Friday morning, a message was waiting for Ilaria when she logged into Virtual Connection.
We can't play this afternoon. Hopefully we'll see you tomorrow!
She could picture Diana saying it with her enthusiastic, youthful voice. A part of Ilaria was relieved; she wouldn't need to face the decision of outing herself or not at least for a day. Which suited her well, since she hadn't come to any conclusion after all her pondering.
That morning was a gym one for the girls so Ilaria practiced alone, limiting herself to target training with the shield. It wasn't as hard as learning the flipping in the first place; she could do one shot with relative accuracy before lunchtime, but sending a consecutive two in different directions like Mina was still out of her capabilities.
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The morning passed by relatively fast–Ricardo had woken up late in the first place–and soon he found himself sitting in front of his sister for lunch. Minerva's mood had improved a lot since they had that outing at the mall. She smiled while talking with Amelia, mostly about gym stuff. The later wasn't as enthusiastic about it, but she still followed along.
“Did you master the shooting with the shield?” asked Minerva, after mom had left for the kitchen.
“I wouldn't say master...” answered Ricardo, as he raised his head, surprised that his sister had turned to him. “I'm far from doing what you showed us, but I can shoot.”
“It's okay,” said Minerva, evading his glance. “The more you shoot, the more it'll feel like second nature to you.”
“It makes sense.” Ricardo couldn't help smiling when he noticed his sister's slight blush. She hadn't been this cute in a long time.
The girls kept eating their vegetables in silence, while Ricardo made slow progress on the last pieces of potato from his plate.
“Are we doing the Otterfly Queen again?” asked Amelia, smiling as she met Ricardo's glance.
“I don't think so,” answered Ricardo, smiling back at her. “Diana and Kyle can't log today.”
“Bummer; I wanted to show Diana my improvement.” Amelia speared the remaining piece of carrot from her plate, letting it rest in her fork. She turned towards Minerva, who was munching the last bite of her meal. “Do you want to log in for a bit?”
“I guess I could check big sister's progress.”
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Getting into VC, Mina demonstrated the spinning-shield-double-shot again. Ilaria tried to commit it to memory–practicing for a bit with her sister watching–but she would need more time to master it.
After a while, they made a pause for VR eating–it was probably half the reason Mina logged in–Amy taking out an assortment of chocolates and flavored milk bottles. They ate as they talked about their strategy for the Otterfly Queen; they couldn't rely on Amy getting lucky every time.
Ilaria checked the hour in her display; it was Friday, which meant a new Speed Dating Event. She didn't feel like meeting Johnny at all, but she had done too much to quit right now. I'll show you, pretty boy.
Soon they ran up of ideas to take on the otter boss, so Ilaria took the chance to ask something that was on her mind.
“What's your strategy for the level 20 Dungeon Date?” asked Ilaria to her sister, as the later was putting a piece of chocolate in her mouth. “I mean, taking advantage of the wand's ability.”
Mina swallowed and took a gulp of her vanilla milk. “Nothing much. You try to make your stand close to one door, using the wall to your advantage.”
“Makes sense.” It was what Ilaria had been doing with Kyle in their later DDs. Still, there was something missing.
“Ah, I remember,” said Mina, putting a finger on her cheek. “If you stand sideways at the back of your tank, you can shoot flying enemies as he bashes them with his shield.”
“Oh, that sounds neat.” Ilaria started thinking of the possibilities. She would need to spin the shield over her head without looking at her left hand.
“But Kyle's still far from being able to use a tower shield,” said Mina. “The round shield isn't suitable for overhead bashing.”
“Can you show me anyway?”
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A couple of minutes before eight, Ilaria entered The Grinning Flatfish, clad in her midnight blue gown. It was the one she wore for New Year's, when she had unknowingly met Johnny for the first time. She had opted to buy a new dress for last week's event, but now she didn't care. Chances are he wouldn't recognize her; and if he did, then she could just say she didn't remember him. He didn't deserve a new dress.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
She went directly to the roof terrace, it being as breathtaking as she remembered; though it lacked impact the second time. And, contrary to her expectations, there were a few people in there already. She took out her nametag, pinning it over her left breast. For a second she imagined putting on her New Year's half-mask and saying: I'm back. Of course, she didn't actually do that.
“Hello,” said Wanora, intercepting Ilaria as she was going to order a drink. She dressed in a long silver dress, with a blue shawl over her shoulders. And she had a glass of what must have been a vodka greyhound in her right hand.
“Ah, hello,” said Ilaria, forcing herself to half-hug the Guildmaster.
“I'm glad to see you again,” said Wanora, smiling. “You have been leveling really fast; wanna enter the Valentine's Tournament?”
“Yeah, it would be nice,” said Ilaria, looking around. It seemed like it was going to start soon. “I'll get a drink; see you later.”
Shortly after ordering her strawberry daiquiri, Johnny made his appearance. And Ilaria couldn't help letting out a laugh, which she discreetly covered with her left hand. He was wearing the shimmering black tuxedo from New Year's.
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Ilaria sat on the table, demurely sipping from her pink-colored drink, waiting for the first guy to appear. It was such a waste of time. She wondered if the other participants–the ones who were there to actually get a date–were taking advantage of the event.
“Hey! I know you!”
The exclamation of a voice she hadn't heard in a long time made Ilaria stop her musings. She looked at the guy in front of her and smiled. It was hard to reconcile the image from what she remembered of him.
“We did a Dungeon Date before!” said Natsu, as he sat. He was clad in brown pants, yellow coat, and a white T-shirt. His hair, now black, was still short and spiky.
“Yeah, we did.” Ilaria's first DD. It felt like so long ago, even though barely half a month had passed since. “I didn't know you had joined this guild.”
“I joined yesterday,” said Natsu, “I had just gotten to level 20 and I was stuck with the class change quest.”
“The staves?” asked Ilaria, remembering that Amy helped her with that.
“Yup,” said Natsu. “I was in the city looking for a party when I met Johnny. He introduced me and even gifted me some potions.”
It seemed like Johnny took his role as a guild officer seriously. He would help his junior members get quests or dungeon parties, and answer questions in the guild chat when available.
At least Natsu had a good impression of him.
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Maybe it was because of the conversation with Natsu, but when Johnny's turn finally arrived, Ilaria didn't feel as much anger as before. He still was the self-centered jerk who broke her sister's heart, but at least he treated his guildmates well.
“Hello, I'm glad you decided to participate again.” Johnny didn't wait for a response before sitting, letting his blue cocktail rest on the table.
“Hello.” Ilaria took a gulp from her drink. She chastised herself for not having planned what to say beforehand. She had been preoccupied with other things and now she would need to improvise.
“Level 28 so quick,” said Johnny, his gaze at Ilaria's breast level. “If you don't have the One-eyed Wand yet, I can help you find a farming party.”
“No need, I already got it,” said Ilaria, finishing her drink. She was stalling while thinking of how to approach the conversation.
“I see,” said Johnny, looking like he was considering something. “You know, tomorrow is the last day I'll have the house.”
Ilaria raised her gaze to look at him. He didn't look so smug, more like distant. She wondered if last week's impression had been biased on her part.
“I'll cook for the first time, wanna come to try it?” Johnny's question had a hint of hopefulness in it.
“Alright.” Ilaria couldn't help but wonder what had happened during the week. It definitely didn't feel like the same Johnny.
From there, they talked a bit about the guild while sipping on their drinks. She had already gotten the objective of the night–a second date with Johnny–the question at the end of the six-minute period being redundant.
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Ilaria was relaxing while drinking her fifth mojito, when her last partner for the night appeared. As he sat on the chair, the mage couldn't hide her embarrassment.
I completely forgot about him
“Hello.” Rob finally broke the ice, looking uncomfortable as he sipped on his rum with cola.
“I'm sorry,” said Ilaria, lowering her gaze. “I had a lot of things on my mind that morning; it just slipped away.”
“Don't worry,” said Rob, not quite meeting Ilaria's gaze.
“No, I'm really sorry,” said Ilaria, suddenly getting an idea. “Have you done all today's DDs?”
“Not yet.”
“Let's do one after this?” Ilaria looked at him with what she hoped was an encouraging smile.
“Okay.”
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The Dungeon Date with Rob went as she Ilaria had expected. He was about the same level as Amy but, both being mages, there was little that they could do about the nightmares. They killed about half of them, and resisted enough time for the otterflies to appear, but it was hopeless in the end. The game had serious balance issues–some class combinations were substantially better than others–no way around it.
“You play well,” said Rob, after they were returned to the cobbled streets of Torinelo at night. “You remind me of Mina.”
Hearing that name from Rob made Ilaria pause. Of course someone like Rob would know about her sister, she having been one of the guild's top players.
“Was she good?” Ilaria tried to not show her excitement.
“Yeah, I wish I had asked her for pointers when I had the chance.” Rob looked genuinely regretful.
“What happened to her?”
“Even before I joined the guild, Johnny and Mina were known as the golden couple of Torinelo City Workshops; they were always together.” Rob looked at the sky while slowly walking ahead. “Everybody thought they would last.”
Ilaria tried to picture it in her mind; she couldn't.
“But then, about three weeks ago–the day after Christmas–she was gone. No notice, no farewell, nothing.” Rob turned around, facing Ilaria. “It was a shook for everyone who had thoughts of realizing VC's promise. If even them couldn't make it, what hope could anyone have?”