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blackarmyslave · 5 years

Text

//their tale//

Written for Day 2 of Ray's appreciation week! GAAHHHH can't believe I'm late. School sucks like jnkdbfkerkglanw Is this still acceptable tho? Lol tagging @ikerev-appreciation anyways

➵ Theme: Campfire

➵ Genre: I honestly don't even know anymore

➵ Word count: 2017

➵ Notes: spoilers for Ray's route! Also, I changed a few things to paint just what I had in mind ;)

☆☆☆☆☆

Year 2000

Under the bright full moon that illuminated all of Cradle, bright flames flickered and wood crackled and burned amidst a certain forest-- a forest that showcased a tall, ancient tower, now in ruins. The chilly night breeze made the nearby flaglets dance and curl in the wind. Flaglets-- flaglets painted in both red and black. Several thousand of them were planted all over Cradle's native soil, telling them of their motherland's history. A gruesome, bloody history, indeed... yet just as beautiful and mesmerizing. And a part of their history included a tale. A tale of how a country, once divided into two, the idea of unity long forgotten, had joined because of a single lady. A lady that fell under the most powerful spell of all.

Love.

An old couple was having a campfire at the heart of the forest. Their son and his wife, along with their three kids, had come with them to listen to the said tale.

"Alright, children, gather 'round," the grandfather huddled the kids closer. A radiant light shone in his eyes, perfectly mirroring the kids'. "Shall I begin retelling the greatest tale of Cradle?"

The three children squealed in delight. They've heard snippets of it; from their teachers and classmates. And now, they would finally hear the entirety of it.

"Yes please, grandpa!" The eldest of the three, a girl about ten, chirped.

Their grandmother just chuckled under her breath, watching the four by the sidelines while handing out s'mores to the younger couple sitting on a log nearby, a knowing smile on their lips.

Oh, they were in for a ride.

The grandfather cleared his throat and started, "Long, long ago, before our modern use of magic and the grand life everyone currently has, Cradle had been split into two: Red and Black. They--"

"Huh? Why were we divided?" The youngest child interrupted with wide, curious eyes.

The eldest whacked him lightly. "Shh! Grandpa'll get to that."

The grandfather merely shook his head at their antics. "Now, now, children. Be patient. I'll tell everything you need to know."

All three obeyed, quietly munching on chips and marshmallows. When all was quiet once more, and the fire's crackle was all that can be heard, the old man continued.

"Alright... because of the division, Cradle had been filled with political dispute and rivalry. It was a place filled with constant tension, a war threatening to break out any second. The two opposing sides were armies: the Red Army, with the Hearts and Diamonds Quarter... and the Black Army, with Spades and Clubs. The Red Army used magic in combat and formed ranks by lineage. The Black Army used pure manpower alone and ranks were based by strength. Their dispute lasted for over 500 years, passing from generation to generation. The idea of unity of had been long forgotten, the prospect of mixing red and black in a single banner to represent Cradle considered absurd.

"But then, two women - both in different times - arrived at Cradle. Well, they fell, actually. Coming from a world parallel to ours; The Land of Reason, connected to our world by a rabbit hole that only appears during the full moon, they fell, down and down and down that rabbit hole... Until they dropped from Cradle's starry sky, and ended up in our bloody land."

He made hand movements, the campfire's light creating shadows in the rocky soil, and voice dramatic and solemn. The children looked in awe. Bright, youthful minds painting images of how it must've felt, falling from high up above, and what did the rabbit hole look like...

"There was a difference, though. The first woman who fell - Alice - did not really make a difference. That is, aside from being able to deflect and cancel magic, instead of use it. This is because The Land of Reason is governed by laws of science, unlike ours that's mystical. Now Alice I didn't stay long here in Cradle. Well, after all, it was a wartorn place that just didn't follow the usual rules of physics she's used to. As soon the next month's full moon rose high in the sky, and the rabbit hole connecting our two worlds reappeared, Alice I jumped right into it. Erasing her existence in Cradle and never heard of from again."

Silence filled them, the children's delicacies long forgotten as they slowly process the details. The fire was roaring by now and the stars up above looked imposing. As if it, too, was listening, and affirming that all the grandfather was saying really happened. By the sidelines, the parents wondered-- Had Alice the First fallen in love like the Second, would she have stayed?

Would both stories have ended differently?

Slowly, a smile formed on the old man's aging face. Then he continued, "But Alice II was different... she'd fallen under a spell even she cannot rebuke. The most powerful magic of all."

"... An impenetrable spell? What's that supposed to mean?" The middle-born child couldn't resist asking, speaking in a low voice, as if afraid to break the solemnity of the air that enveloped them. And also because his sister might whack him for being noisy.

"You see, when she fell down, someone had been there to catch her: that time's King of Spades. His name-- Blackwell, if memory serves me right. Now after Alice's very long and confusing first night here, Blackwell offered her a deal. The Black Army would protect Alice for the entirety of her stay here; which was for a month, the amount of time before the link between our worlds reappear. And in return, during her stay with them, she'd have to use her ability to deflect magic when they need it.

"She'd agreed. And so began to blossom their love, which is probably what your sister's been dying to hear about the most," the grandfather smirked, breaking free of his serious monologue for a while to tease his blushing granddaughter who obviously can't wait to learn about the juicier details.

"So... What made their story different from any other is because we can all relate to it, but at the same time not. Blackwell, like other men, had given his woman a pendant. Blackwell, like many others, showed a side of him that's only been witnessed by his special someone. Sounds pretty plain, no?

"But not all can be as selfless as him. Blackwell had been fully aware that Alice was afraid of our world. And so he'd done everything to keep her from fear and danger. No, even when there were disputes between the two armies, despite their initial agreement, he never requested for dear Alice's presence. He never dragged her into the war, not wanting to hurt her. And he never bothered to tell her he loved her right from the start."

A gasp fell from the lips of the three.

"Oh, little did he know, Alice loved him, too."

Another gasp, probably comical to the adults' ears if they didn't know just how darkly the story ended.

"But neither of them ended up making a move.

Came a third gasp. All three cried out, "Why?"

"Because Blackwell was working hard!" Their grandfather explained with a bitter laugh. "He was doing everything that he can to protect Alice, to return her to her world safe and sound, to return her to her normal days governed by laws of physics, where she didn't have to be afraid of the uncertainties of Cradle's way of life. To restore that contented smile on her lips as she goes back to her work and lives as simply as a mouse. He knew she was scared of this world, and didn't have it in him to ask her to stay in such an alien world."

"... What of Alice?" One of them spoke up.

"She was aware of it, alright. And she understood it-- that the man she loves is a man who values the freedom of going about your usual days. That's why he's so strongly against the Reds who use magic. Because he knew that magic, due to its tremendous power, also brought danger in turn; and that danger had ruined countless lives. He wanted to make Cradle a place where no one has to get hurt because of carelessly excessive use of magic, where no one had to be robbed of the freedom to live peacefully.

"And also a place where people with innate magical capabilities don't have to be afraid. He wants to build a Cradle where those who are born magically gifted don't have to be condemned by fear of hurting someone. Do you know why? ... Because he's one of them. Blackwell has a gift of using magic. And he'd hurt, and he'd ruined - ended, actually - lives. Which is why he's so against using magic. Because he doesn't want someone to die again because of it."

The grandfather was now talking fast like he was being rushed, and he had to remind himself to pause to allow the children to drink it all in. It was obvious they hadn't expected that; their jaws were slack, eyes wide, gears inside those heads rapidly turning as they realize many things at once.

Blackwell can use magic... very strong magic. And he'd killed in accident because of the danger that came with that strength. Because of that, he doesn't want to use magic anymore, and that caused his ideals to war with the Reds who do exactly the opposite.

And he knows just how important a normal day is, a day where there's no war about to break out. That fueled him with the drive to return Alice to her world where she's safe.

While in turn, Alice understood all of that. And respected that. Which is why she forced herself to want to go home... so that all his effort of protecting her won't be in vain.

"Oh, they never ended up. Alice returned to the Land of Reason after she'd helped defeat the bad guys; the Magic Tower's disciples, and most especially-- Amon Jabberwock," the grandmother spoke up, nonchalantly finishing the story in a flash, pointing at the eerie, broken tower just a hundred or so meters away. "Meaning, Alice helped the Red and Black Armies join to overthrow the Magic Tower, which is why our flag now contains both red and black. She's worked hard to restore unity in both armies. But after that, even though she loved the King of Spades, she returned to her own world... Not that your grandfather would bother with those historical details. He just cares about the drama," she grumpily added under her breath. Her husband just rolled his eyes with a guilty smile.

"Hmph. So much for happy endings," the second child huffed, munching down his marshmallow that had long gone cold-- much like his heart, cold and empty, torn by the saddest story he'd heard yet.

"Nooooo, I won't accept this! Grandpa, tell me you're lying!" The eldest shook her grandfather's shoulders vigorously in denial.

The youngest just furrowed his brows in confusion. "But don't they love each other? Why didn't Alice II stay?"

Their mother, who'd now come closer to pry her daughter off their now-dizzy grandfather, chuckled. "Why, Liam, love isn't as simple as that."

"Why not...?"

"Because it's love," she gently explained. "And because it's love, it requires a lot of other things."

"Like what?"

"The right timing, for instance. Ray Blackwell and Alice II just met at the wrong time, under the wrong circumstances."

"But aren't they adults already?"

The mother just laughed and ruffled her son's hair. "Lemme rephrase that. It's not timing. It's fate. Maybe they're just not meant to be for one another..."

But then something made her change her mind, looking up above at the cloudless, midnight sky. She just saw a shooting star cross the earth. The full moon looked bigger than usual to her, its light seemingly brighter. Something about those made her heart do a little skip. She smiled.

"Well, not in this lifetime, at least."

☆☆☆☆☆

I literally dont know what the genre is yakcutebnlqpakbef xD tbh this was supposed to be smut ( ͡ಥ ͜ʖ ͡ಥ) basically the black army having a bonfire/campfire and ray and alice sneaking away to do the nasty buuuut writing "campfire" like this sounded better to me than that haha. And what do you mean I'm trying to make Ray's route sound much better? But had failed because I cant write for shit and was only half-awake while making this and didn't bother to proofread because IM ALREADY LATE AF

#ikerev #ikemen revolution #ikemen kakumei #rayxappreciationweek2019 #day 2 #i cant believe i spent 5 hours making this shit #and once again #it ended up angsty(ish?)#jasbfyvbnxuw #ill try writing somethinglighter for day 3 lol #keyword: TRY #lmaooooo #ps: AHHHHHHH IM LATE THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE

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