LEVEL 14

PLAYER TWO: FAUNA

My life had always been pretty boring and predictable—wake up, feed the cats, get to class, clock in at the animal shelter, video-game until my eyelids were heavy, sleep, repeat.

Dying my hair every color imaginable, coming up with vibrant makeup styles, and dressing myself like my own personal avatar from some far off, more interesting world was how I coped with the monotony of life. Everything was shades of boring…until I met Remy.

Remy was like opening blackout curtains to find morning light pouring into your bedroom. Her reckless abandon for whatever she wanted, whatever seemed right at the time was intoxicating. Licking slushie off my thighs, sneaking through a closed shopping mall, or stealing my kittens back—Remy didn’t care what anyone thought of her. Yet, in the grand conundrum that was all her, she cared a whole heck of a lot about me.

I didn’t deserve that kind of love, not after what I’d put her through: lying, hiding parts of myself, forcing her to go behind her brother’s back to get close to me. I thought I could diffuse the attraction and slip away back into my obscure beige life—but she wouldn’t let me, always pulling me in, pulling me out of myself, showing me color again. Despite her affinity for black, Remy was color personified. Remy was sunshine poured into the dark room that was me, and it would take me a while to comprehend what exactly I’d stepped into when I got to the Monroe twins’ apartment that night.

The whole band, plus Trevor, were huddled in various positions, clutching game devices. They cheered and welcomed me when I arrived, piecing together what was going on. V for Valin blinked across several monitors as the team finished off a herd of cyborg hyenas.

“Princess Peach!” Rollo called. “We’ve got a spare pink controller with your name on it. Bowser’s Castle awaits!”

“Hey, Faun,” Trevor said after taking a sip from a beer bottle. “Ready to kick some Valin ass?”

I looked to Remy. “What’s going on? Game night?”

Joss waved hello and tossed a pizza box into a pile with several others. “Oh, this isn’t game night. This is a slaughter, a reckoning. We crave vengeance!”

The band cheered and Trevor laughed.

Remy rubbed her forehead. “They’re all so clearly drunk.” A pillow flew across the room, and Remy caught it before it hit her face. Chuckling, she tossed it back at her assailant. “Except for you, Lennon. Always the responsible, sober one.”

Len nodded their approval, gave me a salute, and went back to fighting cyborgs.

“Wait.” I walked closer to the screens. “Cyborg hyenas are like…right before the end trails. How far into this are you guys?” Something pawed at my ankles, and I squealed in delight as I scooped up Turnip. He purred immediately as I cradled him.

Remy scratched my long-lost kitten’s ear. “This is all for you, princess. We’re beating the game. We need your help to push us over the edge, though.”

So casually, without even looking up from petting under the cat’s chin, Remy had changed my entire life.

“You—you have to be joking. How— Why would you do this?” Tears filled my eyes.

Remy cupped my jaw. “Haven’t you figured it out by now? I’d do anything for you.”

The band groaned dramatically in the background, and I couldn’t help my laugh as I wiped the tears from my eyes. Remy reached around my neck and carefully pulled my kitty cat headphones over my ears. “What do you say? Want to foil Prue’s devious schemes?”

I nodded. “Let’s do it. Put me in, coach.”

With my headphones on, I settled into a bean bag chair next to Trevor. Remy took a seat between my knees and leaned back onto my middle. The position threatened to both distract and calm me at the same time. I battled my desire along with the overwhelming sense of calm she brought. What a strange combination I’d never experienced before.

Trevor raised a playful eyebrow in my direction, and I flushed. He knew the whole time fake dating that I was into Remy. Though I’d never have admitted it, I thought I could brush the attraction away, but clearly, it was written all over my face the entire time. Still, I never saw him and Mary Jane coming. I wonder if Remy even cared? I mean…we basically just switched partners, didn’t we?

Those thoughts mixed with the gravity of all Remy meant to me as I rested my wrists on her shoulder, my thumbs clicking against the controls as we took down a party of skeleton overlords. The band had taken me in, no question, gaming for days on end, and no one made me feel like a loser. This was so bizarre… It was so nice. It was all because of Remy.

With a deep breath, I drew on the support of the people around me. I trusted in this little team of avatars on the screen and people under the neon lights of the twins’ gaming room as they joked and laughed—and I dove into my last battle with V for Valin, my fight against my shame, my urge to hide instead of stand up for myself. I fought against skeleton overlords on screen with magic from my broomstick—but internally, I warred against the part of me that always took the hits but never hit back. Had I made mistakes and trusted the wrong people? Yes. Did I deserve to live a life being small and hiding because of it? No. No, not anymore.

“We’ve almost beat moon core,” Joss proclaimed, her green buzz cut and muscular avatar tossing a skull into a pile of bones. “It’s end game.”

I responded, “We have to step through the moon exit portal together, holding hands, if our party is to stay intact.”

“For real?” Trevor asked, his mercenary avatar taking my pink witch’s hand. “Glad you’re with us, Faun.”

Remy’s avatar took my witch’s other hand. “We got this, princess.”

Joss, Rollo, and Lennon joined us, and we collectively stepped through the glowing purple archway to the final level of V for Valin, a trail only a handful of players had reached, much less completed.

Twinkling stars enveloped each of our characters, and the room fell silent, apart from the buzz of the monitors and the dramatic cut scene of our party being transported through pixels and stars. “Oh, by the way,” I broke the quiet tension of the room. Remy leaned back and looked up at me through those impossibly thick, dark lashes, making me swoon. “I know you cyber-fucked me with your brother’s avatar.”

The room lost their minds laughing—and I couldn’t contain my own smile as Remy put a hand to their chest like a mock shot had been fired. “You knew the whole time?”

Trevor groaned. “That’s so fucked up—you’re such a fucking punk.” He hit Remy’s shoulder.

Rollo said, “Y’all are too kinky for me.”

“I’m perceptive.” I grinned as our crew landed in the last part of the game. The tension lightened, the stakes feeling lower for a brief moment.

Remy gave my knee a playful bite. “No regrets.”

“Shit!” Trevor swore, and all our controllers vibrated. “Demon crows.”

“You guys fight and I’ll heal.” My witch avatar jumped on her broom, dodging crow attacks and casting pink glitter healing spells at the crew. Lennon was blasted by a magical crow, and I flew to assist. My healing spell just hit when Remy’s health bar flashed red—swarmed by crows.

Rollo tapped furiously on his controller, rolling his avatar to Remy’s defense and slicing the demon crows with his sword. The birds exploded, one by one, swirling into puffs of smoke as I healed the crew while taking minimal damage. But my damage was still damage, and I could only choose to heal my team or minimally heal myself in this final round. It was a pitfall that had cost even the most experienced parties to lose at this stage—their months of progress vanishing under a cloud of virtual feathers.

Joss welded her axe against the final crow, and the game flashed from shades of blue to a dark and ruddy sky. Our controllers shook again as a giant griffin landed in front of us.

ONLY ONE MAY ANSWER flashed in pixelated green text across the screen.

“What the fuck is this?” Remy asked as our characters swayed in place.

Trevor answered, “On three, we charge it and attack?”

“I’m not sure… I haven’t read anything about a griffin in this game,” I replied.

Rollo shrugged. “Not many have made it this far.”

Lennon nodded in agreement.

Joss’s avatar stretched in place. “It’s your call, Fauna. You’re the leader of this shindig. What do we do? Fight the beast?”

“I’ve never been the leader of anything before,” I replied, my uncertainty a whisper above the quiet whirl of the multiple game monitors. “What if I mess up?”

Remy gave my thigh a squeeze. “Fauna, if you fuck up…you get taken to dinner with my dad and get to listen to him tell you how it’s not so bad, you could always be me—I mean, Trevor.”

Trevor chuckled. “I thought this video game scene looked familiar. We have already survived one slaughter together. We’re family, Faun.”

I smiled and took a deep breath. “Okay…you guys stay back.”

Turnip jumped into my lap. Pinecone purred at Remy’s feet. Waffles found his home in Lennon’s arms, purring away. Clutching my broom, I directed my little pink witch forward. We’d been through a lot, me and her. V for Valin found me on a dreary night right after I’d moved into my loft above the shelter. I’d just started university classes, had always been bad at making friends, loved gaming, and thought I’d dive into the newly released RPG to find some community and purpose.

I knew I wanted her to have long pink hair. When I reached the level called Paths Forward, I’d known there was no other choice for me than to be a healing witch. Getting to fly, do magic, heal people; it was a lot more fun than beating trolls with nunchucks. It was to me, at least. Before I met Prue, I’d fly around and find parties battling, fly above them, and heal them for nothing. No coins or rubies needed; it was just fun to feel like I was helping people by doing magic.

One day in class, I was researching the game, plotting my journey through the layers of Valin, and Prue took interest. That evening, she made an avatar too. Purple hair, a witch like me; I thought we had so much in common. I thought she understood me. I thought I’d finally made a friend, a real friend, and it had been easy. For once, making a friend had been easy.

But I was wrong. She’d never really been a friend. A friend couldn’t have done what she’d done to me. No one should want to embarrass someone for the flaws they gathered during a close relationship. A real friend wouldn’t promise to look after me at a party only to lead me straight into a room full of demon crows. I was about to fight a griffin, but it wasn’t the real villain of my story. I was ready to put this villain into pixelated oblivion forever, and it wasn’t the monster on the screen I was thinking about.

The room, the game, even the kittens were silent as I approached the giant and mighty griffin. It looked so regal, with golden feathers and a swishing lion’s tail. There was no way I could fight it and win alone—and it was so beautiful, I didn’t really want to kill it, fake reality or not. Maybe that made me weak… If so, I guess I was losing V for Valin along with whatever was left of my privacy and dignity.

Approaching the griffin, I decided to risk it and not equip any spells or potions. The mythical creature cocked its head and, after a moment, text flashed across the screen.

WHAT IS ALWAYS COMING BUT NEVER ARRIVES?

Remy snickered. “Trevor’s girlfriends.” Her words were followed by a yowl, assuringly a jab from Trevor, but I couldn’t look and break my concentration. Joss and Rollo told the twins to knock it off.

My chat box opened and the cursor blinked, awaiting my response. In the top right corner of the screen, an hour glass dropped sand. “Oh, no, it’s timed,” I mumbled, hovering over the text. Then, it came to me. I typed it out and hit enter before I could second guess.

TOMORROW.

The word faded into oblivion, and the griffin bowed. Our controllers rumbled, and a robotic voice trilled from the game. “Congratulations. You are player seven to have completed V for Valin. Please proceed to the winners board.”

“This is it.” My hands trembled with cold sweat as the whiteboard was revealed.

PLAYER SIX WINNER: PRETTY IN PURPLE. CLICK TO REVEAL.

Joss scooted next to me and put a hand on my shoulder. “Do you want us to get out of here?”

I looked to my newfound friends, knowing they’d do whatever I asked, knowing they’d support me no matter what. How strange that this group of people had done something for me, gamed for hours on end, to get me to this place, that they offered their friendship so freely, with no strings, and I didn’t have to earn it. That was such a new feeling for me. Maybe I’d defeated Prue in more ways than one because of them—and they didn’t even know it.

“You can stay,” I said. “I might need help getting this down.”

Joss nodded.

I clicked Prue’s handle, and a video popped up. I knew from the flash of pink that it was of me; it was everything I’d feared.

Remy grabbed my controller and paused the video swiftly. “Lennon, any ideas how we wipe this?”

Lennon took my controller and tapped for a moment before pointing toward the analog keyboard.

Rollo handed it over. “You can delete it, right?”

Lennon clicked and worked, and my nerves built. What if all of this was for nothing? I hadn’t considered how I’d get the video down…

Remy patted a beat on the side of my leg.

Despite my anxiety, I smiled. “Such a drummer.”

“Speaking of drums,” Joss said, “I got a text earlier. They invited us back to re-do our set, asking for it to be the same as last time.”

Remy arched a brow. “What does that mean?”

Rollo threw a pillow at Remy from across the room. “They want the drummer to pitch a fit on stage again. Management thought it was a scene, an act, and the crowd fucking loved it.”

“As long as it doesn’t conflict with Trevor’s game.” Remy shrugged.

Trevor raised his eyebrows. “You’re coming?”

“Don’t make a big deal about it.”

I bit my lip to hide my grin. My fake boyfriend lead me to my real girlfriend. Oh, my God. My girlfriend .

“Len’s done it,” Rollo announced. “The video’s been reported to the host masters, flagged, and removed.”

Shock and disbelief rippled through me as I glanced up to find Prue’s name blurred, her upload gone. “You did it. You guys did it.”

“We all did it together.” Remy pulled me close. “Fuck that bitch.”

It was over.

My nightmare was finally over.

My reputation was saved, and it was all thanks to a band called the Mall Ratz.