As Arias moved toward the office door, the green veins across the obsidian floor flickered beneath his steps—brief pulses that tracked the rhythm of his gait.
The silence in the room wasn't broken yet, only stretched thinner. Cheshire didn't move a muscle, but the corner of her eye slid to him with interest. Watching. Waiting. Tala turned her head more openly, her expression absent of guile, brows lifted slightly in curiosity.
He stopped just short of the door. One hand reached forward, brushing the sensor. **Click**. The locking mechanism disengaged with a smooth, hydraulic hiss.
What greeted him was a scene more domestic than anticipated.
Diana stood to the left, regal even in casual posture, one hand gesturing in midair as she gave some manner of personal advice to the figure beside her. "Your former employers were all retarded men," she was saying, tone halfway between bemusement and judgment. Then, she stopped. Her eyes flicked toward Arias.
She smiled—broad and genuine, her posture rising a notch as if straightening herself on reflex. "Arias. It's good to see you again."
Arias tilted his head slightly, a faint look of amusement curling at the edge of his lips. "It hasn't been that long."
Diana's smile didn't falter. "Perhaps not. But much has happened. And I've been looking forward to sharing those tales."
She turned briefly toward Dr. June, who stood next to her in a muted beige coat, hands folded in front of her, clearly unsure what to do with them. "Not that you're not a good listener, Sister June."
Arias blinked once. 'Sister?'
He didn't ask. He'd already seen too much today to risk spiraling into side quests. Instead, he stepped back and gestured them inside with a soft, "Thank you both for coming."
Diana didn't hesitate. She entered the room with the kind of stride only she could make look theatrical without trying. Her boots struck the obsidian flooring with muted thuds, precise and full of momentum.
"You know I stand with you always in this war, Arias," she declared, glancing sideways at him, then back ahead as though already thinking three steps beyond this meeting. "Though I'm sure my mother would disapprove, I wouldn't forgive myself if I didn't assist you on your crusade of justice."
Cheshire gave her a look that wasn't quite judgment, but wasn't admiration either. It said, this one talks like the last arc had subtitles. Tala raised an eyebrow. Even Dr. June seemed caught off-guard, her mouth twitching as if halfway to a question she wasn't ready to ask.
Diana noticed. Her stride slowed. She turned to them with an expression that was almost insulted. "What?"
Arias cleared his throat, stepping forward again with a slight smirk. "Don't mind them. You know we mortals don't share your Amazon spirit. It's a shame, really."
Diana folded her arms, chin rising as she nodded. "Yes. It is a shame. I noticed this when I fought at the frontlines."
Arias didn't comment immediately. He moved toward the desk, his steps as unhurried as ever. The moment he crossed behind it, the embedded green veins brightened slightly—responding, perhaps unconsciously, to his presence. He sat down, fingers brushing along the desk's edge.
"Yes, well," he said. "If all goes to plan, we could bring an end to the war. Or, at the very least, deal an incredibly deadly blow… without causing any more innocent people to be caught in the crossfire."
That line hung.
Cheshire, still near the lounge, didn't move—but her gaze sharpened. A glance toward Arias. She didn't blink. Didn't speak. But something in the slight tilt of her chin suggested one clear thought, 'he's planning something nasty.'
Tala, however, didn't take it quite the same way.
Her eyes widened slightly, the corners of her mouth twitching toward a frown.
'Vwhy doez zee mazter care for zee nobodies? Could he be… zee magnanimouz?' Then her gaze narrowed. 'No… Zhis iz zee zcheme.'
Dr. June stood near the entry, clutching her coat loosely around her. Her expression was harder to read—half-hope, half-skepticism. She didn't fully believe him.
But she wanted to.
And Diana? Diana believed every word.
She stepped forward once more, stopping a few paces from the desk. Her voice softened.
"You are truly a blessing to these lands, Arias."
Cheshire rolled her eyes and thought plainly, ,Try telling that to Boss's enemies.'
Arias leaned slightly back in his chair, letting the warm emerald glow of the desk cast faint lines across his face. His smile curved, not wide but just enough to show that Diana's spirited declarations hadn't gone unappreciated. Perhaps even entertained.
"I appreciate your faith in me, Diana," he said smoothly. "In fact… I trust your honesty, fairness, and judgment for perhaps the most important part of this plan."
That caught her attention.
Diana's eyes lit with a spark—not pride exactly, but the kind of curiosity that always followed when her name and trust were said in the same breath. She straightened slightly, arms crossing over her chest in a poised readiness.
But Arias didn't meet her gaze for long.
His attention drifted instead toward the lounge. There, Cheshire and Tala still lingered—quiet but observant. He gave them a look, not sharp, but firm. Then, with a tilt of his head, gestured for them to leave.
Nothing else needed to be said. The meaning was plain.
They weren't part of what came next.
Cheshire was the first to respond. She rose in one smooth motion, her smile returning without hesitation—like armor slipping back into place. "Good luck, boss~" she said airily, her tone playful but distant, like she'd already moved on to more amusing thoughts.
She didn't look back.
Tala, on the other hand, stood slower. Her eyes didn't mask the shift—just dulled it beneath the surface. She gave a shallow bow, hands pressed together with practiced elegance.
"Tala wizhes mazter zee best," she said, voice tight at the edges.
As she passed through the door, her head turned just enough to glare at Dr. June. A pointed flicker of contempt. Subtle. Petty.
The door slid shut behind her with a soft hiss.
Diana let out a quiet hum, clearly amused. "You have quite the talent for bringing strong women to your cause, Arias."
Arias chuckled faintly. "Believe me," he said, hands folding loosely in front of him, "they have their own ambitions in following me. I'm simply the scenic route."
He then leaned forward slightly. The atmosphere shifted—not darker, not colder, just… quieter. Intention filled the space that the women had left behind.
"But I digress." He rested his elbows lightly on the desk. "Now then. As for what exactly I need you to do—"
And so he told her.
Not everything.
Only the first part. Only what she needed to know. The words came evenly, not rushed, but precise. The plan itself had too many branches, but this segment... this was about Justice, at least that's how he masked it.
He laid it out in clean layers—how the government's manipulation of public sentiment, social media outrage, and orchestrated destruction weren't just convenient. They were planned. Engineered.
And why Diana's presence, her image, and June's unique condition were pivotal to reshaping the next wave of events.
By the time he finished, Diana wasn't calm anymore.
Her fists clenched, knuckles white. Her nostrils flared. When she spoke, her voice trembled—but not from fear.
"Those depraved animals!" she shouted. "They all deserve to be slain and thrown in Tartarus!"
Arias didn't flinch. He nodded once.
"True as that is," he said quietly, "trust that I have a better way to deal with them."
Diana's jaw worked, fury still roiling in her chest. But she didn't argue. Not directly. Instead, she nodded—once. A sharp tilt of the head, like a sword being sheathed.
"So be it," she said. "Then I shall take my leave and stand at the ready, as you say."
She turned to June—still standing to the side like a quiet shadow. "I wish you luck, Sister June."
And then she left.
Her final word, muttered under her breath, slipped out as the door closed behind her: "Unacceptable."
And then there were two.
The silence that followed didn't stretch long, but it settled. Dr. June remained frozen in place, her posture too stiff to be natural.
Her fingers twisted at the sleeves of her coat, her eyes fixed on some invisible point halfway between Arias and the door.
He turned his attention to her now—fully.
"Now then, Dr. June," he said softly, almost conversational. "For your role."