Fall of Wonderland!

Five

BEST OF FRIENDS
💥
"Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle."

★♥︎♠︎♣︎♦︎

Anahita Safid was a lonely Knave. She trained alone, ate alone. She lived in a palace all by herself. And then, they showed up... and made her life a misery.

★♥︎♠︎♣︎♦︎

Anahita opened the palace doors. The Card Council has It's own palace, completely dedicated to their living, necessities, studies, and training. Of course, teachers often stayed as well as visitors. They knew this, of course, but she knew they were all in for a treat.

Of course, first they had to meet. Anahita secretly hoped they would all get along, though she would never say it. Alice arrived a few days before the other's, of course. Anahita got a chance to talk to her before the other's showed up for a tour.

Anahita's first impression of Alice Liddell was that they might be too similar to get along. They both seemed stubborn and headstrong. Who knew? Maybe they could make it work. Besides, it made sense that Alice was similar to all of the signs. After all, Alice was a combination of all of the card signs.

Princess Valentina Hart was next to show up, of course. To Anahita, she seemed stuck-up and snotty, just like her mother. She hoped that maybe they could begin to change that attitude.

Julius Sanchez was short to follow. From the moment he walked in, Valentina tensed. So this is who she's betrothed to. Anahita recalled. She instantly hated him, and hated the Queen of Hearts even more. It was clear Valentina disliked his company, and Anahita didn't blame her.

Last was Mali Milliner, the only person Anahita instantly liked. However, the Club Knave wasn't quite the type to show much leniency with emotion. Mali was odd and bubbly and excitable and full of energy. Just the enthusiasm Anahita knew this group needed.

She could see everybody playing a role here, everybody but Julius. He was... a cheshire — Wonderland-speak for somebody who sucks.

There was one advantage that Anahita had over the other Knaves. She had dreams, dreams that told her events to come. For example, she knew that Julius would not be the Diamond Knave for long. She had no idea why, but she did. She also knew that Valentina and Alice would have a connection of sorts. It was quite difficult to guess which kind, but she hoped it was a positive connection.

ALICE LIDDELL
Ace of Cards

VALENTINA HART
Knave of Hearts

MALI MILLINER
Knave of Spades

ANAHITA SAFID
Knave of Clubs

JULIUS SANCHEZ
Knave of Diamonds

There was also another person living in the castle. Jude Rashid was the name of their assistant. Her pay was high, especially since she would spend most of her time at work in the prescience of the esteemed Card Council.

Jude had fluffy peach hair and ruby eyes. Her skin was a light olive, likely because of her Judaic ancestry. Cat ears much like Julius' poked out from her curls. She was round and curvy, as well as a bit awkward but still quite sweet. Everybody in the group immediately connected with her.

"It's time for the tour!" Anahita announced, hands on hips.

"Oh! Would you like me to follow, Miss Safid?" Jude quickly asked.

"No, you're quite fine Jude. We'll only be a few minutes, take a break."

"Of course, Miss Safid."

As Jude walked away, Anahita yelled, "Just Anahita is fine!" With that, she swiftly turned on her heel and began walking, assuming the other's would follow. They did.

The palace was more or less a tower, every room was a perfect circular shape. The first room that the great doors opened into was a ballroom, with chairs and tables set up for waiting along the wall with the balustrade. The stairs were winding and elegant, with silver carpet and golden patterns. The next floor was smaller, likely because it showcased five oval-shaped doors. A huge gemstone was encrusted into the wall above each, the color and symbol for each card sign.

"Woah!" Mali and Alice exclaimed together. They'd probably never seen anything so elegant.

"My room is the citrine club. You guys know which is your symbol? Yes?"

★ ♥︎ ♠︎ ♣︎ ♦︎

Upon finishing the tour, the group was exhausted. They all sat in the couches and plush chairs that lay outside their bedrooms. They had just shown the other's what their room looked like. Each piece of furniture was some variation of the shade the card signs were assigned, it was truly beautiful.

"Hey, pinkie!" Alice called from the chair she had sat in. "You gonna show us your room?"

Valentina's head shot up. "Excuse me? What did you just call me?"

Alice rolled her silver eyes. It was such an odd color to see on somebody that Anahita noticed immediately. "You don't have to be such a bother. I'm sorry princess. Are you going to show your room to us like everybody else?" Alice planted one hand on her hip.

"No, I don't have to." Valentina snapped.

"Of course, you can't stoop to such a peasant's level."

"Mind your own business."

"It is my business!"

They were both standing now, glaring at each other's faces. Valentina had to look up.

"That's enough, girls." Anahita stepped in. "Sit down and cool off." Both of them cast the Club Knave a withering look before sitting back down.

Oh boy... Anahita thought. This is going to be tough.