The Novus' brightest star
"If something goes wrong tonight, I'll fucking freeze the entire place." Kathleen Maher cried out while traversing the corridor, wearing her new blue ball gown dress. Her hair tied in an updo.
"What could be wrong, Guild Master?" Joana said calmly while trying to keep her pace. "The Golden Bitch won't come tonight."
"I fucking hope so," Kathleen grunted, stopping in front of the door that would lead her to the dining area. "I know her, she'd come just to spite me now that everything is finally working out for me." She exhaled, puffing out her cheeks. "How do I look?"
"Magnificent." Joana smiled warmly, before noticing that Kathleen was scrutinizing her outfit. Joana looked down to admire her sleeved ruched dress, before asking: "S-Should I change to something more modest, ma'am?"
"On the contrary. Use the black sleeveless mini dress you wore at William's birthday. That way we'll assure Sir Troy's full attention."
Joana reluctantly nodded and tapped on her User Interface, swapping her outfit in a matter of seconds. The dress' fabric tightened her chest when it materialized.
"Good, now we don't look like a princess accompanied by her freaking maid anymore. Let's go," Kathleen said, examining Joana's curvy body one more time.
They got inside a crowded ballroom, where Kathleen instantly changed her cranky expression to a joyful one.
"There she is!" Sir Troy, a tanned, tall, muscular, middle-aged man waved at her from atop a podium.
"Why didn't you tell me he was super hot," Joana whispered to her boss, who snickered.
"Don't get fooled, Jo," Kathleen replied, not forgetting to fake her smile. "He was a sweaty, fat, bald man back when I met him. Just keep that in mind."
"Kathleen, congratulations for winning the Inferno Summer Cup. You're the living representation of what hard work can achieve."
"Sir Troy Sutton." She made a curtsy. "Thanks for inviting me tonight. And I don't deserve all the credit. This time the team was led by my protegé, Joana Costello, here."
"Oh, pardon me, miss. I didn't recognize you without your battle gear." Sir Troy held Joana's hand and kissed it. "Your cryomancy was a delight to see. You're really learning from the best."
"A pleasure to meet you, Sir Troy," Joana said, blushing, making Kathleen roll her eyes.
***
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*
"This sucks," a woman groaned from her seat, far away from the host and his new guests. "Being here is a bore! At least we'll get a free fancy dinner."
"Mind your manners, Emily," Calvin Sherman said while adjusting his glasses. "If we get kicked out by your lack of finesse, I will disband the guild immediately."
"Yeah, right," Emily Dominguez said after munching snacks. "Look at us. We quickly rose to the top 100 just by merging. 100. You need me as much as I need you."
"As much as it pains me to accept it, it's true. At least behave until the ceremony ends, please."
"Why hasn't it started yet?" Emily moaned, slamming her forehead against the table. "I'm hungry!"
"I heard something that could make the wait worthwhile, Miss Domínguez," Tristan, Calvin's right hand man said, covering his mouth. "It seems they'll do a raffle."
"A raffle? I wonder what the prize could be," Carol, Emily's best friend said, tapping her Guild Master's shoulder. "Doesn't that cheer you up a bit?"
"Who cares," Emily said, face glued to the table. "I never win those, anyway."
"Well," Calvin chuckled, "I don't want to sound pretentious, but back in my Earthly Life, I used to be extremely lucky with chance games."
"And I never got what I wanted from gacha games…" Emily groaned, before receiving a system notification. She absently tapped it, immediately hearing a female voice banging inside her head.
++"Emily, I need your help!"++ Clara Dominguez cried through video chat.
"W-what! What is it?!"
"Who's calling you?" Carol asked.
"It's just Clara. It seems she's in trouble. Here, I'll put her on speaker mode. So! What do you need, Sis? I'm in the middle of a gala, you see! Did you call to congratulate me for--?"
++"There's no time for--Wait, what? Did you win the Inferno cup?"++
"Of course! We got to tenth place," Emily said, puffing her chest.
++"Tenth place is not winning, Em. Not even close."++
"Oh, yeah? I'd love to see you try!"
"Is it my imagination, or do these two sound alike?" Tristan whispered to Carol, who sighed.
"You should have seen them in the same place back in the day. Those were truly dark times." Carol pointed at the paladin, by their side, whose mustache was twitching. "Just look at Calvin. I bet he's experiencing some kind of PTSD just by hearing the sister's voice again."
"Whatever," Emily shrugged, while munching a snack. "Why did you call again?"
++"Oh, right! Where are you?"++
"Iregorn. Why?"
++"Because I need your--!"++
"Is that who I think it is?" Carol said, gasping, getting Emily's attention.
From the double doors entered someone whose presence seemed to light the entire room, accompanied by two girls who posed behind her. "Cosmic!" the newcomers cried, getting cheers from everyone present.
"Miss Cosmica! Miss Cosmica is here!" Emily shouted, getting emotional.
++"What?!"++ Clara made herself be heard despite the noise. ++"Turn the Video window that way, Sis! Let me see!"++
"I'll call you later, bye."
++"Don't you da--!"++
***
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*
"Joana," Kathleen whispered to her Second in Command without taking her eyes away from the celebrity. "Pinch me."
Joana did as she was told, getting her fingers frostbitten. "Ouch, Kathleen! Turn your Passive Skill off before asking me something like that!"
"What is Miss Cosmica doing here?" Kathleen asked Sir Troy, who chuckled.
"After the tournament ended, I invited her to announce the raffle's winner, not expecting much. But she said she had no other plans for tonight, and here she is!" The man paused to admire Kathleen's expression. "Are you a fan, miss?"
"Are you kidding?" Kathleen said, grimly, before screaming in a childish tone. "I'm her biggest fan! Do you think I could hold her hand?"
Sir Troy laughed out loud. "I'll ask her to join us for dinner. How about that?"
"Thank you so much, Sir Troy! I'd appreciate it!"
"You've earned it. Isn't that right, miss Joana?" he said, grabbing her shoulder softly.
Joana gave him a short smile before concentrating on the one surrounded by people.
As Miss Cosmica strolled through the crowd, her two companions, dressed in the same style, advanced in front of her, making the way. Their dresses showed a galaxy with blinking stars, and their hair sparkled at every of their gracious moves.
**So those two are not only her dance partners, they're also her bodyguards,** Joana thought, trying to look at their statuses with her 'Eye of the Sage' Active Skill, but it was useless. **As expected from someone with resources.**
"Sir Troy! What a lovely night, don't you think?" Miss Cosmica said in a melodic voice. "Oh, what do we have here? The leader of the Death Bringers' guild, the winners of this tournament. Nice to meet you!"
Kathleen froze for a second before reaching out her hand. "N-nice to m-meet you!" she said in a barely audible voice. "I--I'm your fan…"
"You are?" Miss Cosmica intoned, brightly. "I'm the one that should say that! I'm a fan of every guild run by women, and I've been following your career almost since the very beginning."
"Oh!" Kathleen beamed, speechless, as Joana squinted to see the idol's features.
**I was right. Marissa was just playing a prank on me. **
Joana discretely opened her User Interface and consulted the picture Marissa Laflamme had sent her weeks ago.
**Yeah, now that I have the real deal in front of me, this picture looks like a poor imitation.**
Miss Cosmica's signature pink hair moved at her back like moving in water, and looking into her eyes was like staring into the deep of space.
Joana felt a gaze and quickly glanced at one of the beautiful bodyguards, who were vigilantly watching their surroundings.
"We can keep talking at our table," Sir Troy said gallantly, offering an arm to the celebrity.
"Join us, Kat!" the idol said joyfully, reaching out a hand to her. "I'm starving!"
"O-Of course, thanks! What's your favorite dessert?" Kathleen asked, grabbing her hand as if they were old friends.
"That's a troublesome question because Idols do not eat. Nah! Who am I kidding! I love pudding. You?"
"Me too! You should come to my restaurant bar at Fleurella someday. It's called the Drinking Banshee, and we serve the best apple pie in all The Novus."
"I would love to!"
**She's not even mad that she's not the major focus anymore,** Joana thought, following her boss, while the bodyguards heeled them.
***
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*
Being done with dinner, Miss Cosmica promised Kathleen to take a picture together after finishing her work. The idol then stood on the podium, grabbed a microphone, and spoke in a sweet voice.
"How's everyone? Are you having fun?"
The crowd cheered for her, especially the Crusaders United's table, from which Emily was the loudest. "I love you, Miss Cosmica! Please, be my girlfriend!"
"I'm sorry, but I can't be anyone's girlfriend, because I already have someone I love!"
+"The Milky Way!"+, everyone cried out.
She chuckled. "You know me well, tee-hee. Now, listen. After a day full of battles and action, we must not forget that we are all part of a family. The Novus family. Like our host, Sir Troy has said before, these competitions' main goal is to train the next generation of leaders, for something greater awaits us once our vessel reaches its destination. So this is a personal request I have for the 10 best guilds reunited here. When our slumber finally ends, and we descend to uncharted lands, would you help us achieve a better future?"
+"Yes! We'll do it!"+
"Would you be the new cornerstones of humanity?!"
+"Leave it to us, Miss Cosmica!"+
"How encouraging it is to hear you all so motivated!"
"Everything for you, Miss Cosmica," Kathleen whispered, to which Joana rolled her eyes.
"Motivating the young is an important part of achieving this mission. Don't you think, miss Joana?" Sir Troy said, placing a hand on her thigh.
"Y-Yes. I agree, Sir."
**Dammit, Kat. I didn't mind knowing his looks were a lie, but I didn't expect that his personality would be the classic 'old geezer with money'! I should have known better when you asked me to change outfits.**
"Are you going to eat that?" one of the idol's companions asked, a young woman of purple hair and joyous attitude, leaning to Sir Troy's side of the table.
"You can have it," the man said, mildly smiling and removing his hand immediately.
Joana thanked the girl in secret, whose gaze was concentrated on her food.
"Now, a little surprise from our sponsor!" Miss Cosmica said, pointing to her left, where something was being hidden under a curtain. "We're going to make a raffle for those guilds that got from fourth to tenth place! I hope this prize can motivate you all to keep training!"
The curtains fell, revealing a magnificent Flying Mount, engulfed in bright fire, making Joana choke on her drink after seeing it.