Starla wouldn’t take no for an answer and forced Adelynn to let her pay for dinner that night. Players who were given special invite could go to the rooftop of the Starlight Sanctuary and dine under the stars next to strange exotic plants and a few wandering cute animals. Adelynn wore her new silvery-blue dress and Starla showed up in something fairly tame by her standards, just a tight black dress with stars sparkling in it and of course long evening gloves to match.

They were alone on the rooftop tonight and Avara assured Adelynn that it wasn’t because Starla kicked everyone out, but more that it was usually reserved for parties and barely anyone came by when there wasn’t an event. Starla started off the night by explaining that she’d already eaten an Everbar, which was the brand name for a type of food bar that delivered everything you needed to eat for eight to sixteen hours and an appetite suppressant. It wasn’t exactly filling, but it was great for when you were on the go.

“Is that all you eat?” asked Adelynn.

“Of course not!” said Starla. “I eat sweets too, since they’ve got the things Everbars lack.”

Adelynn shook her head. Sometimes she could not believe that people like Starla existed. “Alright, what’s good here?”

Avara had sent a girl up to take their order and the menu was sparse. “I like the Teriyaki dodo with the Elvish rice.” Said Starla. “And the mammoth steak. And the Dwarven potatoes. I think I like everything on the menu.”

Adelynn felt a smidge weird seeing things that had been extinct on Earth for hundreds of years on the menu, but it was a fantasy game after all. “How do they know what those things tasted like?” she asked.

“I figured they just took real world things and tweaked the flavors along some sliding scales, like fatty to lean, or gamey to whatever means not gamey.”

Adelynn nodded; that made sense. She ordered the Teriyaki dodo with the Dwarven potatoes and some of the sweet Elven wine that Starla recommended. Adelynn talked about their journey into the depths and asked questions about when someone figured out where the hole was or how to get deeper into the cave system. Starla answered her questions, but as the sweet wine got consumed, the conversations grew sillier.

Adelynn had experienced all sorts of real-world wines, but the Elven wine was closer to sugary drinks, but it had quite a kick. Soon Starla was telling her about the time ‘someone’ with had spread a rumor that whoever defeated Starla in the arena would get to date her. Adelynn deduced that ‘someone’ had been Nexy, who was trying to wear Starla down before facing her, but the piles of knights, barbarians, wizards and priests all trying to court her hadn’t made a dent in Starla’s endurance.

Starla could barely tell the story of the first time she pulled Meteor out in the arena. Some boisterous knight who would not shut up about his ‘perfect defense’ and ‘ultimate resistance’ said he’d take whatever she threw at him. “I was the only one who could hear the ‘Eeep!’ from him as the meteor came crashing down on him.” Said Starla laughing. “To his credit he tried to catch it on his shield. I wish he wasn’t wearing a helmet, I wanted to see his eyes bugging out.”

Adelynn remembered seeing a giant eat the meteor, a tiny man getting crushed just seemed like overkill. In her mind the knight held up a tiny sign that said ‘Yipe!’ before it hit and she laughed at the mental image.

Once their meals were done, Avara sent some dessert to their table. Starla’s eyes lit up as she saw the tray of tiny cakes. “Ooooh! Kitty cakes!” she said.

“What?” asked Adelynn.

“These are tasty little cakes that are popular in Bismuth Bay.” Explained Starla. “There are about a dozen café’s run by catgirls that feature these little pastries and they’re just known as kitty cakes.”

“Oh.” Said Adelynn picking up one of the bite sized cakes and popping it into her mouth. It had a lot of flavor and was pleasantly sweet, but not overly sweet.

“So where do you want to go next?” said Starla giggling a little.

“Bed?” replied Adelynn.

“That’s not what I mean!” said Starla. “I mean tomorrow! The next part of your journey should take you to Black Anvil, but that’s just the main story. We could head anywhere, like the Elven capital Moonsorrow or Bismuth Bay if you wanna see all the cute beast people.”

“I’ll decide tomorrow!” said Adelynn. “I think I’m ready for a nice soft bed.”

Starla stood up and held out a hand to Adelynn. “I’ve got one of those you can use.” Adelynn took her hand and followed her.

Adelynn wasn’t thinking that Starla meant ‘her bed’, but Starla had a huge bed in her apartment and explained that there was plenty of room. Starla’s bed did look rather inviting.

“Bring many girls here?” asked Adelynn joking.

Starla answered seriously. “No, not really. I think you’ll be the only other person to have every used it.”

With that Adelynn changed into the pajama’s that Avara helped her pick out, fluffed up some pillows and tried to get comfortable while Starla went into the bathroom to get herself ready for bed. Starla logged out briefly and then back in and Adelynn assumed it was to do real world things.

Starla emerged from the bathroom, ‘ready for bed’. Adelynn stared at her a bit dumbfounded. She was wearing lacey, white lingerie, complete with garters and stockings. She couldn’t help it, she threw her head back and laughed.

“What?” said Starla.

“You!” said Adelynn. “You’re going to sleep in that?”

Starla looked down at herself. “Well, it’s sexy looking.”

“Well of course it’s sexy looking!” said Adelynn, “But what happened to the t-shirt and shorts?”

Starla put her hands on her hips and shifted her weight. “That’s for sleeping in the field where things can break into the cave or whatever. Nothing is getting in here that I don’t want in here.”

Adelynn blushed looking at her. “Nothing else can get in here?”

“Nope. There are two names on the allowed list.”

Adelynn thought about what that meant. “So, no rescues for me?” she said.

“Do you need to be rescued?” said Starla walking over and climbing into the bed on the other side. “I figured you needed to not be alone at night because of the dreams.”

“Oh.” Said Adelynn. “I guess that’s something I hadn’t thought of.” Starla smiled and flopped over facing her.

Adelynn lay down facing Starla. “Thanks Starla. I don’t know what I would have done in that cave without you.”

“You wouldn’t have been in that cave if I hadn’t come along.” Said Starla. “I’m glad I found you though.” Starla made a motion and the lights dimmed considerably. “Is that a good level?”

Adelynn nodded. “Yes, thanks. I’m going to try to get some sleep.”

“Alright.” Replied Starla. “Let me know if you need anything.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Adelynn rolled over and Starla closed her eyes and just let sleep take her.

Adelynn looked to her left. Starla was sitting reading next to her in the cabin of her vehicle reading a book in lacey, white lingerie and completely unaware of the large eyes glowing in the distance. Adelynn tried to call out to warn her but she just couldn’t make a sound.

Something flashed in the corner of her eye, a glint of shining metal. She looked and saw a shape, indistinct though it was, she knew it was telling her something. She needed to face her fear. She alone had to be the one, but she felt like she wasn’t alone. She dropped the book she’d been reading and grabbed the silvery gleam. In a swift motion she was on it and she could see her Silver. The eyes stared at them from closer now, but Adelynn drew her sword. She didn’t know where it’d come from and didn’t care.

“No!” she screamed at the eyes. “You can’t have me!” The eyes in the dark, indistinct blobs of light narrowed and slitted pupils opened to reveal something watching her and only her. “You can’t have me and you can’t have her!” Silver snorted as if to agree with her.

Something was growing within Adelynn, a pressure she’d never felt before. Her insides churned as her chest burned and wanted to let it all out. She didn’t know how, she could tell that she had to. Silver snorted again as if to tell her to hurry up. She patted his mane, he felt like the horses she’d ridden as a girl, only a thousand times mightier.

The eyes were almost upon her. Silver was the key in all this. She might be in charge, but he would be her muscle. “Yah!” she yelled spurring him onward. He leapt through the windshield of the vehicle and continued at full speed toward the eyes. The heat and pressure in her chest reached a critical point and she thrust her sword forward as they crashed through the eyes in the darkness. There was an earthshattering scream as oblivion yielded before her.

Her eyes flew open, she felt hot tears on warm flesh. Her face was buried in Starla’s chest and Starla was holding on to her tightly. Adelynn reached for her and pulled her closer and let emotion take over for a moment. Relief? Hurt? Fear? She didn’t know what she was feeling. There was time for thinking later. She just let her tears flow as her chest bucked, but she felt it was gone. Oblivion wasn’t hunting for her anymore. She’d won.

When she finally was breathing normally, Adelynn pushed away and looked up at Starla.

“You were screaming in your sleep.” She said. “You wouldn’t wake up, so I just held on.”

Adelynn smiled. “Thanks. You showed up in the dream.” She said. “I wouldn’t let oblivion have you.” She thought about that for a moment. “Or me. I mean, either of us.”

Starla smiled. “I won’t let oblivion have you either.” She said. Adelynn’s grip tightened for a moment hearing that.

“How did this happen?” whispered Adelynn to herself before she realized it.

“Hmm?” said Starla.

Adelynn shook her head. “Nothing.”

“Okay,” said Starla. “It’s still early. Do you want to go back to sleep?” Adelynn thought about how she felt and sat up.

“I think I just need a moment.” The effects of adrenalin were wearing off on her and she took a few deep breaths. She opened her status panel to see if she’d gotten the well-rested buff yet and saw an alert flag on her abilities. She opened up her ability tab and saw a new ability listed, which was strange because it hadn’t appeared when she hit level fifteen.

Divide and Conquer: Spend MP on a charge to cleave enemies in twain! Req: Mounted.

“Did I have to dream it into existence?” she thought to herself. Her experience bar showed half full already and she’d just managed to squeak into fifteen earlier.

“Do dreams count as experience?” she asked aloud.

Starla shrugged. “I’m not going to say no, because I’ve had some vivid dreams that I swore raised the bar, but that doesn’t make any sense at all. Mythticle shouldn’t even be able to see our dreams since they’re in our own heads.”

“I’ve a new ability, it’s a mounted charge.” Said Adelynn.

“What?” said Starla scooting across the bed. She leaned on Adelynn and looked at Adelynn’s status window. “Fighting on mounts has always been a joke, the damage is reduced by ninety percent or so, but there it is.”

“Weird.”

“I know. It doesn’t even list the MP cost, just says ‘spend MP’. What does that mean?”

“I don’t know.” Said Adelynn, “but now I want to try it out.” She turned to look at Starla and was surprised to see that her face was so close. She smelled like warm caramel and pumpkin spice. Adelynn froze as thoughts of what to do with this chance zipped through her mind; Sniff harder?, Lick?, Kiss? She turned away without doing any of those things and blushed at her own thoughts.

“Do you ever open your mail?” asked Starla.

“Huh?” said Adelynn looking up. She had five messages waiting. She opened them up and saw they were from Avara, each with a level fifteen piece of armor attached.

“Congrats on level fifteen! Made you some things!” said the note.

“How do I tell her not to spoil me?” said Adelynn.

Starla shrugged. “Beats me. She does the same stuff for me when she can.”

Adelynn slid out of bed and started trying on her new gear. It moved well. The armor plates were small and overlapping on a supple, silvered leather. When she had all the pieces on, she looked amazing, like a silvery warrior of light or something.

“Wow.” Said Starla, who’d taken the chance to put on her nearly-blasphemous priestess outfit. “You’re looking like you didn’t dress in the dark!”

She grabbed a pillow and threw it at Starla, who didn’t even try to dodge the pillow and fell over from the impact. Adelynn rushed over to make sure she was okay, as she hadn’t mean to throw it that hard, but Starla was laughing. Adelynn helped her back up.

“If you’re done can we get going?” asked Adelynn.

“Of course. Where to Adee? Can I call you that?” asked Starla.

Adelynn smiled. “Yes, and I think Moonsorrow. I want to do the things for the Elves.”

Starla took a moment to handle things in the real world and met Adelynn outside of the Starlight Sanctuary. Together they rode to the edge of the RLD and exited through Tharnhaven. “We’re not going to teleport?” said Adelynn.

“Nope. You’ll need a map of the land and I’m not doing you any favors by teleporting us.” Explained Starla. “I have enough supplies for the journey, it’ll take a week or so of riding and camping.”

Once out of town Adelynn got on Silver and Starla got on her broom. As the two of them journeyed west Starla pointed out a stray ogre off the path and Adelynn veered in that direction. Starla had meant the message to be ‘Watch out for the ogre’ but Adelynn took it as ‘Hey look an ogre to try your new power on’.

Starla hung back to watch and see what Adelynn did when she encountered the ogre. The ogre saw her charging it and prepared to swing at her when Adelynn yelled “Divide!”, gained a shimmering wedge in front of Silver, and went through the ogre like a freight train. She didn’t even have to stop riding and Starla caught up with her soon.

“That was great!” said Adelynn over the earring, “That thing didn’t stand a chance!”

Starla agreed, it didn’t. An ogre like that should have presented a reasonable challenge to Adelynn and she almost acted like it wasn’t there.

They continued to ride at a good pace for the next few hours with only a minimum of communication between them. Occasionally Starla would point out a hazardous creature for Adelynn to veer towards it. She finally had a hard time when an enormous wandering auroch survived getting bisected by a charging Adelynn.

Starla landed just as Adelynn was finishing it off with her sword. The sun was hanging low on the horizon and Starla asked if she wanted to stop for the night. After Adelynn cut some choice steaks out of the auroch Starla threw it far away from their campsite with a spell she called TK YEET!

“Can you use that in battle?” said Adelynn.

Starla smiled. “Yes, but only once the target can’t resist anymore. My telekinetic magic can be broken by too much squirming, but I used it on someone who refused to yield a match.”

“You just threw that auroch carcass a thousand feet! What did it do to the person?”

Starla laughed. “Well, it threw him out of bounds, that’s for sure.”

“I wish I could have seen that.” Said Adelynn.

“They’re probably somewhere on Headspace.” Said Starla. “It feels like I can’t do anything without it getting recorded for all time.”

After the auroch steaks were consumed and dinner was had Adelynn got a bleep showing that she had a message. It was from John, ‘Status update! Would you like to come in for a few? Crew wants to see you.’

“Do you ever log out of Headspace Starla?” asked Adelynn. “My legal partner wants to give me a status update.”

“I’ll go with you if you’d like. You know, as long as I’m not getting into something too personal.” replied Starla.

“It’s okay, you can meet the people I work with.” Adelynn fired off a reply with ‘Okay, bringing a friend.’ to John.

Starla shrugged and locked down their campsite with a spell, then opened a glowing doorway back to the Headspace lobby. From there Starla pulled Adelynn into her personal lobby and her ‘home’.

“Why’re we here?” asked Adelynn.

“You want me to meet your friends like this?” asked Starla walking into a closet. “I mean, I can, or I can dress like a normal person.”

“Heh, yeah okay.” Said Adelynn changing out of her armor and putting on her silvery flowing dress. Starla emerged a moment later in tight, shiny pants that would have been made of some sort of synthetic in reality and a t-shirt that might have been a size too small on her. It reflected a myriad of differently colored light from somewhere beyond and was completely unreal. “You can’t go anywhere without something flashy.” Said Adelynn.

“A friend made this shirt for me.” She said. “It’s really cool how they did it. Also, no, I can’t.” She brushed out her hair and freshened up herself from hours on the trail while Adelynn did the same.

Starla finished off her look with some heels that looked sexy but would be completely impractical in the real world.

“Do you wear something like that in reality?” asked Adelynn.

“Hell no, I’d die.” Responded Starla. “But we’re in headspace so I’ll do what I want.”

Adelynn smiled and got a note from John saying that her friend was fine to bring along. She led them both back into Headspace and got ready to introduce Starla to her friends.