Chapter 5: Games We Play
A/N: So tomorrow morning I'm leaving early for a two day camping trip and instead of making you wait until Monday afternoon for this I'm giving it to you a day early. But next chapter will be Friday again. To my beta- one name change, sorries. And I still don't own Hetalia or any of the characters (even if Scotland is barely canon anyway). Special shout out to Este Savoy for a very nice review back on Tuesday. I'm so happy there's so little about Cardverse that's canon. Give's me a ton of liberties with my characters (yes, you should be concerned). Hey guess what? I figured out line breaks!
"If you're going to be standing in for us, you have to look the part." It wasn't enough that they were duplicates that shared the same voice and roughly the same personality. No, wardrobe had to match as well and that meant discarding the other-worldly suits they had arrived in for the characteristic Spades Blue.
The whole ordeal reminded America of when England bought him a suit and told him he would not be seen in public with him if he continued to dress improperly1. Not the fondest memory of childhood but a memory nonetheless. Both times he complained about its abnormality.
"Am I this annoying to the others all the time? If that is the case I pity them."
"Dude, quit talkin' like that. America, no matter which version, shouldn't be so uptight." Alfred sighed and sat down on the stained glass window sill.
"Well this version is going to have to be an exception. I have people who look up to me to lead them against the other kingdoms. Being 'uptight' is the only option I have." America turned to him, crossing his arms.
"You ever hear that phrase 'it's better to be feared than loved'? Cause it's not true. Trust me I had a very unloving king when I was younger, and fearing him only got me my own nation and his empire collapsed2. People trust someone they love more than someone they fear to lead them to victory. Try, I don't know, letting loose once in a while, showing your people you know how to have fun. Fear is unpredictable, random. They never know what's gonna happen next with a tyrant controlling them."
"I am not a tyrant and if you remember it was love that split Cards in the first place. Fear of being destroyed is what keeps the other kingdoms at bay." America threw up his hands and shrugged, giving up on the argument. Trying to convince yourself to do something was almost harder than convincing someone else and America was nothing if not stubborn.
"Dude, whatever. Now about your taste in style…" He held out the deep blue overcoat like it was poison and grudgingly put it on. "What's with all the blue? Not that it's a bad color but red is just as good."
"Like the spade blue is my kingdom's symbol. Red is Hearts-"
"Of course it is."
"-Orange is Diamonds and green is Clubs." The way he said the name, like it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Considering who ruled the other Black kingdom, America could imagine betrayal, bloody conflicts, and long-standing rivalries, so he didn't press for information. Instead he inspected his temporary wardrobe without another word.
"From this port it takes about eight weeks with good weather to reach Chess. So we've added a few enchantments to lessen the gap. The Rummy is the fastest ship in our arsenal but even with the added speed it should still take a week minimum before you see land. It is the best we can do on short notice." Yao admired the privateer ship like it was his prized possession and for all they knew it might be. Even as he talked his eyes seemed to glisten with pride at the magnificent, dark-sailed vessel. He, Arthur, and Alfred all wore simple commoner clothing while China, England, and America wore the ritzy attire of the face cards, adding to the illusion that the royals were evacuating the kingdom.
"I can't say I'm disappointed to set foot on another pirate ship." England mused, a distant look in his eyes.
"Ohonhon, Angleterre, the dreaded pirate Captain Arthur Kirkland. I'm glad I'm staying here." France chided, earning a punch to the arm from the Brit.
"So when are you bastards sending us home?" Romano yelled from the back, fidgeting in the deep blue coat of Spades Kingdom Italy somehow convinced him to wear. Arthur blanched at his language while the Nations just rolled their eyes, despite agreeing with his question.
"The earliest would be when they return from Chess. That way I can send you all at once." Romano cursed something about stupid British bastards before returning to Italy's side. Before Arthur could introduce the crew Matthew came forward, trunk in hand.
"I think it best to send someone who knows this world along with them to Chess don't you? The others won't know I'm gone."
Arthur looked to Alfred who shrugged in response. "It does make sense. Fine, Matthew you are allowed to accompany them, just please don't get yourself killed, we can't be replacing the best ace in the history of Spades mid-war." Matthew smiled and rushed a thank you.
"I think four immortal Nations and a crew of our best sailors can protect me just fine." Arthur smirked and waved the crew forward, a very familiar redhead in the lead.
"Scotland?!" England yelled in a mix of shock, anger, and annoyance. "Don't tell me he's the captain." He crossed his arms and glared at the emerald-eyed redhead who frowned in response.
"Allistor is one of our top navy captains and a distant cousin of mine. Whatever quarrels you may have with his counterpart are null and void here." Seeing England's clone effectively shut up England himself was a rather hilarious sight. Even more so when said Nation's face reddened in embarrassing defeat.
Arthur proceeded to introduce the rest of the small, six-man crew who did several double takes at the doubles of their world leaders. They received a quick explanation before loading up the ship with the precious cargo. Twenty minutes later the Rummy left port in Spades for its journey to Chess.
After everyone had settled in, America and both Canadas sharing a cabin and England and China bunking together, Captain Allistor came down to officially greet them.
"King Alfred-"
"Dude, first of all that title still pisses me off and second, call me America." Allistor earned a sympathetic look from Canada and Matthew and quickly corrected himself.
"Apologies, America. I suggest you and the rest of your party stay below deck until we enter Open Ocean. Rival navy ships currently swarm these waters and it would be best that we pass off as nothing more than a Spades vessel." The three nodded in agreement and Allistor headed back on deck.
"I remember when Iggy took me on his ship when I was little." America started, flopping down on his bunk. Canada knew the story but Matthew listened with interest on his bunk. "It was supposed to be from Boston down to Charleston, teaching me about how the ship worked and the mercantile trade routes and stuff. We ended up running into Spain-our Antonio-halfway there. He was on an unfamiliar ship and took us by surprise.
"Iggy's ship-God, I can't remember the name now-took it hard, barely making it to port. Spain's ship didn't make it." Though the city names were unfamiliar, Matthew could picture the scene in his mind. Imagining quiet Antonio attacking Arthur in a naval battle was a bit far-fetched in this world. It made him wonder just how different their worlds really were.
"Is there anything like Cards in your world?" He asked, Canada taking his turn to talk.
"There are a few kingdoms still around in our world but none as big as these. Almost all the land in our world is occupied by people too; we don't have vast expanses of unclaimed wilderness anymore." Canada went on to explain the different countries and general information about a few of them. America left the cabin to find the other Nations, Canada, and Matthew sitting across from each other in mirrored positions. Literally.
"Aiyah, how did we get roped into this mess?" China's muffled voice complained through their cabin door. America didn't bother knocking and just jumped into the conversation.
"I don't know it just somehow fell into place like this. Even in peacetime the Nations of Earth cannot avoid war." England scoffed at his own remark, lying down on his bunk.
"Well would you have denied them help if you had a choice?" America asked, sitting across from China and leaning against the wall.
"Maybe I would have." England muttered darkly. "I mean, we have a warring region of our own to deal with and look how involvement turned out. It doesn't seem that even if Spades gets their precious advantage back it will solve anything. So what if they return to superiority? The other three will still fight them until they just can't take it anymore. It won't ever get better for them. Maybe annihilating each other is the solution."
America shot up and stared at him. "How could you say that? There are millions of innocent lives at stake!"
"Don't you think I know that? All I'm saying is that they're caught between a rock and a hard place just going around in circles. A variable must be changed to remove the deadlock."
"They should reunify into one kingdom and move the Timepiece to the center." China said, earning a scoff from America.
"That's like saying we'll move Jerusalem to the center of the Middle East so all the countries can share it. Even if it works for a while someone will make a power play eventually3."
"What a mess."
"King Ivan, sir. One of our spies reported something I think you'll find interesting." Natalya, Ace of Clubs, entered the throne room of Clubs Castle where her distant uncle sat quietly on the throne. At his wave to continue Natalya relayed the information.
"It appears the royalty of Spades along with their ace boarded a military ship early this morning and sailed around the peninsula headed north. The castle is considered to be vacant and vulnerable."
An imperceptible smirk flitted across Ivan's face before reverting to its placid form. "What of the progress of Hearts and Diamonds?"
"Hearts began mobilization late last night; Diamonds remains neutral as of this moment." Natalya fingered the hem of her emerald dress, picking at the black club border on the neckline. Ivan knew Francis was up to something, he was always scheming in that creamsicle castle of his.
The smirk returned, "Prepare the southern fleet for siege of Isle Maid. We attack at dawn." Natalya nodded and ran to find Roderich, as the jack controlled the military of any suit.
Ivan returned to isolation, chuckling manically. "Let the Game of War begin."
Footnotes:
1: Hetalia episodes of America's storage room cleaning (love it, have the OST on my iPod).
2: British King George III during American colonial days. "Benign neglect" as they say. Of course they had some justification taxing them for the war they fought for them but we didn't see it that way so America probably has very biased opinions (for everything). In reality the taxes back then were half as much as the lowest tax here today... Well, time to amass the armies and storm the capitol again. For those of you who don't know, the war wasn't really fought over taxes or tea or anything. It was the consequence of a bunch of things most notably misrepresentation- or lack-thereof- in Parliament and the fact that after months of trying to be diplomatic gentlemen we said "to Hell with it" and ended up in the gamble of our lives.
3: American logic. This one's pretty self explanatory but a reference nonetheless.
Gotta feel bad for Iggy, his own brother tried to separate from him last year with a vote of all things. Red v. Blue once again. With all due respect, they probably wouldn't have lasted on their own, from a third party perspective. How many more game puns can I make before you guys are sick of 'em? You know you love them. See ya Friday! (Okay I'm not going to ask this a bunch of times but I would really love some more reviews)