CHESS

Rules?

Find a way to checkmate the opponent's king.

Pawn-The frontline piece. Most players can start with moving this. At the beginning of the game, the pawn can move two spaces forward or one space. Once that pawn is move, you cannot move that pawn two spaces forward. It can attack another piece that is just one space ahead diagonally. Can't jump over pieces. A pawn can turn into an official (knight, bishop, rook or queen) once it reaches the other side of the board, the opponent's base.

Knight-Mostly the second line piece. Moves in a form of a letter L. It can jump over pieces. A player can either use the knight as a first move or a second move. It attacks another piece in a form of an L.

Bishop-A piece that moves diagonally all the time. Cannot jump over pieces, attacks diagonally either afar or not.

Rook-A tower-like looking piece. Moves in a straight line, either horizontal or vertical, afar or not. It can perform the skill castling where he can switch places with the King piece by the king piece moving two spaces towards the rook it will switch with, as long as both pieces aren't moved yet and the king isn't checked. Can't jump over pieces, attacks another piece by a straight line, afar or not.

King-The piece you shall protect. Can move in a straight line and diagonally, but only in one space forward. A combination of a pawn, bishop and rook. Can perform the skill castling where he'll switch places with a rook, as long as it's not checked and both pieces aren't moved. Can attack another piece straight or diagonally that is just a space ahead. If this piece is check, the player has to move the king away from the opponent's piece's range or use another piece to nullify the check. Once checkmate, the player whose king was checkmate will push the his or her own king piece down the board, signifying defeat.

Queen-The "strongest" piece. A combination of bishop and rook. Can't jump over pieces. Attacks diagonally or straight, afar or not. Some players put their queen out in the beginning of their game for a faster chance of winning, some in the middle, while some use the queen as the last line.

"The queen is not really the powerful." The girl spoke as she moved her knight piece, checking her opponent's king. And it's not just the king that is in her knight's range, her opponent's queen is also in the range. "Once the officials are gone, the queen is rendered useless." She added. She looks at her opponent, she observes his reaction and waits for his reply. She takes note of her opponent's features.

Her opponent showed the reaction of puzzled and thinking. The hazel brown hair and his bangs framing his face slightly falls to the left as he tilted his head while staring at the board. His bright emerald green eyes stare at her knight, then his king, then his queen and then to the entire board. He swallowed his saliva silently, as he reached his hand out to his king, seeing that he has no available pieces that can nullify the check. Sacrificing his queen piece, he moves his king horizontally to the corner of the board, out of the knight's range.

"Why did you target my queen then if you find the queen piece weak?" He asked the girl infront of him, whom he's playing chess with. He stares at the girl's mysterious blue eyes, as she lifts her fingers and plays with her black hair, that matches her pale white skin. The girl looks quite mysterious, a porcelain doll or someone who had just came out of their own coffin. Nonetheless, he finds the girl mysteriously attractive.

The two were currently playing chess at the school where the girl attends to. Sitting underneath the roof of the waiting area of the school, the space between them is where the chess board lies, the pieces on different squares and some out of the board or on the sides instead. The game had started just a few minutes ago, while the boy was waiting for his father who's a teacher at the girl's school.

"It's annoying seeing the queen piece on the board. And the officials don't seem targetable." The girl answered as she moved her knight, getting rid of his queen as soon as the boy made his king move away from her knight. "So, you chased after the weak one? Survival of fittest, I see." The boy replied, interested in the girl's mindset.

Their game went on while chatting. The boy patiently waits for the girl's reply while they exchange moves. After seconds that felt like hours of silence, she finally spoke.

"I don't really believe in that. I just chose the option that seems best for me and in favor." The girl replied. "Option? So, no planning ahead your moves? No strategies? No like, making your opponent move this so you can move this?" The boy asked, making hand gestures for each word of 'this'.

"No. Not all plans can go the way I want to. So, I stopped doing that." The girl said, "But I do have goals in every game of chess. One is to get rid a number of pawns while getting rid of your officials one by one, simultaneously. And two, checkmating the king." She added.

"How about you moving? Like, in attacking?" The boy asked making another move. "I mostly move my knight and bishop around, besides my pawns." The girl spoke, making her move, "Then after that is the rook." She added. "And your queen?" He asked. "The queen's role is just to move behind the scenes. Either for baiting by going out of the field or staying behind as the last line of defense." She replied.

The boy showed a perplexed expression, not understanding it. If the queen is supposed to move behind the scenes, shouldn't it stay behind as the last line of defense? He makes his move, leaving an open space in front of his king.

"Luis!" A voice called out to the young boy. The boy, Luis who's playing chess with the girl, looks up, seeing his father with his laptop bag. "I got to go. It was nice playing chess with you." He replied as he stood up. "Same with you. Good bye." The girl replied and watched the boy walked out of the school with his father. She looks down on the chessboard, making her last move for the day. She moved her queen to the king's open space. Behind her queen, diagonally was her bishop. And just also behind her queen in an L, was her knight. Thus....

"Checkmate." She spoke, pushing down the boy's king, the boy whom just left now. She stood up and packs up the board and returns it to the guard. She picks her bag up and walks out of the school to go home.

She walks down the streets of Vergel, heading to the Metropoint to watch for a jeepney heading somewhere to Libertad. As she walks, the ground slightly shakes, as the she slightly stumbles and regains her balance.

"Earthquake?" She mumbled. The people around started either running, screaming or taking cover. She looks around, looking for a place to hide under. She hears a cracking raspy sound behind her, she turns around, seeing the tree slowly falling from the vibration. And a kid was just in the area, possible to be crushed by the falling tree.

Out of instinct, the girl runs toward the kid, pushing him away to save him from the tree. Though, this would result to her getting crushed instead, but some people just act out of instinct without thinking.

And like that, the ground below her bursted, revealing a huge white rabbit with a big mouth and narrow eyes.

"What?" She mumbled as she stares at the rabbit below her. And with that, she was devoured by the mysterious big white rabbit.

"In wonderland, not everything you see, is what it seems to be."

Those words echoed in her mind, as she falls down to who knows where after she was eaten by this rabbit, falling down, passing by a music box that has a ballerina on top of it.