Dance of the Gods

A bell was sounding 5 pm, Veronica just got off from the carriage and was currently walking towards the inn. She wasn't even paying attention to her surroundings. Throughout the whole journey her mind was at some place else.

'Sofie lied to me about those ingredients for sure. But what is their actual purpose? Are they maybe some occult materials, do they kidnap people and sacrifice them to an evil god? Okay, stop joking. They are not insane only a bit secretive.'

As she went through the door and into the inn, Veronica looked around the main room. She noticed that there weren't as many customers at this hour as yesterday. She said a quick hello to James, then brought the supplies into the kitchen. Here she found Suze sitting at the table reading some romance novel judging by the cover.

When Veronica stepped in she looked up from her book.

"Back already? Did you manage to buy everything?"

Her voice sounded a bit tense, but Veronica ignored it and began to unpack.

"Yeah, but Sofie will only be coming back later. She said there are a couple more items to get and I should bring these back in the meantime."

She omitted to say what were those other items, it had nothing to do with her and she didn't want Sofie to get into trouble. Putting everything in its place, she sat down at the table since there weren't really anything she had to do.

"What is this book you are reading?" Suze looked down and a hint of blush appeared on her face. 

'Why is she blushing, is this maybe not just a plain romance, but a spicy one? Were there spicy novels in the Victorian era?... Probably, humanity was and will always be a species controlled by their desires.'

"Ah... This is just a book I have been reading. It is from my favorite author J. Y. Simmons, when I finish it I can lend it to you, if you are interested."

"What's it about?"

"It is about a woman who was born in the Outlands. The story begins as she arrives in Luros, the biggest port city on the east of the Free Cities. She gets into a bunch of trouble and a nice man, a detective helps her. There is a murder mystery and they fell in love. So are you interested?"

"Uh... Sure, sounds fun."

Suze's face became a bit red again and she seemed to struggle staying something else. After a couple of seconds she sighed and whispered to Veronica.

"I do have to warn you... There are some... Picturesque scenes in the book... If you are into that, then you will love this author."

'Ha! I was right, it is a spicy romance. I should probably read these kind of books. They are as close as I will get to porn until I figure out a way to return.'

She put a kind smile on her face and said, "I love those kind of books! Be sure to finish it fast so I can read it as well!"

Her face became much less tense after Veronica's words and with a knowing smile she nodded.

They talked a while longer, then customers started to arrive, so they both had to get back to work.

Veronica did her job diligently and soon nighttime arrived again. She was just leaving the restroom to head to bed, when there was a noise coming from the basement again. It was like the one last night, but also a bit different, like furniture breaking.

Remembering the feeling of being watched from yesterday, she hurried into her room and quickly closed the door. Quickly she changed and went to bed, trying to fall asleep before anything weird happened.

'Why couldn't I wake up next to a normal inn? I could just be a regular barmaid with a bad salary, instead I'm scared about what they are hiding in the basement.'

She sighed exhaustedly, then closed her eyes and let the dreamlands take away all her troubles by falling into sweet unconsciousness.

...

Veronica woke up in a corridor. It was a fancy corridor, probably in a noble's mansion.

The floor and sides were made of wood, it was carved with people hunting different kinds of animals with dogs. There were loads of windows on the left side, but no light came in since it was night. On the right there were doors, what lay behind them was a mystery for her.

There was something else she also noticed. She wasn't in her own body, this person was taller and male. She didn't have control over the body, but it was a male since she felt every part of it.

'Is this what it feels like to have a penis?... Weird...'

The owner of the body was walking towards one of the doors. It lead into a large recreational room and here sat a woman staring into the burning fireplace. In her eyes the sparks of the flame reflected, she seemed to be deep in thought.

The man closed the door and the woman looked at him. She didn't wore a dress, instead it was a pure black robe with a hood on its back, like the ones cults usually used.

Her face was immaculate, it was just simply perfect, her hair was like a shower of gold as it cascaded over her chest right until where her navel was. Her eyes were bright orange and they seemed to glow in the low light.

The man just stood there watching her, then he moved and sat down onto the other chair.

Neither spoke for a long while, eventually the woman turned her head and asked, "Are you sure she will be able to acquire it?"

Her voice was like the most beautiful music or song Veronica has ever heard. Just listening to it seemed to brighten her mood and engulf her mind. If it was her own body, she would already be kneeling before the woman. She could've asked anything of Veronica and she would do it no questions asked.

After her question the man didn't answer or that was what Veronica thought at first, but in her mind a voice spoke.

"Yes.", was all it said.

The woman nodded and stared at the fire some more.

"I can hardly believe it... After how much we suffered and tried to achieve our goal... All we needed was some woman..." 

Veronica was trying to clear her mind from the woman's voice, but it just kept echoing... Then it mysteriously disappeared.

Another voice took its place... The man's. He was laughing. After a while the mad laughter stopped and he spoke again.

"That girl will change the world even if we don't interfere. Fate seems to like her. We will start the ritual tomorrow, that's when the Voyager will bring her soul close enough for us to steal it! Tell everyone to be ready, soon Remot will rise again!"

When he said the last part the world broke apart.

...

On an unnatural street, there was a theater. It was extraordinary and confusing, the proportions weird all over it. The color scheme changed since the last time Veronica saw it.

The doors were the colors of rainbow this time and the main building's color was orange, while the windows were pink. They were still everchanging and mysterious.

From habit she tried to turn away, but just like always it didn't work.

With a sigh she moved towards it and to her absolute surprise the door changed. Not just the colors, but the carvings as well.

On the top right of the door there was rows and rows of seats carved, they had people sitting in them and they were clapping, like some sort of audience at the end of a play. They gave off a weird feeling, like they weren't there at all or like they were the same person, but also not.

On the top left were a different kind carving. It depicted a bunch of people in weird robes singing, they held books in their hands containing the lyrics of the song, they were like a church's choir. They also gave of a feeling of being the same person, but also different.

On the middle of the door, right at eye level were a couple dancing. One was a woman wearing a gorgeous flowing dress, she was holding onto a man in a charming suit.

Veronica was studying the pair when they changed. Suddenly instead of an adult couple, they turned into children.

Before she could figure out what was going on, they changed again, this time two female were dancing together, then they turned into an old man and a young woman, then an old woman and a middle aged man.

The couple were changing constantly, but were also the same. She didn't know how, but she knew it. Behind their changing bodies were the same people, it was all just a performance.

As this thought appeared in her head something changed, she looked at the carvings then fell on her butt from being frightened. All the carvings... they were smiling and looking at her, but they weren't the ones...

It was the theater... It was observing her.

Suddenly the doors slammed opened and Veronica woke up in a cold sweat.

'Every single night! I just want some peaceful sleep! Is that too much to ask for?!'

She sighed and looked out the window, it was just before dawn so there was no real point in trying to fall back to sleep. Instead she sat down on the bed and looked through her memories.

'Lets so what do I remember? Capitals of the world check, broad history of most countries check, most of the geography of the countries check. I think I remember everything except my previous self, but I doubt I will remember that anyway.'

After thinking for a while, she stood up and was about to walk to the wardrobe when a weird feeling appeared within her mind, its like she was forgetting something. Something very important that happened to her.

'Lets see yesterday I came back, talked with Suze, worked, ate, went to bed and dreamt about that weird theater again. Or did I dream of something else as well? No, it definitely not, only that crooked theater and its maw like door.'

Regaining her calm obliviousness, she took out clothes for today and went to take a bath. At this point it was starting to become a routine, which helped her get ready faster.