The Trial: Journey's End

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 14: Pondering Plans

...Private Office of the Prosecutor...

Demiurge stood still and held his chin up as Vanysa fixed his tie. "I swear, if that didn't clear your head, nothing would." The golden skinned demoness said with a roll of her eyes.

"It did, listening to you think of ways to break your friend is as intriguing as it is exciting." Demiurge remarked as she finished the last of his clothing and then reached for her own clothing and began to dress.

Her wings batted lightly, "Is it? I don't really enjoy hurting her. Of course... I know everything she's done, she does deserve some punishment, and this will do. But I really don't see her as any more guilty than I am."

As she pulled up her skirt, she looked over her shoulder at her lover, "I know you don't care about that kind of thing, but I'm a fury, I punish the guilty. I don't really want her to die, because I don't think she deserves it, but if I do my job too well, she might."

Demiurge shrugged, "One more experimental tool for me, besides, maybe Lord Ainz intends this just so he can turn her into something else, maybe he can turn her into the Fury of Wrath, the one that that book calls 'Nemesis'. You said before that Furies come in threes. Or maybe an Abbadon. If this is his intent... oh surely he saw this in her... the day he turned you? Or... when he first met her..." For a moment his voice drifted off into awe as he connected the dots inside his own mind in ever growing amazement.

That gave Vanysa pause, until at last she interrupted her lover's thoughts, "Perhaps... Obviously I'll strive to win because that is my job... and... I'll make sure she suffers here... the torment she experiences out there and through all this, satisfies enough that I don't feel inclined to take her to Neuronist. And... I wouldn't mind having a sister. But she is... she is still my friend, and I also want her to be safe, to be happy. It's all... very confusing." Vanysa said with a frustrated tone of voice as she held up her shirt.

"Really Demi, did you have to tear it?" She chuckled a bit and tossed the ruined shirt in the trash and reached for a replacement that she was wise enough to keep handy.

He smirked cockily as she began to lace it up the front, and as if in apology, he approached and began to dexterously take over the lacing for her.

She laughed, "You just like doing that because it reminds you of tying me up. Don't you?"

He laughed his sadistic laugh, and tightened it a bit more at her breasts, "Maybe."

Then his face went serious for a moment, "If you're confused about that sort of thing, talk to Lupusregina, she loves her friends, but also gets off on their suffering, see how she deals with it. I think the two of you will find you have a lot more in common than you do with almost anyone other than myself, Neuronist, or maybe Solution."

Vanysa bit her lip as she thought about that, "Good idea, I never really see her since she's always minding Enri... but I'll stop by Carne when time permits. For now though... let's get back to work, I have a few more ideas on how we can make sure that we break Neia Baraja."

"Let's hear them." Demiurge said with a sadistic smile as they reclaimed their seats.

...Kirakira Prison...

The next few days after a brief farewell with Robel, Neia was able to spend between her cell and the prison yard without interruption, as the trial went on with mere technical details pertaining to the siege. Still, she read the transcripts provided to her with only little care, as if her life were not on the line. The minotaur prisoners continued to progress under the order she imposed, and the elven instructors she'd brought began incorporating the combat method of their religion into the process.

Which is how one day, when the sun shone down on castoffs of the Minotaur Kingdom, Neia found herself facing off against the former 'king of the prison yard' and her second in command within it.

The prisoners surrounded them to watch. But what Neia was really minding were the guards up above. 'They are free, but still bound by the fear of their charges, they are also those who have not yet bound themselves to His Majesty's will. I will bind them all together as one... and it will begin with this.' She thought as she hefted the wooden sword she'd been given for the moment.

Mu'Ulm handled a large double headed practice axe. He cradled it like it was a beloved child.

As they approached to take position, Neia remarked, "Miss your weapons, do you?"

He nodded, "We are born for the ax, it is how our people carved a kingdom out of a forest. Our people say that a minotaur who loses his ax has lost half his soul, and a minotaur who has lost his freedom has lost the rest of it."

Neia's sky blue eyes went black as night as the battle sense took hold and she held her sword erect in front of her in salute of her opponent. "I get that, the history of my people is one long battle to survive against a world that wanted to eat us. Strength is the only path to justice, weakness is the root of all sin, the right to bear a weapon is the right to secure your justice against violation. Well, it may be a poor substitute for metal, but I hope that the right to fight me now, with even a pseudo-ax in hand, restores some sense of yourself."

Mu'Ulm looked at her for a long minute as he slowly raised his ax in front of his face, he held it two handed, with the double heads spanning from one side across his face to the other. He huffed loudly.

"It is a beginning." He said simply.

Then one of the instructors shouted, "Begin!"

The two began circling one another as cheers began to go up from elves and minotaurs alike, and Neia felt a swelling of pride rise up within, Mu'Ulm's first engagement had been little more than putting down an animal gone mad, there was nothing of the warrior, just a strong beast. Now, she was impressed by his professional stance, his legs moved slowly crossing one over the other, he was gauging her as an opponent might in proper contest.

Neia used her martial arts one right after the other, increasing her strength and speed... [Death Grip] [Speed of Death] [Unliving Endurance] [Greater Strength] And then she did as her combat method demanded that she do.

She attacked, recalling briefly what Cocytus had said, 'Always be on the attack, especially if your opponent is strong, keep them reacting, keep them obeying your will, your motions, force them to respond until you kill them, never let them have the upper hand, you must win, or you will die, and if you die, whoever is behind you, may die too...' so she launching herself forward, wishing for a bow... but attacking nonetheless. 'I wish I were as good with this thing as Skana... her acrobatics would tear this one apart.' She thought, but found at least that she was 'sufficient' and then some. His axe swung low as if to sever her body in half at the waist, she dropped below, spun in, put her free hand behind his knee, and using the force of her legs, shot up erect, lifting him clear off his feet and sending Mu'Ulm flat on his back.

He did not hesitate even when landing, he rolled before her sword could find his chest, then rolled back to catch her sword under his body, and releasing one hand from his ax, the back of his fist came out and hit Neia full in the face.

It drove her back, and she lost her grip on her sword.

She felt the blood, but not the pain as a fierce smile of some blend of masochistic and sadistic pleasure hit her, and as Mu'Ulm rose to his feet, she was on the attack again, this time when his ax came overhead, she stepped aside, and as if to mock her weaponless state, she came in and hit him several times with palm strikes, using the ki methods taught to her by Sebas, he felt his organs spasm in pain in his body wherever she struck, and with his large ax head buried in the dirt, she followed up with an uppercut to his massive minotaur jaw, sending him staggering away from his own weapon, and falling onto his back again.

The noise of the spectators was loud, intoxicating even, 'If war were as wonderful as this... I would not regret it... no wonder the gladiators do what they do.' She managed to think as she jumped forward intending to land on Mu'Ulm's torso and stomp him into submission.

To her surprise, his hooves proved useful, he arched himself with his legs toward his torso, and bucked his hooves out, catching her at the knees and pushing her off so that she landed flat on her face.

She pushed herself up at the same time as he, and for a moment their eyes went to their cast off weapons, a glance of understanding, and they rushed toward their armament of choice, snatching them up and then coming to blows again. His blows were hammer hard and wide, taking up a great area, but Neia's small size and his wide arc made them predictable and easy to avoid.

Where she didn't avoid them, she used her sword to skid them away before landing another blow on his body or his throat. He was growing tired, huffing hard, panting, she was not.

"Death never tires, death never sleeps, death never weakens." Neia said as she saw his expression of incomprehension at her seemingly inexhaustible will. "Didn't I tell you?" She asked with a low reverberating voice as she raised her sword in salute again at her opponent.

"The history of my people is one of kill or be eaten. We are becoming strong, under the stewardship of our god." She uttered and began to advance again.

Mu'Ulm drew closer, "Kill or be eaten... as we with the damnable Devor Empire... we too, are not without our strength, come on Black Paladin... show me the strength your god has given you."

They clashed again, understanding that one or the other would fall, she avoided his blow, grabbed his wrist, twisted him forward, breaking his grip on his weapon and using his forward momentum to bring him down to his knees for the second time in their brief history of combat, and locked his arm, and her sword went around to put what would have been the edge, directly against his throat.

"I yield." He acknowledged solemnly, up above, as Neia released her grip on her opponent, the minotaur guards had taken their enormous axes, and holding them by the center between the double heads, and pounded the butts of the handles into the floors where they stood.

Hooves and pounding feet echoed the sentiment as the observers showed their respect to the combatants. She glanced up above, and then leaned down to Mu'Ulm's erect ear, "They do not see a beast now, they see a warrior." She whispered, and then casting off her sword, she extended her hand, and brought him to his feet.

The speech she delivered thereafter spoke of the need for tireless discipline and the strength that comes from working for a cause beyond the petty wishes of the moment, she spoke of weaknesses in lusts, in greed, in selfishness and fear, and the power of comradeship when many became as one.

Though nominally she spoke to the prisoners, her senses were more attuned to those above, the guards who could leave this place nightly and daily according to their shifts.

A glorious warmth spread throughout Neia's body as she felt the will of her divine lord being worked on those who watched. The crimson points in her eyes that began to emerge without conscious thought, stared past flesh and bone and read the movement of their spirits as her evangelist voice acted like a rudder on the ship of thought and turned them toward the will of her divine father.

A shout from above broke the moment for her, when someone's voice called out, "Prisoner Baraja, you have a visitor!"

"I'll be right there!" She called out as she clapped her hands together excitedly and, glad of her martial arts still being active, she cast off the wooden sword into the dirt and sprinted over the yard and up the long path to the door into the administrative and visitors section of the great prison.

A behemoth of a guard waited for her, he was almost as large and broad as Mu'Ulm, with a body that looked hard as steel and a look in his eyes to match. He however, carried a two handed sword on his back. "Good fight." He said noncommittally.

Neia shrugged, imitating his casual attitude, "Good opponent. It's what every warrior wants, strength makes for strength."

It was a casually uttered sentence, but one carefully calculated as she appraised his mind and how to win him to her cause. The half step of hesitation from his hoof as he fell in behind her, told her the comment had struck home... aided by the touch of evangelist skill she put into the timbre of her voice.

She accepted the escort without further commentary as he took her to the door opening to the visitors room. He removed a set of manacles that hung from a belt at his waist, "I was going to use these. But they are not needed, are they?"

Neia spoke with the conviction that had been a hallmark of her entire life, leaving no question that she meant every single word. "No. If the one I think is here, is really beyond that door, I would rip out my own guts before even considering putting her at risk... even without my father's order to endure all this."

The guard dropped them on the floor. "Then fuck em. Go in, I will wait here." He huffed low and deep, then unlocked the door and opened it for Neia to pass beneath his eyes.

"Neia!" Skana exclaimed and slapped her hand against the glass hard enough to fracture it.

"Skana..." Neia whispered in a hushed voice full of longing, she looked behind her once to ensure that it was closed and they were alone.

Then when she was sure that they were, she moved over the floor with long strides despite her short legs, eating up every inch between them until she found herself opposite her wife, her hand slapped the glass and the cracks spread like spider webs.

For a moment all they could do was stare at one another, until Skana stood up from where she sat... "Say hello, to our child." Her belly was still not overly large, but the pregnancy was obvious. Neia looked up and down from Skana's glowing, but anxious face, and down to where their child grew.

Resolve kicked in, "Skana, my love, could you... step aside for just one moment?" Neia asked impatiently.

Skana canted her head slightly and looked uncertainly at her wife, but then did mutely as Neia asked. The unspoken question was answered when Neia formed a fist, and slammed it into the stone outcrop meant to let her arms rest as she spoke to the person on the other side. The stone broke like a rock striking wet paper, and then two more heavy blows coming from waist height, smashed the stone on which the glass sat, inward, sending stones skittering loudly over the floor and against the wall, creating a gap. A hole large enough for her arm to pass through.

Understanding dawned on Skana's face, as she came closer, and felt Neia's hand go over her belly. "Hi there..." Neia said delicately. "Hope that didn't scare you little one."

The door slammed open and the behemoth of a minotaur appeared, his eyes wide with brief alarm... until he saw what was happening. Skana's shirt was up a bit, exposing her clearly pregnant belly, and Neia's face, reflected in the glass, was atremble with longing as her hand caressed the place where the child rested.

"Never mind. I have a child, take your time, but you'll probably be punished for the damage." The minotaur said with relief, amusement, and a hint of sympathy.

"Worth it." Neia said without tearing her eyes or hand away from the body of her wife.

"I know." He answered, and left them alone again.

"Neia... How much longer do you think this will go on?" Skana asked anxiously... "I want you home... I want our lives back."

"Me too." Neia said sadly, "But... maybe I was right before, maybe I don't get to have that. I'm... I mean, I have been getting better since I went in for treatment, since I got help. But still, I can't just erase everything that happened. I'll do what I can, like Lakyus said, I will fight, I'm permitted that. I won't go quietly into the night and disappear, and if I can come home... I will. But please... don't ask for a miracle."

Skana shook her head vigorously, "No! I will ask for miracles! I'll ask for a thousand of them if I have to!" Her fists clenched at her side and her eyes squeezed tightly shut, "I begged for a miracle the day the beastmen came to that damn city... the day that I hated you... and then fell in love with you when I watched you fight on that damned wall! You were my miracle! And I won't let it end here! Not in this place! Not in the hangman's noose! I will have you home no matter what I have to do!"

Her eyes flew open and the fierce determination that had made Skana the Bold a legend in her own right, locked onto Neia and imprisoned her in a bond of affection that would not be quenched by circumstance or held back by barriers of stone or glass or chains or life itself.

"I. Will. Find. A. Way." Skana answered her wife's silence, and she reached down and clasped the hand that touched the place where their child was growing. Her hands enfolding Neia's own.

Neia's heartbeat was as rapid as if she'd run a footrace, and she met her wife's determined eyes with determination of her own.

"Skana the bold, I'm Neia Baraja, I may accept whatever has happened as unchangeable, but don't think I've counted myself out just yet, I will endure, and I will fight, and if a path to victory exists, then I will find it, and if I can't find it, and we can't find it, then by god we'll make it. We'll carve a place out for ourselves in this world, even if we have to carve it out of the flesh of those between us and it... and if it can be done... well I want to carve out enough space for some brothers and sisters for this one." Neia said with a whispered voice of utter defiance of her circumstances.

Skana looked down at her protruding belly, "Hope you're taking notes down there little one, because that's what courage looks like." She said confidently as she reached up and wiped away fierce tears of dedication from her eyes.

"They're springing to life from you... our little one won't need lessons in courage from me... you can take my word on that one." Neia said with a devoted smile as she pressed her forehead to the glass.

"Well, it can't hurt." Skana said warmly.