Dance of the Gods

The basement door slowly opened, Veronica was near trembling from anticipation, and when she could finally see inside there was nothing but crappy wooden staircase.

'Well... this was anticlimactic. I expected something more interesting than this...'

Suze led the way and Alex let Veronica go down next. Her steps were slow and methodical, with each one her reluctance grew a bit. She trusted Suze with all her heart, but she couldn't shake the feeling that it would be really easy to kill her down here.

'Didn't I here a gunshot originating from here? The exact place I'm currently going towards?... Am I stupid?'

Since there was no going back she hid the fear that was gradually consuming her mind and instead focused on the surroundings.

The staircase was old, but well kept. The walls were made of stone, but they were very badly cut with a lots of ridges and bumps all over it. With every step they took there was a loud creak and Veronica started to fear the stairs as well.

'What if they break under my feet and I break my leg? They should really do some renovating here!'

After a couple more steps they finally reached the bottom, it took way longer than a regular basement which was the first strangeness she noticed. But what was down there made her forget everything.

The place was huge, even bigger than the upstairs main room. There were lots of tables, an open bar, and even something resembling a kitchen with a pantry of its own. About half a dozen people were here and seated at a few tables. When they heard someone coming down they looked up, but quickly lost interest as they saw Suze.

In all four direction there was a corridor leading away with doors on each side. Only now did she fully grasp what this place was... An underground hotel.

With Suze in the lead they seated themselves at a table, and she sent Alex to get something to drink for them. This was going to be a long night.

When they were properly seated and drank a bit of alcohol, it was time for Suze to begin.

"Before we go into detail about anything related to this world's mysteries, you should tell us how much you know so as to make everything more straightforward." Veronica nodded with understanding, and began talking.

"Well, it's actually not much. The people from the Unbroken told me that there are 15 paths each having 8 orders, and that Madam Stout became corrupted when she saw something in my past that she shouldn't have. But before we go into any of that, could you tell me what is this place?"

She made a hand gesture emphasizing what she was curious about. Suze and Alex looked at one another they seemed to have a silent conversation with their eyes. Eventually they turned back and told her the truth.

"As you probably guessed even before today, we aren't an ordinary inn. We are actually a safe harbor for pirates and anyone running from the law. Also we trade in ascended materials, but that's something we will discuss later."

When Suze finished she motioned at Alex to bring something to them. He didn't hesitate or ask question, just stood up and walked towards one of the rooms. Veronica waited curiously, but she also wanted to know more.

"While we wait could you tell me a bit more about the ascended, like how do you become one?" Seeing how invested Veronica was, Suze made one of those genuine smiles and told her more.

"How to become an ascended... Is this something you are interested in? The process is fairly simple, but also very expensive. There is a specific ritual that you have to do with some rare materials."

She stopped talking for a second to take a breath and within that time Veronica asked another question.

"What kind of ritual? Like sacrificing some animal or something?"

The eyebrows on Suze's face rose as high as they could before she burst out laughing.

"Oh... Gods no! It's way more simple and much less messy." She took a few breaths trying to regain her composure.

"It's called ritual bathing. You need a large bath, a specific colored clothing and the materials. I won't go into details now, but it's really straightforward, especially at the first eighth or seventh order."

As they talked Alex returned with a paper in his hand, he stayed silent and just handed it to Suze. After quickly running her eyes through every line she looked up at Veronica.

"You still haven't answered my question though. If you could chose, would you want to become an ascended?"

'That is... a very good question. I want to find a way home, and maybe this is the only way... Since I have no better idea, I might as well become one!"

She took her time before answering, but it was all natural... It was a tough question after all.

"I did thought about it, when the Unbroken offered me a job. But I didn't want to make a choice like that with so little knowledge about being an ascended."

Alex and Suze looked at each other and had another of their weird wordless conversations. They knew on another for a long time, so it was only natural that they have this good communication between themselves.

Surprisingly this time Alex spoke, but what he said confused Veronica.

"We think you shouldn't accept their offer. Even though the Unbroken is by far the best of the orthodox secret organizations, they would just contain your growth. If you truly want to become an ascended, it's best to do it as a freelancer."

She wasn't fully convinced of this fact. If there were rare materials involved that means this was an expansive business, and getting the backing of a rich church was better than trying to buy them from your own money.

Seeing her expression Suze explained it further.

"Yes moneywise it's worth it to join other organizations, but they will try their hardest to not let you become too powerful, because that's what being an ascended means. Unimaginable power, all contained within your own body."

'That actually makes sense. Other ascended would try to contain my growth and keep me on lower orders, all while using me for whatever work I would be doing.'

After staying silent for a few minutes, she finally looked at the paper and asked, "What is on it?"

On Suze's face a sly smile appeared, she knew that Veronica wouldn't join the Unbroken now. She steadily slid the paper towards her, but since it was upside down Veronica had no way of reading it.

"Since we caused all that suffering to you, this is a gift from us. If you want to, we can help you become an 8th order ascended, and even teach you about the mysticism of this world, plus some ritual magic. But you will have to work more, and I don't mean as a barmaid."

 Veronica's eyes were about to fall out of their sockets, she was staring at the paper so hard it might catch fire. Slowly Suze turned the paper while continuing to speak.

"We need someone to help with errands. Nothing too hard, just entering supernatural gatherings and buying the required materials at their auctions... Here is a list of every path we know the recipe and ritual for. You can chose any of them and we will pay for the materials."

Finally her eyes focused on the list. It contained six different path names and a quick summary of their power.

The first one was called Mediator, which gave the ascended an enhanced soul and the ability to keep any situation calm.

The second was named Soldier, it gave extensive fighting knowledge and physical strength.

Third was the Lost, and by the description Veronica knew that Alex was from this path. The person who becomes a Lost will have a short term amnesia, but their spirituality greatly increases.

The fourth and fifth were very similar, Oracle and Knowledge Pursuer. Their strengths were with the soul and divination.

Her eyes gradually read everything, until she got to the last path. At first she didn't really like this one, the best she read about was the soldier. It gave her knowledge with every kind of weapon and with a strengthened body her ability to fight would greatly increase.

But there was just something bugging her about the last one. She couldn't really explain it, the feeling it gave her was comfort and longing.

The last ones name was Dancer. It gave a large increase to the soul and a small to the body. It also provided an extremely flexible body and knowledge about every existing dance, which included ritual dances.

At first glance she thought it to be kind of bad, but there was still that doubt in her. It seemed to say that she should choose the Dancer.

With droopy eyes she looked through the list again and quickly realized that she shouldn't make this decision while nearly falling asleep from exhaustion. While yawning she looked up at Suze.

"I will have an answer by tomorrow!"

Suze just nodded understanding why she decided to take her time. Veronica excused herself and went to her room to finally have a peaceful night of sleep... How naive of her.