The Voice of the Ace

Chapter 2

"In this meadow of  golden song,

We come together and sing along."

        The sound of a powerful melody wafted through the air. The voice was baritone and quiet, but clear. It demanded attention. The Ace moaned quietly. Where was he? Who was singing? As he pondered, the deep baritone completed his poetic song.

"Join us, voice of Joy and Rain."

"Voice of  Reason, voice of Pain."

"Voice of  Love and voice of Sun,

Our time in this meadow has now begun."

        The Ace woke up with a jolt just as the song ended. He remembered now. That mysterious woman had broken into his house when he was sick and begun reading out loud. He had fallen asleep to her soothing words. And now... now he was definently anywhere but home.

        He was laying down the in the middle of a large meadow. Roses and tulips of beautiful colors  surrounded the clearing. A little farther out in radius were gigantic elm trees that gave shade to the ground below them. Groaning, he lifted his head and tried to push himself into a sitting position. A hand appeared on his chest, gently lowering him back down to the floor.

"Rest. You need it."

        The sentence was short, but profound. The Ace found himself obeying, even though he wanted to do anything but. A man was sitting beside him, watching him expressionlessly. The stranger had a defined face and a fit build, but it was his eyes that made the Ace stare at him in a subdued awe. Orange eyes stared back calmly as the Ace worked to catch the breath that had been knocked out of him when he first glimpsed the man's gaze. The stranger's eyes seemed to glow and surge with wisdom and power. Had it not been for the man's eyes and the dominance in his voice, the Ace would have defied him and tried to have gotten up again to figure out where on Earth he was.

"Wh-where am I?" The Ace asked the stranger in a soft whisper. His voice was still weak from sickness.

"You're in the Meadow of Song, obviously." An annoyed male voice rang out from the elm trees.

"Jester, don't be rude. Ace hasn't been here in a long time."

"So? He should know where he came from."

        Both the Ace and the strange orange eyed man turned to see two figures coming out of the shade and walking towards the middle of the meadow. On the right was a short blond man who the Ace could only assume was the first interrupting voice he had heard. He had an agitated look on his face, which contrasted with his delicate features. Although they were still fairly far away from himself and the stranger, the Ace could tell he was young, maybe in his late teens. Walking beside him on the left was a tall, thin woman with long brown hair. She held a small brown covered book in her hands, keeping it close to her chest as if to protect it from harm. She held an intelligent air about her which the Ace found himself respecting to a great extent.

        When they finally reached the Ace and the orange eyed man, the young blondie gave out a chuckle. 

"So this is the great Ace of Spades, huh? What's wrong, didn't think the Voice of Sun would be this young looking?" he laughed, rubbing his  tan cheek.  "I know, it's the lotion i use."

"Jester, don't mess with the poor man. He doesn't use any lotion Mr. Ace. Don't be fooled by his young looks, this little brat has been here longer than Earth itself."

        The blond man threw his head back and laughed happily. The Ace was convinced the man's laugh gave off the same feel as children playing on the beach.

"You're a riot, Dia. You'd think being the Voice of Reason would make you all boring and whatnot, but for some reason I just think you're hilarious." Jester replied smiling brightly.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves Mr. Ace. I am Dia, the Voice of Reason. I sing to keep all that is reasonable and logical at peace in the world. It's nice to finally meet you." The brown haired woman said, bowing to the Ace kindly.

"Hopefully you've already figured out that I'm Jester, the Voice of Sun. Let's just say if I don't sing, the Sun doesn't come up every day, go down every night, and create rainbows after rain. Oh, sorry about my eyes, by the way. I have to wear contacts for you since humans can't stare at the sun's light directly." He said as he pointed to his light grey eyes. 

"This isn't my actual eye color you see. My eyes are quite literally as bright as the sun. Other Voices have no problem looking into them, but for you... well, I don't want you to go blind. I'm a little sad though, I had ordered pitch black contacts, but no matter how thick of a black I order, it always turns light grey when i put them on. Ridiculousness I tell you."

"Jester, please. You're starting to rant. I haven't explained anything to him yet." 

        The orange eyed man had once again spoken. His voice sent chills down the Ace's spine. The amount of power this man's words had was insane. 

"Sorry, sorry. Are we waiting for the other voices to arrive?"

"Yes." Orange eyes replied simply. 

        There was a moment of silence between the four of them. It wasn't an awkward silence, but a silence all the same. The Ace had no idea what he was supposed to do. 

"Um-"

"Sorry we're late." Two voices interrupted the Ace just as he was about to speak.

        Everyone turned towards another portion of the elm forest and watched as two more people emerged from the shade.