Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Serena POV - February 2, 1977 Magical World - July 27, 2008 DxD.
"I admit it, I was wrong." I said in surprise, ignoring Rebecca and Ravel's smug faces.
Distracted Globe had officially opened an hour ago; all the teleportation circles had been activated and were fully operational. I had greatly underestimated how appealing it would be.
We'd run a pretty aggressive promotional campaign, mainly because we'd only had a week to fully promote Distracted Globe after it was finished. And the campaign had apparently been a huge success.
The first day, it was simply the Distracted Globe appearing over Pentagram City. We had only announced its appearance to the city, but not what it was: the enormous sphere, one of the most ridiculous structures in the underworld, had appeared out of nowhere in the city's sky.
That alone was the beginning of the rumors. The good thing about rumors is that they're terribly contagious; Distracted Globe practically became a hot topic in the underworld, along with thousands of theories circulating online and by word of mouth, even in other cities.
The rumors attracted widespread attention worldwide, especially since someone like me was involved. Despite my displeasure, I knew I was someone being watched quite closely by supernatural beings, both ordinary demons and the nobility of other factions.
A succubus strong enough to turn into a high-class demon, an undefeated streak in the Rating Games, the engagement to Ravel Phenex, founding a city for succubi and common demons, my victory against Kokabiel and the White Dragon, my friendship with the Satans, and my participation in the Peace Conference.
All of that made me a person of interest to any faction. The appearance of a ridiculous structure a kilometer in diameter above my city, something I had created, would attract the attention of the entire supernatural world.
They definitely wanted to know what my next move would be, what I was planning. And we used that momentum, that curiosity they felt for me, to our advantage. I spent many hours visibly creating portals in both demon and human territories. It was something I could have created in seconds, but I spent dozens of minutes in each territory, so that people would see me and the information would start to spread.
We created visible, easily identifiable structures in every demonic city and human territory we were allowed to enter, as well as in those that didn't belong to any supernatural faction. This only fueled the rumors.
If I hadn't had their eyes on me before, now everyone did, and they held their breath. Then I used others' influence. For an entire day, I went to visit, very conspicuously, various important families, including the Satans, to invite them to Distracted Globe in person.
People saw me going in and out of territories and talking to influential people, which only made the rumors grow even more.
When the rumors were at their peak, that's when we launched the advertising campaign. We practically promoted The Distracted Globe in every media outlet we could get our hands on: brochures, posters, radio, TV ads, the internet, anything we could think of. And we didn't limit ourselves to the demonic world. We had to spend a fortune, but we managed to slip many of them into various supernatural communities.
They all showcased the interior of the Distracted Globe, advertising it for what it was: the largest dance club and casino in the supernatural world, a vast supernatural entertainment center. Everyone was invited, regardless of race or faction; it was a free-for-all for the supernatural and human worlds.
There were pictures, videos, and descriptions of Distracted Globe's offerings. Lucy had even created a completely dedicated website, a comprehensive one about its facilities, its services, all the existing teleportation points, and more.
We even announced a series of special events. The platform in the center of the zero-gravity dance floor could be used as a concert stage, so we had booked a number of famous bands and singers from the supernatural world to perform throughout opening night.
And that was only in the supernatural world. In the human world, our marketing campaign was completely different. The supernatural secrecy still mattered, so we needed a different approach.
Word of mouth was more important. I had to coordinate with most of the demons who owned the territories. Still, I had distributed thick pamphlets about Distracted Globe to all the demon contractors, detailing the location of the nearest teleportation point and all relevant information.
Then we went out to distribute the same leaflets to the locals. And finally, we had to hire several people to start talking about it online. It was 2008, and even with Enid slowly pushing social media into 2020, a large majority still preferred forum-like websites over other options. It was a great place for occult stuff, really.
So Distracted Globe would go unnoticed except by a certain group of people. I even made it my business to contact certain people wealthy enough to be interested, and some artists to sing on Distracted Globe.
All of that, it seemed, was incredibly effective. I hadn't expected such a huge turnout. Tens of thousands of people practically poured in within the first minute, and more and more kept coming. Hundreds of thousands were already inside Distracted Globe after the first 10 minutes.
And now, an hour later, there were 1.3 million people, and more kept arriving. The teleportation circles were working overtime as all the people, supernatural and human, simply kept coming.
Fortunately, people were dividing up correctly; most humans seemed to be enjoying the zero-gravity dance floor primarily due to the novelty, while the supernaturals were split evenly between the casino and the dance floor.
The gambling tables quickly began to fill up; in fact, the money was already flowing in rapidly. Since everything was automatically recorded and GLaDOS had programmed everything to keep track, she could practically see the money growing in real time.
None of the tables were altered or rigged in any way; it wasn't necessary, after all, the house always wins. It was simply statistics; all the games were mathematically designed so that the casino would always win, even if people didn't realize it.
"I suppose it was a resounding success," Lucius said, his eyes gleaming. All of us were on a private platform, one he had created specifically for us. No one else could enter, even if none of us were there; other people could only enter with our permission.
So here we all were, dressed up for a night out, looking around.
"It's a complete success!" Ravel exclaimed cheerfully, beaming. She was genuinely proud of her work, and rightly so. She and Rebecca had practically created not just a dance club or a famous casino—if this could be sustained—but a unique place where the supernatural practically coexisted under one roof, an informal capital of the occult world.
"Of course it was, choom!" Rebecca laughed as she happily sipped from her glass. "Ha! This is amazing!" she exclaimed with a wide smile.
"I'm truly impressed, my dears," Narcissa said, elegantly sipping a cocktail and glancing around. "I suppose we'll have to come here very often." Her eyes sparkled as she surveyed the throng of people milling about.
"Whatever you want, my love," Lucius said with a smile. "Maybe I'll stop by the casino for a while before... deciding if it's boring enough or not." Lucius sighed with feigned regret. "What a big problem being really good at using my power," he said sufferingly. I snorted.
"Poor you, having to accompany us mortals. I'm sure if you look for a group of beings centuries or millennia old, you should be able to find some worthy opponents." I said, shrugging. Lucius smiled slightly.
"It's an idea," Lucius said, shrugging. "At least to pass the time, I was thinking of starting to participate in trading with The Company, with other contractors." Lucius said casually, and I looked at him incredulously.
"Wait, what? I mean... There are almost an infinite number of contractors, and even more colleagues selling things in that market. I'm sure it will be difficult to break into that market, especially since we have almost nothing that is 'exclusive' or 'special' enough to create a market around it." I said immediately, Lucius just laughed, and his eyes sparkled.
"Well, that's where the fun is, isn't it? " Lucius said with a wide grin. "If I fail, we don't really lose anything but time, something we have plenty of, and if I succeed, well, we'll get a source of credits. Either way, the difficulty will only make it more fun." Lucius said, his eyes gleaming. I opened my mouth before closing it.
"You know what, give it a try. First, the paperwork, and now you're amused by multiverse trading? Only you, Lucius." I said, shaking my head. He just chuckled slightly.
"Just let me have fun and handle the negotiations. You don't have to do anything except create the orders," Lucius said playfully. I rolled my eyes.
" Hmm, speaking of negotiating, should we promote the Fixers culture here?" I asked curiously as I changed the subject. Everyone turned to look at me, and I shrugged. "I have no doubt this will end up being practically neutral ground since fighting is totally prohibited. People will soon gather here to make deals or other... shady business, or to hire other people, or simply to gather information."
"We can simply anticipate what's going to form and create them ourselves, even control them enough." I said, shrugging.
"Mmm, you're right," Lucius said, sipping calmly. "There are many people here simply to scan everything, to take note of what's going on, and not really to have fun. Not many know what to do with the private rooms besides having sex, but I'm sure many will realize their potential uses, especially with the time bubbles included."
"That, along with the Distracted Globe's practical defense, yes, makes it perfect territory for brokers and deals to be made here," Lucius said easily.
"Are you planning to become a Fixer?" Enid asked curiously. I snorted.
"Of course not, it would take up too much of my time," I dismissed easily. "But it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on, or even control, the network that's sure to form around us," I said, shrugging.
"I'll take care of it. I can allocate time to create the foundations of the Fixers and ensure they're maintained and responsive to us. Once the foundation is created, it will be difficult for other people to create something similar." Lucius said, shrugging. I simply nodded.
"I could do it," Freya said suddenly with a smile.
"Do what?" I asked curiously, and Freya smiled at me.
"Become a Fixer." Freya said playfully, the word Fixer coming out almost strangely in her mouth, but natural enough to indicate that she was familiar with the term; after all, she had accompanied us to the world of Cyberpunk, and was more than aware of many of the intricacies of the world when I brought her up to speed.
"Do you want to be a Fixer?" I asked curiously, and Freya shrugged.
"It's... nice just being in the mansion without any worries, doing my own thing while you're busy, and I love just walking around town greeting the people, especially the children."
"But I must admit... I have a lot of free time, and there's a lack of... stimulation," Freya said before smiling seductively. "And I've always been good at manipulating humans and gods, so... it'll be fun to have an extra hobby." She added, licking her lips seductively.
"Then have fun." I said with a grin, and Freya smiled broadly.
"Thank you, I will. It will also be just in time to go and get Ottar and Horn; they'll both make good assistants and bodyguards," Freya said affectionately. I narrowed my eyes.
"If anyone is causing you trouble, just tell me." I said firmly, and Freya smiled, thoroughly delighted.
"I will, my Odr, but you don't need to worry, you said it yourself, in Distracted Globe, nothing will happen to me." Freya said easily, and I simply nodded.
"Even so." I insisted again, and Freya smiled at me and nodded.
"I can only think that Rouge and the other Fixers from Night City would practically thrive here," Lucy said, chuckling as she looked around. "You know, seeing all these people coming and going from all over the world and their territories, couldn't we do something like this to the worlds we have access to?" Lucy asked curiously. I paused to consider the idea fully.
"Maybe?" I said, almost surprised by the conclusion I'd reached myself. "I mean, there are worlds where the multiverse is real, where they can travel back and forth between parallel dimensions, they're used to it, and nothing really happens with that knowledge. Even here, other worlds exist. Evie Etoulde is beyond the Dimensional Gap; it's practically another universe, and there are many more completely unknown."
"We just need to let Rizevim spread the knowledge of the worlds beyond the Dimensional Gap, and then... create a perfect excuse to 'explore' the Dimensional Gap and start uniting the worlds." I said, easily, that... there was actually a pretty good chance it would work.
The Dimensional Gap was practically infinite; searching for something there without specific coordinates was like searching for a needle in the void of the universe, going completely at random. So, simply saying that we found or were able to reach certain worlds and create portals would be quite plausible.
We would just need to manage things on the other side of the portal. Perhaps creating something hidden and unknown to the general population would be best.
"Yes... that could work. We need to consolidate our position further, not only with the demons, but with the other pantheons as well, so they don't retaliate or try to attack us when we create portals to other worlds, but once we achieve that, anything should be possible." Lucius said immediately, thinking quickly.
"Exactly, yes-"
"AAAHHHHH!!!!" Rebecca screamed as she slammed her glass on the table, startling me. "No work, gonk! No thinking, this is your bachelorette party, we're here to have fun, drink, dance, and have sex, no thinking about any of that!" Rebecca said, pointing her finger at me. I opened my mouth, then smiled amusedly and nodded.
"You're right. I'm sorry about that," I told Rebecca. She just sighed, picked up her glass, and took another sip. I chuckled, took a sip of my drink, and glanced at Bella, who was sitting next to me, just listening to the whole conversation. She looked at me, raised an eyebrow, and smiled.
"Finally, you're paying attention to me, my future wife." Bella said mockingly, and I rolled my eyes.
"It's impossible to ignore you, my love," I said playfully. Bella just snorted and smiled, and I chuckled. "Sorry, let's have some fun," I said gently, then pulled her closer and sat her on my lap. Bella sighed with pleasure as she settled into my lap, my fingers tracing the contours of her body. She wore a light and thin enough dress that I could feel the warmth and softness of her skin through it. I ignored Rebecca's provocative whistle.
"I suppose we can toast first," Narcissa said with an amused smile, raising her glass. "A toast to my sister, whom I never thought would be capable of marrying for love, and here she is, not only finding someone crazy enough to put up with her, but also to love her! Cheers!" Narcissa said cheerfully. I snorted loudly, while Bella just glared at Cissy.
"A toast to Serena, whom I also didn't think would manage to get married. I'm glad I was wrong, cheers!" said Lucius with an amused smile as he raised his glass. I rolled my eyes.
"How funny." I said dryly to both of them, hearing the laughter of the others.
"Congratulations to both of you!" Enid squealed happily. "I can't wait until my wedding." Enid sighed dreamily before opening her eyes. "Which won't happen for many months! This is about Bella and Sera!" Enid said immediately.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure our wedding is wonderful too." I promised Enid; she just blushed, but smiled broadly.
"I'll be waiting for it," Enid said cheerfully. "Now, congratulations to both of you!" Enid said, raising her glass.
"Congratulations," Riveria said with a small smile; she was the only one without an alcoholic drink.
" Congratulations, everyone!" Rebecca said cheerfully, Lucy raising her glass beside her. Then the others joined in the greetings, even GLaDOS murmured something to the side. I just laughed. It was time for the pre-party, before the main event of Distracted Globe began.
Author's Notes: Now, on another note, I'm sad about the latest Destiny 2 update. While I'm happy with the update itself—they added and implemented many long-overdue features—it only made me sadder because the game practically had to be finished for it to be properly updated.
So… it's complicated. Even so, I'll continue to enjoy D2 as much as I can while it lasts.
Now, about Wuthering Waves and the collaboration with Cyberpunk Edgerunners. I'm really satisfied and happy with this version, especially the story! I got my Lucy S4r1 and Rebecca S2r1. I wanted to get Lucy S6, but I wasn't lucky. :c
Aside from that, regarding the changes to both characters' templates, it's very likely that nothing will change, as they don't differ much from the current ones. Essentially, Lucy's new powers allow her to do the same thing she can do in Guilty Gear: hack the living, only she uses different methods to achieve it.
And Rebecca would be the same; she'd barely benefit from the template.
The only thing I'd add is the physiology of the Wuthering Waves Resonators, but I don't really want to delve into that power system and lore right now.
A/N: If you liked the story, join my patreon, patreon.com/Camellya_Addams, there are up to 10 chapters in advance, thank you. Or you can also visit my Ko-Fi, ko-fi.com/camellya_addams.