Up in Flames (Joker/Crystal/Heart no Kuni no Alice)

Alice

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Ashen's POV

The girl, Alice, sat on out black and whith checker board couch, serenely sipping tea from the small white china cup.

Everyone was silent. I took a sip from my cup then passed it to Ink. Ink took a sip then passed it back. We repeated those actions until Alice broke the silence.

"So, who exactly are you guys?" I sillenty stared at her, a cold look in my eyes. Ink smiled and pulled her ever present deck of cards from her jacket's long sleeve.

"How about this, if you can win a card game, your opponent being me, then we will tell you everything." Ink already knew this is the way I would play it, if I were any good at card games... I agreed with her choice, no one could beat Ink at card games.

Alice hesitantly took the cards that were placed in front of her by Ink. Glancing down at them, she nodded before saying, "What are the rules?"

Ink smiled and began to explain her complicated version of some already confusing game.

~~~

Alice had her head hung in defeat. After ten tries, she still hadn't beaten Ink at the game.

Secretly, I assumed that Ink was cheating. Alice had came close a few times, but that effect never lasted.

"Don't worry, kid. Nobody's ever beaten me!" Ink both boasted and comforted the tumbleweed brown haird girl.

Alice's head snapped up. "Kid? I'm seventeen! How old are you?" I gave her an icy glare.

"Eighteen." I stated before Ink could. A slow quietness came after.

"Yes, indeed we are close in age!" Ink picked up the conversation before it died into silence.

I glared at her as the falsness was beginning to shine through her cheery demeanor. Ink was a good actor, but sometimes her act would slip a bit.

Ink and I stood at the same time and pulled Alice to her feet. Pushing her towards the stairs, we said our farewells as she tumbled down in surprise.

"I'll be back!" she called up to us as she stood from her graceful fall at the bottem. "And next time, I'll bring help!"

"Think she'll be back? For real?" Ink asked to me after the sound of a heavy door shutting sounded.

I nodded.

~~~

Indeed, Alice came back the very next time change.

The sky was just darkening when we had heard the light knock sound through the door downstairs.

Alice now sat beside a red headded man who had an eye patch resembling mask covering an eye and another mask attached at his hip.

I glared at the mask as we all sat in silence. Suddenly, a mechanical sounding voice rang into the air.

"Okay, bitch with the white hair needs to stop glaring at me!" My eyebrow twitched at my new name.

Coldly, I stated, "Watch your mouth, there are children here." Still not knowing where it came from, it came again.

"Bitch, I'll do whatever I want!" Locating that it came from the mask, I held out my hand towards the red head.

He raised an eyebrow before shaking his head.

"Fine then, maybe you should get some duct tape or somthing." Ink continued for me.

"Or else." I added, my voice cold enough to freeze fire.

The red head shuddered a tiny bit, still smiling befor Alice cut in.

"Well? Are we just going to sit here? Or are we going to play?"

"Certainly." Ink and the red head said in perfect unision, both pulling out a deck of cards.

Raising an eyebrow at each other, but still smiling, Ink asked in a pleasant tone, "Shall we use your deck or mine?"

Red head smiled and hid his deck behind his scarf. "Yours, I guess. Which game shall we be playing?"

Ink smiled and began explaining a modified version of Alice's game.

We needed to chang it up, because Alice may have explained it to him before she came here.

Dealing out the cards, Alice and I watched as the game began.

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Weeeeeeeell, chapter one down.

~ Hope