Villainess Of Hearts

In the Castle of Hearts, the Queen sat on the King's throne unmoving as if she had been frozen by the Joker's words. When he said, 'You've met him before.' Did he truly mean that… "T-Time man?" She gazed down at the man in front of her. Her heart was pounding so loudly that it was the only thing she could heard.

A silence filled the room.

Until a laugh pierced the silence, the Joker procured a handkerchief out of thin air and dabbed his eyes, "Ah, that is what you call him? I suppose it makes sense that he wouldn't introduce himself."

The last portion of the man's statement made her frown, until she realized something else. And it was a much more startling fact than his name, her hands felt cold and clammy as she gazed at the person in front of her. Her decision to use her position as the Queen now seemed nothing but child's play to this development, to the Joker's words.

And to what she could expect.

"Y-You… do you know? Can you tell? That Time… and I? Surely not?" Rosalyn Lockhart couldn't even form any sentences as she gazed at him expectantly. Her body was trembling out of fear or excitement? She wasn't so sure herself. Her heart pounded that it felt like that it was going to pop out or stop suddenly.

The Queen of Hearts tried to stand up and found her legs betray her. She was weak-kneed in the face of the truth… this hope? Fear? Dread? Desire? It was a mixture of everything as something pricked her eyes. 

The Joker's laughter had quieted down as he stared back at her. The tiniest smile on his face, he clarified her statement. "Do you know about what's truly happening? That this time, the last time and perhaps a time before that…?"

She stopped once again and looked at him unsurely. When he said those words, the Joker made it sound like that she had gone through this ordeal more than once. "I-I… how many times?"

"Hmm? Do you not remember?" He cocked his head at her as if even he found this strange. But then he nodded once and glanced around the room, he sighed softly. Before gazing back at her as he spoke in a warm tone, "Your Majesty, I welcome you back to the world of the living! Forget what I have said and instead focus on getting through whatever it is that you wish in this hour. As long as you remember that you are not alone." He gave her a smile and a bow.

And she shook. He knew. Even if he hadn't said it straightly that he was aware of the deal that she had struck with Time, he could tell that this wasn't the first time that they have met? Her heart eased at those words as her eyes stung. Instead of fear and distress, all she could feel right now was a soothing sensation. She wasn't alone in this… loop of time? Rosalyn Lockhart could feel elated that out of all the people who knew that it was him—

"Y-Your Majesty!" From one of the sides of the walls, a man seemed to have burst through the walls. A Knight in Shining Armor. He moved through the throne room and closed the distance in record's time. He created a wide berth in between her and the Joker, Julius Ginellevé raised his sword at the man without hesitation. "Be warned that any harm that befalls the citizens of Hearts and most importantly the Queen's shall not be tolerated."

She blinked for one moment.

Even she was unsure of where he had come from—she glanced at the area he had been and found nothing but the same walls of the Throne Room. Surely he had no ability that was similar to the Chesire's right? And if that was the case… then he was hiding things from her. Rosalyn Lockhart didn't like the apprehensions it was bringing her. 

Her trustworthy Knight had his own secrets.

She cleared her throat, "Gine, that man is our special guest. It would upset me very much if a tip of your sword even touches a breadth of his hair."

The Knight lowered his sword slowly and she sighed in relief. But somehow, the Joker… Mister Rosswall—If that was even his true identity or something he had made up—they did not look afraid or even bothered with the prospect of having her personal Knight, willing Executioner to have his sword's edge near his face.

And it made her realize that her assumptions and beliefs on the people she thought she truly knew and understood were simply incomplete sides of a diamond. They were fractured pieces in a mirror, it might have reflected one aspect but not everything.

But if she was wrong about… Gine, or of someone like Mister Rosswall who turned out to be the Joker. What if she had been wrong about everything from the start? What if her perceptions about someone like Mary Ann was incomplete? That she had been wrong about Catherine Duke? What if there was something worth communicating in with the King of Hearts?

Rosalyn Lockhart stopped herself at that point and raised a hand to her face. If she went any further with these kind of questions, she was afraid of what the future might hold for her. She was the Queen of Hearts and her goal in this life was to do whatever she wished and stop those who would go against her.

That was essentially it right?

In this life of hers, in this time—she wouldn't allow things to go as bad as before. The Queen of Hearts took a deep breath and stood up for a moment as she felt her steps waver, in this particular moment… the world was spinning.

"Y-Your Majesty!"

Her surroundings darkened and thickened. It felt stuffy as if her head was placed in between burrows of pillows. Rosalyn Lockhart didn't hear anything after that.

.

.

.

It was a complete fiasco! The King of Hearts had gone missing and despite saying that he would make arrangements to meet the Joker and welcome him properly, he had done the complete opposite of that. Perhaps only the other two Queens and the Lady Duke could give enough of a clue on where he had gone, but even then, would they even truly say a thing?

Although they were the Queens of Diamonds and Spades, surely they had a heart?

As for the Queen of Hearts, during her conversation with the Joker and the sudden disturbance of the Knight, she had lost her consciousness for some reason unknown to anyone else. He had been too slow. The poor White Knight had gone to pick her up and although the Joker was concerned... it wasn't in the same extent as the Knight. Although to be fair, the Knight had gone near delirious at the sight of his Queen falling. A few harsh words were exchanged between them.

"Surely you wouldn't begrudge it for me to have visited? I did not say anything substantial in regards to you."

In the Royal Conference Hall, the three other Kings lay grumbling and petulant of the long return of the King of Hearts. The King of a certain Kingdom wouldn't listen to Lord Warth Duke or give him the time of his day—it was already bad enough that he had to listen to someone that wasn't of Nobility or Royal blood, just someone who had 'won' the Card Trial but now they had to listen to him? 

"My word! I wouldn't stoop low to this!"

Wait. Did one or two of the people slip away to converse outside? They had grown out of their patience in their waiting. And as they gazed at the running servants, the lack of presence of both the King and the Prime Minister—some servants rushing through the halls in attempts to 'help the Queen' who was said to have fainted or collapsed something else troublesome, the servants couldn't decide on which. An opportunity was bestowed upon them.

It was the perfect time to strike?

Amidst such events, a certain cat had gone outside of the Castle of Hearts. And though he was usually seen grinning and making remarks that would drive one madder than a certain Hatter—he seemed troubled as well. He wished he could groom himself to console himself. For now, all he could do was scratch his fluffy ears and try to stop his tail from twitching so bad.

"I wish to go inside…" 

As for the Hatter himself who had nearly slammed a hammer in his face in his shop, unintentionally, he would like to clarify. Despite the fact that he was outside of the Castle of Hearts and that perhaps in the end of things, it was none of his business. Perhaps the Queen of Hearts had only accepted his friendship request out of debt of gratitude—he felt frantic and antsy. He could only hope that she was more than equipped to handle someone like the Joker.

"She is the Queen of Hearts, there's no doubt that if anyone could do it. It would be her."

A certain Prime Minister who had thankfully suffered not much injuries when the Joker had thrown him out of the Throne Room was in one of the waiting room. Out of all the people in the Castle of Hearts, it was up to him to entertain. He held his cup of tea and eyed the man across him grouchily.

Everything was in disarray.

The Joker had simply come.