The Page of Cups was concerned. They had occupied the Tower almost an 
entire day ago, and the Ace still hadn't joined them. How could the 
King have ordered her to go off with the High Priestess? The Page knew 
well the dangers posed by that man. He shuddered in revulsion. It had 
been the High Priestess that had taken him from his Ace when their King 
had gone to sleep, so many years ago...that incarnation of the High 
Priestess had been female...oh, so female...and had beguiled his young 
mind so easily once he lost the protection of his court. He wasn't even 
there when his Ace went to sleep; the High Priestess had already made 
him forget, made his emotions serve her rather than his Ace. Then, the 
incarnations changed. He had watched it for years from the Dream Plane, 
and had served the Arcana as best he could--especially the High 
Priestess. This current one, that scared him more than any other, had 
been cruel, but, until his King had awoken, he hadn't been able to 
resist the mental chains that bound him. In his folly, he had almost 
allowed the High Priestess to end his long life, but then his 
reawakened King had summoned his court, and the Page had answered, 
saving his own life to continue his service.
	Now, the High Priestess had taken the Ace, and with the King's 
blessing. The Page was terrified that she would never return...the High 
Priestess was a controlling being, and loath to let go of its 
pawns...his toys, as this one called them. The Page shuddered at the 
memory. He hoped his Ace was all right.
 
********************************
Arcana
Started by: Scott Schimmel
This Chapter by: Segev
Chapter 48: Lovers and Deceptions
********************************
 
"I'm your King," said Chris, sounding more nervous than Kingly.
	"You're what?" asked the angry-looking girl in the pentacle, 
looking unimpressed. Then a look of horror washed over her face as the 
tingling feeling of the Arcana filled the room, resonating with their 
court's power.
	Atsuko managed to pull herself into a kneeling position. "He's 
our King. You know it to be true; you can feel it. That's what I had to 
tell you."
	"_He's_ our King? Well, that's a...surprise." Her look and tone 
were those of disgusted disappointment, as if she had opened a treasure 
chest to find nothing but an overgrown maggot.
	Chris moved over to put a protective arm over Atsuko's shoulder. 
"What were you doing to her!?" he demanded angrily.
	"It has been dealt with. She should have told me of you, Chris. 
It was her duty...yet another she has failed in." Maki looked around to 
include the Page and the Knight in her next order. "Leave us. The King 
and I have...matters to discuss."
	Hanako walked quietly out of the room, and Atsuko struggled to 
her feet. Chris helped her. As he examined his girlfriend, she didn't 
seem to be wounded, merely shaken. "You don't have to go--"
	Atsuko held her fingers up to his mouth, stopping him mid 
sentence. "No, you need to talk with the Queen. She is right, you will 
need to work together. Speak with her. Hanako and I will be 
downstairs." With that, she stepped out of Chris's arms and walked 
unsteadily out of the door, politely closing it behind her.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
"Natsu! What are you--?" Tetsuya asked in confusion as the half-gaijin 
girl launched at him, hugging him while crying. "What's wrong?" The 
Knight seemed confused, and a little embarrassed by her display.
	"That girl! Hotaru's so selfish! She doesn't care about anybody 
but herself! I hate her! I hate her!" she pounded her fists against 
Tetsuya's chest.
	"Natsu! What are you talking about!? You're best friends!"
	"Not anymore," responded the girl bitterly. "She prefers her 
homicidal boyfriend to me. She didn't even have the decency to show up 
on time to our meeting to try to patch things up! I'll never forgive 
her," she growled, rage filling her voice with an almost inhuman 
quality. "She cannot get away with treating me this way. She will learn 
what betrayal costs." She choked on the end of her declaration, tears 
of fury and hurt turning her words to incoherent sobs.
	Tetsuya didn't know what to say. Before, when he was the Knight 
of Cups, he'd always been so smooth, always known just how to comfort 
others. Now, though he didn't know what he should be able to do as the 
Knight of Wands, he did know that it offered no help with this 
situation. It depressed him, all he wanted to do was make this girl 
feel better, but all he could do was hold her while she cried.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Keisuke put his hand on the preoccupied boy's shoulder. "Are you 
alright, Page?"
	The young-looking boy jumped. "Yes, I'll be fine. I'm just a 
little concerned about the Ace. She hasn't returned, yet."
	The Knight tried to sound cheerful and hopeful. "Don't worry. I'm 
sure she's just fine."
	Suddenly, both Cups stiffened, and stood to hasten to the chamber 
of the Council Arcana. There, they found their King. KEISUKE SHIROSAWA, 
intoned the shadowy figure, YOU KNOW THESE ARCANA PERSONALLY, DO YOU 
NOT? The Magician, Fortune, the Ace and Knight of Blades, the Knight of 
Wands, and the Queen and Page of Pentacles slid across the table to 
rest before him. At his nod, the King continued, YOU ARE TO SEEK THOSE 
WHICH MAY JOIN OUR CAUSE, AND BRING THEM BACK HERE TO THE TOWER 
REVERSED. THEIR ASSISSTANCE WILL BE MOST USEFUL. ANY THAT WOULD NOT, OR 
WHO REFUSE, YOU ARE TO LEAVE, AND ENSURE THAT THEY DO NOT FOLLOW YOU 
BACK HERE. THE PAGE WILL ASSIST YOU, SHOULD YOU NEED IT.
	The boys bowed, and said in unison, "Yes, my King."
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Miyuki Sokana skipped down the street. She was happy, if a little 
confused. Everything seemed so bright, so sharp, so clear. Sight--not 
with her power as Fortune, but just plain, ordinary sight--was a new 
experience for her, and something she had thought she would never 
experience. And not only could she see, she was alive! As impossible as 
it seemed, she was truly alive and in her own body again. She was no 
longer a ghost inhabiting Tower, she was free! Wasn't the loss of her 
Vision a small price to pay for all that? Wasn't it?
	World hadn't explained, and Miyuki hadn't questioned--she feared 
that it would all be just a dream, and she didn't wish to end it. She 
was truly free. She could go home...home. Would her parents be there 
when she got home? Could the dream extend that far? How would she 
explain her long absence to them?
	She didn't pause in her gleeful motion at these thoughts, but she 
did change her direction. She didn't want to get home and have to think 
up explanations on the spot; better to take a bit longer and think 
things through. But, no matter the explanation, she couldn't explain 
away her regained sight...it would only be a matter of time before 
someone noticed that she was truly seeing, not just moving as if she 
could. Her eyes no longer looked blind--she had seen that herself in 
the mirror World had offered her before she left the Forrester 
residence.
	Maybe she should go to the Tower Reversed and tell her friends 
the good news. But she was no longer Arcana; she had no business there. 
Then again, not being Arcana hadn't stopped Natsu from visiting. 
But...Natsu was special, too. She wasn't an ordinary human, she was a 
Paradox.
	She found herself before her home. She hadn't meant to come here, 
but it had been so long. She knew she should have been nervous, but she 
couldn't be; she was too happy to be alive again. Miyuki stepped up to 
the door, and opened it.
	"I'm home!"
	She walked into her house, looking around, not knowing whether to 
expect to see her parents or not...
	Her mother was in the kitchen. "Welcome home, Miyuki. How was 
school today?"
	Relieved that she wouldn't have to explain herself to her mother, 
she responded, "Fine." It wasn't exactly a lie...she didn't know how 
school had been that day, as she wasn't there, but it probably had been 
just fine. "Where's Daddy?"
	"He's still at work, dear. What would you like for a snack this 
afternoon?"
	Miyuki was near tears. It was so normal, so sweet, so pleasant. 
She was home; she could see; her parents were there, waiting for her.
	Maybe this wasn't the dream...maybe she had woken from a 
nightmare. World--no, just Mrs. Forrester--had been kind enough to let 
her sleep for a while at her house. The visions, the cards, the Lovers, 
Hotaru and Ishido being alienated from her friends, Judgment rising, 
Tower falling, the Magician and the Fool, The High Priestess and the 
Court of Cups, her blindness--all that must have been the dream. This 
was too sharp, too real, to be fake. And it felt so good. Her mother 
was here...which means that Miyuki had never been blind...never had 
visions. Because, if she had visions that came true, the first one 
would have been true, and it couldn't be. Her mother was here, talking 
to her, loving her, alive. Not dead next to her father upstairs of 
carbon monoxide poisoning. She wasn't the sole survivor due to a dream 
warning her to escape; that had been the nightmare. Mommy and Daddy 
were alive...she was alive...Tower Reversed and her own death had all 
been a nightmare!
	Miyuki sat at the kitchen table, waiting for her mother to finish 
making her a snack, determined to enjoy her normal, happy life. She 
didn't notice the absent motion of her hands dealing out a spread of 
cards from a deck nowhere in evidence.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
"...the Lovers...Hotaru and Ishido...Ace of Cups...Page of 
Cups...Paradox...Knight of Wands...Tower's shackles break...Judgment 
rises...The High Priestess betrays the Court of Cups, unless he is 
betrayed first..." The blank-eyed girl muttered as she dealt the cards 
onto the Forrester's kitchen table as World looked on, listening in 
increasing apprehension.
	"The Lovers are being dealt into the spread? Who?"
	The girl's blind, empty gaze turned up to face the gaijin woman. 
"...unknown..."
	The four kings were dealt on the table surrounding a pair of 
cards: the Emperor and the Empress. "...these have or soon will enter 
the spread..."
	World sent her sight seeking the four Kings, and found her 
nephew, Chris, and the Attorney, and she knew the King of Cups was in 
the Tower Reversed though she couldn't see him, but the King of Wands 
must not be in the spread yet, as she couldn't find him. The Emperor 
and the Empress were beyond her power to scry, whether due to another 
trump's interference or their own, or because they hadn't entered the 
spread yet, she didn't know.
	Chris had been revealed to be the King of Pentacles. She had 
sensed that he was an Arcana much earlier, and had hoped that he could 
be kept out of the spread so he could lead a relatively normal life. 
Now, though, she could only hope for the best for him.
	That was part of the reason she had constructed the elaborate 
prison for Fortune's mind, while keeping her power bound to her 
resurrected body. She had to know what was to become of her nephew, as 
well as what was going to happen. Her Sight extended to everything that 
was and is, but she needed outside help to See the future, what was to 
be. It was for that reason she had gone to the King of Blades, and why 
she had ordered Death to retrieve the body of Fortune.
	With the girl's mind occupied in a false world, her body and 
power were available for her to use, giving her the Sight she so 
desperately needed. But she couldn't place Fortune's mind in a false 
world while it was haunting the Tower, she needed her body living 
again. Death had performed its task well, if belatedly.
	"...the King of Blades approaches with the Chariot..."
	World started. The Chariot? Will was home! She quickly reached up 
and removed her blindfold, again becoming Francine Forrester. Though 
the King of Blades had figured out her secret, she wasn't yet ready for 
her husband to know who she was. She fished out her crystal...one just 
like that which she had given to Chris, and placed it about her neck, 
to conceal her Arcana nature. She would have to trust to Miyuki's 
enjoyment of the false world to keep her mind from seeking its body 
while she played the dutiful and clueless housewife only minorly 
interested in the occult.
	
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Victory sensed the Arcana on the step with her human partner's wife. 
The girl was a Trump. She was about to inform Will of this, when the 
King of Blades held another of those odious cigarettes threateningly 
near her chasse to get her attention, and looked at the trump girl 
before looking back at her eyes in the rearview mirror and shaking his 
head. Very well, if her ally wished her to keep this a secret, she 
would. She wouldn't forgive him for the insult and pain he had 
inflicted with the last cigarette, but she valued him as an ally, and 
as a friend to Will. He must have a reason not to tell Will about the 
Arcana girl, and she would wait to hear his explanation before spilling 
the beans. Though he was her partner, Will wasn't Arcana, and shouldn't 
be privy to _all_ their secrets.
	Will pulled her smoothly into the driveway to park. As he and 
Rusty got out, the King mouthed "I'll tell you later" to her behind 
Will's back. When the men got to the front step, Rusty waved heartily 
to Francine. "Hi, Francine, your husband was kind enough to give me a 
ride, so I thought I'd swing by to say hello to you, as well. Who's 
this?" he asked, indicating the girl who stood perfectly still, blind 
eyes empty of all thought and emotion, with Francine's hand 
possessively on her shoulder.
	"Oh, this is just a friendly local girl who Fortunately stopped 
by, as I had almost caught my Death of boredom," responded the 
disguised World, putting the slightest emphasis on the names of the 
Arcana involved, hoping that her husband would miss it while the King 
of Blades would get the message.
	Fortunately, her husband seemed to miss the real significance of 
the exchange entirely. "Well, I'm glad that you were able to find 
someone to keep you company, my dear. I was just telling Rusty here 
about the dinner you were planning. I do hope it isn't an imposition if 
I invite him."
	Mrs. Forrester smiled warmly. "Of course not, Will. He's 
practically family. I think Miyuki, here, will be staying with us until 
we leave, as well. Her parents, old friends of mine, are going out of 
town for the next couple of days, and need someone to watch her." The 
middle-aged gaijin woman turned to walk back into the house. "Come on 
in, Rusty; I don't have anything prepared, but I'm sure I can whip 
something up while you and Will catch up on old times."
	"Thank you, Francine, that would be welcome."
	They went inside to the kitchen, where Will noticed the cards 
strewn about on the table. "You weren't boring this charming child with 
that stuff, were you, Francine?" he asked jovially, gesturing good-
naturedly at the cards.
	"Why, no, dear," responded Mrs. Forrester in a tone of one who 
has had the same friendly argument for years, "She was quite interested 
in it."
	"Hmph," replied Will. "Well, I'm going to go get a beer. Want 
one, Rusty?"
	"No thanks."
	With a shrug, Will walked out to the garage.
	"Francine," began Rusty, in a hushed voice, "You can't be 
planning on keeping this a secret from your husband for much longer, 
not when you're keeping a Trump in the house. The Chariot sensed her 
right away, even before I did. She seemed quite confused when I told 
her not to tell Will about the girl, and she wants explanations. Do you 
intend on revealing yourself to her, World?" He had several other 
questions he wanted to ask, but those could wait. Right now, he had to 
know what he could say and what he couldn't to Will and Victory, and 
Will couldn't take very long to fish a single beer out of the garage.
	"I think we should handle it in a meeting. I'll convene one once 
you are at your house. I'll know to start once the Chariot returns."
	Rusty nodded agreement. Her private world was the ideal place to 
handle it. He quickly brought up the middle of an innocuous 
conversation for Will's benefit when the man returned from his beer-
gathering foray. He didn't like keeping secrets from his old friend, 
but it wasn't his secret to expose. Hopefully, World would let him in 
on it soon.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
"I don't understand, Firefly," said Ishido as he held her crying form, 
"I thought you were friends."
	"So did I. But she insulted you, and me, and said she hates me!" 
sobbed Hotaru into the Fool's chest. "I've never seen her so angry. I 
think she could have beaten me up!"
	"But she didn't, did she?"
	"No, she didn't." Hotaru hung her head in shame. "I shouldn't 
have tried to use a field to keep her in. Not only didn't it work, but 
I only made her madder. She just stormed off, she said she didn't want 
to see me ever again..." she trailed off, fear of loss in her voice.
	Ishido just held her for a moment before speaking. "She can't 
have grown to hate you so quickly, Firefly. She's been your best friend 
for how long? She's just mad."
	"But, she looked so angry! I've never seen her so mad."
	"I'm sure her feelings are hurt; she feels like she's a criminal 
who's gotten away with a crime, and her conscience won't let her be 
about it."
	"She called you a murderer! And she said I couldn't be her friend 
if I was with a worse murderer than her."
	Joker laughed, seeing the humor in such a statement. "She sounds 
confused, frightened, and alone."
	"But, before, she said that she wanted me gone for my sake. Now 
she just never wants to see me again!"
	"She's scared, Firefly. She's just trying to push you away."
	Hotaru looked up into her boyfriend's face with tear- and hope-
filled eyes. "Do you really think so?"
	"I think you should go and try to talk to her, again. This time, 
without any pre-ordained time, and without any Arcana trappings. Just 
you and your best friend. Perhaps you should wait a bit, though. She 
may not be ready to listen yet; wait for her to cool down some." 
Suddenly, he took his Firefly's hand and began walking.
	Hotaru allowed  herself to be dragged, surprise warring with the 
sorrow on her face. "Ishido-- where-- Where are you taking me?"
	He turned back to look at her briefly and smiled. "You owe me a 
date, remember?"
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
The High Priestess was dangerous. She had underestimated him, forgotten 
that he was a trump, and therefore held more power than even her King. 
The Ace of Cups shuddered again at the memory of his touch on her face, 
and at the continued "relationship" he implied--no, insisted on.
	He was right, damn him. He had done more in keeping his part of 
the bargain than she. She was beginning to think that that had been 
intentional. It had been the High Priestess's plan, and she suspected 
that it had been calculated to impress and infuriate her.
	He had done as he promised, now she had to honor the agreement 
made by her King by helping that odious creature. She felt so sorry for 
the Magician and Fool. They reminded her of herself and the Page, but 
she daren't try to save them from the High Priestess. Not only would 
that violate the agreement made by her King, but it would give the High 
Priestess more reason to fulfill his veiled threats towards her and her 
Page.
	She hated the High Priestess, especially because of how easily 
he'd trapped her. The bastard was even better at manipulating emotions 
than she--at least without using any powers. He had posed her quite the 
revolting dilemma: Ask her King permission to have a more permanent 
business relationship with the sadistic trump, or wait for him to 
negotiate for her services...and take far more than she would ever 
willingly give.
	He was dangerous...he could separate her from the Page again, 
whether she helped him take the Fool from the Magician or not. The Ace 
of Cups sat despairingly in the shattered courtyard, empty now that the 
others had gone to their new seat of power. She would not let herself 
cry. She was far too old for such an indulgence...despite appearances. 
She was helpless to stop the few tears that made their way down her 
cherubic cheeks from her eyes, but she would not make a sound, and she 
would not wipe them.
	There had to be a way to prevent him from separating them. The 
Ace pulled out her deck of Tarot cards, decorated with pictures of 
European nobility long since passed away. Seeking an answer, or at 
least some hope of escaping the High Priestess, she began to deal out a 
simple spread. The first two cards were no help at all: the Magician 
and the Fool. These she placed side-by-side. She drew another card, and 
placed the High Priestess above the other two. This was no help--it 
outlined her responsibilities neatly: serve the High Priestess against 
the Magician and the Fool, but it didn't even address the issue she 
wished to have help with.
	She drew the cards and placed them facedown before viewing them, 
carefully keeping in mind only one question: how to avoid being 
separated from the Page. She drew four more cards, placing two beneath 
the Magician and Fool, and two below those. Satisfied that she had all 
the cards she would need, she flipped over the first two.
	The Tower and the Lovers stared back at her. Disconcerted, she 
flipped over the two at the bottom of the column: the Ace and Page of 
Cups. "What? I don't understand..." The girl drew and placed two more 
cards, one to either side of the row formed by the Tower and the 
Lovers, hoping for clarification. On the left, she found the Star, on 
the right, the Moon.
	"Hidden hope...a great change...the Lovers...but do theses apply 
to the two cups or to the Magician and Fool? And what do the Lo--" she 
stopped, a look of hope, and fear, spreading across her face. "A 
change--something not seen, not obvious--the Lovers are inseparable! 
Nothing, not even another Trump, not even Death itself, can break them 
from each other. The High Priestess couldn't touch them. Can we 
really...but that would betray our Court, removing ourselves from 
it...and this may not be a reading exclusively for me and the Page; the 
Magician and the Fool could also...no! I will not be separated from the 
Page again!"
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
"Now, my Lord, we have matters to discuss," said the Queen of 
Pentacles, cutely. When Chris turned to look at her, he found her 
walking smoothly towards him, a pentacle on a chain swinging back and 
forth from her neck as she moved. As she approached, he backed away, 
but found himself backed against an invisible wall as she stepped up to 
him and reached up to put her arms on his shoulders. She leaned against 
him. "We need to establish the nature of our...relationship."
	"Um, what do you mean?" choked out Chris, very nervous at the 
Queen's proximity.
	She turned, trailing her fingernail gently across his cheek and 
under his chin as she did so, and walked with a swaying motion back 
across the room. "You are the King, I am the Queen. How does that mean 
we should interact?" She sat languorously on a large, overstuffed 
chair, that pentacle pendant swinging back and forth in front of her 
chest. "I've known about the Arcana much longer than you have. I 
imagine that that makes me the more knowledgeable of the two of us." 
She took the ribbons out of her hair, letting it down. She really was 
an attractive young woman. "Come, sit." She patted the space on the 
large chair next to her. Chris found himself sitting in the indicated 
spot before he even thought about it. He tried to watch her face, but 
that swinging pentacle was distracting...not to mention its background. 
"There is so much I could teach you, my Lord," she continued, one hand 
clasping his, the other trailing a gentle caress down the center of his 
chest.
	She pulled away a bit, suddenly, allowing his head to clear a 
bit, but he still couldn't think much beyond the attractive woman 
nearly sitting in his lap, nor could he take his eyes off of the 
pendant swinging in front of her blouse. He was, however, able to 
breathe more easily. "For example," she continued, "I bet you have 
never seen anything like the field set up around us. It is something 
all of us can do, and it is very useful. Arcana cannot escape, and 
normal people cannot enter." She leaned into the mesmerized boy, again 
disrupting his thought processes. "And that's only the beginning of 
what I can...show...you." She leaned up, and kissed him lightly on the 
cheek. She then turned into him more, so she was facing him. "What 
should I show you next? I know that you know who your Queen is, don't 
you? Who your Lady is?"
	Chris found himself nodding agreement with her as her face 
approached his. His Lady was...was...her lips on his were distracting, 
driving coherent thoughts from his mind, but the face of the girl he 
wanted finally appeared behind his closed eyelids: "Atsuko!" He sat up, 
pushing the Queen off onto the floor. "Nice try, but I already have a 
girlfriend."
	Maki's countenance went from being that of a sweet seductress to 
one filled with rage. "You actually would choose that lowly Knight over 
your rightful Queen? You _are_ a hopeless candidate for King of 
Pentacles." She got up and began pacing around him.
	"I wasn't aware that this was an election," said Chris, laughing 
nervously. "Atsuko's my girlfriend. I don't want you; I don't even 
particularly like you--not after what you did to her, but she says that 
we have to work together. And, you're right. There's much that all 
three of you of my court need to teach me. However, remember this, 
Maki. A King outranks a Queen. I'm not one of your puppets." His voice 
became surer as he spoke.
	Maki finished another circuit around Chris, and he felt the 
tingling rise of Arcana power. Maki spoke, "No, you aren't. However, 
you are also unacceptable as my King. Goodbye, Chris." She made a 
dismissive wave of her hand towards him, and Chris felt the destructive 
power gathering swiftly. He could almost see the pentacle that she had 
traced around him. Without even thinking, he moved to stop the power at 
its source, pointing his right index finger accusingly at Maki while 
cringing back defensively. It quickly subsided, leaving no feeling of 
Arcana presence at all. Maki screamed in rage and fear, "WHAT HAVE YOU 
DONE TO ME!?"
	Chris looked up to see her suspended in midair in the midst of a 
pentacle, a ghostly image of the tarot card Queen of Pentacles hovering 
in a similar pentacle at the end of his pointed fingertip. He stared in 
shock for a moment, but he could feel the correctness of his action, as 
if he were well within his rights. Speaking much more surely than he 
felt, he pronounced: "Queen of Pentacles, Maki Kurayami, I am your 
King. You will obey me, and serve me. You have no choice. Have I made 
myself clear?" He didn't know where that came from; he had never spoken 
so imperiously in his life. It felt right, somehow, though.
	"You fool! You will regret this! You'll see!" The angry girl 
concentrated for a moment, and seemed surprised when nothing happened.
	"I have your powers bound, my Queen. I will only release them 
when you have knelt and sworn fealty to your rightful Lord and King." 
Wow...whatever it was making him talk this way, Chris was beginning to 
enjoy it.
	The Queen of Pentacles glared at the boy standing before her, 
then nodded once. Chris blinked, and her body was lowered to the 
ground. Her powers were still bound in the ghostly card, though. Though 
it sickened her to do so, she got down on one knee before the gaijin 
boy. "I, Maki Kurayami, Queen of Pentacles, do hereby swear fealty and 
obedience to my rightful Lord, the King of Pentacles." She looked 
slightly surprised as the words came out of her mouth; that wasn't 
exactly what she had meant to say. She hadn't meant to give such a 
complete and binding oath, but there it was. And, it somehow felt as if 
a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders as she finished 
swearing.
	Chris lowered the pointing finger, and the glowing card vanished. 
A look of relief passed over Maki's face as she felt the familiarity of 
her power restored to her. Chris reached down, and Maki automatically 
brought her hand up to his in an ancient and instinctive courtly 
gesture. The King kissed the back of his Queen's hand as he raised her 
to her feet. The boy blushed, embarrassed by the pomposity of the last 
minute. "Well, now, that's settled, I hope." Maki nodded, unable to 
speak after the whirlwind shift in the balance of power. "Uh...unless 
there's anything else, I think we should call the other two in." Maki 
lowered the field by way of response, and Chris took one of her hands 
in each of his and smiled at her before dashing out of the room to find 
Atsuko and Hanako.
	Maki was left alone in the room for a few minutes. As soon as 
Chris had left the room, she screamed in incoherent fury. How DARE he! 
How dare everybody! First the Fool betrays her to side with that girl 
she had ordered him to kill, then her Knight fails to carry out her 
orders. Chariot...and that bastard Will...their liberties were 
inexcusable, and she would deal harshly with them when the time came. 
Then, the arrogance of the King of Blades, ordering her about as if she 
were of his court. Now this! Now...this. She found that her rage, so 
strong against the injustice and betrayal of all those who disobeyed 
her or tried to rule her, faded as she thought of the boy to whom she 
had just sworn fealty. She hated being subservient to anyone, but she 
couldn't shake the feeling of...rightness...in serving him. But, she 
was the Queen! She bowed to NO ONE! ...a King outranks a Queen... But 
she hated the King of Blades! He treated her like a servant of his 
Court! ...but Chris was also a King... So why should she bow even to 
him!? She was only obeying the King of Blades until she could find a 
way to put him in his place! ...the King of Blades is not of your 
court; you are of the court of Pentacles, and the boy is your King... 
He is my King... As much as she hated serving anyone, Maki couldn't 
feel rage towards her King, only completeness. She didn't feel as 
diminished as she had after Will's violation and the King of Blades' 
ordering her about... But she was only one step removed from becoming 
the Empress! ...are you, really? YES! ...then who will be your Emperor? 
That niggling voice in the back of her mind, insisting that she 
surrender, she hated it! She would not surrender! She had her ambition! 
...ambition without a means of fulfilling it... She would be Empress! 
...you are Queen...serve him...he gives you direction, if you give him 
the drive...
	She would serve him. She had no choice. She would serve him. It 
felt right. She would serve him.
	He was her King.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
The man stood on the ceiling, looking up from his perspective at the 
layout of cards on the table that his nephew was playing with. "What 
does this mean, to you?"
	The child looked up at his uncle, then pointed to the card in the 
middle of the spread: the Lovers. "They need to be chosen. I feel that 
there are many options...some of them I can pick." He tapped the 
pairings of cards placed haphazardly around the central one: The Fool 
and the Magician; the King of Pentacles and the Knight; the Ace of Cups 
and the Page; and, by itself, but looking like it was nevertheless 
paired with something intangible, the Knight of Wands.
	"I see. What will you do?"
	"I don't know. They all want it somehow, and I don't want to be 
mean. Do any of them need it?"
	"Why don't you go find out?"
	"Will it be chosen even if I don't know what to do?"
	The Hanged Man chuckled, "I don't know. Probably. But, it is your 
decision to make, if anyone's."
	The child sighed, uncertainty and indecision plain in his 
posture.
	"What else? Something is bothering you, I can tell."
	The child pulled out a card from his shirt pocket: the Empress. 
"Should I talk to her about this?"
	His uncle shook his head. "She doesn't know yet, does she?"
	"No."
	"Then, you shouldn't tell her, unless she's ready. You were 
ready, and you needed to learn, that's why I told you. Do you think she 
needs to know?"
	"I don't know."
	"Then, that is another thing you must determine. You must learn 
fast. The time when you must take your throne fast approaches, my 
Emperor."
	"I know, I know," sighed the boy, "I'll go look. I can't tell 
from here." He gathered up his cards and walked out of the room. His 
mother smiled as she gave her son permission to go outside to play for 
the remainder of the day; he had been shutting himself in his room far 
too often recently.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Author's Notes:
 
Arcana's back! Finally, the story continues! It was difficult to write 
this after such a long hiatus, but I think I did well. *Toots his own 
horn and raises up a pedestal to his own greatness*
	Oh, yeah. I really wouldn't have been able to do this without 
Erin's and Anthon's help. I thank them both for their assistance, as 
their suggestions and criticisms helped me clean up several wordy 
messes and keep the characters largely in character. Also, I must thank 
Lawrence for the extension. I would have had to skip horribly if he 
hadn't granted it.
	It's so nice to see the queue have so many names on it. I may 
sign up again myself…well, I look forward to the next chapter. Ganbare, 
Anthon!
 
Thank you for reading these random, self-aggrandizing authors notes. We 
now return thee to thy regularly scheduled epilogue.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
The phone was ringing when Rusty got back to his home. He waited for 
the answering machine to get it, but hurriedly picked up the receiver 
when her recognized the voice on the other end. "Hello, dear. What? 
Hermit called you? No, I just got back. What? At my office? Well, I'll 
go and take my Ace and Knight off his hands, then. Where are you? Okay, 
we'll come and pick you up as soon as I have them. It is time for us to 
hold a formal Court."
	He hung up the phone and hurried out the door, back to his 
office, leaving the message light blinking on his answering machine.