Page 41 of sWitch

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, withgolden 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.

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