Dance of the Gods

Pain... There was nothing but pain...

Veronica's mind was throbbing from the worst headache she had ever suffered. The first thing that came to her mind was, 'Did I get shot in the head?'

It was mind splitting. She couldn't even think straight, couldn't move or do anything other than suffer.

After probably an eternity – at least that's how it felt – the pain torturously slowly began to dissipate.

It took a long time, but eventually the pain was smaller and her mind actually started to work.

Her body was still awash with pain and unresponsive, but at least she could begin to try to figure out what happened. Her last memory was screaming 'Make me forget', which most likely worked since she couldn't remember why she shouted that.

'Whatever it was it had to be something horrible... Wait, I'm starting to remember... No not quite remember, but I know what I saw!'

Slowly Veronica started to recall what happened in the previous vision. There were no pictures, but somehow she knew what happened.

She remembered the fight before time and space, the forming of the universe and even those five structures that have been born from the giant explosion of a universe's formation.

Instantly she got multiple conclusions of this experience, the most important being something that should've been obvious from the beginning.

'I shouldn't look at powerful beings... Especially primordial forces that existed before the universe... I might be the dumbest person to ever be born. How didn't I think that seeing the UNIVERSE BEING BORN, wouldn't have any consequence.'

Another important knowledge she had gained is actually about the Theater.

'So... The Theater didn't lie when it said that its only purpose was to serve... Wonder what else it can do... I probably won't going to test more today... Is it even today, I have no idea how long had I spent passed out...'

She spent another few excruciatingly slow minutes lying on the... wherever she was lying.

Eventually her eyes became moveable again. She was currently lying in her bed, in her room. Whatever happened her body didn't change a bit, the room was exactly the same as well.

She made a relieved sigh. If her sheets would've became as bloody as her corrupted self, then she would've a lot of explaining to do when Suze would clean it.

Her eyes turned to the window and she sighed again, this time in disappointment. Quickly she grabbed her watch from the nightstand and looked at the hands. The short one was nearing six, while the long one pointed at about the half waypoint between nine and ten.

There was only about 13 minutes before 6 am. This was a big problem since currently Veronica was dead tired. It felt like she had run ten marathons and then decided that she wanted to swim a hundred kilometers too.

Lazily she watched the handles move and her room brighten.

Eventually she had gotten out of bed and went to the bathroom to have a hot bath before the others could go.

When she was done she put on a better dress since today was her first shooting lesson.

After Veronica spent about fifteen minutes in the restroom, brushing her teeth and getting her make-up done, she walked into the kitchen. There she didn't expect to find Alex and Suze shouting at each other.

"...No there has to be at least one person in this stupid building that can help track down the killer!" Shouted Alex. His face was red as a tomato, but his anger didn't seem to be pointed at Suze.

"And I will tell you again, that no matter how many damn times you ask, there is nobody available for you!" Shouted Suze with the same demeanor.

Veronica just silently watched this interaction from the corridor's doorway.

Suze's answer didn't seem to clam Alex. It did the opposite actually and he redoubled on his previous statement.

"It's not that nobody is available! They are just craven fucks! There is a little rioting and suddenly every single one of them are scared shitless!..." Alex started pacing and shaking his head while Suze answered. Her voice was a bit calmer seemingly wanting to calm down the situation.

"It's true... But what can I do? Should I go down and threaten to throw them out if they don't comply?... You know I can't do that!" Suddenly Alex looked away towards the small kitchen window and sighed. Whatever was going on, it seemed to make him very concerned.

"I know... Dammit I know, but it still sucks... I should probably ask for help somewhere else... Maybe..." His eyes suddenly fell on Veronica, noticing her for the first time.

Suze seemingly confused followed his gaze. Her mind worked quickly, but before she could make any excuse for their shouting contest, Veronica spoke.

"So... What exactly do you need help with?" She asked in a curious voice, but before Alex could respond Suze said loudly. "Absolutely NOT! She is just a rookie! She doesn't even have a gun yet... You can go to Mr. Host, he will help with the murder!"

"Murder?... Did someone die?" Veronica pretended to be a bit mortified. Somehow the idea of death seemed much smaller after you witness the creation of the universe...

Suze looked at her for a long while, then when she saw that there was no point trying to hide it, she sighed and motioned for Alex to explain.

Slowly he grabbed his previously forgotten drink from the dining table and chugged the whole thing. He took a few moments to taste every part of it, then swallowed. After another second or two, he seemed to gather enough energy to speak.

"This morning some of my crew members woke me up... It seems that a few of my sailors didn't report in the morning and were missing... At first I didn't really give it much thought, we are a pirate crew, people will always be late... I thought they had probably stayed in some brothel getting stupidly drunk, but then something else came in..."

He turned silent again and only after pouring himself another drink, did he start to explain further.

"I sent a few of my people to try and find them, but they came back with bad news... All five missing sailors were murdered... They couldn't investigate further because the whole area was full of police and even Lawbringers..."

After another sip he turned to Suze and pointed at her while he spoke.

"I asked Suze here to help me get someone with good charisma... I plan on finding the culprit and taking them out, but I can't find the person alone... So what do you think? Want to help me catch a murderer?" He said the last part with a smile. There was no humor behind it, only malice.

It took a long while for Veronica to answer. Working this case with Alex would provide great chances to improve herself as an investigator. She didn't know if in the future this skill would be useful, but she sure as hell would try to get more comfortable with the idea of death.

The only issue was the possibility of her dying as well, but again she needed experience in life and death situations, and this seemed like a kind of low risk mission.

She was about to nod and agree, when she remembered where she was supposed to be heading. A bit awkwardly she looked at Alex, who was all hopeful, but she had to crush that hope.

"Sorry... I want to, but I can't... I have to get to the shooting range, its my first day of the training..." For a moment Alex looked really sad, but as he heard more a small smile appeared on his face and when she finished he began laughing.

"Oh, don't worry. We would've only gone in the afternoon... As I said the place is full of cops right now, we have to wait for them to leave first..."

With one move Alex drank the whole glass of liquor, then stood up and began walking away. Before he left the kitchen he said without turning around.

"Don't go anywhere in the afternoon. I will come and we can try to get some justice... Since Lawbringers won't going to find the killer anyway..." He said the last part in a whisper, but Veronica's ascended hearing caught it with ease.

When he left, Suze looked at her with concern. She didn't seem to like her choice of trying to find the murderer, but she also knew that Veronica was an adult and could make decisions for herself.

Suddenly and without any prompt she gave Veronica a big hug, which lasted only for a few moments. When they separated she smiled at her, then while moving to the kitchen counter she said, "Good luck with the shooting... It will be really easy with your ascended perception!"

Veronica didn't quite know how to respond to Suze's affectionate behavior. In the end she just said thanks, then went outside.

She got on an unfixed carriage, then began moving towards the shooting range.