"Did you really mean what you said?"
In the Throne Room, Laurel was nowhere to be seen as Nyssa and Ainz alone shared the space.
"Why? Would you not like her to be revived without the consequences you spoke of?" Ainz asked, to which Nyssa remained stoic.
"Is there any point in answering that question? It isn't possible. I'd rather not dwindle on fantasies."
"Fantasies? Don't be so closed-minded, Nyssa. The world is unimaginably complex. For example, where do you think this Lazarus Pit came from?"
Nyssa remained silent. Not because she was clueless, but because all the stories she knew of the Lazarus didn't include how it was made.
She had concluded that it was simply a product of the world, but knowing that wasn't a viable answer to what Ainz was asking, she didn't reply. Understanding the point he was making.
"Let me guess, you know more than you let on."
Ainz shrugged.
"Unlike most times, not as much as you'd think. After all, I even improvised and went off of your suggestions and choices."
Nyssa raised her chin high.
"Unless you knew what I'd say."
"Does that change anything?" Ainz asked, to which Nyssa paused.
"That's the second time you've aided me in my needs. Any more and I'll think you're doing it on purpose."
"What can I say, it's always been a wish of mine to be a White Knight to the daughter of a ruthless tyrant." Ainz joked.
"Anyway, we have the traitors who sent the messages in the dungeon. Would you like to kill them yourself?" Nyssa asked, dropping the banter.
"No. They're of no use to me dead. Instead, I have something else planned." Ainz hopped to his feet, walking toward the exit of the Throne Room.
Meanwhile, Nyssa stared, raising an eyebrow.
"Should I follow you?"
"Do whatever you want."
Nyssa grumbled in dissatisfaction, her attention drifting to the Gorilla that now stood beside her.
"What are you looking for, a banana?"
"Grodd hates bananas. Grodd prefers the hearts of those who speak too much and do not know their place." Grodd stared at her from the corner of his eyes.
Nyssa fell silent for a second, soon scoffing as she followed behind Derek.
"Not if you want a lethal dose of Black Mamba Venom. Stay away from me, ape, you're home to fleas."
Grodd exhaled sharply in annoyance, soon following along.
***
"What are you doing? And where did you get all this?"
In what was once an empty room, stalactites dawned down imposingly while their twins, the stalagmites, rose upward to reach the same stature, a fairly sized laboratory now lay.
With a large table with dozens of equipment scattered atop it, things boiled with a FISH and the DRIP of a liquid dripping into a flask filled the area, all while the BLOP of Ainz' Eclipse rang out as it formed into hands and equipment, aiding him in his task.
Meanwhile, he stood at the forefront, staring at a translucent orange liquid. It had only now started to form colour, therefore, it wasn't very vibrant.
It was because of this that Ainz could tell…
'It isn't yet ready.'
His Eclipse had only been working on this for the two days he was away. Because he was forced to call back most of his Eclipse for the battle against Thawne and Barry, they weren't able to get as much work done as he'd have liked.
"You can call this a hobby of mine. As for the equipment…"
'I stole most of it from STAR Labs and Mercury Labs.'
But Ainz wouldn't tell them this.
"That isn't important." He opted to say.
Unlike the confused Nyssa, Grodd stepped forward peering over everything happening before him.
"How much do you know about Biochemistry, my son?" Ainz asked.
"Fair amount. Only what Grodd has seen from watching Ms Snow and asking about what she does."
Ainz nodded, knowing he and Caitlin were rather close. Though not as close as Grodd and Thawne.
"That's good enough. Add the lysis buffer to that blood sample over there and mix to break down the cells." Ainz pointed to a few things but could see Grodd already reaching before he did.
Grodd held a vial of a pale yellow liquid before him, staring.
"What kind of blood is this?" Grodd asked.
"Ant blood."
"And what are you trying to extract?" Grodd asked, surprising Ainz at how much he was able to deduce with just a glance and a single command.
"Their Receptor Genes," Ainz answered simply, to which Grodd nodded.
Whether he understood Ainz's intentions or he simply didn't want to be a hassle was unknown to the former, but he continued with his work anyway.
For the next few hours, no words were spoken as Ainz and Grodd continued to work. They didn't need to exchange words thanks to Grodd being smart enough to adapt and work where he was needed.
"How much longer?"
Ainz turned to find Nyssa standing beside him, hovering. She hadn't left and simply sat back quietly, but the boredom finally got to her.
"Not long."
'My Transmutation should take care of the rest.' Derek added inwardly, a warm feeling spreading within him as he realised how much time he'd be saving.
She could see that the once translucent orange liquid had become far thicker and had increased in volume.
Additionally, beside it, there was a pink liquid that Ainz didn't touch.
"These look similar to that thing I saw you inject yourself with before you bathed in the pit." She noted.
"Yes, they're similar."
"So what is it?"
"Which one?"
"The orange one you have in your hand."
"Well, ants have powerful receptors that are susceptible to the pheromones their queen exudes. So susceptible that it puts them in a slave-like state and binds them to the queen."
Ainz handed her the vial as she took a closer look.
"I can't build new receptors for a human…well, I'd rather not go through the trouble is more accurate, so the serum will fuse with the natural receptors one is already born with. Receptors like the five senses and the others that aren't so prominent."
Ainz raised the pink serum before him as both his and Nyssa's eyes stared at it.
"However, it's practically useless without this. Said pheromones of a queen."
Nyssa widened her eyes as she shifted her gaze to Ainz, finally realising what he was planning.
"What? You don't mean…"
"Yes. We won't have to worry about loyalty if the League is naturally enslaved to us."
With this, not only would there no longer be traitors amongst them nor did Ainz have to worry about the League splitting into Factions like it did in the show, but he now had a way to make anyone loyal to him with just a serum.
"I…I don't know what to say. Never has a Demon's Head done something so…underhanded."
Ainz shrugged.
"You told me to find a solution to this problem, so I did. You don't have to be here to watch if you don't like it. Don't you have some prisoners to torture or something?"
Upon saying this, Nyssa's expression suddenly deflated as she turned, taking a seat on one of the many stalagmites that were naturally moulded to fit her entire body.
[Nyssa contemplates whether or not to share something]
"It…It's complicated."
'Interesting. She was never quite given closure in the show like I've given her now, so I can't say for sure what exactly it is that's bothering her.'
"What's complicated about it? Just kill him. I've been waiting for you to do so, especially with this stunt he pulled."
"Oh, don't get me wrong, his death shall come. However, I can't help but feel it's…It just isn't how I imagined it to be."
'Is this going to be some cliche nonsense like "Killing him won't bring her back".'
Despite Ainz saying this inwardly, Nyssa could somewhat read his thoughts as she witnessed him turn his head to stare at her.
"Don't get any ideas, I'm not going soft." Nyssa rolled her eyes, prompting Ainz to sigh as he turned back.
"So what then?" He finally asked.
To this, Nyssa simply stared at the blank air.
[Nyssa opens up]
"I…don't know…"
'Huh? That was her opening up? What exactly is she clueless about…'
However, before Ainz could finish…
"I don't know anything anymore."
Ainz froze as these words entered his ears. He stopped tinkering with his equipment and fell into a lull state of mind so much so that even his Eclipse lagged for a split second.
'I don't know anything anymore…'
These words resonated within him as a memory flashed in his mind. At that moment, Ainz understood what Nyssa was getting at.
What she didn't know was where to go from now.
She had achieved her ultimate goal of revenge against Malcolm, now what?
The only thing that could come close to this was her desire for the Throne, but whether it was the fact that Ainz was too careful and powerful to be betrayed or simply because of the advancements like the serums he was making in the league made it so it could never be stripped of him, something made her subconsciously put aside this goal, possibly because it wasn't something she could hope to achieve in the near future.
Therefore, this left her as an empty shell, unsure of where to proceed next or which direction to head in.
She'd chased this for as long as she could remember, yet now that she either had it or hit a dead end, she was only left with emptiness.
"A purpose."
Ainz spoke, his head lowered as he was deep in thought.
"That's what you seek. Not something menial like revenge or power. Something that gives…meaning."
Ainz turned, but as he did, he was taken aback as he found Nyssa standing before him, invading his personal space as she leaned closer to his face, staring at him like a curious cat.
"What are you doing?"
"That's the first time since I met you that you seemed…real. Not like the smug bastard you usually are, but someone who is genuine. Tell me, did you slip up?" Nyssa smirked, clear to Ainz in the next second that she was teasing him.
"So, what's your purpose?" Nyssa asked, met with silence.
"I…It's complicated." Somehow, Ainz was able to reply in the same tone as she did when she spoke these words a few minutes ago.
"I see."
Nyssa turned as Ainz also turned back to his workspace.
A minute of silence passed as neither one said a word.
It wasn't until a small chuckle escaped Ainz's lips that this silence was broken.
"It's funny, huh? It seems the two of us have more in common than I thought."
Though neither of them could see it, with their backs turned against each other, a wry smile blessed each of their faces.
It was a smile of joy or sadness, but rather one of irony.
[Your words have deeply resonated with Nyssa]
[Your understanding of Nyssa Al Ghul has increased drastically]