Summary: The land of Poker has always been peaceful, until dissonance and greed caused war and bloodshed. 6 of Spades Rosso Arancia learns the hard way that the dead do not return and power causes corruption
Genre: Fiction, AU, Fantasy, Drama, Angst, Tragedy, Spiritual...
Warnings:
- Card terms used
- Human cards
- Possibility of insanity
- Girl x Girl
- Haven't thought of a good title (brain, work before I stop giving you sugar)
There was once a great expanse of land dotted curiously with black and white checkers across the plains. People began to populate the land, naming it Checkers due to the checkerboard pattern. The land was divided into countries of White and Red, in lieu with the rule of chess. Despite that, people within each country were dissatisfied and a large scale brawl broke out. It took a long time for the war to settle down and to sit civilly at the same table for negotiation. On the Suits Protocol, the land was renamed Land of the Poker and divided into four kingdoms: Spades, Hearts, Clubs and Diamonds. They shared the same job hierarchy of the Royal Deck throughout the four kingdoms. The Spades were located South, the Hearts to the West, Diamonds in the East and Clubs in the far North. Royals were chosen at a ceremony with no particular preference to relatives of the current monarchy. Soon, a little more than a thousand years passed before the kingdoms decided that there is a generational gap as the kingdoms do not choose their next Royal heirs at the same time. Some understood the plans other kingdoms proposed, some do not. A Contract of Change was implemented. All four kingdoms will undergo a change in Royal monarchy within five years, regardless of how long the current monarchy has been on the throne. The Poker Council was overruled in favour of the contract. The Kingdom of Diamonds crowned Leister Asteroph and Jermillia Hietal as their King and Queen. The Kingdom of Hearts followed suit and crowned Charun Lorelle and Verdena Churre in the same year. Clubs adhered to the Contract in the following year with Benedict Tylocke and Kazaia Millia. Spades was last with Ciellun Larker and Zerias Ilene. Royalty appointed their own Jack and found new people to replace them in the Decks. Diamonds chose a young Archer named Azure Prima. Hearts picked a reliable Lancer, Lance Just. Clubs appointed a scrawny but brilliant Defender, Darren Jeron. Spades found a confident Knight, Max Villez. The first Full House Council meeting consisting of all the new Royals are going to be held in the kingdom of Clubs in a couple of weeks.
‘… And that concludes the textbook on the history of Suits,” Estreo reported. He sat down as he finished. A servant picked up his report and deposited it in front of the Queen. The weekly Deck meeting is going on. Each Card had to present something regarding to the upcoming meeting or to the country. Estreo, a 10 of Spades, happened to catch the Spades publisher in the midst of writing a new textbook for the proposed new syllabus in the schools and decided that it would be the new meeting material. Not that Ciellun minded. She typically told her Deck, in her words, ‘bring something to say at the meeting. I don’t care if it’s a new breed of animal or whether Max got caught in another of Rosso’s magic circles’, prompting the Jack to start arguing back indignantly. On his left, a 8 of Spades Sniper hid her yawn behind her hand. Rimessa Lettin, a young girl with somewhat of a tan from her time outside in the sun, shook her shoulder length curly dark blue hair fringe out of her peripheral, tying up the rest in a loose bun, dark greenish-blue eyes re-reading her report disinterestedly. She readjusted her Spades tunic uniform. Rimessa was brought in at the same time Ciellun and Zerias were crowned as part of their Deck. Ciellun and Zerias, upon their coronation, had taken a sweep of the Deck, conducted stringent tests and eliminated a few who failed the retest. As for their uniforms, it was a standard protocol in the castle. A white high collared long-sleeved inner shirt had to worn at all times with a pair of black or brown long pants with brown boots or shoes, depending on the person. The Spades tunic has to be worn at all times. Their tunic was the identification of the castle. A sleeveless knee-long sapphire blue garment, slightly raised at the shoulder with a pale blue hemming. A dark blue print of the crest of Spades was printed at the front at the bottom left and right of the garment and in the middle of the back. A black or brown belt was tied at the waist to hold the tunic in place. Their rank is printed above the belt on the right in dark blue. 1 for the Aces, 2 for the 2 of Spades respectively. Estreo's was a hideous 10.
Typically, a Deck had 4 Cards of each number. The number of Cards can be higher for a particular number than other numbers. For example, 3 of Spades have to have eight Cards: four for the class of Spies and 4 for the Ninjas than compared to 10 of Spades which only had four Defenders. Rimessa was just one Sniper class Card of the eight 8s. But only two Cards of each class were allowed to be represented in the meeting. Unfortunate for the Magicians then. Rosso Arancia and Antica Tareic were the only 6 of Spades Black and White Magicians in the Deck. The other two Magician slots were left open ever since the previous Magicians handed in their retirement. A shame, Kyle thought. But their reasons were justified, they WERE ancient. At least Rosso and Shannon were young.
The sound of Ciellun’s voice cut through Estreo's thoughts. “Ok. We’re done with the 10s. Anything to report, 9s?” she asked. Ciellun, the only female King in the entire Suits. On the outside, a young girl with much charisma and ability to lead. Her voice carried her confidence which assured people. Besides, she bore the sigil of the Spades on the back of her left hand. He glanced at Ciellun. The blue tattoo peeked out at him. A sigil on the left is the mark of the King. The Queen’s sigil is on the right, which Zerias had. Speaking of Zerias, she sat on the right of Skye, reading through the report a servant had passed to her from Estreo. Another 9 of Spades stood up, two seats from Elizabeth. Yonderich Hailey, a Soldier on the Navy.
“Your Majesty,” Yonderich started. “There is not much commotion on the sea borders. We had a shipment of new recruits and we’re looking for a chance to allow them to guard the narrow coast that lines with the kingdom of Diamonds. But as you know, Diamonds closed its doors to outsiders a couple of years back and diplomatic connections are awkward at that moment.”
Zerias looked steadily at Yonderich. “We will bring that matter up at the Poker Council. But Diamonds are still within their isolation. The fact that they’re appearing for the Council at all is nothing short of a miracle. Meanwhile, leave the coastal border with the minimum number of sailors. We don’t want the Diamonds to think that we’re suddenly hostile.”
“Oh come on Zerias. Only idiots will attack us first,” Ciellun pointed out loudly. The whole room suddenly went deathly quiet. Skye rolled her eyes. “Hello, Cards? We’re reigning in terms of militia and weaponry. Hearts buys defense technology from us.”
Max decided it was his cue. “Uhm… King Ciellun, we’re in a meeting right now. It would be wise to refrain from such comments until it is over,” he said quietly.
Ciellun rolled her sapphire blue eyes skyward. “Oh great Lady Luck above. What possessed me to pick you as a Jack back then,” Ciellun mumbled. “Look. Everyone here are on some level of acquaintance to me.”
“Knock it off Max,” a young lady with icy blue eyes told him. “The King is allowed to express her opinions now and then.”
Ciellun smiled gratefully at her. “Thank you Rosso. Now, back to the meeting. Anything else, Yonderich?” she asked. Yonderich bowed and sat down, signaling he was done. A servant collected the report and delivered it to Zerias.
Rimessa was next. “We spotted a few suspicious people lurking around borders of the desert. Their clothes do not suggest which kingdom they are from. It blends in with the surroundings rather than symbolize the kingdom. We gave them a civil warning that they are near the border of Spades. They did leave, but we have seen a couple still loitering around.”
“Give them a second warning and do not hesitate to apprehend them if they do not heed,” Zerias told Rimessa.
The meeting went on with little to no commotion until it was the 6s turn. Antica was first to report. “There has been a sharp reduction in the number of Magicians who are able to work. Our 6 of Spades position has remained opened for over half a year and yet no one has been able to fill in,” Antica said clearly. There was a low murmur in the room. She heard something along the lines of ‘Ciellun’s insane trials’ among others. “Also that the fact that Magicians in the kingdom alone have met a decline over the past couple of years. If we don’t have enough Magicians, we cannot select capable ones for the Deck. And when our time comes, we need to select young apprentices to train up for Deck selection. That would not be possible with the current Magician intake.”
Ciellun kept quiet for a moment to ponder the problem. “Well… I suppose I have to give the Deck trials more leniency,” Skye finally spoke up. She heard someone say ‘See? I told you it was the trials that’s insane’ from the other side of the room. “It’s not a problem of the trials. Rosso and Antica have passed them with flying colours without any extra leniency. Max, remind me to convene with the PR department later about advertising for Magician applications. Thank you, Antica. What about Rosso?”
Antica sat down as Rosso stood up. “Well, firstly I do have one request.” She pointed to Max sitting next to Zerias. “Please keep Jack of Spades Max Villez away from the forest glade for a week after the Council meeting,” she stated bluntly.
“Wait what??” Max exclaimed loudly. “Why?”
“Antica and I need to conduct a ritual, what has a KNIGHT got to do with it??” Rosso shot back, her icy blue eyes glowing as the room’s temperature dropped steadily. “Need I remind you how many times have you stepped into a magic circle by pure accident in the forest where you have NO BUSINESS IN?”
“Haven’t you heard of patrol? Knights patrol the borders to check for invaders!” Max retorted.
“Magicians maintain the borders!” Rosso told him loudly. Skye sighed. Here they go again…
“ROSSO ARANCIA! MAX VILLEZ!” Zerias shouted. Both arguing parties kept quiet and looked at her. “Max Villez, do as Rosso says. Rosso, do not start an argument in the meeting room and stop your flow of ice immediately!” The air immediately felt much warmer. Rosso had a tendency to let loose her icy waves when she was angry. Then again, given the summer heat, Ciellun did not really mind. “Rosso Arancia. Anything else?” Zerias’s voice cut through, sharp and clear.
Rosso nodded her head. “The kingdom of Clubs has requested Shannon and I to travel there for a short exchange with their Deck Magicians before the Poker Council. Joker Alastor has expressed interest in joining us on the trip.”
“The wandering Joker? Interesting,” Skye commented. The two Jokers are the only truly neutral Cards in the Suits: Gerald Peake who took residence in Hearts and Alastor Lanster who wanders around Suits. Ciellun was not surprised. Alastor is a common visitor in the castle of Spades ever since her coronation.
The Joker came in and taught Skye and Zerias to loosen up and play around once in a while. He introduced the King and Queen to the then-apprentice Rimessa, Roberto and the young Archers Lidolum and Rexin. The girls were visibly shocked at first when Alastor told them to teach the newly crowned Royalty to play. Roberto eventually brought them to the glade in the forest rumoured to be limited to the Magicians only. They had fun in the water until Rosso arrived to collect ingredients for her master. Rosso and Antuca joined the group and Amici, a newly promoted Lancer. They were a tight group, often ditching and baiting Max out to allow the King or Queen some time to themselves.
“Yes. Sherina Dorsin wrote that Queen Kazaia requested it herself. The Hearts Magicians will also be taking part in the exchange,” Rosso elaborated.
Zerias nodded in approval. “Yeah sure, go ahead. Inter-kingdom ties are always important. One does not simply know when we might need the help of other kingdoms in dire times.” In the section of 3s, Roberto snorted quietly and mumbled “Diamonds”. Zerias gestured for Rosso to sit. “Well, let’s move on to the 5s.”
The meeting concluded swiftly after that. Rosso breathed out a sigh of relief. She hated Deck meetings. One, there was no one she can sabotage to take her place, given that she was the only Black Magician. Two, it felt too serious. Three, the Jack was stuffy. But Max is good at his job. Too good, in fact. His rulebook attitude was only contrasted with his bad timing ability that seem to take place whenever Rosso or Shannon was required to maintain the borders behind the castle. She got up and headed out of the double doors of the meeting room. The summer sun shone brightly. Rosso frowned. She hated strong sunlight.
“What’s with that face, Rosso,” Karna asked from behind her.
“It’s hot out there,” Rosso mumbled. Karna laughed. It was common knowledge among their group that Rosso Arancia hates heat, given her Ice magic.
“It’s a good thing,” Karna managed to choke out in the end. “Mes told me to pass you a message to meet us at the glade with Tica. We could use some ice in this infernal heat.”
Rosso managed to hit Karna while smiling weakly. “You all love to exploit my ice magic,” she said grumpily. “Fine fine. I’ll be there once I drop off my folders.” She waved Karna off as she headed down the corridor that would take her to the West Wing where the 6s quarters are located. Antica ambushed her as she turned around the corner.
“Finally!” Antica exclaimed, scaring Rosso into a shriek of shock and dropping a few folders in the process. “Hurry up!! You know how Liza gets when we’re late.”
Rosso picked up the fallen folders. “Then don’t scare me! You nearly shaved off 5 years of my life,” she told Antica. “I’ll be there soon enough. Just give me a couple of minutes to drop all these and change clothes.”
Antica laughed. “Yes of course. The Deck uniforms are suffocating in this weather. I’ll see you at the glade then.”
Rosso stepped into her room. It was messy, as usual. Stacks of books stashed in a corner beside a desk cluttered with various opened books and papers with random scribbles and magic circles. A hastily made bed stood parallel to the wall on the opposite end with two long chests of drawers, some opened and spilling plants and displaying glowing jars of various colours. Rosso winced internally. “I so need to clean up one day,” she muttered to herself, stacking a few papers together to make space for the meeting folders.
Help:
Full House - typically a hand made of K, Q, J A and 10. Here, it means the K, Q and J of all 4 kingdoms.
Poker: ... I'm brain dead so I can't actually think of a sophisticated cultured name for the land
Spades: the highest in the food chain the military power Poker. They create weapons and martial standards used in Poker. Of course they don't sell the latest ones to other kingdoms... Situated in the South
Clubs: Second highest in terms of economy. They specialize in industrialization, manufacturing, mining, blah. They're rather self sufficient. Situated in the North
Hearts. Highest in terms of economy. They specialize in Science and Technology and all the electronics and stuff. They're rather reliant on Clubs for materials. They came up with a way to sustain food circulation when Diamonds went into recession
Diamonds: Lowest in terms of power and economy. They went into recession two times due to insufficient fertile ground and backward technology. Their pride refuses to let them ask Hearts for help due to a falling out some decades ago.