Changing Tides 1.2
Wodime kept his distance from most of the gala's guests. He was saddled standing there alone on one of the balconies as Atalanta continued her speech while Drake and the rest handled their responsibilities to the letter. Well, responsibilities in the form of the itinerary created for the event that they all settled on, with Drake being the one responsible for the security followed by Tesla, knowing that they were all aware as to who was who in attendance.
There were a lot of people in attendance who were there for covert reasons or were simply just there to provide intel and various other data to their superiors. Many were of Vought's own handle and many more were attached to both the federal government and simply some rich billionaires wishing to take a chunk of the profits that Olympia had in terms of investment.
Ideally, Wodime would enact his part of the plan that night…
But the constant reports given by Chiyome and Heracles from another state over had him very displeased and worried. He was not angry of course but this was one of those situations where the contingencies when unexpected troubles like this arrive were a must and Wodime was already readying himself to enact one of those.
More so now with how delicate the entire event was becoming through Heracles' eyes.
Wodime was not as pronounced in his anathema towards Vought. If anything, he considered Vought competent or at least good enough for how long it withstood the decades ever since its first inception. They were like an upstart mage family that eventually rose in the ranks faster compared to some older families in context. However, this upstart mentality and progressive nature oftentimes forced them to be much more vulnerable due to their perceived ego and self-importance. Just because something was successful in a string of consistent wins, does not quickly mean that they were as great as initially thought.
That ego tended to end their streak quite humiliatingly to the point that Wodime still recalled one particular instance of those upstart families being silenced overnight after the sharks essentially reduced them to nothing, or perhaps to just one or two competent members that were the reason that streak ever began in the first place. Those remaining would be cherry-picked and forced into other stable and rudimentarily robust factions and the names of the upstarts would never be heard of again.
Wodime stirred his glass of champagne as he thought about it and how it related to Vought.
Vought was a very unique case for this world for nothing was ever like it in the first place. Anything close was merely poor attempts at trying to take a crack at the formula that Vought had perfected for themselves. That was commendable in itself…
Yet, they were giants on a small defenseless island. Giants with enough force to destroy anything in its wake without much fanfare or effort who had yet to meet a rival to eventually storm its domain asunder. A complacent entity that had no real challenge before, until Wodime's arrival.
Sipping his drink Wodime gave a command to Chiyome to report to him after the gala's end.
He had work to do, especially with the cheers inside dying down from all the praise Atalanta had garnered. Genuine or not, Wodime was at the very least happy that she had this sort of impact, even with the troubles that their dear motherly symbol had.
"For someone who touts being proud of each and every person under him, I expected you to be the first person to clap in her honor." A voice said as a new presence joined him on the balcony. Wodime was quick to recognize who the voice belonged to as he turned towards his new guest.
"It's a pleasure to meet you by the way, given how rare it is that you accept any sort of appointment that you don't stage yourself." The woman continued as she smiled at him.
Victoria Neuman.
Just the person that Wodime needed to start the night with to gain his momentum.
The matter with Heracles would need to wait, for he had to make sure that his mark was cast that night. Smiling, he raised his glass to her as she approached, robed in a very beautiful red dress that Wodime quickly recognized to be one of the brands that Medea was very much trying to compete with.
It suited her perfectly that to any man she would have been eye candy.
To Wodime, as someone who had already faced a variety of servants, people, and entities of the supernatural world, he was already used to beauty in its many forms. Exposure to it gave him a wide lens on the idea of relationships and such. How hollow some were, and how deep the love some had.
He was dipping into neither, but his priorities, even back then in the Clock Tower were far more important than a simple tryst. Even with that said, he valued relationships, especially those of his friends and companions. Even if said companions and friends were outside of the normal world's context.
"Victoria Neuman." She introduced herself with an arm in an offering which Wodime took.
"Kirschtaria Wodime, a pleasure as well. No need for any further introductions, I believe I know your career enough to say that I'm quite pleased we're actually face to face." Wodime replied as the woman grinned.
"Then why haven't you been answering my calls? If we'd done this sooner, change for this country and even the world could have been achieved sooner?" she playfully challenged with a smirk as she joined him by the balcony. The modest view of her cleavage and how her body language seemed to communicate already had Wodime smile inwardly due to anticipating it from the start.
"Come now Ms. Neuman, you very well know based on everything that change isn't something created overnight. Even with the strides I have been making, it's not as cut and dry as I know you're fully aware of. Besides, I was always going to talk with you eventually." He said with a lighthearted tone as the woman huffed.
"That's very humble coming from you. You of all people telling me that change is hard is kind of laughable… no offense of course," she said with a giggle as she sipped her own drink. "… but again, I can't really tell if you're joking with that when you're pretty much the reason why medicine is where it's at right now. The implications and consequences of that alone dwarf almost everything that the modern world has done in literal years and suddenly one day, you and your company came strolling in, proving that something as complicated and complex as that can be done in mere months."
"When you put it that way, well… yes." He admitted.
The woman smiled again as she leaned herself on the railing. "That seemed like a strained yes." She lightheartedly jabbed as Wodime found himself grinning too. She was good at honeypot tactics, even if it was something Wodime was already very well aware of even in the Clock Tower. Marriage proposals and the like were far harder to get outside of once tricked or forced into, but given that this was just the mundane world, without any heavy-handed mage politics, things like that seemed much easier to maneuver around. For Victoria Neuman's part, however, she was doing it like she was trained at it with enough skill and proficiency to make sure her own career stayed afloat.
Some of her earlier remarks seemed genuine enough but her seducing him on top of it made Wodime realize the game that her Vought connections were playing at.
"Indeed. Not because I don't understand the results of my company's work, or that of my colleagues, but while most of the world finds it astonishing, my only feelings towards it are that it was necessary. Necessary as a push to make the world a better place as is any willing contributor in history has made through their discoveries or actions. However, I will not accept full credit for the achievements Olympia has made. I am merely their leader, one who believes in my comrades, their character, and their drive to make such achievements a reality. The world should thank them, not me… my role is just to simply make such noble ambitions possible through the influence that Olympia has a name."
She looked at him with his lengthy words. Her eyes opened with both wonder and intrigue until she giggled at his expense. A genuine giggle, one that was born out of sheer surprise and confusion. A feeling that Wodime banked on.
"Well, that was… something. Are you willing to hear a bit of honesty on my part?" she asked.
"Go on."
"I've heard that song and dance so many times… from other people. Politicians, businessmen, heroes… they always make those speeches seem grand, awesome, and poignant, but words can only go so far and usually after they've said their piece, they never amount to those promises or even reach those daunting heights that their emotion pours into each and every word. I'm sure you might as well feel the same from me, despite my efforts in making sure my part of the equation chugs along I admit not every promise is foolproof and I've always acknowledged that plans don't always pan out the way you want it to be…" She then turns to him.
"… but you? I don't know. You've hit each and every cliched tick of a typical, inspiring speech, intentional or not, but you don't seem fake-sounding. It must be because the world already knows what you and your company do… so when you actually truthfully say something it's just confirmation of an already established fact."
"Hm. I will accept that as a compliment, thank you." Wodime said as she huffed playfully as they clinked glasses with each other. The glint in her eyes signaled that Victoria was liking him so far.
"Now that's confirmation that you're actually an honest person right there. Any other person out there would have talked more to push their point or their own perspective… or maybe you're just playing with me, Mr. Kirsch?" she teased as he shrugged.
"If you had met earlier in my life, you might actually have merit in those words. But no, while I wouldn't call lying something I'm not guilty of, I tend to be much more truthful with both myself and to others more frequently nowadays, mostly because you can't enact any sort of progress in our line of work if the only thing you're thinking about is profit and popularity."
"But profit and popularity are something that's needed to get anything done today, sadly." She admitted, not truly contesting his point but merely adding to it.
"I don't think so. I think with everything that's happening, I feel people are more drawn to how diligent you are in actually making your promises a reality rather than just leaving them as words on the TV. If you can convince them through actions, fame, and popularity only follow secondary, or even better, not at all. I will agree that funding and profits are a must, you can only go so far with actions but if there is no money involved at all to get everything rolling, you're just left stuck." Wodime said as Victoria listened.
Her honeypot tactics halted immediately as she was now truly drawn to the conversation.
"True, though all of those obstacles are overcome by being stronger than everybody else." She said with a bit of frustration in her voice. Both are partly true emotionally and partly false in terms of how he truly believed what Wodime had assessed Neuman through her platforms and career in US politics. Her frustration in this case alluded to something that she was very well known for even before Olympia broke the mainstream.
"You wouldn't have been here if your pre-conceived notions of enhanced individuals were as potent as the public knows you to be." He said as she perked up at his words.
A strained smile appeared on her face as she looked back at the party where in her honor, Atalanta was now heading the dinner that was taking place. Even if strained, what emotion appeared on Victoria's face seemed to indicate to Wodime's eyes that she actually liked Atalanta.
"You're right… which brings me to why I was here in the first place, Mr. Kirsch." She said, making Wodime raise his brow at the new development. Sighing, Victoria then looked at him with a serious expression. "What's your stance on the danger of Superhumans becoming a threat to both national and global security?"
Wodime sipped the rest of his drink with a confident look.
There it is…
Screams were heard even as Heracles was still a dozen or so meters away.
He was not as fast as Achilles, but he was still fast enough to close the distance quickly as his senses kept ringing at him in every conceivable way. Nearing his destination Heracles quickly scoured the priority targets first and went down from there. His mind was already at full throttle as he heard the cries of a young girl crying out for her elderly mother's safety from the rubble of their home.
Swiftly he saw the remnants of a burnt and collapsed two-story house where a brunette-haired girl barely older than the younger Medea's age trying to pull her grandmother who had a large pillar crushing her legs. Said pillar was also stacked upon various other rubble with a large torn-up piano about to fall on its side. Heracles quickly understood the situation as he saw that if the grandmother were to move any further from her position, everything would collapse on top of itself.
That matter was not a problem for the son of Zeus however, as he arrived at the crying girl's side who was now begging her to get her grandmother out. The elderly woman looked near death's door if her heartbeat was any indication, Heracles then looked at the little girl and gave her a promising nod.
Without much effort, he lifted the pillar that had crashed down on the woman and pulled her out the collapsing remains of the house started to rattle around them as he shielded the two away from the resounding crash with his entire body. The little girl screamed in terror as she clung to Heracles and her grandmother as a second later the last of the crumbling house was gone underneath a heap of rubble.
Heracles then checked the girl after calling Chiyome for Olympia's first response teams to come as fast as they feasibly could. The girl continued to cry as she was becoming worried for her grandmother to which Heracles devised a solution.
"She will be alright, little one." He softly said as he stroked the little girl's hair lightly.
Her face reminded him of Macaria, of his late wife's.
Deianira was a complicated woman, one that Heracles acknowledged was not deserving of her loyalty and love given the pain he had given her. Many moments in his life, even after the Twelve Labors had him quickly fall into the same temptation and flaws that his own father had enacted in the entirety of his divine existence. Even if he did equally acknowledge the love, he had with all the sons and daughters he fostered, it was through that flaw that tore the relationship of the family he shared with Deianira and even their children. Dearest Macaria was a consequence of that mistake he thought he thought he was exempt from and due to it she had lost both her parents as a result.
Many times, even with Heracles' resentment towards the great Goddess Hera, he knew deep down that she was laughing at him during that entire affair. An affair that ironically seemed to paint the fate that every bastard spawn of Zeus was similar enough to their progenitor in some way or form.
Even as he achieved godhood, those inadequacies, those flaws were still something that Heracles deep down resented and hated down to his very bones. He was a warrior with proud achievements that he too acknowledged and felt happy with, but they were achievements and tragedies created oftentimes by his own hands.
It was probably the reason why Heracles the source, sitting on the Throne of Heroes instead of being part of the Olympians in the Reverse Side existed the way he did. Not to undo the name that Heracles the hero was known for, but to act upon the side of the hero that each and every person after his death knew him by. Perhaps it was just him trying to justify that part of his legend that everybody looked up to. Perhaps it was just Heracles trying to make up for all the guilt that became part of his legend.
Maybe… he still had not recovered from seeing Megara and his original family die at his own hands.
Sighing to himself, Heracles summoned one of the Apples of Hesperides while reminiscing, crushing it with his bare hands. The juices and the essence of the divine fruit, while limited compared to its original form, were still helpful in reaching the goal Heracles had with the grandmother.
Asclepius may berate him later for any other effects this would do to the poor woman's physique, but he had little to no healing items that he could feasibly use at the moment, and according to Chiyome who was also helping some of the other civilians, the backup from Olympia was still on route.
Carefully, he allowed the juices to flow into the woman's mangled legs.
The little girl beside him closed her eyes as the sounds of her grandmother's legs being painfully but quickly re-oriented back into place by the power of the apples started to occur. In mere seconds most of the wounds on the elderly woman's body had finally closed and her complexion looked much younger by five or so years than even before this incident took place.
The elderly woman's painful grunts subsided as Heracles determined that the woman was now strapped to be saved from her prior predicament as her heart rate and breathing became stable even if she was still mostly unconscious.
As things calmed down for her, the little girl's eyes opened, and she looked on in disbelief and happiness at seeing her grandmother now okay. Heracles smiled at her and gave her another copy of the apple which she gingerly took into her arms.
He waved goodbye as the great hero left in haste to help the other people in her town.
The little girl was left happy and hopeful as she looked at the golden apple and sat by the side of her recovering grandmother.
Heracles on the other hand, had quickly helped a variety of people in a record span of mere minutes even as the fires and other problems probed the town. The priority issues ranged from those trapped in the rubble, scorched by the fires or through the beams he had seen earlier, to even mere elderly and adults lost in the chaos and sudden violence of this attack.
The more bodies he saw as Chiyome assisted him, the more his frustration and anger started to build up as more and more unnecessary atrocities started to show up in his wake. Various atrocities that made Heracles remember.
He did find some solace in the fact that he had made sure a lot of people were saved to the utmost capacity that he could achieve as he grew more and more certain that with how chaotic and sudden this attack was, the man responsible needed to face consequences.
As he pulled out a man from a devastated store where a bunch of people were trapped, Heracles safely placed him down onto the street as a group of thankful people began tending to his moderately concerning wounds.
BWZOUUUUU!
A beam of red light once again manifested from another part of the small town as it then sheared through a local concrete tower in the middle of the town's center. A dozen or so people were running away as that falling piece was about to kill them all.
Heracles quickly resorted to his bow and notched a single arrow.
THOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUMMM!
His aim was true as through the force of a single attack, the entirety of the falling structure almost disappeared outright as it was pulverized into mere dust just from the impact of the hit. The running citizens were left shocked and surprised even as they were thrown onto the ground as they started seeing the dust rain down on their bodies while Heracles pressed on.
He needed to end this.
He had dealt with all the priority issues in the span of less than six minutes time to finally cut the head of the snake without anything delaying him further or interrupting him completely. It was not far away as he started hearing gunfire and such as he started seeing multiple dead bodies of Vought-owned militia scattered across this particular street along with bodies of civilians amongst them.
One of those Vought-owned militias ran away screaming in pain as both his arms were relieved of his hands completely while he bled all over. Many were pulling their comrades out of the way as gunfire and other sounds proliferated through the blaze as more of the red beams manifested, killing many in their wake as they swept by but bounced harmlessly off of Heracles' skin.
He started to get confused with the whole ordeal as to why Vought's men were trying to contain (?), kill (?), or even attack one of their own if his intuition was right as they were all scrambling away from the chaos as if the Nemean Lion were laying waste to their attack force. They barely even acknowledged his presence as he approached slowly, the smoke and all the fires did not hinder his vision but the amount of chaos of all these people running away was covering up his target.
Multiple questions started appearing in his head as to the reality of this entire ordeal, given that he knew the golden-haired man pretty well to gauge how he acted. If anything, the man reminded him a lot of Eurystheus, the man tasked with giving him the Twelve Labors, and knowing the kind of person the golden-haired man was, he knew that he wouldn't act out like this even with his preconceived superiority over people. If anything, this was strange. The fame and power given to a person like that is something that they were not willing to let go of unless they were pushed to the brink, so he wouldn't attack Vought nor stage this much chaos and willingly hurt a lot of people who can relay those atrocities to others.
Even if they were 'cleaning up' said evidence by eliminating all of these people, a blatant action like this was still something Vought knew his master was watching closely, or perhaps they were all incompetent, to the point that they couldn't even contain this.
Proceeding along, he heard Chiyome report to him that the Olympia First Responders alongside the local responders had arrived and were helping people to get away from the chaos. Given the visibility of Vought and the probability of many of these innocent people living the night, he knew that they were cornered with this. There was no possible way for this to be covered up as most modern organizations or factions do in this time period.
As he closed in, fists clenched in ready, he caught a glimpse of a shadow on one of the rooftops.
Heracles quickly deduced it was one of Vought's most elusive and mysterious heroes, the aforementioned Black Noir. The intruder stared at him for a moment, holding one of his knives before suddenly disengaging by a voice that commanded him to leave through a device in his ear. The man without question left as Heracles stared at the position he was once in.
"Heracles-sama, the bandit is leaving with haste. Should I follow?" Chiyome said through the connection as Heracles saw another beam of light fire close to him only to disappear a second later. It scorched and tore up a wall of a local shop that was thankfully abandoned already.
"Follow and await further orders from our master. Do not engage yet. We have yet to ascertain the extent of this attack." He replied.
"Understood," Chiyome said as she became silent and Heracles took another step forward from all the smoke surrounding the area. One thing he had confirmed with absolute certainty…
That this was not Homelander.
"G-Go away! I-I don't want to hurt you! P-please!" a small voice said. Ragged, exhausted, and filled with pain and regret with how hoarse it sounded.
BWZOUUUUUUUUUUU!
Heracles raised his hand, his reaction beating the beam entirely as it harmlessly bounced and fought back in a futile manner at his fingers. He barely felt a thing either through the potency and power behind the attack or it certainly did not register at all to both God Hand and what part of the Pelt that it had hit earlier from the grazing shot.
He always wondered how Vought-created superhumans would react against God Hand or the Pelt, and now some of his questions were answered.
The beam disappeared again as Heracles heard exhausted footsteps trying to run away as the great hero's mood changed.
"P-please… I'm a monster! J-just run! I don't want to kill anymore! I-I… didn't mean it b-but I can't control it! I can't-…" The sound of the owner of the voice tripping was clear to Heracles as his face lost all of its anger. It was still there, but not towards the reason as to why both the facility and the camp had been in chaos in the first place.
BWZOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!
A scream littered the air as the sound of a roof collapsing was heard.
The beam once again bounced off Heracles' chest as his eyes dripped with sadness.
"L-leave me alone… I've did enough… I…"
Heracles was now barely a foot away. The area had already calmed. The owner of the voice had his eyes closed while tearing up. Heracles then scooped the little boy who was crying silently amidst all of his visible injuries and the dirt covering his entire form. Blood trickled from his legs as Heracles gently put him into his arms and the boy instinctively clung to his frame.
"M-Mommy… I'm sorry…" he repeated on and on.
Heracles stroked the blonde boy's hair.
"Mommy… agh… m-mommy I'm sorry."
Heracles merely grew angrier deep inside as his patience against Vought was no longer there.
A faint echo of Deianira's cries as he succumbed returned to him.
An even fainter, painful echo of a young girl's plea was also heard.
The image of Macaria and a snow-white-haired girl coming to him before a golden-haired man silenced them entirely.
"Hrgh." He let out in frustration as his teeth clenched.
Almost as if in tandem the building clouds above them started to rain and the sound of lightning followed by thunder in the skies seemingly signaled the son of Zeus looking for his fury to be sated.
"Not interested, fuck off." Caenis quickly said in frustration as Mandricardo felt the great Argonaut hero starting to get frustrated and angered at every man who was approaching her in regard to the dance that was happening. It was now the tenth man who had asked her for her hand in the dance as she was minding her own business talking with him the whole night.
In some way, he was very pleased with this. Having a Greek Hero as famous as Caenis who was part of the Argo itself was amazing. On the other hand, he had been getting some very heated gazes ever since the dance started after Lady Atalanta's speech and he was starting to get uncomfortable from it.
He trusted his master, basically his best friend at this point given how he always came by day to day to bond with him through many things, sometimes even just to talk to him over mundane things and he found quite a lot of things to relate to his master. Given their original backgrounds before they became the men that they were now. He was the one who suggested this, if only through Mandricardo's own consent to allow him to feel confident again in some manner. He said yes if only because according to his master, this was an important event, but also because he felt as if he was the least useful servant in his master's roster. Of course, he had done a lot of things as of late ever since he was summoned, he even managed to save an entire community in Haiti after they were devastated by a recent earthquake by evacuating a lot of people from the incoming tsunami afterward.
He was in many ways useful, from Lady Atalanta's efforts where he was led on by Lady Europa's love…
To Lord Theseus and his efforts uncovering some of the classified material that they were unearthing off the coast of Santorini. He even helped Lady Artoria's efforts at times when one Scandinavian Supe-related terrorist was growing a base there in greater Europe.
He was by no means useless, but he was certainly almost like their resident assassins.
Completely non-existent to each and every person alive in the world.
He did not want the popularity of course, nor did he wish to relive the days when he was once a very arrogant and powerful man that felt like he owned the world, but he wanted to at least show to his master to repay him with all the kindness he gave him to at least be present and not be always placed in the sidelines. His master was actually concerned for him that he volunteered to come along, but he was pleasantly supportive in making sure of what to do.
It also helped that two of his well… friends in the vein of Kintoki, Mordred, and Caenis had urged him to come along. With Caenis being the most vocal one out of the three. She originally wished to be partnered with their master but relented knowing that he had other plans for the night. She then moved to him when she found out he was going and well…
Here he was now.
Being glared at by probably the whole world knowing how popular Caenis was currently.
It didn't help that his overall simple dress and attire, it kind of clashed with Caenis' very much beautiful and goddess-like appearance that night. Even if she acted as Caenis still.
The reason primarily why she was being courted was because of the fact that leading the dance through the very strangely appropriate and wonderful music was Lady Atalanta and Lord Achilles doing a very elegant and awe-inspiring dance due to their agility and swiftness.
Many men probably wished to dance with Lady Atalanta as the party was in her honor but also for the other women in Olympia's roster that was present. Lady Drake had been somewhere already taking a man for her troubles within the party and the only person left who had not joined in on the dance was Caenis. Even Vought's Queen Maeve had already taken a man onto the dancing floor albeit uninterested.
Strangely, Vought's male heroes did not even get near to court Caenis' hand for the dance, they were much more focused on their own dates for the event as they all looked insignificant compared to Lady Atalanta and Achilles' performance in the middle.
Their movements were in line with the song to perfection as he watched.
He recalled how he was also capable of that at least to a point when he owned many of the parties back in his less-than-favorable days as king. He still remembered them fully, so much so that he sort of missed it, even if not by much.
"Hey… you still listenin to me?" Caenis suddenly said as Mandricardo cursed inwardly knowing that he had gone too deep with introspection again that he was not listening to a person talking to him.
"Pardon Lady Lance I was lost in thought."
"Fuck with the formalities, squirt. Didn't I tell you that I needed your help and support tonight?" she said as she smiled at him. He then suddenly felt the deluge of glares aimed in his direction as he was seemingly the only person that made Caenis smile and look comfortable.
"Y-Yes… I apologize if I've been failing at that."
She then ruffled his hair.
"No, you're not and didn't we talk about this earlier? Be confident! Stop flailing around like you're not someone that hasn't earned being here." She said as she supportively slapped his shoulder and he smiled while straightening up a bit. "You're a king, aren't you? One that matched another through sheer skill and force, and nobody has the right to take that from you."
"B-but…"
She then silenced him by putting a teasing finger on his lips as her grin widened in a mischievous manner. "No buts! You're part of us aren't ya? And that alone makes you someone important, regardless of whatever everyone feels and even through that you have more of a right than anyone to be my partner tonight…"
Her face then softened. "So… with that said. Smile. Sit up and be confident."
"Y-Yes." He said.
She then laughed softly before slapping his leg playfully with a loud smack.
"What did I say?"
"B-be confident." He repeated.
"And how does a confident man act?"
Mandricardo smiled. "By being happy and comfortable!" he said with his voice rising in volume. He put a fist through his chest as Caenis smiled.
"You're definitely going to be laughed at by Mordred once she sees you this way…"
"Wait what?"
"I'm kidding, but I know for a fact Kintoki and Mordred would want to see you happy."
"Yes… I believe so."
"And I know Wodime once he sees you comfortable and happy, he'll be proud to see you regardless." She said as she raised her glass he did the same, their drinks clinking with each other as they both emptied their alcohol.
"Yes… that's right." He said, mostly to himself.
BAM!
Suddenly Caenis shattered the glass on the table they were on into pieces but the music had sort of muted it somewhat as she stood up and began stretching. She then did something that would make Mandricardo the envy of every man in attendance…
She offered her hand, in a strange, lady-like way even with her now iconic brutish grin.
"Let's prove to everyone that you're not a nobody."
Mandricardo, overwhelmed and confused took her hand as he now stood up even as all eyes were now watching them.
"Y-yes…" he said.
"So… will you humor me as being my partner for a dance Sir Knight?" she asked in a cheesy manner to which Mandricardo's eyes widened in realization.
"Wait what?" he asked, shocked as she took both his hands as she was now pulling him into the dance floor.
"Well, do you think I would let Atalanta and Peleus' kid beat me in that shit? I'm better than them you know!?" she loudly said in a cheerful voice as Mandricardo followed along though nervous.
"Y-You know how to dance Lady Lancer?"
"Of course! In Thessaly, I was the best! I heard even Aphrodite and that bitch Athena was jealous of me! So just follow along sir Knight… I'm taking you on a ride!"
Mandricardo gulped in response.
TO BE CONTINUED…
AN: The boy is Ryan.