Dance of the Gods

"I killed you... I killed you, my little sister... My only family... That's why I had to die!" He said through sobs.

Veronica stared at him, not really sure what to say. It took her a few minutes to come up with anything, all the while her brother just looked depressed.

"I guess we are equal then!" She said with a pained smile.

Her brother looked up and stared at her with pure confusion... "What?"

"You killed me, then I killed you, which makes us equal doesn't it?" Saying this caused a lot of pain to her, but also gave some reconciliation.

His sobs died down as they stared at one another. Slowly a smile crept up on his face, same as Veronica's. Then they both started to laugh...

The situation wasn't funny at all, and their laugh contained no merriness or joy, or maybe it did. At this point there was no way to tell, with so many different emotions affecting them... They just laughed...

The universe seemed hellbent on fucking them over, but at that moment, in the void, neither cared. They just laughed, because through all the sadness and suffering both experienced, they managed to find each other...

For the moment the place and circumstances didn't matter, they just enjoyed the moment while it lasted.

It took them a long while to calm down, but eventually they both stopped and just looked at each other with calm contentment.

"Why are your eyes different color?" She asked after staring into them for a long time.

For a moment the depression came back to his face, but he quickly banished it.

"As I said, the ritual required for me to give up part of my Ethereal Property... It removed my inheritance and gave it to you!" He smiled at the last part, which confused Veronica.

"That's horrible!" She said a bit mortified, but he just hook his head.

"No, it's not... It's actually really good!" He was seemingly beaming with joy at this point.

"But why?" She asked not expecting to hear the best news of her life.

"Because with its help you can bring me back, or at least make me semi-alive!" Her brother laughed at the expression she made.

Her mouth fell open as her eyes widened. She tried to say something, but no words came out, eventually she just made a muffled 'Huh?' sound. He began chuckled a bit after that, but he quickly stopped and explained everything.

"We planned it like this! The Earrings of Dissociation can house spirits, and you have my inherited part of our parents, plus my ascended characteristic! With their help you can get my soul to possess the earring, which would make me kind of alive again!"

Veronica didn't know what to say, but she wanted to know more. She wanted to know everything and do anything in her power to bring her brother back!

"Who are 'We'? And what do I have to do? And how do you know so much?..." She wanted to ask more, but her brother just held up his hand, while saying... "Not so many questions at the same time..."

With that Veronica stopped, and patiently waited for him to continue.

"Let's start with the easiest one... There is someone very powerful helping me and you. They were the ones who saved you from Him, on the night when our parents died... This person was the one who provided me with information, about everything, including this soul transfer you have to do for me to live!"

"But who is this mysterious powerful individual?" She asked trying to hold back her curiosity from bursting out.

"Well, I can't say... I don't mean it in the way, that I don't want to... It's just literally impossible for me to say it out loud. It's one of this person's domain, so please don't question it... Just know that they are trustworthy!" He began to talk faster for some reason, like time was starting to run out.

"But how are you so sure?" She asked, but her brother ignored the question.

"We have no time! This place was set up by them. It shouldn't be possible to talk with a dead person in this way, but as I said the individual is very powerful..."

Veronica really wanted to ask more, but she felt it then. There was a pull inside her body, like her soul wanted to move in a different direction, away from her brother. It was subtle, but its power was slowly growing.

"Before you leave you need to know how to do the soul transfer!" She made a small nod indicating for him to continue.

"First you have to place the Earrings of Dissociation on your ear, then you have to advance using my ascended characteristics! After that I should be starting to awaken in the earring, but for it to be complete you need to do a ritual!"

At this point Veronica felt herself slowly moving away, the same thing happened with her brother. She desperately tried to move towards him or at least stay in place, but nothing worked.

"You have to sacrifice an Ethereal Item in exchange for the soul transfer! It's a simple sacrificial ritual, but you have to aim it at yourself... It's sounds confusing, but I'm sure you will figure it out!" He was shouting through the darkness at this point.

Veronica still tried to scramble towards him, but suddenly something weird happened. The darkness swept between the two of them, and strongly pushed her away through the void.

She felt her soul squirm under the pressure. She was moving fast, faster than anything possible by regular human laws. Veronica felt the speed increase, until suddenly she stopped.

...

Back in the Theater Michael was pacing around anxiously. They still had about twenty minutes till dinner, but judging by Veronica's previous outburst, that might not be enough.

Suddenly his eyes snapped to the loud 'bang', that originated from the middle of the stage.

Veronica was on the wooden floor, which cracked under her, like she hit it with a lot of force... Or speed!

She cursed under her breath and slowly got up. Michael was there in the next moment helping her. The floor instantly repaired itself and the Theater made a pained noise, but then it turned into worry.

It was very weird. After spending hours here Michael started to understand what the building was trying to convey. He was nowhere near as good as Veronica, but he doubted if that's even possible to achieve.

For a while Veronica just stood there leaning on Michael. Her breathing was haggard, like she just ran for thousands of kilometers. Her eyes were unfocused, as she was trying to recall everything that happened.

Then out of nowhere, surprising Michael, she burst out laughing...

It was music to his ears, like a beautiful melody. There was no trace of the previous sadness, only maybe some remnants of it. Her laughter was full of joy and hope, which was a deep contrast to how she went in the divination.

Michael couldn't hold himself back this time, he just had to know what caused this sudden change in her mood.

"What happened? What did you see?" He asked curiously.

Veronica slowly turned around, her previously melancholic face was alighted by one of the most beautiful smiles he had ever seen. Without any prompt Veronica jumped on him and gave a huge hug, while laughing merrily.

She had her arms over his neck, and her feet dangled a few centimeters off the ground. Michael unconsciously moved her arms over her waist, keeping her close.

"He is not dead! I can bring him back!" She mumbled into his ear between laughs and giggles.

Michael was confused by this. It was obvious who she talked about, but he saw Floyd's body, he was shot in the head with a Death Bullet... It had Death in the name for a reason.

The purpose of such bullet is to not only kill the person, but stop their spirit from getting re-summoned... It was simply impossible to bring someone like that back to life, at least he never heard of ways to do so!

But of course he raised non of these concerns for Veronica. He was just glad that she felt much better... Still he had to ask...

"How is that possible?" Veronica slowly got down from him and stared into Michael's eyes.

She was crying again, but not from sadness. There was only joy on her face.

"It's a lot to explain, do we have time?" She asked while pulling up the Dancer's Rose.

The time read 8 minutes before 19 o'clock. She cursed under her breath and put the watch away.

"After dinner I will explain everything, but for now we have to get ready for the dinner with my family!"

Well, Michael couldn't really argue with that logic.

After Veronica said a quick goodbye to the Theater, and promised It again to dance for It. They left the mystical, imaginary place behind and prepared for possibly the most awkward dinner of their lives.