Chapter 210: Loyalty Part 1

By the time the minor news was spreading, Arias and his group were already out at sea once again, just roaming in international waters.

At this time, Arias was making his way within the gigantic yacht toward the room housing Dr. June.

When they had arrived, he had withheld telling her more about himself and the group to allow her to calm down, given the erratic state she was in.

And now that she had a good night's rest, Arias intended on having a little chat.

*Knock*

He knocked lightly at her door, and without needing to wait long, Dr. June opened it for him.

She stood by its entrance, looking less shaky than before, partly due to the fact that Arias also withheld news regarding what exactly transpired when she left.

Now, though, that she had calmed down, it was a question lingering on her mind, and she didn't hesitate to ask, although in a low tone, "What… what happened in the end last night?"

Arias was not surprised to have this question sprung upon him, and thus, he let himself into her room before taking a seat by a lone chair beside a desk.

"They put up quite a fight, but given the state of that building you were in, all it took was one mistimed grenade to start a fire. At that time, both sides retreated."

Mixing truth and lies was almost a specialty for Arias at this point. He knew that he couldn't easily fool her, so he chose to convey some truth while hiding his true intentions behind his actions the prior night.

His tone and expression made it hard for Dr. June to doubt his words, especially now that she knew who he really was.

No matter what people or the government said about Arias, his actions spoke volumes. One simply couldn't ignore all the good he did, especially when compared to those very people who cast accusations his way.

Dr. June was an intellectual, a woman of logic. And though her mental state had begun to deteriorate ever since Enchantress became one with her, she didn't lose her sense of reasoning.

Following this logic, although she didn't trust Arias, she trusted him more than the government or the Justice League, which she believed had some ties to the government.

Seeing her go silent after his answer, clearly dissecting it for errors, Arias showed a smile and changed the subject.

"Did you rest well? You may look calmer, but your eyes remain heavy."

The change in subject startled Dr. June out of her thoughts, and she hesitated to answer before sighing and shaking her head.

"It's hard to fall asleep when you keep hearing whispers in your head… they're getting more and more prevalent as time goes on."

As Dr. June spoke, Arias could see the fear in her eyes. The worry that she would lose control of herself and become a monster.

"You fear that being inside you quite a lot, I see. But like I said, you don't need to worry about losing control here. In fact, part of the reason I'm here is to speak to her."

Hearing this, the little calmness that Dr. June showed immediately vanished and was replaced by a look of immense worry.

"No, please, I can't. Not again, I-I just can't."

Dr. June didn't hesitate to refuse and began pacing around the medium-sized cabin frantically, with her arms crossed tightly. This refusal, though, didn't come as a surprise, and Arias wasn't going to back down.

"How long can you really delay the inevitable, Dr. June? At some point, fatigue will overwhelm you, and that being inside you will emerge regardless."

Dr. June didn't need to sink into thought to understand that Arias was right. After all, she could see it herself.

Arias could see the change in Dr. June's expression, and he tilted his head at her with a slight smile. "I wouldn't ask you to do this if I wasn't sure, Dr. June. You'll just have to trust me. If you are to continue living, a dynamic needs to be created between you and it. So think of me as… a mediator."

Dr. June paced back and forth a little more before stopping in front of Arias, nervousness clearly biting at her.

He gave her a confident look, then nodded while maintaining a smile. "Go on."

No longer bothering to argue, Dr. June took a deep breath as if to calm herself down and then took a few steps. "Okay… here goes."

"Enchantress…"

The moment that word left Dr. June's mouth, a shroud of thin dark mist appeared in the room, and the atmosphere changed.

As for her figure, it changed entirely the moment Arias blinked.

Dr. June's skin had remained the same, although now it looked like it was coated with dirt due to a semi-transparent veil over much of her skin.

Her hair grew messy, and her entire figure was adorned in rusty, ancient jewelry.

She now stood in a somewhat hunched position, with her hands being waved slowly, leaving afterimages with each shift.

Once the change was complete, she looked at Arias with her curious but deadly gaze.

The gaze didn't linger, though, as Enchantress proceeded to move her head around and scan the room, as it lacked familiarity.

This was because the last time she had appeared, she was in the black site, the very one she had escaped from, only for Dr. June to regain control.

But this wasn't her only reason for looking around the room. Not far from her, on a lone shelf mounted to the wall, sat her heart, sealed in the very container Waller had placed it in.

Seeing it, her head instantly switched to gaze at Arias once more, as if assessing whether he was a threat or not, before looking back at the container.

Without warning, her figure vanished right then and there, appearing above the shelf, with her legs creepily against the ceiling.

However, before she could grip the container in her hand… it was gone.

"Hhhh!"

She released what could only be described as a sort of combination between a primal growl and haggard breathing.

Her gaze moved to Arias, who still sat comfortably, merely observing her, without the container in his hand.

Rather, it had moved to the dresser beside the lone bed within the room. Seeing it, she gave another menacing glance to Arias before vanishing once more.

However, the same situation repeated itself. She found herself standing on the bed, the dresser right next to her… yet the container was gone.

Looking at Arias once again with shifty eyes, Enchantress would see the container in his grasp as he casually held it in his right hand while meeting her gaze.

"The report on you said you lack modern intelligence, but I'm sure even you can see that you won't be getting this container."

A visible frown emerged on Enchantress's face upon hearing those words, and she crouched on all fours creepily before vanishing once again, this time appearing right in front of Arias.

She didn't show immediate hostility but rather moved her gaze to and from the container with hesitation before finally looking at him again.

No words escaped her mouth, or rather sensible ones, to be more precise, as her voice continued to murmur in whispers that echoed throughout the room.

"I'll take this as your willingness to listen. My terms are quite simple: you obey me, and I'll occasionally allow the good Doctor to let you out every now and then."

Such a one-sided and unfair deal immediately caused the ancient existence before Arias to frown visibly as the lights began to flicker madly throughout the yacht.

"You don't have to like my terms, but you really do have no other choice. You're either of use to me or you're not, the latter of which gives me no reason to not destroy this relic you seem to cherish so much, among others."

Having said this, Arias took out another smaller relic, this one without a container and smaller in size. It resembled a clay figure of a man standing at attention.

The sight of this caused Enchantress to show what could only be described as a distressed look as she tried reaching out to it while shaking her head.

But once her hands were within mere inches of it, she found herself unable to move.

At this time, Arias stood up and showed a smile while looking down at her.

"I'll take that as a yes. You can bring back the Doctor now."

Enchantress was beyond unwilling, but it was clear the cards were in Arias's hand, much like with Waller before.

She couldn't help but give him a menacing glare before a horrific scream escaped her mouth, its echoes whispering, "Enchantress…"

The mist violently dissipated, and the Enchantress was replaced by a bewildered and panicked Dr. June.

"What happened?"

Dr. June frantically scanned the room but saw it was still in order, and Arias was also unharmed.

She continued to breathe in a rushed manner while gripping her hands in an uncomfortable way. "I can still hear her voice… she's angry."

"I'd be more surprised if she weren't. But like I said, she's a part of you now. You can't run away from what you've become, nor can you separate yourself from it. You can, however, come to terms with it… both you and her."

Dr. June found Arias's words incredibly hard to believe. But with no one else to turn to, and with curiosity lingering in her mind, she couldn't help but ask,

"How?"

To which Arias only smiled.