Many scents invaded Fiore as he quietly walked into the Circus, keeping his ears sharp and attentive as he searched for Joker amongst the bustling crowds preparing the territory for a show. As far as he knew the show should be off-season, so the large crowds were suspicious. The workers that the lullaby has set in the territory would take care of anything unusual, though. He was just there for information.
Fiore's eyes darted back and forth, searching for Joker before briefly hearing his recognizable, booming show business voice inside of the main tent. He sniffed the warm smells floating on the air, finding a trace of his lady's scent and following the aerial trail. Sure enough he found Joker's scent mixed with his lady's. Fiore entered the main tent, finding Joker standing in the middle of the ring directing a performance on the tightrope wire.
"Hmmm~ yes, just a little more to the right." He called up, watching the woman lithely leap across the rope before twisting and spinning around it in a beautiful pattern to the beat of the music playing. "Perfect, my dear!" Joker clapped excitedly with a smile.
"Joker." Fiore stiffly spoke, keeping his distance from the man before he turned, looking Fiore over with a smile on his face.
"Lovely for you to come so promptly." Joker smiled, turning his attention to the young Role Holder. "You must be so excited to know what your role holds." He chuckled.
"It was either you or the silkworm." He growled the last part accidentally; his fluffy ears lowering back. "And no, I don't like this."
"It's not so bad. You just have to follow the rules of the game and the duties of your role. Anything else you want to do is fine so long as you follow the rules." Joker cheerfully shrugged.
"And what rules are there besides the normal ones?" Fiore questioned. As a faceless, there were rules. Needing a purpose for existing and all that. Official duties, however … well, he had no idea what these would be now beyond what everyone knew for generals and what the lady had discovered herself. Besides those basic rules, each role also followed a particular set of rules for their particular role. As for the role of the puppy, he had no idea what those rules were. He'd feel what the rules were whenever they happened to come up, but it'd be nice to know what they were before then, if possible.
"Well, you do know that you must attend events as a Role Holder, correct?" Joker asked with a smile. "And of course at certain times you must interact with the other Role Holders or even fight them on a regular basis. You will feel the need to do so with your clock and meet up with the other Role Holder at a designated place your clock will lead you to." Joker smiled. "There will be a time limit, but you will feel when it starts and ends too."
"What else?" Fiore tilted his head, analyzing how deeply embedded was Lady Aria's scent on Joker. Very, very deeply. So much he gulped at what it meant. "Is that all? What about the duties? And what is this role?"
"You have the role of the puppy; the puppy is in charge of being a guard dog for any Role he so chooses to serve. Unlike the March Hare, the Lizard, or the knight, you must choose which Role Holder or territory to guard and serve. Basically, you need to pledge allegiance and be someone's dog. You just recently received the role so you'll have a few time changes to adjust before your clock will begin to ache with the demand to find somewhere to belong." Joker explained with a smile.
Fiore's clock nearly stopped in horror. He would be forced to choose a Role Holder to serve? He could not continue to serve his lady? If his role were to interfere with him serving Lady A - well, he didn't want to think about it.
"It's not so bad." Joker laughed. "The puppy can fetch. It has the ability to track down whatever item he is commanded to get, be it even a relic or a person as long as you have the scent. Or perhaps you can merely do any dog tricks, mmhh? It's part of your ability as a Role Holder and you can use that ability freely when you please with all the normal costs of your existence." He explained, waving a hand in the air. "As long as, of course, it does not interfere with your role."
"What's the normal cost?" Fiore perked. He of course hadn't missed that part, although the 'fetch' ability seemed useful, at least for gathering ingredients.
"Normally using your role abilities consumes energy. It consumes you, leaving only the role, but you don't need to worry about that because you accidentally stumbled onto a renewable solution." Joker smiled, quite amused.
Fiore hesitated. "Jackie, you mean?"
Joker leaned back in his chair and laughed, nodding along. "Yes, exactly. I could explain more but Aria would be able to better explain the specifics of how it works to you." He chuckled.
"Yeah … ok, I'll ask her then." Fiore took a mental note on actually reporting all this to his lady and then asking her about everything. She knew far more about the general mechanics of the world after all. But there were still more things he wanted to ask. "And about the connector?"
Joker smiled. "The connector is what connects a Role Holder to a foreigner. This connection helps channel this world's energy, mana as my dear Aria has dubbed it, directly into your body, making a Role Holder particularly strong and capable of protecting his most treasured loved one. However," Joker continued, slyly grinning, "you need to be careful. Other Role Holders, if given the chance, could replace your connector with their own, claiming the foreigner as theirs but she has to accept that herself. Placing your connector on a foreigner is just the beginning, to end the game she must accept it; and if you aren't careful, you will lose her to someone else. The connector is not a game ender in itself." Joker smiled. "I am lucky since my lovely Aria hates all other Role Holders and Alice is firmly diluted by Blood. Jackie, however, seems to be getting everyone's attention since her game ended just as it started, which means they believe her feelings towards you are not strong given the short time you two have been together. I'm sure the other Role Holders will fight you quite hard to steal her away from you. Taking Jackie's personality into account, I would not be surprised if she was being swayed right now." Joker laughed in enjoyment.
Fiore yelped and then let out a hissy growl. "That means that Lady Aria and Jackie can exchange connectors too?"
Joker paused, staring at him before he loudly laughed, holding his gut from laughing so hard before he let out a brief chuckle to calm down. "Connectors stay on the foreigners and cannot be taken off - only a Role Holder has the ability to take someone else's connector off and replace it with their own." He said, still chuckling to himself.
Fiore nodded, keeping this particular piece of information in the back of his head along with everything else. It all seemed so complicated and bothersome that he rather go prepare some cookies and bake his stress away.
"Oh yes, and as the puppy, you are able to freely change into your animal form… which you already could, given that you are a canine already, and have the ability to change your size - to a moderate degree, of course. It's a special ability the puppy role holds because a puppy can become a proper dog. Any type of dog actually so you better adapt to any job." Joker smiled. "And however fortunate or unfortunate it is, you are not a frumious beast, so your form is still basically the same one. By the way, what are you?"
Fiore puffed his tail and shifted into his bestial form, proudly standing tall with attentive ears. "I am a maned wolf, a gift from her lady. I have already chosen to serve Aria."
Joker rolled his eyes with a near menacing smile. "Unfortunately, as powerful as Aria may have become, she is not a Role Holder. You would not be fulfilling your role in that case and that is against the rules. Which would require you to be replaced. You will have a few time changes to think over what Role Holder you want to serve. It could be any one of us." Joker smiled.
The puppy frowned and his new eyes that shred similarities with his patron narrowed, although his pupils widened. "You know I am a note from the melody the lady has crafted. The only one I wish to serve is the lady. She is the only one befitting of loyalty and devotion in this world. The lady is everything. She is greater than any card or any holder, greater than the game and greater than the world. Her influence will change everything and we shall be the extension of her influence and power. I will not serve anyone else." He huffed while gleaming with fanatical determination.
"Stubborn but loyal. The perfect puppy." Joker complimented with a barking laugh. "Such beautiful dedication to her lady is wonderful. Such fanaticism will work well to help you when you choose a Role Holder to serve." Joker laughed.
Fiore leaned back, raising his haunches. "I do not want to serve anyone but her lady," Fiore's voice faltered. He could feel his new instincts biting at him, demanding he seek out a proper master to serve. His claws wanted to dig into the ground, trying his damndest to ignore the sensation.
"Well, I could be convinced to help you out of your little predicament, but I want to see my lovely Aria in person. Tell her that I will explain more to her if she comes to me in person." Joker said, his eye shining in an adoring way.
"Can't you just tell me? I will tell her you told me to tell her to come and see you"
"I'm afraid I can't. Or rather, I don't want to." He smiled. "I would be more than happy to go see her but I know she won't like me going into her little base." Joker laughed. "Just tell her to come see me. Since you are also a winner of the game, you will come to find that spending time apart becomes intolerable very quickly." Joker said with a slightly sad gaze. "Tell my dearly and beloved Aria that I miss her terribly and I will continue to help with this situation if she comes in person."
"Fine … ," Fiore huffed and then turned around to deliver the message. He was already on his way when he stopped, deciding to also go to Nightmare to hear what the worm had to say, if anything, it was more information for his lady.
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After his visit to the circus, Fiore headed towards the tower of clover to listen to what the silkworm would say. He didn't like having to go there nor having to see the worm, but it was better he heard what he had to say. More so to see how much it would differ from what Joker had said. It wasn't as if he trusted Joker, but he trusted the worm even less, and yet, his lady might be interested in comparing the information.
It took him a while to get to the Clover tower as he had kinda lost his way there but he had finally resigned to this visit and reached his destination. At the entrance everyone had looked at him with such disgust and fear that he felt disgusted himself, but he had not been given time to dwell on it and had promptly been led to Nightmare's office, everyone moving out of his path as he made his way to the top of the tower, he presumed, to where another holder could suppress him fast.
Fiore didn't know what to expect, but certainly he had not expected to see the lizard, Gray Ringmarc, holding out a spoon and a bottle of some medicine and trying to get a very sluggish and pouty Nightmare to take it.
"Now, Master Nightmare. It's time to take the medicine. The flavor is irrelevant." The lizard frowned while the master of the tower childishly moved away from the spoon.
"But it just tastes horrible!" The worm squirmed.
Fiore stood there, blinking at the semi normal scene. They were not doing any evil holder stuff. It was a bit surprising and perhaps, disappointing? No, more like, offputting.
"Master Nightmare, the new holder came to see you" The faceless who lead Fiore said and quickly scurried away, never giving FIore his back.
"Oh, the puppy!" Nightmare noticed and rushed away from his aide and the horrible medicine. "Good thing you finally came."
Gray raised an eyebrow and turned around, leaving the spoon and medicine on the desk; clearly ready to act if needed to suppress the new holder.
Nightmare looked intently at the new holder and frowned. "How curious. I can't seem to read your mind."
Fiore felt the weight and warmth of his collar and mentally prayed a thanks to his lady while seemingly just shrugging with a calm demeanor. "Precautions."
Gray leaned back on the desk, folding his arms together. "You really are the victor of a third game? And there were three games?"
Fiore ignored the man and focused on the silkworm. "I am here because Nightmare told me to come so he could tell me about this role and duties." He knew his own tail was perked and his ears high and alert.
"No need to be so defensive." Nightmare pouted some more, clearly disappointed that he couldn't pry in the puppy's mind.
The guard dog gnashed his teeth. After all they had done to his lady and to Jackie and the worm dared to say that!? Fiore accidentally growled and quickly quieted himself. "There is more than enough reason to not be thrilled about this."
Gray moved his hand from inside his suit, surely from over a hidden knife. "You seem to be taking it surprisingly well. How many massacres have you done so far?"
Fiore's ears turned down in indignation, offended by such a distasteful comment. He wasn't like them - he was different. His lady had said so and he desperately wanted to believe such encouraging words after becoming such a wretched holder. "None."
Gray and Nightmare were surprised before the lizard rolled his eyes.
"None yet." Gray clarified.
Nightmare shrugged. "You will. But before that!"
Fiore felt himself falling asleep, and next he knew, he was standing over clouds, clearly in the dream realm.
"Hey!" The puppy looked around, tense and on guard.
"Precautions." Nightmare laughed. "And now, we can speak in private."
"Then let's get this over with." Fiore was eager to get the hell out of there and report back to the lullaby. "Tell me about this role, and why was it given to me in particular. "
"Hm, I wonder," Nightmare grinned, "perhaps through the power of love?" He shrugged.
Fiore's expression to annoyance, clearly wanting a better explanation than that.
Seeing his discontent, Nightmare shrugged. "Look, sometimes these things just happen. Any discontinued role can be revived as needed. As to why it was recalled at all, and to you in particular," Nightmare shrugged, "perhaps it was because this card already had a chance in the game or games?"
"Why was this role, the puppy, recalled? There are already all the holders needed between clover and hearts, no?" Fiore did his best to not tuck his tail between his legs
Nightmare looked away with a huff. "A role can be recalled when a role or a holder is needed. Perhaps a more stark reminder should have been needed instead for the participants. If the current options were not deemed proper for the game, then even if all current roles are in use, some other might be called to serve. More so if the game, or games, had been going for so long, regardless if people remembered or not."
"So you're saying that because 3 foreigners rejected you all, a role was recalled," Fiore questioned, finding the conclusion made made sense. With all those terrible holders being clearly rejected by all foreigners and the lady's game going even while there was a third foreigner that wasn't choosing either, it was only natural that a new option would have emerged to try and finish such games, right? But that still left him in the same horrible situation of him having been the one chosen to take on this role. "What is going to happen to me? What other changes should I expect? What about my mind?" The puppy practically barked a small whine. "And what are the specific duties of this role?"
"Well, in regards to the puppy role, your role is to track and protect while serving under a role holder. The puppy role, at the very least, has a choice as to what role holder they will serve. The role holder they choose to serve must have their own territory, leaving Vivaldi, the queen of heart and her castle, Blood Dupre, the mad hatter and his mansion, Gowland The marquise of the amusement park, Julius Monroe, the time master of the clock tower, myself here in clover tower,Lord Nightmare the caterpillar." Nightmare then shrugged. "I suppose there is also Joker. Although he will go away once the season changes" he explained. "You will choose who to serve in time. If you don't choose soon enough, your role will pull you to one of those six role holders to serve. So you better," in mid explanation, Nightmare's eye suddenly shot to Fiore's shadow. The puppy turned, seeing his shadow twist and churn before an amorphous mass of darkness leapt from his shadows and cut the dream to slip out of it towards the void of nightmares.
Fiore was speechless, stunned Aegis had been hidden there - and further surprised he somehow made it into the dream realm. His lady's reach had increased greatly it seemed.
The world suddenly twisted around Fiore, throwing him back - before he woke with a gasp on the couch. His eyes darted about, seeing he was now in the real world - having been kicked from the dream. Above him, Gray openly stared while smoking a cigarette, uncaring for the new role holder's alarm.
"What happened?" Fiore questioned, quickly getting to his feet.
"You tell me. Looks like Nightmare kicked you out of the dream." Gray said.
Fiore glanced away, refusing to answer. He had more important matters to attend to - like informing her lady Aegis was in the dream realm. He was unsure if she was aware he was able to do this or if such possibly put the AI in danger. The puppy headed towards the door, not giving his back entirely to the ex-assassin.
"Leaving already?" Gray asked, not making any attempts to stop him.
"My questions have been answered to the best of Nightmare's capabilities. If in general. I have no more business here," Fiore stated rather harshly before slipping away, having no plans to return; unless it was to help Aegis in some way.
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Aria was hiding along the roofs while heading to where Jackie had been spotted. She was ready to have a nice long chat full of fun at Jackie's expense, but when she approached Jackie's location, who was, for reasons equivalent to stupidity, working at the base of one of the rides in the amusement park, right in the open for everyone to easily locate her. Aria would have liked to facepalm, but she saw that the Cheshire cat was there stalking the other foreigner.
Immediately she took a charm from her bracelet and transformed it into a sniper rifle, aiming it at the cat in case the mangy beast tried to do anything to 'her' Jackie. "I should slap her for being so idiotic." She grumbled and took position while Aegis scurried into the shadows to get a transmission on what was being said.
Boris's tail flickered back and forth as he drew closer to Jackie, silently looking over her shoulder and staring at her with a deep frown on his face. He stood there for some time before he tugged on her hair, making her look back up at him.
"Oh, hey Boris. What do you want?" Jackie asked before getting back to work, tightening some bolts while listening.
"Sup," with the greeting out of the way, the feline leaned in from behind and flickered his tail by her cheek, "so, it ended. Who did it, Jackie?" Boris's expression twisted, jealously disappointed.
"Did what?" Jackie asked, looking back over to him.
"Whose connector do you have on you?" Boris asked, flicking his tail back and forth in displeasure before he leaned in, staring at her neck.
"Connector?" She asked, confused. "What connector?"
His slit eyes flicked over her, judging her sincerity. "Your game is over. You might not be able to feel it but I and the other Role Holders can. Yours and Alice's game ended last night." He said, staring at her in confusion now.
"Wait, what?" Jackie asked, startled. "Alice ended her game?" Jackie questioned in confusion. "When did that happen?"
"Last night before the meeting." Boris said, seeming rather uneasy as he poked at her neck before lifting up a pendant. "And you're wearing a connector right here but I don't recognize whose it is." Boris pointed out, crouching down and flicking his tail back and forth. "Are you telling me you don't know who's connector this is?"
She twisted her lips, uncomfortable. "Stop making fun of me." Jackie snapped, "how could I have a connector on me? Wouldn't I be able to feel it?" She asked, now hesitant.
"Well, not really. I can feel it, Jackie. Your game ended, and it was ended just as soon as it began." Boris said, lowering his ears as Jackie stood up, reaching up and feeling that there was another necklace on her neck. "And the strangest thing happened, too. Alice was at the meeting when her game ended too, away from everyone in a corner looking through out a window, but we all felt her game ending and very soon yours ended too."
Her eyes widened before she quickly grabbed her work bag and pulled out a small mirror, looking at her reflection before spotting the rather beautiful looking artisan necklace hugging her neck with a pendant lying against the crease of her collarbone. Jackie staggered back, shocked before covering her mouth. B-But where, how?! Who's connector was this?! Was it Fiore's? Or someone else's?
"So, you don't know who did it?" Boris asked, tilting his head and frowning before he grinned. "Then that means you don't mind me taking it off, right?" He cheekily grinned, reaching over to grab it.
"N-No, don't touch it!" Jackie said, slapping his hand away as she stared into the reflection again with a deep troubled frown. What the hell was she going to do now? Who the hell did this connector belong to?!
Boris frowned, annoyed, his tail swaying from side to side. "Better me than anyone else. It's just the worst thing to put a connector on someone who doesn't accept it, so let me remove it."
"No, it's not that. I-I need to figure out who's connector this is first and find out how it happened." Jackie said, nervously clamping her lips together. It had to be Fiore's, it just had to be! But since when did this happen? This morning? And no, her game was already over? But she didn't even get to play! Jackie deeply frowned, poking the connector. Should she go see Nightmare about this? But Aria really hated him. "Hey … h-how would you take it off?" Jackie asked, looking up at Boris. "And what's the catch?"
"You can't take it off, but you can accept another connector to replace it with." Boris crossed his arms before extending his hand to take it off again.
"Maybe I should go see Nightmare about this." Jackie glanced away, trying to remain calm. How did this happen? How?!
"What?! No way! You want that worm's connector?" Boris asked, startled.
"No! Not that. I want to know how to take it off so I can actually play my game." Jackie said, frowning deeply. "Boris, I'm seriously freaked out here. I need to figure out what's going on." She said, glancing off to the side. Maybe before going to see Nightmare she should go see Aria and Fiore to see if this was Fiore's connector. "I need to go see Nightmare. Tell Gowland I'll be back later." Jackie said, placing a hand over the connector and hurrying off to the Royal Staircase.
From her spot, Aria cracked her neck. "Aegis, prepare yourself." Some of her armor melted away and crawled over some signs that were near, eating them and increasing its volume, forming a perfect but black colored double of the mercenary. Aria passed her rifle to the shadow copy of herself before carefully climbing down while approaching her target.
"Hey, wait, come on." Boris huffed, grabbing Jackie's arm and walking in close to her. "I'm trying to help you out here, Jackie." Boris pouted, refusing to let her go.
Jackie reached up and pet his ear. "It's fine, Boris. I'm going to go get this sorted out." She said, trying to leave again but he pulled her back, suddenly hugging her.
"It's not fair that someone snatched you up so fast, Jackie. You didn't even give me a chance." Boris frowned with his ears turned down.
Jackie stared at him, frowning in annoyance. "You had plenty of chances before - you spent them all on Alice who was already taken." Jackie pointed out in annoyance before she flicked his forehead. "Now get off. I'm going to go talk to Nightmare." Jackie said, trying to pull her arm away.
"No. It's not fair that someone put their connector on you. It's the worst thing a holder can do to a foreigner. You don't even know whose it is and that's rude." Boris growled, reaching over and grabbing the necklace. "I'm going to take it off. You have a say in the choice. You don't have to be mine but at least consider it." Boris said, beginning to pull and stretch the connector off of her skin.
Aria didn't wait anymore. She gave the signal and Aegis shot right at Boris's hand. The cat looked at the dark figure on the roof that was shot back and as soon as he made the motion to follow the dark assailants, which conveniently retracted as if running away from the cat, dark tendrils pulled Jackie back, allowing her to turn around and run.
Jackie kept running as fast as she could, heading for Gowland's office before , mid-way, a hand shot out from the alleyway and grabbed her, nearly making her scream before she saw it was Aria. Jackie let out a sigh of relief and stumbled into the alley with her, placing a hand over her heart. "Th-that really scared me." Jackie admitted, nervously breathing before Aria grabbed her arm and pulled her to keep going.
"You mean the way the cat acted? Yes, that would be quite the harassment case. How lucky that I happened to plan and come to get you for some coffee." Aria made an annoyed expression.
"Y-Yeah. Thank you, Aria." Jackie said with a small laugh. "You really have incredible timing." Jackie grinned, hurrying along with her away from the Amusement Park.
"And you have terrible common sense." The mercenary huffed, flicking Jackie's forehead. "Let's get out of here fast." She said before grabbing Jackie's wrist and starting to run.
After running for a good 30 minutes Aria took a sharp turn, nearly ripping Jackie's arm out of her socket as she slipped into a nearby building and kept a tight grip on Jackie's arm as she walked right into the back of the house with faceless glancing over to her, on guard from Aria's appearance.
"Stay alert in case of holders." Aria warned her personnel. "The cat is near the area."
The faceless nodded and prepared their weapons as Aria took Jackie into a back room closet where there was an elevator hidden under a worn out cloth. She stepped onto it before pushing the button, never letting go of Jackie's arm as they began to descend. Jackie glanced over at Aria, feeling her painful grip on her arm beginning to bother her.
"Aria, let my arm go. That hurts." Jackie said, trying to shake her arm free.
"Oh, yes." Aria let go of Jackie's hand and then grabbed her again but not so hard. "You are too slow. Also, I remind you that there are traps everywhere."
The reminder made her close in two steps too close. "Please don't let me go." Jackie said, stepping in closer to Aria nervously. Knowing her kinds of traps, Jackie likely won't live if one was set off.
"Don't complain, then." Aria kept advancing and finally they took an elevator. The lift slowed to a stop before Aria stepped out and headed right for a cart on tracks before both girls hopped in and began heading down the tracks. Jackie looked around, surprised by how low tech everything was here. Everywhere she looked around she saw things that could be improved in order to make everything travel more smoothly. Well, she supposed this was why Aria wanted her to work for her part time. There were a lot of improvements to be made and she surely didn't have time to check every single thing around.
Aria soon arrived at a main platform looking base before they got off and headed down the halls towards her room. All faceless who saw her turned and bowed slightly in respect, smiling happily at their berceuse return before Aria and Jackie went into her office.
Once inside and in privacy, Aria let out a deep, long sigh before she stretched, seeming tired and took a deep breath first. "Are you stupid? Going straight to the fucking tower where you would be surrounded by at least 3 holders?" Aria said right away. "How many times have I warned you about them?!"
Jackie opened her mouth, about to ask how she knew she told Boris that before frowning. Of course she knew. "I wasn't actually planning on going to see Nightmare. I figured this connector had to be Fiore's so I was going to come here first to see him and ask if it was his." Jackie admitted, putting her hands on her hips. "It's not like I could have said that I was coming to see you outright to Boris."
"He probably put it on you accidentally when you two were drugged up and humping or the cuddling afterwards." Aria groaned, going to prepare some coffee for herself and a chocolate for Jackie.
"So this really is his connector," Jackie said with a frown, gently touching the pendant.
"It seems so." Finally, Aria left her coffee aside and just grabbed a beer before handing Jackie the chocolate.
Jackie took the chocolate and stressfully took a chunk out of it. "I uh, I doubt there are any notes that tell me some round-about way to get a connector off, is there?" Jackie asked with a frown.
"No, there aren't. Or at least I have not researched it. I would be needing those myself." She drank her entire beer in one go and then grabbed another. "And I haven't been able to research it with so many plans to take care off."
"W-What?! Really?" Jackie asked, shocked. "You don't have anything on these things?" She asked, blinking in startlement.
"I have data on what they are, what they do, and how they work; but there is no information on how to get rid of them once they have been placed." The Berceuse shrugged. "If there is some loophole it will take me time to figure it out and that does not guarantee it would be viable."
"Damn," Jackie breathed, rubbing her head. "I'm shocked you don't know." Jackie said, nervously laughing. "You seem to know everything."
"I haven't exactly gotten the chance to experiment with one before either." Aria dropped herself on the long couch and kept on drinking. "I'd have to convince a fucking holder to let me experiment. Fuckers. I'd rather kill them all than deal with them."
"Oh. Well … that sucks." Jackie sighed, running a hand through her hair. "So uh, Aria. Have you and Joker um, do any wedding after you got your connector?" Jackie asked, glancing off to the side in embarrassment. "Are you going to have some party or something official? O-Or did you already do that?" Jackie asked, mildly wondering why she wasn't invited.
Aria spat her beer before coughing and almost choking on, Jackie even needing to come and hit her in the back to help her out. "It was a f***ing mistake! We were too drunk and it happened when we were … you know … it shouldn't have happened!" She crushed the can in her hand.
"A-Alright, alright. Aria, I had no idea you were so mad about it." Jackie said, surprised by her sudden aggression. "Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?" She asked, worried for Aria.
"The f***ing a**hole then had the nerve to be happy about it." She growled.
"Well I'm not surprised. He's Joker; he basically messes with people for a living." Jackie said, frowning. "And you're no exception either, but hey, he's probably the best option considering your relationships with the other Role Holders." Jackie admitted.
"He is my f***ing best friend! I don't want any relationship of any kind. Much less with a holder." She growled. "If I wanted to f*** my life that way with the a**holes I could have given up long ago." She crushed the beer can in her hand. "I don't care about f***ing love or that crap."
" … are you serious?" Jackie asked, sounding a little monotone. "Aria, from what it looked like to me, you were already in a pretty great relationship with him. It looks to me like you both really love each other. What does the connector really change for you guys?" Jackie asked. "You know, other than trapping you here in Wonderland." Jackie sighed. Aria's relationship with Joker was the closer she had ever seen in real life to a true love
"To him that piece of crap practically means we are married on his end and it has some other effects, like focusing all the damn love of the game into just one holder. You think it would be nice to have Joker infatuated with you? When he is your best friend?"
"Well, if anything, doesn't that actually mean that he belongs to you and only you?" Jackie asked. "It seems like he doesn't want anyone but you, and vice versa. And what is a boyfriend if not your best friend?"
Rather than answering, Aria growled.
"You know, Aria, this really doesn't seem like a bad thing at all. Aren't you the one who sees the best leverages for each situation? Joker would clearly do almost anything for you. Doesn't having his connector mean that you have him by the balls?" Jackie asked with a grin. "And if you don't like him anymore, you could just take someone else's connector. I'm sure he'd rather do anything you want than lose you to someone else." Jackie suggested, trying to think of this from Aria's angle. "Think about all the leverage you have over him with his connector on you."
Aria frowned more deeply, but there was less of an edge now.
"And of course other Role Holders hate going to the Circus and especially the Jail. You have the advantage of Joker being the first line of defense for you while you visit him or if you decide to stay at his place. The three of you all get along pretty great too so there isn't much conflict between you three." Jackie suggested, thinking of more benefits.
"Mmhh," Aria didn't growl this time. "I still don't want a connector. Much less like this one in particular." She groaned.
"Why? What's wrong with it?" Jackie asked, looking her over. "Actually, where is it?" She asked.
"You don't want to know. But it's not nice. It's probably the worst. I didn't even know it could take such separated forms." Aria looked away.
"Now I'm morbidly curious." Jackie admitted.
"It's, no." Aria bit on her lip.
"Do I have to bring up the contract?" Jackie grinned, enjoying seeing Aria uncomfortable when she was usually so confident.
Aria crossed her legs and arms. "Its piercings, ok. And not in the ears, so stop asking."
"Like, a belly button piercing?" Jackie asked, smiling before freezing. "Oh jeez, they're not on your boobs, are they?" Jackie asked, startled.
"Yes and no." Aria answered.
"Well can I see it?" Jackie asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
Aria stood up with an exasperated look before smiling evilly. She stood in front of Jackie and then snapped her fingers, making all her clothes dissolve, leaving her naked so Jackie could check out the nipple piercing and the clitoris hood piercing. The top ones adorned with a little dangling mask, one happy on one side and the other one frowning, while the one in between her legs had a combined design that resembled the double masks Joker carried as communicator in his belts.
Jackie's eyes widened, startled as she jolted back and immediately looked away. "O-Okay, I regret asking." Jackie said, refusing to look at her out of sheer embarrassment.
"I told you, do you want to touch them too? I assure you I did try taking them off." Aria said, slightly amused at Jackie's horror.
"No no, I believe you." Jackie said, blushing in embarrassment. Ah~ she should have just left it be instead of pushing to see them. "I wonder why mine's a necklace and yours are uh, piercings." Jackie said, trying to steer the conversation somewhere else.
"From what Joker said before I got too angry at this, apparently it's because we were focused on humping when he placed it. You two were most likely cuddling only."
****FLASHBACK ****Aria woke up in the prison with an epic hangover after the epic drinking she and Joker, both of them, had last night after her little incident of almost devouring the circus and becoming an uncontrolled eldritch monstrosity.
All groggy and not really awake, she drank all the water from the bottle left on the night table before dropping unconscious again. Around an entire time change later, she woke up because she needed to pee, she got off bed and headed for the bathroom not caring that she was still completely naked.
She went to the restroom, feeling the sensation different than normal; after that she decided to get a shower to wake up, and when she was passing her hands through her breast, she felt something metallic on her nips. Quickly looking down, she saw she had her nipples pierced, the curved upper part of a small ring crossed through each of them and connected to a hanging little mask like the one Joker had in his belt, the right one was the mask for the jester and the left one for the warden.
Aria remained silent a few seconds just processing, pulling on her new attachments and twisting them in her fingers before it clicked in her mind that she had genital piercings. She emitted a high pitched shriek, a truly girlish scream for once in her life, before she darted in front of a mirror to also see that between her legs was another piercing, this one with the form of both combined masks of Joker.
"WHAT THE FAAAAAK!"
A sudden commotion from the other room sounded as she tried removing them but there was nothing to turn or move in order to get them out, and every little pull she gave just made her buds harden.
Black ran into the door, startling her as she jumped, seeing him looking inside with his pistol in hand before looking at her, "why the f*** did you scream!?"
"What the f*** is this!?" She turned around, pulling on the nipple rings and then letting them drop. "The f*** I got this!? I didn't have this shit before"
"The f*** did you scream for?!" Black demanded, looking around to ensure there was no danger but he kept his gun in his hand. She never screamed. Never.
"Because I have f***ing piercings that I can't take off and these weren't here yesterday!" She growled. "Why and HOW the fuck did this happened!? There is not even a trace of perforation happening!"
Black stared at the piercings on her tits, staring incredulously before leaning back and looking rather composed with a poker face before he turned around. "White, why F*** is she wearing our connectors?!" Black suddenly shouted in a fit of rage as he stomped back into the room.
Aria ran behind him and grabbed his ear hop to turn him around "The f*** you mean, connector!? Not like 'your' connector, right? RIGHT!? That's not possible, is it?"
"It IS my connector, OUR connector!" Black snapped at her, slapping her hand away, grunting and rubbing his hangover head in aggravation before stomping over to the bed where White sat up, stretching himself with a pleasant smile.
"Oh? Good morning, you two." White cheerfully smiled.
Aria walked up to them "And how did your connector got to be on my nippies and over my clit? Just remove it and that's it, no?" she grabbed the base of her tits to lift her breasts as if with that he would just snap his fingers and make the piercing disappear "You are a holder. You know what the fuck means if you get your damn connector on a foreigner, so take it off." She half whined, half demanded and half panicked.
"Connectors can't be removed, dipshit. You would have the choice of replacing it with someone else's connector but even then you'd always be wearing a connector of someone." Black huffed in annoyance, his headache from the hangover sharp again.
"Like hell would I get near any of the other fucking clocklings of a holders this side of the mirror." Aria growled with indignation at even the suggestion of getting close to any other roleholder. "Now what the f*** do we do? If you can't remove it then it then what?" She then looked at White "And how are you so damn happy?" She turned to look at the jester, who had a very pleased and stupidly happy but sly smile on his face.
"Well, there isn't much we can do about it, my dear. With your game having ended last night with us, it is now Jackie's game but her game ended too." White smiled, turning towards her and bringing his eyes down to the connectors on her nips, "they look quite lovely on you." He smiled, gently holding one up with his finger before kissing her other breast.
"That's not the point." She pushed White's face away but he bit on the piercing before letting it go, causing a little bounce. "Regardless of how inconvenient are piercings like this." She growled. "It's a connector, YOUR connector. And if my game ends with you that's not good for either you or me. Fuck this pinche chingadera (f***ing s***)."
"Do you not like it? Your game was going to end one way or another and last night you begged us to somehow find a way for you to not be separated from us when the next move would take you away or for the madness to not consume you entirely." White began playing with the piercings in reach of his hands. "After you almost lost yourself into your raging consumption of reality and gathered so much madness, you really urged us to seek a way to help you."
She grabbed White by the cheeks and pulled on them, "First of all, I was drunk. Second, I meant to find a way to open some door or portal or whatever to not get away at the season's end and maybe some relic or something for the madness; NOT get the equivalent of getting married!"
"Wou weft Joker fhe fhreedhom tho intherprhet, anth tho I did." White shrugged cheerfully.
She kept pressing his cheeks with force, making them quite red. "Joker, let me repeat this to you. Connector on me. On my tits and over my clit and that makes us technically married 'DE FACTO' for what your stupid rules, with your stupid game, in your stupid world deem!" She growled and pulled harder, which only made White moan as she addressed Black. "Now how do we fix this? You were also drunk."
"We don't. What's been done is done." Black heavily sighed before crookedly grinning her way, "not that I have any complaints myself, really." He said, walking over to her and tugging on a tit ring.
"Joker." She growled, releasing White's reddened cheeks to slap Black's hand away "How do we get this off?"
"Let us examine them, dear." White sat on the edge of the bed and gave a couple taps to her leg. She spread her legs slightly and he took a hold of her new jewelry.
Black pulled on one tit ring to see that the bar passed smoothly through her nipple, making it more prominent and firm, not to mention really hot and elegant. The design also provided the perfect support for hanging decoration from it, like chains and the like. Not only that; his skin and his clock tingled when he touched it, part of the effect of a connector. With curiosity about the unfamiliar sensation, he used his other hand to pull and check the other metal connector and found that the effect didn't just double, it increased greatly. The effects were not isolated to him alone; she too were clearly feeling the effects. He felt stronger, freer and fuller - more complete than he'd ever been, with potential he didn't even imagined he could ever achieve.
White played with the piercing in his hands and let his counterpart perform the first exploration. The effects were interesting, not just on how amazing he was feeling, but also how it was affecting her. Each touch clearly had a physical effect, quickening her breathing, flushing her skin, which was more likely mostly attributed to the connector. Which, of course, was fine with him. He leaned forward to admire the view between her legs. The top part of the charm was a perfect mini combined Joker's mask that left clear to anyone who saw it who she belonged to.
He was feeling butterflies in his stomach just thinking about this. He, Joker, had properly won the most difficult game. Well, he would do so entirely once they consummate this union again. His own side of their connector would adjust to match whatever complimented hers better, truly joining their existences, just like he had planned last night when he made sure the warden and Aria were too drunk to oppose placing the connector. Too bad he hadn't gotten the time to present his proposal more officially and with graphics as he had originally planned to convince her, but what was done was done and he couldn't wait.
Aria groaned, noticing how hot their 'examination' was getting, and the craving she was starting to feel for his touch. This needed to stop. She took a step back and killed her expressions. "There must be something we can do to fix this mistake."
Black frowned but White shrugged.
"Again, you would have the choice to choose another Role Holder's connector if you are not happy with Joker's connector." White explained with ease, slipping out of the bed and putting on his jester uniform with a snap of his fingers, somehow already looking all fresh and ready for the day.
"I don't want anyone else's connector, Joker. I don't want a connector, much less on my genitals." She grunted, her turning to a yellowing caution shine.
"Well, that's how it is. In the heat of the moment, that's what they became at the time of their connection." White smiled, "and they do look gorgeous on you."
"THEY ARE GENITAL PIERCINGS!" Aria narrows her eyes, which turned to an orange shade as she lost her patience. "Do you have genital piercings too? No? Then get some and we'll see then! This is crap! A f***ing connector on me and then as piercings!?"
"I would be happy to get some if you want me to." White smiled, standing next to her before kissing the side of her head.
With a jolt of electricity in her muscles, Aria slapped the jester so hard that she tossed him back to the bed. Darkness began crawling around her and covering her in shadows. She began storming off, but after two steps, when she snapped her fingers to summon her armor, she stopped and shifted in place before walking off a bit funny, the piercings being pressed and moving on her most sensible parts with each movement. "Both of you get them and then we'll see!"
*** END OF FLASHBACK ***
"And then I stormed off. Clearly." Aria huffed, looking for another beer.
"O-Oh, okay." Jackie said, still looking away. "Can uh, can you put your clothes back on now?" Jackie asked, putting her hands up to protect her face and push Aria away should she decide to do something weird.
"No, I actually needed to get fresh. I'm not used to having pieces of metal constantly rubbing my sensible parts against the interior of my armor." Aria then grabbed Jackie and pulled her over, making her lay on the couch as she climbed on top to immobilize the other foreigner. "Let me tell you that this stupid connector also has another side effect apparently."
"ACK! Aria, no! Not again!" Jackie shouted before she began really struggling, remembering the traumatizing experience before she suffered at the hands of Aria when Joker wasn't available to her. "Get off!" Jackie shouted, flailing and trying to free herself but failing. "W-Wait, side effect?" Jackie asked, trying to push her off but stopped kicking.
"No. I'm invoking the contract too because I'm needy and I don't want to see Joker at the moment." Aria grinned, grabbing the edge of Jackie's shirt.
"A-At least take a shower first!" Jackie shouted.
"Let's go to the shower and we'll take one together." Aria wrestled Jackie out of her shirt and then began unbuttoning her pants when the door opened at the same time that the intercom announced Fiore coming in.
"My Lady, Fiore is coming in as you dictated earlier." A voice called out by the door.
The door opened and the puppy came in, looking somewhat stiff and expectant. "My lady, I'm back! Jackie?" He approached, his tail beginning to wag slowly.
Jackie jolted, snapping her head back around as Fiore kneeled beside her, gently cupping her face.
"Jackie, my love, are you alright?" He asked, worriedly looking her over as his ears were high and alert. His beautiful eyes searched hers, briefly looking her over for any injuries before pausing, looking up and noticing Aria on top of Jackie. "M-My lady." Fiore said, jumping up to his feet before blinking, looking between the two of them and stiffening up, realizing what he just barged into. His tail slowly began to wag harder, finding this to be highly erotic.
"What did he tell you, Fiore? Don't mind us. Give your report." Aria happily smiled, making shadows remove Jackie's shoes as she kept on tugging on the pants while Jackie struggled against her. Frowning and deciding that Jackie was moving too much for any decent entertainment, Aria huffed and decided to merely hug the other woman so that her face was right between her breasts.
"AUG!" Jackie's muffled shout sounded as she reached up, struggling to push the woman off but her hug was inescapable. "Aria, stop that!"
"Don't worry, I can multitask." Aria continued to try and undress her. "I'm using our contract for this given that I need it."
Jackie glared up at her before noticing Fiore staring at the both of them with his ears up and attentive, lightly blushing while wagging his tail. A-Aria was totally naked! Jackie grabbed Aria's shoulders before she quickly flipped Aria around and laid on top of her, shielding Fiore's eyes from Aria's naked body. "Fiore, stop looking!" Jackie ordered with a flush on her cheeks.
Aria laughed at Jackie's rather immature reaction, finding it entertaining enough to continue.
Fiore continued to watch with a bright blush crawling over his face with his tail wagging faster in his excitement. If this was between Jackie and any other woman he would promptly have asked to join but because it was his lady enticing his mate, he would allow to share his precious little cinnamon roll with her.
"Fiore, turn around so Aria can go get dressed." Jackie was the one blushing more out of anyone here while Fiore hesitated, waiting for orders, and Aria just sighed.
"Ugghhh, fine." Aria grumbled. The berceuse moved Jackie aside and just stood up, shadows crawling over her skin as she walked towards the small shower adjacent to her office. "Fiore, you can give your report aloud while I shower."
"Yes, my lady!" Fiore helped Jackie up and kissed her on the check.
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"...And that's what happened and all they said, my Lady." Fiore finished his report while Aria was drying up her hair with a towel after her shower, her armor already materialized over her body.
"I see." Aria said with a frown, processing what Fiore explained to her. "Bastard Joker." She bitingly growled, tossing her towel towards the bathroom's floor where a tendril of darkness picked it up to hang it. "So that's what they said, huh?" it was clear that Joker wanted to see her, no doubt, to continue being so happy about putting his connector on her. The most troubling part of Fiore's new role was about him having to choose a Role Holder to serve and if she wanted to get around it, she'd have to go see Joker "And how do you feel, Fiore?"
"I am scared, my lady." Fiore admitted with a soft whimper. "I will continue to serve you no matter where I go, but how can I efficiently serve you if I am forced by this cursed role to serve another Role Holder?" He lowered his ears in distress.
"We'll find a way around it, Fiore." Aria reassured as well as she could. "Even if you need to do some duties, if they are done to a minimum it works."
"Well, why don't you just work for Joker?" Jackie suggested, not seeing too much of a problem in this. "Wouldn't he be the best option in this case? He's basically married to Aria now so you could still work for her too. With anyone else, I doubt you'd still be able to follow Aria properly." Jacki reasoned.
"That's what he suggested," Fiore whimpered, mortified, "but he is still Joker, and I don't want to serve anyone but my magnificent Lady Aria."
"Joker must already be planning for that to happen, that bastard." Aria growled in annoyance.
"Well how else will you get around it?" Jackie asked, looking down at Aria. "You'll have to go see him if you want to find that loophole."
Aria groaned and rolled her eyes before snapping her fingers. "Aegis."
A russian accent male voice came from the shadows sounding relatively amusing. "Yes?"
"Grab one of the mana infused clocks I left you know where, and go see Joker. That should give you enough autonomous time." Aria cracked her neck.
"Ok." Some of the shadows of the room condensed into a big beach-ball that began rolling away until it hit the door. With a twisting curve, it deflated and squished beneath the gap.
Jackie stared at the door, finding the way Aegis can change forms to be very weird, even now. Jackie chuckled, looking down at Aria. "What makes you think Joker will tell Aegis about the loophole when he asked specifically for you to go?" Jackie teased.
"He knows I'm not exactly willing to see him at all. Besides, Aegis will find counter-arguments to anything Joker says, we've been practicing." The Berceuse laid there on her sofa with an expression of total 'mep' at the situation. "Well, Jackie. Now that Fiore is here please start humping him. I need to check how the mana flow changes for a new holder, more so one that still has no territory."
"Wh-What?!" Jackie shouted, startled before she jumped off Aria and quickly backed away. "N-Now? No way." Jackie said, nervously blushing.
"But, little donut, an order is an order." Fiore smiled, wagging his tail as he trotted over to Jackie and gently held her shoulders. "I'm already so excited, licorice." He grinned, kissing her cheek excitedly.
"You can use my couch." Aria moved aside, and sat on the edge of her desk, her eyes litting up in purple as she watched with a bored expression. "If you need toys or lube I have some in a drawer."
"A-Absolutely not! If you want to see that, then go bang Joker! You have to have previous data from him anyway!" Jackie snapped at Aria as she turned to run away.
"I don't care about seeing, I care about recording the flow of mana. Joker's data is the control data of the experiment. So get to it, already. I don't have all day." Aria crossed her arms and shifted uncomfortably. Her armor was too form fitting, so she went to her closet to get some normal clothes and less tight clothes.
"Should we get to it, donut?" Fiore softly blew on Jackie's ear.
"Yes, get to it." Aria called.
"Aria! Part of the friendship contract! You can't force me to do something I really don't want to do, which includes forcing me to have intimate relations with someone!" Jackie shouted over at Aria.
"The contract also says that you must help relieve physical ailments" Aria narrowed her eyes and then gave Jackie a push that those the third foreigner to the ground. Then stood up. "Uggh fine. Whatever. Get the f*** out, then. I need Fiore to run some tests anyways."
"Fine!" Jackie called and then went out of the door.
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A happy beach ball kept on rolling around until it arrived at the circus, stopping right in front of Joker. "Greetings, Joker. My user sent me." The ball transformed into some cute mini wyvern that waved its wings in a greeting gesture.
" … oh, Aria." The jester part of Joker heavily sighed, looking off to the side.
"Should I assume you know what my current mission may be or do I need to state that I'm here to get the information regarding the new Role Holder and all attached data?"
Joker heavily sighed once again, rather downcasted. "If you know all of that then you should be aware I requested for Aria herself."
"I'm technically her shadow, so I count and I was sent by her officially as an envoy … she also does not want to see you and is quite upset, if I may add."
White frowned, crossing his arms. "Well, I don't see why she is so upset. Getting my connector has helped her in more ways than hindered her. I'm sure she understands the advantage she has by having my connector? And if not then I would love to thoroughly educate her on the matter." White politely smiled.
"Or she can mention all the disadvantages too, along with the fact that you never even asked her about it and just put it on her in quite the interesting places. Isn't placing a connector on an unwilling foreigner a breach of the rules? " Aegis spoke, tilting his head. "Although I do commend you for such action and plan, I should probably mention that the only reason she has not erased your full existence is because of you being her best friend … which she isn't that sure about at the moment."
"I understand, but in the long run my actions help her. She simply needs to come to terms with that." He smiled. "But if she doesn't come see me soon I'll have to do something drastic." He laughed rather lightheartedly. "But, it's a shame, but I cannot tell you the loophole. I promised to tell Aria if she came in person, which she did know." White shrugged.
"And if you don't tell me then she'll think you are an enemy now, will ignore any non aggressive solution and might go into extremes like destroying the very existence of the other territories one by one." Aegis smiled a small fangy reptilian smile. "Or you can show good will and tell me, along a message for her. Do you even have finite plans for the long run? Plans that perhaps you'd need to discuss with her if you really wish for your affiliation with her to work on a more committed instance?"
"I do love thinking of her overreactions." White smiled rather excitedly. "But it's true, I don't want my wife to be upset." He chuckled. "Alright. I'll tell you the loophole for her loyal little mutt." He sighed once again.
"Please do so. Do you want to merely tell me or would you prefer me to record your voice and transmit it?"
"I don't care which." He smiled. "The loophole is very simple. If he decides to swear loyalty to me, he will be able to still serve his lovely Aria since we are connected. Not only that, he would have the role of protecting both my territory and Aria's, which my territory is now a part of." Joker smiled.
"Her territory? Can you sense it? Please explain that last part." Aegis requested, tilting its head.
"I don't see what there is to explain, really. Her territory absorbed mine, so it is now one and the same." He smiled. "Thanks to her influence my territory solidified has joined hers. Soon, hers will be visible and reachable, I assume. All the areas you control have been gathered too."
"Mmhh, interesting. We didn't count on that, but it seems we need to act regarding more land acquisition." Aegi scratched his chin with the stinger on his tail. "I should be going then. Would you like to send any other message?"
"No, it's not as if she would hear anything. But I do have a question for you." Joker smiled. "What sort of actions could I do to better get her attention? She's been so cold." He huffed .
"Well, you could start some big architecture or civil projects that show you do think big and not so ephemerally. Perhaps improve your territory that is now hers as you say a bit. Kidnap Jackie to show how desperate you are. Request some official marriage agreement to her lawyers so she knows you are serious and formal with this mutual association, perhaps get her some relics given that normal gifts are almost an insult."
"All sound lovely." White smiled, nodding along as Aegis offered some suggestions. "I will take these into consideration. If you have no further business, you may go." White said.
Aegis turned into a little goat and jumped his way away with a bouncy and happy stride.
Joker smiled, watching Aegis go as he leaned back in his chair and began thinking of all the ways he could get Aria's lovely attention back on him.
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