Veil of the forsaken.

"Favorite."

Arlos clapped his hands together, stepping up like a man who'd been through this before and still hadn't learned his lesson. "Alright, Mai-Lee, how about we take it down a notch? Maybe ease up on the whole 'unstoppable force of training doom' thing?"

Mai-Lee didn't even blink.

Undeterred, he tried again. "You know, stress ages you. Maybe—just maybe—if you let yourself have fun every once in a while, you wouldn't look like you're about to assassinate the entire room."

Silence.

Veil sighed dramatically and nudged Arlos aside. "Alright, step back, sunshine. Let someone with actual charm handle this."

She took a step forward, casually adjusting her jacket. "Mai-Lee, look. We just wanna talk to Sei-do for a bit, and we know you're all about discipline, but maybe—and hear me out—just maybe you can cut her some slack for five minutes?"

Nothing.

Veil pressed on. "I mean, she's been doing great, right? The trainees are still alive. That's a win."

Still, nothing.

Arlos, from behind her, muttered, "Tough crowd."

Veil ignored him. "I'm just saying, maybe a little break wouldn't hurt. You know, just for fun? Do you even know what fun is?"

Mai-Lee, still unbothered, crossed her arms.

Veil groaned. "Okay, what do you respond to? Because I feel like I'm talking to a statue."

Then—

Lady, completely calm, simply said, "That's enough, Veil."

Mai-Lee exhaled through her nose. Not quite a sigh, not quite a laugh, but something close.

Veil paused. Arlos froze. Juno, watching this disaster unfold, raised an eyebrow.

Mai-Lee finally looked away from Sei-do. "At least someone knows when to quit."

Veil sputtered. "Oh, COME ON. That's what gets a reaction out of you?!" She pointed aggressively at Lady. "SHE just exists and suddenly you care?"

Mai-Lee shrugged. "She's worth listening to."

Veil turned to Arlos, betrayed. "We just lost to basic instructions."

Arlos, solemn, placed a hand on her shoulder. "A true tragedy."

Juno, quietly, added, "Someone should document this."

Meanwhile, Lady, utterly ignoring them, addressed Sei-do. "Now that we have your master's attention, do you have a moment?"

Sei-do, who had been watching all of this like free entertainment, smirked. "For you? Always."

Veil, still processing her loss, crossed her arms. "This is rigged."

Arlos patted her back. "At least we tried."

Juno nodded. "Not very well, though."

And with that, they finally got to business, while Veil stood there, sulking like she'd personally been scammed.

Sei-do leaned against her training katana, looking Arlos and Veil up and down like they were stray animals that had wandered into her training grounds.

"Alright, let's get this over with. What do you two disasters want?" she asked, deadpan.

Veil scoffed. "Disasters? I'll have you know, I am incredibly well put together."

Sei-do arched a brow. "You're held together by sheer arrogance and whatever bad decisions keep you running."