Mad world

Walking through those halls was something that Diana did countless times throughout the centuries. Nevertheless, she couldn't get used to the fact that the Mother wasn't going to be in the room with her Commanders. She knew that. She wasn't supposed to find it weird as much as she actually did. But there she was, walking towards the room where all the Guardians were supposed to meet. Same room, same furniture, same table, same seats. But every time Diana entered that room, a new feeling seemed to hit her right in the stomach and every time, she couldn't name that new sensation.

Her feet were heavy and were getting heavier with every step she took. Eventually though, she ended up finding herself behind the door. Before pushing it open, the Commander took a deep breath and shook her head trying to push away her gloomy thoughts, knowing that she had to focus on whatever the meeting was about. Hopefully nothing too serious, nor violent in any way, but since Minerva was the one that called them, she didn't have much hope in that sense.

Finally finding the strength and the mental stability she needed to face the situation, she entered the room. Minerva was the only one sitting at the table and with a quick look, Diana noticed that something was wrong. ”Are you okay, Min?” The girl quickly and lightly asked while walking further towards the table and finally taking her seat in front of the other Commander.

The sound of the door opening, soon broke the atmosphere that was fluttering around the room. Diana tilted her head and as soon as she recognised Apollo who was walking towards them, she smiled and felt immediately less apprehensive. She didn’t know why, but there was something about the Healer that made her feel calm. Calmer than how Mercury could make her feel. The door opened once again almost immediately after, to reveal Juno behind it. Again, Diana greeted the girl with a smile, before dropping it completely after her question to Minerva. Everyone knew about the first Guardian’s demons, but it was a topic that Diana just didn’t like, not even a little. She knew how tormented Minerva was about it and felt incredibly bad because she couldn’t do anything about it. Luckily they had Mercury. Thanks to the Commander of Peace, sometimes the bringer of war, could have some serenity too.

The last Guardian was nowhere to be seen, but the voice of the girl sitting in front of her was alarmingly calm and quiet even if she was literally threatening the youngest. Obviously, this wasn’t the first time that something like that happened, but Mercury seemed unable to learn his lesson and Minerva had all the reasons to be angry. ’The Conclave is going to be soon and the Commander has her eye on a Second. Is anyone willing to check him out?’ Minerva’s voice drew Diana’s attention back to her and her words. She didn’t expect this to be the reason why she called upon the meeting, but was positively surprised.

It had been a while since she last judged on one of the people that were supposed to participate in the Conclave and the thought of finally doing something different tickled her interest. ’Maybe I could-’ Her soft voice was interrupted by the sound of the door slamming open. Mercury was on the doorway, out of breath and with his hands raised, ready to give the other Commanders his reason why he was late. From the bottom of her heart, Diana hoped it wasn’t anything stupid, as usual, for Mercury’s own sake. They were discussing a pretty important matter there, and.. ’I saw a cat.’ It was stupid. Diana’s eyes widened in surprise and with a little anxious feeling building up in her chest, she turned slowly towards Minerva to analyse her reaction.

Everything happened within few seconds. Diana could sense the tension, could touch it, could literally see it, when the shadow behind Minerva turned into Cratos. During the centuries, the Guardians started to know all the Warrior’s demons one by one, their personalities and their names, because they were real and sometimes just couldn’t be tamed.

Hearing Apollo and Juno’s reassuring words to Minerva, the Huntress realised that even if she couldn’t hold herself or her demon back, the other two would’ve had Merc’s back and Diana just didn’t want any more violence, especially in that room, so she would’ve helped too, even though the Warrior had all the reasons to be angry at him, again.

Everyone’s gaze was directed towards Mercury now. They were waiting for him to take his seat, waiting for him to finally take the chance they gave to him and do the right thing. It was only when he finally sat down that Diana realised she was holding her breath. She exhaled, relieved in knowing that no one was going to get hurt that day. ’Once again, crisis avoided’ She found herself commenting with a sort of bitter-ish tone in the back of her mind.

Once the tension was relieved, Diana noticed Minerva’s blood on the table. The look she gave to the little blood drops was quick, before she could look back at the Warrior’s face, when she asked her if she really wanted to go to see this Commander’s Second that everyone was talking about. The Huntress shrugged as if it wasn’t really a big deal, and then nodded once. ’I mean, it’s been a while since I’ve last done it, so yes, I would like to go.’ She spoke in a very polite, soft and calm tone, trying to ease a little bit more the uneasiness that built up in few seconds just before. ’If everyone agrees, that is.’ The woman then added, looking at everyone’s face, no one excluded.