[The Eclipse City Weather Control Service advises you to carry an umbrella for at least two hours as rain covers the city.]
A projection of what appeared to be the news was displayed on the dimly lit, blue and violet-hued room's wall. Selene had thrown her backpack to one side and placed her gauntlets and communication crystal on her desk.
Her head was covered with a white towel; nothing covered her wet body after her shower. Selene watched the rain fall through her window, not caring if someone outside saw her naked body.
She was proud of her appearance: a toned body and moderate-sized breasts with pink nipples that seemed somewhat stimulated from the long, hot shower she took to wash away the bad smell.
Her armpits and pubic area were dotted with purple tufts. She had sturdy thighs and a firm butt due to exercise. Her hands gently caressed her toned abdomen.
"I'm a damn work of art," Selene whispered, enjoying her privacy.
She wasn't someone who actively sought beauty, but she had unconsciously managed to become a striking beauty in her 20s. She didn't think she could compare to truly beautiful women, yet she was proud of how she looked.
Selene looked at herself in the full-length mirror in her room, and her pink eyes winked back at her. As she removed the towel from her head, her short hair fell to her shoulders, completely free from its previous unkempt state.
At that moment, her communication crystal buzzed and vibrated, alerting her to a new message. When she picked it up, she smiled at the words in the chat projected only to her:
[I hope you had a good shower. I'll wait for you at the bar at 10 p.m. Come dressed comfortably.]
Before replying, she had an idea. With the crystal in her hand, she approached her mirror, struck a pose, and took a picture. She attached the picture to her message before throwing the communicator on the bed. She didn't want to know more about the outcome of the matter.
[Is this comfortable enough?]
"Okay, now that there are only four hours left, should I put on something comfortable and then change? Or should I just put on the clothes I'm going to wear in the end?" While Selene was debating, something helped her choose.
"Selene, come down to eat!" Tea's voice came from the projected screen on the wall. The purple girl simply snapped her fingers before rummaging through her room.
In no time, she put on black athletic shorts and a white blouse. With her communicator in hand, she went down the stairs, which emerged directly from the tree wall, one of the advantages of living in houses like these.
When she reached the first floor, her parents were in the dining room. The table was set, and a news report was playing on the screen. Selene began to listen to it when she entered the room.
[The mayor has rejected Dusk City's demands. Eclipse City will keep the army stationed at the mine in the Thunder Mountains until tensions ease.]
"Those damn guys never seem to learn. The radiation in their water must have rotted their brains," Hyperion complained. He waved his hand, causing the screen to project an old program with a very different aesthetic from that of this era.
"Oh, it's that old story! Don't change it," said Selene, sitting down in the chair and watching the images intently.
"I don't know how you find those old shows so fascinating. They just show a world that will never return," said her father. He lowered his hand, agreeing to leave the show on the screen.
"I guess that's what makes those shows so interesting, especially the aesthetics. For a musician, they can serve as inspiration," Tea commented, taking a seat next to her daughter.
"I'm only interested in the technology that appears there. There are many interesting ideas," Selene commented, pointing at the screen just as the protagonist activated a teleportation device and disappeared.
"Teleportation? Many problems with that issue would need to be resolved..." Hyperion, a Glyphworker, almost launched into a technical discussion, but then he heard his wife clear her throat.
"Let's eat! No complicated stuff during dinner," the woman said, making her husband sit down in front of them. Even though all three were now in their seats, none of them touched the delicious food in front of them.
Out of sheer instinct, they all closed their eyes, and Hyperion began to speak.
"When we were desperate, the Second Sun descended upon the world. It scattered the dust from the sky, removed the poison from the earth, and spread the knowledge that made us rise again.
We owe our new life to her. For that reason, we consecrate this food to her. May she receive our blessings wherever she is, and may she continue to shine with the same intensity as before." After this short prayer, they opened their eyes and began to eat.
"Hey, I have plans to go out later. Don't wait up for me." Selene was the first to speak, causing her parents to look at each other for a few seconds.
"Well, but remember that you just got back, and you need to get plenty of rest, okay?" Hyperion advised, causing Tea to shake her head with a grimace on her lips.
Her husband was too easy on Selene! It was her responsibility as a mother to be stricter. She stared at her daughter, who shrank back.
"You must be here at three in the morning. I want a violin recital from you tomorrow afternoon, okay?" Tea asked, but her words left no room for doubt or questioning. It was more of a statement than a question.
"Yes!" Selene replied, smiling. She would worry about the recital tomorrow. For now, the only thing on her mind was having fun with Noelle.
"Oh, yes. Dad, I ran into a sandworm, and..." She began to tell her family about her near-death experience and the loss of her leather jacket. More importantly, she explained that she had to sacrifice her weapon to escape the monster's pursuit.
"Well, I was about to get angry, but since you explained it that way, I can understand your reasons," Hyperion said after thinking about his response for a moment.
"Luckily, I always have spare parts. They're blank, so you can take them and create a Glyphwork to your liking." Her father's words made Selene's pink eyes sparkle with excitement, and she had many ideas for her new weapon.
It was time to get her second custom weapon!
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Selene quickly got ready for her night out. She didn't have to spend time putting on makeup, which was not one of her favorite things to do.
She wore a relatively simple outfit: a black leather jacket, a blue tube crop top that exposed her toned abs, a black miniskirt, black boots, and black knee-high socks.
She put on perfume, did her hair, and painted her lips blue. Then, she looked in the mirror and turned around to see how she looked. She used her communicator to send Noelle a photo of herself and uploaded it to her personal profile.
"Mom, Dad, I'm leaving!" Selene called out to her parents, who were sitting on the sofa, snuggled up while watching a program.
"Remember to be back before 3 a.m.!" her mother shouted. Selene made a slight sound in confirmation and left the house, heading for the parking lot.
She channeled her Noeia into her hand, generating dozens of gray threads that fluttered gently in the air. She controlled them to connect with an object, tracing an enchantment pattern to unlock her motorcycle.
As she climbed onto her motorcycle, she leaned forward, causing her skirt to rise enough to allow her to spread her legs. Luckily, she didn't reveal too much, although if she had, she wouldn't have cared.
She accelerated, and the motorcycle hummed as it floated toward the street, where other flying vehicles traveled through the city. The scent of rain stimulated her senses, making her feel relaxed.
The city at night was lit by natural lanterns and neon lights, a gentle interaction between nature and technology. The robots did not seem out of place at all and even did gardening work.
The streets were lined with screens projecting different advertisements. Holograms interacted with each other. The businesses that were open at night were busy. Pedestrians adorned the scene. She even received a few glances as she traveled.
It seemed as if nightlife was just beginning in Eclipse City! This was especially true in places that were at their best after dark, such as O'Connor's bar, which was located at the top of a giant apple tree.
Underneath the canopy were two security guards. When Selene glanced at them, she noticed that the mist they emitted was pink, hardly threatening. Still, she gave them the respect they deserved, even though she wore a disdainful smile.
There was also a long line blocked by a red crowd control rope. At the front of the line was a group of women in light dresses, well-groomed and arguing with one of the guards.
"Let us in! I didn't spend three hours getting ready just for you, a mere guard, to block my way!" said one of the women, who seemed to be representing the rest.
"Ma'am, may I see your ID? Only authorized persons are allowed to enter," the security guard replied in a monotone voice, which upset the woman arguing with him even more.
"I already told you, we forgot! Don't you know who my father is? He's a powerful man!" she threatened. The guard just stared at her for a few seconds before looking at his colleague.
"Anderson's daughter, right? Your father explicitly asked us to deny you access, and you're still a minor," said the second guard, causing the girl to blush with embarrassment.
By then, Selene had turned off her flying motorcycle and approached the two guards. Upon seeing her, they ignored the complaining woman and those still waiting in line. They opened the rope blocking the passage.
"Welcome, Miss Sahari," they said in unison. Selene nodded at them and glanced sideways at the woman who had been making a scene a few seconds earlier.
The purple-haired girl gave her a mocking smile before touching the bark of the tree, causing it to open and reveal an elevator that would take her to its canopy.
"Who was she?" asked someone in line. No one seemed to know. One man decided to try his luck and asked a security guard, who answered.
"A Noetarch and an up-and-coming Glyphworker with a lot of talent. The boss likes her." This piqued some people's interest, so they gave the guard a monetary gift. In return, he showed them Selene's public profile, gaining her new followers.
Selene was unaware of this, however, and if she had known, she would have just shrugged it off. She had already arrived in front of the building, which was made of red-tinted glass and stood atop an apple tree.
As she opened the door, music from inside reached her, along with various smells from different sources. The bar's light was predominantly red, though it occasionally changed to purple, pink, blue, or green.
The bar had two floors. The first floor was for dancing and having a good time. Selene had to pass through a crowd of people enjoying the music to reach the staircase that would take her to the second floor.
Access to the second floor was blocked by an energy fence similar to the one at the city entrance. She took her ID out of her pocket, and the barrier opened, letting her through before locking again.
She quickly climbed the stairs; this part of the bar had a very calm atmosphere, with a long bar and several tables with soft seats. Some people were calmly drinking, and a few nodded to her. She nodded back.
Selene didn't have to search. She went straight to the most secluded area, where she knew she would find Noelle. This was where they always met up with their other friends. They had even agreed with the business owner to reserve this space for them.
Then she saw her: There was that blonde woman with red lips to match her eyes and a black dress that enhanced her appearance. When Selene arrived, the blonde smiled happily and gestured for her to come closer.
"Do you have a curfew?" Noelle asked directly as Selene sat down next to her with hardly any distance between them.
"Of course! My mom isn't as relaxed as my dad," the purple-haired girl sighed, answering without any annoyance or negativity in her voice.
"She's a good mother. I'm sure she worries a lot about you going out alone," the blonde said, causing Selene to stare at her with narrowed eyes.
"Shut up. Traveling alone is much more comfortable," the purple-haired girl replied, causing Noelle to look her up and down a couple of times.
"Oh? Why don't you shut up instead?" The blonde straightened her back and looked Selene provocatively in the eyes. The purple-haired girl froze. The blonde closed the rest of the distance between them and kissed Selene directly on the lips.
But it didn't stop there. Selene sat on Noelle's lap and wrapped her arms around the blonde's neck, continuing to kiss her. Noelle's hands didn't stay still either. They went straight for the girl's firm buttocks, squeezing them hard.
One of Noelle's hands moved down toward a certain spot. Her finger touched something she quickly recognized as a butt plug with a diamond embedded in its base.
Selene had left her house without panties, with something like that stuck in her butt! However, they were in a bar, so this was the limit of what they could do. Noelle bit Selene's lip, causing her to end the kiss.
"What a way to shut me up. I thought you'd either punch me or cover my mouth," said the blonde, her face slightly flushed from the kiss, and with the girl still on her lap.
"I don't think about those things. I just want to have a good time. That's why you invited me here, isn't it?" asked Selene, leaning her body onto Noelle's and resting her head on her shoulder.
"You of all people should know how good my sense of smell is when it comes to those things. Not just for knowing how bad you smelled a while ago," the blonde replied, putting her hands around the girl's waist and hugging her tightly.
"Are we going to stay like this, or should we have a drink?" After a few seconds of silence, Selene's idleness kicked in. She pushed the purple-haired girl's body aside and let her sit next to her, making Noelle laugh.
"By the way, what did you get up to on this trip?" asked the blonde, gesturing toward a small robot roaming around the second floor that had caught her attention.
"Oh, I was chased by a sandworm that seemed really angry. Maybe it was laying eggs or doing whatever those things do to reproduce. I even lost my gun because of it," Selene said angrily. She was already thinking about how to get revenge on the monster that had caused her such a loss.
"Do you want me to help you get revenge?" Noelle gave her a smug smile, showing that she knew her friend well. However, the purple-haired girl simply waved her hand, not paying much attention to her words.
"Sorry, but that would be doing you a favor. Then the debts would pile up, and I'd end up joining your exploration team. I can see your evil plan!" Selene replied with an exaggerated expression, covering half her face with one hand as she struck a dramatic pose.
"Oh no! You've figured me out!" But joking aside, you're one of the few lone wolves left in Eclipse.
I hope you do well, but I'm worried you'll have a serious accident in the outside world," said the blonde as she reached out to the robot that had approached her. This allowed her to request services in this area of the bar.
"Oh, I'm not going to say something like 'Yes, I know,' because I understand your concern. Honestly, do you think I haven't considered your proposals or Morgana's? Of course, with partners, I would have access to greater comforts, but I feel like I would be severely restricted." Selene paused, looking at Noelle's profile, before approaching the robot waiter and ordering what she wanted.
"My reasons for going out aren't just to dig up trash from the previous era, but to appreciate the world and learn more. Remember that electronic diary I once found? Others would have dismissed it as trash, but to me, it was unique." The purple-haired girl leaned back in her seat and opened her arms, letting Noelle snuggle up next to her. She listened to the girl talk.
The blonde knew the best thing she could do was let Selene speak freely. After all, she had invited her to this bar so she could relax. As they waited for their orders, the purple-haired girl continued talking.
"In a team, I would have to worry about the others, share my loot, and put aside things that interest me for the most profitable ones. I know that if I were in a group, they surely wouldn't let me keep that diary. They would have turned it into scrap metal or sold it to the government." Selene's words made Noelle think. Would she let her keep something that they couldn't get any value out of?
Probably not. The blonde knew that managing a team to travel the outside world was more difficult than it looked, and she was also using this trip to relax. Managing a group was exhausting!
The logistics alone were a heavy responsibility, not to mention equipment maintenance, planning the travel route, and the expected return from the trip.
However, the advantages of traveling with companions made it possible to endure those difficulties. That's why she tried to convince Selene to accompany her whenever possible. She trusted the girl and knew it would keep her much safer.
"Being alone? I had the time to repair it. Do you know what that diary contained once I had repaired it? It was the story of an ordinary person who, in their loneliness, had decided to write down what happened to them every day until the last entry, which was written before the cataclysm.
Could I find something like that in a group where helping the collective is valued more? I doubt it. Could I get these kinds of opportunities in the future if I joined your team, Noelle?" Selene's question caused an awkward silence between the two before Noelle sighed heavily.
"No. I doubt I'd let you waste time and space on such trivial things because any mistake could condemn not only your life but also those of your companions. Before, I only thought about it from my point of view. I never put myself in your shoes." The blonde settled herself, this time staring intently into Selene's pink eyes.
"What you want is to pursue your interests without complications. You want to travel wherever you want without worrying about setbacks. You want to explore whatever comes your way, regardless of whether you have the necessary tools or supplies." When Noelle said that, the purple-haired girl couldn't help but think of her last exploration, when she spent a week trapped in a ruin only to find a silver box.
Not only that, but Noelle was referring to old stories in which Selene abandoned her original plan to explore an old building that had been explored countless times before, simply because she was curious.
"Inevitably, you'll fight other humans on the outside. But you're a woman with violent tendencies and a thirst for vengeance. I'm sure that, on this last trip, you killed someone who offended you. I could smell the gratification in you when you came back," Noelle said. Noelle poked Selene's abdomen, causing her to puff out her cheeks childishly. That didn't take away the slight blush coloring her face, though.
"I'll tell you about that later! You and your weird nose, always sniffing out people's emotions," whispered the purple-haired girl. This made the blonde smile before she continued.
"You hunt monsters just to taste them, unlike Morgana, who only wants to test herself against strong creatures. You seek to learn new things that will help you improve in your specialties, but you also want to know how everything was before.
Simply put, you're someone who wants to understand the world around us from different angles and contemplate it in the process. Right? That's why you don't accept that we're in a relationship. You're not someone who stays still." At that moment, Noelle separated herself from Selene before approaching the robot, who had returned with two large glass jugs filled to the brim with foamy beer.
As the blonde drank, Selene remained silent with a serious expression because her companion's last words had undoubtedly touched on a key point in the matter.
No, her response was simply to push all her buttons and describe her perfectly. That's what she was looking for, what she wanted to do. It wasn't a dream. She simply felt that the city's energy dome protected and suffocated her.
Why? Doing all that, traveling, fighting, hunting, learning, and understanding, would allow her to grow, and that was what she wanted more than anything. She wanted to be bigger and superior to all the threats she had seen since birth.
Everything around her emitted a colorful mist that did not obscure her vision but rather indicated the level of danger of all things in relation to her. The beer she now held in her hand and the robot waiter both emitted faint pink mists.
There was gray, pink, yellow, orange, red, black, and green mists. Only the green mist represented something beneficial to her, and it was so rare that she was always amazed when she found one.
Everything was dangerous in her eyes except for her parents and a few objects, even Noelle, whose threat was represented by a deep red, almost black mist. That's why she wanted to grow up and overcome all these dangers, whether they wanted to hurt her or not.
"Selene, is something wrong?" Noticing her lack of response, Noelle put her hand on Selene's cheek, causing her to react.
"Oh, it's just what you said made me think. And about being a couple..." Before Selene could answer, the blonde gave her a loud kiss on the cheek, leaving a red mark.
"A free spirit cannot be tied down, Moonie. As long as you have feelings for me, as long as you dance with me until our legs ache, and as long as you lie in my bed, covered in sweat and panting, I won't care if we're a couple or not." Noelle's smile at that moment made Selene's eyes glaze over. Then, she burst out laughing and took a long swig from her beer mug.
Now she was happy! Why had she forgotten that her current growth process was interesting, too? It was one of the reasons she loved it, especially because it suited her personality.
Although her natural talent allowed her to see threats, not all of them posed a direct danger to her. Weren't dangerous things much more interesting than safe ones, though? If a problem arose, she could solve it with her fists.
She laughed because a little introspection had almost ruined her good mood and caused her to neglect the most important thing: her own well-being. Then, for a brief moment, the mist emerging from Noelle flashed green before returning to its original form.
"You're one of the few people who understands me best, apart from my parents and Morgana. But I won't have sex with her again. I prefer sitting down," joked Selene, who was left with a mustache made of beer foam.
"Hmm? Are you really talking about other women while you're standing right next to me?!" You seem to still have a lot of energy. Come on. Let's finish this drink, and then we can go downstairs and dance," Noelle replied, feigning annoyance. She drank the entire contents of her beer mug, then leaned in close to the purple-haired girl.
"Oh? Does it bother you that I'm telling you about how I was with another girl? Do you think dancing will solve anything?" Selene ran her finger across her lip, removing the foam, and then deliberately and provocatively put her finger in her mouth while keeping her pink eyes on the blonde's red ones.
"Don't you know that to soften tough meat, you have to beat it first? That's why we're going to dance." Noelle wasn't subtle with her words. She leaned close to Selene's ear and whispered a few things that made the girl blush.
"If that savage doesn't let you sit down after finishing you off, I'll make sure you can't walk." Selene shuddered at the blonde's words. At least she was grateful that she hadn't worn panties tonight because they would have been completely soaked.
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Ten minutes before the deadline to arrive at her house, the city had slowed down, but some lights were still on, indicating activity. At the Sahari home, however, there was only darkness.
The front door opened, and Selene leaned against the doorframe. She took a long time to step forward. Her legs shook constantly; she could barely stand.
"Damn, Noelle was really so ruthless..." the girl cursed under her breath, not wanting to wake her parents, who might be resting on the second floor.
They didn't need to know she was coming. Her mother could check the access logs in the morning and see that she had arrived home on time. All she had to do now was go upstairs to her room.
At that moment, a thought came to Selene's mind, but she only smiled coldly and narrowed her eyes. However, this emotion soon dispersed; she wasn't going to let certain memories ruin her good mood.
How could she not be happy? She had been fucked until she was staggering, sweaty, and still experiencing spasms! Would she do it again? Without a doubt! Even better if she could do it with Noelle and Morgana at the same time.
She could almost guarantee that this was an important part of her personal growth!