Lerna looked absolutely bewildered; William wasn't looking too good either.
"Why?!"
William exclaimed as he thought of reasons why she would even need his help.
"Because you got mio fratello and Val in an interview! You're good at convincing people!"
"Yeah, but—you could've at least worn a disguise if you're coming here!"
"Ah... You're right!"
While the two of them were talking, Lerna was standing in between them, being dumbfounded.
How was William talking so nonchalantly with THE Violet Crayson?! She found it unbelievable.
To put it into perspective, the current King of England was considered easier to meet than Violet, because you could simply just be a high-ranking government official to be able to meet him. Violet, however, relied on both luck and influence.
You needed to both catch her attention and be big enough to actually maintain her attention.
Thousands have failed to get an actual interaction with her; the most they could ever hope for was just a glance.
Here was someone who Lerna thought was just an ordinary coworker, just chatting with Violet—not just that, Violet was the one asking FOR William.
It was unprecedented, so much so that she basically tuned out the conversation the two were having.
"Come on, we're friends, right?"
"You tied me up."
"Like friends!"
Lerna clenched her fists; something deep-rooted in her heart started to bear its head once more.
Her breathing became jagged, her form started shaking slightly, and worst of all, her eyes were locked towards William.
The other two noticed this behavior, especially the one receiving a death glare.
They both stayed silent, an awkward silence overtaking them.
Then, Violet would break it.
"Is she your girlfriend?"
William opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, Lerna did it first.
Her leg seemed to glow green slightly before yelling out her answer.
"YES!"
Everyone, even Lerna, was dumbfounded by that.
Violet started to snicker before patting William's back, realizing that she probably just interrupted something between the two of them
"Alright, alright, I'll leave now then!
William turned towards Violet.
"It's not—"
"Ah, nope, you two have a fun time~!"
And Violet, in another flash of red, disappeared.
William then turned towards Lerna, who was staring blankly at nothing, her body red as a tomato and her hands covering her face.
How did this happen?! What prompted her to say that?! Those sorts of questions filled William's head; he couldn't pinpoint any actual answer for any of them, though.
William simply stood there, completely and utterly confused.
Lerna, however, knew completely why she had said that, even if she did it subconsciously. That doesn't mean she doesn't regret it, but there was at least a reason.
She wanted Violet's attention too, so what was the quickest way to get her attention? Being close to William, of course!
Lerna slowly curled up into a ball and tucked herself into a corner.
Then, the door they were standing in front of opened, snapping both of them out of their self-indulgent thoughts.
"... Come in."
Miss Farah said, standing in front of the door, her tail drooping down and her ears lowered as well.
Hesitantly, they did as she said, taking slow steps as they followed her inside.
Once all three were there, Miss Farah talked first.
"So, you two know each other..."
William, after hearing that, immediately went to stop any train of thought going on inside of his boss' head.
"No, I only met her today; we are not together."
Miss Farah simply stared at him and then at Lerna, who was still quietly murmuring to herself about her own failures.
The Lynx lady sighed as she just decided to drop it now.
"You two will be working together as partners from now on."
And yet another shock today!
How many was that today?
His apartment being broken into was one... Then the building having a crowd was two... There was also Violet, which was three... Also the surprise from Lerna, which was four.
Adding this, there were five!
William couldn't even sigh anymore; he just looked towards Lerna, who... Seemed to be taking it much worse than him.
Then, without any warning, Lerna suddenly pounced towards William.
William, however, saw a line, a very familiar one, just before she did that; the back of his hand glowed before he dodged the attack.
Lerna went through several walls as she couldn't stop her acceleration.
Miss Farah quickly stood up, but before she could even react, both William and Lerna were locked in the most comedic fight she's ever seen.
Lerna, with her leg glowing, was just continuously attacking William; even if she was sent through walls in the process, she just kept doing it.
William was fully on the defensive, dodging all of the attacks with skill and precision.
To Farah, however, it was just two kids wrecking her entire building.
So, finally, after a few more walls were broken, she decided to step in.
"Stop."
The two felt chills down their spines as she said that, causing William to stop and Lerna's attack to connect and send him flying into a wall.
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Fights WERE commonplace in the company. What were you going to do with dozens of superpowered people who all had different beliefs?
Conviction-bearers were inherently more emotional than most; even the calmest ones could lose their cool very easily.
As for why Lerna did... Well, her conviction was a bit special.
Envy could be equated to jealousy, the desire to covet what others have.
That translates to Lerna being able to do all of this just because she felt a strong emotion, which was the trigger for her conviction.
Anytime she feels a strong emotion, she can do anything, yet it's never 'great,' always just pretty good.
This is what made her so... Emotional. The more she subconsciously uses her conviction, the more she feels envy...
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The two partners sat beside each other in the middle of the wrecked office room with their arms raised up.
"As a punishment for doing all of this..."
Miss Farah held a bunch of files, which made William shudder. He felt he already knew what was going to happen...
It wasn't even his fault! Lerna was the one who wrecked everything!
"You two will travel the world to interview seven people."
And there it was!