♤ The Knight And The Knave ♤

~Introduction~

Hello! I'm YetAnotherPersona, and this is my sixth entry as part of team #ScrawlingSpades for the Cards and Souls event. This time the prompt is "'DECK' The Halls!" Enjoy!

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~Info~

Word count: 2171 words

Time taken: 6 hours

#WritersHub

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~Story~

knave: noun

1. a dishonest or unscrupulous man

2. (in cards) a jack.

Part One: Susie

“If you don’t get out of the way,” you hiss, “I’ll kill you.”

Lancer doesn’t say anything. He won’t even look you in the eyes,the coward. You slash at him with your ax, sending him stumbling, and then it’s his turn to attack.

A half-hearted flurry of bullets descends on you, and you dodge them as best you can. One clips your shoulder, but you barely feel it; it’s like he’s not even trying.

“Get it? I’ll KILL you,” you repeat, swinging at Lancer a second time. Again, he just stands there and soaks up the damage. Would it kill him to at least scream a bit? His stoic act is starting to really piss you off.

You dodge the next hail of bullets without a scratch, and laugh. “Heh... you missed, idiot!”

Your next strike opens a huge gash in his front. He’s trembling, barely able to stand, and his next round of bullets doesn’t even come near you. If anything, they seem to be missing on purpose. What’s he playing at?

“...Wait, why aren’t you fighting back...?” you ask as you hit him again.

Still, he doesn’t answer.

“Heh,” you chuckle. “You think I care if you just wanna lie down and die? You’re just making it easier for me!”

That’s not strictly true. In your experience it’s actually easier to beat people up when they put up a fight, or at least make a bit of a fuss. Lancer really isn’t giving you anything to work with here.

You swing your ax almost lazily, turning the gash in his chest into a big black X. It’s the hardest you’ve hit him yet, and somehow he still doesn’t speak, or even cry out in pain. It enrages you more than any of the other stupid things you’ve had to deal with today. Even on the brink of death, this pathetic traitor won’t give you the satisfaction of a plea for mercy, or a few desperate tears. It makes you see red.

“...Alright, that’s enough,” you grunt. “If you wanna die so much...”

You heft the ax in both hands and lift it to deliver a killing blow...

“THEN DIE!”

You swing down, the blade cleaving Lancer in two with barely any resistance, not stopping until it impacts the stone floor with a dull *thunk*. Lancer’s body deforms and crumples like scrap paper, ink running from the wounds you inflicted and spreading in a black puddle along the cracks in the tiles. The paper sags and settles into a shapeless heap, and doesn’t move again.

You grimace and sidestep round your treacherous ally’s remains before continuing down the corridor. Kris and Ralsei’s cell shouldn’t be far away.

Sure enough, you come to a left turn after just a few steps – and there, down a narrow age, is a door identical to the one on your cell. Behind it, shrouded in darkness, you see two nerdy-looking silhouettes.

“...so that’s why, OK, Kris?” you hear Ralsei saying – looks like they both have their backs to the exit and are too absorbed in their conversation to notice you. You approach the door and whack it with the butt of your ax to get their attention. They spin round, startled.

“...Hey,” you say.

“Susie!” Ralsei exclaims. “You came to save us! I knew you had th-”

“I need both of you to get out of here, right?” you interrupt. If you have to listen to one more feel-good slogan about friendship and heroism, you swear to God...

“Y-yes!” Ralsei answers. “Only together can the three heroes seal the Fountain and-”

“Great.” You spin your ax and swing it at the padlock on the door, shattering it into several pieces. “Meet me there.”

Then you turn and march away, leaving Ralsei to sputter his prophetic gibberish to someone who actually cares.

You ride the elevator out of the dungeon alone. The trip seems to last forever, and in the bare, enclosed space there’s nothing for you to do but think. You stare at your ax, at the ink smeared across the blade. You recall how easily it cut through Lancer’s body. How he didn’t even try to fight you, or ask for mercy. You think about how you actually believed he was your friend, and how he betrayed you, and how now you’ve killed him and you’ll never get to fix things, and you can’t go back, and Kris and Ralsei are gonna find out and then they’ll hate you too and *why do you always do this...*

The elevator stops, and the doors slide open. You grip your ax in both hands and fight back the nausea that’s bubbling in your stomach. You’ve made your choice. It’s a waste of time regretting it now.

Part Two: Kris

Susie’s ax collides with the lock, sending splinters of metal skittering across the floor of your cell. You step back, startled.

“Meet me there,” Susie snaps, before turning and stomping back up the corridor. She turns left at the end of the age and disappears from sight before you can even process what just happened. Ralsei looks as perplexed as you feel.

“W-well,” he says eventually, his voice sprightly. “She came back for us; that’s the important thing.” He pauses. “We should probably, uh, go after her, though.”

You nod and reach for the door, tugging experimentally – it swings open without resistance, and you step out into the ageway. Ralsei follows close behind you.

By the time you get to the main corridor, Susie is already out of sight. You make to go left like she did, but before you can take another step Ralsei grabs your arm and brings you to a halt. You turn around and see him pointing in the other direction. Following his outstretched hand, you see a mass of what looks like scrunched-up paper lying on the dungeon floor. You give him a quizzical look.

He releases your arm and approaches the shape, kneeling down as he draws close. “Kris,” he mumbles. “This is... oh my goodness, Kris...”

You approach the thing yourself, trying to figure out what it is; as you draw alongside Ralsei you step in something sticky. You lift your foot, startled, and look down. The substance, whatever it is, is spreading in a dark circle from the heap of paper in front of you. You squat down and dip a gloved finger into it. It’s too thick to be fresh blood – and too dark. It’s hard to tell in such poor light, but it looks almost pure black, with just the slightest hint of blue. You look at the heap again. It's definitely paper, so is this stuff...?

“Ink,” Ralsei confirms, as if reading your mind. “Ink, spilt from a slain Darkner.”

You gesture to the paper, and Ralsei nods. “Not just any Darkner.” He reaches out and grasps a dry corner, smoothing it out between his paws. There’s something printed on it, you realise – a spade symbol, and the letter J.

You stand up and stumble back, frightened.

“Oh, goodness, Kris,” Ralsei groans. “What has she done? What has she done?”

You take a moment to steady yourself, then place your clean hand on Ralsei’s shoulder. He turns to look at you; you jerk your head to the right, back up the corridor.

“Y-you’re right,” Ralsei stammers. “We need to go after her. Just... give me a moment, first?”

You nod, and Ralsei turns back to Lancer’s remains. He bows his head and murmurs something you can’t make out, then stands up. “Okay. After you, Kris.”

The journey to the top of a castle is a haunting one. Darkner remains are strewn about on each floor: tattered paper, splatters of ink, fragments of broken wood and plastic. Nobody tries to impede your progress; the few survivors you encounter flee as soon as they catch sight of you. At first Ralsei pauses at each body, feeling obliged to pay his respects to the fallen, but he quickly gives up when the sheer number of casualties becomes apparent. He’s shaking like a leaf by the time you reach the top floor.

The throne room is a mess. The wall hangings are in shreds; the Spade Throne is slashed and overturned. In the very centre of the room sits a red plastic disc, split in two pieces. A familiar, slender figure is huddled over it, long hair hanging in front of his eyes.

“...Rouxls?” Ralsei says hesitantly. “Uh... Mr Kaard?”

Rouxls Kaard looks up at you. “Greetings, O Worms,” he says leadenly. “Hath’st thee come to put an end to my life?”

“Put an end...?” Ralsei echoes.

“The foul purple beast that thee callest thy friend,” Rouxls snarls, “hath slain my most cherished minion.” He gestures to the broken checker piece on the floor. “Not only that, but she did murdereth the young Prince of Spades as well. Is’t there no mercy to the found’st in her heart?”

“I’m sorry, Mr Kaard,” Ralsei says. “We... we couldn’t stop her in time. I didn’t realise how – how bad she’d gotten. I’m...”

He trails off. Rouxls stares at him pityingly for a moment, and then turns back to the broken checker. “Her choices mattereth not. She has gone to face the King; he will seek vengeance for the death of his son, of course, but he would’st no doubt have killed her anyway.”

“She’s fighting the King? Already?!” Ralsei asks.

Rouxls nods. “Indeed. Dost thee intend to go and perish alongside her? Thee shalt-”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake,” snaps Ralsei. “It’s ‘thou.’”

“I beg your pardon, Worm?” gasps Rouxls, affronted.

Ralsei sighs and rubs his forehead. “Thee is for the object of the sentence. Kris and I are the subjects, so it’s – oh, never mind!” He turns to you. “Let’s go, Kris.”

You nod and head for the exit at the other end of the room.

“Best of luck, O Worms,” mutters Rouxls.

Any hope Ralsei had of intervening dies as soon as you step onto the castle parapet; it’s clear that the fight is already over. Susie stands panting, clutching her ax, black spots spattered across her armour. All that’s left of the King is a mass of ink-soaked paper and the twisted remnants of a white crown. You and Ralsei run to her side.

“S-susie,” Ralsei whispers. “Wh-why didn’t you...?”

“That’s the Fountain, right?” Susie grunts, pointing to a geyser of darkness on the nearest turret.

“Y-yes,” Ralsei says. “But we shouldn’t-”

“Great. Let’s go.” Susie stows her ax and strides along the battlements. You move to follow her, but Ralsei hangs back, You turn to look at him.

“Kris,” he mumbles. “It wasn’t – it wasn’t meant to end like this. I’m sorry. I hoped that we-”

Before he can say another word, you step forward and hug him as tight as you can. It’s you that should be sorry. He waited his whole life for the heroes of his prophecy... tried so hard to welcome you, to help you... and what did he get for his trouble? Two stupid, useless, violent children who just made everything worse. He deserved better. This mess isn’t his fault. But you don’t know how to put any of that into words, so you just hug him, and pat his back, and hope he understands.

He holds onto you for a moment, then lets go; you release him, too. “Thank you, Kris,” he whispers. “I – I know you did your best.”

“Hey, guys!” you hear Susie yell. “Let’s get this over with, okay?”

You turn to see her standing at the end of the parapet, right at the Fountain’s edge. She waves an arm, beckoning you impatiently.

Behind you, Ralsei sniffs and then clears his throat. “Let’s go seal the Fountain, okay Kris?”

You nod, and hurry over to Susie. The three of you stand and look out over the Dark Fountain – Ralsei on Susie’s left, you on her right. You can feel your soul resonating in response to the Fountain’s presence, tugging at your chest as if trying to escape your body altogether. You take a steadying breath and gaze into the all-consuming darkness.

“N-now that the three of us are here,” Ralsei explains, “you should be able to use your soul to seal the fountain and travel home, Kris.”

You nod. You soul almost feels like it’s glowing. If you let it out now, it’ll know what to do.

“But I think...” continues Ralsei. “...I think that, perhaps, um, Susie... perhaps it would be better if you didn’t return here.”

There’s a moment of silence. You glance at Susie, steeling yourself in case she explodes, but she just laughs hollowly. “Believe me, man, I don’t want to come back here either. Take us home, Kris. I’ve had enough of this place.”

You nod, and let your soul go. It drifts into the fountain,its glow getting brighter and brighter until you’re forced to turn away and shut your eyes...

Just before the Dark World vanishes, you hear Ralsei let out a quiet sob.

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~Postscript~

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this story, I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts in the comments below. Check out my AO3 for more stories!