"This is clearly getting nowhere," The King alleges while slamming his cane. Aurvandil shakes his head, "I guess I'll take over since this is a particularly strange case and we do have a long day ahead of us. I'll take over." The prosecutor bows and takes a seat. The King turns to me, "I don't have to tell you particularly why to keep your mouth shut, do I?"

"Nah, you good, homie."

He lets out a sigh and then starts crackling up, "Kangaroo court."

"Kangaroo court!" I affirm once more.

Aurvandil stares at me blankly before shifting his gaze toward Lucius who was still on the stand, "You saw Jayce go over the balcony?"

"Nothing else it could be since I'm always right, sire," Lucius smiles and wags in his seat.

"Was Indie the one who did it?"

"I'm not sure," Lucius reveals haphazardly.

Aurvandil returns a smug stare, "When did this happen?"

"Dawn—Moon was still visible at the time but you could see the sun on the horizon."

"You are dismissed, go back to your seat," He shifts his gaze at Fayn, "Fayn Fanden, get on the stand. They'll be similar questions so I can finish this skit at once," Fayn launches onto the stand, "Is the person who killed Jayce Fitzgerald in this room?"

Fayn clicks his tongue and scratches his cheek, "I can't be too sure, I'm not too bright. I was dozing off for the better half of a few minutes out there on the balcony—and all I'd really seen was a man, Jayce, our teacher, go over." But Lucius was the only one on the balcony! Inconsistency...

"Did Indie Baal-Peor push Jayce over the balcony?"

Fayn looks around and shrugs, "I don't know, I'm just a guy." Lucius puts a hand over his mouth and drags.

Aurvandil taps his fingers on his chair, "Was there a struggle?" he asks.

"Uhh, crash noise—bang! I heard—a crash," Fayn annunciates nervously. I don't remember hearing anything because I was out cold. It's been established that I was somehow awake during all this. There must be a way out of this...

"When did this all take place?"

"No way to track time since we don't have functioning clocks," Fayn titters jittery, "b—but it was approaching morning because you could see the sun rising but the moon was still out," he tells.

"Honestly, you're quite useless. But the chain of events goes like this, you were out on the balcony, you heard a crash, Jayce went over a balcony, and this all took place sometime dawn?" Aurvandil confirms.

"Kind of like that—maybe, I don't know, I'm just a guy," Fayn repeats.

Aurvandil sighs, "Back to your chair..." He waves Fayn off the stage, "Mohono Senbou, walk." Momo skips to the stand. There was something different about her seeing as her nose is bruised and taped, "Is the man who killed Jayce Fitzgerald in this room."

"Honestly, I wish I could recall the person who did it, but I'm not so sure anymore. I want more than anything for Indie to be innocent."

Aurvandil convulses, "Did any of the witnesses see who did it?" They all shake their head, "No one here is sure Indie was the one to kill Jayce." They all nod, "Isn't that great," he chuckles, "How do you explain the cloth then."

"I think he's being framed, probably... At least, I want that to be the case," Momo stresses.

Aurvandil rolls his eyes, "Who and why?"

"I wish you'd pay more attention sir, but our teacher wasn't liked at all. He'd often engage in the quote-unquote 'coitus' with a few... students per say," Momo leers at Chasidy, "Indie's room is also next door to that garbage man so you have to consider that, too. Plus, Indie is the easiest target out of anyone here—look at him, his body, his looks," Y'all calling me fat? "He doesn't even fight back which is admirable for a puss-ifist, I suppose. But Indie's not liked—he's a trickster, sure—clown, yeah. I really wish everyone here would analyze this info for themselves 'cause, guess what, it's an easy frame."

Aurvandil shifts his tone and purses his lips, "That bruise, tell me how you got it?"

"I was testing out one of my abilities and I crashed into the wall face first," She giggles, "I really wanna get better at using my abilities."

"Your timeline of events follows Fayn's and Lucius'," the King indents.

"Yeah, about," She claims.

"About?" Aurvandil contends.

"Exactly?"

"Yes. Go," Momo prances from the stage and sits by Fayn, "Finally, Durian, stand, now, don't be slow like Indie," Durian does exactly as everyone else.

Aurvandil yawns and wipes his eyelid with a single finger uninterested, "Is the man who killed Jayce Fitzgerald in this room?"

"No, but I'm open to the idea of his killer being in this room."

"Don't play games with me lest you end up like Indie. That is a no." The King raises his brow.

"Yeah—no. Sorry, I wasn't trying to play games, I'm sorry. I'll be more patient and hold my tongue," Durian avows, "The answer is no," Durian reddens.

"How can you be so sure?" Aurvandil tilts his head.

"None of us saw what happened—even with glasses I'm blinder than Indie is blind to criticism," Why is everyone cracking jokes at my expense? "I'm gonna give you the straight talk, the solid dick: there was a crash, a torn piece of cloth, and Fitzgerald going over the railing. None of us can truly know what occurred other than Indie and Fitzgerald since they were the only two there that evening—"

Aurvandil leans on his hand and shoots a glare at Durian, "Evening?"

Durian pauses and tilts his head, "Night?"

Aurvandil blinks slowly, "Night?"

Durian's eyes dance around the room, "Dawn?"

Aurvandil clicks his teeth, "We don't have all day."

"It was at dawn, I misspoke and I apologize to my peers and ask that they ignore my off the cusp speech where I commingled words interchangeably without considering their accountability to the situation. Indie, although an idiot, doesn't deserve the death penalty over this, it was an accident."

"Yeah, yeah, finish telling your story, Steve," Aurvandil giggles.

Durian holds his tongue, "The sun was... rising?"

"Go on."

"Jayce went over the balcony, and I didn't see who was there?" Durian tries to confirm the account with the King. This really isn't a fair trial, is it? All four of them are coerced by this shmuck.

"That's right," Aurvandil acknowledges, "Your friends, join them," Aurvandil gawks at my classmates condescendingly, "And there you have it, four accounts that state the same exact story—word for word, almost. No one knows who killed Jayce, it could have been an accident by all accounts. All we know definitively are three things, no one saw Indie do it, there's a torn piece of cloth which may or may not belong to Indie, and there's a dead body," He woggles his cane around, "But there is one story we haven't heard and that's Indie's, who knows he didn't do it," he points to the witness box, "Indie."

Now's the moment of truth. I think I have my own story clear since there's no way out of this without acknowledging that I did do it, even though I didn't. But if I can twist it in such a way that I can get everyone to sympathize with me, that may be a way out... I'm ready. I approach the stand with my chest puffed out.

The King cringes at my sight. I stop my chauvinism. Aurvandil sniffs, "You didn't do it, did you?"

I sit in the chair and hide my hands below the stand. I stare at everyone in silence. I knew I would have to give a performance that would win anyone over. Under the cover of the stand I forcefully dislocate my thumb. Massive tears of pain break across my face. Aurvandil notices and strokes his beard proudly. Was I found out?

"Indie?" Aurvandil grins and looks to the crowd.

The pain shoots convulsions on my face, "It's true. I did it, but not for the reasons you all think I did," I bite my lips and sniffle like a baby, "When I denied it earlier it was—it was because I didn't want any of you to know the truth! I was trying to protect myself... I wanted more than anything to protect my ego because my ego is all I have!"

Aurvandil flinches, "What is the truth?"

"Mr. Fitz was abusin' me!" I bubble. I really feel like the pain is giving my words so weight.

"Abusing you, how?"

"Well, you see," I sniff again and slouch over, "Mister Freezy-pop, that's what he liked to be called—that, or Daddy—jumped over the balcony and broke into my room. I was asleep at that point. I know he jumped over because I heard a crash which woke me up and I saw him towering on the balcony."

Aurvandil sits forward interested giggling to himself. He rubs his thumb and finger together, "Go on."

"He was soaring over me like a gorilla. I cried out to him asking what he was doing there..." I pause, for dramatic effect, "He jumped over me and held me down... I struggled and struggled. I told him to get off but he said, 'No.' If I was standing I knew I could resist, but I couldn't, not in this position..." I disclose while I bite my finger to cope with the pain.

Aurvandil squints, "He held you down in bed? What do you mean? When you say abuse, you don't mean...?"

I threw my hands to praise the sky, "Yes, I mean exactly that! He tried undressing me, he said to me, 'you've been a good girl.' He was horribly drunk..." I hug myself as I speak, "I looked away and told him 'I can't do it—my heart—isn't ready.' He kept prying and grabbed onto my moobs and demanded an answer from me, 'whose are they?'" I lift my jacket up to everyone, "That's how my jacket was torn. When I refused him he tore it! He was a wild wildebeest and you could see it in his eyes, he was possessed. You could see the darkness hanging from his shoulder! His eyes—his eyes were blaring like an erupting volcano," Tears scroll down my face as I wondered if people were buying my bullshit, "Knowing he was drunk... I let him close in on me," I close my eyes and look away, crying, from the pain.

"Close in on you?" Aurvandil asks disgusted.

"I let him take advantage of me," Spicy. "He tore of my clothes like this!" I take off my clothes. Pants not included because otherwise I would have to charge, "These bruises all over my body are from him. This wasn't the first time he'd done it!"

Whispers grew in the crowd. "So that's what we saw earlier...", "I sorta feel bad for the retard.", "Mr. Fitz really was a scumbag." GG EZ. I snap my thumb back into place and sneer.

"How many times did he do it to you?" Aurvandil asks.

I turn away once more, "I'd rather—not say."

"That sounds traumatizing. That's when you pushed him out? After your clothes were...?"

"Yes, he was drunk so I made him think he was safe. That's when I pushed him off me. He kept trying to jump on me like a Hobgoblin but I kept pushing him out toward the balcony. He tripped over his wine bottle and went over..."

"Why didn't you report it right away?"

I hunch over the stand bawling, "Because I collapsed from the mental exhaustion caused by this emotional trauma. Him falling, me being in the situation I was in, I couldn't handle it... I'm... sensitive."

Aurvandil turns back to my peers disappointed, "Well, there you have it... With a twist of events, you've been given five stories. I'll let you all decide the verdict. Write down on the official papers you'll be handed if you believe he's guilty or not guilty. Then we can continue on with more important matters."

Papers are handed out and everyone writes down their verdict. After all the papers are collected, the King stands once more, "They've all been tallied?"

"Yes, my liege," The prosecutor hands the final tally to the King.

Aurvandil raises his brow and stands before me, "The final vote has come to an outstanding 21-19 vote." Is that good or bad? 21 not guilty or guilty? Which is it...?

I gesture over to Aurvandil, "You're being a bit ambiguous with that vote count, aren't you?"

"Ahh, I apologize for that ambiguity. 21 votes for not guilty, and 19 for guilty," Shieeeeeet, that was one close ass call, "I hereby declare, Indie Baal-Peor, as not guilty. Jayce Fitzgerald's death will be ruled accidental. This leases us avoidance to any civil consequences and animosity toward our other Heroes-in-Training," He turns to my classmates and glares, "You understand," Everyone nods in fear of retaliation, "Good, let's not have a repeat of what happened earlier—keep your hands to yourself," He turned to me now, "Especially you, Indie Baal-Peor. Don't turn into that Jayce fellow—You're free to go," Woohoo, I'm free!

Aurvandil parades toward the exit laughing. He looks back once, "Let's get to what really matters..." He glances away with a certain strain in his eyes, "We've only got three Cycles'—four and a half years' worth of time to get you all ready."

"If you don't mind me asking, ready for what, sir?" Lucius takes charge again.

"Preparing you to stop the Wild Horsemen of the Jagd. That's why I called you here..."

End of Chapter 4