Gravis was a bit taken aback by the comment. How was he weird? These things were obvious, and someone as powerful as the Empress should be able to see the logic in his decisions. A smart, educated, and thought-through decision couldn't be called weird!
"How am I weird?" Gravis asked, genuinely confused.
"Your personality keeps changing!" the Empress transmitted to him in frustration. None of the other beasts should hear her talking like this. After all, she still needed to keep up her image in front of her subjects.
"First, you walked with arrogance to the group of Lords that said they could defeat a Half-Step King."
"Then, you seemed domineering and impressive after killing that level four Lord."
"Then, you appear like you don't care after your so-called fight with the red hawk."
"Then, you appear like an embarrassed child after winning against that mammoth."
"Then, you appear like a schemer with trust issues."
"And now, you appear like you have just immediately changed your personality just because I have said some words. Even worse, everything points to the fact that you genuinely meant that. How is it even possible that a beast can change that easily and quickly!?" the Empress nearly rambled.
"I can't get a read on your personality because it seems all so jumbled up! Then, you have these strange powers that are so strange that not even I, a level three Emperor, know how they work!"
"Your personality is weird! Your powers are weird! You are weird!" the Empress concluded after her rant.
Only Gravis and the white ape heard what the Empress had said. Such rambling would show an indecisive side of the Empress and wasn't something that the other beasts were supposed to hear.
The white ape only sighed when he listened to the Empress. He didn't like how casually she put it, but he wholeheartedly agreed. Gravis was weird!
Gravis felt a bit embarrassed when he heard her ramble. However, he also understood that his conduct seemed weird in the eyes of beasts that didn't know him. Hell, his personality was even somewhat weird when compared to humans.
All of these rapid changes of mood and conduct from him had reasons behind them, but it would take forever to explain all of them to her. Additionally, she probably wouldn't even be interested in such a long session of explaining.
Yet, the Empress' words relieved Gravis. She had appeared distant and untouchable the whole time. The way how she killed all these Lords and Kings had also made her appear heartless, arrogant, and cold. On top of that, she had this aura of pride around her, which made her appear even more distant.
But with all these casual words and sentences, she appeared to Gravis just like any other beast. Of course, everybody knew that the more powerful beasts were still just beasts. Yet, one often forgot that fact when confronted with supreme power and such prideful conduct.
Right now, the Empress appeared much more approachable. Would some heartless God complain like this about someone being weird? Probably not.
Gravis shook his head a bit. "Okay," he answered. Then, he turned to the white ape. "So, you won't kill me, right?" he asked as he returned to the original topic.
Both the white ape and the Empress were surprised about the fact that Gravis had just thrown the Empress' rant away with a simple okay. Yet, the white ape was happy to get back to the original topic.
"No, we are in the same position. We can't kill the other one without the Empress killing us after that, and I don't intend to throw my life away to kill a Lord," the white ape said.
"Hey, don't gloss over this topic by going on a tangent!" the Empress interrupted them with annoyance.
"You were the one that went on a tangent by calling me weird, Empress," Gravis answered.
The Empress became a bit annoyed when she heard that, but she decided against dignifying that with an answer, mainly because Gravis was right.
Then, Gravis turned to the white ape again. "So, can you keep watch over the ore? If I have this ore available, I won't be able to temper myself. After all, I would always have an option to fall back on with this ore, which wouldn't put enough pressure onto my mind."
"I understand," the white ape interrupted before Gravis could continue. "I know how tempering works, and yes, I can promise you that if you are in a fight, you won't be able to touch this ore without dying."
"Great, thank you," Gravis answered. Then, he waited a bit. "And sorry for thinking that you were going to kill me. I have assigned my thinking pattern to you, which was my mistake."
The white ape sighed.
"I said, stop being weird!" the Empress transmitted again.
"Oh, come on!" Gravis transmitted with frustration. "How was that weird?"
"Apologies are unnecessary. Words are empty. Let your actions speak for you! No beast cares about anyone apologizing to them," the Empress said.
"But if I don't apologize first, how will the Grand Elder know which intentions my action have? He might think that I still hold some sort of grudge against him-"
"I said, stop being weird!" the Empress interrupted Gravis again. "What's with all this convoluted and unnecessary stuff!? Just follow your personality and act how you want. Whatever happens, happens!"
Now, it was Gravis' turn to become frustrated. He knew all these concepts about psychology and knew the most efficient method of clearing any remaining doubt towards himself. Yet, the Empress just said that all of this was unnecessary.
To Gravis, this situation felt like he was a father that told his child about two Clans fighting, while the child only answered with, "but fighting doesn't help anyone! Why don't they just stop?". There were too many complex and interwoven reasons behind the situation to have such an easy solution.
Yet, suddenly, Gravis' eyes widened in realization. 'I forgot, these are beasts, not humans. They act way simpler. Of course, they also wouldn't hold a hidden grudge without letting me know about it. Something as sneaky and conflict-averse as that is only something that humans do. Maybe, I am actually in the wrong by overcomplicating a simple situation?' Gravis thought to himself while scratching his metallic chin.
The Empress and white ape were confused by Gravis' sudden silence and thoughtful expression. At least, they thought it was thoughtful. His face looked more like he needed to take an urgent shit.
"You're right," Gravis transmitted to both of them. "I have overthought this situation and have made it more complex than necessary. I will show you how I am with my actions."
The white ape grew confused again while the Empress looked with narrowed eyes at the distant Gravis.
"What did I just say?" the Empress asked Gravis seriously.
"That I should let my actions speak instead of spouting apologies. That's also why I didn't apologize just now," Gravis answered.
"No, that's not what I said," the Empress transmitted back with some annoyance.
"I said, stop being weird!" she transmitted with frustration.
Gravis gnashed his teeth. "How was that weird!? I did exactly as you said!" Gravis transmitted back with anger.
"Yes, that's weird! Your personality and conduct keep changing the whole time! That's weird!" she answered with anger.
"Well, beasts can be wrong," Gravis answered while crossing his arms. "I just saw the error in my ways and adapted. What's the problem with that?" Gravis asked.
Now, the Empress also gnashed her teeth. "The problem is that changing your personality and principles isn't that easy! You can't just hear some words and immediately change how you think!" she transmitted back.
"Yes, you can," Gravis answered curtly.
The Empress waited for Gravis' follow-up, but no follow-up came. This annoyed her even more. "No, you can't!" she transmitted back as she stood up from her throne.
"Well, I just did," Gravis answered.
The Empress stewed in her annoyance for a bit. The white ape saw that and sighed. He hadn't seen the Empress act this wildly in a while. Somehow, this mere Lord was able to get such an intense reaction from the Empress, even though she could kill him with a mere thought.
After some time, the Empress sat back down and sighed, not hiding it this time. She just couldn't be bothered right now. "You know," she transmitted to Gravis. "I've never come across such an annoying and frustrating beast like you."
Gravis grimaced like he had just heard something ridiculous. "How am I annoying? I'm just learning and adapting. Shouldn't you be happy about my willingness to change?"
The Empress groaned after hearing this. She just wanted this whole situation to be over.
Or, at least, that was what she thought. In reality, she felt quite happy inside. Gravis' unusual conduct had blown away the grey clouds of the seemingly infinitely ongoing monotony of her life. She was always here on the mountain, just trying to understand Laws. After a long while, she could finally release and vent some of her emotions.
Of course, she didn't want to admit that to herself. Admitting that she liked being annoyed would make her feel even weirder than Gravis. This was also one of the big reasons why she didn't just kill him. She thought that she wanted this situation to end, but in actuality, she didn't want this conversation to end.
"So," Gravis transmitted slowly after several seconds of silence. "About that fourth opponent…"
The Empress took a deep breath with closed eyes as she tried to calm down.
