One-sided Argument

Yuki quickly gave his goodbyes to them and rushed back. He arrived at the main room where they all stayed. All of their rooms connected into it. So everyone gathered up waiting for him. When he arrived, they gave him the full details of what happened. A messenger delivered the notice to them.

However, even with the full note regarding the trial, which actually didn’t really provide much more in detail, Yuki didn’t understand why it was happening. “I thought we had time to prepare for this! Do they even have time?”

No one else knew better about Atlantis politics and the inner workings than Demosthenes. He took in all of the looks as they made it clear they expected answers from him. “I suspect that answer heavily lies in their failed assassination attempt on Yuki.”

“Why the hell should that matter?” barked Seiji, still not over the fact that he slept through the attempt. Though he also didn’t agree with Yuki’s more calm decision to let it all slide. Even if Seiji didn’t want to kill them, he felt they deserved some payback for their attempt.

“It’s less to do with the severity of the crimes and more about the timing.”

Yumi looked as confused as everyone else, but she asked first. “Timing?”

“Yes, the Rite of Succession is in three days. That’s when we pick a new King. Despite Yuki’s insistence on not wishing to be King, I suspect that the Council still fears he may change his mind. So they want to resolve everything before that date. The assassination attempt had likely been their first plan to not worry about you becoming King, but with that ruined they’re taking a new approach.”

Yori still had a problem with the scenario. “Be that as it may, right now we’re all safe due to your influence. Fumiko and Haruo, naturally, aren't under your protection. But even the trial won’t change that Yuki’s protected and still a threat to their power.”

“You’re correct,” agreed Demosthenes. “Which is why I believe they have other schemes in mind. It’s likely their plan is to silence everyone that’s a threat.”

“Won’t that mean you’re at risk as well?”

“Privately yes, the Council doubts my loyalty to them as my loyalty belongs to the King. However, publicly I’ve made no movements to cast any doubt on me. So for the time, I’m safe and I’m cautious enough in my dealings with them that they value me more alive than dead.”

“Well aren’t you hot stuff,” Yuki said in a snarky tone. “That still doesn’t change what we’re going to do about the trial.” He looked around at everyone. They could all debate the Council’s motives and plans all day, but it didn’t change that their friends were all going to trial very soon. They needed to do something about them. “I’m not leaving them to die or rot here in Atlantis, because a bunch of old men have a problem with someone that’s already dead.”

Chapter 280 – One-sided Argument

Despite the enthusiasm of Yuki’s little speech, the truth was they really didn’t have a lot of time to make any plans. The closeness of the trial made it rather difficult. Plus all of the plans that were put forth were shot down. And all Demosthenes provided to the meeting was to watch the outcome of the trial.

Which set the stage for the next event. The trial came upon them faster than they expected. Yuki and his friends were allowed to join, but only under very strict watch. Most of the Titans they encountered in their battle in the Capital were present. Despite victories against some, they knew anything that would start a fight would only cause more troubles than solve. They weren’t easy opponents.

Yuki looked around at the ground that had formed around them. They had them seated far in the back out of sight. Demosthenes stuck like glue to him. Saki’s new best friend in the world, Rheia, stuck very close to her. If he didn’t know better, he was pretty sure there was love in her eyes. He didn’t understand it very well.

In the accompanying seat next to Saki was Chiharu with the man introduced as Nereus. Nereus seemed to have some attachment to Chiharu, but it was very hard to read. It certainly was nothing so strong or obvious as Rheia with Saki, but he still sensed something was up between them. Chiharu naturally played the whole thing off as if she didn’t care. ‘She’s like the perfect Tsundere…’ Yuki grinned a little at the thought.

Then surprising him, Yumi had someone as well. A very mature looking man, but with the same sort of duty bound eyes that Demosthenes had. Though he saw something different behind them as a reason. He knew about Ourias from Yumi, but nothing more. His face told him there was a long story. Not one to get into unfortunately, he knew.

Yori was accompanied by Teris, who seemed the perfect mad scientist from the presentation of his appearance and what he was told about him. Yuki understood the difference between reality and fiction, but it didn’t change the fact that it felt like things blurred between the two more often than they should.

However, he didn’t have much time remaining before things started. “So who’s defending them?” he asked lowly to Demosthenes. He knew that they would never let any of them defend them, but someone had to do it. It was a trial after all.

“No one.”

“What?!” Yuki tried to stand up, but Demosthenes kept him from interrupting the hall any more than he did with his raised voice. Even though Yuki understood the importance of manners, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “What the hell do you mean no one is defending them?”

“The judicial system here doesn’t work in the same way that it does in the rest of the world.”

“Then how does it?” He ground his teeth together at the thought of this just being a complete farce.

“The Council convenes with the accused and questions them directly. Based on their answers they make their judgment.”

“You can’t be serious! That’s a complete joke! They’re going to just do whatever they want!”

“The King has the final vote, but obviously that’s not possible in this situation.”

“…those bastards… So this is their plan…” Yuki leaned forward tightly gripping the wood railing that sectioned them to the back of the large chamber. He didn’t have much time to stew in his complaints as Fumiko, Haruo and Eudokia marched in under escort. “Hey what’s keeping her from unleashing her power and just killing them all?” Given the situation, Yuki questioned if he would actually try to stop her. He really started to wonder which of them was worse.

“We have specifically crafted devices that seal their power. Eudokia, no matter how powerful, can't do anything right now.”

“I see.” Yuki suddenly saw even more marching behind them. They were dressed like soldiers, as he recognized their uniforms. There were two women both MPs and a man, who was just a standard soldier. However, the sight alerted Seiji, pulling Yuki’s attention. Saki fortunately was quicker to move than him and calmed him down.

Sensing Yuki’s confusion and wanting to know what he missed, Demosthenes filled him in on the others. “That is former Captain Simonides, former Commander Athene and former Second Lieutenant Nerine. They’ve been viewed by the Council as accomplices for providing aid to your friends during the fight.”

Yuki clenched his hands around the railing even tighter. He really wanted to snap it in half just to make him feel better, plus it would have made for a good effect to his emotions. “They’re really being thorough about this.”

“Yes, it might have been twenty years, but the rebellion isn’t easily forgotten. They’ve tightened their hold on order ever since. I’ve lost count of the lives they’ve sent to the execution grounds under similar pretenses.”

“If you disagree or the former King did, why wasn’t anything done?”

“That’s a more complicated answer. But as General I don’t have the political authority to oppose their rulings. I serve the King and them.”

“And the King?”

“He was unable to do anything.”

“These are supposed to be the people protecting this country. If they’re this evil and corrupt, then who’s left for this country?”

“It’s hard to agree with what they do, but in their own minds they are just frightened men that want to keep the peace as much as everyone else.”

“That doesn’t give them this sort of right to kill people unjustly.”

“Unfortunately, the world is not just or fair.”

“I know, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it anymore because I understand that.” Yuki understood what Demosthenes said. He really did, but he hated it still. He hated that he understood such a reality. He wished it was different. He wanted a world like in his stories where the bad were caught and the good won out in the end. Not a gray world where evil was allowed to continue unchecked and anyone good is just slaughtered without remorse because they did the right thing. This was a terrible world he lived in.

The world was corrupt.

A pounding of a stone block signaled the silence needed for things to begin. If nothing else, the Council was certainly stuck on procedure. Even as an evil, corrupt bunch of bastard old men, they stuck hard and fast to their routine. They seemed to live by it. Tradition was their way of life. So it took them a full ten minutes before the trial proper even started.

Even though Yuki had a clear idea of what sort of outcome things were going to reach from the way Demosthenes explained them, the wait for the whole thing to start still left him on the edge of his seat. His nerves were already shot from the anticipation and worry. He didn’t know how everyone else would react or admittedly even himself.

He could only wait.

Starting the questioning finally with Eudokia, an elderly man next to Dimitris began. “Eudokia, you are before the Council of Atlantis for the charges of inciting rebellion and attempting to usurp power. Did you knowingly bring foreign combatants through the barrier?”

Eudokia stared unwavering at the men that planned her execution. “I brought the true King to Atlantis. That is all I did.”

“This child, Yuki Hayashi, is a Japanese citizen, not an Atlantean citizen. Blood tests have confirmed that he is part Japanese.”

Yuki turned to look at Demosthenes. He sought an answer, but the stoic expression gave him none. The longer he stared the more he felt that he knew something about that. “I thought I was Atlantean and you just left me in Japan for protection. If I’m half Japanese then who is my mother?”

“That’s a complicated matter, one better left for after this.”

“Demosthenes!”

“Could you control your emotions in here if you learned the truth now?”

He hated how right he always was. He kept being tossed more and more revelations. It was as if they had a two for one sale on truth revealing at the market. He didn’t know how much more he could take of it.

The Councilor continued their questioning even as their conversation carried on. They were still on Eudokia. “You orchestrated the attack on the Capital Palace and killed more than hundred guards. On top of that, your accomplices standing before you caused the destruction of two entire district neighborhoods in their fighting. More than four thousand innocents are dead and twenty thousand injured. What do you have to say for yourself?”

Behind him, he heard Saki gasp and mutter under her breath. ‘Damn…I really didn’t want her to learn about that.’ None of them could do anything about it now. They had to live with what all of their fight, mistake or no, had caused to the country. Blind innocence didn’t survive for long.

“Death is a fact of life. Everything I did was for the King and nothing you say or think will make me regret my actions. No change is not without its destruction.” Eudokia's lack of empathy for anything that happened actually stirred up murmurs in the crowd. They were all just officials or important families, but it still shocked them to hear her speak so coldly about the reality.

Things moved quickly on to the next accused. “Fumiko Terauchi, did you kill twenty-five Atlantean soldiers in your engagement with the South Gate forces?”

Fumiko gritted her teeth. They stared at her expecting an answer. No answer was just as bad as the answer she had for them. “I-I…my power went out of control.”

“Answer the question. Did you kill twenty-five Atlantean soldiers?”

“As a result…of losing control of my powers…yes…” Her admittance fueled the crowd into more of an uproar that the Council silenced quickly.

Yuki ground his teeth so hard that it felt like they would start popping out. “They’re just asking leading questions. There’s no chance for them. Dammit…” He knew how it would play out. They focused solely on the incriminating parts rather than that Eudokia tricked them all.

Eventually all of the questioning came to an end. They spoke to everyone involved, hearing only what they wanted. The picture was painted so grimly that the outcome was telegraphed that anyone saw it coming, even Seiji. “We, the Council of Atlantis, find the criminals Eudokia, Fumiko Terauchi, Haruo Yoneda, Simonides, Nerine and Athene to be guilty of crimes against Atlantis. For their acts of rebellion and the deaths of countless innocents, all shall be publicly executed two days from now. This trial is adjourned.”