Suara sat up in the Spawning Square for the third time in under two hours. Celeste de l’Ouest sat beside her with her shoulders slumped, and turned her head as Suara sneezed water from her nose. She stayed quiet, but her face showed shame and frustration.

“Sorry, Celeste,” Suara said. “I thought that was pretty fun, but I think I understand why you’re upset. Our characters are a form of self-expression. Whether we’re trying to be goofy, or create something that represents how we feel about ourselves, I think a lot of us hope to find other people who see what we’re willing to share about ourselves, and like it as much as we do.

“I guess… I’m sorry this game makes you share something about yourself that you’d rather not, and I’m sorry if you get teased for it.”

Celeste sighed. “Yeah, I’m sorry too Suara. I think I needed to let off some steam. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

“Did it work at least? Do you feel better?”

“Yeah.” She held up her hand and water poured out of her gauntlet. “I really do.”

“Well I had fun, so no harm done!” Suara jumped to her feet and held out her hand. Celeste accepted the hand, but when she tried to pull her up the heavier woman in her armour pulled her face down into the water.

When Suara lifted her head, Celeste was laughing. “You’re going to need more points in Strength if you want to help me up, I guess. And especially if you want to use that Knight’s Straightsword.”

Celeste’s friends helped Suara out of the fountain and then pulled Celeste out as well.

“I might put more points in Strength,” she said. “I don’t know what I want to do yet.”

“You could join my platoon. It’s like the Guild system you would see in other games, except this one is under the Town Guard faction, so it has features that tie in with them.”

“Oh,” Suara said. She wasn’t ready to commit to something like that yet. “Maybe after I learn more about the game.”

“Are you really new?” Celeste asked. “That was a Unique card you killed us with, wasn’t it? I thought you were a twink or something.”

“Huh? What’s a twink?” She hoped Celeste wasn’t about to give her a hard time for being ignorant.

“It’s a slender gay boy,” one of Celeste’s friends said through a mischievous giggle.

Celeste whacked her shoulder. “Stop it, Fandha.” She forced away her smirk and focused her attention back on Suara. “A twink is a character with gear beyond their level. You know, high level players gear up a low level one and pick on newbies or take on dungeons they shouldn’t stand a chance in. It’s hard to do in this game though.”

“Oh, I just started with this card but it seems strong so I want to try to use it last,” she explained.

“What’s it do?” Fandha butt in. She leaned forward expectantly.

“Um, seven-hundred and fifty Attack I think. But it’s a spell so I can only strike with it once.”

Celeste shook her head. “That’s unreal. I’ve never seen anything like that. Then again I’m only level thirty.”

Fandha cocked her head. “It boosts Attack but deals magic damage?”

“Uh…” Suara pulled up her cards and read Sword of the Stranger again. “It does whichever is better.” She shrugged. “I just started the game with it.”

“That’s extremely weird. You really are a mystery.” came Xander’s voice behind her.

“You’re back,” she sighed.

“What’s with that tone? I thought we were all making friends here.” He was crouched on the edge of the fountain.

“Alright, we’ll stop bugging you, Suara. Looks like your elf pal wants to hang out, and we have somewhere to be anyway. Maybe next time we meet I can properly introduce you to my platoon and we can team up for something.”

“Sounds like fun!” She waved.

Celeste and her two companions left, but as she was walking away a box popped up before Suara.

FRIEND REQUEST Celeste de l'Ouest DECLINE ACCEPT

She accepted the request. “I got a friend!” She clapped her hands together. Then she spotted Xander frowning at her. “I guess you were my first friend though, Xander.”

He gave her a thumbs up. “You know that’s right!”

FRIEND REQUEST Xander Fey DECLINE ACCEPT

She still found him a little weird, especially the way he stabbed her that time and then started following her everywhere, but when she accepted his friend request his face beamed with a pure joy that told her it was the right choice. It was going to be fun to have friends, as long as they gave her space when she needed it.

Suara opened her map. “Can you show me where the church is?” she asked him. “The more I hear about these factions the more I want to see them for myself.”

He jumped down from the side of the fountain. “Yeah, onward and westward!”

Xander led her down the western road from the Spawning Square. She took the opportunity to replace the Fluffy Pastry in her deck, and then added her skill points to Vitality and Charisma.

Now that the church was on her mind, she started to pick out people who were wearing priestly outfits. Some of them were cute. She wanted a dress with puffy shoulders, too. She wanted the long robes with a frilly mantle. One woman was wearing thigh-high boots.

The moment the church came into view she dashed for it. She had expected a single big building, but it was actually a whole collection of facilities on top of a hill. The cathedral in the centre was a marvel of towering spires and flowing arches. A round stained-glass window in the front depicted a shining unicorn that reflected the sun right into her eyes no matter what angle she looked at it from.

A more modest L-shaped building with a green cross-hipped roof squatted in a copse of trees to the left. To the right was a fenced-off orchard with a couple of houses behind it. Would she get to pick apples?

The carved and polished cathedral doors were propped wide open. Her eyes widened at the rose rug rolled from the entrance to the mahogany podium at the back. Her second favourite colour. She followed the rug, poking at the pews and the little books on them as she passed. She gawked at the enormous arches flanking the rows of pews on both sides. At the end she craned her neck to look at the round windows above the podium that depicted the phases of the moon in prismatic glass.

“Wow!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

A woman approached her wearing an elegant pink dress with puffy shoulders. A white underbust bodice elevated her breasts. The tapping of her matching slippers on the marble floor stopped and Suara realised she was staring.

“Pain of impalation upon you,” the woman said with a modest curtsy and a pretty smile.

“Whaaa?” Suara dropped her hands. “I don’t want that!” She spun around to leave, but she spotted Xander sitting in a pew and flipping through one of their books. “Xander you didn’t tell me it’s weird in here!”

“Yeah, you’re a perfect fit,” he laughed.

“I don’t want impalation! Is that even a word? Don’t impale me, lady!”

The woman sighed. She walked gracefully towards Suara with her hands clasped in front of her. “This is the Church of the Unicorn,” she said matter-of-factly. “Were you considering joining? The promise of divine impalement does baulk many potential acolytes, but I assure you there is no greater glory than the burning fury of the Unicorn’s Horn.”

Suara shook her head. “I just wanted pretty outfits and new cards. I don’t want to be killed by a unicorn.”

She stepped back as the priestess shuffled towards her. A sinister twinkle appeared in the woman’s eye. “Then welcome to the Church of the Unicorn!” Her hand shot out like a striking snake and grabbed Suara by the wrist.

“What! Xander help!” She tried to lock her legs as the priestess dragged her away.

Xander got up and strolled towards the doors. He shrugged without turning. “Don’t be so worried!” he waved. “There’s no way they actually impale you. Just have some fun, and I’ll see you later.”