"You look too happy for your own good," Mag said beside me while we walked through the halls, "What's up?"

"Oh...nothing~" I tried to control my smile.

Mag poked my sides, "Come on! Tell me!"

I giggled and squirmed as I walked faster, trying to get away. "Nope! It's a surprise~"

I entered the cafeteria and looked around. "I don't see them...where the hell-EEEEK!"

"Tell me or die bitch!"

I giggled and squirmed, trying to get away. Mag has a thing about putting me in a strangle hold when she wants something. She's not violent, she just does very odd things sometimes.

"Never~!"

"Fine..." Mag let go of me, "...bitch."

"Love you too Mag." I giggled as I headed to a table.

She chuckled and walked beside me, "Sure, sure, sure."

"Hey guys..." A little girl said from our table said, I say ours mostly because we always sit there every day,

"What're you drawing today Yuri?" That was Mag, she likes giving everybody nicknames, Yukari wasn't very lucky with hers. I, on the other hand, had better luck, Mag decided that Carmen was a lot closer to Carmel than the red suited titular character of a certain tv program we shall not mention.

"Huh? Oh...nothing..." I leaned over her shoulder to see what it was she was working on but she covered it with her hand.

"That's cheating!" I said.

She smiled and blushed, "It'll make sense...when I'm finished..."

"How about me, huh Yuri?" Mag sat next to her, hugging her warmly as she tried to catch a glimpse, "Don't you loooooooveee meee~?"

"You're my best friend...of course..." She moved her drawing farther away.

"So why don't you show me~?" Mag leaned on Yukari, getting closer to the piece of paper.

"B-because it's a secret..."

Mag stage-whispered in a deep husk voice, "If you show me I'll give you the lesbian sex."

"W-what?! I-I'm your f-friend, but..." her face turned hot red as I laughed out loud with somebody else. Wait.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Nafhe set down her food and sat down across the table from Mag. The girl laughing beside her was Rio. We have a similar taste in humor.

"Everything is wrong with me, would you like to see?" Mag literally purred as she got up and looked at Nafhe.

"Ewl. No. Get away from me." Nafhe leaned back and pushed her face away, "you're gross."

"Come on baby~" Mag was making her voice deep again, "You know you want it~"

"Shut the fuck up!"

"You're far from plastic~"

"Ewl!"

"You're a good girl~"

It was at this point me and Rio started laughing too hard, forcing Mag to stop.

"Shut up! All of you!" Nafhe pouted and crossed her arms.

"It's a joke Nafhe!"

"Hmph!"

"It was?" Mag leaned forward on the table right up to Nafhe and whispered, "I know you want it!"

"Ugh!"

Me and Rio started laughing again but we both knew we had to stop her, "Alright Mag, leave 'er alone." Rio said.

"What, do you want it too?"

Rio answered first, "I'll pass; I have to study, next time though."

Mag smiled and looked at me and spoke in her husky voice again, "How about you baby~?"

"Ewl!" I did my best impression of Nafhe, "That's gross."

"Shut the fuck up Carmel."

"Sheesh," I rolled my eyes really dramatically, "and to think I had something to tell you."

"Hmph."

"I have something important to tell all of you actually," I stood and walked over to the foot of our lunch table waiting for everyone to quiet. No one did.

"Guys!" Mag threw a paper ball and hit Nafhe in the face.

"Ow. The fuck. The. Fuck." Nafhe slammed her palm on the table and looked Mag straight in the face. "You wanna go bitch?!"

"Shut your face bitch, Carmel's talking," Mag signaled me to continue with her hand.

"Thanks Mag~"

She smiled at me and signaled me to continue again. I went into my pocket and took out a receipt. "We finally have money to buy a RAILS!" I said aloud at our table.

"What?!" Nafhe jumped out of her chair and hugged me, "Once you got your account up text me so I can send you my name on it m'kay?"

"Don't forget about me okay?" Yukari said after looking up from her drawing for a second.

"You bet guys! I can't-"

"Let me look at that!" Mag reached across the table and snatched my receipt. She cleared her hair to see it with both her eyes. One thing you HAVE to know about Mag, she never uses her right eye. She suffers from "polycoria," or something along those lines, it basically means she has multiple irises so she's legally blind in her right eye.

She read it over and seemed to keep reading it over until she just threw it on the table and stood up. "I'm going home," she seemed annoyed, "Naff, take Carmel to work will you?"

"Okay...what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Mag said quickly, "Tell the teacher I went home, I have a headache."

"Um...all right?"

"Mag! Wait!" I rushed over to her and whispered, "Is something wrong? I thought you would be happy...you all are always talking about how much you love RAILS."

Something was wrong. Something was obviously bothering her, because Matagi looked me right in the eye and told me, "Nothing's wrong," and left.

"What's got her panties in a bunch?" Rio walked up beside me.

"I don't know."


"I don't know Carmel...it's weird," Nafhe played with her hair as she walked me down the street, "She's never just left school like that. She gets called out of school a lot though..."

"Yeah..." I answered, "but she always tries to make it back to walk me to work."

"Oh..." she looked at the ground not knowing what to say.

"Well..." I started as I began to think back to something that had happened, "remember that one time...with that one guy?"

"The wannabe rocker with the curly hair and a cheap guitar he couldn't play? Yeah I remember that!" Nafhe giggled to herself, "He turned down Mag's confession letter because 'her rack's too small.'"

"..." I stared at her with a plain look of disapproval.

"What?!" Nafhe pouted angrily as we turned a corner.

"You only remembered it to tease her about it one day, didn't you?"

"Uh..." Nafhe then yelled and pointed out, "Hey! Look! We're at the diner already!"

I stared at her again, "When I get out of work you are so dead."

Nafhe laughed nervously, "W-why d-don't you look at t-the time! Y-you're going to b-be late!"

"You are so lucky we stopped at that liquor store," I glared at her as I headed around the back to the rear door.

"Hahahaha," she laughed nervously, "y-yeah..." She looked at her phone and clicked her tongue, "Damn, you're fine walking home later right?"

"Hmm?" I flipped my own phone open and checked the time, 3:23 pm, I didn't have much time until I had to clock in, "What's wrong?"

"I really need to get home," she waved and ran off faster than I could say goodbye.

"Okay then..." I rubbed my arms and pushed the doors open.

"Carmel!" A man bumped into me on my way in, "How you doin' girl? No Mag? Did she dump you? You got your uniform right? You're almost late y'know."

This guy was my boss. Name? Boss. I really didn't know his real name, everybody just called him Boss. I mean...everybody. The waitresses, the dish washers, the cooks, the cashiers; everybody called him Boss. He was a nice guy and all, just very nosy and asked way too many questions. I sighed as I put my thumb on the machine and clocked in, "Yeah, yeah..."

"I'm not trying to give you a rough time Carmen," he stroked his beard and chuckled, "I'm just making sure you're fine. Usually you walk here with Mag."

I rolled my eyes and brushed him off, "I'm fine. Can I go change into my uniform now?"

He sighed and shook his head, "alright."


It's not that I hated my job, the uniform wasn't bad, it was just an olive polo, beige khakis, and a black apron. It wasn't that I hated the customers, most of the regulars were nice, like the old man who always came in and ordered chamomile tea, or the twenty-something brunette who had an obsession with caramel mochas, or the middle school cousins who came in everyday for cinnamon buns. And it wasn't that I hated my coworkers, they treated me like a little sister and sure, it was a little bit annoying sometimes but, it was sort of sweet. No, no, the problem was that the customers, the uniform, and the coworkers all added up into a tiny little building for a few hours was fucking draining.

At least it was over for the day and I had finished my homework during lunch...Oh my god. I get to use RAILS all night.

...First I had to get home.

I opened the back door and looked around for the familiar figure of my Mag. ...she wasn't there. Which meant I had to walk home alone...through the dark streets. Alone. Dark streets. Alone. Is this clear enough? Dark. Streets. Alone. It's kinda scary. And it's not like I could ask any co-workers to take me home without waiting another hour. I just had to brave it.

Alright... I can do this...

MRAWR!

CRASH!

CRACK!

EEEK!

Okay...maybe that last sound was me hiding behind the door and not the alley cat that I had accidentally startled into a couple of broken plates. BUT! To be fair, it is dark and I'm alone. You can't blame me for being even a little bit jumpy.

Okay. I really need to get home.

I stepped out onto the pavement outside and took a breath of the chilly weather. I sighed and zipped up my sweater; I really should've brought a bigger one.

I turned a corner and paused a second to see if anybody was walking the streets with me and comforted myself with the cute couple walking their dog. Sure they weren't walking with me but at least I wasn't alone. It wasn't a bad neighborhood, not at all. It's just really creepy at night. I knew Downing Blvd. like the back of my hand. I had just passed the Laundromats and next up was the furniture outlet, then there was the music store with the missing dot on the "i", then was the grocery store, then the thrift store, then the pawn shop. Like I said I knew this place like the back of my hand. It's just creepy at night, y'know?

I rubbed my shoulders and kept walking. It was a cold night and my sweater was honestly too beat up to keep me warm. I oughta remember that next time I got my paycheck. If I was lucky I might be able to find a nice one from the thrift. Hopefully my next one won't have a hole in the pocket like this one. It was a hassle honestly. I could've bought a new one but I was saving money to buy a RAILS and it had left my poor savings account in zeroes. It was kinda rough honestly. Lunch break sucked because I had to pick things off the value menu and value meals aren't really filling. I guess I could've asked Mag but she wouldn't let me buy lunch ever again and I already ask her for too much. I honestly feel like a leach.

Hey...wait a minute. Where's the couple with the dog? I looked around and sighed, well at least I still wasn't alone, and there was somebody off in the distance walking this way. Plus I was almost home, two blocks more and then I can finally call Nafhe to help me set up RAILS. Maybe if I'm lucky we can play Arcana.

I walked a bit faster. I really wanted to get home. Not because of the dark streets but because I was excited. Seriously I couldn't wait anymore; I was considering calling Nafhe and-

Oof?!

That person from earlier was grabbing my arm! Damn it, they're dressed in all black and with a hood on, what the hell was I expecting?

"Damn it...let me-!"

"Listen to me."

"Like hell-!"

"Listen to me!"

That voice...it was husk yet feminine and they were obviously deepening it...but it sounded familiar.

The person continued, "Whatever you do, DON'T log in to RAILS."

I gasped, who was this person? Why did they seem familiar and why didn't they want me logging into RAILS?

"Do you understand me? Don't log into RAILS!"

I shook my head and tried to pull away, "No!"

"Do as I-"

I had had enough and punched them in the gut.

"Agh?!"

They let go of my arm and I instantly tried to get away. I had a two foot lead and kept running but my entire body jerked backwards and fell to the hard ground as they tried to pull me back by my hood. The world was fuzzy as I tried to clear my head and move. My attacker walked up to me and looked down on me, I couldn't see their face because of a mix of their hood, my dizziness, and the night.

"Listen! You will not log in to-"

I pulled at their bony ankle and they fell back, leaving them just like I had. I struggled to crawl over to them to sit on their tiny stomach.

"You bastard!" I gritted my teeth and punched them right in the face. I panted and punched them again for good measure.

"Let's see who you are..." I wiped my face and pulled their hood off, "Oh my god... Mag?!"

She stared at me and I stared back, both of us quiet as a mouse. I was shocked. Things didn't make sense. Why was Mag acting so strange? This isn't normal, not at all...

"Carmel..."

"Mag...?"

We were quiet for a second until she pushed me off and quickly got to her feat. "I'm sorry...I just..." she bit her lip, "You wouldn't understand!" I watched from the ground as she clenched her fist and ran off.

What the hell just happened?


"Carmel! You're home I bet!"

"Yeah Naff, just got back...listen I..."

"Have you updated your RAILS visor yet?"

"Uh no...but..."

"You should...it takes a while."

"Okay but..."

"I'm sorry Carmel but I gotta go. Big ugly boss. Really rare drop. We'll see you in the City of Beginnings! Bye~"

...what the hell just happened? I sighed...what am I going to do? Should I really log in? Mag told me not to...but she's acting so weird. It's not like anything bad can happen to me. It would be all over the news. Plus I've never noticed anything weird in any- Okay, Mag is the exception.

I sighed, I might as well just continue with my plans. My mom was working her night job and my brother had, by some miracle, already gone to sleep.

I twirled around in my chair and looked over my room. It wasn't very big but it still was my room, and I liked it. Entering it, there was a window on the far wall, and then there was my closet and bed on the right and my desk on the left with only a narrow passageway between them. I had a few posters around and a drawing Yukari made me right over my desk. There wasn't enough room for anything else, it was a small room but it was MY room.

I smiled to myself as I took out a small square shaped box from under my desk. This was my RAILS unit. It cost me a fortune but I'm so glad I finally had it. I started by opening the box and was greeted by a couple pamphlets. I flipped through them and decided I could just figure out how to use it as I go. I wasn't going to understand any of the techy mumbo jumbo anyways.

I pulled out a layer of Styrofoam and I could see my RAILS visor. I smiled as I slid it out of the box and just held it in my hand. It looked so cool. Like any other RAILS visor it had the main visor that covered my eyes. The visors were connected to a pair of headphones which let me slide them off and on my head. Also connected to the right ear cup was a small microphone that, unlike the visor, remained static and immovable. On the left ear cup were a couple buttons, the biggest being the power button, then the mute and volume controls. It looked really high tech and very cutting edge but the best part was that my model green. Yes! Green was a very creative color no matter what people tell me.

I took a deep breath of air, took off my glasses, and lowered it onto me and adjusted the closeness of the microphone and the resting position of the visor. Here goes nothing.


"Hello and welcome to your own personal Realtime Authorize Interactive Line Service, otherwise known as RAILS. RAILS is manufactured by the Tamashi Group, subsidiary of the Irino Corporation. Tamashi Group, pioneering the way in virtual Reality technology since 2012."

I was...somewhere...it's difficult to explain my surroundings. There was nothing to explain. All there was was white. I was standing on ground that was just white. There were no walls just an endless horizon of white, stretching on forever. The disembodied voice seemed to be coming from every direction, completely surrounding me but never was it loud nor quiet.

"Please stand by as the RAILS unit scans whether you are primarily right brained or left brained."

Huh?

"Complete. User is primarily right brained."

I'm right brained?

"Please stand by as the RAILS unit scans your brain for necessary information required for registration."

I felt a wave of warmth run through my body and I shivered. It just felt so weird.

"Complete. Please enter your username."

Huh? Suddenly, from the middle of nowhere (literally) a prompt appeared.

"What do I do?" I mumbled to myself aloud.

"Please enter your desired username."

"Uh..." I tapped the blank space and a keyboard appeared in front of my hands, "I don't know what to use..."

"We can randomly generate a list of names, would that be acceptable?"

I bit my lip and racked my brain trying to find any name, "Fine..."

The prompt disappeared and was replaced with a list of names in alphabetical order.

"We have arranged one hundred randomly generated names from which to choose."

One hundred names?! I glanced through them all and sighed, this didn't help at all! I sighed, I might as well just go ahead and choose one.

"This one!" I pointed at a random username.

"Is 'Devil Girl' acceptable? Notice, once set, your name can never be changed."

I sighed and pressed accept.

"Thank you. To begin playing Arcana you must first create your character."

The prompt once again disappeared and once again, out of nowhere, a mirror appeared. The mirror showed a reflection of me but would alternate between my normal self, an elf, and a part cat.

"Arcana's races are merely cosmetic and don't affect overall gameplay."

Oh. Well might as well pick the one that I like. Hmm...the cat one looked too tacky on my reflection so that was right out. Now the elf or the human...Spock or Kirk? Hmmm...

"Do you have a coin to toss, computer?"

"Yes. Please set parameters."

Wait a minute, am I talking to a computer? Talk about sci-fi. "Heads human, tails elf."

"Confirmed." Suddenly a coin fell at my feat heads-up.

"I'll take the human me."

"Confirmed."

The mirror's reflection shifted and settled on my regular appearance.

"Now please choose your Arcana, this will decide your strength in combat."

Twenty-two cards appeared with their own separate individual prompts. Great, more decisions.

"Arcana has a specialized combat system that allows a balanced game for all users, no Arcana is stronger than any other. It is up to the player to decide how he wishes to play their suit."

Oh, well that's kinda cool I guess.

"Hmm..."

I walked up to one and examined it. The picture had a man hanging upside down with his foot crossed. Around the picture was a decorative border with the bottom showing the Roman numeral XII. Above the card the prompt read, "The Hanged Man Arcana specializes in Necromancy. The Hanged Man can bring forth various summons to do his biddings."

I sighed, I had a lot of reading to do...unless I skimmed through them...hmm...Lovers used two blades, Sun used cannons, Justice used pistols...and bingo!

"I choose Star!"

"Player has chosen the star Arcana. Confirm?"

"Yes!"

"Please choose your beginning weapon."

"GUUUUHHHH!" I groaned loudly. Can I just play the damn game?

Again a prompt appeared and showed me three weapons, a cutlass, a katana, and a rapier. I sighed and closed my eyes, "Eenie meenie miney moe!"

"Player has chosen the katana. Con-?"

"Yes...Can I play the damn game now?"

"Please select your character's clothes."

...Okay maybe this wasn't as bad.


Fifteen minutes later and I think I'm done.

I looked myself over in the virtual mirror and smiled. I looked like a badass. Boots, stockings, cool sweater, earphones, couldn't find any cool glasses though.

"Alright, computer, I'm done here."

"Final choice. Would you like to spawn in the City of Beginnings or Premiere Town?"

What was it Nafhe said? "City of Beginnings."

"You will now spawn. Welcome to the world of Arcana."


So that was the first chapter of Arcana! I hope you all liked it and enjoyed the chapter. Fair warning, those who have read the latter chapters of my last multi-chapter story know that it takes a while for me to update. It's mostly a byproduct of getting older and having less time than I used to as I can't put out a chapter a week like I used to, but maybe one chapter ever two-three weeks hopefully. Anyways, thanks to my ever faithful beta-reader, Black Maiden. Also, don't be afraid to drop a review if you liked it or didn't like it, hope to see you again soon!

...

...

You're not gone yet? Wanna hear a story? You can leave if you want. Cool, you stayed. This story and my previous story, Gods' Will, were both stories I've been trying to write for a very long time. Both of these have gone through different drafts and have evolved from different influences. The first draft of this first chapter had the lunch table scene but also had a scene that will later be seen in the third chapter in a sort of flash forward/flashback, Tarantino-esk non-linear story telling fashion. I finally decided to finish this chapter after watching things like Log Horizon, the original Tron, and Sword Art Online (I even ended up buying the light novel of Aincrad with Alfenhiem on its way), especially .hack/'s Quantum series. I also formed a real-world basis off the current big technological race for Virtual Reality tech being led by Oculus (yes I knew about them even before the Facebook buy out), Samsung, Valve, and Sony. Anyways, you made it through the giant wall of text and let me rant at you. Thank you.