Change
IRENE left Helios with the Tribunals and let them pick the soldiers that would accompany during the investigation. The Retribution's horns blared, flagging down the metal ship in front of them. It was a normal enough looking ship, although it seemed to be a relic of the past rather than something handcrafted in this era. It was very rare to see a ship as well crafted as this currently.
She turned around and let her crew do the rest as she glanced at the file that Helios had given her. She frowned her face as she headed towards the lower deck, however, Hevah met her just before she reached the entrance, the notary standing firm beside him, a smile on her face.
"Why is she so happy?" Irene muttered to Hevah, nodding toward Ag.
"She beat Moirai at chess," Hevah chuckled, his amusement clear. Irene could see it; a small victory that brought Hevah joy, especially as he relished in reminding Moirai that divinity was not foolproof, nor should it be trusted.
"So, mathematics wins again, does it?" Irene scoffed, shaking her head. Being around all three of them often felt like she was managing a group of bickering teenagers
"Mathematics always wins," Hevah affirmed with a smirk.
"Alright then, Mathematician," Irene teased, shoving the file into his hands. "What do you make of this?"
He glanced over the document, his expression growing serious as he read. After a moment, he looked up. "Isn't this from the Sagittarium headquarters?" Hevah asked, his brow furrowed.
"Of course it is," Irene replied flatly. "So tell me, how should I respond?"
Hevah studied her for a beat before answering, "Do nothing."
"What?" Irene's glare sharpened. "You know they sent this to provoke me. After I saved Helios from their grip and declared a Sage an enemy, this is their retaliation; sabotage, feeding us unreliable intel. What do they hope to achieve?" she demanded, her anger flaring.
"This," Hevah said simply. "The council may be cowards, but they are clever, politically sharp. They understand you—your temperament. They're trying to bait you, to make you react and brand you an apostate. You've defied them once already, for good reason," he paused as Moirai emerged from the lower deck, casting a look their way. "But you can't keep meeting them with aggression. It's time to extend a hand. If this mission succeeds, send them the prisoners as a peace offering."
Irene sighed, she hated dancing to the tunes of those wretched politicians but she realized the truth in Hevah's words. She glanced up at Moirai. "Heard you lost to Ag," she chuckled.
"Oh, I let her have this one, it's still four to one and the week hasn't even ended," she kissed her teeth glancing at the Notary.
The girl twisted her head in an unnatural way and made a wheezing sound that they'd all grown accustomed to as her laughter. "I calculate that you would only be able to win zero point five games. I have adapted to your moves and I am no longer bound to the constraints of time." she smiled again. "I am boundless."
Irene chuckled. Unlike most Notaries, Ag retained most of her human consciousness making her perfectly able to process emotions and even possess a personality. One of her personalities is her narcissism. She loved to brag and believed herself a perfect entity. This characteristic naturally was what attracted the Marshal to her in the first place.
Most of her former employers thought her weird and she has been sent to Notary psychiatrist to tone down her emotions and make her less of a human, no one really needed a calculator that cried or smiled. Irene on the other hand had found her amusing and she'd rescued her from being decommissioned; which was an exquisite and demure way to say executed.
Hevah placed his hand on Moira's shoulder and Irene could see the elderly woman freeze for about half a second until he spoke. "You heard that, you are going down!"
The diviner shook her head and brushed off Hevah's hand, turning to Irene. "I see your Narvach is getting familiar with the rest of the company?" She demanded, and Irene could already sense the distaste in her words.
"What is it?" She demanded. "You don't like him? Remember you told me it was necessary to save him."
Moirai sighed. "I said save him, because he is an enemy we can watch, not give him command of your army and the freedom to slit all our throats at night," the woman glared.
"Slit our throats? He is just misguided. He is a better man than you think he is," she said. 'I just want to give him a chance, deal with the hand I would have dealt anyone else and so far, he has been cool," she shook her head.
"You don't get it do you? Helios cannot change, you heard the tales of what he and his crew were up to on the silent sorrows, this man is depraved and wicked. He doesn't understand the world the way we do, to give him a chance is to dig our own graves." Moirai glanced at Hevah. "Back me up here, you know I am right."
"I have to agree with Moirai on this one, people don't really change. A leopard can't change its skin." The old man complied.
"Its spots," Moirai corrected.
"You want my support or not," he raised his eyes.
Irene glanced at them, although they were assistants and she listened to their advice, there were times she knew not to heed them. When everything fails her in life, she'd learnt to follow her instincts and they were telling her to give Helios a chance. "I changed," she replied. "He grew up in the House Charlemagne, not a good place to raise a kid. You know how they teach their kids, the version of the Leviathan they serve. That wasn't his fault… I see your point," she said at last. "But I will not heed your advice, just keep me cautious and watch him for me." She nodded.
"If I may add," Ag raised her hand.
"Stop raising your hand, just speak." All three of them said in unison.
The Notary nodded. "By my latest study and little experiments I performed, Helios is in a state of emotional turbulence and doubts. His mind at this stage is most susceptible to suggestions, I would agree with the Commander, he should be shown the positive aspect of the world." She nodded, before speaking again. "Although there is a sixty percent chance he will perish on this mission, so a win win I guess."
Irene glanced at Ag with a sigh. Another of her personality was to make dark jokes. "Okay, enough arguments." She said as the Retribution caught up with the ship, sailing parallel to it as Helios and his crew began to head towards the port of the ship.