The radiance of the moon beams pierced the dark clouds, giving light to an otherwise lifeless field. Behind the shopping complex, the empty plot of land was the remains of a sold corn field, purchased to continue the expansion of the city outwards into the largely outdated rural farm land. However, despite years of unuse, where the great creature stood, grass had taken root, shining with new life beneath the full moon.

“Bellissima, you don’t look like you’re lying when you say you don’t know what’s going on.” Pointing at the still growling small creature, he continued, “And from what I can tell, your ACE here can’t even explain the situation to you.”

Sarah scratched her head. New terms and concepts swam through her mind as she tried to realize the gravity this situation appeared to have. Given how it led the old man to believe she was going to do something malicious to his grandson, it appeared to be something more than just new furry friends coming from trading cards.

“To keep it brief, we’re caught up in a war of some kind.” He gestured towards the tortoise, “Much like your friend, we have a creature brought to this world to participate in some kind of battle.”

“Regent, one demands that you have defined an overabundance for our adversary. Our collective must-”

“These creatures have to do battle with each other to reach some sort of goal in their home world. Unfortunately, while mine has the opposite problem yours has, it’s hard to find out the whole story. He has trust issues.”

“Regent, you are not to be privy to knowledge that may as well undermine our objective. Your obstinate tongue reveals much even when discretion clearly is of the utmost pertinence.”

Sarah sat down on the hard dirt. She wanted answers, but just got a nice steaming serving of more questions instead. Carbuncle stood between her and the three ‘adversaries’ as the creature would call them. “That’s… That’s a lot to take in.”

While struggling to survive being just dropped in the world, she was now unwillingly enlisted to a war outside of it? What did the card game have to play in all of this?

“I know… I know.” As he tried to lean forward, Bruno recoiled from Carbuncle as if finally recognizing him being there. Clearing his throat, he stepped back to join his grandson and his creature, “Bellissima, there’s almost too much going on. If you want…” He paused, “If you want, I can take this burden from you as well.”

Before Sarah could answer, he began to walk towards the parking lot, “I will give you some time to decide before things get too bad. If you want to find me, just ask around.”

The man, the child, and the creature returned to civilization leaving Sarah behind. The moon returned to its cover, leaving her alone with the glittering creature. He bounded back to her, seemingly like he understood the gravity of the situation.

With his ears folded back, Carbuncle reached out a paw towards Sarah’s leg. He chirped quietly as she buried her face between her knees.

“I... I don’t know what all of this means…” Sarah picked her head up to look at Gemless Carbuncle.

He continued to chirp almost apologetically. The creature, while unable to speak, was very empathetic.

“One chirp for ‘no’, two chirps for ‘yes’. Do you know what is going on?”

Carbuncle squeaked twice and continued to do so sorrowfully once more.

“One chirp for ‘no’, two chirps for ‘yes’, remember?” Sarah straightened her posture, “Do you think you can actually win this war or whatever?”

With two chirps, Carbuncle began to get the picture.

“Lastly, one chirp for ‘no’, two chirps for ‘yes’: are you ever going to do something like that to make a grown man cry in fear for his family?”

Carbuncle chirped once.

The snow outside the coffee shop fell in sheets as those fortunate enough to be inside spoke loudly. Students preparing for their finals ranged from ones who felt confident and conversational versus the miserable pouring over their laptops and Glimmers rapidly trying to absorb the last crumbs of information they could before the deadline. The slow ambient lo-fi was replaced by baritones swooning Christmas carols as sleigh bells filled the majority of their backing tracks. Once dark and what could be described as ‘grungy’, the coffee shop appeared to have metamorphosed into a comfy log cabin with every light giving off a soft orange and every screen being taken up by a crackling fireplace. While the off-duty manager never seemed to work, when she came in, stuff got done.

Taking her place on the now warm counter, Sarah’s face met the glass, condensation forming around her mouth and nose. With Kyle on mop duty and Marty in the back just starting her 480 hour month, Sarah did her job to the best of her abilities.

Sitting up to scratch that one troublesome spot in her armpit, she glanced across the room and saw someone she felt like she had not seen in years.

The girl had long messy blonde hair. Her curls loosened to just aberrant strands falling around much like a lion’s mane. Her eyes shone a deep blue and her skin showed signs of outdoor work, in this case largely due to someone else’s influence subjecting her to it.

Finishing a laugh with her friends, she looked up just at the right time to see someone all too familiar to her too, stare back.

Before Sarah could even wave, the girl shot up and ran out of the coffee shop and into the driving snow, leaving her school equipment and friends behind.

With a deep sigh, Sarah leaned back as far as the stool would let her. Carbuncle sat on the counter, still playing with the chain that connected the pen to the counter in case some ancient crone came in to pay with paper checks.

She understood why the girl left in a jolt. Sarah did not wish for her to get into trouble in the slightest. Afterall, she seemed to be better slated to take over the company than her.

As Sarah moped, a figure appeared in the doorway dressed in a trenchcoat, obviously fake afro wig, and dollar store Groucho Marx glasses complete with the moustache. The strange man stumbled around the room, nearly hitting a table and disrupting a riveting card game of ‘Dos’. Finally bumbling his way to the counter, he spoke in a forced gruff voice, “The owl hunts at midnight.”

“I’m sorry, sir, I don’t carry cash in the regi-”

The ‘man’ lifted up her glasses, nearly scratching herself on the fake nose, and revealed herself to be Rebecca.

“Becky!” Sarah did all she could not to jump over the counter and tackle her sister.

“Shhh… I’m incognito!” She smiled back as tears welled in her eyes. “I honestly never thought I’d ever see you actually working a job, best sister.”

“It fucking sucks.” Now it was her turn to tear up, “I fucking miss you, and fucking miss Crystal, and fucking miss mom, and even fucking miss dad, and…”

Rebecca put a hand on her sister’s shoulder from across the counter. While Sarah had three years on her younger sister, she was shorter by nearly eight inches. “It’s okay… If it’s anything like my ‘trip’, you only have two weeks left!” She grinned in a way that pushed Sarah over the edge.

After trying to get herself back in order, Sarah blew her nose in the sleeve of her white shirt, “Shit, man. I’m supposed to be the one cheering you up…”

“Well, we all have our ups and our downs.” Rebecca checked to make sure her afro wig stayed upright, “I’m glad to see you’re doing alright. I had no clue where you went and what could happen…”

Sarah blew her nose again, “Yeah, I had no clue either. I’m living with Albert right now.” She dabbed her eyes with a brown paper towel, “It would be cool if he had some fucking internet and not smelled like goat shit.”

Still draped in a trenchcoat and a falling fake afro wig, Rebecca stopped and smiled.

“What?” Sarah asked, dabbing her eyes again.

“It’s nothing. I need to find a chance to sneak out and see you both. We haven’t seen Albert in… What? Eight years?”

“Yeah, it’s fucking weird, dude. He’s got, like, a beard now? But like one of those fuckin’ big beards.” Sarah’s hands stretched to mimic the sheer size of his facial hair. While always a larger-than-average guy, Albert was known the world over for his baby face and rosy cheeks.

Giggling at the exaggeration, Rebecca had to fix the falling wig on her head.

Wait, does she just carry around this outfit in case of moments like these?

As Sarah pondered this, Rebecca put on her Groucho Marx glasses again, making sure not to cut herself on the hard plastic of the nose, “I’m going to come by and visit you every day, Sarah.” She tried to put on her bravest face, “I don’t care if daddy finds out! Besides, I’m done with my finals, I’m going to be on my winter break.”

Scoffing, Sarah tried to poke at her sister from across the counter, “You? Break Dad’s rules? Becky, what have you been doing these past two weeks? You’ve changed, dude…”

Rebecca assumed the color of a beet, stammering all the while, “Y-yes I am! Daddy should know what it means for us to talk! And- and he should know what would happen if we didn’t!”

“Wow, you really have changed! You’re now actually threatening Dad and the stupid challenges he puts us through?” Sarah shrugged as her little sister put up her hands combatitively, “I thought you would’ve said something after a month in the wilderness?”

Rebecca shivered. Not from the cold, but the reason behind her acquired fear of fish.

“Oh, did you know about mom getting that gig at Manufacturing Mirages?” Sarah finally asked after her tormenting.

“Yeah, that card company or something? You never cared about the family businesses before?” Rebecca glanced over her shoulder and jumped slightly to see the small line that was forming behind her.

“Well, I’ve recently taken on a new hobby and it kinda affects me personally…” Sarah scratched her arm idly, “Don’t get me wrong, I love mom, but we both know why she’s doing this…”

Trying to side step and let the next person take their order, Rebecca shook her head, freeing some of her wild locks from the wig cap that spared her from the oppressive polyester curls that formed a solid sphere. Deepening her voice to a scratchy gruff version of herself, she quickly jammed her hand into her wig, “Maybe she’s just doing what she likes! Regardless young lady, thank you very much for the conversation, I will now non-suspiciously leave without ordering anything! Please do not notice the girl who walks back in the shop after I’ve made my departure!”

As quickly and with twice as much stumbling as she came in, the ‘old man’ stepped out into the raging snowstorm outside. After a few minutes, a shivering girl with her hair blown back and half frozen entered the warm shop once more and rejoined her friends, picking back up where she left off.

For the rest of the week, Rebecca came to the shop with her friends before dipping out and returning in her ridiculous disguise and speaking with Sarah.

“Do your friends actually know about that stupid get up you put on when you get here?”

The ‘man’ chuckled, “Stupid? I’ll have you know I am a master of disguise! In fact, Katherine over there told me yesterday she wished I didn’t keep leaving so I could see ‘the cute guy’ that comes in the shop that mysteriously leaves right before I come back.”

Glancing over, Sarah saw Rebecca’s best friend cradle her head in her arms, staring at the ‘man’ in a daze. She twirled her red hair, not even responding to what the guy next to her was saying.

“I will never doubt you again.”

After a synopsis on the latest episode of “The Actual Homemakers of the Greater Tri-State Area”, Rebecca slid something out from the thick trench coat and placed it on the glass countertop, still holding Sarah’s faceprint. “Oh, I nearly forgot, I think you’re going to need this, best sister…”

Sarah held her phone in what felt like decades. The gold glass felt cool to the touch, turning on once it recognized her grip and showing she had no missed messages. Her eyes began to grow heavy until her sister spoke up.

“I’ll have you know I snuck it out of the house! So don’t tell anyone, even when you come back…” Blushing, she had to adjust her wig for the twelfth time in five minutes, “And to keep up this bad streak, I told Kristoff I was going to be a bit late today, so you could show me that card shop once you’re done working…”

Sarah wiped her eyes, “Becky, you’re turning into an international criminal!”

With its ever-present smell of nerd-stink hanging in the air, the card shop was even more full than she left it yesterday. Friday nights apparently brought everyone out to the more niche social events as well. Carbuncle ran into the center of the room, chirping with excitement. Sarah nervously scanned the room for strange Italian men and their monstrous mammoth turtles that spoke like those guys who live at Renaissance Fairs. Thankfully, Friday nights did not seem to bring out that crowd.

Looking at Carbuncle, she felt sure in the answer she had for him, but was afraid of making an enemy out of him, especially with her sister by her side. Given how he thought she was going to do something heinous to his grandson, it stood to reason that he could do something similar out of desperation.

After batting back a few boys with glasses thicker than their arms, Sarah finally got a table with a few packs for her and a starter deck for her sister. Looking around, Rebecca seemed to enjoy the excitement and energy flowing around the room.

“Wow, I had no clue this was even here!”

“Yeah, it’s really for people who think doing math is fun.” Glancing at Rebecca, she grinned maliciously, “I guess that means you’ll blend in well.”

“W-well you just don’t appreciate the finer things in life!” Becky opened the box, dumping out a plastic-wrapped deck of cards.

“Huh, I should’ve guessed you’d pick the Alcademia deck, you nerd.” Opening her deck box, Sarah laid out a few cards that would support the type that she pulled from all the blister packs she’d opened. Sliding them towards her sister, she made a note to place the holographic System Outage utop the pile. “Here, these might help you out.”

Opening up her own packs, Carbuncle joined in to see what she was pulling. After the first few duds, Sarah glanced at the glowing varmint. Is there any fucking way for you to help me out here?

“Squeak!”

Yeah, I thought so…

As she held the last pack, the room fell silent. Closing her eyes and taking deep breaths, nothing else around her existed. Stars flew by. Galaxies zoomed past. She bore witness firsthand the birth and death of all that was, and is, and is to come. Time and space merged as one. Past, present, future; it did not matter.

The only thing that mattered was this card pack.

While still in the center of the universe, she opened the pack and flipped to the rare card slot as if possessed by a being higher than herself. With a breath that tickled her very soul, she opened her eyes.

There, in her hands, sat an ultra rare Lucky Cricket. Both the Behemoth card's text and art glittered beautifully under the fluorescent lighting. The corners were pristine, immaculate even. Sarah let loose a guttural 'guh' sound once the realisation hit her.

"Squeak!" Carbuncle's excited chirps brought her back to reality. Glancing around the card shop, time continued forward, indifferent to the spiritual journey she just weathered.

"Oh!" Cookie crumbs flew from Becky's mouth she had brought with her from the shop, "Dat one mufs be goode!"

Sarah grinned as she looked through her cards. "Hell yeah it is. Care to try it out?"

After a few hours of teaching, winning, and then promptly losing, Sarah sat with her sister and Carbuncle on the familiar bench in front of the shop, watching the snow drift by against the night sky. Thankfully, her secretary was far more reliable than Albert, and said he would arrive in exactly 12 minutes.

"Dude, you picked the game up quick!" Sarah sipped on the hot chocolate they picked up from the coffee shop before returning to the bench beside the road. She breathed out the steam like a dragon burning down a village and their horses.

Rebecca adjusted the trench coat she wore, this time without the ridiculous wig and gag glasses, "Yeah, it's not that hard. But it was pretty fun hanging with you again."

As the two recounted old stories with a family board game night tradition they used to hold, a figure appeared in the distance.

Dressed in a black designer coat and slacks with a matching tie, his blonde hair was coiffed and styled with great care. The sides were buzzed, leaving the top to look clean and professional. What appeared to be faded out tattoos, danced around his eyes. His earlobes hung loose, free of whatever massive earrings he wore previously. He held bags of groceries, some of which were topped with snow.

The man seemed to pay the two sisters no mind until-

"Squeak squeak squeak!"

Passing by, he looked right towards Carbuncle. He glowed with a radiant yellow aura once he locked eyes with the creature. His face slacked as he stared at the translucent creature in a muted rage.

"What a fuckin' weirdo…" Sarah made no effort to hide her whisper to her sister. Shaking himself back to his surroundings, he took on a softer expression. He extended his free hand in good faith.

"Hello young ladies, my name is Phillip Turner."