His hand trembled as he turned over the card.  It was
not the weakness of age that afflicted him.  It was fear,
plain and simple -- the same consuming terror that had
gnawed at him ever since...

	No.  Calm.  Think.  They cannot match you.

	Still, it was troubling.  Fortune remained a central
figure in the cards' reckoning, despite his efforts to
remove her from play.  The Magician figured prominently, as
well.  He'd expected that, since he hadn't moved against her
yet, but it worried him that the Fool still moved in the
same circle.  "The greatest of Trumps and the least
predictable," he mused aloud.  The words did not lead him to
any answer.

	He frowned at the card he had just turned over, the one
that was supposed to answer his question.  He couldn't read
it.  The meaning was clear enough, one of the least
ambiguous in the entire deck.  But to what it applied, he
couldn't begin to say.

	He turned on his heel, leaving Death face-up on the
table behind him.

			*		*		*

			Arcana
			started by Scott Schimmel

			Chapter Twenty-three:
			Sunset Rhapsody

			by Scott Schimmel

			*		*		*

	Natsu blinked at the young girl.  "What, now?"

	"Yeah," Hanako insisted.  "It's real important.  You've
gotta go, now."

	"Right before dinner?  That's not exactly the best
timing, y'know."

	"It looks as though... Hanako is Fortune now," Tetsuya
reminded her.  The bishounen still sounded shell-shocked,
but he stolidly refused to say exactly what it was that had
him so worried.  It was beginning to get on Natsu's nerves. 
Especially since he'd seemed to be weakening, just before
Hanako had awakened.

	Then again, Tetsuya was quite accomplished at getting
on her nerves.  "Yeah, yeah... whatever that means."  Natsu
threw on a light jacket.  It was warm outside, but she felt
a need to take some action, and that fit the bill.  "So
what're you going to do?"

	"Me?"  The bishounen frowned.  "I'll be with you and
Hanako, naturally."

	"Well, you're half right.  You'll stay with Hanako. 
She won't be with me, though."  Waving off the inevitable
argument, she added, "Don't ask.  Just trust *my* hunch on
this one."

	Tetsuya studied her for a moment and abruptly nodded. 
"All right.  I think I know a place... I just hope you know
what you're doing."

	So did she.  But Natsu made herself smile as she shot
back, "I'd worry more about myself, if I were you.  You've
never had a clue."

	"Be careful," he said.

	"And you..."

	"Yes?"  The faint smile, which had formerly seemed
omnipresent, made its reappearance.

	"Take care of Hanako," she concluded.

	Tetsuya's face fell comically.  "So cold," he lamented
to the child.  "Well, what about it?  Shall we go?"

	Hanako gazed solemnly up at him.  "Let's have dinner. 
I'm sorta hungry."

	"Of course you are," the bishounen muttered.

*

	"Hey, there," Will greeted the teenagers, though he
addressed his comments to Natsu.  "Where're you off to, this
time of day?"

	Natsu waved to him in passing.  "Just running an
errand.  If I'm not back before dinner, tell them to go
ahead and eat.  But hopefully it shouldn't take too long."

	He nodded laconically, offering, "Want a ride?"

	"No, thanks."  Natsu laughed.  "It'll probably be
faster to walk, with the rush-hour traffic in Tokyo.  See
you guys later," she added to Tetsuya and Hanako, and
promptly set off at a jog.

	Will watched until the three teens had vanished in
opposite directions.  "She didn't mean anything by it,
partner.  Rush hour means nothing to you, but no reason she
should know that.  More importantly... looks as if we're
missing an Arcana, by my count.  So do we follow her, the
other two, or the one who left by the back door?  Or is the
third one still here?"

	The engine purred.

	"Didn't think one was still here," Will agreed.  "So we
follow... hm?"  He paused to listen.  "The little girl's
more important?  You sure about... yep, I guess you would
be.  Well."  He dropped his second cigarette to the
pavement, grinding it beneath his heel.  "Let's get to it,
then, shall we?"

*

	"So you came," Joker concluded.

	Natsu frowned at the boy.  "Don't make it sound like a
foregone conclusion."

	"Well, it was pretty convenient," Hotaru admitted.  "I
didn't have to make up another story to tell my mother."

	"I don't see why I have to be here, though.  It can't
just be to let you get away with your 'project'..."

	"Didn't you ask?" wondered Joker innocently.

	Natsu rolled her eyes.  "I didn't really have a chance. 
She made it sound important, though."

	"Ne..." Hotaru prompted.  "Will she really be okay with
Tetsuya-kun?"

	Closing her eyes, Natsu rubbed at her temples.  "Maybe. 
I'm pretty sure he won't hurt her, at least.  It's just a
question of whether or not he can protect her."

	"But you left her with him anyway?"

	"She was pretty insistent," Natsu repeated for what
seemed like the tenth time.  "And I didn't want her and you
in the same place.  That'd make it too easy."

	Arching an eyebrow at her, Joker commented, "You are
becoming pretty paranoid."  He chuckled.  "Good.  Keep it up
and you might even get out of this alive."

	"You're probably more dangerous than anyone else," she
muttered.

	It seemed he overheard anyway.  "Me?  I haven't killed
anyone yet... personally."

	"Not for lack of trying."

	"Yes, that's true," he admitted, suddenly growing
solemn.  "Do you suppose I need to take my job more
seriously?"

	Natsu buried her face in her palms.  "That's not...
quite... what I was getting at."

	Just then, the doorbell rang.

*

	"Sumire!"  Hotaru drew back from the door protectively,
barely restraining herself from conjuring a gout of flame. 
If it came to a fight, right in front of her parents...

	But the upperclassman stepped back, bowing her head. 
"Please... there's no need to be frightened," she said
quietly, pitching her voice low enough that only their group
near the door could probably hear it.  "I have no intention
of hurting any of you.  Don't sneer so, Forrester, you most
of all should know I don't lie."  She nodded toward Hotaru. 
"Sit, Komatane..."

*

	"Enjoy your talk?" Joker asked, not even looking up as
the other three shimmered back to reality nearby.

	Sumire frowned at the Fool, but spoke to Hotaru.  "I
trust you've considered your decision to keep him near?" 
The Magician hesitantly nodded, and she continued, "Very
well."

	"You don't trust me?  I'm so hurt."

	"We have a reason to?  You could turn into that
Harlequin guy any minute now, right?"  Natsu belatedly
grimaced at the realization that she was agreeing with
Sumire.  Well, given the choices...

	Ishido waved off her concern.  "Not any more.  He's
gone."

	She blinked.  "What?"

	"Dead, I guess you could say," he elaborated with a
shrug.  "Although since he was already dead in the first
place, maybe that doesn't apply..."

	"Wait," Hotaru interrupted.  "What do you... what was
Harlequin, in the first place."

	"A dead man."  Joker's voice was flat and cold.  "A
dead man who didn't want to stay dead.  One of the past
fools.  The most persistent of the voices in my head."  A
broad grin twisted his lips.  "Take your pick."

	"Dead... can that happen?"  Hotaru looked to Sumire for
answers.

	The Ace of Blades shook her head once.  "Not to most. 
The Fool has always kept a closer rapport with his past
selves.  To us, they are memories, but to him..."

	"They just don't know when to quit," Joker affirmed. 
"Not that it's all bad.  I can borrow their power.  And
since each incarnation of the Fool has different
abilities--"

	"He's more versatile than most," Sumire concluded,
mouth pressing into a hard line.

	"I suppose I've lost Harlequin's abilities now," Ishido
mused.  "Too bad.  Worldwalking was useful."

	Hotaru shuddered.  "I don't think it was worth the
trade."

	"Leaving that aside," Joker said, "I've been thinking
while you've been having your little chat."

	"Will wonders never cease?"

	A wounded gaze fixed Natsu.  "Oh, pretty lady, why so
sharp a tongue?"

	Folding her arms, she rolled her eyes.  "Great.  Not
you too."

	"What were you thinking about?" Hotaru interrupted
before the pending argument could progress any further.

	If she'd expected a straight answer, she was
disappointed.  "How serious were you about taking action?"

	"I don't like that glint in your eye," Natsu murmured.

	The Magician stammered, "Well... if there's something
we could do... we can't go on like this."

	A slow, broad grin spread across Joker's face.  "I was
hoping you'd say that.  How do you feel about tracking down
the Council Arcana?"

*

	"Almost sunset," Natsu remarked, clutching her jacket
tightly around her.  It had been a bright spring afternoon,
but the air felt chill to her.  "Do you really think we
should be relying on her?"

	Before Hotaru could answer, another voice coolly
replied, "If you don't trust me, Forrester, you're free to
leave."

	Natsu and Hotaru both whirled; only Ishido seemed
unsurprised by the Ace's sudden appearance behind the trio. 
Clutching one of the impassive girl's arms like a life
preserver, Miyuki stared sightlessly into space.  Hotaru was
stunned by the change in the young girl; she was drawn and
pale, bereft of the self-assured aura of Fortune.  For the
first time since their initial meeting, Hotaru noticed how
frail the blind girl seemed.

	"What do you want from me?" she asked, her tone dry and
dead as fallen leaves in November.

	"What else would we want of Fortune?" Joker asked, then
answered himself.  "Guidance."

	"You..."  Miyuki started to pull away from her guide,
turning toward his voice, and ended up staring slightly to
his left.  But the shock of fear was momentary; the emotion
and the energy alike quickly drained out of her.  "If you've
come to kill me, hurry.  I can't stop you."

	Hotaru took a step forward.  "Nobody's going to hurt
you," she said as soothingly as she could manage.

	Behind her, Natsu rolled her eyes and muttered,
"Typical."

	"Right," Joker chipped in, tone matter-of-fact.  "If I
were planning to kill you, I would've done it a week ago." 
Sumire's scowl at his comment earned her a bright smile from
him.

	"Then why...?"

	"I told you already."

	Miyuki shook her head, trembling visibly.  "I am no
longer Fortune.  I can't help you.  I'm not Arcana."

	"Is that what you think?"

	"What do you mean?" Sumire asked suspiciously.

	Joker shrugged theatrically.  "How many times has an
Arcana ever ceased to be?"

	"There was a Page once... Wands, I think..." Miyuki
ventured.

	"I know the one.  No.  He didn't stop being the Page,
he became one of the Lovers.  Try again."

	"Hotaru... I saw her..."

	"Yes, she is interesting, isn't she?  And I do so love
interesting times.  But it hasn't happened yet.  Try again."

	Miyuki fell silent, stunned.

	"That's right.  There's never been one.  Not ever.  So
do you really think that the Page of Pentacles could do
that?  Don't you think someone would have known?"

	"But... that means..."

	Ishido darted forward, startling Sumire, who gripped
the hilt of her sword.  Miyuki gasped as he reached her. 
But he only grasped the blind girl's hand.  "So you do feel
it.  Congratulations."  He favored her with a bitter smile,
not that she could tell.  "You're still Arcana."

	She shook her head, looking more adrift than other.  "I
can't see.  How...?"

	"Perhaps some of your power's been 'borrowed'... but
that doesn't mean that you're completely powerless.  So...
guide us, Fortune."

	"Where?" Miyuki asked.  In her voice there was a small
hint of the strength she'd once had.

	"To the Council," Hotaru answered.

	And Fortune smiled.  Viciously.

*

	The old man paced restlessly back and forth across the
plush carpeting.  Despite the season's heat, a blaze roared
in the massive fireplace across the room, making the air
heavy, hot, and dry, and still he felt no warmth.  The
shelves brimming with leather-bound volumes, some of which
were older than he himself, did nothing to comfort him.  The
polished walnut furniture was only an obstacle to his
directionless treck.

	Fifteen minutes ago, he had thrown his cards into that
fireplace.  The flames were still burning a bright azure. 
There was nothing to be done about that, though.

	How had it come to this?  Everything had been almost in
place.  Almost...

	The door burst open with a crash, and the old man
turned to face his fate.  Four teenagers, one of them a
blind girl.  The one who had leapt forward first held an
open flame in her palm, and was now looking rather puzzled
as to what use to put it to.  She was not alone.  The other
two her age wore almost comical expressions of astonishment. 
"Where," she finally asked, "is the rest of the Council?"

	He slowly lowered himself into the nearest chair,
feeling every one of his eighty years pressing down on his
shoulders.  "I'd say welcome," he retorted, "but you are
not.  I am the Council."

	"But... the others?" the young man asked uncertainly.

	"There are no others."  Closing his eyes, he heaved a
long sigh.  "I am the last."  That wasn't, he supposed,
strictly true; there was that old fool Temperance.  But that
one refused to take sides.  "The last survivor."  There,
that was more true.  He might have lived through deception,
but he would not die a liar.

	"Who are you?" the brunette asked.  Her blonde friend
tore her attention away from the cerulean flames burning
behind him to listen to the answer.

	"An old man," he said, sagging in his seat.  "Just an
old man who used to be a King."  He glared balefully at
them, and the young lady flinched a step back.  "It was
never supposed to be like this," he muttered in disgust. 
"All these years, I stopped them while they were young,
before they learned to use it.  None of them had the skill,
not a one.  And now what?  Four striplings... how careless."

	"When you say 'stop'..."

	"He killed them, firefly."  Joker was not laughing now. 
His hand twitched toward his knife.  "And tried to kill us. 
Or have us killed."

	He pounded the arm of his chair as firmly as he could
manage.  "They had to be stopped!" he exclaimed hoarsely. 
"They must be.  Before it happens again--"

	"I say we kill him now," Joker interjected
conversationally.

	"Ishido!"  Hotaru frowned, pivoting to face the
bloodthirsty Fool.  "How could we..."

	With an astounding burst of vigor, the old man threw
himself forward from his chair.  Two bounding steps covered
the distance between him and the Magician.  As he brandished
over his head a short scepter of plain ivory, he saw the
expression of dismay spread across the Fool's face.  At
least something might be salvaged...  "You let your guard
down, girl!" he crowed victoriously.

	That was the last thing he was aware of before the
sudden shock.

	Hotaru gaped at her friend as the old man crumpled to
the ground.  Natsu grinned sheepishly back at her.  "Yeah. 
I can't believe I hit an old guy, either."

	"See?  We should have just killed him.  It saves
trouble."

	"That's enough out of you," Hotaru scolded.

	Smirking to herself, Natsu shook her head as she looked
down at the senseless figure.  "Well, it's nice to know
that, for all their magic, they're still vulnerable to a
well-placed punch.  Hmm, should I feel guilty about
appreciating that?"  She waited a moment for a response, but
none was forthcoming.  "Nah, I guess not," she concluded. 
"So... now that we've got him, what do we do with him?"

	"That's a good question."  Natsu started; she'd almost
forgotten that Miyuki was present.  The blind girl awkwardly
took her arm once again as she continued, "If he was the
Council... what's next?"

	Behind her, the Fool laughed, gazing into the azure
flames.  "Next... I think the real fight will start."

	Something in the fireplace made a sharp cracking noise,
sending flames flaring skyward and sparks billowing out. 
But Hotaru shivered at the tone of Joker's words.

*

Author's note:  Writing this through a haze of sickness.  I
suspect it's not my best work.  But I'm not about to skip
after having asked for an extension, and I don't -think- I'm
too dissatisfied with the chapter.  Thanks to Illyria for
bearing with my slight delay.

Oh, yes, just so it's clear, the "four" in the last scene
wasn't a mistake.  Sumire stayed behind.


Scott Schimmel            Ex ignorantia ad sapientium;
                          Ex luce ad tenebras
"You really aren't normal, are you?" - Miki Koishikawa