Arias was seated behind his desk within his private office in the castle. In the office with him was none other than Cheshire, who sprawled carelessly across the couch, lazily holding a book in her hand.
At this ti, the doors to the office swung open as rcy strode in with her usual stern look. She carried a stack of light brown folders, which she proceeded to drop on Arias's desk with force, emphasizing her frustration.
Arias, who was currently looking at his data pad, turned his attention to rcy and smiled. "Well, what have our friends in the West demanded?"
The statent released by Markovia and Leviathan Inc. was just that—a statent. Rather than asking for permission to allow Arias entry he had rcy send a statent because he knew they would send forth a set of demands that he would need to et or follow if he ca to the States. Such negotiations would normally take months to reach reasonable terms, but given the position Arias was in, he had no reason to be reasonable. With the instruction for the joint statent to be released, he had already prepared a draft agreent that was incredibly fair for both sides. However, whenever the US was involved, fairness was not to be expected as they would want to reap the most benefits, no matter how dire the situation.
This proved to be true as the entire morning was spent by rcy and Tara constantly rejecting proposals from the US. The most stern one stated that if Markovia and Leviathan Inc. couldn't agree to the terms they were putting forth for Arias Markovich, he wouldn't be allowed entry back into the country. In response to this, Arias had already told them that he would still be coming and that they were free to arrest him, letting the war continue. This was no longer a matter of negotiation but a simple threat. If they were to arrest him, the war would continue, but it wasn't a war to begin with; it was a one-sided slaughter. The US was yet to find an answer to the weaponry they were struck with, which was saying a lot.
Knowing that he had this much power over them, Arias had absolutely no reason to be reasonable. Unlike dealing with normal people, high-ranking officials were intellectuals, many of them much smarter than Arias himself. In a battle of wits, there was no winning.
Now that they knew he was an enemy, they were using every form of dia they could to paint him as a villain, and to a great extent, it was working. Many in the modern day easily believed whatever information they were fed and took it as fact, not knowing that the very people who delivered this news were flawed individuals with their own selfish agendas.
The only possible way to circumvent this would be to own stations and other dia. However, that was impossible as the owners simply wouldn't sell. For individuals that wealthy and with that much control over the events that govern the world, money was but an instrunt and not sothing they sought out mindlessly.
This is why Arias initiated the one event in which civilizations could fall and give birth to new eras. War. Like all wars, he who was victorious could write history as he pleased, and within a century, whatever horrid things he had done would be long forgotten, and he would be rembered as a hero and pioneer.
Though so in the future may eventually know of these things and rebel, the majority would not so long as life was reasonably comfortable and there were enough distractions in the material world.
In a way, Arias used a similar tactic with his art academies and the refurbishing of Gotham. He had played the role of the perfect person and garnered a solid following among the people. Unfortunately, he couldn't be killed—or at least easily. However, if there was a ti when assassinations would begin coming his way, it was now, and what better place to have them than in the United States, where the most people wanted to see him fall?
Regardless of how long certain families had stayed at the top, their comfort was only present due to knowing they had many of the world's most powerful militaries at their beck and call, as well as countless nuclear weapons. So long as they wanted sothing in the world to happen, it would happen, and whatever excuse was given would stick.
It didn't matter what the masses said; within a few years, the younger generation would already forget. However, they no longer controlled the most powerful military, and they were no longer even in the safest country for the wealthy. That unshakable pedestal their families and organizations had been on was now shattered, replaced by the towering threat posed by Arias and the small nation of Markovia.
Before either Arias or rcy could comnt further on the docunts she brought, Cheshire turned their way and let out a playful purr as she asked, "What have you got there?"
rcy turned her head back and imdiately frowned when she saw Cheshire lazing around. "Aren't you supposed to be his bodyguard? What if I was here to kill him? You don't even look ready at all."
Cheshire maintained her lazy posture and slightly shrugged. "It's pretty hard to miss your footsteps... they're so... angry," she replied in a playful manner, cracking a smirk that rcy found deeply annoying.
Before rcy could say anything, Arias, after only glancing at the top docunt, stood up from his desk and gave a nod. "Well, if everything is set, let's move on to the next phase, shall we?"
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