Hey guys! Sorry for the late update! Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
.:|Silver|:.
It was a new day in the Kingdom of Spades. The king wasn't happy. He was tired and hadn't been able to sleep before because the pirate's evil smirk kept haunting him. (Well, that and Tamesis.) So it was really no surprise that he came down to breakfast late and simply moped there, too tired to actually try to eat. Arthur on the other hand, grinned more widely, as if seeing the king weary like that made his day. He ate heartily then stormed out, saying something about going to the docks to find out more about his ship. As soon as he was gone Alfred straightened and actually tried to eat his food. He shoveled in a few mouthfuls before pushing the plate away and fixing his glasses, standing up. The remaining people also stood up with him.
"Your Majesty?" inquired the Jack politely, looking a bit ticked at having to stand away from his breakfast. Matthew also gave his sibling a questioning look. The king waved at them t sit down and moved away from his chair, rushing out of the dining hall.
"I just remembered something! See ya guys later! I'll be in my study at the usual time, Yao!" With a hurried whirl of a blue coat, he was gone, taking the King's Staff with him too. Yao eyed the door suspiciously as everyone sat down and completed their breakfast, still standing.
"Sit down, My Lord," someone tittered. The Jack sat down with a determined looking, eating quickly before excusing himself too.
Blond hair glinting in the sun and green eyes narrowed, Arthur glared at the carpenter in front of himself.
"What do you mean it will take a week? We don't have that time," growled the pirate in all his pirate glory, red coat billowing out behind him dangerously. The man cringed slightly, glancing at his comrades for assistance before back at the blond man in front of him.
"S-sorry s-sir, nut w-we don't h-have enough p-people to f-fix it much m-more quickly."
There was a second of silence as the blond glared, his left eyebrow twitching.
"I will send my crew carpenters. There are three of them. Will that aid you in working faster?" he finally asked coldly. The carpenter nodded hurriedly, wishing he could just run away before the pirate decided to kill him. Arthur growled and stalked away, whistling sharply as he did so. A bird flew out from somewhere, swooping onto his shoulder and pecking his ear affectionately. The brown-haired carpenter watched the pirate leave, a bit curious and more than glad that he wasn't being threatened. The pirate scrawled something on a scrap of paper and handed it to the pure white bird, which took the paper in its beak and took off. The pirate's eyes followed the bird before his gaze whipped towards the street and he resumed his stalking away.
Arthur glowered at the people as he walked by, reveling in the awed looks he got, accompanied by fright and disgust. The Queen walked quickly, glancing everywhere to make sure no one was following him before striding to a mansion, which was given wide berth. He opened the small gate that blocked the door with a touch of his hand, watching as the latch glowed and opened, letting him into the front lawn. (He was silently thanking Tamesis for giving him the power over water. It wasn't strong, but it was more than what anyone had.) The lawn, if you could even call it that, was wild, with fairies and other creatures living in the grasses and bushes. The blond Queen found it rather peaceful. He noticed that people were giving him strange looks for entering the lawn, but he ignored them, walking to the door and touching the knocker, bringing it to life. Silver vines, which decorated the knocker, slithered over his hand, pulsing before retreating. The door silently swung open.
"Who's there?" asked a voice, sounding rather bored.
"Who else can enter?" called back the Queen, grinning as an albino stepped forward, a white flame sparking up above his head and floating there, illuminating both of them. The Joker's eyes widened and his face broke into a grin as he reached forward and caught the pirate in a hug, thumping his back with a laugh. Arthur gave a laugh too, greeting his friend with equal enthusiasm.
"It's good to see you too Gilbert!"
Gilbert Beilschmidt, was one of the Jokers. He was the elder brother to the King of Hearts and was originally going to receive a place as the Ace. However, before the day he was going to be appointed an Ace officially, the last Joker had claimed him. No one had really known what to say, so the choice had landed on the albino and he had chosen to join the Jokers. And then the Jack's brother was made Ace. The King hadn't really liked that, especially since the older brother of the Jack seemed to hate him, but he couldn't say anything to his older brother when his choice was made. Gilbert was really obstinate when he needed to be.
Right now, red eyes were studying the pirate curiously as Gilbert snapped his fingers, torches burning into existence down the corridor.
"Its been a while, eh Artie?" asked the Joker, grinning and throwing an arm around Arthur, walking with him down the corridors and to the living room. The blond followed willingly.
"What are you doing here? I heard you were at Diamonds."
"Oh, those were just rumors. I didn't want anyone knowing we were back at Spades. Do anything new recently?"
"Hmm, not much, I guess. I met up with Antonio though. We decided to cooperate to see how far we could go. We reached Chess. Nice place, but rather monochrome, if I do say so myself. There were only two kingdoms ruling there, the Black Kingdom and the White Kingdom. But we did raid a couple of villages in the White Kingdom. Nothing interesting, unfortunately. It would've been good if you were there," recounted the pirate, sitting down on the sofa and humming with pleasure. Gilbert flopped down opposite him, a wistful look in his eyes.
"Sounds awesome. But I've got your little brother to take care of. He's matured rather quickly considering everything. But still, you didn't see Franny?"
"No. The last I saw Francis was when Antonio and I were calling the temporary truce over. The froggy bastard was there to see me again. His nose had an intimate chat with my fist."
The albino laughed, throwing his head back and letting the sound carry. There was a sharp patter of feet and suddenly a young boy was stumbling into the room. He was dressed in the customary black of the Jokers and had sharp blue eyes coupled with blond hair. His eyes widened then narrowed as he saw who was sitting on the couch with his 'teacher'.
"Jerk Arthur?" he groaned, stomping into the room childishly. He wouldn't admit it but he had missed his brother slightly since Arthur was the only one in the family who also had magic and believed him. The pirate gave the boy a grin.
"Peter. How lovely to see you," he replied sarcastically. The blue-eyed boy scowled and pouted, sitting down next to the albino and looking at him.
"Why is the jerk here?"
"Because he's my friend. Why don't you scram, kid? Don't you have magic to be practicing?" At that statement, Peter got an evil smirk and he suddenly whipped towards Arthur, hand shooting out to point at him as a jet of fire flew out of his palm. Unluckily for him, the fire was absorbed before it hit its intended target. Both Gilbert and Arthur tutted.
"I'd obviously have a shield, you little brat," berated Arthur with a smirk as he lazily produced his own ball of water and tossed it towards the Gilbert. The older Joker caught the water ball, spinning it over a finger and changing it from a transparent blue to a bright orange before tossing it towards the youngest member in the room.
"And I thought the awesome me told you to check for shields before attacking. You should be glad it was only an absorbing shield and not a reflecting one," he added, watching as the young Kirkland caught the ball and frowned, changing the color to pink.
"I did check!" protested Peter. Before they could continue the conversation, there were loud noises outside. Both the Jokers didn't move, but the Queen found himself peering out of the window. There seemed to be a mob of people outside.
"Who are they?" asked Arthur. Gilbert sighed.
"Just the villagers. They come everyday to try to 'appease' us. Apparently we're bloodthirsty madmen. Last time they even left some sacrifice outside for us. As if we ate raw meat." The pirate sighed and looked apologetically at the two other magicians before standing up, sighing and glancing at the grandfather clock that stood in the corner.
"I have to go. If you both need anything, just come over to the palace. I'll be there for a while," he said, pulling on his leather gloves. Both the seated occupants looked at him in surprise.
"Finally accepted your job, Artie?" asked the albino. The pirate snorted, grinning ferally before making his way out.
"Not really. I might be hijacking a boat some time soon, though. I'll inform you both before I leave. You'll be welcome to join me."
"Did you really get to Chess?" asked Peter with wonder, looking at his brother with some awe. The look in the bright green eyes softened slightly and he laughed, tousling the child's hair as he walked to the door.
"Next time I'll take you both too. Five magicians are better than three, especially if two are Jokers," was all he said before walking out of the house. Gilbert and Peter watched him leave, smiling slightly before the older man finally got a hold of himself and looked down at his apprentice.
"Hey, weren't we supposed to try summoning sprits today?"
"Haha…I thought you would forget."
"Not likely, kiddo. Let's go."
Alfred hurried through the streets, four guards rushing after him and chastising him for not waiting for them. The king ignored all of that, swinging his cane as he walked and not pausing as the villagers paused to bow, the blush on his cheeks the only evidence that he had noticed the people bowing. Women and girls giggled as the watched the dashing King walk by, fluttering their eyes if he came close enough and curtsying elegantly. Alfred wasn't really listening. He was more focused on rushing to the docks. The reason for his rush was evident. There, on the docks, was a familiar woman, dressed in the clothes of Hearts, the pink looking rather different in the mostly blue clothes everyone wore. She turned to look at the King and bowed once he was close enough. Alfred waved for her to not do that before looking at her eagerly.
"Is it all here?" he asked, craning his neck to watch the people unloading some crates from the ship. The woman giggled and nodded, handing him a sealed envelope bearing the crest of the family of the Hearts. Alfred broke the seal quickly, eyes flitting over the parchment before he grinned more widely, tucking the note away and going to the nearest crate.
"Can I see the contents?" he asked the man manning the crate. Said man, whose red hair clashed quite horribly with the clothes, bowed and opened the crate carefully, revealing the gleam of glass as sunlight fell on it. The row of vials stared up at the King and he found himself grinning.
"Awesome! I thought I'd have to postpone my latest experiments!" he exclaimed, letting the man close the crate before turning to the girl.
"Thanks a lot, Nessa!" he said brightly, giving the girl a smile and turning to leave when he caught sight of a familiar red coat storming down the street and back towards the castle. He paused then rushed after the pirate, ignoring the groans from his guards as they followed. Nessa was left confused.
"Hey! Art- Captain Kirkland! Yo! Dude!" he called out, waving as the Queen turned his head and glanced back before coming to a halt. Alfred slowed down to, grinning and nodding his head towards the Jokers' house. "What were you doing there?" He received cold silence.
"I can do whatever I want. I wasn't under the impression I had to tell you everything before I did it."
"You don't have to. I was just wondering. Are you going back to the castle?"
"Yes, but not with you." A short silence reigned for a couple of minutes before it was broken by a swish and a thump. The Queen turned irritated green eyes towards Alfred, glaring at the royal staff that the younger man had so easily swished in a circle before bringing it to the ground.
"I think I intimated that I do not wish to be in your presence."
"Yeah dude, but we're going the same way. Plus, you didn't take guards out with you."
In an instant there was a sword pointed at Alfred throat. He wondered if he should be worried about the fact that this situation seemed to be occurring a lot with him, and the fact that he was still getting surprised every time it occurred. They came to a halt in the middle of the street, barely aware of the people staring at them and the guards who looked a little lost on what to do.
"I can protect myself very well."
There was another short silence before Arthur put the sword away and glared at Alfred. Then he got a glint in his eyes and he held his hands out.
"You see Your Kingliness, that while you may need guards, I have my own means of survival. Namely, my skills and Tamesis. He gave me a very special gift. Do you know what it is?" Without waiting for a reply, the pirate concentrated for a second watched as Alfred's hands twitched and suddenly the skin on them retracted a bit, clinging to his bones a bit more tightly than before. A thin, but strong, coil of water wove its way around the King's hands and stayed there. Arthur grinned and moved back.
"You should be lucky that I didn't decide to use your blood against you," he whispered conspirationally with a wink, glowering one last time before striding away. The blond teen stared after the pirate in shock, wondering if this was normal before his gaze was, invariably, attracted to his wrists.
"I-Is he a Joker?" stammered out someone in the streets. There were shudders from everyone and people making hand gestures to ward off evil. The teen King would have done the same if his hands were free. There was a laugh from somewhere and the crowd parted to reveal an albino man laughing as he walked forward, dressed in the black of Jokers and swinging his tail idly, his hands in his coat's pockets, his head tilted to one side and crimson eyes glinting with restrained glee. He looked very much like a demon. Next to him, walking with just as much amusement, was a young boy, also dressed in black with bright blue eyes and blond hair. The only thing was that he also had a tail and horns. They both came to a stop in front of the King, both eyeing him with grins. To be fair to them, the king's guards did try not to look scared (though it didn't work as well as they wanted it to). Both the jokers glanced at each other and then turned their attention to Alfred.
"Greetings, Your Majesty," drawled the older one, giving a lazy bow. Alfred just made a motion with his restrained hands.
"Don't. It's okay," he said, trying not to sound disgusted or very scared. The younger one, who he slightly recognized, snorted.
"Jerk Arthur did this, didn't he?" he asked. That's when their names came back to the teen king.
"Oh! You're Gilbert Beilschmidt and Peter Kirkland. Um, the Jokers," said the blond, shifting his shoulders uncomfortably. Gilbert looked slightly pleased.
"Very good. So, Artie did this, I'm guessing? Water is his strongest element, especially since Tamesis gave him control over it," he remarked, moving to study the bond closely. The crowd, that had been silent till now, started murmuring to themselves before someone in the crowd decided to speak.
"Can you help His Majesty, demon?" rang out a girl's voice. The albino stiffened slightly before rolling his eyes.
"Oh, I've never heard that one before," he replied sarcastically before looking up at the blond teen. "Want me to break it for you?"
Alfred was torn. He had been told that Jokers were liars. That they rarely did anything out of 'the goodness of their hearts' as they didn't have hearts. They had no morals. But this was the only way, the other being Arthur and he knew that the Queen wouldn't help him. Alfred was in quite a state. Luckily, he didn't have to make any choice as Peter solved the problem for him by prodding the water bonds and breaking them, turning his head proudly to Gilbert. The water splashed to the ground, some of it gently falling on the King's wrist.
"See! I told you I could break Artie's bonds!" he said proudly. The older Joker laughed and ruffled the young Kirkland's hair and gently shoved him forward, from where they started walking away.
"Awesome! Let's go celebrate at the tavern!"
"Awesome!"
Alfred watched them both leave, slightly shocked, and stared at his wrists again (the skin there was pale and looked strangely grey, as if it had dried out or something, but it was even more bizarrely, absorbing the few drops of water than had fallen on the bound areas) before getting a determined look and breaking out into a run, making his way to the palace. He ignored the groans as his guards ran after him too.
There were some serious questions that had to be answered here.
Yao watched as Arthur strolled into the palace, pausing before going to the pirate.
"Your- Captain Kirkland, a word if you will," he said smoothly, gliding to where the blond was. Said blond gave him a distrustful look before taking off the feathered hat he had donned, raising an eyebrow.
"What do you want?"
"I just wanted to warn you beforehand. The Council Of The Suits will be in four days. And the Diamond Suit is coming tomorrow. His Highness, the King of Diamonds wished that you be informed. He also sent you this letter." Said letter was handed over to the Queen. Arthur glared at the letter, ripping the envelope open and scowling at the flowing script as he quickly read it.
"Antonio isn't coming. That's not good, I was looking forward to bragging about the Armada. Ah, those were good times." Yao wondered briefly if it was normal for people to long for bloodshed and consider it 'good times'. Was it normal? Then again, being a Royal of the Suit is never normal. Alfred is a crazy scientist who almost blew up his palace so it's only natural that his Queen be a bloodthirsty pirate. Not to mention the Ace is practically invisible and a trained spy-assassin. Of course, normal never existed in Spades, he thought grouchily. Well, partly grouchily, because he knew he was also trained in the skills of martial arts and was good at healing potions and herbs. Come to think about it, it seemed like the whole of Spades had a skewed view on what was normal. The Jack was broken out of his thoughts by a hand on his shoulder. He jerked and blinked to find Alfred staring at him, blue eyes looking worried.
"You okay, man?"
"I- yes. Where is His Majesty the Queen?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing." They both studied each other for a while before Victoria bustled in, complaining about a man in the garden. Both the royals looked at each other before groaning and rushing out to the palace gardens. It was easy after that. They just followed the trail of complaining people until someone pointed them to the lake that Alfred had taken the pirate to visit the day before. They made their way to the lake and found Arthur there, sitting with his feet in the water and conversing with Tamesis while idly making little balls of water fly around himself. Tamesis was the first to notice then, getting a strange look on his face before he spoke.
"Ah, Alfred, was it not? Are your wrists better?" called out the spirit. Arthur turned his head slightly to looked at the two royals and snorted before gesturing for them to come forward.
"Alfred, you know who this is. Yao, this is Tamesis, spirit of the ocean. Tamesis, this is Yao, the Jack of Spades."
"I see. It is a pleasure to meet you, Jack of Spades. Arcturus complains about you. If I were you, I would watch out. You do not want water to rebel," said the water spirit mildly, seating himself (well, more like levitating over the surface of water) and watching Arthur's water droplets float around.
"Good to meet you too, Tamesis. We have heard a lot about you, and it s a great pleasure to finally be able to converse with you. What did Arthur say about me?"
"Arcturus mentions that his ship has been purposefully sabotaged. I do not know whether this is true, but if it is, then there might be some danger for you."
The Jack paused and then nodded slowly, glancing at the pirate who had his head tipped back, letting the sunlight caress his features.
"That reminds me. Tell me, You Highness the Almighty King, are your wrists better? I am going to assume that one of the Joker's broke the bonds for you," said Arthur. Alfred glanced at the other blond and then back at his wrists before holding them out to the green-eyed man.
"Can you tell me why they're grey?"
"Oh, I used the water from your skin to make the bonds. Pulling it from the air would've taken me more time. You just need a bit of water and you'll be fine."
Alfred nodded slowly before suddenly breaking out into a bright grin.
"Dude, that was totally creepy, but awesome! You should come help me with my experiments sometimes!" The green-eyed blond rolled his eyes and looked at Tamesis.
"Are you well? I have called your essence far away."
"I am well. It is you I am worried about. These people do not understand the potential you have. The sea sings in your blood. You have to come back."
"I will be fine. And I will be coming back soon."
There was a small silence then the spirit inclined his head gracefully and dissipated. Yao let out a breath.
"At least we know you spoke the truth. This changes things greatly, Your Highnesses. His Highness the Queen's powers will be of greater value to the Suit. Spades will be-"
"-Disappointed as I will not be here to be sharing power with Spades," interrupted Arthur smoothly, standing up and dusting his clothes.
"I shall not be a piece in your little power games. I will not be here to rule Spades. If I were you, I would be searching for another Queen right now. Someone who would actually be willing to sit on a throne all day and look pretty. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an Ace to see."
The pirate dramatically left, letting what he said sink in. Alfred groaned while Yao hummed thoughtfully.
"Four days Your Majesty. You have four days until the Council. We only have fours days to convince him that he is the Queen and to convince him to take the Queen's Timekeeper."
"Well, I always did love challenges."
Sorry for the long time it took. I know, I should have been doing this, but (and if you're a reader of my other stories you know this) my muse is hiding. Or in a coma. She isn't really helping me right now. So, I've gotten a substitute till then. And he's not as constant as her though. So what he gives me are bits and flashes, not proper ideas. Anyways, sorry about the rambling. Enjoy and please, please, please, review!
.:|Silver|:.
