People weaved through the bookshelves, a handful of the few who still appreciated the ancient medium. Dancing warmly in the corner, the fire in the cordoned off fireplace attracted legions of librophiles to gather around and cozy up with a good book. A few of the tables supported a person or two, the numbers declining over the years.

Sarah was not much of a reader, but enjoyed a good trashy romance novel once in a blue moon. Trying to blend into the other readers with a copy of “Worlds Apart”, a story of two lovers born on Earth and Mars, trying to make their relationship work, she was afraid of getting too involved in the book and miss her appointment.

As she flipped through the pages, she noticed a strange mark on her finger. On the right ring digit, a tight green hoop laced around it, emitting a dull teal glow. That’s not fuckin’ good.

Out of the corner of her eye, a woman wearing a familiar afro wig, glasses and trench coat peeked over from behind the shelving.

With a quick nod, the woman drew near and recited the rehearsed phrase, “As there is a saying, that a more docile dog has longer to live." Taking off her ridiculous get-up after reciting the equally ridiculous code phrase, Crystal released a deep sigh of relief, before breaking out her most cheesy grin, “Sarah! I missed you so much, bae!”

Clasping her hand, Sarah tried her best not to get swept up in the wave of emotions, “I missed you more, bitch!”

Crystal Jimenez was just a year younger than Sarah, but already had some work done. Her naturally tan skin contrasted against the white top she wore, something ill fitting for the weather outside. Her blonde hair looked freshly dyed and matched her recently cleaned teeth. As the lead receptionist for Mr. Weatherford himself, Crystal always had to look her best.

“No!” She made sure to exaggerate her tone, “I was the one thinking that you just, like, suddenly died outta nowhere when you just up and disappeared!”

Noticing her best friend take her usual loud tone, Sarah felt at ease that she was not followed. “Well you already fuckin’ know what happened! Pops just decided to cut me loose! Fuckin’ sucked.”

“Well…” Crystal sat back in her chair, resting an arm over the top, “I heard there was more to the story than that…” She waved her hand as she leaned forward, “But we don’t gotta talk about that right now! So, girl, I’m sure you heard about what fuckin’ Stacy did to Margaret, right?”

“Fuckin’ no? I’ve been on my brother’s ranch and shit, we don’t have fuckin’ anything!”

As Sarah was regiled with the return of her favorite suitor on ‘The Single Person’, both her ‘ape brain’ and the pain in her chest were slowly satisfied. Her eyes began to swim.

“-and Josh Pablo James came out and was all…” Crystal stopped for the first time since swapping shows, “Is everything alright? Am I talking too fast again? I know you hate it when I do that…”

“No, you dummy…” She swore as she felt a lone tear run down her cheek, “I just missed you…”

Without a word, Crystal got up and hugged her best friend. The two held each other for what felt like hours. Letting the moment pass, Crystal took her seat and continued, “So, it seems like you’ve had a wild five weeks. Spill the deets, girl.”

Sniffling louder than an elephant with congestion issues, Sarah blew her nose into the sleeve of her favorite houndstooth sweater, “I dunno, nothing really crazy happened… I, uh, made some new friends and picked up a new hobby… I saw mother made a new acquisition."

“Oh yeah!” Crystal resumed her default peppy disposition, “Some place called ‘Imagining Illusions’ or something like that? What do they do again?” She crossed her arms and got lost in thought.

“She bought out Manufacturing Mirages shortly after I left, I think. They make a card game or something…” Sarah put up an ignorant front, she did not want her best friend knowing she picked up such an embarrassing pass-time. She did not have much, but whatever street cred she could maintain, she wanted to keep.

“Right, that place.” The latina scratched her dyed blond hair, “What would Dr. W want with a place like that? I didn’t think people still played card games?”

“I, uh, know a few people who do… Seems like they make a pretty good product.”

“Have you heard from her? Your mom?” Crystal leaned in, something she did when she was planning something.

“Nah, I figured she was mad at me too…”

“Gurrrl, you can’t just say both of your parents are mad at you enough to kick you out of the house and not serve out the tea? I thought we practiced etiquette and honesty in this house?” Throwing in a snap, Crystal leaned back in her seat.

Sarah loosed a long, drawn out sigh, occasionally looking at her table mate to see if she would catch on to her lack of enthusiasm on this particular topic. After enough of a show, Sarah relented, “Fine. But you can’t tell anyone else! You know how the hired hands around my place like to gossip!”

Crystal jokingly moved her hands in the shape of the Rosary, getting the forehead and the right shoulder mixed up in the process, “Cross my heart, sis.”

“Well…” Sarah reflexively looked off to the side, “So you remember that guy, right?”

“Wait, the one with the-?” She scratched the air before her chin, “Or do you mean he guy with the-'' She held her short hair in a ponytail.

“No, the one with the big chest,” She puffed herself up to showcase her pantomiming skills in turn, “You know, we met him at that party on St. John’s? At that nice lake house?”

“I think? I was more interested in that guy who-” Crystal then performed a hat trick of motions that only left Sarah confused.

“Okay, well, at least you know where the party was. Anyways, so I wanted to show him the private jet…”

“‘Ol’ Jetsie?”

“Yeah.” I’m beginning to get where Albert gets his naming conventions from… “So, we got on the jet, had a good time… And well, apparently pops needed the jet first thing that morning, so…”

“No! Did he…?”

“It’s kinda weird for your billionaire dad and his newest clients to walk in on you taking up and getting taken out on his favorite chair…”

Crystal looked like she was about to pass out from a fever.

“So, your dad…”

“Yup. He, uh, hasn’t really said a word to me since…” The slight twinge of regret hit her again, something that still happened daily, “I really don’t know what happened to Jason either. That was the guy.”

“Oh, Jason! He sold life insurance or something?”

“I guess? That was the last thing I cared about, really.”

“Yeah! He was trying to sell me some there at the lake house. Saying something about how the company he was with was ‘totally not a scam’ and ‘offered really good rates for my friends’ and shit.” Crystal exaggeratedly moved her hands with every quote, something she did frequently.

“Mmhm. So, that’s the real reason why I’ve kinda vanished.” Sarah sat back in her chair, “I’ve always said it was for the same thing that happened to Becky, sending her out into the wilderness like that. Looking back, it kinda wasn’t fuckin’ worth it…”

“So, what now?” Crystal still smiled reassuringly, but she had a determined look in her eye.

In truth, Sarah had always hated this question. Albert was always set up to take the company, and when he left, Rebecca was immediately assumed to be the next in line, completely skipping over the middle child. Outside of the company, Sarah had nothing. She breezed through school, not caring so much about any particular course. Sports were not an option either, having joined a homeschool cheerleading team for all of one week and quit when she was not head cheerleader. She had moved from one party to the next, enjoying the socializing, but more importantly, putting off thinking about tomorrow. In short, she had no purpose.

“I don’t fucking know…” She looked off to the side, catching the titles of a few books, anything to relieve her from the dreaded question. “I was kinda hoping being on my own would help me find something, y’know? Silver linings ‘n shit.”

“Well…” Crystal leaned back, finally relieving some of the pressure she exuded, “I’m your best friend, so if you ever want to talk, I’m always down to listen, bitch.”

“Thanks.” It was all she could say.

“I think you should talk to your mom.” The topic came up so suddenly, it shook Sarah from the pit she had taken up residence in for years.

“She was asking about you the other day. Saying stuff like, ‘Have you heard from Sarah?’ and ‘We should have let her kept her phone, the world is only getting worse!’, y’know, typical millennial stuff.”

“No way… She’s only saying that.”

“I wish! Every time she sees me, that’s the first thing she asks! Everytime! Like clockwork!”

Sarah had to sit back in her chair. She saw her mom way less than she saw her dad. Dr. Priscilla Weatherford saw herself as her husband’s number one rival and worked twice as hard just to keep up with his inherent talents. She was there when she needed to be, but rarely anytime outside of that. But if she had to make a guess, she might consider herself her mother’s favorite of the three.

“Wow. Color me surprised, then.” She had the license to be as open as she wanted with Crystal, but something about the topic forced her to raise her defenses. “You know what? I might as well.”

Crystal nodded excitedly, “There you go! I’m sure Dr. W would be glad to see you again!”

Before she could say anything, a familiar voice singing a Japanese song began to play loudly. Crystal scrambled into her purse to grab the ringing phone before putting it on the table, fully flushed.

“Crystal Jimenez… I had no fuckin’ idea that you were a FUCKIN’ WEEB!”

“I mean... “ It was her turn to avoid eye contact, “I dunno, some of it’s kinda cool… I think you might like Mahou Shoujo Yuri Magica Arashi…”

Sarah rolled her eyes, reminded of Jim, Tim and Mike at the card shop. She had to take a deep breath before falling into old habits, “You know what? If you say it’s good, we’ll check it out next time we’re at your place.”

With no other choice but to become alight with something other than the embarrassment she had only but a second ago, “Holy shit… Prison did change you…”

“Bruh, this place is a pigsty.”

“Mikey! You can’t just say that about a girl’s room! But it is a wreck, holy crap.”

The twins danced around various clutter that still filled the room. Despite living there for a month and a half, Sarah never found the chance to clean the place up. Unwashed clothes hung off of old farm equipment, vintage “collectibles” found themselves topped with loose trading cards and make-up, and lastly the bed resembled more of a heap of fabrics rather than a place one could lay their head.

“Eh, it’s only temporary!” Sarah waved the insults away. “I honestly never thought I’d have anyone over to actually give a damn about this junk heap.” Pushing the clothes, a seafoam green and crimson quilt, and the embarrassing Christmas outfit onto the floor, she patted a spot next to her that still might be a tight fit for both of her guests. “We’ve got some strategizing to do!”

Huddled close together both out of habit and circumstance, the two sat on the bed as Sarah got up and fished a goldenrod mailing envelope out from the pile on the desk on the other wall, pushing the bed holding the invisible sleeping Carbuncle, “These here are my trade cards, I’ll give you both anything you want out of here for anything specific I might be looking for!”

“Sarah, how does your brother let you live here? You can barely walk across the room!”

With a shrug, she plopped on the cot beside them, “It was mostly like this when I moved in. Nothing big!”

Mike stood, nearly hitting his head on the low roof, “Bruh, mom would straight up murder us if we left anything on the ground!” With a quick shudder, he compulsively started folding clothes, creating a neat stack, “Why don’t I pick up around the place a little and you two to get started on deckbuilding?”

Sarah glanced over to Mica, who was already folding the quilt that found its way onto the floor. “Normally Lily or even my sister would just clean things up. Never really had to worry about cleaning up, but I guess that makes sense since Albert doesn’t have any hired hands…”

“So,” She spread her cards out on the now cleared bed space, “I was thinking I keep building around my Gemless Carbuncle, since it’s, uh… a really good card?” She glanced over towards the ghostly rabbit creature asleep in her houndstooth sweater on the desk.

“Bruh, I told you before, that card is straight up broken.” Mikey continued to pick up around the room, making sure not to touch any used underwear that was left unceremoniously out in the open.

“Yeah, that’s a good point. Since it can evolve into anything and ramp, it’s better than most 3 drops.” Mica looked through Sarah’s deck that was handed to her, “You’ve got a pretty good start here, so let’s just build onto that.”

“What civilizations is she running, Mic?” The tall high school boy meticulously uprighted some old propane tanks, maintaining a careful distance from the old pair of ‘Sloggin’ Toes’ which were quickly shoved in the corner.

“You guys don’t have to clean my place for me…” Sarah looked between the two, half relieved and half upset the first people she brought over to her new corner of the world felt obligated to clean for her.

“It’s fine, Mikey and I clean around our home constantly. Stupid rich people…” Mica flipped through the deck again, “Alcademia and Behemoth.”

Mike slowed down for a second, “Not bad. Alcademia are all about field control and card draw while Behemoth are about accelerating the gamestate to getting to your pay offs faster…” He looked over to the two girls still on the bed, “What’s her top side?”

“My wha-”

“Looks like two Miraelle. Nine play point card. Can’t believe this rich thot actually pulled her…”

“Hey, fuck you, I heard that!”

“Crap. I forgot to whisper that…”

As Sarah threw a playful punch, Mica expertly dodged while not moving from her spot.

“That’s not too bad. Cripples your opponent while giving yourself a small defensive wall as well…” He wiped his brow, silently swearing after stacking the sacks of sand, “Have you thought about running other civs?”

“I mean, I did run Noble and Miracle while stomping the both of you…” She flashed a cheeky grin towards Mica, stammering to raise a comeback, “I still have my copy of Sunlifter. I also pulled a copy of Oceanos Erudito from my newest box.”

As she dug through her loose collection of holographics cards rattling around in a mailing envelope, both Mike and his sister cringed, “What does that card do again?”

“Let’s see… Academia, 7 play point, 7 attack Sky Whale, ‘[Blocker] Arrival: Place 1 card from your hand to your shields face down.’ Sounds pretty fuckin’ nasty!”

Mica placed her hand on Sarah’s arm, stopping her from shaking the card more than she already had, “Yeah, but that’s not a good fit for your deck. You kinda lean towards beatdown strategies rather than control like that card. Trust me, you’d rather play something more offensive.”

“Yeah, sounds about right…” Mike muttered as he finished placing everything out of the way against the wall. The entire room was surprised to see the carpet was a rich lavender, contrasting from the beige outside. Maybe the carpet outside was also this shade of purple originally?

“Sunlifter isn’t bad. Still one of the best [Sonic Strike] cards there is, but I don’t think there’s a green-blue-red Strike Leader.” Mica scratched her head, this time dressed like a person living in the current century. “Besides, your current Strike Leader, Artephius, works stupid well with your Carbuncle.”

Carbuncle chirped up from his bed on the desk at the mention of his name.

“Yeah, sounds like we just need to tighten the ratios on your deck so you can draw what you need more likely.” Mike collapsed on the bed, purposefully aiming to land on his sister.

“For once, my dumb brother is right.” She slid to the side closer to Sarah, causing Mike to fall back and hit his head on the wall. “For example, you don’t gotta flex on your opponent with four Lucky Crickets! Besides, you don’t need to ramp that much when you’ve got… nine cards that do that! Jesus Christ, that card’s, like, $150 a piece!”

“But even Mikey said Behemoth is all about ramping!” She gestured towards the twin sitting upright, rubbing the back of his head.

“Yeah, but what good is ramping when you’re already at ten play points? You don’t get any bonuses for playing them when they aren’t generating you anything.”

“Bruh, cut to, like, two or something. Play something with less cost since you like aggro so much.”

“I guess you both make a good point… Let’s put in two more Pippi, Fox Maidens since they can reduce the cost of my cards more." She began to remove the sleeve from the two ultra rare cards, both of which the twins lifted their hands in defense for, "Hey, while we’re at it, why don’t build another deck? I was thinking of a good Noble and Heathen combo that would be pretty cool.”

“Sure?” Mica looked towards her brother and shrugged, “But let’s finish this deck first.”

Sarah pulled her jacket tighter. With Carbuncle balancing on her shoulder, she checked the time on her phone. After awkwardly meeting again, the both worked out a time that would work best. Despite her best efforts, Bruno would not hear her out on the fatality of the ACE duel. She had a hard time believing it herself. But the way he avoided the topic altogether caused her to pace in a circle.

That would fucking suck. ‘Death by card games’. What a stupid epitaph.

She felt for her deck box again for the thirtieth time. Phillip would have little reason to lie. Hell, he probably doesn’t even know how to lie. Unless he said all of that just to avoid duelling me…

The park air hung heavy with a low grey mist, blocking out the sky. A few people ran by, scaring her out of her britches every time as she stood beneath the gazebo.

“Yo Carbuncle.”

“Squeak?”

“Speak once for ‘yes’ and twice for ‘no’, do you actually fucking die if you lose one of these ACE duels?”

“Squeak.”

“Fuck.”

She ran through the hundreds of scenarios she had been simulating for a week now. “Maybe I can talk him out of it? He’s got a grandkid and stuff. If he died, then Roberto would be all alone!”

“I’ve got a friend that would take care of little Ricardo if something happened.”

The thick Italian accent caused Sarah to almost hit her head on the top of the government funded structure.

“Holy fucking shit! Don’t just sneak up on people like that!”

Bruno covered the ears of the small boy he was carrying. The sight reminded her of how a normal sized guy would carry a football. “Don’t speak like that in front of a child! Don’t you have any shame?”

“Sorry.” Clamming up before a shouting man who stood chest, head and shoulders above her quickly seemed to be the right thing to do.

With a heavy sigh, Bruno sat at the table beneath the gazebo, setting Ricardo next to him. Sarah sat opposite of him.

“Old guy, we don’t have to do this! One of us might di-”

“One of us will die.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, “I gave you a way out. Something I wish someone would have offered to me.”

“Look, I know a guy who doesn’t duel at all, we just have to-”

A large stump of a turtle’s leg came into view outside the gazebo, still the same holographic green as Carbuncle, “It is of most misfortune that we must convene as such, my lady. One regrettably is required to inform you we have no intention of acquiescing this trial even to one as puerile as yourself.”

“But we don’t have to fight! We can just go home and, I dunno, fuckin’ jerk off or something!”

“Grampie, what does ‘jer-cough’ mean?”

Bruno deftly covered his grandson’s ears once again, “Were you always like this? I thought you were so well mannered when we first met!”

After not hearing a rebuttal, Bruno closed his eyes once again, releasing his grandson. “You do not seem to get it.” He pointed towards her hands, as she looked to find a tightly bound around her ring finger, a ghostly ring emanating around it. It was the same color as their ACE creatures, “Once you either challenge someone to an ACE duel or are challenged by someone to an ACE duel, then you are bound to the game. Surely, you have noticed?”

Fuck. I kinda thought it was me binding to Carbuncle or some shit. She looked at his hands and found no such ring. “And what about yours?”

Ricardo smiled and lifted his hands.