Rules of One's Soul

Ch10 A Small Trip

The night was crisp. Clear. And the recent days of rain made everything smell fresh. It was nights like this he liked, it meant he could walk and clear his head. But right now he was finding that extremely difficult to do with the amount of emotions swimming through his mind. Anger at the fact these two were treating this whole situation as a game. Stress from all the distractions and foolishness from the past few days. An empty feeling in his gut nagging him to turn around on the spot and go apologize to his soulmates- Another rumble and slight pain shot tbrough him. Making him wince. .....And the fact he hadn't been able to find one decent thing to eat all day. Except candy. But that wasn't healthy or fit for his body at all. I mean who in their right mind would eat candy for every meal?....Jevil that's who. But he wouldn't lower his standards to his level. He had a job and reputation to uphold after all. He couldn't afford to be distracted with these absolute fools just because they wanted to play cupid at.....Soul matching day....Where other's confessed their love.

Oh god. That sick feeling in his stomach returned in full making him stumble a few steps as he mindlessly stumbled towards his home.

That holiday would always have a reminder of that fateful day-.....He still remembered that holiday. He still remembered that day. ...He could never forget her-

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The day was absolutely beautiful. Shiny pink and red hearts and souls decorations lined the walls of the castle and the lively bustle and excited chatter of servants around the halls was absolutely wonderful to everyone's ears. ...Well almost everyone. The giant spade huffed at the onslot of lovy dovy emotion being thrown around like common courtesy. God. Hathy"s and their stupid customs. Dragging everyone else into the stupid holiday mood. Most were too busy in their own desires that they didn't notice the Spade King's sour mood. Except for one loyal servant.

"Tis not e-everything to t-thou's liking mine majesty?"

The giant spade slowly tilted his head partially to give any kind of indication that he was looking at him behind the black abyss of the facehole the spade adorned with the hood. The king didn't look very pleased to say the least. He shifted in his giant throne and tapped his large hand on the arm more. The worm gave a giant nervous grin and the skin on his face began to melt slightly from the prolonged silence of the giant spade before him. The king was known for his unruly temper.

"D-Doth thou not enjoyeth thine festivities? "

The spade gave off another huff. His face still giving a clear frown. "What I would enjoy dear Duke if my subjects and guards didn't frolic around idiots drunken on lust," he spat out with a deep growl, "Heart was always one for sentimental stupidity. "

The worm was starting to get more nervous now. As he nervously chuckled and rubbed his hands together. "B-B-But Sire. D-Does not thy Queen likest t-thine holiday?"

The king grunted before leaning to his side and placing his head in his hand. Giving Rouxls a moment to relax somewhat now that the giant king wasn't looking directly at him. Using the Queen as a tool to deflat the king's anger was something he ptefered not to do but when one's anger was like that of a volcanos you'd have to do things one would normally not want to do. Luckily the Queen usually didn't mind in these situations. She was known for being the more....levelheaded of the two spade monarchs and usually her presence would be enough to calm the spade.

"Of course she does." The king's sudden voice made him flinch and stare at the king. He stared out the window at nothing in particular. His voice now a tad less annoyed sounding.".....I haven't forgotten."

"Of course n-not, Sire. S-Shall I send f-for a royal florist Sir? Everyone haseth been giving thy King of Heart's s-special flowers on thine day-"

He was stopped when the king held up a hand. "No. I won't join into the idiotic foolishness. ...Go. Leave me."

The worm didn't have to be told twice as he quickly bowed and made his way towards the giant doors leading to the throne room. To say he was glad to be dismissed now would be an understatement. He was darn happy to be away from the angry atmosphere the Spade King produced. But at least it gave him time to enjoy the little freedom he had away from the monarch. Sighing he dared to give off a rare smile in public and began to walk away from the doors down the large castle hall. The smiles and giggles given off from others fueled that smile on that nervous face of his. He barely registered a small group of hathys nearby. One gave him a shy wave with one of her tentacles, to which he gave an awkward smile back and waved politely. Making said hathy fluster a bright green followed by giggles from her surrounding friends. Rouxls gave a cough and quickly made his exit away from the hathys. Admiration went out to the ones who skillfully decorated the castle under King Heart's command. An excellent sight of red and pinks scattered throughout the place, though it would've been nice to include other soul colors. He knew himself that his soul wasn't a bright pink or red. But red was the color of love and passion, suitable to others who wish to find their lovers this day-

His heart beat faster at the thought of his own love that stole his heart. Her smile. The way she brought him kindness in such a stressful job. Her beautiful voice-

"Rouxls?"

That voice.

He stopped and turned around. The regal form standing just a few feet away from him.

"Mine Queen."

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Red no longer showed passion or love for him. Red was turned to the Spade's anger. Love was kept secret between those who had it. The holiday forgotten. But Lancer was determined to bring it all back it seemed. For him it'll be just another duty he'll have to attend to. He wondered how Lancer was doing right now? It was only a day sure but his little worm would be dealing with a massive ball and duties as king without him and surrounded by that crazy loon for who knows how long.

Another rumble and pain shot through him.

"Shut up I knoweth I needs nutrition l," he snapped down to his stomach.

First thing first though. He needed to get something solid inside himself. Mumbling to himself, he walked a bit faster towards his destination. Which wasn't far thankfully. The hip shop came into view just up the dirt trail. The door was shut with the closed sign present which pleased him. At least no one would've went in while he was gone for a couple hours. Upon coming upon the door he swung it open to a sight he found to his satisfaction. The place still mostly clean from his hard work from that morning and everything looked like it had been left untouched. Good. He hated it when his hard work went to waste. Sighing in releif, he made his way over to the counter to where the bag Seam had left wad sitting.

He rose a brow at the old tattered thing but sighed and reached out towards the thing. He might as well see what the cat dragged in so to speak. He reached a blue hand in and pulled out multiple dark candies and dark candy tree leaves that bounced on the counter but luckily none of them fell to the floor. Followed by them was his missing books on poetry and the spare blanket at the bottom Seam promised to return. .....Wait a minute. He blinked back towards the book. Did Seam take these because he enjoyed poetry too or or because he planned on selling them? He shook his head and decided to put all these things away. ....Along with the laundry dangling from the ceiling above his head. He sighed and slumped his shoulders forward. It was going to be a long rest of the day. And this was supposed to be a first day of a 'relaxing' vacation. The rumble of his empty stomach made him groan and turn to the shelves.

There had to be some kind of food leftover around here. Surely they couldn't have taken everything. A quick scan of the shelves proved him wrong as any canned product he had was gone....and the worms in the jars were probably expired by now. He groaned before a long forgotten thought made its way into his mind. Didn't Seam say he left something edible in the cabinets? The thought made his stomach churn.

Turning his sights to the cabinet he strode on over and yanked it open without hesitation. To his surprise, there was a small box. The same small box that Jevil presented the cake in. The thought of eating such a sweet unhealthy thing after having an empty stomach all day and something made by that love bond imp no less made him gag enternally. But his stomach would be the death of him. So with reluctance, he reached inside and grabbed the box.

He went to sleep much later that night. But it was once again a dreamless slumber and once again woke up more tired than he should be. The overly sweet taste of last nights cake still stinging his taste buds. The whole thing tasted and felt like a giant oversweet marshmallow. Too sweet for even Lancers young taste buds.But at least he didn't receive a rude awakening this time round. Thankfully. But that still didn't deter him from the possibility of the crazy Jester or cat showing up unannounced. Which meant the lock still needed repairs. Now Rouxls was never a morning person. Even as a young boy. But when something needed to get done, you'd bet he wouldn't stop until it was perfected to his satisfaction, which meant dragging himself out of the warm bed and forcing himself into an orderly fashion to get what needs to be done today. Which meant a trip to the local blacksmith. Frankly he was quite dreading the long walk to said blacksmith on the other side of the dirt roads, but opted to instead of teleporting. Walking would be more likely to wake up his still tired body. And work off the candy and cake he was forced to eat for breakfast. All those calories wouldn't be good for his body and must be worked off somehow.

What really bothered him was that he'd have to walk past the 'sheap' he left yesterday. But he would simply walk past that fast. He didn't have time for that nonsense today. Well....that plan backfired as soon as he wondered out onto the open road. Rouxls got maybe halfway down the path between the hip shop and sheap when he spotted a familiar tall cat lurking just outside the sheap sitting in some old worn out chair. Book in paws. He didn't even lift a whisker as the duke approuched. ...Ok. Maybe he just wanted to relax and not be bothered today as well. Suited him perfectly fine. One less thing to worry about.

So the duke confidentially took longer strides to pass the old cat quicker. He gave Seam a raised brow as he neared passing him but quickly looked away. Now was the time to be not deal with such-

"Good morning to you friend." He froze mid step. "Where are you heading off this early in the morning?"

The worm looked over his shoulder but Seam continued to scan his one eye over the book in his hands. Rouxls stood there for a few seconds just staring at the reading cat before huffing and turning back around.

"Its none of thou's business! ......But if thou must knoweth, I amst getting mineself a lock for thine shoppe door to properly keep pests out...Not that tis any of thee's business."

"Of course not." He agreed without looking up from the book. "I was just curious. That was all."

"Curiosity killeth thine cat," Rouxls mumbled to himself-

"Satisfaction brought it back you know...Or not. I guess it depends on which cat you refer to. Hehe."

Rouxls froze...before sputtering and walking off. Seam chuckling behind him.

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~Time skip to about 2 hours later~

The day was pretty nice. He was never too fond of the rain anyways. Always was a pain to make sure his stitches were all held together after a bath. Not that hed have any problems with sewing or anything. Just seemed more of an annoyance than anything, but it was a great opportunity to get some fresh air and air out the sheap's stuffy air. But it looked like he wasnt the only one to think so too today. He wasn't expecting to see the duke anytime soon after the whole lot of events packed within two days, but he had to give credit to the determination the worm seemed to posses. And his reaction was pretty funny. How many people could squawk like a rabbick and turn a brilliant shade of blue? The thought made him chuckle. Apparently the worm hadn't known of his hearing range. He causally turned the next page- His ear twitched at the sound of approuching feet and a moment later Mak stuck their head out of the entrance way.

"Im bored!"

"Did you already get bored of the shiny things Jevil brought to you?,

"Yeah.....Can I have the shiny white hair?"

"Mak, neither of us have shiny white hair."

"Not you."

He looked up from his book to look at them and they pointed a paw up the road ahead. He curiously turned in that direction to see none other than a familiar blue skinned white haired man making his way down the road back towards them. He heard the worm duke before he clearly saw him. What sounded like angry mumbles turned into a few curses he'd rather not repeat. The worm looked angry and was a deep blue in the face, stomping his feet up the pathway back towards his home. Seam rose a brow but didnt really say anything.

"Of all the stupid low things to sayest to mineself-"

"Greetings Duke." The cat gave a calm smile to the angry worm. "I see you came back. How was your trip?"

The duke stopped and turned a blue face towards the cat. "Thine trip was a waste of mine precious time!" Before Seam had a chance to ask what he meant he continued. "'Come back when you have actual money' he said! "I always get paid first' he said! Doth he knoweth who he is dealing with!? Rouxls Kaard tis nay to best trifled with the likes of that Malius scum!"

"Oh. So Malius is still doing that 'pay me first' policy eh?"

"I couldst haveth him thrown in thine dungeon for this! Who doth he thinks he is-?!"

"A Darkner who doesn't want to be cheated out of his labor." Seam interrupted before Rouxls could start on another tyrade. "Why don't you just pay the man first and save yourself the trouble?...Or not. Its not my business how you handle your shop."

Rouxls finally stopped and all anger dispated from his face. It was still a dark shade of blue but now it looked like he was more....flustered now.

"I.....cannot."

"Why not? "

The worm looked down and reached a hand up to rub his neck. "Mine register tis....e-empty....a-and mine funds are loweth."

"Aren't you on paid leave?"

"Yes.....But m-mine payment has yet to cometh...Lancer tis nay good at organizing lawkeeping."

A look of realization came over Seam as he stared at the duke of puzzles. "Then how are you affording anything? ...What have you been eating?"

Rouxls gave a flat look. "I amst broke at thy moment. And for thou's information I happen to know how to takest care of mineself. There art many worms and....candy to eateth for mine time away from mine royal duties! I shan't needest any help from the likes of a commoner!"

With a huff and turn of his body, the worm trudged off back down the path away from the staring cat and bat. After a moment of just staring after the Duke, Mak turned back to Seam and tugged his cloak.

"Does this mean I don't get new shiny stuff?"