Fragment Chapter II: Gate of Avalon

"And use a Force here."

"Yes ma'am." With a tap of a button, their score of fifteen doubled to thirty, well above their opponent's seventeen. A congratulatory ring sounded out as the words "You Win" appeared on the ARCUS' screen.

"Told you I'm awesome," Fie said with a fluttering sense of pride in her tone. She leaned her head more to Rean's shoulder.

He tilted his brow in response, "Last time I checked, our score was forty to thirty-seven. In favor of me."

"Psh, those last three wins were a fluke. You got lucky."

"Nobody likes a sore loser~"

"Oh shut up," Fie said, pulling on the cheek of her favorite playmate.

It really was a fluke though. No way did Rean anticipate her master plan three times in a row. Countering with a Mirror was cheating.

Cheek pulling aside, they snuggled closer together under their blanket. A light rain drizzled outside the Phoenix Wings, so the two decided to spend their evening in front of the fireplace. A rogue invitation from a certain ex-terrorist however, led them into the fierce marathon of 'Blade' they were in right now.

"Still can't believe Towa made this playable on our ARCUS," Fie said. "I knew she was something, but I wasn't expecting her to be a gamer or a programmer too."

Rean pressed the 'Accept Rematch' button. Several cards appeared on his side of the screen as the first draw of cards signaled the start of the match. "She's had help from Crow and George if I remember correctly. And quite honestly, considering Sharon exists, I'm not surprised."

"Some people have all the talent, don't they? Bolt." With swift divine justice, their opponent's early strategy of spamming high numbered cards was curbed instantaneously. After another win, they were brought back to the home screen of the game app. "What's with the name change though?"

In the middle of the screen was the title 'Gate of Avalon' in dark red print. Rean issued another rematch before responding, "I'm not sure, probably to market it. It'd sell better with a cooler and a catchier name than 'Blade.'"

"Kinda miss the old designs too…" Fie pouted. She stared at the cards in their hand. The new images were those of ash-colored staves, rapiers, hammers, and even a weird gauntlet sword-like weapon. "Ah, two Forces."

After the duo's seventh straight win, a call rang through Rean's ARCUS, breaking their streak. The caller ID showed a familiar name.

"Speaking of," Rean said before answering the call and bringing up the live video feed. "Hey Towa, what's up?"

The brown haired instructor smiled bashfully at her colleague, "Oh nothing~ I heard there was a storm in North Erebonia and I wanted to check up on you. Seems everything's fine though."

"Thanks for the concern." The younger instructor smiled in return. "The rain wasn't so bad. Just cold is all."

"Oh thank goodness… And I see Fie's there with you too. Hello Fie~" The kind-hearted woman waved, which appeared more like a child waving towards her mother more than anything.

"Hey."

"I wasn't interrupting something, was I?"

"You're good," Fie reassured her worried looking senior.

"Actually, we were just talking about you," Rean piped up.

"Me?"

"Yeah, you never told us you could play 'Blade,'" Fie said.

"Or that you were proficient in software programming," Rean added.

"...huh?" The petite woman gawked at the two.

A ring on Fie's ARCUS interrupted their conversation. Flipping it open, a frustrated voice yelled from the tiny speakers.

"Yo Rean! What's with the holdup? Don't think I'll let you get away while you're ahead. I'll definitely win the next round!"

"Crow?" Towa asked.

"Eh? Towa?"

Fie opened her video feed as well. Disheveled grey hair and red annoyed eyes greeted the three individuals as Crow Armbrust appeared on the screen.

"Hey Crow," chirped Towa.

"Sorry for the wait," Rean apologized.

"Don't call on my ARCUS just to yell," Fie reprimanded.

"No no. This is perfect!" A deadly glint shone in Crow's eyes, "Master Towa! Let's teach these two young'uns never to mess with their elders in a 2v2 round of 'Blade!'"

"Master?!"

Fie sat up from her comfortable position on Rean's shoulder, "I don't mind."

"I'm up too," Rean said. "Though you do realize you're still not gonna win, right?"

"Oho, you never fought Towa before. She'd mop the floor with both of you."

"Hold on, hold on, I'd mop the floor with them on what?"

"'Gate of Avalon,'" Crow answered. "You know, that game you programmed yourself?"

"I did?"

"Yeap."

"Since when?"

"A few weeks ago?"

"I don't remember?"

"I do. I'm pretty sure a brown-haired midget chatted George and yours truly to have her game published on the orbal net."

"Don't call me midget, and I swear I don't remember anything about that at all. I don't even play 'Gate of Avalon!'"

"Yet you have a separate ARCUS just to play the game on. Right…" Crow said.

"Why won't you believe me?!" the petite instructor whined.

The two juniors could only look at each other with the same puzzled expression.

Elsewhere…

"And blow them away!" a bespectacled teacher exclaimed. Her brown ponytail flicked to her back as the petite woman mimicked a spellcasting motion she had seen in a fantasy movie.

"Ah, dang. You blew my trump card," George Nome said through the screen of the computer. A congratulatory message popped up as the rotund man was not able to play a card to one-up the woman's score. "Guess you really can't beat the master after all. Thanks for the game Towa."

"Aww, I'm not that special. But thank you, George!" 'Towa' smiled at him as she fixed her ponytail back to her side, a tiny blush on her innocent cheeks. "You were pretty good too. Let's play again sometime!"

"Gotta say, diggin' the new instructor look you going for. Looks pretty modern."

The tiny woman spun on the spot, her short blue skirt swaying with the movement. She rolled up her blouse sleeves before scratching the back of her head. "Hehe, thanks~ I hope the students will like it too."

"I'm sure they'll adore you," George complimented with his usual toothy grin. "Gotta go now though. Good Luck and don't stress about it too much okay?"

"Bye George!" With the farewell, her friend logged off.

'Towa' shut down her computer as well. It was simply embarrassing for her to miss the first day of school because of a few games. Although she couldn't hide her giddy that her new friends loved her game.

She wasn't sure where 'Erebonia' was though. It sounded familiar, but she let it slide. It was probably just a foreign city in a country she wasn't aware of. It was rude to ask personal questions online after all.

Gathering her homeroom materials, 'Towa' frolicked down the steps of her house. She slid the traditional Japanese doors open when her eyes widened in delight. "Ah, Kou-chan~! Ready for high school?"

Sat on the opposite end of the table was her cousin and longtime delinquent student Kou. The teenager shook his dark brown hair as he continued to shove rice into his mouth.

"Kou-chan, did I say something?" Towa said in a worried tone as she sat down. She still struggled with dealing with her temperamental cousin most of the time. Sometimes he would just outright ignore her. She chalked it up to puberty though, so she didn't take it personally.

"It's nothing. Midget Towa-nee," the boy said through bites of his meal.

"Don't call me midget!" the petite instructor whined. "I'm 23 you know!"

"I'll stop calling you midget if you promise to not call me Kou-chan in class." Amber eyes fought green ones as the two cousins stared each other down.

The older and more mature of the two relented. Towa Kokonoe sighed.

"Fine… I promise."

Apparently, orbal net waves travel through dimensions. It's a Falcomception!

Sorry if this chapter is a bit confusing if you haven't played Tokyo Xanadu. If you haven't, I highly recommend it.

Credits to Heero de Fanel and his 'Snapshots' fic for inspiring this chapter. Go read that too.

Lastly, ONE MORE CHAPTER before I write for the Dark Prince again. I promise.

See ya.