Chapter 21 – A day in court

Going to his destination wasn't so easy, because Severus/Death was forbidden to go there. So he went to Purgatory and, as discretely as he could, he looked for a sort of middle man and asked for a meeting. It was arranged.

'Well, well, well,' the voice was as smug as the entity itself. 'Look who it is. Thanatos himself. I am flattered.'

Severus grinded his teeth. 'I would have gone to your lair, but it is not possible.'

Satan's smiled grew wider. 'Such a pity, isn't it? You could have seen your home for eternity. But never mind. I understand your need for secrecy.'

'You know why I came.'

'I suppose you will beg,' he said contemptuously.

'I thought you would rather make a deal.'

'A deal? What could you possibly offer me that I don't already have?'

'You know what I want.'

'Yes, I do indeed. But what do you have to offer me that I don't already have?'

'I will give you my soul,' affirmed Severus tensely.

'And what is the deal?'

'You admit your deception and lift the hold over her soul. Release her for eternity.'

Satan chuckled in the most abject manner. 'You know, Severus, I've always considered you an intelligent fellow. That is why I can't believe I am saying this for the third time now: what do you have to offer me that I don't already have? Because, from where I am standing, I already have your soul as well as hers.'

Severus didn't seem fazed at all. 'That is not true, and you know it. No need to fake it. From where I am standing, you have only prospects, and I am offering you certainty. And in a demonstration of good will, I won't mention your proclivities to treachery, lies and deceit. I trust you will keep up your end of our bargain.'

'I appreciate it,' said Satan insincerely. 'But I don't see a point in making such a deal. I still see two souls in my dominions. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but in the future. Unlike you, I have a larger scope of vision.' Satan dropped the nice guy stance and turned fierce and challenging, almost angry. 'You will be mine in the end, Death. But the Scrumptious One? She is already mine.'

Incensed, Severus spat, 'She will never be yours!'

The Incarnation of Evil smiled, saying, 'Ah, there you go: hatred. I love the smell of hatred in the morning. Besides, you might want to rethink your strategy. If she goes up for all eternity, you will be separated, given that you most certainly will go down, my friend. But if I take her soul, you two will be in the same place. You can be together. Sev, my homie, I am doing you a favor! Now, am I not a nice guy?'

Severus snarled, 'You will regret this. I promise you. I won't forget this.'

Satan's only reaction was a loud laughter and a wave, before saying, 'See you in court, mate!'

And then he was gone, with a putrid smell on his wake.

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'How is the hearing going to be?' Severus saw Hermione asking tensely.

'You need to relax,' said Mother Nature. 'A hearing is not a judgment. Heavenly observers will be in attendance to make sure everything will be fair.'

Chronos reminded, 'Lady Justice herself is going to preside the procedure, so there will be no need for prosecutors or defense lawyers. The whole thing is fashioned to be simple, quick and fair.'

Severus said, 'There is one thing that really bothers me. Hermione is accused of corrupting the Source of Life, but she didn't know that. Yet ignorance of the law can't be an excuse for breaking the law.'

Mother Nature agreed, 'That much is true. And I don't know how she was never told this.'

Hermione said, 'Since my sister aspects can't go in the Void, they wouldn't know about that to tell me.'

Severus tried to quell his anger as he said, 'Well, somebody should have told her.'

Gaia turned to him and said, 'That is immaterial now, I'm afraid.' Then she directed herself to Hermione, 'We can coach you into some probable questions and a reasonable line of defense. For instance, you probably will argue that Satan lured you into doing the deed.'

'That much is true,' confirmed Hermione. 'I was minding my business, doing my job, actually, and he showed up, suggesting we had sex.'

'And you didn't think it was odd?'

'Yes, and I said so. He just said he wanted to try new things. I asked if there were rules against that, and he didn't answer me, just dismissed my apprehensions. Seeing his reaction, I thought there was no harm in that, and so I agreed.'

Chronos frowned. 'Wait a sec. You thought there might be rules? But you just said you didn't know about them.'

'I was thinking more along the lines of indecent exposure, or some other misdemeanor. Certainly not sullying the Source of Life,' she answered. 'I had no idea this was a major sin.'

Severus said, 'She was tricked into committing a sin. Isn't that enough to dismiss the charges?'

Mother Nature repeated, 'Ignorance of the law can't be used for to forgive breaking the law.'

Chronos shrugged, 'Old Nick will probably argue she wasn't forced into anything against her will. That is how he operates: he makes people beg him for things that will damn them.'

Gaia told the younger aspect of Fate, 'I guess it is safe to assume that you will be asked if you would still do the deed had you known it was illegal.'

'But he wasn't Severus!' argued Hermione. 'I would never do that with anyone else. Not there, not anywhere.'

'So, you would have done it anyway if Severus asked you - even if it were illegal, right?'

'Severus would never ask me to break the law! He is a good man!'

Gaia was gentle but firm. 'But if he did ask you, would you comply with his request?'

She blushed, 'Yes. Yes, if it were Severus, I would not have denied him his wishes.'

Chronos frowned. 'That place is so secluded. How would anyone find out?'

Severus answered, 'A grave sin immediately tarnishes one's soul. No one can hide his own wrongdoings from oneself. In the tally of the soul, all is revealed.'

Mother Nature added, 'I must also say that one of my office's abilities is to be instantly aware of any corruption to both natural and supernatural resources. When the Source of Life was corrupted, I was immediately drawn to the scene.'

Chronos was impressed, 'You know about every act of corruption, misuse and pollution of the natural resources?'

'I do indeed.'

'That is impressive. Are mortals aware of that?'

She pondered for two seconds before answering, 'I am pretty sure that although some of them have an intuition about it, a handful can feel it but the vast majority prefers to actively ignore it.'

Chronos raised both eyebrows, further impressed. Exasperated, Severus frowned, 'Can we focus on the present task, please? What can we do to win this case?'

Harshly, Gaia declared, 'There is no certainty of victory. A sin was committed, there's no denying. Clotho's best shot is to tell the truth and deal with the consequences.'

'I am sure, Mother,' said Chronos, 'that she will not have the option to lie in the hearing.'

'How is that?'

'Justitia is the embodiment of justice in its purest form,' he reminded. 'She most assuredly summoned help from the Incarnation of Truth. That is one of the reasons Satan is so mad at the hearing. He won't be able to speak outright lies. But truth can be bent. And he is a master at that.'

Hermione paled at those words. Severus saw her distress and reassured her, 'I am going to do everything to sort this out, you hear me? Everything, my love.'

She smiled, 'Thank you, Severus.'

Severus smiled back at her, wondering if and how he could make good on his word.

o0o 0o0 o0o 0o0 o0o

Finally the great day arrived. Great was a very apt word, because the preparations were extensive. Chronos was called to halt time and allow all incarnations to attend the proceedings. The Incarnation of Truth, called Veritas, placed a supernatural lasso around the hall so nobody could lie in the stand.

Truth be told, there was no stand. The round room set for the hearing featured a high table with three seats (two observers and the judge), in the center. Forming a perfect T with the judge's table, there was a long rectangular table with fourteen seats distributed in two rows of seven, one row facing the other. Surrounding the tables, a round amphitheater was set to accommodate the audience.

It was quite a gathering in the galleries. Errant souls, minor incarnations, middle management employees and lowly servants of Purgatory, they all rushed to watch the momentous affair. There had never been a judicial contention between one of the two major entities and a major Incarnation of Immortality. That was considered probably the fact of the millennia, barring only the End of Time, of course. But everyone thought Armageddon would be boring, compared to this.

Severus was dismayed by the way both parties were placed. They were facing each other, in a permanent confrontation. He sat down beside Hermione, who tried to put on her best face, though Severus knew she was tense and fragile. Gaia joined them on the table, and so did Chronos.

Then entered Satan and his party.

There were seven demons in total. They were all princes, such as Lucifer and Beelzebub. Severus recognized them as the demons presiding the Seven Deadly Sins: Lucifer (pride), Leviathan (envy), Beelzebub (gluttony), Asmodeus (lust), Belphegor (sloth) and Satan himself, who presided Wrath. They came in creating a genuine ruckus, with shouts and catcalls.

Hermione whispered, 'I thought Lucifer and Satan were the same one.'

Gaia observed, 'A common mistake. The Devil takes over his demons so many times that mankind mistakes them. Satan is also a demon, by the way. The Devil never shows himself. Just like God, his true form cannot be comprehended by men - for different reasons, of course.'

Severus raised an eyebrow. He, too, didn't know many of those facts. It's just that he never bothered much with the Incarnation of Evil before.

A sort of supernatural gong was heard, as well as the announcement. 'Please all rise for the arrival of Lady Justice, presiding over this special hearing in lieu of a Soul Tribunal. Her Honor will be assisted by two observers, both representatives of major entities of Good and Evil: His Highness Prince Demon Belial, The Worthless; and His Highness Archangel Metatron, Chancellor of Heaven, Prince of the Divine Presence and Sustainer of Mankind!'

The trio walked into the room regally. Lady Justice was in full judging regalia, including a Greek attire and a wig resembling the ones used in British court system. Metatron had his white gown, halo and wings, whereas Belial was dressed in a snappy black suit that contrasted with his deep dark red skin and his retorted horns.

All three sat down solemnly in the high table. There was a nervous move from the galleries, now that the session was about to start. The supernatural voice announced, 'You may now be seated as Madam Justice declares the session opened.'

The packed galleries obeyed the order and the Lady Justice pronounced, 'Good day to all of you. This session is now open to judge the matter of a soul's destiny. Since it involves one of the major Incarnations of Immortality, Justice will be more appropriately served with a hearing, and not a Soul's Tribunal. The soul in question is the mortal part of Clotho, one of the three aspects of Fate. The mortal sin examined here will be the conspurcation of the Source of Life, aka the Fountain of Life.'

There was a murmur throughout the galleries at those words. Justice raised her head to silence them, subsequently picking up a series of parchments. On the far end of the high table, Severus noticed a small, fragile figure typing everything: most certainly it was a court stenographer, recording all procedures.

The Lady Justice continued, 'These proceedings will determine if such a soul belongs in Heaven or Hell-' A loud ruckus erupted from the seven demons, interrupting Her Honor and she yelled, 'Silence!' The whole room immediately became quiet. 'If this audience or any of the parties can't keep themselves under control, I will be forced to empty the premises. Is that clear?'

The demons just shrugged and murmured meaningless apologies, although Severus distinctively heard one of them saying, 'Yeah, whatever', or something of that ilk. He looked at Lady Justice: she seemed less than pleased with them. So Severus touched Hermione's hand from under the table to reassure her. She squeezes his hand affectionately.

Justice took the parchments and addressed the parties, 'This courtroom is sealed from Time, so time will not pass inside it. It is also sealed for Truth, so no lies can be told.' Disgruntled noises came from the demons. 'It is up to me to pass sentence. It will be final and there will be no grounds for appeal. If you are here, you are bound to accept and uphold these terms. Is that clear, Mr. Defendant?' She received a reluctant nod from Satan. 'Is that clear, Miss Plaintiff?' Hermione also nodded.

She went on to both of them, 'And that is how you shall be called henceforth. Although this case traditionally configures a criminal claim, due to the nature of sin and such, the proceedings will be held as a simple lawsuit, only to determine if the soul in question shall be or not be damned to Hell. Being such an unprecedented and unparalleled litigation, however, I will allow some leeway, so you may require some during the procedures. There will be, however, no leeway to the sentencing, for I shall rule it yes or no only. Is that also clear?' Both parties nodded. 'These conditions have already been discussed with the parties as well as with the dignitaries who are here to observe the proceedings. So, if you all agree, we shall proceed to the dispute itself immediately.'

A flutter of expectation waved in the room, especially from the audience. Severus could see them waiting for the show to begin.

'I will call the first witness. As tradition dictates, the victim opens the proceedings. Miss Plaintiff, shall we begin?'

Hermione leaned in from her seat, but she was interrupted by a shout of indignation, 'I object, Madam Justice! I am the victim here!'

The audience became quite surprised at Satan's claim. Lady Justice stared at him and rose and eyebrow, 'Indeed, Mr. Defendant? Would you care to elaborate?'

Satan stood up and answered, hotly, 'I did my job correctly and I expect to be rewarded accordingly! She sinned a great sin and she belongs in Hell! This hearing is a sham and a mockery of supernatural justice! This woman wants to get away with murder!'

The demons didn't shout, but they mumbled in agreement. The galleries became unsettled. Lady Justice didn't bat a single eyelash.

'As I pointed earlier, Mr. Defendant, although this is akin to a criminal court, this is a civil suit. There is no murder here. Miss Plaintiff feels she was wronged, and that she was victim of trickery. This complaint was charged against you. Therefore, she legally is the victim. Objection overruled. And since we are on it, I rule you shall remain seated at all times. Is that understood?' Most irately, Satan did seat as ordered, making a loud noise with his chair and huffing noisily, barely containing his anger.

Pointedly ignoring him, Her Honor addressed Hermione and asked, 'Now, Miss Plaintiff, shall we begin at last?'