"What's wrong, mothe–"
"You don't know me!"
Riley was about to approach Aerith when she let herself sink onto the sofa; tilting her cap down and burying her face with her tablet, "Just get your card, and let's go."
"The results aren't going to be until–"
"Oh my god, it's Empress!"
Riley's words were instantly disrupted by Paige's almost deafening voice; even with all the people already screaming, her voice still stood above the rest as soon as she saw Empress walk into the tower.
"Adam, it's Empress!" She then glanced at Riley before running away, "Let's go! Maybe we could ask for a picture! Come on!"
"..." Riley also glanced at Paige as she left, before slowly turning his head towards Aerith… who was already shaking her head repeatedly; mouthing that he should just stay.
"What are you doing?"
Ever so slowly, however, Riley's feet moved. And with a small smile subtly growing on his face, he followed Paige. And as soon as he did so, the tablet that Aerith was holding cracked into pieces.
She was over a thousand years old– she literally calls one of the planet's oldest religious leaders a child. She was supposed to be the old wise wizard, and yet she finds herself almost acting not even a percent of her age when it comes to Riley.
Aerith then immediately grabbed one of the magazines that were lying on the table in front of her to once again hide her face. Even if she was already wearing a cap and sunglasses and would probably not be recognized by the masses, it was different with Empress.
She had been with her long enough that she would probably recognize her at first glance even with all of the things covering her head. She was about to take a glance at Riley and what he was doing, but before she could do so, something in the magazine distracted her.
It was an article. An article about Darkday…
…and how humanity needed him more than Megawoman.
"..." Aerith skimmed on the article to read what it says, but ultimately, it had a clear message.
Darkday showed humanity the true face of supers. The threat they bring to the world if they do not fall in line. While Megawoman made the world comfortable, making them completely reliant on superheroes and supers in general.
It also showed a statistic– the crimes relating to supers during Megawoman's absence; with even written interviews from villains saying they feared Darkday more, showing that the number of crimes was significantly lower when Darkday was just the big bad flying in the skies.
"..." Wasn't this also indirectly calling Megawoman a 'big bad'?
Aerith then looked at the name of the one who wrote the article, only for the writer to be anonymous. Of course, Aerith didn't really care much about how the people perceived her…
…but she could not help but feel that something was building up. Of course, this could just be nothing– but considering it was published in a popular magazine; perhaps someone was stirring something up?
She would have probably ignored it… but since it has a photo of Gary, as well as Silvie, who she announced in public was also her daughter since she was her clone– this was clearly targeting them.
Targeting the children of Megawoman, no. Targeting superheroes themselves… but why?
And before Aerith could speculate even more; she could no longer adjust her hearing as the screaming and cheering of the people became even more intense; almost to the point that it shook the entire tower. And with someone like Aerith, who could probably hear someone from the next city if she truly wanted to, this was a nightmare– and she was already wearing ear plugs.
This is all her disciple's fault. Why would Empress even come here despite her position in society? Pretty soon, however, her question was answered as Empress stepped onto the empty stage placed on the side of the lobby– no, she wasn't going to play the piano…
…but giving the license to the new heroes.
It made it extremely hard for Aerith to eavesdrop since everyone was talking at the same time; but if she was right, then the Tower has Empress as a guest right now– most probably to lure or give confidence to the aspiring heroes.
…But why now of all times? There were many other days of the week– heck, Aerith and Riley should have been gone for almost 2 years… and she does this now?
And considering the surprise of the people and even some of the staff, she doesn't do this regularly; it might even be her first time.
So why now… right when Aerith and Riley were here? And so, Aerith could do nothing but also stand up and join the crowd– after all, she would be more exposed sitting alone on a sofa while one of the greatest heroes stood on stage.
She made sure she was quite a distance away from both Empress and Riley, however. And speaking of which…
…Riley and Paige were right in front of the stage. Aerith specifically asked Riley not to stand out, and he seemed to be doing just the bare minimum of that. At this point, Aerith was truly wondering if Riley wasn't just messing with her. In fact, he even overheard her saying something related to his favorite cartoons earlier.
[Good afternoon, aspiring heroes– no, heroes.]
And before Aerith could speculate more, Empress finally started talking to the people.
[I wish I could stay here for a little bit more. But sadly, they need me up there.]
"..." She didn't even say something funny, but the people started chuckling.
[So let's be quick, I am sure most of you want to go home anyway.]
And without even any delay, Empress started calling those who passed the Superhero Test.
And the very first name she called…
[Paige, Class B!]
"T… that's me!" And without even waiting to be called, Paige leaped onto the stage– shaking Empress's hands repeatedly.
"C… congratulations," Empress didn't really retract her hand, only smiling at Paige as she handed her the license… Paige, however, suddenly embraced her.
"How!? How did I pass!? Thank you, thank you very much!" Paige then said as she started jumping up and down while still embracing Empress, almost hitting her chin several times with her forehead,
"I really thought I was going to fail. And I'm the first one being called? How is that even possible!? Do you know!?"
"...Just take the win," Empress could only shake her head and sigh as she finally gently pushed away Paige like she was a child, "I noticed you didn't choose a superhero name?"
"N… no, is that bad?" Paige quickly placed her license in her pocket in fear of Empress snatching it back, "I… I wanted to be like Riley Ross."
"..." And as soon as she heard Riley's name, a small gasp suddenly escaped her mouth. It was quiet, but everyone noticed it.
From the outside, it would have looked like it was a sudden pang of guilt. In the public's eyes– Riley, a young hero, sacrificed his life for the world; and Empress was there to witness it.
Just what kind of regret did she have in her eyes?-- were the people's thoughts.
In truth, however, Empress was just shocked to hear Riley's name. It was sort of a taboo in her inner circle to even utter his name– especially since she has been meeting with the Baby Crew a lot lately.
Megawoman, her, and the rest of who knew who Riley Ross truly was decided to keep it from the world that he was Darkday just for a single fact– to protect Hannah Ross.
"I… I see," Empress then finally nodded as she asked Paige to stand on the side of the stage. Paige immediately brought back her license again, looking at it with her eyes literally glimmering. She then turned her eyes towards Riley, waving the license at him and mouthing something.
[And for the next one…] Empress was finally able to continue announcing those who passed the tests,
[Paragon, also B-Class!]
And as soon as she said that, Paige stopped waving at Riley as she almost started to squeal. How could she not, when he was now making his way to the stage?
"I see you already expected to pass the test," Empress could not help but smile as soon as she saw Riley walk towards her, already in full outfit.
"Well, I did it once before, Miss Empress. It stands to reason I will do it again."
"...What?"
Aerith, who was focusing her ears on Riley and Empress, almost choked in her own breaths right there and then. That was it– that was all the Aerith needed to hear to know that Riley was just pretending that he lost his memories.
As for Empress, she could really only express her confusion as Paragon grabbed the license from her hand; joining Paige on the side without even saying another word.
She stood there for a couple of seconds in silence; Aerith, focusing on her heart to know what she was feeling. But considering the drumming of Empress's heart just seemed normal, it would seem she didn't notice anything… and was probably just weirded out.
And finally, after a few seconds, Empress once again turned towards the audience and…
[And that's it. The rest of you who failed, don't be disheartened– you can still take the test after a month.]
"What!? Only two passed!?"
"I could understand Paragon, but her!? She–"
And before the complaints of the other registrants became even louder, Empress stepped down the stage. Not even saying and only glaring at those that complained before gesturing to Paige and Riley to go down the stage and start signing some papers.
"..." Aerith was about to approach Riley and tell him to hurry up, but before she could do so…
…Empress walked in front of her.
Aerith quickly tilted her head down, making sure her cap was still covering her face; fortunately for her, due to Empress's height, that wasn't hard to do.
"E… Empress, such an honor," Aerith then cheered to blend in; making sure to increase the pitch of her voice to make her unrecognizable.
Unfortunately for her, Empress stopped to shake the hands of some of the people from the crowd.
"..." Why was she doing this now? Empress has never been the type to be seen in public. Did being in a position of power already changed her that much?
And very slowly, Aerith made an effort to gently back away– it was easy for someone like her, after all.
But alas, before she could even take a single step backward, Empress suddenly grabbed her hand.
"S… such an honor–" Aerith was going to repeat her words… but felt Empress's grip growing stronger by the moment. Aerith quickly turned her eyes towards Empress, only to see her smiling at her.
"You've never been one for disguises," Empress whispered,
"...And you're an even worse liar."