"I'm banned for four more hours Carmel!" Nafhe shouted into the phone so loud I swear I popped an eardrum.

"What about Rio?" I asked, rubbing my sore temple.

"I think she's still awake, hold up, I'll check."

"No, that's not what I-!"

*Beep*

I sighed as the call went on hold and the line went silent, laying my head back on my chair as I tried to think about what had just happened. What the hell was up with Mag? Up until today she'd been so...kind and so helpful. I felt like a terrible friend because I could never do anything for her. Everyday she'd try to walk me to and from work, making sure that I'd be safe. She was rich, I was poor, she hated it, and she always offered to buy me things because she knew it was a struggle for me to buy it myself. I was so lucky to be in such a rich kid school, and I was even luckier to have met her. But I just don't understand her. I don't understand her at all. What made her go so bezerk like that? First she attacked me in the real world. Then she attacked me in the game...but...What was it she had said to that raven haired girl?

"Stella, please, stop."

Her name was Stella...then Stella had said...

"Not until you tell your sister you love her~"

...Mag's never mentioned a sister. She'd never mentioned a person called Stella at all. Now that I think about, I know so little about her family and how they make a living and where she lives. She's visited me at home several times but I haven't the faintest idea where she lives. I have her number...maybe I should giver her a call...

I picked up my phone and then realized I had been dragged into a conference call.

"... maybe she went to the bathroom?"

I rolled my eyes, "No I didn't!"

"Hey! She's here!" Rio giggled into her mic.

"Yeah..." I said quietly.

"Does anybody know what the hell happened in there?" Nafhe sounded irritated, "I swear to god I'm going to crush that Black Star-!"

"Shut up Nafhe..." I hate how prideful Nafhe can be sometimes...besides I couldn't afford her killing Stella (if that's even her real name) before I even got to ask her questions.

"Hmph."

"She's right y'know." Rio backed me up, "Me and Nafhe are pretty decent targets if someone wanted to raise their levels fast. Judging by tactics and skills they had, they were a little bit stronger than us so I could be wrong."

"Couldn't you have just checked their levels by focusing on them?" I asked.

"You can, but I was too busy dodging attacks to check..." Rio clicked her tongue, "I never actually thought I'd be attacked by a dual-Arcana user."

"Now that I think about it..." Nafhe mumbled then said aloud, "Are you sure she wasn't using a dual-Arcana weapon?"

I just sat in awkward silence, not really knowing what to say about something I knew nothing about.

"Have you ever heard of a Star and Sun Arcana weapon?"

"Well..." Nafhe stuttered, "No...but neither has Carmel!"

"Yeah, but she only started playing today," Rio sighed, "You still there Carmel?"

"Yeah..."

"Let me get this out of the way." Rio cleared her throat and began, "There's this very difficult dungeon with a very hard boss with a very rare drop-"

"Like one in fifty!" Nafhe interjected.

"One in sixty five." There were some grumblings from Rio's end, "Anyways...the boss can drop an empty Arcana card, you can give the card an Arcana if you beat a boss with the corresponding Arcana you wish to have."

"Wait, bosses have Arcanas?" I asked.

"Yep. According to the game's lore, a lot of the bosses used to be adventurers who were corrupted by magic or technology." She took a minute to catch her breath. "Anyways, once you capture the boss's Arcana, you can either use the card for yourself or sell it for some top tier gear."

Jesus, this is unnecessarily complicated. "What's the benefit of two Arcanas?"

"You can't use any weapons that your Arcana doesn't use!" Nafhe berated me, "DUH!"

"Shut up Naff." Wow, even Rio is getting annoyed at her. Usually they're pretty tightly knit; they've known each other since forever.

"Hmph!"

My phone beeped, notifying that somebody had dropped out of the call.

"Rio?"

"Yeah?"

"She dropped out off the call, didn't she?"

"Nafhe...? Yeah."

We both sighed in unison.

"Do you...do you want me to continue...?" Her voice didn't sound too high in spirits.

"If you want..." I was indifferent about learning these things, on one hand it was kinda interesting, on the other hand I didn't care. It probably would never affect me, there was no way I could put so many hours into a game to get so good.

"You're probably bored to tears." The call went silent for a second, "I should check if the twins are asleep anyways..."

"Alright, goodnight Rio."

"Good night Carmel."

Everything went quiet. The silence was the only presence other than me in the room. It left me to my thoughts but fled quickly when my chair squeaked and wined beneath me. I sighed and plugged my phone into the charger and stood up. The moment had been ruined. That perfect silence after the call ended had been a sort of wake up call. Everything that had happened this day rushed in to occupy my thoughts in that one brief moment silence. I didn't know how to feel. Nothing made sense.

I walked over to my closet and slid the door open. I reached in for my blanket and brought it to my cheek, it was a comforting feeling having that blanket softly stroke my cheek. It reminded me of something endearing and kinda childish, I couldn't place it but it felt...safe.

I smiled, not really knowing why, and took it with me to my bed. I gingerly spread the blanket across the mattress and slid underneath it. I sighed happily, there was a feeling of safety and it quickly lulled me into sleep.

"Yo Carmel!"

I rushed over to take the plates of pancakes from Boss. "I'm on it!"

I grabbed the plate and took it to one of the booth seats nearest to the door. "I have one plate of blueberry pancakes..." I placed them in front of the older man. "...and a plate of chocolate chip pancakes for the cutie," and I placed those in front of the little girl.

"Daddy...when am I going to get my milkshake?" I had to do everything in my power not to coo at how adorable the little girl was.

"Do you guys have the milkshake ready?" The dad looked at me and I smiled back.

"I'll bring it right out for you guys."

I headed for the kitchen and took one of the stacked metal cups used for mixing shakes. I brought the cup over to the ice cream dispenser and rotated the cup in a circular fashion so to-

"Carmel!"

I jumped in surprise and dropped the cup about ready to punch Boss.

"Woah." he chuckled "Careful there."

"Fucking..." I bit my tongue and bent over to pick up the cup, "Don't yell in somebody's ear...Jesus..."

"Here." he took the cup from my hand and began to fill it, "Why don't you go take a break?"

"Because..." I eyed him suspiciously, "M I eyed him suspiciously, "My lunch break i.?"

"Well I'd hate for you to miss your date with your girlfriend." I wish I could wipe that smirk right off his face.

"Mag is not my girlfr-" I stopped dead in my tracks, "Mag is outside?"

"Mhm." he nodded while he started the ice cream mixer.

"I...I'm taking my break." I snatched the milkshake from him as soon as he was done.

I basically stormed out of the kitchen. I looked around to see where she was. Why the hell did Mag come and visit me? I had tried calling her in the morning when I woke up but she didn't answer. I had to walk myself to work again because Nafhe was still throwing her pissy-fit.

There! Near the back windows! But she's with...that must be Stella...she even has the jet black raven hair that she had in the game.

"Daddy! Daddy! My milkshake's ready!"

I looked down into my hand, down into the metal cup in my hand, in my haste I had subconsciously taken the milkshake. I bit my lip and forced a smile, "Here you go."

"Thank you, miss!"

I did my best to nod as I took off my apron and approached the table. They were expecting me, I was sure of it; they were both sitting on one side and extra menu on the other. Who the hell were these people? I thought I knew Mag so well but...

I walked over to the booth and both of them looked over to me, I asked, "Is the other side taken?"

"No not at all, we were expecting you to be honest," The older girl said with a smile. So this was Stella. She seemed a lot more pleasing than Mag based on first impressions alone.

"Hi Carmel..." Mag said quietly.

I slipped into the seat across from them and gave her a stare to show my dissatisfaction, "Hey, Mag."

Mag looked down and stared at her thighs. She's never acted this way before, but then again, she's been doing a lot of things that aren't in her character lately. I was hoping this "meeting" will be the end of it, maybe I could finally understand why she went psycho the day before.

"Well I should probably introduce myself." Stella smiled not knowing that I already knew her identity. "I'm Stella."

She outstretched her hand and I shook it. It was so soft...her hand I mean, it was soft. Her skin was like a porcelain doll's; in fact she basically looked like a porcelain doll. She had that creamy pale skin without a single blemish, long neatly groomed raven hair, and the most vibrant blue eyes you'd have ever seen.

"Do you know who I am?" She asked as she brought her hand away from me and onto her menu.

I stared at her while she flipped through the menu, "You're Mag's sister, and you're the pigtailed girl with the crown from the game."

"Oh, she must've told you about me." she smiled as she looked up from her menu. "Has she told you how much she loves her big sister!?"

"Stella...!" Mag yelled, and then looked over to me, "Tell her everything I've said about her..."

"Uh..." I said awkwardly, "She's never mentioned you...at all..."

Stella gasped dramatically almost as if she were in some terrible soap opera, "Maggie, how could you!?"

"No! Carmel! Why?!" Mag screamed out as she was suddenly smothered by her older sister.

"Don't you think she's so cute, Carmel?" Stella looked euphoric hugging Mag, though I use the word "hug" lightly, it was more like a light stranglehold.

I sighed when I sat down. I was hoping I could get to an end to this and figure out what was happening. Now I just wanted to know if these two really were sisters. Didn't Stella know how much Mag hated hugs? I guess they both had that dark hair color, and similar eye color (even if Mag's was more violet than blue), and they both had um... an unfortunately small cup size.

"We're in public Stella!"

"Cheek kisses are completely legal!"

"Carmel, she's unclipping my bra!"

"Am not!"

I stared in disbelief. How was Boss not coming over to get them to shut up? How had no one called the police to report sexual assault? Why has no one done anything? Why have I not done anything?

"Enough!"

Both sisters stopped struggling and stared at me. There was a brief moment of silence before Mag slipped out of her sister's grip, slid under the table, and popped out beside me.

I held my breath. The right side of her face was bruised. I hadn't seen it since I had come from behind and was facing her from an angle. I must've had bruised her when I climbed onto her stomach and punched her.

"Remember what I told you that night?" Mag rubbed the cheek where her bruise was.

"'Don't log in to RAILS?'"

She gave me a light smile, "No, but that too. I told you that you wouldn't understand why I told you not to do that, but..."

"Hold on there Maggie." Stella interjected, "Don't tell me you're-"

"I want to tell her..." she looked over to her sister and then over back to me, "I want to tell her everything."

"But..." Stella seemed different...maybe everything I had seen up until now was a facade?

"Stella. Please. I trust her." Mag looked over from me to her. Funny, I never thought she was good at puppy dog eyes...err...I mean puppy dog eye, she can't make that bad eye look normal at all. Cool in a kinda morbid weird way, but not cute. That's why she grew her bangs out, actually.

"Please don't look at me like at me like that..."

"Stella...please..."

"Maggie...don't do the puppy dog eyes..."

"But I'm your sister..."

"Fine! I hope she's trustworthy enough," A shiver ran up my spine while Stella pouted.

"Are you talking about me?" I asked.

"You bet we are," Mag flashed me a thumbs up that wasn't as reassuring as she probably expected it to be. Her smile, however, was back to that coy grin I had known her to wear. That was a lot more reassuring.

"So Carmel…" Stella looked back to me with a relaxed smile, "If we tell you what's going on, your view point on the world, as you know it, will be completely changed.

I gave a polite chuckle, "You make this sound like a movie." In all seriousness, I almost half expected her to bring out a red and blue pill after she had said that.

Stella chuckled too, "I can't blame you for saying that. Listen, I'd like to invite you over to our home, we can explain everything there, do you have time today?"

Here they go again; they're talking about explaining something, something I supposedly can't possibly understand. I'm finally getting somewhere with these sisters but I'm still being kept in the dark.

I sighed, but before I could even answer someone said, "of course she has time!"

Oh no...

"Hey Boss."

"Hey Mag."

Boss and Mag have always gotten along well, like, surprisingly well. I'm not sure why but maybe it had something to do with the perverse pleasure they took in teasing me.

"I'm working this afternoon, you know that," I stated rather flatly.

"You should live a little more, it'll do you good." He placed a menu in front of me, "Besides, you have a lot of vacation days you haven't even used."

I glared and pushed the menu back to him, "I'm not hungry."

"Not hungry? You're not starving yourself again, are you? Me and my sister can pay for it." Mag tried pushing her menu onto me which I pushed back to her.

"Oh…" Stella said while folding her hands together to rest her head on. "Is your family not well off?"

"Yes-Wait. No...actually...I meant...uh..." I could feel my cheeks getting warm as I looked for the right words to say.

"Not that I can say." Boss rubbed his neck with that big smile of his, "I'm a friend of the family's. I think I changed Carmen's diapers once, now that I think about it."

"You stupid-" Oh god, I'm blushing I know it.

"Who's Carmen?" Stella asked with furrowed eyebrows.

I pointed to myself. "I'm Carmen."

I watched as Stella's eyebrows shot up. Had Mag told her my name was Carmel? And Stella believed her?

"Oh…" She cleared her throat, blushing. "I'm…uh…I'm sorry for the mix up Car-Carmen."

"I-It's fine." We were both blushing now. God, this was so awkward! "Um, you can still call me Carmel if you want."

"Are you sure?" Stella asked. "Is that what you prefer to go by? I do want to make sure you're comfortable."

Well that sentence was ironic. She beat me to a stain on the ground in Arcana and now she wants to make sure I'm comfortable? "Carmel is fine." I said a bit too coldly, but I didn't care. "Boss, I'm not hungry."

"Mag and I try to get her to eat something that isn't cup ramen and lentils but the girl is just too damn stubborn to understand." Boss ignored me and pushed the menu practically into my lap.

Mag giggled, "At least get a hot dog or something once in a while."'

"Hmm..." We all looked over to Stella, who had that smile she liked to wear, "What if I offered you a job? I can teach you my trade."

"Huh?" Mag and I said in unison.

"Hey, you can't barge in here and try to steal one of my employees!" Boss said half seriously.

"Oh no, I wouldn't at all!" Stella giggled, "She can come over once she's done at work here, it's relatively low-stress so she doesn't have to worry about school."

I was astounded; a new job right after this one, and it fell right into my lap. Hell, maybe I could even learn a little more about Mag while I'm there. Still, I won't be able to play as much Arcana as I wanted, but a job was a job.

I cleared my throat, "No offense Miss...uh..."

"Don't call me Miss!" Stella giggled and fanned herself with her own hand, "You're Maggie's best friend, and she talks about you all the time. Just call me Stella."

"Oh," I looked over to Mag who seemed flustered as well. "Okay then...Stella, what is your specialty?"

"Oh I uh..." Stella cleared her throat, "I do coding for a living."

"Oh..." Of course she had a job to do with a computer.

"Oh, Stella, Carmel isn't very..." Mag stopped to look for the right words, "Good with...anything...computer-y."

"That's fine, I can build her up from the ground up, teach her to avoid a lot of the pitfalls new coders have."

I didn't know what to say, this was great, this was a great opportunity, "T-thanks! I...thank you so much Stella."

"Of course!" She smiled and turned to face Boss, "Mind if we take your employee for the rest of today? We'll give her back just like we found her."

Boss laughed loudly. "First you all need to order your lunch!"

Thanks for reading chapter 3 of Arcana! As always, big thanks to my beta-reader Black Maiden who essentially co-wrote this chapter. So, uh let me rephrase that. Thanks to my co-writer, Black Maiden for working out the kinks in this chapter. Although, I do think she's demoted back to beta-reader next chapter, I'll have to check. Anyways, don't be afraid to drop a review with your honest opinion on the story, positive or negative.

So, I'm just going to re-post an argument I posted on reddit about Tron. I would reformat it for this site, but I kinda want to go watch episode 6 of SAO II right now, so, yeah.

You know, I never understood why the original Tron is such a cult classic {and why the sequel is so hated}. Was it the blending of animation and live action? Disney had already done that countless times before. Was it the religion plot they had thrown in? I've seen the entire, "We are gods to inferior beings" before. I think the only thing I liked about Tron was the visuals, and not because of the blending. Call me a hipster, but I fucking loved the look of the movie's vector style graphics.

Anyways, back to Legacy. I think it's a solid film, not the best, but solid. Great visuals, great music, great fight scenes, and the great Olivia Wilde. If anything the movie was great at one thing, being memorable.