“Who is on trial?” I asked.

I watched as Alontheus recomposed himself. Once he had managed to control himself, he replied, “I am.”

Sitting and cleaning my paws and washing my face and head, I considered this wrinkle. “Why are you on trial? Did you break some little rule?”

“Do you recall The Lady mentioning destroying two universes? It seems they frown on that here.”

I stopped washing. This sounded mildly interesting. I looked him over carefully. “Will there be more snacks? That one was tasty.”

Recovering from her shock, The Lady blinked a few times. Her face was still a bit pale. “After what just happened, I doubt that any more ‘snacks’ exactly like the last one will be available. However, I will do my best to provide something to satisfy your appetite,” she replied.

I stood up and looked up at her. “I think I will come to see how it goes.” After stating my intention, I waited for them to lead the way.

The Lady waved a hand, and they vanished. I simply began walking as I focused on being where they had gone. Every time I used this new mode of transportation, it got easier. I was soon stepping out of my portal and into a large, dark room that had interesting echoes. Alontheus was sitting in a boxed in area of the large room and was illuminated with a bright light from above that failed to show more than shadows of the people and furniture of the room. The area was boxed in with a wooden rail supported on posts of wood. The whole thing was on top of a platform that was half as tall as I am.

I walked casually up to the enclosed area and jumped up to the rail that went around the area and walked all of the way around the rail until I was right in front of Alontheus. I looked up, into his face and asked, “Are we having fun yet?”

He looked down at me with a smirk, “Not yet, but I hear they are planning to test some things. This should be very dramatic.”

A voice from the darkness cleared its throat, “You will remain silent until asked a question!”

“I was answering a question posed by my associate,” Alontheus replied with the smirk still on his face.

“The small creature is not in charge of this court! I am! You will remain silent while we render the verdict of the court!”

Another, less unctuous, female voice spoke up, “You don’t have to be so harsh, Stagath. You have already killed him eighty-two times. What should he be scared of at this point? Why don’t you speak to him like a regular person?”

“Can you not even pretend to support me, Ishtar?”

I could not help but insert myself with a question, “Eighty-two times seems excessive for a death penalty. Do they not have any less destructive ways to punish you?”

The voice of Ishtar giggled a bit, but not in a warm way. The giggle reeked of a vicious sense of humor. “I like the cat’s sense of things. I also have just the thing to keep this miscreant from doing too much more accidental damage.”

My eyes went wide. Another being here understood what I was saying! “I am sorry to disturb the court.”

Ishtar replied quickly in a quiet voice, “It is not an issue, but I am one of the few people here to understand you. Most of the rest of the court are only aware of what everyone but you is saying.” To the rest of the court, she said, “I would suggest to the court that we sentence Alontheus to be officially given the title of ‘The Destroyer,’ given that he destroyed two entire universes. I further suggest that he be made to wear the bonds of Belbathaz. I also request that the bonds only be able to be released on the condition that it is done by a combatant who has beaten him in single combat.”

“What if he allows himself to be beaten. Then he could destroy even more just by existing!” said Stagath.

“The restriction would still hold in the case of a false victory. The bonds will be an effective measure.” Came the remark of another female voice that seemed older and more delicate than Ishtar’s.

“And, what is the point of the bonds? Would he not be able to roam the universes of the multiverse at will?” said a quiet, male voice that had a delicate accent.

“Since you asked, Anubis, the bonds are important because conservation of mass and energy have made it so that his existence has ‘spread’. He is no longer a single being with a single body. The mass and energy of two entire universes has merged with him. He has bodies that exist in every universe in existence. If multiples of him were to cluster in any one universe, the structure of that universe would undergo incredible stresses and may collapse. The bonds would make it impossible for more than one of him to exist in any one universe.” Replied Ishtar. 

“All in favor of inflicting the bonds of Belbathaz on the defendant, please raise your appendages and say ‘aye,’.” said Anubis.

There was an echoing sound of rustlings in the dark reaches of the huge room, followed by numerous voices saying “aye!”

The older, female voice from before spoke next. " It would seem that the verdict is clear. I, Mitra, as determined by this court, rule that the defendant is to be required to have the bonds of Belbathaz used to restrict him in his movements as he strives to mitigate the collateral damages caused by his destruction of two universes and all inhabitants therein.” There was the sound of a wooden hammer coming down on a block of wood that seemed to come from every direction at once in the room.

The Lady spoke up at this time, “I volunteer as warden and sponsor for the accused. I wish to help him mitigate the damage. He will need someone to help direct his efforts.”

“The court recognizes your effort to help justice be done, but I would like to know what your motivations are.” Inquired the doubtful voice known as Mitra.

There was muttering that began to echo through the room. All different voices could be heard exclaiming and talking at once.

“Order in the court! I, Bridget of the flaming hair, second the suggestion of The Lady as warden of the Destroyer!” came a brassy voice with a lilting accent. There was a musical quality to the voice of the unseen Bridget.

“I insist that the small creature be ejected from the court! It has no business being here at this time!” came the strident voice of Stagath. “I will do it myself!”

 That moment, I found myself sitting on a roof, overlooking my old home. It was a little disorienting to be moved so violently into another world. Such gall got on my nerves! How dare that being toss me around, over multiple realities in such a rude way.

I opened a portal and stepped through it. I landed on the top of a reptilian head and sat between the three horns on its head. Stagath’s irritating voice grunted. “What just landed on my head?”

Ishtar could not hide the mirth in her voice when she replied, “You seem to have found a new friend! The creature is perched between your horns.”

A surprisingly delicate looking, and massive hand tried to reach up to me on the massive head. I laid my ears back against my skull and yowled. When he kept after me with his hand, I swiped it with my claws. The purple blood that flowed from the wound smelled of fish. There was an enraged yell, and another hand came up and swatted me. My world went dark with a crunch…

Suddenly, I was back on the rail in front of Alontheus. There was not a mark on me. Stagath was still bellowing and complaining loudly. “That filthy creature deserved that death! At least it’s gone for good!”

Ishtar was now laughing uncontrollably. Meanwhile, Mitra cleared her throat theatrically, “Ahem! Would THAT be the ‘filthy creature’ in question?” It seems that she was pointing at me from the gloom of the courtroom.

“What?!? How is that thing still alive?” he raged.

“It would seem that it has some sort of blessing from The Lady, or maybe it is sharing in the immortality the defendant seems to be afflicted with. Why not let it observe the court? Stagath, your disruption would appear to have provoked it.” Remarked Bridget.

An older, calmer voice interrupted, “As amusing as this is, I think we need to request that the defendant’s sponsor carry out the sentence. Let the bonds be supplied to her at this time.”

A group of shadows broke from the gloom and carried a large box into the light. Even in the direct light, the figures remained indistinct and hard to discern. The box was constructed of dark wood, bound and reinforced with large brass bands. The shadows fled from the box as soon as they had set it down. It was as long as Alontheus was tall and wider than he was by a couple of handspans.

The Lady stepped forward and gently opened the box. The lid of the box opened away from Alontheus at a ninety degree angle. Inside, packed in with black velvet, was a structure of silver armor that did not have articulation at the joints. It was all designed to remain stationary at all of the joints. Alontheus disrobed. The lady began encasing him in the restrictive plates as soon as he was naked.

Once he was fully encased, the armor gleamed with an unnatural silver light. Then he was standing naked in front of the court.

“The subject will put his clothing back on now, please.” Came Mitra’s voice. “Take him away as soon as he is decent, Warden. We have other matters to take care of now. We will inform you when we require status reports.”