House of Cards

The Nation of Cards was a peaceful land, possessing abundant resources. Green meadows stretched across its territories populated by friendly people, who passed their tranquil days on their fields and their farms. Children were playing with the cattle and the sheepdogs, and women were patiently waiting at home for their husbands, who were working hard to feed their family and to make that nation a very prosperous one, like their ancestors had already done for generations before. Everyone was working in harmony, knowing that they were all protected by the four kings and their royal courts. Wars were legends that had become part of the nation's history, turned into stories about how the land had been divided into several kingdoms and how, after a series of battles, peace had come and together with it, four rulers, who would watch over it. And now, during the peaceful times, the successors of these four kings were complying with the duties their linage had imposed on them, however, over the centuries, the symbols identifying each kingdom had been enclosed in the memory of the books and documents that were lying in some locked basement and collecting dust... having become mere crests without any meaning besides giving renown to the ones wearing them. That morning, an audience with the four monarchs was to be held in the palace, located in the capital of the Nation of Cards, a building with blue relief-filled walls that were weirdly inclined against each other, looking like a house created out of a deck of cards. The corridors had floors made out of black and white tiles creating the feeling as if you were walking over a chessboard, and the wallpaper was decorated with the motives of a deck of cards, the symbols of the four royal families. "From the Kingdom of Hearts, their Majesties King Ludwig and Queen Kiku!" began one of the announcers at the top of his voice, tapping his scepter a few times against the floor as the doors to a giant hall opened wide to let in the mentioned royal couple. King Ludwig entered with a powerful appearance, his back as straight as a pin, holding his forehead and chin up. His light blue eyes were shooting piercing gazes and his steps were resounding while he was walking, wearing his typical blood-red attire and his fluttering cape of the same color, not to mention the little crown on his head. By his side was the calm Queen Kiku, with his serious and slightly inexpressive face. His steps were shorter and a bit hurried, to catch up with the king, and he was sporting a black kimono with red hearts sewn on it. And finally, there was the Jack of Hearts, the advisor of them both and confidant of one, who was watching their backs. Feliciano, too, was clothed in red, a pole with his kingdom's flag in his hand, and holding his head low, walking at a prudent distance behind his masters, as if he were their shadow. "From the Kingdom of Clubs, their Majesties King Ivan and Queen Elizabetha!" continued the announcer and another taps were heard as the second couple was entering. King Ivan had a smile on his face, but with a still menacing aspect. Wearing his large and heavy green woolen coat with prints of clubs and the scarf that was covering even his chin, he offered Queen Elizabetha his arm, and she took it with elegance... the beautiful, but also strong queen in her emerald dress, decorated with clubs as well. Her eyes, however, were turning into a direction over her shoulder, trying to be discreet while shooting forbidden looks at Roderich, the Jack of Clubs, who was following them, also keeping his head low as a sign of his submission. His bright green clothes were showing, whose servant he was. "Elizabetha, could you please be a bit more discreet?" asked Ivan her quietly and still smiling. "I'm not doing anything bad, my dear," answered the lady with a sweet expression on her face as well. "Well, if you keep staring at Roderich like that, you will eventually hurt your neck or your eyes will pop out of your head. Let's pretend to be a couple, at least for today." "Don't let it sound as though I was an adulteress, you're not an exemplary husband, either." She looked now at Ivan, and they both smiled at each other like two young people in love. "From the Kingdom of Diamonds, their Majesties King Francis and the future Queen Lilly!" presented the announcer now. King Francis entered with long steps, combing back his long blond hair with his hand and showing off, without any trace of modesty, his exaggerated orange and yellow clothes: his long jacket made out of fine velvet with gold embroidery and his neckerchief out of exquisite silk. With a gallant gesture, he offered his hand to the green-eyed young girl next to him, who seemed so nervous that she was about to collapse any moment, but still hesitantly took it. The king placed a kiss on her knuckles, which made the color of her cheeks turn into a bright red. Seeing this, Vash, the Jack of Diamonds, let out a loud grunt, after all it was well known that he was the future queen's older brother. The latter, by the way, could barely walk in her ostentatious yellow dress and tried to not allow her crown made out of golden flowers to fall from her head. Much to the contrary of King Francis, whose crown didn't even move, as if it was glued to his head. "From the Kingdom of Spades, King Alfred!" And in the end, a young man with shining blue eyes, glasses and blond hair pushed the door open. His attire left much to be desired, since he was royalty and still presenting himself in a simple navy blue, almost purple trench coat with spade-shaped buttons, and under it an unkempt and also dark blue suit. A little chain was hanging out of his pocket, that seemed to belong to some pocket watch, and he was also wearing a purple necktie and a white shirt. "Hello, everyone!" he shouted, laughing loudly and walking along the corridor with his hands in the pockets of his coat. "Your Majesty, I have already told you a thousand times that you need to greet correctly, aru," he was scolded by Yao, the Jack of Spades, who was walking a few steps behind the uppity king, in his also blue and purple clothes with wide sleeves, that were managing to completely cover his hands, and a small hat with a stitched-in spade. "Calm down, Yao, you know how much I hate all these formalities," said young King Alfred, shrugging off Yao's concern and starting to laugh again. "How lovely it is to be young and allowed to forget courtesy," commented King Francis, looking at him with visible displeasure. "This is not true, it is just that for His Majesty Alfred it is still not easy to remember the protocols. Please forgive him, aru," defended Yao his master, bowing deeply before the other kings. "Stand up, you don't have to apologize in my name," commanded the annoyed Alfred, taking a seat at the big table, where the other royals were already sitting, accompanied by their jacks, who were standing by their right side. "King Alfred, we kindly ask you to behave yourself. After all, this meeting is held for you," said King Ludwig, who was always the one bringing order. "Listen, I never called this meeting, it was you, I told you more than a thousand times already that I don't want a queen and even less a stranger who isn't even a woman," complained the King of Spades, pouting and crossing his arms. "You know that the gender doesn't matter as long as that person is born with the royal mark. And Arthur was, so you are obliged to marry him," lectured Ludwig, making Alfred roll his eyes and let out a loud and impolite snort. It should be noted that it was indeed like King Ludwig had explained. Contrary to the usual, well-known system of inheriting the throne where the children receive the power from their parents, it was different in these kingdoms: there were always a king and a queen, but the queen's gender wasn't important, as long as that person possessed the royal mark on their skin. The ones who inherited the throne as kings were always males, on whose bodies the mark of one of the kingdoms showed up the instant they were born, while the queens' marks were appearing only after several years and smaller in size. Like this, the royal couples didn't need to have children, since immediately after a king's death, a child would be born somewhere with that unique trait. The same thing happened with the queens. There weren't any blood ties, so it could be called a question of fate. "Obligations, obligations, obligations! Don't you really have anything else to talk about?" moaned the youngest of the four kings. "Stop complaining, it's not that bad to have a male queen. King Ludwig doesn't seem to be displeased with Queen Kiku... even though he spends so much time with his jack," remarked Ivan, still with a smile, and looked at Feliciano, who seemed to get nervous all of a sudden. "D-Don't say such things, Your Majesty, I'm nothing but a mere servant, ve~" he said, lowering his head again and feeling his knees tremble. "Oh, Ivan, I don't believe you to be the most suited to insinuate such things, since there are also several rumors about you," said Francis with a sly smile, making the representatives of the Kingdom of Clubs uncomfortable. "Your Majesty Francis, if you want to say something, please do so directly, I assure you that we don't have any truth we want to hide. Or are you perhaps speaking from your own experience? After all, people are talking about you as well, you know, all these who say that you often visit houses of vice and pleasure," struck back Queen Elizabetha with a triumphant expression on her face, as she saw Francis frown and Vash perforate him with his eyes, waiting for his answer. "Rumors are always haunting us, my lady, but I guarantee you that I am not capable of disrespecting my future queen whom I am already faithful to and continue being so until she reaches her age of majority and until, eventually, death will do us apart," recited the King of Diamonds, placing his hand on his chest, raising his voice and adding some drama to his confession, making young Lilly blush even more. "In that case, Your Highness, you should still try to not invite other people into your bed, since after death, faithfulness becomes a symbol of loyalty," recommended Kiku with his monotone voice, as he noticed the slight cynicism in Francis' words. "I won't, that you can be sure of," the latter replied, playing along. "And you still want me to get married? As I see, no one among you is happy with their marriage, and despite this you still want to force me to do it as well," interrupted Alfred them, examining everyone with his blue eyes and making them shift slightly uncomfortably on their seats, as if he had hit the mark. "Happiness is something very subjective and, apart from that, it has no place in the topic we are treating," answered Ludwig, clearing his throat. "And your marriage is not an option anyway, it is your duty," he reminded firmly, emphasizing the fact that Alfred had no voice nor vote concerning that question. The latter seemed annoyed and defied him with his gaze. "Well, duties and traditions have to change, I don't need a queen nor anyone else to share the throne with, because I am strong enough to be a pillar for this nation and also its hero," he exclaimed with dignity, standing up and swelling his chest. "Do you really think that raw strength is everything you need to lead a kingdom? My dear Alfred, your words show that you are still a child," scolded Francis him. "No, I'm not!" yelled Alfred angrily and was about to lunge at him, but was stopped by Yao. "Your Majesties, calm down, please," Vash intervened, trying to impose order, which he managed for a few seconds. "Do not take it as a contradiction, Your Majesty Alfred, but my lord is right: a nation cannot be governed with strength alone, it also needs a stable economic foundation," explained the jack, trying to control himself to not grab and punch that ignorant brat. "And you talking about money again, you cheapskate, longing to drown yourself in gold," spoke Roderich this time. As it seemed, he wasn't able to resist the temptation to annoy Vash, with whom he didn't get along. "I am not avaricious if this is what you are trying to tell me, I am just a realist and not relying on luck, contrary to others." "Listen Francis, you should better control your servant's tongue, as I could take his words as an offense," warned Ivan, starting a big, but already not unusual discussion. The four kings began to yell at each other, while the queens and jacks were trying to calm them down as their voices got louder and louder, while they were slamming their fists against the table, turning the atmosphere into an even more heated one. Meanwhile, somebody was watching the spectacle from the shadow of the room's second floor and grinning sneeringly. "Our Majesties are at it again, in yet another useless discussion. When will they finally learn to listen to other voices, not just their own?" asked one person and let out a mocking laugh. "I rather think that the weight of their crowns has crushed their coherent thoughts. So now they can't do anything else than babbling nonsense, thinking of themselves as wise men, while in reality they are nothing but a bunch of fools, acting as leaders," said another voice with disdain. "Enough! This discussion is out of context," raised Ludwig his voice above everyone else's, making them fall silent. "King Alfred, tonight your marriage will be made public, and you will meet your future queen, whether you like it or not," he commanded firmly, but without managing to intimidate the other monarch. "You can't order me around," the now really angry Alfred spat at him. "That is right, but the mark on your skin is requiring it, so try to act like an adult and fulfil your obligation," replied Ludwig, making Alfred even more furious, who looked for Yao's support. But his jack was keeping his head low, agreeing with the other king. "I can't believe this, just because you are unhappy yourselves, you want me to suffer the same fate," Alfred snapped at everyone, who, to be honest, didn't really care for his words they were taking as mere child's tantrums. "Despite all your protests, Alfred, we will be waiting for you and your queen tonight," said Francis with a gallant smile and got up, followed by Lily and Vash, walking by the young king, whose cheeks were red from fury. Francis patted him on the shoulder, trying to calm him down. "See you tonight," he finally told him and left, together with his escorts. The rest of the royals left as well, while Alfred was staying behind, cursing his fate. "Why do I have to do it? I've already told them that I'm strong enough to take care of my kingdom on my own, didn't I?" he muttered, walking through the corridors with long steps, while Yao was almost running to keep up with his speed. "But Your Majesty, the laws are dictating it like this, aru," he tried to convince his king, keeping his hands hidden in his wide sleeves. "Laws," repeated the latter with a snort. "I don't need laws. Power is the only thing necessary to keep everyone safe and sound. I've done it like this all this time, and my kingdom is better than fine." His jack was letting out tired sighs behind him. Finally, nighttime came, and the awaited presentation in society of the new queen of the Kingdom of Spades was to be held in the palace that had been meticulously decorated to welcome the new member of the royalty. The announcer was presenting the most important guests and the kings and queens once again, of course. "My lord, are you ready, aru?" asked Yao, entering a room, where a young blond man was, who got startled by the jack's presence. "Y-Yes, I'm almost done," he replied, returning his attention to the mirror, looking at the reflection of his emerald eyes in it. Arthur was feeling weird in that elegant navy blue and purple suit, decorated with the typical spade-symbols of the kingdom, of which he had only been a mere subject until now. He took deep breaths, trying to arrange the small top hat, that seemed to be eager to tilt on his head, and to not curse, since royalty didn't do that. "If you want, I can help you, aru," offered Yao, watching the fight between Arthur and the accessory. The other blushed from shame, but accepted in the end. Yao approached him and arranged the rebellious hat and the bow tie around Arthur's neck. "No need to get nervous, aru, King Alfred can be a spoiled, impulsive, conceited and arrogant person... but he has a good heart, aru," said the jack, his attention on the silk bow he was carefully tying. "I'm not doubting his virtues... and don't really care about them, after all neither him nor me asked for this," said Arthur, still blushing, frowning and averting his gaze, making a discreet smile appear on Yao's lips.  "Excuse me for my boldness, my lord, but you looked pretty happy to me, when you heard that you would be the queen," said the latter, straightening the other's long jacket now. "No, of course I'm not!" exclaimed the embarrassed Arthur, and Yao immediately retreated a few steps and bowed deeply. "Please excuse me, it was not my intention to offend you, aru," he said, his head so low that his forehead was almost touching his knees. "Ah... no, sorry... I didn't want to shout at you," replied Arthur awkwardly, waving around his hands to indicate to Yao to stand up. He still wasn't used to these reactions from his new servant, taking everything too much to heart. "Once you are ready, please go downstairs, you will be announced soon and King Alfred will finally get to know you, aru. I shall take my leave now." And with this being said, the jack made a few steps back, facing Arthur, and turned around to leave the room, letting the other one alone with his nerves. He looked into the mirror again, thinking about how incredible it was that he knew King Alfred, but the latter didn't know him. Arthur had always seen him in the procession that was accompanying the king every time the latter was traveling, watching him hidden in the crowd, together with his brothers, who were joining the racket. Back then, when he had still been a simple peasant... before the royal mark had appeared on his body and he himself declared queen. In another part of the palace, Ludwig seemed to be ill-humored, walking back and forth, followed by Feliciano, who was keeping his distance. "Where is he? Carrying a clock and still unable to arrive in time for the announcement of his own marriage," grumbled the King of Hearts, massaging the bridge of his noise, trying to control the migraine that he would get without a doubt. "Do not worry, my lord, His Majesty is still young and very carefree, ve~ " said Feliciano with his goofy smile. "His youth is not an excuse," objected Ludwig, putting his hands on his hips. "Ve~ perhaps not... but we should also consider that it is difficult for him to accept the fact that he is forced to share his life with a stranger... which is a bit cruel," commented Feliciano, switching his smile for a melancholic expression. "In which sense is it cruel?" inquired Ludwig, turning around to face Feliciano, who lowered his head on the spot. "Not being able to be with the person you love... this is what makes it so sad," answered the jack simply, his voice a bit quieter than usual, and dared to raise his head again and to look directly at his king, as if he was reproaching him something. The latter just turned his back to him and walked to the main hall with big steps, being followed by Feliciano again, who didn't say another word. In the meantime, Lilly was walking along other hallways. She was lost and trying to remember the way to the main hall, because the palace was gigantic, and she hadn't memorized everything yet, as it had been barely a few months since her appointment as the future queen (she was still a minor), so thanks to her multiple duties she didn't have any time to explore this place where most of the audiences were held, and to top it off, King Francis had also left her alone for a moment, enough time to make her lose her way. "Ah... I believe I'm walking in circles," she said to herself with sorrow, going to and fro through the kilometric hallways, until she spotted a tall figure in the distance, someone who could maybe help her to return to her fiancé. "Excuse me," she called out, lifting her skirt in order to run faster to that other person, but while doing that, she noticed that it was no one else than King Ivan, and abruptly stopped when he turned around to her with the usual creepy smile on his face. "Miss Lilly, what are you doing here?" he asked in his childish tone, making the girl tremble a bit and look around with fear, hoping that someone would come and save her. "I-I got lost and can't find the way back to the hall," she replied, trying not to stutter. "And what about you, Your Majesty?" she then asked, more out of the obligation to not allow any kind of uncomfortable silence. "I was looking for Elizabetha, but it seems that she is hiding somewhere with our jack... and I have asked her so many times to behave tonight," he said, pretending to be disappointed. Lilly got a bit curious. Did that mean that the rumors about the Queen of Clubs having a love affair with her jack were true, after all? No... that couldn't be, because King Ivan would be furious by now and would have already ordered to execute his wife and his servant. "Surely something has happened, so that, well... so that they needed to absent themselves and..." stammered Lilly, trying to not give the impression of her taking the rumors between the nobles for the truth. Ivan just smiled at her, without saying a word, making her fall silent. It was obvious that not even he believed that. "Miss Lilly, it shows that you are a good person, Francis is lucky to have you as his future wife," he suddenly changed the topic, guiding the girl through the hallways. "Thank you, Your Majesty, your words make me feel very flattered," she thanked him, nervously playing with her entwined fingers while walking. "I sincerely wish you the best luck for your reign," said Ivan, noticing that they were approaching the hall, from where the sounds of the people and the musicians could be heard. Lilly was about to thank him again, but the king interrupted her. "But allow me to add that luck does not always lead to happiness." And with these words he left, while Francis was approaching the young woman, who didn't get any chance to answer once again. "Lilly, my love, where have you been?" he asked, taking her hand. "Your brother was almost killing me with his eyes when we couldn't find you." The King of Diamonds shot a subtle look at Vash, who seemed annoyed by that comment. "I'm sorry, I just got lost. But King Ivan had the kindness to help me," she answered, watching the latter disappear among the crowd. "Oh... Ivan doing a good deed for someone else? This is certainly uncommon, but, oh well, at least you are safe and sound. Let's join the others, the new queen will be announced soon," he said, putting her hand on his arm and heading together with her to the center of the hall, where Alfred had finally deigned to honor everyone with his presence. He was standing almost at the foot of the stairs, holding his peculiar spade-shaped clock in his hands, opening and closing the lid and looking with boredom at the time. Everyone was gathering in the center, looking at the stairs where they would see the new queen. A pair of escorts from the Kingdom of Spades were guarding a large door, and the already familiar announcer was getting ready to present Alfred's future lifelong companion, even though the king himself was still sulking about that. Trumpets started to play to attract everyone's attention, and it became quiet in the hall. The announcer opened his mouth to speak, but before he could emit a sound, all the candles went suddenly out, as if a gust of wind had blown through the entire palace. Some ladies' screams were not long in coming, and murmurs and attempts to calm down everyone were also flooding the room. Just what had happened right now? "Kesesesesese!" Unusual laughter resounded through the place, as the candles on the crystal chandelier hanging from the center of the ceiling went on again as if by magic. Revealing a young man, who was sitting on it, as if the fine object was a swing made for children. "Who are you?! Descend this instant and show yourself!" commanded Ludwig, wanting to take control over the situation immediately. "As you wish, Your Majesty," said the young man in a sarcastic tone, suddenly jumping from the chandelier, making some scream out of fear due to his reckless action. They thought that he would end up breaking every bone, but he landed in a very supernatural manner on the ground, as though his body weighted only a couple of grams. "That's better, isn't it?" he asked, standing before Ludwig, who could now see in the grim lighting the silver hair and the crimson eyes of that intruder. The latter was grinning in mockery, wearing black clothes and having a strange tail with an arrow-shaped tip and a pair of horns on his tousled head. "You are... a joker..." said the king in a barely audible voice, staring flabbergasted at him. A bunch of murmurs filled the room again, and all gazes turned to the silver-haired guy, who was enjoying the attention. "Listen, Gilbert's not the only one," added another one, and everyone started to look for him. Squeezing between all the voluminous dresses of the ladies and the walking sticks of the gentlemen and with the help of shoves, a blond boy with blue eyes and large eyebrows appeared. He was dressed in black as well, with a hat decorated with horns and an undulating tail, and approached the one he had called Gilbert, until stopping next to him.  "You're late, Peter," said the latter. The boy looked at him with annoyance. "I'm very sorry for not having presented myself in such an extravagant way like you," he spat, crossing his arms. "Why are you here? Jokers are supposed to be..." began Ludwig, who still couldn't believe his eyes. "Extinct? Oh, we are, but not quite. Peter and I are the last ones of our kind," answered Gilbert in a casual tone. "Hey, stop talking as if everyone understood what you mean," Alfred interrupted them, squeezing through the crowd as well until arriving in front of the two strangers. "Who the hell are you? I have never heard of jokers or anything like that before," he asked, annoyed. "This is because they were believed to have disappeared," replied Francis. "As far as I know, jokers are a kind of human-shaped creatures, who have existed a long time ago, but went extinct during the wars and centuries... there has been no record of some of them still being alive," he explained, walking around the strange creatures and examining them from head to toe, focusing his attention on the tails that were swinging like pendulums. "Thanks for the history lesson, as it seems, not all of you are as dumb as you look," said Peter, making everyone present in the hall let out a stifled scream for having dared to insult the kings. "Remember your position and curb your tongue, you are not speaking with an equal," Alfred scolded him. The boy widened his eyes a bit and blinked a couple of times, now turning towards Gilbert, who was still grinning. "Hey Gilbert, do you know what this guy is talking about? Because I don't remember being anyone's subject they could demand respect from." "What do you mean by that?" asked Ivan this time. "He means that we joker aren't serving anyone, but at the same time can serve whom we want to. We are heart, diamond, club or spade, whatever you want," said Gilbert, patting the child's head, who laughed mischievously. "I see... that means you can be very useful..." commented Ivan, and his innocent smile became a bit more malicious. "This is right, we used to be a huge help: we were spies, advisors, soldiers... cannon fodder... I think it's worth mentioning that for your ancestors we were nothing more than expendable tools, disposable after the wars have ended. And now, we're forgotten and even believed to be extinct before the two last ones have died." Gilbert's tone was still casual, but a hint of resentment appeared in his red eyes. "These kings back then were always showing off the virtues of their kingdoms as if they were truly exemplary men. Not very different from you," he added, looking at the four of them, who got offended by that comment. "We are good kings!" objected Alfred in an annoyed tone. "Oh, are you really?" asked Peter, his childish voice turning more serious, while he shot a piercing look at Alfred, who couldn't help but gulp at the sight of the boy's accusatory face. "A nation divided into four kingdoms with hollow and stupid rulers. The first one, the King of Hearts, is the king of love, but can't see it even when it's directly before his eyes," Gilbert started again, positioning himself in front of Ludwig, placing his hand on the left side of the latter's chest and casting a brief gaze at the Jack of Hearts, who retreated a step. The king simply frowned and removed the joker's hand. "Then we have the King of Clubs, who is the king of luck, but whose good fortune doesn't bring him happiness," whispered Peter, hopping into Ivan's direction. The latter continued to smile, despite the words he just heard. "Now the King of Diamonds, who is the king of wealth, but doesn't possess any true treasure," Gilbert took over again, moving to Francis, until arriving behind him, speaking into his ear. "And finally, the King of Spades, who is the king of power, but doesn't know how to use it wisely," concluded Peter, running his fingertips over Alfred's hands. "You speak as if you really knew us, but aren't you just sad creatures that resent our ancestors? If you have come to give touching speeches, then you should better take them elsewhere and form a theater company," recommended Francis, crossing his arms and laughing sneeringly. But the jokers didn't feel offended. "Yes, as Your Majesty just said... we are nothing but resentful creatures, but let me tell you that these creatures have more than just one ability. We were eliminated not only because we weren't useful anymore, but also because we were representing a menace: the same way we are able to choose and change our loyalty to any kingdom, we can play with reality and give the match a pretty unexpected turn..." explained Gilbert with a wide smile. "We haven't come to seek revenge, we just want to teach these kings a lesson. After having learned it, they can return." The moment Peter had finished speaking, a flash of light suddenly blinded everyone and everything became completely quiet. The four kings felt the floor disappear under their feet, and started falling into a well of light, so bright that they were forced to close their eyes, while it was getting difficult for them to breathe. And just as they began thinking that they were about to suffocate and that their eyes would never be able to see anything again, their backs bumped into something solid with full force. Meanwhile, in the palace, people were covering themselves and trying to escape. Feliciano called out to his lord in the middle of his momentary blindness together with Kiku, Vash was hugging Lilly, trying to protect her from any dangerous surprise, Elizabetha and Roderich had only recently arrived to the hall and didn't understand what was going on, and finally, Arthur was stopped by Yao before he could pass the doors that were supposed to open as he would be announced. In a matter of seconds, everything went back to normal. The remaining candles went on, and the people opened their eyes, looking at each other... noticing that the four kings were gone. "We hope you have enjoyed our little show!" announced Gilbert with an exaggerated bow, placing his hand on his stomach, bending his back and raising his tail, so that everyone could see it. "Show? What are you talking about? Where are King Alfred and the others?" asked Arthur, opening the doors wide and followed by the mortified-looking Yao. Everyone turned around to the foot of the stairs, meeting the furious green-eyed man. "Oh, if it isn't the Queen of Spades," hummed Gilbert, eyeing the latter, who was coming closer with long steps, pushing past everyone else. "Don't worry, Your future Majesty, your king is safe... at least, we think so..." added the silver-haired joker, giggling again. Arthur opened his mouth to protest, but Peter was faster. "Let's go, there's no reason why we should give them explanations," commanded the boy, looking with annoyance at Arthur and smiling at Gilbert, who smiled back. "The cards have been dealt out, and the game has begun. It's time to place our bets, Gilbert," continued the little blond, while a bunch of guards, armed with halberds, were entering from every door. But it was too late. "Kesesese, that's how it looks like, Peter, but for now we have to retreat." Both jokers laughed, did ridiculous and exaggerated bows again, like jesters, who had just now entertained a whole court, and suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke coming from the floor... leaving behind the absence of the four monarchs, whose current locations remained unknown.