Dance of the Gods

The two of them woke up still holding onto each other. Veronica opened her eyes, which met Michael's. Their mouth turned into smiles and after a long morning kissing session, they got out of bed.

It was about 8 in the morning. Veronica wanted to put yesterday's dress back on, but it was still wet. Seeing this, Michael went inside his wardrobe and brought out an expensive-looking dress.

It was bright red and was definitely not something in Veronica's price range.

She looked at the dress with suspicion, then looked at the nightdress she wore. With narrowed eyes, she turned towards Michael, who was already getting dressed for the day.

"Why do you have this much female clothing?" He didn't even look up as he answered, his voice embarrassed.

"It's a long story. One of my past partners left that dress, the same with the nightdress. You can keep them if you want to."

Veronica looked down at the dress, and thought about throwing it out, but it was too pricey to be handled like so. It's not like this was the first time she wore a used clothing.

As a poor child in the Dirt District, she wore a repurposed blanket as a dress for at least a year. Even in her life back on Earth, she had more than one clothing bought from thrift shops.

Also, it helped that she didn't feel jealous at all. Instead of thinking about the dress as some past lover's memory Michael was still cherishing, Veronica treated it as a gift.

She went into the bathroom and put it on. With careful movements, she lifted the dress onto her body and placed her arms through the sleeves. Her head entered the small opening at the top, then she let the skirt part fall.

Wearing it was strange. The dress seemed to be a perfect cut for her. It was like they took her measurements and made the dress to her exact size. She also found a few new stitch marks on the dress, as if someone had recently tampered with it.

Veronica looked at herself in the mirror and was a bit surprised at how well the red suited her. She first thought that the colors would clash and nothing would fit together, but staring into the mirror, that was the opposite feeling she got.

The red of the dress was a strange shiny shade, which fit her pink eyes. That combined with her light brown hair, lighter skin tone and two different colored earrings, she looked like an exotic beauty.

Michael later proved this sentiment, too. Seeing her, he couldn't even get a word out and just had to kiss her.

"You made this dress for me, didn't you?" She asked after their kiss ended.

Michael looked to the side a bit sheepishly, but with one hand on his jaw, Veronica brought his eyes back onto hers.

"Not the whole dress. It was one of my past lovers, but after meeting you, I asked Suze for your measurements and brought this and the nightdress to a tailor. They made a few adjustments so it would fit you perfectly."

Hearing this, Veronica's eyes turned teary. The sentiment was just... She couldn't even think of the words. It wasn't like anything she experienced before, and in that moment she was just overflowing with love.

She had to kiss him again and again until they both had to leave.

They got breakfast at a nearby cafe, and then went their separate ways. Veronica to the inn and Michael to the Unbroken HQ.

...

A week later, Veronica travelled towards the shooting range yet again, but this time it wasn't for her training. In her hand was her certificate for small firearm ownership.

After learning that Michael could just cheat and lie on the records, she had a great time.

Instead of going to the shooting range, they just had breakfasts together, or walked in the morning and even been to a park one time.

Sadly, they could only spend this much time together. In the past week, things escalated even further. There were three more successful bombings, and close to a dozen mass shootings.

The homicide rate had quadrupled. It was all hands on deck with the Unbroken, so they could only spend a few of his breaks together.

By this time the Unbroken knew there was something supernatural going on with the protests, something that wasn't June... At least that's what Michael told her.

They believe a known Cult is behind the causing of chaos, fittingly their name was the Chaotic Order.

Going by Michael's description: 'They are insane idiots! Most of them are from the Lunatic path and they pray to a being called Insane One. They are just a nuisance most of the time, but now they are planning something!'

It was a cause for concern, and the Unbroken Hammon Chapter was waiting for new orders about how to handle the Cult.

She felt regretful not being able to spend more time with Michael, but at least she had a bit more time to master her new powers.

Using the Mind's Eye was easy at this point. She still didn't dare to look at the Ethereal Plain, but every other part was fine.

The passive feature had already changed into just a subtle feeling, like Michael said it would. The active was also in a much better state. She could now detect slight changes in emotions, even if someone was blocking the Heart Outlook.

She also learnt how to control her own emotions from showing to others, which was an amazing ability to have.

Progressing Moon's Magnificence was pretty much nonexistent. She was doing test with it most of the time.

For example, she determined that the heaviest object it can hold is about a head sized cube of pure iron. The distance it can suck projectiles in was close to eight meters.

Another very important information she had learnt was that the objects sucked in were still inside the blue moon, and upon dismissal, they all fell to the ground. In contrast, the energy projectiles just dissipated.

With a quick consultation, she and Michael found the perfect use for this new finding.

They were going to use it for Veronica's ascension, which was supposed to happen later that week.

Veronica couldn't wait. She was very excited about reaching the 7th Order for more than one reason.

While thinking about this, she touched her earrings and thought about her brother.

She was already feeling the side effects of the Earring of Dissociation. Sometimes she heard echoing screams or silent whispers. They were incoherent most of the time and even when she could make out the words; they were more annoying than useful.

They just said 'You will die' or 'You will die in pain' or 'You will be murdered'. It wasn't even disturbing, and she felt they would drive her insane, only because of how boring they were.

The carriage rumbled and stopped. It was empty of people, except for a few individuals.

Veronica got off near the shooting range and armaments shop. She made a beeline towards the store. The streets were empty, even the carriages were scarce at this time of day. She was about to walk inside the shop when a police officer stopped her.

"Excuse me, Miss! What's your purpose here?" He tried to stay polite, but it was clear that the officer had seen better days.

There were large bags under his eyes, and his hand always hovered near his firearm. She turned on Mind's Eye, too, which confirmed her previous assessment. The man's skin was absorbed in gray, with hints of purple, brown, blue and white undertones.

The cop felt anxious and also a bit confused and uncertain. He was sad too, but deep down, he still held hope for the future.

Unlike what he expected, Veronica wasn't rude or defensive. She just put on her most disarming and kind smile, and handed the man the certificate.

He glanced down at the paper, his colors changing from gray to pure purple, then deep blue. His face also changed from curious to deep in thought.

"I'm here to purchase a firearm. It's kind of sad. I never thought I would feel unsafe in Hammon, but in these trying times, I felt the need to own a weapon." She said in a reminiscent and melancholic tone.

The man stared at the certificate, reading everything over multiple times, then handed it back to Veronica with a sigh.

"I understand Miss... I never thought the city would reach this state either, but rest assured, the police are doing everything to keep the citizens safe!" He tried to sound proud, but even he didn't believe those words.

As they left his mouth, he became orange from shame. Veronica just continued to smile and said... "And we citizens are very thankful for your service. Have a nice day!"

"Nice day to you too, Miss!"

With that, Veronica entered the shop and her fake smile turned into a genuine one as she looked at the guns.

The person behind the counter was different. It was a tall female, instead of the stocky man who was there the few times she visited.

Veronica walked to the front desk and after exchanging greetings and chatting a bit, she wandered the store, browsing around the extensive selection of weaponry.