➨ It's been three days since the elves left. Everyone was still recovering mentally and trying to regain their bearings on life itself.

Even after your hellish spirit left your body, you still had a semblance of the mana she left behind. For example, all three of your puppets were out, assisting with clearing rubble, and aiding civilians. Aegis was doing all the heavy lifting, Sylvania was tending to minor injuries that people got while working, and Acro was...

Okay, Acro was slacking off. They were doing tricks and flips for a small group of children who had parents helping with cleanup. Technically, you could've stopped them, and gave them a real task, but you couldn't find it in you to remove their source of entertainment.

"Y/N, you must be tired using all three at once." Mimosa was standing with Sylvania, using her plant recovery magic on a man with an injured shoulder.

"Not really. I mean, it's usually a fast drain, but I don't feel too drained." You reassured her. "Oh also, do you think we can visit Klaus? I feel like I haven't seen him properly since before everything went down."

She nodded. "Yeah, we can stop by in a little bit. We should probably find Yuno and take him with us too."

It can't be too hard to find the kid. Wherever the wind blows a little too violently is where he is nine times out of ten.

About an hour later, you gathered Yuno from where he was helping move larger pieces of fallen buildings. Him, Mimosa and you all made your way over to the castle where some of the previously possessed knights were still resting.

You didn't know how this building wasn't as wrecked as the rest of the city. It was almost like a tornado just so happened to miss most of this area.

Inside, there were medics walking back and forth through the hallways. Perhaps it was the Golden Dawn uniforms all three of you wore, but nobody gave you any trouble or even questioned where you were going.

Apparently Mimosa had seen him before today, but you and Yuno hadn't had the chance. She knew where to go, and you guys followed. "Was he doing okay?" You asked.

"He was drowsy when I visited last time. Other than that, he seemed to be alright for the most part."

Mimosa stopped in front of a door that was shut, and you had to wonder how many other people were in here recovering. Not everyone has the luxury of having their own room though. She knocked first, and waited for an answer.

"Come in."

Just hearing his voice was a blessing. When you opened the door, you saw him standing there in a generic hospital outfit staring at the window. He looked over his shoulder and when he saw who his visitors were, his shoulders relaxed. "I thought you would've been helping with the aftermath."

"We were, but if you thought we weren't gonna come see you, you're out of your mind." You put your hands on your hips and observed the room. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was decent enough for a temporary stay.

"It's been three days, how come they're still holding you hostage in here?" Yuno bluntly questioned.

"Not everyone was possessed by newborn elf babies." You rolled your eyes. "It's probably still taking a toll on him."

He smirked. "I may have gotten a child, but whatever was in your body went to hell."

"Wow, real classy."

Mimosa clapped her hands before you two started going off on a petty argument. "Guys, we haven't even been here for five minutes."

Klaus smiles and chuckles. "I must say I've been rather bored here without listening to those antics. Makes me feel right at home."

"Sorry. So Klaus, back to you, nothing feels off? You're really okay?" You switched the topic back to what you came here to do.

"Yes, everything is good. In fact, I requested to go and help with the capital cleanup, but they declined it." Then his face fell. "I feel so guilty about everything. My body and my magic was used to harm these people. Everything is a big blur, but I... Mimosa, I can't apologize enough for attacking you."

She stepped forward and stood closer to him. "Nothing is your fault. That monster is to blame."

Mimosa and Yuno had to catch you up with everything that happened in the Shadow Palace. That big misunderstanding that dates back to nearly five hundred years ago was the work of a devil. A devil had tricked the elves into thinking the humans willingly killed them all. Which is why they were so dead set on getting rid of everyone.

You remember listening to them talk. The first thing that crossed your mind when they spoke of devils and forbidden magic was the Spade Kingdom. Shortly after you reached that conclusion, you were thinking about your fathers death. You never told them about that realm you were in during the fight. Or the conversation you had with the man who posed as your dad, whether or not it was really him. Everything was still fresh in your mind, and too much of an open wound for people to be digging around in it.

In the moment, you were more focused on trying to ground yourself. You came to visit your friend, and that's what you planned on getting out of that. "Okay, this is way too depressing. Why don't we sneak Klaus out and go get something to eat?"

He looked appalled by the idea. "Y/N that is an absurd suggestion."

Yuno didn't seem to think that. "I could use my wind magic to sweep you right out the window. Nobody would even notice."

"I could make a puppet and leave it in your bed. They'd think you're still sleeping."

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "There's supposed to be a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. How I got stuck with two devils on one shoulder is beyond me."

Mimosa just giggled. "They just missed you so much. Plus, I think we've heard worse ideas come out of their mouths."

While Klaus was reiterating that you should definitely not be breaking him out of his recovery room, there was a knock on his door. He was relieved and let whoever it was come in. On the other side of the door, there was a man who was wearing a light blue cloak. It covered his entire body and his head and eyes. All you could really see was a mouth.

He stepped inside and bowed his head. "Good evening. I am from the Magic Parliament and I have a direct order to bring Y/N L/N to testify about the most recent battle."

"The Magic who?" That was the first time you've ever heard the name before. Maybe it's been mentioned before, but you weren't too well versed with every system the Clover Kingdom had to offer.

Yuno seemed to be just as clueless, but Mimosa and Klaus froze when they heard the name. "Can I see that order?" Klaus interjected.

The mystery man went into his long robe and sifted around before revealing a piece of official looking paper. He held it up and both Klaus and Mimosa read it over together. Since it was about you, you wanted to see but they were both in the way.

"What am I meant to be testifying?"

Mimosa looked over her shoulder back at you. "Apparently they want to hear your side of things and how they went down. This order is vague, but it's a real legal document."

Klaus stepped back. "The Magic Parliament is basically a court of nobles and royals. They create the laws and hold trials for major crimes."

"So what? What if I don't go?"

He gave you a look that basically told you that's not an option. "They can arrest you, Y/N. They're one of the highest authorities in the Kingdom."

Oh shit.

"Well why was she chosen to testify?"  Yuno spoke up.

The man didn't answer that, instead he chose to speak about something else. "All will be fine. If everything goes well, she will be back before nightfall."

If everything goes well, he says. Right about now, it didn't seem like you could get away from them. If this was really the highest court in Clover, they could just find you again even if you refused.

"Let's not waste more time then, yeah?"

"Please be careful." Mimosa clutched her hands together.

"And watch your mouth when you're in there." Klaus added.

Yuno still wasn't feeling it, but he kept his silence which was probably for the best.

————————————

He brought you to a stone building that didn't look very flashy or regal at all. There was no possible way this was a court for the people with the most influence. The door was simple too, just a plain wooden one.

"Thought maybe it'd look a little nicer." You commented and stopped right before going in. "Are you not going to lead the way?"

"This is as far as I take you." He brings his head down solemnly. "It shouldn't be hard to navigate though. People are waiting for you."

Something about this whole thing was shady. If the concealed man finding you and basically ordering you to come with him wasn't enough to tell you that, this place certainly solidified that belief.

If they just want a testimony they can have it.

You started to walk forward, pulling open the door and stepping inside to the tight hallway. When it shut behind you, you were plunged into immediate darkness. Red flags were waving all around you. "Hello?"

Your hand went to find the knob once more and twisted it. Nothing happened. Locked.

Fun.

The only option now was to keep walking until you ran into these people who were waiting for your arrival. In the distance, you could hear voices—lots of them actually. Since sight was off the list, you used your ears to find your way. It was basically a labyrinth just to move. You would keep walking until your arms would touch a wall and you had to turn.

You kept that up until you soon enough saw light in the distance. No more walls, that was good though. However, considering they locked you in here, a testimony sounds too hopeful for this situation.

As you got closer, the voices grew louder. To you, it sounded like they were echoing and bouncing off the hallway walls. At the end of the tunnel, there was an archway. Similar to that of a gladiator stadium for jousting matches.

You hesitated, but it was far too late to go back now. Stepping into the light, you were blinded by the spotlight that suddenly appeared on. A clicking sound was coming from below you and when you looked down, there was a nice set of handcuffs on your wrists.

"Our final guest of the evening has arrived." A male voice boomed from the left of you. You spun around and got a good look at your surroundings. It was a giant circle, and on the sides people were on different floors watching this whole thing happen. Just like you guessed, it was some sort of stadium.

In the center of it all, you unfortunately saw a familiar face. "Asta?"

He too was handcuffed, and there was a girl next to him. Apparently the one who used to be his pet bird. "Y/N? What are you doing here?"

The spotlight followed you as you made your way over to them. Whispers floated down from the people—most likely the royals and nobels—and into your ears.

"She's guilty too?"

"Isn't that the one who everyone says is a traitor?"

"Why has she not been executed?"

Execution seems a little extreme in your opinion. "I don't know, they told me they wanted me to testify for the battle." You answered Asta's question. "Clearly, they want something else."

"They said the same thing to us too! Damn it, they caught us in their trap."

The sleepy-eyed girl next to him shook her head. "We told you it was a trap."

A tall man with dark hair stepped onto the stage in front of you. He held a scale in his left hand. "As your chairman, I, Damnatio Kira, will be passing judgement upon Asta of the Black Bulls, and Y/N L/N of the Golden Dawn."

You leaned next to Asta's ear. "Wait, what did we do?"

Apparently, you were a criminal for a reason now. This wasn't the first time someone's handcuffed you before, but this time it felt like it'd be a lot harder to get them off. The man named Damnatio kept going. "Asta of the Black Bulls, raised in the Church of Hage Village of the Forsaken Realm. An orphan with absolutely no magic power."

Obviously this did not make the spectators happy. But commoners are never treated or seen as equals in their eyes, so it wasn't surprising to hear the insults thrown at him.

"And Y/N of the Golden Dawn. We don't have a specific record of birthplace but we have multiple villages of residency in the Forsaken and Common Realms. Judging by my scales, you have significant magic power."

No specifc record of birthplace is sort of wild to you. Did you know where you were born? No, you didn't. But you would've had to guess it was written down somewhere officially. After moving around so much, where you popped out the womb was not that important to you.

"Asta and the young lady with the horns claim that the recent distruabnces were due to a devil." Damnatio said.

"And it was!" He shouted. "We worked our butts off to take down the devil and you put us in handcuffs!"

Damnatio stepped down from the stage, holding his golden scale up for Asta to see. On one side, there was a black flame. On the other side there was a normal one. He got closer and glared at all three of you. Now, he was speaking low enough for only you guys to hear. "This trial will end in one of two ways. Asta, either you will be convicted as a devil, or all the magic knights who were possessed will be made to atone for the mayhem they caused."

"What the hell kind of ultimatum is that?" You said. "He either convicts himself on a suspicion that isn't true, or you punish everyone else who had no control over what they were doing?"

His eyes slide over to you. "Oh? And what do you have to say about this whole devil incident?"

"I wasn't even there to see what happened. Why didn't you ask everybody else who was? They'd give you the same story Asta is telling you right now."

He takes a step away from Asta and over to you. His large figure looms over you as he leans down. "These two are under suspicion of communicating with the devil. Everyone in this room believes that. And I doubt they'd listen to the words of a commoner, a common realm nomad, and an undoucumeted girl who dabbled in forbidden magic."

Your mind reeled at that thought. Of course nobody in this room would side with you guys. But what about Nozel? Fuegoleon? Mereoleona? Those three went inside the Shadow Palace too, their word would be more influential than yours.

"Are you being ignorant on purpose?"

He lifted a brow. "You're being quite mouthy for someone who doesn't even know her allegations."

"What allegations?"

Damnatio stood up and spoke out towards the audience. "Our second case involves the woman from the Golden Dawn. During cleanup, every squad captain was told to make sure everybody was accounted for. Including the possessed."

Wait.

No.

"Only one captain claimed to have a missing knight. Sir Nozel reported one of his Silver Eagles to be missing. With one thorough search, they were able to find the missing man in the Silva's castle. However, he was dead."

Whispers and gasps erupted through the crowd.

You didn't speak, you knew it was better to not say anything. If you started to defend yourself before Damnatio finished, you'd look guilty.

Which is why he took an abnormally long pause. Your silence amused him.

"The knight was not just deceased, but his head was not attached to his body. Truly, it was a gruesome sight. The scene took place in a man made crater inside the castle. We can infer that this much was the victim's doing. Our best guess of the fight was that the man was possessed and engaged in battle with someone. Based on the circumstances, one person fought back a little too hard and took the victim's head off in one clean motion."

If you could hide in a ditch you probably would.

Damnatio lifted his scale, and the side with the dark flame tipped down. "As it seems, judgment has already been passed." He raised it higher for everybody in the stands to see. "Y/N L/N. You are to be put on trial for murder."