Cecilia was Vince's childhood friend turned lover. They went to the same school, played together and relied on one another. The three of them used to be inseparable. 'Sophia…' Vince's mind drifted as he watched the rain plummet the city below. There was something soothing about the empty streets.

"You're lucky. Five more minutes and you would have been soaked." Cecilia sounded from the kitchen.

"Lucky is the last thing I'd call myself right now." Vince leaned back on the couch. It had brown covers on it, oriental. He glanced by the door, where cardboard lined the wall. "What's with all the boxes?"

"Throwing out old stuff." Cecilia handed him a steaming cup of chocolate. "How did the Gateway meeting go?"

Vince looked down at the hot drink. "Do you have anything stronger?"

"That bad?" Cecilia walked back to the kitchen. Her home was spacious and beautiful, much unlike Vince's depression box. He didn't mind living on minimum wage to pay for Sophia's expenses, but he did feel stabs of envy at times. Most of his colleagues were better off than him. All the thoughts went away when Cecilia returned with Irish whiskey.

"Here," she said and handed him the whole bottle. "Try not to get wasted."

"I wish I had the time to get wasted." Vince downed half the cup of chocolate and spiked the rest with whiskey. "In two hours I have to be back home, to log on. Dusk won't wait."

Cecilia settled on the couch next to him. "About that… I contacted another guild. They'll fill in for us tonight. You get to rest."

Vince almost choked on his drink. "You did what?" If they backed off now it'd be seen as agreeing to Gateway's terms. "What the hell got into you?"

"Calm down. There's a reason I did it."

Any other day, Vince would have snapped at her, but he was too tired to have another argument. He just sighed and took another sip from his cup. "Well, I'm listening."

"I'm sure you have heard of the recording function being disabled in PvP." She inched closer to him and Vince made a conscious effort to focus on her eyes instead of her chest. "People say the supposed enhancing software doesn't exist. It's only an excuse to shift focus away from PvP."

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"They're probably right," Vince said, "but I don't see a reason to worry. Not even the developers can interfere with Kosmos's decisions for Twilight, unless they plan to shut down the game entirely of course."

Cecilia shook her head. "That didn't stop them from pulling this stunt though, and the guilds are furious. Asire and Kaizer are working together to organise a huge push into Darkblessed territory before the changes go through. They’re trying to get the public interested in PvP, as well as retaliate for the huge losses we suffered last Dusk.”

“Wait…” Vince pondered for a brief moment. This was excellent news! If the initiative proved successful he could continue doing what he loved without Gateway breathing down his neck. Perhaps he would even make enough money to support both Sophia and himself in the future. “How many guilds have agreed to join?”

“Eighteen out of the top twenty, as well as about a hundred smaller ones.”

A cold shiver ran down his back. It would be the biggest force the Hallowed had ever put together. Just the thought of this many people battling together excited him. “We have to get the guild battle-ready! I’m going home to—”

She placed a finger on his lips. “Shush. You’re going to rest first. With me.” Cecilia slid closer and ran her hand through his hair.

Vince smiled and hugged her, breathing in her rosy scent. “So that’s why you had someone else fight tonight. Naughty.”

“No, silly,” she giggled and distanced herself again. “Sunlight won’t be participating either, in order to lure the Darkblessed deeper into our territory. Then the next day, the guilds will reclaim it all.”

"Ah, that makes sense." Vince frowned and slumped back on the couch. Cecilia kept on teasing him, then rejecting his advances. He didn't want to pressure her into anything, so their relationship had been in that weird limbo for months.

"Don't pull that face." She gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Fight well tomorrow. After you win, you'll get to taste something you'll never forget."

Vince stared at her wide eyed. "Are you sure? You don't have to force yourself."

"Don't worry about me." Cecilia giggled and fell back in his arms. She was so warm that it calmed him. “And if there’s any night to bargain with your soul, it’s gonna be tomorrow.”

Vince looked at her, somewhat surprised.

“I know you well enough, Vince. I asked you to stop in the past but your experience gain tells me that you didn’t.” Cecilia smiled and stroked his hair. “But it’s fine now. Hell, with how tomorrow is gonna be, I think I’ll try it as well, for a night.”

"Thank you," Vince said, "for sticking with me through everything."

"Get some sleep," she said, and Vince could have sworn he caught a glimpse of sadness in her eyes.

"Everything alright?"

"Yeah, just a stray thought." Her fingers stroked his chest rhythmically, draining him of worries and the day's stress. The couch suddenly felt so comfortable and cosy, so safe. Vince found his eyes shutting on their own, and he surrendered himself to sleep.