Chapter 305: Collared Lies Part 3

After a brief exchange in the Castle courtyard, both Arias and Diana made their way inside, where Tara was currently being received by the castle's servants. 

As he appeared, the servants immediately looked his way and gave respectful bows, though he paid them no mind and proceeded past them, with Tara showing extreme caution. As he walked by, Tara's heart pounded in anticipation. She now understood very clearly that she was merely a tool for Arias to use, and that her relevance would only be assured if she did as he wished. 

This was a frightening realization for her because she couldn't imagine what would happen if he were to let her go. She truly had nowhere to go, if he even kept her alive in the first place. To survive, she felt she needed to understand Arias a lot better.

Unaware of Tara's troubles, Arias and Diana made their way up a set of grand stairs that led them to the second floor. They continued walking until they reached a large open balcony, which overlooked a beautiful garden on the castle grounds and even part of the city beyond the bottom of the hill. Once they arrived, Arias leaned against the balcony's stony rail, while Diana simply placed one hand on it and turned her attention to the view.

"This nation is truly beautiful," Diana said. "It's nice to know that not every city of mortals is simply a tall, towering structure with miniature rooms carved into lots of glass walls and machinery everywhere."

Diana found much of the old architecture with which Markovia was built to be quite attractive, as well as many of its untouched lands which provided scenic views in comparison to a place like Gotham. Arias nodded at Diana's words.

"True, that's why I think it's got the potential to be a proper haven for meta-humans. If done right, who knows, it could become a paradise like the one you call home," Arias revealed, painting a not entirely true picture of what he wanted for Markovia. 

This comparison to her home only made Diana more curious about Arias, which had been the case ever since his supposed counterattack in the US.

From Diana's point of view, her respect and trust in Arias only increased as he seemed to be fighting for people who were at risk of getting taken advantage of.

"Do not worry, victory always follows the just," Diana assured, attempting to make Arias feel confident in his actions.

Arias turned to Diana and showed her a fake, weak smile. "I know we will win. I have absolutely made sure that it is impossible for us to lose. But given the things I had to do to ensure that…" Arias trailed off, the weight of his words hanging in the air.

Hearing Arias say this, Diana looked concerned and came closer to Arias, placing a hand on his shoulder and leaning in. She asked, "What troubles you, Arias?"

"Alot," Arias flatly replied, "Because I chose to put Markovia above all else, I had to not only allow but also take advantage of innocent people dying so I could prevent even more people from dying. Victory in war is always so cruel to those who truly understand it."

Diana was especially sympathetic, even to her enemies. On the front lines, she didn't allow soldiers of Markovia to desecrate enemy corpses, and the few times they attacked over the border, she made it clear that she would personally hold anyone who did wrong accountable, no matter which side they were from. 

She had an unhealthy habit of remaining just and fair, even in situations where most would make exceptions. Diana garnered both respect and ire from various factions of the Army and Air Force, though she didn't particularly care. Because of that, Arias knew that painting a similar story, but with a different narrative, could garner not only her sympathy but her understanding, seeing similarity in the situation he was using to that of her own, thereby strengthening the beliefs she had in him and his methods.

That proved to be exactly the case, as in the next moment, Diana strongly defended Arias. "No, Arias, there is no shame in making a hard decision when you're left with no choice. Even I, during the heat of battle through the carnage I created, heard stories that in some nation or another, people showed support for what I was doing, that they'd been imprisoned with some even killed. It is a cruel thing to know as I go to sleep every night, but I won't allow it to stop me from standing up for what I believe to be just. And you shouldn't either."

Arias was pleasantly surprised by Diana's response. It showed that the war had indeed imparted a sort of maturity on her that had been previously overshadowed by her naive and curious nature about the outside world. 

Now, with a better understanding, she knew just how twisted, corrupt and full of lies the world was, and how unfair those at the bottom were treated. 

Much like the nations controlled much of what the media and other people saw, Arias controlled what Diana saw, which was in fact the truth and not really that hard to paint, since most governments tended to do this to themselves. 

Anyone who knew the truth would see plain and simple that it was always those at the bottom who suffered the most. And for someone as just as Diana, she simply wouldn't stand for it. 

Now, Arias added an element of sympathy to his character to show that he was doing all that he was doing out of necessity and nothing else.

In this moment, Diana fully believed in Arias. 

He had initially planned to say more, but he felt this was more than enough. To oversell it anymore would only raise doubts. 

Showing that much was on his mind, he added, "I really needed this talk, thank you Diana. Now, why don't you tell me about some of your tales of battle on the front-line?"

As Arias suggested that, Diana smiled widely but then remembered something before suggesting, "Why don't we do so as we take a nice relaxing bath?"