Dance of the Gods

After that strange and scary experience, Veronica felt very uncomfortable and didn't want to be alone.

She spent the rest of the day with the Miles Family. Everyone was currently at home since the schools closed on weekends.

She spent time chatting with Sofie, which was kind of one sided, but it was way better than trying to talk to Ann. In this past few weeks Veronica spent only a very little amount of time with her.

She was a quiet girl. She only talked to people she fully trusted, possibly because she didn't want to end up hurt like Sofie.

It was kind of sad that it only took one horrible event to leave a permanent dark mark on this whole household. She felt really sorry for them, especially for Sofie, but Veronica also knew not to bring it up ever. It would only cause those memories to resurface.

Anyway, she tried many times to engage in conversations with Ann, but she was always busy with something... at least that's what she said to Veronica. Truth be told she just didn't want to truly accept her presence in the inn for some reason.

Veronica didn't give up though, she will keep trying until Ann will accept her!

It was much easier to get along with little Jamie. She helped with his homework and gave him lessons both for school and for life. He was a very shy kid. Only when you get him to trust you, will you meet the real person behind the mask.

He was in fact really smart, quick to learn and just plain awful in math. Veronica spent most of their time trying to teach him, but sometimes it felt hopeless. She didn't give up though and it was somewhat fun to teach so she might as well do it.

She also spent some time with James, Suze and Alex. She asked them a few questions about unorthodox organizations, but they could only name the two that the book had written inside.

What was strange is that when she told them what happened and spoke of that loud thunder they looked at her with pure confusion. It seemed like non of them heard or saw the lightning.

But the real terrifying part was when she tried to talk about those last two words she read. There was one thing that made her blood run cold... She couldn't remember...

She knew what happened when she read that name, but she just simply didn't remember the name at all.

After that conversation she slinked back into her room to check out that part of the book again. This was a mistake since she instantly began trembling from fear. That whole part of the book was empty, except for the first two unorthodox organizations.

She didn't understand what was happening, but her heart told her that she should stop looking into it and just pretend that everything was alright...

So that's what she had done for the rest of the day...

...

The next morning she woke up early as usual, but instead of putting on a work dress, after bathing she wore something nicer and after saying a quick goodbye, she got on an unfixed public carriage.

Yesterday she had talked through everything there was to know about firearm permits and how to acquire them. She also decided to go to the Courthouse and begin her two week training in an attempt to get a legally owned gun.

She was already imagining herself what kind of revolver she would use. Since she was a weapon enthusiast in her past life, she wanted to choose a nice weapon. Possibly something that fit her, both in looks and power.

She even talked with Alex about ascended weaponry, but those were really expansive.

What she will have to invest at first are enchanted bullets. There were dozens of different kinds ranging from one that are more mundane like explosive or incendiary, to ones that are out of this world like Banishing Bullet, Pain Bullet, Stunning Bullet or the good old Death Bullet.

There were loads of other kinds, there was one for basically every possible negative status effect that could be useful in a battle.

Alex told her that it is necessary since when ascended fought their regeneration could be so high that regular bullet wounds heal within moments, not even slowing down the individual.

Even the Death Bullet wasn't even a hundred percent certainty that it would kill the person, since at higher orders most paths could survive for a while with only their souls intact.

This was the reason that some people managed to make something called a Soul Bullet. It was really rare and even more expansive than an actual ascended weapon.

What was really special about the Soul Bullet is its ability to fully ignore physical defense and go straight for the ascended's soul, killing them on the spot.

Even the higher orders are a bit scared to face these bullets head on, but at that point they should be able to dodge a bullet with ease, or at least have some other defensive measure against it.

These bullets are also very illegal. The orthodox organizations will kill you if they even have the suspicion of you owning one!

While she was absorbed in these thoughts the carriage rumbled on into the Court District.

Outside of the window the buildings passed by slowly. Above the sky was gray and cloudy. Somewhere far away thunder sounded, which made her remember the lightning outside of her room.

Quickly she looked away and while trembling a bit, she waited for the carriage to arrive at the Court Square.

When she had gotten off the first thing she noticed were the thousands of people protesting in the square. It seemed their numbers were growing exponentially.

Slowly Veronica approached the crowd, then looked through them at the entrance which she was supposed to enter. After a few seconds of thinking she took a deep breath and began walking.

Her posture was straight and lady-like, it screamed about her importance and status. Another thing to note were her eyes, which seemed to be overflowing with confidence and power.

At first she thought that getting through the giant crowd would be an issue, but when she reached them, they immediately parted and let her pass. Some had awe on their faces, some had desire, and some very few had terror.

Veronica didn't quite understand the last one, but she also didn't really care. Until they let her pass easily she wouldn't question it.

After a minute she was finally out of the crowd and inside the bustling Courthouse.

The inside of the building was the same as the last time she had arrived, with a notable difference in anxiety. The people working looked to be a bit scared, they kept taking glances out the windows watching the nearly thousand protesters.

Veronica held the same lady stature, but she also spiced it up with a small, aloof smile and a bored expression.

One thing that nobody told her beforehand is how good her facial acting had become after ascending to Dancer. This was probably some very small change which nobody found important enough to write about.

Slowly she approached one of the available desks where a middle aged woman was reading some paper. She took one glance at her and her previous somewhat hostile demeanor instantly changed into something resembling friendliness.

"Good morning, ma'am! What can I help the lady with?" Her speech pattern was quite strange too, very unnatural. Veronica took a few seconds to answer which threw the official off her previously prepared responses.

Veronica didn't quite know why she decided to torment the woman a bit, but this was a great place to practice her acting.

Eventually she showed a bit larger smile with a hint of friendliness and she finally answered.

"Good day to you too! I would like to apply for a firearm permit!" Her voice sounded a bit higher pitched and she elongated most syllables, which resembled the speech of aristocrats.

There were a lot of mistakes in the way she had spoken, but only people of higher status would find them. The official in front her certainly didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

Her forehead was a bit sweaty as she frantically tried to find the proper format that Veronica needed to fill out.

She just watched the middle aged woman turn over every nook and cranny with a small amused smile.

"Ah! Here it is, sorry it took so long. This whole protesting outside causes a lot of issues with paperwork and this particular one is especially hard to find." She handed the paper for Veronica to fill out, but before she did, she wanted to know more.

"How are the protest going anyway? Does the government going to give them what they ask for?" She asked in a haughty and aloof voice. The woman didn't notice anything particular about her question.

"No... They are mostly silent... *sigh* I wonder how all this will play out. The industries are already taking heavy blows from the lack of workers, it doesn't effect the economy yet, but who knows what will happen a month from now... or a year..."

Slowly the woman turned towards Veronica and looked at the form she was holding. She leaned forward a bit and spoke in a whisper.

"That form you are holding is actually quite rare now... Nobody knows this, but before the protests had even started the people who bought permits greatly increased... You seem like a nice lady with a lot of money... My suggestion is that you should take your family and leave Hammon while it's an option... Whatever will happen next, it won't be pretty..."

With that the woman grabbed some discarded form on her desk and began reading through it, not paying attention to Veronica's bewildered stare. No matter how good her acting was, this new information and suggestion just sent her mind into disarray.

Suddenly she felt really uncomfortable being near the Court Square. She filled out the form as fast as possible, then gave it back to the woman with the required 1 gelt payment for the two week course.

The course would only start tomorrow and thankfully it's nowhere near the Court District.

Quickly she left the square, but as she was about to get on a carriage a gunshot echoed through the air originating from the protesting crowd. She had no idea if it was made by one of the civilians in the crowd or a police officer, but she didn't want to find out.

As she sat down near a window, outside of the carriage the first of the raindrops began falling from the sky. Veronica looked at the dark gray clouds and in that moment a lightning flashed illuminating the darkness.

A storm was approaching, and nobody knew what it would bring...

Or what will be left standing...