Britannia District Court

10:00 A.M.
Courtroom No. 3.
Ten days after the Purple Villa incident.

It was a grand court, as grand as the rest of Britannia.
In the middle was the bench where the judge sits. Across it was the witness stand, currently empty for now. On either side was the plaintiff's table and the defendant's table.

There were no juries in that particular trial.

Zared was to be tried on this day, ergo he's the defendant.

--

Zane was calm, and was rather bored. But Britannia's orders were for him and Anisette to testify. It was a good way of exposing to the citizens the 'wrong' of the Cult of C. Of course, he knew it was his duty, as it was Anisette's. They were fighting against them, and he couldn't overlook an assassination attempt.

Watching from the plaintiff's table, he was seated beside Anisette who seemed tired. On his other side was the prosecutor. Zared was across them, by the defendant's table with his defense lawyer.

He was slightly wondering if Sir Kira was going to attend the trial and if there was any way he could testify without having to summon Alessia's name.

All the while, Anisette masked her anxiety and other worries. She looked at the flag of Britannia behind the judge's bench, only so she didn't have to look anywhere else.

Fixated for her own reasons, she spoke a whisper's volume. "I don't want Lady Alessia's name be voiced."

Zared's head hung down. He was never good in front of crowds, or in them. The day had come, and he was still deciding what he wanted out of this.

He waited.

"Yes," he replied, barely a whisper. "That would be a difficult task, however." I'd rather her name won't come up either. Members of the Cult could be here.

"We'll find a way. Just testify how you saw it, all right?" he closed his eyes. "I'll think of something before the trial starts."

She nodded. "Zane, I'm not sure about this, really," she said. "It's just that... he could be innocent," Anisette wasn't sure how to tell him of this. He was pretty convinced. At least, from what she could see.

"And... actually, I just don't know how to go about this. Period."

Zared processed all the possibilities through his mind. He nodded as he decided how to go at this.

He raised his head and waited for court to begin.

[because we be lazy! here we go again in one account posting LOL]

Zane smiled at her. "My lady Anisette, I care not what happens. We are here under orders of Britannia. If he's innocent as you think, then he will come out of this trial as a free man. If he is not, then punishment is due."

He knew she was anxious, at the very least. "Either way, our primary objective here is not a guilty verdict, my lady. We need only expose the Cult."

~

Anisette took in what he said. He had a point. A really good one. "I already said that I will fulfill my duty be may what it stands," she clasped her hands. "All that I ask is everything to go smoothly."

Zared was tempted to lay down. He was still sleepy. However, that would be idiotic, especialy in court.

"Heh, I realized something as idiotic for once." He said to himself

The judge slammed his gavel down. "Order! Let's now begin, shall we?" He looked over the two opposing tables and nodded.

"Is the prosecution ready?" he asked. "The prosecution is ready, Your Honor," the prosecutor replied.

"And the defense?"

"Ready, Your Honor," the defense lawyer replied.

"All right. The prosecution may say their opening statement then."

"Ten days ago, the Purple Villa, where the Head of the House Michaels was staying, was assaulted and destroyed by members of the Cult of C for what was believed an assassination attempt. Apparently, a warning came on the very day, minutes away from the attack. Zared, the defendant, was apparently a footman during then and fled the scene and aided in the further destruction of the villa."

Zared remained silent as he listened.

[let's change a bit the process to maximize the roleplay. this isn't really how it goes... but yeah.]

"The defendant may not speak his stand," the judge said. "Defendant, please proceed to the witness stand and swear the oath of truth."

Zane just wanted the whole thing done.

Anisette just wanted to get things right.

[Whatever you say ^^]

Zared nodded and proceeded to the stand, taking his place. As his right arm is gone, he placed his left over his heart.

"I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth under the Court of Law"

[It goes something like that, yes? XD;]

"Good. Now defendant, state your name and occupation. Then testify what has happened during the Purple Villa incident."

[yep]

"My name is Zared Ryoku. As of recently, I am nothing more then a Freelancer with no place to live.

During the Purple Villa incident, a warning came from a fellow..... no, from a member of the Cult. I never received his/her name, however, I have meet him/her before within the Cult. Moving on, he/she brought warning of the fraud of the Ball, and wished Lady Anisette and Zane to evacuate. If one looked to the distance after her warning, the squad of assault knightmares could be seen by then. During that time, I left and went to my damaged knightmare and patched it up a little before taking pilot and going within the Cult's knightmare attack squad, activating my knightmare's special function, which disables and destroys all the knightmares around it, along with itself. During that time, Lady Anisette and Zane evacuated, as did the Cult member. After the explosion, due to extreme luck, I only suffered a head wound and lost my right arm. I blanked out, however, and woke up later in a hospital."

Zared took a breath.

"A cult member you say?" the judge spoke. "But why would a cult member aid a Britannian?"

The prosecutor thought for a while. "So you left your post because you helped the defense of the villa, even if it brought upon its destruction? Or - was it a face?" He looked at the judge. "Your Honor, that destruction - what if it Lady Anisette and all other servants weren't able to flee the scene? It would be as good as killing them."

Zared nodded. "I don't know if the explosion killed them or not, and if it did, I will accept whatever punishment for it."

He raised his head. "However, the Cult wasn't smart enough to keep a record of how my knightmare was able to be able to cause such destructive force. When I was released from the Cult, they allowed me to keep the knightmare, even though they could easily use it to be able to destroy Britannia's knightmares. They planned to take it back during the assault is what I concluded, since the Villa would be more heavily guarded if they came early to retrieve it, then attack. So, there lies the second reason I left my post. As they never kept a record of the installation of the self destruct mechanism, nor who installed it, they needed my knightmare in order to get blueprints for it.

Therefore, I also went on the death run to prevent the Cult from getting their hands on it. If they did, they could clone weaker knightmares with the same ability, and use them to destroy your forces, opening a route for attack.

My reason for knowing such knowledge, and assuming their motives is because any smart member would know of the Black Nova's destructive capabilities, and the Cult wanted to be sure Lady Anisette didn't know they were coming. The reason a Cult member assisted them remains unknown. And my reason for keeping such a dangerous weapon is petty and no excuse. I will not defend myself with a reason there, since I have none."

Zared bowed his head. It was hard for him to say that last line.

"So you think your knightmare is their motive?" the judge asked. He slammed his gavel. "Very well. What you say to this?" He looked over at the plaintiff's table.

Zane spoke up. "If that is so, it is my mistake that I let that Knightmare on the villa's grounds. However, I had no such knowledge that it has such a feature."

The prosecutor agreed. "He was graciously given the position of a footman - someone who was no longer part of the cult, nor a place to stay. The House Michaels gave him kindness but in turn he acted with brashness. Your Honor, this is unforgivable."

Anisette looked at Zane worriedly.

Zared shook his head. "Only part of it. Their priority was to assassinate Lady Anisette, as was their original goal. Their second priority was to retrieve the knightmare. As I said, the Villa would be more heavily guarded if the Cult showed up to pick it up early.'

He then nodded his head. "I do not deny your words. but, like I have said multiple times, I was lucky to have survived the explosion when it should of killed me. I gave up your kindness, and probably stopped a greater disaster from occurring, since The Black Nova is now incapable of functioning, and no Cult engineer has the ability to repair it."

He then wore a serious look. "I will not deny what I have done, and what I threw away. However, I will also not deny what I have done, and what might have happened."

Zane looked at the judge. "Your Honor, I take that as a confession."

Anisette looked at him with surprise. "What?" It wasn't how it was supposed to go but Zane's expression was grave. He was dead serious.

"I don't think anything else should be said," he spoke again.

The judge nodded. "Clearly," he thought for a while.

"

Zared nodded and went silent. He waited for what was to come next.

It was a tense silence for a while.

"This court will have a ten minute recess," the judge finally spoke.

Zared sighed and smiled. Those words completely broke the tension. Plus, he was hungry. He slowly got up and went for his break.

Zane stood up and escorted Anisette to the lobby. "Let's talk outside," he said to her and she nodded.

Anisette was unsure. It did sound as if he would be given the guilty verdict. Even if the reasoning was sound, it had loopholes in it.

Zared was eating a sandwich, while his defense person got frustrated at his carelessness.

"How can you be so calm in this moment!?"

Zared shrugged.

"I do what I want. And what I wanna do is tell the truth. I don't need to practice that."

Zane looked at her with ease. "My apologies," he said, half-heartedly. He knew she didn't like what he said but he couldn't help but point it out. "He dug his own grave."

Anisette smiled at him. She knew he meant no harm. "Can we still... remedy the situation?"