HELLO! HELLO! THIS BE AIWF888 BRINGING YOU ANOTHER CHAPTER!*fist pump*
Sister: *stares blankly at insane older sister* I feel so terrible for all those people who actually pay your stories any mind…
Me: …hurtful…
Anyways I come bringing you all Chapter 8 of Two Girls in Heartland! The last chapter way the base for most of my story featuring the season settlement in April Season.
Hope you all like this chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Joker/Clover/Heart no Kuni no Alice! Everything, except Jay and Ray, belongs to QuinRose!
…
Chapter 8: Changing the Seasons
Jay's P.O.V.
I sat in front of the fireplace along side Ace soaking wet. Gray came over and plopped a towel on my head and then gave me a cup of hot coco. Yummy! I thought happily as I sipped probably the best hot chocolate I have ever tasted in my young life.
"Why don't I get one?" Ace asked smiling. Gray looked over to the knight and glared.
"Because I want to make sure Miss. Kat doesn't get a cold and I could care less about your well being so if you want a hot chocolate go and make one yourself." Gray replied darkly. Ace just laughed as his hand went for his sword.
"Aww. That's mean Mr. Lizard~"
"I could care less." Gray mumbled walking away. Ace quickly got up and followed the lizard out of the room. Not even a minute later could I hear the sound of metal clanging against each other.
"They always do that." Alice said coming into the room and sitting down beside me. "As you can clearly see they don't exactly get along very well."
I nodded. "No kidding. Why do they hate each other so much anyways?"
"I'm not entirely sure I think Gray just finds Ace annoying, and he's also the only one who can match Ace's skills, so Ace likes to "train" with him." Alice clarified. I nodded and took another sip of my hot coco. (A/N: I don't know the really reason, but I thinks it something along those lines)
"Hey Alice?"
"Hmm?"
"What do you guys mean when you say 'the seasons have settled'?" I asked. Alice looked at me for a moment before sighing and shaking her head.
"I thought that Nightmare would have already explained this to you."
"He probably did, but I just forget." Alice just face palmed. I laughed at her reaction.
"Jay you really don't want to forget such important information. Your life could very well depend upon it. Especially in Wonderland, and during April Season of all things." Alice said in a very serious tone. I just shrugged.
"I can't help that I have a short memory. There's just to much junk shoved up here." I joked pointing to my head.
"I'm serious Jay."
"So am I. Now are you going to tell me or not?" Alice sighed again and leaned her head on the back of the couch so she was looking up at the ceiling. It was a few minutes before she replied.
"You're going to have to remember this until April Season ends. Got it?" Alice asked sternly. I nodded my head vigorously and sat cross-legged on the sofa to face her.
"In April Season; outsiders cannot move freely between territories, unless accompanied by a role holder." She started. "The only way for us to go to another territory and visit people is by changing the season. The only way to change the season is by betting the Joker in a game of cards."
My mind instantly went back to Ray conversation with Nightmare last night before I woke up.
And I also have on more thing before you wake up Ray," he added turning back to my now emotionless friend, "I suggest you learn how to play a game of cards."
Is that what Nightmare meant when he said she should learn to play a game of cards? Did she already know this fact and not know how to play a card game? That would definitely explain why she looked so scared back there.
"Hey, Jay are you paying attention?" Alice asked annoyed waving her hand in front of my face. I snapped out of my thoughts and smiled.
"What, oh a no. I was lost in thought. I have a question. What would happened if say, there was an outsider who didn't know how to play a game of cards, and she needed to change the season?" I asked nervously. Alice gave me questioned look and shrugged.
"Are you saying you don't know how to play a game of cards?"
"No, I was thinking figuratively, like if that ever did happen." I said quickly. Alice nodded.
"Well, I think they would have to get someone to teach them how to play, or they would be stuck in their current territory until April season ended."
"But lets say this outsider was to embarrassed, or prideful to ask for any sort of help and they had to go to another territory?"
"Well, they would be stuck playing a card game until they won. Any more questions?" I shook my head glumly.
"No, that pretty much sums it up." I mumbled. God damnit Ray! What the hell have you gotten yourself into now?
Suddenly an idea came to mind. I quickly got up and set my unfinished hot coco on a small table and ran out the room.
"Wait Jay where are you going?" Alice as quickly. I ran back and smiled cheerfully at her.
"I'm changing to season of course!" I said happily and ran out of the Tower before she could say anything else.
…
It wasn't hard to find the Circus. I just followed the sound of music and the tops of the giant tent over the snow covered trees. When I got there, it was still cold, but I seemed to be the only one experiencing cold. There was no snow on the ground or any place else. Now that I thought about it, the moment I stepped into the woods with weird doors, windows, and signs on them, the snow just seemed to disappear, but the cold winds stayed.
I shivered slightly and looked around. The Joker was a role hold so he shouldn't be too hard to spot. I'll just change the season to…wait!
What season was the Hatter's going through?
I mentally slapped myself repeatedly for not asking before I ran out of the Tower. I sighed deciding to head back and ask Alice, she'll probably know. I turned around only to see someone standing behind me.
I jumped back in surprise and put my hands in front of my face in a defensive position. I looked at the man who dared surprise me and saw that he had a face. Oh, this must be the Joker…he's a lot taller than I imagined…
"Is something wrong miss?" he asked. I lowered my arms and shook my head.
"Are you the Joker?" I asked. He nodded and I smiled. "Good. I'm Jay Kat, and I came here to change the season." I proclaimed putting my hands on my hips.
"You're an outsider?" he asked me looking very confused. I nodded.
"Yeah, you already met my friend, Ray, right?" he nodded and smiled.
"Yes I did. Though she didn't really seem to like me or my counter part very much." the Joker said laughing nervously. I blinked and tilted my head to the side a bit.
"There's two Jokers?" I asked blankly. He nodded. Damnit Nightmare! Why didn't you tell me that?!
"So, which season did you wish to change to?" he asked happily. I sweat dropped.
"Actually…I kinda forgot to ask what season the Hatter's were experiencing before I rushed out of the Tower, so I was going to head back , ask and then come back here." I mumbled scratching my cheek.
"Oh, don't worry about the season, as long as you know what territory you're going to, you don't even really need to know the season." He said happily. There was something off about this guy. It was a lot like Ace. That smile; it's fake and really weird's me out.
"So, shall we?" he asked gesturing for me to follow him. I nodded and he guided us over to a small wooden table just outside the main tent. I sat down on one side and he took the other.
He then pulled out a deck of cards and began to shuffle them. "Got any game you want to play in particular?" he asked. I shrugged.
"I don't feel like playing anything to complicated, so I'll just settle with Go-Fish." He nodded and handed me my cards and then put any remainders in the middle after taking his.
"Well miss. Kat, let the games begin~"
…
"Yay! I win!" I shouted happily. It had taken me quite a few tries, but I finally won. It's very unnatural for me not to win a game of card within three tries, but at least I won in the end.
"Alright then, it was the Hatters you wanted to go to, right?" he asked putting away the cards. I nodded and the temperature rose a little, but not too much. I looked around but everything looked the same, but at the same time it didn't.
"Fall…" I mumbled. The Joker nodded. "Yes, that would seem to be their current season."
"Well thanks Mr. Joker!" I said happily .
"Call me White, 'Mr. Joker' is far to formal." He laughed I nodded.
''Well then, just call me Jay, see ya!" I said as I turned around to leave.
…
After a few minutes I reached the front gates of the mansion and, surprisingly, I saw Dee and Dum at their posts. I then saw Ray with them wearing a punk-goth dress the suited her well. It just need some green, then it would be an official 'Ray Dress'. The were all sitting in front of a basket as Dee smashed whatever was in there with a mallet.
Oh God! What are those three smashing so happily?! Maybe it a squirrel! Oh my God they're killing a poor little squirrel! DON'T WORRY LITTLE SQUIRREL! I SHALL SAVE YOU! I thought running up.
"DON'T KILL THE SQUIRREL!" I shouted from behind them. Dee and Dum instantly turned around and pointed their guns at my face. They stopped pointing their guns at me when they saw that I wasn't an enemy.
"Or 'hello' as people used to say." I mumbled in a fake British accent as they lowered their weapons.
"Sorry Jay-san." Dee mumbled putting his gun back in his pocket.
"You really shouldn't sneak up on us, it'll get you killed one day." Dum added turning back to the basket. I nervously peaked over and just saw a bunch of purple and orange powder with a few clumps that Dee was smashing out.
"What are you smashing?" I asked nervously. Ray looked at me blankly.
"Well, it's not a squirrel." She deadpanned. I put my hands up in defense.
"Hey! Knowing your violent tendency and how happy you looked smashing what ever it was in that basket, I thought it was a small animal, like a squirrel, or someone's skull." The three of them looked at me with deadpanned expressions.
"Jay-san, why would we want to kill a squirrel?" Dum asked blankly.
"Yeah, we find them amusing. And besides, if we were smashing someone's skull, we would have left it attacked to the corpse, and there would be a lot more blood every where." Dee explained. Ray just shrugged.
"I like squirrels, and as for the skull thing; I would put it in a basket, light a candle on top of it and put a bunch of flowers ever wear along with the victims blood and practice black magic, I could never let a perfectly good skull go to waste."
We all stared at her like she had finally lost it (which she already has), before she started laughing. "Just kidding. Just kidding!" she giggled until she was silent with laughter. I got the joke and laughed along with her.
"But no seriously; what are you smashing?" I asked in a serious tone. They all smiled and I involuntarily shivered.
"Poisonous mushrooms!" They shouted happily. My eye twitched.
"Where teaching Ray-san how to make poison!"
"Yeah, she's a fast learner." I stared at the twins in pure horror and then looked back to Ray who was smiling innocently. I face palmed and took away their mallet and basket.
"Hey!" they shouted. I shook my head.
"Nope! Don't you two know better than to teach this one," I nodded to Ray, "to make poison?"
They shook their heads clearly not understanding. "Ray, is a psychopath. And a very dangerous one at that, and should not be trusted with things such as poison." I said, but they just shrugged.
"So?" Dee asked blankly.
"Big deal. Everyone in Wonderland is a dangerous psychopath, it really doesn't make a difference." Dum shrugged. Ray smiled at the two and I frowned. Damn. They have a point.
"So can you please give us back the basket of smashed up poisonous mushrooms?" Ray asked in a bored tone. I glared at her suspiciously.
"Only if you, Ray Carson, solemnly swear not to poison anyone, unless you are in a life or death situation." I declared. She face palmed and stood up.
"Fine." I smiled and gave them back the basket.
"Why did you only make Ray-san swear?" Dum asked curiously as Dee started to smash the mushrooms again.
"Because you two will go around poisoning people no matter what I say. Ray here, on the other hand, would never willingly break a promise, and do whatever it takes to fulfill it." I said patting my brown haired friend on the back. Hard.
Ray growled and smacked my hand away. "Any particular reason why you came here?" I frowned as my mind drew to a blank for a moment, but the I snapped my fingers and nodded my head.
"Yep. I came here to teach you how to play a game of cards!" I declared loudly. Ray looked at me surprised.
"H-how did you know I couldn't play cards? I never told you or anyone that. Did Nightmare tell you? I'll kill that worm if he did." She mumbled as a dark purplish aura began to form around her. The twins looked very afraid of her and I shock my head.
"No~" I said casually. "I forgot how to change the seasons so Alice explained it to me. Then, I thought back to Nightmare's last words to you before I woke up. And by putting two and two together, I came to the rather obvious conclusion that you had absolutely no idea how to play cards." I explained in a scientific like tone. Ray stared at me blankly before looking away embarrassed.
"The one time you're not oblivious to things…" she mumbled.
"Well, what were you going to do all April Season if you didn't know how to play card games? Where just gonna wait around until April Season ended, or for someone to come and get you?" I questioned. She didn't reply. "Geez.."
"You don't know how to play card games?" Dee asked. Ray nodded crossing her arms, still refusing to look anyone in the eyes. She gets so easily embarrassed by the simplest of things, like Mio from K-ON!
"Yeah, so?" she asked trying to sound tough. I sighed and patted her on the shoulder.
"You're to easily embarrassed by the smallest things. It's really not that much of a big deal." I told her. Dee and Dum both nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, if you wanted to know," Dum started.
"We could have teach you. All you have to do is ask." Dee finished. Ray looked up slightly and gave a cute little "R-really?" that would make anyone blush. I smiled and slung my are around her shoulder.
"Now there's the adorably moe Ray-chan that we all know and love!" I teased. She quickly turned to glare at me and removed my arm.
"I'm NOT adorable or moe! Wait-what does moe mean?" she asked innocently. I smirked not wanting to tell her.
"Oh nothing~" I said happily. She pouted and started banging her fists against me in a childish manner.
"Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!" she whined repeatedly. I just shook my head as she continued to hit me. It didn't hurt since she wasn't trying. Dee and Dum were cracking up at the scene in front of them.
Eventually Ray calmed down and Dee got a deck of cards from the mansion without being seen by Elliot. Dee and Dum continued with their poison making, while I did my best to try and teach Ray how to play a game of Go-Fish…
…
We continued to play the game for a few hours until I finally gave up. We had probably played a little over a thousand games and I had won every single one. Its no flipping wonder why she's so damn nervous about playing the Joker. Ray sucks at cards games. And that's just sugar coating it.
I slammed my cards down in defeat and glanced up at Ray. She looked really annoyed. Her eye was twitching like crazy and the cards were shaking in her hands. She looked ready to snap. Dee and Dum had moved away from Ray, in fear of her rage and that she might kill the very next persons she sees without mercy. I looked up at the sky and saw that it was already sunset. I need to head back… I thought miserably.
I stood up and collected the cards. Ray took a deep breath and handed me hers. I felt really bad for her, anyone would. She got up and brushed of the dirt from her dress and started to walk inside the mansion. I thought about stopping her, but then decided against it and turned to the twins.
"Make sure she's okay." I mumbled before heading back. They nodded and ran after her. There was no making progress with Ray when it came to cards. I guess its just one of those things when no matter what you do, you just can't get any better.
I sighed and put my hands behind my head. Damn. I'm one of the best card players she knows, and it took me several tries to beat White…she's gonna have a tough time playing the game that's for sure. I thought head back to the Circus.
…
I played a few rounds of poker with White before heading back to the Tower. I shivered as a cool breeze went by. The only down side to winter is the cold, but at least it keeps all the bugs away.
I entered the Tower and was immediately greeted by Alice. She asked where I went and if I was okay. Jeez this woman worries a lot. I sweat dropped as she put a towel over my head along with several blankets.
"You could say that again." Nightmare said blankly randomly appearing from behind me. I jumped back.
"What are you supposed to be, a ninja?" I asked. He laughed and shook his head.
"No, but I could be. I'm very good at hiding." Nightmare said proudly trying to sound impressive. Which he wasn't.
"But, not good enough." Gray said monotonously appearing from behind Nightmare. I clapped my hand completely impressed. Wow I never saw him coming!
"Wha! But you didn't see me coming either!" Nightmare whined. I shrugged.
"I dunno, something about Gray appearing out of no where is just…seems to impress me more so than you Nightmare, no offense or anything."
"How was that not offensive?!" Nightmare shouted as Gray dragged him up the stairs. I smiled cheerfully and waved goodbye before heading to my room.
I quickly got changed into my nightgown and looked out the window. Hmm…let's see now; there's winter at the Tower, and fall at the Hatter's. So that leaves Summer and Spring! I wonder what the Amusement Park has? I mused looking up at the stars. I'll find out tomorrow~
I sighed happily before hopping into bed and falling asleep.
…
So yes! That was chapter 8! Jay has officially been to all the territories and Ray sucks at card games! I wonder what will happen next…
JK! I already planned that out…sort of…
So I hope you all liked this chapter, and I apologize if it wasn't any good!
Please R&R!