218: The Aftermath, Part Two

The Aftermath, Part Two

{Several hours later}

Neve looked at herself in the mirror. 

To her own eyes, she looked like an entirely different person. 

"Are you sure this isn't too much?" Neve asked as a topless Erin wrapped her arms around her from behind. 

"If she doesn't appreciate the sight of you like this, then feel free to kick her out and let me have you all to myself." 

The woman Neve looked at in the mirror wore a long-sleeved but short, blue dress that matched the sapphire of Neve's eyes and hair, which had been tied into a high ponytail. She wore a silver necklace and bracelet that Erin had suggested to go along with Neve's mellow colors, and some dark blue heels that felt slightly uncomfortable to walk in, but not quite as uncomfortable as Neve had expected them to. 

She now understood why Charlotte had paused when she'd walked up to Neve before the woman had given her speech. 

Aside from that dim magical aura around her body, Neve's eyes looked as though they were carrying small, blue embers for pupils. Her hair also looked like it was glowing, albeit not too brightly. 

She almost looked more like some magical spirit than a human. 

[... Your Arcane really does affect your appearance. Damn.] 

She could still remember what she looked like before she'd gone into the Final Challenge, a year and some months ago. Her cheeks were no longer sunken, and her body had gained some muscle, though only a little. 

"I'm serious, by the way," Erin whispered into Neve's ear. Her chest pressed against Neve's back while her hands reached up and greedily, but gently, cupped Neve's breasts. "If she doesn't want you, it's completely her loss... and my victory, hehe." 

Feeling too warm, Neve looked away. 

Just as Erin's lips grazed her right ear, the doorbell rang. 

Erin pulled away. 

"I take it that's the woman of the hour," the lamia slithered away. "I will be in the guest room, reading. Feel free to have fun elsewhere. Don't be too loud!" 

"I'm not-" Neve cut herself off with a sigh. "Whatever..." 

As her lover slid away, Neve walked out as well and went down the narrow stairs, making her way to the front doors. 

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves after the *subtle* pressure Erin had placed on her, Neve opened them. 

As she saw the journalist, Neve quickly understood that the lamia had been right to tell Neve to dress up well, as the journalist certainly looked like she wanted to impress her too. 

Charlotte had cut a significant amount of her hair off, presenting a short, bobbed hairstyle with bangs that covered one of her eyes. Like Neve herself, she too wore a dress, though hers was... 

Quite a bit more confident. 

A black dress with no sleeves and a deep v-neck that showed off most of Charlotte's chest. It was far longer than Neve's but had two slits at the sides that started all the way up from her hips, to the point where despite her dress being longer she was showing off even more of her long legs than Neve was. Like Neve, she too had on a pair of heels. Hers were higher, however, which made the height gap between her and Neve that much more noticeable. 

In her hands, she had a pair of wine bottles, both of which she nearly dropped when she saw Neve. 

She looked Neve up and down and, as the journalist's eyes roamed her body, Neve quickly understood what Erin had been talking about. 

"Salut!" She greeted her. "Had a good evening?" 

Her words were friendly and somewhat mundane. 

But, her eyes communicated something blatantly to Neve. 

This night probably wasn't ending with them waving each other goodbye in that same friendly manner. 

Knowing that, Neve swallowed her doubts and decided to play along as best as she could. 

"Yeah. It's gotten better now, though," she said, and Charlotte grinned. 

---

The two of them sat at a table on the patio. Before them were two glasses that had previously been filled with wine and that were now holding only a few precious drops. 

Because most of humanity had died and several parts of Starlight City were left vacant, light pollution wasn't quite as intense anymore, which meant that the night sky looked beautiful at that moment. 

Midnight was set to strike in a few minutes. Neve lifted her cup and put those last drops of wine out of their misery. 

"Tonight will be the first night since the Unity Trials began that fireworks will light up the sky since people quickly realized that they were basically akin to ringing a dinner bell for monsters," Charlotte said. "And, we all have you to thank for it." 

"More like me to blame," Neve replied. "Fireworks are annoying as shit." 

"In that case, how do you plan to apologize for this transgression?" 

"I don't know... But, I'm open to ideas." 

They traded looks then in a way that hinted that the moment in which they would leave this table and go spend the night in some other part of the mansion was likely set to come soon. But, before that, Charlotte added: 

"On a serious note, however, have you looked at the player demographic statistics recently?" She asked with a hand under her chin and a smile. 

Neve blinked. That came out of nowhere. 

"Uh, not really." 

"You should take a look," Charlotte said with a smirk. "The Golden Dragon's website has the statistics front and center of their page." 

Taking a moment to pull her phone out, with one hand still resting on the table, Neve quickly went to the website in question. 

As Charlotte indicated, the relevant stats were in fact front and center. 

And, Neve's eyes widened when she saw them. 

"Previously," Charlotte said, "the player ratio was as follows. 75% DPS classes, 20% Tank classes, and only 5% Support classes." 

Now, as Neve was seeing, thanks to Tamira's reset those stats had changed to this: 

45% DPS, 30% Support, and 25% Tanks. 

"In case you're wondering why the number of tanks went up, it's because as soon as you made your announcement, some people got together on the forums and started talking about making a tank-exclusive guild as well. One that would also be open to training with members of other guilds through dual memberships. If you want to get as many people as possible to join yours, I suggest you make yours open to dual memberships as well." 

"... Noted," Neve replied quietly. 

She hadn't thought her announcement would have this level of impact. 

Charlotte placed her hand over Neve's, drawing the healer's sapphire eyes back to her. 

"Just a few months ago, it looked as though humanity itself was coming to an end. And now you've come along and changed things. You're going to get this a lot going forward, but I wanted to be the first to say: thank you, Neve. For what you've done for everyone." 

Neve looked away. 

"Not everyone's thankful, though, are they?" 

Charlotte grimaced slightly, knowing what Neve meant. 

She'd seen some news earlier. And, if she'd seen it, there was no way Charlotte wouldn't have. 

The Hidden Blade Guild, though probably weakened after Starlight City's injection of hope, was still killing players. 

[They'll probably have people among the next 100 players to enter the Final Challenge, to try to sabotage it intentionally.]  1

That was something Neve and the rest of the world would have to prepare for when the time came. 

That day was a long way from today, though. 

"The desire to cling to hopelessness is strong in some," Charlotte replied. "I guess it's just a way to avoid being disappointed. To ruin the world yourself because you fear you might fight for it and end up losing instead. But, I think that sentiment will grow weaker as you and I get to work." 

Neve looked over at her with a raised brow. 

"You and I?" Neve quoted her. 

"Of course," Charlotte replied with a smile. "You fascinate me, Neve. In many different ways. If you'll allow it, I intend to be there every step of the way." 

The blatant lust she'd been displaying briefly gave way to genuine admiration. 

A kind of look that Neve would need to get used to receiving. 

Fireworks exploded in the air. 

Neve flinched, as did Charlotte. To a player in the Unity Trials, loud sounds like these were also generally not a good thing. But, there was nothing to be wary of. 

It was the opposite, actually. 

As the clock struck midnight, the celebration was fully underway. 

Neve got chills as she saw those fireworks. She didn't see them for long, though, as Charlotte stood up, walked over to Neve, and stood right in front of her. The healer turned in her chair. Charlotte then straddled Neve's lap, and the healer wondered if she'd come in that dress specifically so she could do that. 

Looking into Neve's eyes, Charlotte grinned. 

"I don't know about you, Neve, but I have a peculiar way of celebrating things. Would you like me to show you?" 

As she heard that question, Neve inhaled sharply. 

It was done. Though Neve's work wasn't entirely over, the bulk of her journey had come to an end. 

She could let herself enjoy this. 

"Sure." 

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