stained with blood.
I didn't try to stop from crying when we brought Ebon and Will back up to the room, thinking the worst. I didn't try to stop crying when we removed Ebon's chest plate armor, and cleaned the blood from Will and saw the damage they had done to each other, either. And I didn't try to stop crying now.
My brother wasn't a bad person. He was just rough sometimes. And sometimes he yelled when he lost his temper, but he was only angry when he felt like he was going to lose Kennie or me. Just like we lost our parents....
Ivy wasn't asleep either, even though she said it was 1:00 in the morning. She was re-wrapping Ebon's bandages. He'd bled clean through five sets already. Will had bled more, though. I wasn't sure why. But I guessed it was because Ebon had released his full power on Will, because he was being controlled at the time. Whereas Will held back.
This wasn't Ebon's fault, or my brother's fault. I would have liked to say that it was that girl's fault, but I don't know that. She could be a good person, inside.
But she did hurt my friends.
I closed my eyes and kept them like that. I was tired, but I couldn't go to sleep until Will woke up. He took care of me, so now I would return the favor.
Ivy said that it was sweet of me to do that. I like Ivy... she's nice, and reminds me of my Mom, a little. My Mom was pretty. She had blonde hair and green eyes too, and pale skin. I missed her a lot.
I looked around, suddenly scared. I didn't know where I was. It looked different, dark.
Then I realized that I must have sneak-wandered out of the room and down the hall. I hated it when I did that. It made Will mad, and deep down, scared. I could see it in his eyes whenever he'd find me far away from where I said I would be.
It was dark, but I could see something orange glowing up ahead. Orange. The color of adrenaline and physical energy. The color of the sun, and oranges with vitamin C. My health teacher thought I wouldn't remember that, about oranges and the sun. But I remembered. I just didn't think she'd believe me if I said I would.
The orange thing turned out to be a glowing energy orb. I stared at it; it wasn't too bright or anything. And maybe I could figure out its properties.
"Wandering around, kiddo?"
"Aah!" I exclaimed, freezing up. I didn't recognize that voice. I looked over to the left, blinking as my eyes got adjusted to the darkness again.
It was Doppelganger, wearing dark green. The color of desire, just a shade lighter than jealousy, which was light green. Like grass. From "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence..."
I shook my head, trying not to zone out. "... Hi."
"Hello. What are you doing out so late? Madame could have your head on a stick." He made a threatening gesture, slashing a finger across his throat. Severing my thoughts from the rest of my body. My mind. That would be okay by me. My thoughts were not important like my soul.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be."
I blinked. I didn't like having fast conversations. I could never keep up. "Should I go back to the room now?"
"Sure, if you want to. Or, you could come with me. I've got nothing better to do, and it looks like you don't either." He put his hands in his pockets, and I felt bad for him. When you put your hands in your pockets, you're afraid to show your actions, intentions, identity, and destiny to the person you're talking to.
He'd been badly hurt in the past. I could tell.
I thought about going with him, but if Will woke up while I was gone, he'd be afraid again. I didn't want to stress him out any more.
"Maybe I should go back home-- I mean, to our room... I have to be there for Will..."
Doppelganger looked uninterested. "Ok. Fine by me, it's a free country." He turned around and started walking down the hallway.
"Wait...!"
He stopped. I ran to catch up. He was fast. "I'll come with you if you're lonely."
He looked tweaked. "I don't get lonely, kid. So, wanna tour of the castle? I'm just doing night guard duty, even though it's not like anyone can get outta here..." He yawned and stretched, taking his hands out of his pockets. I was glad of it. I can't talk to people if they're hands are hidden, or if they're not looking at me.
"Ok."
We set off walking, and I had to take two steps for each of his. He was above fast, he was a strider. Striders wanted freedom, and strong personality. They liked to strike poses, too.
We came to a door. It was silver. Grey, basically, but flashy gray. I couldn't tell if it was light or dark gray. If it was light, it would be the feelings of being alone and at peace. If it was dark, it would be the feelings of being alone and hostile about it.
My favorite color was light gray.
"Right this way."
I followed him through the door, and as I did, I analyzed him. His skin was an unnatural shade of black, which meant that he was lost. I felt sad for him, he was really troubled. His eyes were red and pink, which meant love, passion, anger, and the off-truth, in other words, lies. His hair was blonde like mine, except it was darker. Deep happiness, with just a touch of the negative forces of the physical, but also the glory of it.
He was hiding a lot.
We stopped, and I didn't notice until I bumped into him.
"I'm sorry... where are we?!"
Doppelganger laughed and shoved me. I squeaked, (although I'm ashamed to admit it, that's exactly what it sounded like) and almost toppled to the floor.
We were on the roof.
I immediately looked up to the sky. The sky at night is beautiful. Vast freedom through being adrift in loneliness, but dotted with the purest, whitest forms of truth.
I loved nighttime.
Doppelganger motioned for me to sit. I did, and he sat down next to me.
"So, how long ca I keep you out?"
"... Until Will wakes up." I said, smiling a little. I missed Will a lot, even though I'd only been gone for twenty minutes.
"Oh, that's a lot of help, kid. I'll get you back there soon." He winked, and smirked, but not meanly. I looked back up at the sky.
After a silence, he said, "Madame takes quite and interest in you, you know."
"... Me?" I asked. That surprised me. I was just thirteen, not very strong being a Celtic Guardian, and quiet. I wasn't like Will at all, although sometimes I wanted to be.
"Yup. You're a threat to her, you know. You're too smart."
I smiled and almost laughed. No one had ever said I was too smart. I liked it here a little; I could be the kind of smart that I was, without having to learn from textbooks about the Earth, which wouldn't help me at all in my next life.
Doppelganger smiled at my reaction. He probably had night vision. It was too dark to see much of anything.
Except the stars. You could always see the truth.
"You're gonna bring her down, aren't ya? I don't doubt it." It was hard to determine how he felt about that. He wasn't close to her, but he wasn't close to us either. He was nonchalantly in between, not a traitor, but not totally loyal either.
"... I don't want to cause trouble, but I want to learn things about here..."
"Really? Well, that's new. You're new, basically. EVERYONE wants to cause trouble, SOMETIMES. Even me!" He laughed, as if this was absurd. "But seriously. Watch yourself. You're just a kid, I don't like hurting kids. But Madame has no prob with that."
"... I'll be careful." I said, looking down instead of at the sky.
Doppelganger sprawled out a bit, getting comfy. I guess I envied him. He looked like he could get comfortable anywhere. I was never eased in my body. If I was, I might get too attached to it, and have trouble when I departed it eventually.
"What's on your mind."
It wasn't a question, but it wasn't a demand. I liked that, it was just the way I liked to be asked things. "A lot. I... I mostly think about things I have learned, and things I want to learn..."
"Teach me."
"About what? I... I can tell you about colors...?" I said, blushing. Even I could tell that that sounded meek and lame.
"For real? Shoot. Go 'head." Doppelganger said, giving me full attention. That was rare in itself. People usually got mad at me for taking too long to answer them, and lost interest. What was also weird was that I could tell that Doppelganger wasn't a patient person. I wondered vaguely why he was being nice to me.
"Ok..." I shifted a little. "Red... is the color of passion, but also anger and life. Most of all, it's life. Blood isn't bad, you know. People think blood is death, but blood is actually life."
"I agree."
"Orange is... well, orange is energy. Physical energy. Like adrenaline and chamicals. It's... good for the time being, but might hurt your soul, a little. Yellow is happiness, but dark yellow or gold is glory. Light green is envy, but dark green is desire. Light blue is tranquility or peace, and dark blue is almost the same, it's depth and knowledge. Purple is mystery."
"Mmm hmm."
"... Pink could be one of two things... love, or lies.... And that's because white is the truth. So pink can be truth combined with life to make your love, or truth blended with the bad side of life, which stains it. I'd like to think it's love..."
"Me, too. But hey, that's probably because it's my eyes."
"... Your eyes are different. They're mystery mixed with love."
"Sounds about accurate." Doppelganger smiled, and got up. "You're smart. Too smart."
I didn't laugh or make a pleased sound. I waited for him to continue, because I could tell he didn't mean that that was a good thing.
"She'll get you, if you don't REALLY watch your back."
I looked down, and then up at him. I didn't like looking at people usually, but I thought it appropriate. "Why are you worried...?"
He was quiet, for a very long time.
"I dunno. I guess you remind me of someone." He shook his head and chuckled. Then, quite suddenly, he said, "You know it already, don't you?"
"Huh?"
"You know what the flaw in Madame's plan it. You know, the hole in the fishnet. The missing gear in the factory. The weak link of the chain. The one thing that'll bring it all crashing down."
"N-No...?"
He looked surprised, but laughed. "Really? I thought you'd have it by now."
I would have been upset, but I didn't feel like getting mad. "Not yet."
"GOOD. Thank ye gods. If you got it, you'd be dead right now." He was in front of me suddenly, and put his hand on my shoulder. "DON'T, okay? Just... don't. If you do, you'll sorely regret it. And I mean that. Just forget about the whole thing, and serve out your years, okay? It won't be so bad."
"But... we have to leave... Grandma and Grandpa will be... worried."
"Let 'em worry. Better you guys come back really, really late than not come back at all, right?" He was squeezing my forearm, and it hurt a little.
"Could you let go? Please?"
He seemed surprised, and let go. I didn't reach up fix my shoulder armor that had gone a little astray. That would imply that he'd made something wrong just my putting his destiny and identity there, and I didn't want him to think that.
Suddenly, there wasn't any ground.
I didn't even have time to react, before I felt a hand grab the back of my cape and yank me back on to the roof.
"Unn!!" I scrambled away from the edge and bumped into Doppelganger's foot. He peered down at me, and said "Wow. That was extremely close, eh? You could have been a waffle. Best watch where you step, but hey, it was mostly my fault. Sorry, kid."
I slowed the flow of adrenaline in me and calmed my breathing. I nodded to say I was okay, and got up. He laughed, and scooped me over one shoulder. "I think I'll do the honors. There's ton's more open air out here than roof."
I didn't object, but his shoulder was digging into my stomach. I wasn't worried that he would drop me off the edge of take me somewhere bad, like the girl's quarters. I knew that he could be trusted.
I only then realized how tired I was. It was comforting, feeling the motions of someone walking, carrying me the way Dad did. I yawned once, and closed my eyes.
******
{A/N: Holy shit, Doppleganger really DOES sound like a child molestor in this chapter. Jesus H. X__X Just to clarify, he's not. Yaaay.}
******
Chapter Nine: "You're Too Smart"
(Blaine's P.O.V.)
I tucked Will in a little tighter, pushing his hair out of his eyes. I always liked Will's hair. It wasn't thin and damaged like mine, but it wasn't thick and oily either. The only thing I didn't like about it right now, was that it was stained with blood.
I didn't try to stop from crying when we brought Ebon and Will back up to the room, thinking the worst. I didn't try to stop crying when we removed Ebon's chest plate armor, and cleaned the blood from Will and saw the damage they had done to each other, either. And I didn't try to stop crying now.
My brother wasn't a bad person. He was just rough sometimes. And sometimes he yelled when he lost his temper, but he was only angry when he felt like he was going to lose Kennie or me. Just like we lost our parents....
Ivy wasn't asleep either, even though she said it was 1:00 in the morning. She was re-wrapping Ebon's bandages. He'd bled clean through five sets already. Will had bled more, though. I wasn't sure why. But I guessed it was because Ebon had released his full power on Will, because he was being controlled at the time. Whereas Will held back.
This wasn't Ebon's fault, or my brother's fault. I would have liked to say that it was that girl's fault, but I don't know that. She could be a good person, inside.
But she did hurt my friends.
I closed my eyes and kept them like that. I was tired, but I couldn't go to sleep until Will woke up. He took care of me, so now I would return the favor.
Ivy said that it was sweet of me to do that. I like Ivy... she's nice, and reminds me of my Mom, a little. My Mom was pretty. She had blonde hair and green eyes too, and pale skin. I missed her a lot.
I looked around, suddenly scared. I didn't know where I was. It looked different, dark.
Then I realized that I must have sneak-wandered out of the room and down the hall. I hated it when I did that. It made Will mad, and deep down, scared. I could see it in his eyes whenever he'd find me far away from where I said I would be.
It was dark, but I could see something orange glowing up ahead. Orange. The color of adrenaline and physical energy. The color of the sun, and oranges with vitamin C. My health teacher thought I wouldn't remember that, about oranges and the sun. But I remembered. I just didn't think she'd believe me if I said I would.
The orange thing turned out to be a glowing energy orb. I stared at it; it wasn't too bright or anything. And maybe I could figure out its properties.
"Wandering around, kiddo?"
"Aah!" I exclaimed, freezing up. I didn't recognize that voice. I looked over to the left, blinking as my eyes got adjusted to the darkness again.
It was Doppelganger, wearing dark green. The color of desire, just a shade lighter than jealousy, which was light green. Like grass. From "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence..."
I shook my head, trying not to zone out. "... Hi."
"Hello. What are you doing out so late? Madame could have your head on a stick." He made a threatening gesture, slashing a finger across his throat. Severing my thoughts from the rest of my body. My mind. That would be okay by me. My thoughts were not important like my soul.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be."
I blinked. I didn't like having fast conversations. I could never keep up. "Should I go back to the room now?"
"Sure, if you want to. Or, you could come with me. I've got nothing better to do, and it looks like you don't either." He put his hands in his pockets, and I felt bad for him. When you put your hands in your pockets, you're afraid to show your actions, intentions, identity, and destiny to the person you're talking to.
He'd been badly hurt in the past. I could tell.
I thought about going with him, but if Will woke up while I was gone, he'd be afraid again. I didn't want to stress him out any more.
"Maybe I should go back home-- I mean, to our room... I have to be there for Will..."
Doppelganger looked uninterested. "Ok. Fine by me, it's a free country." He turned around and started walking down the hallway.
"Wait...!"
He stopped. I ran to catch up. He was fast. "I'll come with you if you're lonely."
He looked tweaked. "I don't get lonely, kid. So, wanna tour of the castle? I'm just doing night guard duty, even though it's not like anyone can get outta here..." He yawned and stretched, taking his hands out of his pockets. I was glad of it. I can't talk to people if they're hands are hidden, or if they're not looking at me.
"Ok."
We set off walking, and I had to take two steps for each of his. He was above fast, he was a strider. Striders wanted freedom, and strong personality. They liked to strike poses, too.
We came to a door. It was silver. Grey, basically, but flashy gray. I couldn't tell if it was light or dark gray. If it was light, it would be the feelings of being alone and at peace. If it was dark, it would be the feelings of being alone and hostile about it.
My favorite color was light gray.
"Right this way."
I followed him through the door, and as I did, I analyzed him. His skin was an unnatural shade of black, which meant that he was lost. I felt sad for him, he was really troubled. His eyes were red and pink, which meant love, passion, anger, and the off-truth, in other words, lies. His hair was blonde like mine, except it was darker. Deep happiness, with just a touch of the negative forces of the physical, but also the glory of it.
He was hiding a lot.
We stopped, and I didn't notice until I bumped into him.
"I'm sorry... where are we?!"
Doppelganger laughed and shoved me. I squeaked, (although I'm ashamed to admit it, that's exactly what it sounded like) and almost toppled to the floor.
We were on the roof.
I immediately looked up to the sky. The sky at night is beautiful. Vast freedom through being adrift in loneliness, but dotted with the purest, whitest forms of truth.
I loved nighttime.
Doppelganger motioned for me to sit. I did, and he sat down next to me.
"So, how long ca I keep you out?"
"... Until Will wakes up." I said, smiling a little. I missed Will a lot, even though I'd only been gone for twenty minutes.
"Oh, that's a lot of help, kid. I'll get you back there soon." He winked, and smirked, but not meanly. I looked back up at the sky.
After a silence, he said, "Madame takes quite and interest in you, you know."
"... Me?" I asked. That surprised me. I was just thirteen, not very strong being a Celtic Guardian, and quiet. I wasn't like Will at all, although sometimes I wanted to be.
"Yup. You're a threat to her, you know. You're too smart."
I smiled and almost laughed. No one had ever said I was too smart. I liked it here a little; I could be the kind of smart that I was, without having to learn from textbooks about the Earth, which wouldn't help me at all in my next life.
Doppelganger smiled at my reaction. He probably had night vision. It was too dark to see much of anything.
Except the stars. You could always see the truth.
"You're gonna bring her down, aren't ya? I don't doubt it." It was hard to determine how he felt about that. He wasn't close to her, but he wasn't close to us either. He was nonchalantly in between, not a traitor, but not totally loyal either.
"... I don't want to cause trouble, but I want to learn things about here..."
"Really? Well, that's new. You're new, basically. EVERYONE wants to cause trouble, SOMETIMES. Even me!" He laughed, as if this was absurd. "But seriously. Watch yourself. You're just a kid, I don't like hurting kids. But Madame has no prob with that."
"... I'll be careful." I said, looking down instead of at the sky.
Doppelganger sprawled out a bit, getting comfy. I guess I envied him. He looked like he could get comfortable anywhere. I was never eased in my body. If I was, I might get too attached to it, and have trouble when I departed it eventually.
"What's on your mind."
It wasn't a question, but it wasn't a demand. I liked that, it was just the way I liked to be asked things. "A lot. I... I mostly think about things I have learned, and things I want to learn..."
"Teach me."
"About what? I... I can tell you about colors...?" I said, blushing. Even I could tell that that sounded meek and lame.
"For real? Shoot. Go 'head." Doppelganger said, giving me full attention. That was rare in itself. People usually got mad at me for taking too long to answer them, and lost interest. What was also weird was that I could tell that Doppelganger wasn't a patient person. I wondered vaguely why he was being nice to me.
"Ok..." I shifted a little. "Red... is the color of passion, but also anger and life. Most of all, it's life. Blood isn't bad, you know. People think blood is death, but blood is actually life."
"I agree."
"Orange is... well, orange is energy. Physical energy. Like adrenaline and chamicals. It's... good for the time being, but might hurt your soul, a little. Yellow is happiness, but dark yellow or gold is glory. Light green is envy, but dark green is desire. Light blue is tranquility or peace, and dark blue is almost the same, it's depth and knowledge. Purple is mystery."
"Mmm hmm."
"... Pink could be one of two things... love, or lies.... And that's because white is the truth. So pink can be truth combined with life to make your love, or truth blended with the bad side of life, which stains it. I'd like to think it's love..."
"Me, too. But hey, that's probably because it's my eyes."
"... Your eyes are different. They're mystery mixed with love."
"Sounds about accurate." Doppelganger smiled, and got up. "You're smart. Too smart."
I didn't laugh or make a pleased sound. I waited for him to continue, because I could tell he didn't mean that that was a good thing.
"She'll get you, if you don't REALLY watch your back."
I looked down, and then up at him. I didn't like looking at people usually, but I thought it appropriate. "Why are you worried...?"
He was quiet, for a very long time.
"I dunno. I guess you remind me of someone." He shook his head and chuckled. Then, quite suddenly, he said, "You know it already, don't you?"
"Huh?"
"You know what the flaw in Madame's plan it. You know, the hole in the fishnet. The missing gear in the factory. The weak link of the chain. The one thing that'll bring it all crashing down."
"N-No...?"
He looked surprised, but laughed. "Really? I thought you'd have it by now."
I would have been upset, but I didn't feel like getting mad. "Not yet."
"GOOD. Thank ye gods. If you got it, you'd be dead right now." He was in front of me suddenly, and put his hand on my shoulder. "DON'T, okay? Just... don't. If you do, you'll sorely regret it. And I mean that. Just forget about the whole thing, and serve out your years, okay? It won't be so bad."
"But... we have to leave... Grandma and Grandpa will be... worried."
"Let 'em worry. Better you guys come back really, really late than not come back at all, right?" He was squeezing my forearm, and it hurt a little.
"Could you let go? Please?"
He seemed surprised, and let go. I didn't reach up fix my shoulder armor that had gone a little astray. That would imply that he'd made something wrong just my putting his destiny and identity there, and I didn't want him to think that.
Suddenly, there wasn't any ground.
I didn't even have time to react, before I felt a hand grab the back of my cape and yank me back on to the roof.
"Unn!!" I scrambled away from the edge and bumped into Doppelganger's foot. He peered down at me, and said "Wow. That was extremely close, eh? You could have been a waffle. Best watch where you step, but hey, it was mostly my fault. Sorry, kid."
I slowed the flow of adrenaline in me and calmed my breathing. I nodded to say I was okay, and got up. He laughed, and scooped me over one shoulder. "I think I'll do the honors. There's ton's more open air out here than roof."
I didn't object, but his shoulder was digging into my stomach. I wasn't worried that he would drop me off the edge of take me somewhere bad, like the girl's quarters. I knew that he could be trusted.
I only then realized how tired I was. It was comforting, feeling the motions of someone walking, carrying me the way Dad did. I yawned once, and closed my eyes.
******
{A/N: Holy shit, Doppleganger really DOES sound like a child molestor in this chapter. Jesus H. X__X Just to clarify, he's not. Yaaay.}