Chapter 1: The Armoury

There was enough time to make coffee.

There was enough time to make coffee and toast and comfortably drink and eat both. Nell stayed rooted to the couch, her laptop balancing on her knee, diligently watching as the minutes ticked by. Now she had decided to join the Armoury—to finally do something that was everything and nothing to do with the last five months—she couldn’t wait.
She reloaded the Main Character Club website for the hundredth time, waiting for the ‘doors’ to the Armoury to unlock, ready for a brand-new cohort of members. A bubble of excitement formed in Nell’s chest and began to bob about gleefully.

It wasn’t so long ago that she had stumbled upon the Main Character Club’s Instagram page and immediately fallen in love with the medieval romanticism and fantasy atmosphere that emanated from every image. Soon came information about the Armoury, and she was hooked at the idea. It had been the first time in months that her attention had been pulled away from thinking about that day. The day the one person she had trusted implicitly for the last twenty-five years had dropped a bomb and left her to bear the brunt of the explosion.

The confusion. Boom. The shock. Boom. The humiliation. Boom.

Shame and rejection had followed, settling in and clinging to her like mould to a damp wall.

She had been getting better recently. Starting with a simple Google search, typed through tears: my best friend disappeared from my life out of nowhere and blocked me on everything. She hated how childish it felt to type those words. Like she was back in high school. The very place where she and Scott had met all those decades ago. The search results had sent her down a rabbit hole of attachment theory and the autonomic nervous system. At first, she couldn’t stop reading articles and watching endless Reels about avoidant attachment, feeling like she finally had an anchor to grab on to. The relief of beginning to understand what had happened was heady.

Soon, though, Nell stopped looking for answers about what Scott had done and began asking some hard questions of herself. About her past and her patterns. Slowly, she began to emerge from the other side of what had felt like annihilation. Now, all she was left with was resisting the urge to text him, a habit hardwired because that had been how they communicated everyday. And anger. Anger that came in unexpected waves, fierce and hot.

Nell drifted back from her reverie and snapped her attention to the time. Still a few minutes to go. Something heavy settled over her, but she shook it off immediately. No. Scott had stolen so much from her. Their once easy and supposedly unbreakable friendship and the chance to get answers—any answers—as to why he did what he did.

She would not let him overshadow this.

The town’s cathedral bells tolled in the distance, and Nell refreshed the page one more time.

And there it was.

She selected Join, and within minutes, Nell Andrews was a member of The Armoury.

‍The rest of the morning was spent orientating herself, reading and commenting on members’ introduction posts and, very quickly, trying to figure out how to manage her notifications because, Nell realised smiling, there was a lot going on and she was here for it. Current members dropped into comment threads, guiding those who had just joined and showing them how everything worked. There was an online orientation gathering coming up, which Nell was excited for, but felt like she needed less by the minute.
A list of spaces—the Hearth, the Great Hall, the Adventure Outpost, the Beast Keep and the Library—made her feel like she was wandering the halls of an ancient castle. Peering behind each ‘door’, she instantly wanted to linger there, reading the words of strangers and not wanting to stop. Clicking on The Great Hall, she discovered a list of online events that made her squeal, actually squeal aloud. Scrolling from one to the next, Nell found herself RSVP-ing to a princess-hat-making workshop, a writing group and the monthly wrap-up call.
It was hard to name how she felt. Something old and familiar stirred. Along with Scott disappearing all those months ago, so many parts of her had shut down too. Her imagination went blank, she couldn’t daydream, everything felt like the sound hand been muted. But the way whatever was stirring warmed her belly and chest now, she began to understand. This was something she’d lost long before Scott broke her.

‍ ‍ ༺❧༻

A low grumble sounded in Nell’s stomach, and she realised she was starving. She almost laughed in dismay at her body doing something so mundane as sending her a hunger signal. Survival mode had been the only setting she’d known for months and it had played havoc with her appetite. Nell reluctantly put her laptop down and made to stand, only to change her mind. She brought it back onto her lap, her finger tracing the trackpad until the cursor hovered over a plus sign.

She hesitated.

So many people had introduced themselves, sharing incredible photos of fantasy-inspired costumes and adventures, alongside introductions that made Nell’s eyes widen with admiration. Every single one was warm and interesting and made her want to be friends with everyone. They also intimidated the hell out of her.

Go on. You can do it.

She pressed down and a blank post appeared. Suddenly, her hands felt clammy and, inexplicably, tears pricked behind her eyes.

What would she even say?

Hi, I’m Nell, 42, Scottish and chubbier than I’d like. Five months ago, I was shattered by the person I trusted most in the entire world. Have you guys ever heard of avoidant attachment, by the way? Turns out being discarded by someone you had no idea had that attachment style will render you a vacant, angry mess who is only just starting to heal her way back to something mildly human. That’s how I found my way here. Can’t wait to meet you at the princess-hat-making workshop!

No. Of course not that.

Nell tapped her fingers lightly against her laptop. She didn’t know if she was waiting for the words or the confidence to start typing.

Then an idea struck.

Nell stood, placed the laptop on the couch beside her and made her way to the bedroom. She pushed open the door and slipped inside. The curtains were still closed and the bed unmade. Nell shooed away a flicker of irritation for leaving it like that this morning and walked over to her bedside table. Even in the shadowy darkness she could see the little ghost standing beside her pile of untouched books, a pumpkin-shaped candle and the stuffed, sage-green teddy that often found its way next to her when she slept. She scooped him up gingerly, wincing at the memory of throwing him the other day, and made her way back to the living room.
Rain pattered outside. Thick cloud casting shadows into the corners of the room, the oat-coloured couch almost seeming to give off a light of its own. Nell crossed to the window and knelt on the couch, sinking into the cushions as she came to rest in front of it. She placed the ghost on the windowsill beside a lit candle and pulled her phone from her back pocket. She was about to take the picture when she remembered.

The lantern.

She flicked it on, smiling as it lit up with a warm glow, then put the wee ghost back in his place. For a moment, the camera struggled to focus in the dim light. Then the image crystallised on the screen. She snapped the picture. After quickly AirDropping it to her laptop, Nell uploaded the picture to the post, gathered herself and started typing.

Hey, I’m Ghostie. I’m not sure how old I am, but my new human, Nell—*whispers* she’s 42, by the way—thrifted me the other day. Since then, I’ve been on a couple of adventures.

One was to a beautiful park in the rain. I should really have had my lantern on because it was very moody outside—it lights up, you see—but I can’t reach the button. Thankfully, my human dropped me and I landed just right in the soft soil, and it switched on! What a day!

Anyway, my human and I are so excited to be here! We’ve already been exploring this place, and I don’t know about you, but it feels like we’ve fallen between the pages of a fantasy novel, and we kinda don’t want to leave.

Living in Scotland gives us all the feels, and something tells me that, after having a bit of a tough time recently, Scotland will be the perfect backdrop for us to enter our Main Character Era. Feel free to say hi. We’re excited to meet everyone!

They were going to think she was mad.

Nell hit Post anyway.

Within seconds, comments started to appear. Nell braced herself as she clicked on the bell signalling new notifications.

“Omg, this is brilliant! Hi, Ghostie! Welcome to the Armoury. I have a very strong feeling that you and your human are going to fit right in!”

And—

“Ghostie! What a cutie you are! Please tell your human we can’t wait to meet you both!”

And—

“Hi, Ghostie and Nell! Welcome! This is the cutest. Can’t wait to meet you both at the intro event (I hope you’re both coming along?)”

And—

“Adorable! Nell, if you find any more excellent ghost friends while thrifting, I want in!”

Nell felt tears fill her eyes again. God, did she have to be so emotional all the time?

But she was happy.

They hadn’t thought she was crazy.

And for the first time in a long time, she didn’t feel crazy either.

Another notification appeared then, and Nell clicked on it. It was from someone named Annie.

“Welcome, Ghostie and Nell! Just wait until you go on your first side quests together! Look out for your first one on Friday… or, better yet, hop into the Side Quests space on the left-hand side of the feed and start side-questing away!”

Nell tilted her head.

Side quests?

She navigated to the list of spaces running down the left-hand side of the page and scrolled until she found what she was looking for.

She gasped.

There were side quests dating all the way back to the previous year. Nell began clicking through them one after another, her excitement—and, if she was being honest, slight overwhelm—becoming too much to contain.

Why did it feel like she had arrived somewhere truly magical?

Nell fell back against the couch.

“Because you have,” she answered herself, her voice no more than a whisper.

‍ ༺❧༻ ‍

Liv pulled her chunky-knit cardigan tighter around her body. “It’s actually freezing today.”

“And yet, you got an iced pumpkin spice latte.” Nell raised her eyebrows at her best friend.

“Okay, fine, I did. But you know I always have one iced, autumny drink to see off the summer before I dive into every toasty spiced beverage going.”

Nell smiled warmly at the woman who may as well have been her sister. Neither of them spoke to their family of origin, and from the day they met, they had fallen into a kind of non-romantic love with one another and been joined at the hip ever since.

Nell raised her hands in surrender. “You do. You do.” She lowered them again, cupping her own drink. A pumpkin spice hot chocolate. “God, this is good,” she said dreamily before taking another long sip.

“Right, tell me everything. I am dying to know every detail of the one and only Armoury.” Liv sat forward and trained her gaze on Nell.

“Liv, I actually can’t put it into words.” Nell tapped her nail excitedly against the side of her oversized mug. “And I mean that literally. I’ve tried to write about it in my journal and all I keep saying is, ‘It’s so cool!’ and ‘Everyone is so lovely and so cool!’ and ‘The side quests are so cool and amazing!’ and ‘I feel like I’m in a film!’”

“So, it’s cool then?” Liv said, without a trace of sarcasm in her voice.

“Very!” Nell went to take another sip but carried on speaking instead. “I pop in there every day and comment on people’s posts and check if any new events have gone up. I’m going to a princess-hat-making workshop on Saturday. Can you believe that?”

“What’s a princess-hat-making workshop? I wanna make a princess hat too! Is it like a tiara?”

Nell giggled at Liv wanting to come without even knowing what she would be making. “Nah, you know those pretty, cone hats with the ribbon? Those.”

“Ahhh, okay. Got you.”

Liv was quiet for a moment. She looked thoughtfully at Nell.

“Oh God, have I got cream on my nose?” Instinctively, Nell rubbed at it, but there was nothing there.

“I haven’t seen you this happy in a long time. It’s lovely.” Liv kept her eyes on Nell, conveying the meaning behind the words.

Nell’s gaze drifted to the window beside them. “I know.”

Outside, a young couple were kissing.

Liv followed her gaze. “Right. Capacity check. I want to ask you something I’ve kept to myself.”

“Okay…” Nell looked back at her friend. “Capacity is amenable.”

Liv smiled, but the corners of her mouth dropped all too quickly.

“Did anything…” She trailed off.

“It’s okay. Just ask.”

“Did anything romantic or… physical happen between you and Scott?”

Liv glanced around the café nervously, but it was filled with a symphony of different noises. Nobody was listening.

Nell sighed, all too aware that this was exactly what she had expected Liv to ask. She wondered why it had taken this long. But if she knew Liv—and she did—she knew she wouldn’t have asked while Nell was in the depths of despair.

Nell looked down.

“I don’t know.”

Liv raised her eyebrows. “Say more.”

“Something changed a few months before the discard. He changed.” Nell felt the familiar ache of confusion low in her belly. “In the last message he sent—”

Nell hesitated.

Liv stayed quiet.

“He said he knew in his bones I was the one he wanted to be with.”

“What the fu—”

Nell looked up sharply, reminding Liv where they were.

“What the hell?” Liv corrected herself. “Since when?”

Nell’s shoulders dropped.

“Couldn’t tell you. It was news to me.” Images of that day began to flicker through Nell’s mind, each one bringing an echo of the feelings that had come with it. “I had no idea. And he didn’t give me any time to ask.”

Liv sat back in her seat, her cardigan falling open.

“God,” was all she said.

“I know.”

A bewildered silence fell between them.

“Well, screw him, right?” Liv brought her hand to rest on Nell’s. “You’re out the other side of what that motherfu—”

She cut herself off, and the two women burst out laughing.

Nell felt the gathering clouds in her chest clear immediately.

Author’s note: The Armoury is a real online space and provided inspiration for elements of this story. The story itself is a work of fiction, the names characters and identifying details have been changed or fictionalised to protect the privacy of individuals.