A/N: Sorry for being gone for a while! School was going on and it was hectic, so here's one written recently but it might be bad cuz I was tired when I wrote this. Do forgive me if it is! >< This was inspired by y Zone's latest single, "King & Queen & Joker" by the way haha

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“… And so, chaos ensued. The young Prince brandished out his sword and started slashing relentlessly at his opponent. However, the Joker was a nimble creature and quickly sprang up. In a flash, he had gotten behind the Prince and with his scepter, aimed for a blow on to young man’s back. But before the scepter could touch him, the Prince spun around and blade met staff. Both sides struggled against each other, neither one wanting to lose. Sweat rolled down the foreheads of both men as their grip on their respective weapons tightened. In the heat of the battle, what they both did not realize was that the Trickster was watching them, amused by the scene that laid before his eyes. He decided to lay low, at least for now so he would not have to dirty his hands unnecessarily.”

The little girl who had been listening so intently to the story in a breath of air. Her eyes sparkled with wonder and fascination. “Tell me a little bit more, please?” she begged. The woman, her mother, smiled. “Tomorrow, darling, tomorrow. You need to sleep now.” She kissed the girl’s forehead and switched the bedside lamp off.

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Year X0X9.

Nakajima Kento stirred. His body felt stiff and sore, as if he had been in the same position for quite a while. Trying to recall what had happened to him, he laid still with his eyes closed. However, that did not get him far as he felt something prodding his body.

Then, he heard voices.

“Do you think he’s awake yet?”

“I don’t know…”

Kento groaned internally. It felt like one of those days when he wanted to sleep in and be left alone for most of the day but just couldn’t. Reluctantly, Kento opened his eyes to see who these unwanted visitors were.

“Woah! He’s getting up!”

His eyes instinctively laid upon the owner of the voice. He was tall and lean but also evidently young. Beside him stood another boy and they both were wearing similar matching outfits- khaki-coloured overcoats over crisp white shirts. The only difference was that one of them had a more ruffled front that was protruding out of his overcoat while the other wore a black tie-like accessory around his neck.

“Who are you guys? And where are we?” Kento took notice of his surroundings for the first time. They were blanketed by black and he was sure that if it were not for the checkered flooring and the chandeliers that hung from the seemingly invisible ceiling, he would not be able to distinguish between neither- it would just be one dark abyss. Around them stood giant larger-than-life playing cards, and as they were towering over them, Kento could not help but feel a little intimidated as they seemed to be giants caging them in an inescapable space. Just then, the tall boy’s voice brought him back.

“Oh yes, we forgot to introduce ourselves. I’m Marius and this is Sou.” Both boys bowed and the former continued on. “We are Jacks, created to be your escorts of this Trick House by Lord Kikuchi. But however, we are only given the basic knowledge of how this House works, so we do not know how to lead you out of here.”

Ki…ku…chi…? As he repeated that name in his mind a few times, his hazy memory became slightly clearer.  He was supposed to be crowned as the next soon-to-be King after defeating other suitors for the princess’ hand. There were trumpets and drums. The drums were being beaten faster and faster. There was a bang and he remembered white smoke billowing. Some guy named Kikuchi showed up and the next moment, Kento could remember feeling like his soul was getting torn out of his body before blacking out. Kento sighed. His impaired memory wasn’t going to help him in any way. With no other choice, he asked the boy named Sou: “So, what am I supposed to know?”

“So, Lord Kikuchi wants you to try and find the Queen in this maze before the time in that hourglass runs out.” He pointed to the giant hourglass that seemed to be floating in the air. Kento was quite amazed how he did not seem to have noticed it before. Had it always been floating there? It ma