CARDS chapter 6

Chapter 6

Chess stared at the cloaked man blankly. 'Uhhh… wait just a moment, will you?" he said before closing the door and wandering back into the living room.

Devlin looked up sleepily from his position on the floor. "Yes? Who is it?"

"Some guy who says he has a message for us. He's dressed in all black. You think maybe he's a ninja?" Chess said jokingly.

"You think a ninja would seriously come knocking on our friends' door to give us a message? No, he'd just let himself in and… Okay, he's a ninja," Devlin said, gesturing to the new presence in the room.

"Well, I'll take that as a compliment, I think," the man said, smiling. "But, seriously speaking again, I need you to come with me." He turned, obviously meaning for the two agents to follow him.

Devlin started to follow, but Chess caught him by the wrist. "What if it's a trap?"

"I know we can trust him. I don't know why, but I have this gut feeling that we can trust this guy. I just have this gut feeling…" Devlin pulled Chess after him. "Come on, let's go."

"Fine, but if you're wrong, I may have to punch that gut of yours…"

"Come back safely, you two!" Alice said, all but pushing them out the door.

♣♦♥♠

The two agents sat in the back of a large black Suburban, facing their mysterious new companion. "So… you said you had a message for us?" Chess asked.

"Yes. It has to do with both the queen and the entire kingdom," Chess was about to interrupt when the man put up a hand to silence him. "Now, I know you're probably thinking 'Why us, then?'. Well, it has to do with your relatives, specifically your grandfathers. All this will be explained when we get to our destination."

"Pardon me for asking, but where exactly is our destination?" Devlin asked politely. He was only answered with a knowing smile.

♣♦♥♠

After a few hours' drive, the party arrived at their destination. "No freaking way! The Royal Library?" Chess asked, sounding like an awed schoolboy visiting an amusement park for the first time.

"It only seems natural to bring you here, considering the circumstances, but that will be explained when we get inside. Follow me," the cloaked man said.

Devlin and Chess shared a look of wonder before following the man up the many marble steps of the library and through the massive double doors. The interior of the building was even more impressive, with rows upon rows of tables and bookshelves, and even more shelves lined the walls up two stories high.

The agents had little time to gawk, as the man led them past the front room and through a concealed door in the back, which led to a narrow corridor. "Come this way. Your questions will be answered shortly."

They reached the end of the corridor shortly. As the door creaked open, both agents were greeted by a familiar voice.

"Are you sure it's okay to tell them? They should at least start to find out on their own and-!" Peter was saying.

"Hush, Peter. I know it may seem too soon for you, but I can tell that it will be alright. The information isn't going to overwhelm them like you think it will. Your boyfriend already tipped them off, you know," a gentle voice said in a soothing tone.

"He did what? Wait, hey! He's not my--" Peter said before getting cut off.

"Can it, Pete. He totally is, and you can't deny that you've done it with him a few times," the man who had been guiding the pair stated, walking up to the albino and lightly flicking his ear.

"Oh, the guests of honour! Chess, Devlin, come on in and take a seat," the gentle woman said with a welcoming smile. She was strikingly beautiful, with long almost silvery blonde hair and pale blue eyes. She wore a simple dress, but even without the finery of royalty, both Chess and Devlin immediately recognized their queen.

"Ah,  um! Yes, your majesty. It's an honour-" Devlin began.

"Oh, cut the formality. Call me Caitir," the queen cut him off. "You have already met Peter and, although he probably didn't introduce himself properly, you have met my son, Cayle. We have something to tell you about your families. It may be shocking to you, though, so please, take a seat."

With that, the agents sat down on the comfortable armchairs that had been provided for them. "Okay, let's begin," Peter said, sitting opposite the two. "You may know already that your grandfathers did something important, but that was all you were told. The truth is, that was all your grandparents were allowed to say. Both of your grandfathers were agents under the White Queen of the time. Chess, your grandfather was the best spy of his time. He played a key role in infiltrating the enemy, the Hearts, base. Devlin, your grandfather had a job similar to yours and he was the best in his field, working under the White Queen as well. Both of your grandfathers worked alongside other best-in-their-field agents to protect the Chosen One, named Alice, who would defeat the Red Queen and return our world to peace. As you can tell, that peace did not last long."

Caitir took Peter's break in speech to talk. "After a generation of peace, the Demonic Shadows were released by my sister, Dierdre and she became the tyrant ruler of the Hearts Kingdom. We want you to find this generation's Alice. We believe that after the first Alice's death, her soul was split in two and she has been reincarnated as two people."

"Your mission is to, along with the help of some others you will meet along the way, to track down this generation's Alice and defeat Dierdre and the powers that possess her," Peter said, concluding what Caitir had said.

"But that still doesn't understand…. Why us?" Devlin asked politely.

"Because, we believe that you are the reincarnations of your grandfathers," Cayle said bluntly.

"Way to get straight to the point…" Peter said, deadpanning. "Oh, another point: I'm surprised you two haven't fucked the brains out of each other yet. You really should get on with it already, you know. Your denial is seriously giving me too much amusement!" he laughed.

Cayle silently got up and smacked the back of the laughing albino's head. "Oi, rabbit! Don't you think there's a time and place for joking like that?"

"Hehehe… Sorry, sorry. I just had to, though. Hehe." He broke into a creepy grin that could even rival Chess's creeper grin (but that's an entirely different story…).

Meanwhile, Chess and Devlin took a cue from Caitir and backed away slowly while the two childlike adults fought. Unfortunately, Peter caught sight of them just as the two reached the door. "Oh, hey, where're you going? Don't you need a ride? I'll drive!"

"I wouldn't trust the stupid rabbit if I were you. He sucks at driving," Cayle said.

"Are you just saying that because of what happened when we went for a drive that one time?" Peter asked, devilish grin back in place.

Cayle blushed instantly. "I-It has nothing to do with that!"

Chess and Devlin backed out the door and slowly walked down the hallway while they were distracted. Chess felt his pocket vibrate and pulled out his phone. He looked down and saw that he had a text from Caitir.

'I ordered my chauffer to pick you up. He should be outside the main doors.

-Caitir'

♣♦♥♠

As the two agents got in the chauffer's car, the man asked, "So, where shall I be taking you two on this fine day? I hear it's a lovely day for a date."

"Er… We aren't going on a date. Did Peter tell you that or something?" Chess asked, blushing.

"Yeah. I just need to pick up my car from Car X, since it was just a simple oil change and all. It should be ready by now…." Devlin said.

"Alrighty then! We'll be there in a jiffy!" The chauffer said cheerfully.

Chess leaned over to Devlin and whispered, "Well, at least he didn't make a Jiffy Lube joke…"

Devlin blushed, but nodded in agreement.