When Alfred went to bed that night he was terrified he’d have a terrible nightmare and he was correct to think so. After what the accursed Joker showed him, he was afraid he’d never have a peaceful night ever again. He kept a dim nightlight on but as he laid in his bed and stared up at the ceiling, that horrible imagery continued to plague his thoughts. Trying to get it all out of his head Alfred tried reading funny comics, watched comedic adventure films, he even tried to read a long boring book about the past conflict between the four Kingdoms but the moment he closed his eyes to try and sleep, he always saw that gruesome thing.

“Dammit,” whined Alfred as he tossed and turned.

It was far too disturbing for him to even think about at the moment. He didn’t even want to know the reason why the last Queen of Spades died like that, he just didn’t want to see it again, even in his dreams. He tried humming a jolly tune to himself, read a joke book and forced himself to laugh, he even ate an entire tub of his favourite ice cream hoping to brain freeze it away, but it was still there at the back of his mind as if to taunt him. Why the hell did he summon that wretched Joker?

As he stared up at the ceiling he did try and think of something to take his mind off it all. He had the tea date with that noble’s daughter coming up next week. Supposedly she was the top bachelorette in the Spade Kingdom, and apparently she even had a lunch date with the King of Diamonds. There was also that dessert taste testing coming up, he was looking forward to that. Yao has taken care of some overdue work for him, so that was nice. He heard that the King if Hearts got a new dog. In fact a lot of people said that the King of Hearts bore a similar appearance to one of the Jokers-.... dammit.

Alfred groaned as he slapped his head in a vain effort to get rid of that wretched image of a woman turning into a rotting corpse before his eyes. If didn’t know any better he’d think that very Joker was watching him right now, laughing his head off. The clock ticked on and even though his eyelids were getting heavy he couldn’t nod off to sleep. He just continued to stare upwards until his eyes ached and his throat felt dry.

By the time he thought it was ok to sleep, the birds were already singing and the sun was glaring through the window. He could hear the maids and butlers move about outside his room, and then his door opening as a steward waltzed in with a tray of juice.

“Good morning, your majesty,” sung the cheery steward as he poured a glass of orange juice and placed it on the bedside table. “Freshly squeezed, just how you like it.”

Alfred eyes aches as he moved them to look at the glass. “Coffee,” he moaned.

The steward seemed surprised by this. “Coffee? You prefer a glass of orange juice first thing in the morning, your majesty, is that not so?”

Glaring up at the steward, Alfred repeated his command. “Coffee... I need coffee... lots and lots of coffee.”

The steward said no more and dashed off, leaving the orange juice behind. With a weary arm Alfred tried grabbing the glass, bringing to his face and attempted to drink it. It spilled down his throat as well his chin, staining his pyjamas and bedsheets. He didn’t even have the energy to put the glass down, he just dropped it unto the duvet and forced himself out of bed.

“This is going to be a long day,” he groaned as he made his way to the bathroom, missing the door and walking into the wall. “A very long day.”

And indeed it was. Yao took no pity on him and accused Alfred of staying up all night play video games or something, declaring that Alfred would not be allowed to rest until he had finished his work. He drank at least five cups of coffee during breakfast but he was still feeling fatigued and craved his bed, but feared it at the same time. In his tired state Alfred could barely hold a pen and half the time he couldn’t hear what Yao was saying. He walked like a sick man, constantly walking into things or other people and the worst thing was the morning had barely ended.

After Yao made him re-sign some documents, he temporarily left the tired King along, promising he’d return after dropping the completed forms. Now that he was alone, Alfred stumbled over to the jug of coffee and poured himself a cup. He slurped it down but the caffeine didn’t seem to affect him, he was still desperate to sleep. He glanced over at the couch, the softness of those cushions looked so tempting and inviting.

“Just... just five minutes,” he told himself as he climbed on, laying down on his back and releasing a low moan as he found how wonderfully comfortable the couch was. “Five... minutes...” he yawned as his eyes closed and the darkness came.

————————————

Someone was calling him.

Opening his eyes Alfred slowly sat up and looked around, seeing an unfamiliar before him. He was still sitting upon the couch he had fallen asleep on, but his location had vastly changed. No longer was he in his stuffy office, he was boxed in a small area surrounded by tall green hedges. The sky above him was dark and cloudy, and there was a strong wind in the air, picking up fallen leaves and tossing them about.

“Where the hell am I now?” Pushing himself off the couch, he looked around for an exit but saw none. “Can I go through one day without waking up somewhere new!?” He looked upwards and debated about scaling the hedges or even if they were climbable.

“My King.”

Spinning around, Alfred quickly scanned the area as he was certain who ever spoke was right behind him. That voice was crystal clear so he was certain that he heard it and it wasn’t in his head. Before he could even attempt to call out to whoever it was, a section of the green wall parted and revealed an exit. The voice called out again and it was coming from that direction.

“Standing here isn’t going to do me any good,” sighed Alfred, and cautiously ventured forward.

Peering out he found a long passageway with the walls still made up of tall shrubbery. There was some twists and turns in some sections, making Alfred realise he must be inside a maze or something. How did he wind up here? Did the palace even have a maze? He heard the voice again, coming from his left and seeing that he had no other choice Alfred followed it, hoping it would guide him somewhere like out of here.

He followed the voice through the maze as best he could, walking through all the twists and turns in the hopes it would lead him to an exit. Everywhere looked the same and at one point he thought he had already walked through the area he was in. There was nothing he could as a marker and he was starting to think he’d never find a way out. As he continued to venture onwards he tried calling out to whoever was calling him, but received no reply and he only just realised how creepy this place was, his desire to find an exit grew great.

Taking a quick break he paused in the middle of a crossroad, looking down the three paths he could take. The voice seemed to have stopped and Alfred wasn’t certain which way to go, they all looked the same.

“If this is a dream, please wake me up,” he pleaded, hoping someone would hear him.

As he leaned against one of the walls and groaned in dread at his current situation, he then picked up on a very faint sound. It was far off but he was certain he could hear it. Pushing himself up he followed it, desperate now to find something in this accursed maze. As he got closer and closer to the source of the sound, he could now make out what it was.

“Singing?”

It wasn’t just a single person, it sounded like a small group of people singing, the song itself sounding cheerful in a somewhat dark way. In fact as he got closer and closer the voices sounded like the belonged to very young children. There were so many questions now flooded his head, the dam that held them all back collapsed a long time ago. He rounded a corner and came across a puzzling sight that caused him to readjust his glasses.

In a large area Alfred spotted four children, holding hands and dancing around a small tree, completely oblivious to the fact they were lost in a giant maze, or maybe they weren’t lost. They giggled and laughed as they sang their song, their young faces filled with giddiness and delight as if they didn’t have a single care in the world.

“Ring-a-ring o' roses,
A pocket full of poises,
A-tishoo, A-tishoo,
We all fall down!”

The children fell down, laughing as they did before pulling themselves back up and starting the song over again.

“The King is in his castle,
The Queen begins to weep,
A-tishoo, A-tishoo,
We all will leapt!”

On and on they kept singing, repeating the same lyrics over and over as if they were the only words they knew. The rhyme sounded familiar but Alfred couldn’t quite place where he heard it before. Alfred couldn’t deny that coming across four children singing an almost creepy song inside a lonely maze was almost disturbing. This whole thing had warning signs flashing right in his face... still they were the only children, what harm could talking to them do?

As Alfred carefully approached them, he raised his hand to wave and said, “hey kids, could you help me out?”

The moment the children were made aware of his presence, they suddenly shrieked and ran off, fleeing through an opening in the wall behind them.

“Hey wait,” pleaded Alfred, chasing after them. He crawled through the opening and spotted the children vanishing round another corner. “I just want to talk!”

The children did not answer him and continued to run with fear in their cries, leaving Alfred no choice but to follow. He could only assume that he frightened them some how given that he suddenly appeared before them, though he didn’t find himself intimidating and if he wanted answers he was going to have to follow them. If he was lucky they would lead him out of here, or they would tire out from all the running and allow a chance to explain himself. He followed them deeper and deeper into the maze, rounding corners and twisting through sharp turns. Alfred was determined not to loose sight of the children, but they were quite fast for a bunch of kids. He tried calling out to them, insisting that he wasn’t a threat but they ignored him and continued to run further and further in. Why were they running from him, and where were they going?

He skidded through another opening and spotted them running round a corner. Pushing himself Alfred chased after them, running round that very corner but came to a sudden halt when he saw what awaited him. The children were nowhere to be seen, and there was no other way out of this particular passage and right in front of him at the end of the passage was a large silver door.

Alfred took one step back after recognising that door. It was that terrible door he dreamed about before, the one with that horrible presence behind it. It was covered in those rusted chains and worn out locks, however there was no loud banging and no cries of anguish coming from it.

Looking over his shoulder Alfred stared back at the endless maze before looking back at the door. It was silent for whatever reason and he couldn’t sense anything dangerous behind it. Maybe this was an opportunity to learn more about it, and though he was terrified of the presence he felt before, Alfred knew he had to discover the truth no matter what. Swallowing the large lump in his throat, Alfred slowly and carefully approached the door, ready to turn and flee just in case. The closer he got the more it seemed to loom over him, as if it were about to fall on top of him. He stepped closer and closer until he could almost touch the handle. Alfred had no intention of opening it, but he did carefully place his ear against it.

There was silence. Alfred could hear nothing but the heavy beating of his heart and his own breath. Maybe there was nothing behind it? Maybe the horrible presence had-

BANG!

Alfred yelped and fell over, staring up at the door in terror as something behind it began to viscously pound against it, rattling the chains and the locks. He could hear unholy sounds coming behind it, as if hell had opened up and the tortured souls of the damned were trying to break down the door. Dragging himself away, Alfred eventually pushed himself back up and ran. He ran as far away from that door as fast as he could. He took lefts and rights, he didn’t care where he went just as long as he could put enough distance between himself and that door.

Once he was certain he got far enough he stopped to catch his breath, wheezing and gasping as his heart continued to rapidly beat in his chest. Just what the hell was that door? Did those children go through it and if they didn’t, where did they go? Maybe they were an illusion or something.

Alfred felt sick and he felt tired. There was just so much going on, so many things running through his mind, and it was getting too much. First it was voices, then it was a magically transporting to a garden where a some man lived and no one noticed or believed him. Then the nightmare about the banging door, the little girl warning him about the presence behind it. Next it was the mystery of the missing Queen, the Joker showing him that horrid imagery of how the last Queen died and now he was in that blasted maze with creepy children singing creepy songs and that damn door coming back, and on top of everything else he was trying to run a Kingdom. He didn’t understand anything. There was so much going on and he didn’t know what to do.

“I want to get out of here,” he heaved, feeling trapped, feeling the walls closing in. “Let me out of here!”

“My King.”

Alfred flinched when something grasped onto his shoulder. Slowly peering down he saw a hand gripping his jacket. A rotten, boney hand covered in filth and grime. His eyes slowly followed the hand up to an arm and the body it was attached to. His voice became trapped in his throat when he saw what looked like a rotten walking corpse, reaching out for him and heaving heavily as if it was trying to breathe.

“My King,” it said, its voice raspy as if it’s throat was made of sandpaper. “My King, why did you do this to me?”

Slapping the hand off of him, Alfred tried to run away but his legs had become heavy and he had no control over them. He ended up falling over, and desperately tried to crawl away from the approaching monstrosity.

“Why was I cursed for your crime?” screamed the corpse, stumbling towards him with outreached arms. “Why must I suffer? I did as you asked. I was your precious Queen.”

“Go away,” cried Alfred, his blue eyes filled with terror as the corpse was almost upon him. “I didn’t do anything to you!”

“Free me from this pain,” howled the corpse, it’s body becoming more grotesque. “My King, free me!”

Alfred shielded his face with his arms and screamed. “Leave me alone,” he shouted. “Leave me alone! Go away! Go away!”

“Alfred?”

Another voice suddenly called out to him.

“Alfred? Wake up, wake up now.”

Everything felt as if it had become still and there was silence. He no longer heard the heaving corpse or the wind in that horrid maze. Instead he heard the sound of birds.

“Alfred?”

Slowly parting his arms, Alfred peered up and stared up into a pair of green eyes staring down at him.

“...Arthur?”

Arthur was kneeling over him, his face full of concern. “Alfred, are you alright? You looked like you were having a nightmare.”

Sitting up Alfred looked around and found he was no longer in that maze but was in Arthur’s garden. The colourful flowers surrounded him were comforting, the birds sung sweet and calming tunes, the sun shined down and made the garden light up in an enchanting way. It was peaceful and safe.

Looking up at Arthur he had to ask, “how did I get here?”

Arthur appeared surprised. “Like you always do; out of thin air,” he replied, “though you were fast asleep when I found you. I couldn’t exactly kick you awake so I left you alone. However you started shouting in your sleep, so I kept calling you out until you woke up.”

Alfred looked around once more to make certain he was in safe. There was no banging door, there were no singing children, and there was no walking corpse chasing him. He was safe. With a weary sigh he fell onto his back and tried his best to relax, but his head continued to ache with so many things happening at once.

“Are you alright?”

Looking up at Arthur, who still appeared concerned, Alfred could not help but say, “no.” Alfred was beyond alright, and he didn’t know what to do.

Arthur sighed as he stared down at the worn out man. “I can see that now, you have dark rings under your eyes. You’ve clearly not slept well.”

With a groan Alfred nodded.

“Something kept you up?” guessed Arthur.

Alfred nodded again.

“And it’s making you stress out again?”

Once more Alfred nodded.

Rolling his eyes, Arthur readjusted himself and leaned a little closer towards the troubled man. “Come on now, you’ve talked to me before and it seemed to help? Tell me what’s the matter.”

Hearing Arthur’s soft voice and seeing how gentle his eyes were, Alfred wanted to talk to him in the hopes he could say something to make him feel better. Their past conversations had always seemed to make all of his troubles melt away, replacing all those bad thoughts with good ones. Alfred still wasn’t certain if Arthur could handle all of his troubles, but as he learned before; bottling it all up wouldn’t do him any good.

“I’ve got a lot on my plate,” he admitted.

Arthur didn’t seem to care. “Do tell.”

So Alfred took a deep relaxing breath and shared his troubles. He kept it brief and simple, stating how he was constantly working hard but all these smaller problems kept interfering and making his life and work difficult. One of them was the mystery of why he was coming here, stating that he didn’t mind it so much but it was constantly on his mind, and he wanted to know how and why he was visiting Arthur without anyone noticing his absence. Next he spoke of the dream he had of a little girl leading him to a locked door, where he could feel a horrid presence trying to get out. Then of how he witnessed a re-enacted death that was too grotesque to describe and that it scared him so much he couldn’t sleep. Now he had another dream of eerie children singing songs in a maze with a walking corpse chasing after him. It was just one thing after another and it was stressing him out.

Arthur listened and most of the stuff Alfred said seem to fly over his head. One thing was perfectly clear to him and before Alfred could say anymore, Arthur raised a single finger to silence him.

“You have too much on your mind,” stated Arthur, “far too much, especially if you got important work going on and it’s affecting your sleep.”

Alfred already knew that. “But I can’t just ignore all this stuff,” he insisted, “I don’t know what any of it all means but I know it must mean something, and I can’t just ignore it all.”

Arthur nodded, folding his arms and tried to think of a solution. “Its common for people to have a lot on their mind, work and worries aren’t the best things to have but they’re manageable. I think you just need to organise it all.”

“That’s it?” Alfred was hoping for more.

“I’m not finished, idiot,” snapped Arthur, annoyed that he had been interrupted, “You need to prioritise these little problems so they all don’t turn into big problems. One thing at a time, because if you try doing it all at once you’re just going to drive yourself into an early grave. I don’t know what any of those things you spoke about are, but if you want to figure them out then solve them individually and try not to do it all at once. Clear?”

Alfred nodded, listening to the advice as if it were a vital medicine he needed to take to save his life. It was decent advice and probably something he should’ve done ages ago, but he was still feeling like crap both mentally and physically.

“Right, now that we got that out of the way,” declared Arthur suddenly, “lets get that bad stuff out of your mind.”

With the way Arthur was rubbing his hands and staring at him with such intense eyes, Alfred almost thought that Arthur was going to cast a spell on him. If he was he hoped it would work.

Scooting a little closer, Arthur sat cross legged on the grass and said, “do you have a favourite flower? Or maybe, what’s your favourite season? Mine is Spring obviously, it brings out the beauty of my garden.”

That came out of no where. “What’s this about?” muttered Alfred, “I thought you were going to get the bad stuff out of my mind.”

Arthur sighed. “The best way to push all that bad stuff out of mind is to talk about good stuff. I’ve been reading a book on good conversation starters and in order to get one in a good mood is to talk about pleasant things that stir up good memories, thus putting you in a better mood and getting all the negative thoughts out of your mind.” Once again Arthur appeared smug about himself. “So do you have a favourite author? Or maybe a certain type of food you like?”

So in other words he wanted to have a jolly good conversation about happy stuff? It wasn’t exactly what Alfred had in mind but as he took in Arthur’s suggestion he thought that maybe it could work, maybe talking about good stuff would get rid of all these horrid thoughts. In fact this might be a golden opportunity to learn more about Arthur, for he still knew very little about him despite all of his previous visits.

“Well... I like burgers,” answered Alfred, a greasy cheeseburger being the first thing that popped into his head.

“Burgers?” Arthur tilted his head in a look that was either disgust or confusion.

“What, you’ve never had one?” That shocked Alfred. Burgers wasn’t exactly a fancy dish but it was still a favourite of his. “They taste great when they got the right cheese and crunchy pickles, and as long as the buns are soft and the meat is juicy, they taste out of this world.”

Arthur shook his head. “It doesn’t sound like my cup of tea,” he muttered, “I actually prefer roasts and pastry dishes. I’ll confess that I like battered fish but that’s more of a guilty pleasure.”

“Battered fish!?” Alfred stuck his tongue out at the very thought. “I tried that once and it was bland as hell. How can you like stuff like that!?”

“It’s an acquired taste,” argued Arthur, puffing his cheeks a little, “and it sounds a lot healthier than these burgers.”

“Ha, I’ll take burgers any day,” snorted Alfred, his mouth drooling a little over the thought of a pile of freshly cooked cheeseburgers. “Down it all with some soda and you got yourself a complete meal.”

“I think I’ll stick with tea,” huffed Arthur, the whole topic seemed to be putting him off food almost entirely.

It was almost amusing to see how Arthur reacted to food he wasn’t fond of and Alfred actually chuckled a little. Their conversation continued and began to evolve into different subjects. They talked about their favourite sweets, with Arthur liking scones with clotted cream and jam whilst Alfred confessed that he pretty much liked anything with sugar. Then they talked about their favourite books, their favourite songs, and even their favourite type of weather. Alfred was surprised to learn that Arthur liked a gentle rain on a still day, as it not only helped kept his garden hydrated but also the sound of the water hitting the leaves was soothing for him, and surprising still was that he actually like upbeat and hardcore music. Alfred told Arthur that he preferred hot days when the sky was completely blue with a gentle breeze in the air. It reminded him of a holiday in his youth and he told Arthur about the time he went to a beautiful white beach in the Diamond Kingdom whilst visiting a friend.

He told Arthur how he built a large castle out of sand, his swim in the crystal blue water with large manta rays, the taste of the local fruit that was offered to him. He talked about how he almost got burnt by the sun, when he explored a sea cave in the hopes he’d find treasure and how he watched the sunset, the sky looked like it was on fire and he watched the sun until it vanished beyond the sea. He confessed that in his youth he thought the sun was just taking a bath before it went to bed, and upon hearing that made Arthur laugh. Alfred told Arthur everything he loved about beaches and the sea itself, filled with hundreds of creatures who hid beneath the waves and his hope that one day he’d see a whale and make friends with it.

Alfred talked and talked until he realised that he had been doing all the talking and barely gave Arthur a chance to get a word in. Feeling a little bit guilty he turned to Arthur and asked, “have you ever been to a beach?”

“No, I haven’t,” replied Arthur with a small smile. “I haven’t even seen the sea.”

“Seriously!? You should go one day,” insisted Alfred, “laying down on the sand whilst listening to the crashing waves is the most relaxing thing anyone could do.”

Arthur chuckled a little as he pushed some of his hair out of his face. “I might... one day,” he murmured.

Alfred decided to veer the conversation off a slightly different path. “So did you grow up here or something?” he asked.

“What? Here?” Arthur snorted and shook his head. “No, no, I came from a small town in the middle of the countryside.”

“Oh, so your family live there?” pried Alfred.

“No, no family,” answered Arthur, “I was dumped on the doorstep of an orphanage when I was very young.”

“Oh...” Alfred wasn’t expecting to hear that. “So I guess you had some friends there growing up?”

“No,” replied Arthur with a sigh. “I... scared people. They didn’t like the fact that I was talking to things they couldn’t see.” Arthur began to drag a finger in a patch of dirt nearby. “The children thought I was a freak and the adults thought I was a troubled child. I wasn’t really wanted there so once I was old enough I took off on my own. Spent most of my youth living in forests, only going into towns to sell firewood and purchase necessities. It wasn’t that bad though I was... well, I craved to have some sort of companionship. Faeries and spirits don’t often stay in the same spot for too long.”

The conversation took a sudden sad turn, and Alfred desperately tried to get it back on a happier note for Arthur’s sake. “Well you live here now,” he said with a smile, “you got a cosy room and this amazing garden. You’ve really done well for yourself.”

That seemed to make Arthur smile but he said nothing. Instead he wiped the dirt off his hand and with a gentle huff he stood up. “So, are you feeling better?”

Upon getting asked that Alfred only just realised that he was feeling a little better. He was still tired from the lack of sleep but other than that he felt much better mentally. “I do feel a lot better,” he confessed with a yawn.

“Good,” said Arthur with a smile, “but you do need some more sleep. A good sleep does wonders for the mind, and do remember what I told you. I don’t want you coming back here in a foul mood.”

Alfred nodded as he laid back on the grass and yawned once more. He noticed Arthur was about to walk off and without even thinking he blurted out, “could you stay? Just till I nod off?”

Arthur was taken aback by that request and as Alfred stared up at him with puppy dog eyes, he couldn’t find the will to say no. “Fine, fine,” he muttered as he sat back down next to Alfred. “You’re such a baby.”

As he nestled into the grass and his eyelids grew heavy, Alfred said, “hey Arthur... thanks for all that. You’re such a good talker and problem solver...”

There was a moment of silence before Arthur responded with, “you’re welcome.”

Resting his head into his arms, Alfred tried to focus on Arthur as he sat nearby but his vision was starting to blur. “Arthur... we’re friends, right?”

Alfred’s eyes were now shut and he was slowly slipping into a deep sleep but he did hear Arthur say, “I... guess we are.”

“Good,” sighed Alfred with a smile and he succumbed to the well needed slumber, almost certain he could hear Arthur sing to him as he slept in utter bliss.

Notes:
I hope you are all enjoying this and I would love to hear some feedback :)