Dance of the Gods

After getting back to the real world Veronica promptly sent out Michael, and she quickly changed into something less obnoxious looking.

She opted for a warm orange dress she had bought the day before. As she was about to leave, her eyes went to the Material Box sitting on her bed.

Without any options she swiftly hid it inside the wardrobe, but she didn't leave the earrings inside. As promised she didn't put them in while Michael wasn't there, but Veronica had already decided that after dinner she would wear them.

Currently they sat next to the Dancer's Rose, inside her pocket.

After getting ready they both left the room and went to the kitchen. The smell of a great meal has already filled the main room, and Veronica's mouth watered just by taking a whiff.

As Michael opened the door for her they both stepped inside. The dining table was packed with food, but most people were still missing. James and Suze were already near the table, still placing a few items down.

The kids were somewhere else, probably washing their hands or something. Without the need to say anything Veronica took her usual place, while Michael sat in the chair next to her.

Someone had already prepared an extra chair, so they all fit around the large table.

As the two of them sat down James did so as well, while Suze was still placing a few other items down.

The atmosphere was a bit awkward. Nobody seemed too inclined to begin a conversation.

Veronica watched with great interest as James and Michael were having a staring contest, but when Suze finally sat down, both men quickly turned their heads away.

Luckily or more like unluckily there was one big difference between Suze and everyone else. She was great at breaking up awkward silences with inappropriate questions.

"While we wait for the others lets have a bit of a talk. Michael, how many partners did you have before meeting Veronica?" James ––who was drinking from his glass–– promptly turned to the side and spat out his drink on the floor.

Veronica gasped in surprise, then began chiding Suze, but she didn't seem to care. Her eyes were focused on Michael, who was keeping the eye contact.

"Around five, but only one of them long term." He said without any shame, and the answer seemed to satisfy Suze, but she wasn't done yet.

"How many of them did you have intimate relation with?" She asked with no filter, but yet again Michael didn't back down.

"Only four, and before you ask no I haven't had any one night stands or had sex with prostitutes... Or wasn't these what you were about to ask?" He spoke with a smirk, surprising even Suze.

She looked him up and down once, then turned to Veronica and said... "Good enough."

Veronica watched this interaction with pure confusion, but before she could've said anything, the children arrived.

Sofie went to her place without saying anything, but Ann and Jamie stopped in the door looking at Michael.

Both he and Veronica were already standing. She quickly introduced him as her new boyfriend.

Jamie narrowed his eyes and seemed to judge Michael. It was like that one time back on Earth when she brought home her first boyfriend, and her older brothers each seemed to want to beat him if he made a wrong move.

Only issue was that, this time a 12 year old boy was trying to make such face, which looked more cute than terrifying.

Michael didn't take it seriously and with a smile he reached in his coat pocket and pulled out a chocolate bar. Jamie found himself in a real predicament, he either takes the bribe, or he refuses and tries to stay impartial in his judgement... He took the chocolate.

He ran to his seat while saying a quick thank you to Michael, causing both he and Veronica to chuckle.

Ann on the other hand wasn't even a little bit amused. Her face was as emotionless as ever. Other people would look Michael up and down at least once before making judgments, but Ann was special in this case.

Her eyes were deeply focused on Michael's own, and after a few seconds even he started to get weirded out. As he seemed to slowly become unsettled, Ann nodded to herself.

She held out her hand like a lady would do, and Michael gently took it and placed a small kiss on her ring. The whole thing was more awkward than intimate. After this Ann went to her place without saying a single word.

Michael and Veronica stood there for another moment. He glanced to the side at Veronica, who just shrugged.

Throughout the past few weeks the only person she still didn't fully understand was Ann.

Whenever she asked Suze or Sofie about it, they just said that she is a sweet girl, but really shy and untrusting.

When she was a girl, she was really outgoing and loved to run around and have fun, but after what happened with Sofie, she changed as well. Instead of playing and having fun, she began to solely focus on her studies.

The only person she really talked with were her siblings. She even acted a bit estranged to Suze and James. They weren't inclined to push whatever was her problem, and instead decided to accept her like she currently was.

After the strange interaction Michael and Veronica sat back down. As always they said the prayer to the Goddess of Secrets, then began eating.

The conversations was luckily quick to start this time, and it wasn't because of Suze's shamelessness.

"How is it working in under one of the orthodox churches?" Asked Jamie curiously.

"If I'm being honest its pretty boring. Before this whole protesting we hadn't had work for months, but that's mostly because we live in Hammon. I still have a few friends in Vindra, and let's just say that things are looking even worse there." Said Michael, then took another forkful of meat and rice.

One thing Veronica had never lied about was Suze's cooking, it was truly masterful. He really wanted to suggest that they turn this whole inn into a restaurant. It would make them rich by the end of the year!

"What's happening in Vindra?" Asked Sofie. She seemed to be a lot more talkative, then she usually was, but Veronica did spot a bit of tremble in her hand each time Michael reached for some more food.

"Well... How much details can I go into?" He asked while eyeing Jamie and Ann.

"Oh, you can talk about anything you want, but due try to keep it from being too graphic. Focus more on the political side of things, at least they might learn something new!" Said James, while taking a sip of his whiskey.

"Okay then... As far as I know the protests are much more violent already, and the Unbroken suspect its at least partially because of a Cult!" The children gasped a bit hearing that, while Suze and James looked disturbed.

Veronica just looked confused, and Michael quickly noticed her lack of knowledge, again. He became unnaturally furious about it, since he noticed this behavior a few times already.

"Suze, why don't you teach your ASCENDED daughter about mysticism? Why does she have such a lack of knowledge in most of these subjects?" He blurted out before he could think better of it.

The table turned awfully quiet, everyone was staring at Michael with surprise and fear. Then the eyes changed target and stared at Suze, who seemed as uncaring as ever. She raised another spoonful of soup and slowly sipped it.

"I gave her a book on mysticism, it's not my fault if she doesn't read it!" She said while not even looking at Michael.

"Will you say this to yourself, if she dies because of the hole in her education? Will you sleep better at night knowing that you done everything, by giving her a book?" This time he went too far, and everyone knew it.

Suze slowly put down the spoon and looked into his eyes. Her face was calm, but below it a deep fire burned. It was full of hatred for anyone who dared to talk shit about her family, and full of love to said family.

"This food is really good Suze, how did you make it?" Asked Veronica in desperation, trying to change the subject, but it was a fool's errand.

"What gives you the right, to judge me and my ways in MY OWN HOUSE!" She put emphasis on the last words, but didn't raise her voice. It made everything much scarier, but Michael didn't back down.

"The right of judgement is in everyone's hand regardless of place. What you did was lazy and irresponsible. The only reason Veronica didn't die yet is because of pure dumb luck. She had no preparations of this world, and your 'help' was as good as throwing her at the wolves with a stick to defend herself!"

Suze's mouth twisted into a grimace, which was something Veronica had never seen before, and she never wanted to see again.

"I was lazy I give you that, but it wasn't my fault that Veronica is exceptionally good at attracting criminals and evil ascended... We still don't even know why that asshole Floyd wanted to kidnap and possibly rape her! That was a mistake too, letting him get away without killing him..."

Before Suze could say anything else about her brother, Veronica suddenly stood up and rushed away, weeping.

It was really hard to keep a straight face during the conversations, but she managed. She was mostly silent, as all of her life's previous memories were causing quite a bit of ruckus inside her head.

But when she heard Suze talk badly about her brother, the brother who was dead because of her... That broke all the floodgates that held Veronica together.

She didn't even bother with the main door, instead she turned away from the table and rushed out into the alley... The exact same alley where her own brother killed her as part of a ritual.

Veronica just ran from there, not stopping until she reached the Harbor. There she sat and silently cried...