Read the Soul of the Creation! Also review it! I don't own Escaflowne, and everything I know about Law I learned from Law and Order (Some of it I learned from Criminal Justice, also… Also some of it I learned from Law class, but about 2%...) Also, I don't own Escaflowne, not even the DVDs! (I borrowed the series from a friend… ^^;; I'm so poor..)Update: as of 8/15/03, I DO own the DVDs! YAY!
And I'll forgive Thy great big one on me.
Robert Frost-"Forgive, O Lord"
The dream dawned on Dilandau as if it was the wind rising. Suddenly, he faded into a room, dark but for the blue-flame candles that circled the room like the lighted eyes of predatory beasts. There was a spark of fear in Dilandau. Those lights belonged to Zaibach.
For a moment there was curiosity, for Dilandau didn't remember seeing this memory within him. He looked about, wondering when he would see the object of this memory walk by. But he was shocked by a blaze of wind, and deep voices speaking his name.
"Dilandau…" they said, and they were clothed in shadow. He could not see their faces, but for the periodic flashes of their eyes.
"Who-" he started fearfully, but then he straightened, "Who are you?" he asked, his voice serious and unafraid.
They didn't answer, and in their silence, Dilandau grew even more afraid.
"You must come with us." they said, as one.
"No." Dilandau said, shaking with fury.
"You will." said the one known as True.
Dilandau felt the world shift around him, and suddenly he was in a courtroom. The entire room was standing.
Dilandau had only seen one trial, the trial of a young man who had been to become a soldier under General Adelphos but was found to be unfit when he killed another of his cadets in cold blood. Dilandau, being the leader of the Dragonslayers, was forced to attend. It had been a long time ago… Dilandau smiled wryly. VERY long. But he still remembered the protocol. The judge walked into the room and was seated.
"Be seated." The bailiff intoned, and the room sat down. Warily, Dilandau did too.
Needless to say, trials in Zaibach were carried out with the utmost efficiency, and usually there was little emphasis put on emotion. If there was a killing and you were responsible, you would pay the price.
"Dilandau Albatou, former commander of the Zaibach special forces known as Dragonslayers, presently son of Celena Schezar, you are brought here on charges of murder and treason. This is a preliminary hearing. Do you understand?" The judge was seated on his high podium, and looked down at Dilandau. His face was severe, and his manner clipped. He was most definitely a Zaibach judge.
"Yes, sir." Dilandau said respectfully.
"Your lawyer will be provided by the courts, being as you have no means to get your own." The judge said, "Step forward, lawyer."
The smell came like a wave, Dilandau almost felt it wash over him. It was a bit like flowers, but more, much more, like the sweet stench of rotting meat, a smell of rot almost disguised by the aroma of posies. Involuntarily, Dilandau covered his nose as he turned.
There, standing before him, was the Doppelganger, the one that had killed Miguel. That creature… His name was Zongi, and he looked much the same as on his last day, eyes huge and bulbous, skin sallow. However, contrary to Doppelganger custom, he was clothed in a long, black robe, the one that had been the style for lawyers in Zaibach.
"Hello." he said in a dark voice, his eyes cold.
Dilandau turned back to the judge, "Your honor, I move to dismiss my lawyer." he said, "He will be unjustly influenced against me."
The judge raised his eyebrows, "How so?" he asked, curious.
"I…" Dilandau was trying to say, 'I killed him' but the words refused to come out. The rules were different in this dream, perhaps. Perhaps those cold men in their capes wanted this, wanted Dilandau to lose this trial. He narrowed his gaze, "I don't know, sir." he said, bitter, "He seems like the type."
The judge frowned doubtfully, "I'm sorry, but that's not a good enough reason." he said, and he banged his gavel upon the table, "Motion denied."
Dilandau sat back down, and his lawyer sat next to him. The smell was beginning to make Dilandau sick.
"Prosecution, step forward." the judge said. Out of the shadows stepped Folken, clad in the cloak he usually wore, glancing at Dilandau with hooded eyes.
Dilandau almost leapt up in shock. Folken would be prosecuting him? He didn't like this idea at all. Folken was very smart, and, well… his lawyer was…
Folken let a half-smile brush across his face as he walked up to conference with the judge. Dilandau scowled at him, beginning to feel as belligerent to Folken as his old self had often been.
Zongi leaned towards him, "We may be able to get you off on negligent homicide, or involuntary manslaughter. Treason will be more difficult, but they have very little proof. Do you know of anyone who could be a character witness?" he asked.
Dilandau coughed, covering his mouth, "No." he mumbled through his fingers.
The Doppelganger looked disappointed, "What? No friends, no relatives who think you're a stand-up guy?"
Dilandau wondered whether the creature remembered his ignominious death at Dilandau's own hands. Perhaps he was merely a figment of the dream. Dilandau decided to play along, "I do. My mother will testify, I have a few friends who will. Uh.. My uncle will certainly testify for me… King Van of Fanelia… King Dryden of Asturia.."
Zongi was looking over a sheaf of papers, "Let's see… we could try, but a lot of those people are on the prosecution's witness list…" he said thoughtfully.
"What?" Dilandau said, surprised, "Let me see that.." he took the paper from Zongi, trying not to touch his clammy hand, and looked it over, "Witness list in order…" he mumbled, reading, "Gatty… Shesta? and Viole… Dallet… Uh… Uncle Allen. Van." he said morosely, "Well, at least my mother isn't on their list."
"Well…" Zongi said, pointing to the last name.
"Oh." Dilandau said, his face falling, "Will we have any original witnesses?" he asked.
"I don't think any of your friends are on it." Zongi said, studying the list, "General Adelphos is here?" he said.
Dilandau ignored him, it helped when trying to ignore the smell. He didn't want to mention it and be rude, but his stomach was still churning.
The judge spoke once again, "You will be tried by a council of twelve of your peers, though some of your crimes are military-related. To combat the lack of a tribunal, a great many of your jurors are from the military. Bailiff," he directed, "Show them in."
Two lines of people filed in from one of the darkened corridors. Dilandau was shocked to recognize a few of them, but only from flashes on the battlefield. Somehow, though, as if this dream wanted him to, he knew that they were all people who had died at his hands. He saw a woman who had been killed when, in a siege, a burning building fell upon her; countless faces that he barely remembered through melef faceplates, in the glimpses he saw of them they were screaming and writhing in agony; He saw the eyes of the first man he ever killed, that peasant in his garden, and they were cold and hard, staring straight through him.
This was the first time Dilandau let himself feel despair since the dream began. He knew it was a dream, he knew that he would wake up and it'd be gone, but… All those faces, all those victims… They were staring at him accusingly from beyond the grave. And this trial… he would never win.
The judge turned to him, his slate gray eyes emotionless. Dilandau, unknowingly, drank in that bland stare, reveling in its mild regard.
"The trial will begin tomorrow night." the judge said, "Your defense will be ready by then, don't worry about that. All you have to do until then is decide what your plea will be..." the eyes took on a fiery glint, "Between guilty and not guilty. It's a simple choice."
Dilandau turned away from the eyes, for once repelled by the fire within them. There was something beneath this that he didn't understand. He frowned, trying to decipher what it was that could be wrong with this trial, other than absolutely everything.
"Court will adjourn until tomorrow." the judge stated, slamming his gavel with a strike of finality upon the table.
"All rise…" said the bailiff.
Dilandau stood up. Next to him, he felt the cold skin of the Doppelganger brush him. He grimaced, and continued to ignore the smell. There was a tap on his shoulder.
"I'll want to speak with you out in the hall before you leave." Said Zongi, his voice low, as if it was some sort of taboo.
Dilandau, though he desperately wanted some fresh air, nodded.
As the people who had been in the room filtered out the doors, Dilandau followed, and watched them fade into the darkness beyond. The hall was dimly lit, and beyond the light, it was as if everything faded away.
Zongi, who had been following, turned to Dilandau, "You must think very hard about what your plea will be. I can't make it for you, I can't tell you what it will be."
"I thought that was a lawyer's job.." Dilandau said, a hint of petulance in his voice.
The sallow-faced Doppelganger nodded, "That's true, but this isn't the same kind of trial." he said, a fleeting smile brushing his face.
Dilandau shrugged, "Sure. I'll make the plea. It doesn't really matter what it is. After all, everyone in that courtroom is biased against me already." he looked up.
To his surprise, Zongi didn't look confused, merely slightly pitying, "You don't understand, do you?" he asked, shaking his head.
Dilandau blinked, "Understand what?"
Zongi took him by the shoulder, and pointed back into the courtroom, "There is no prejudice in that room. Not one soul in that entire room harbors any grudge against anyone." he said, his face close to Dilandau's.
Dilandau ignored the smell, and listened intently.
After a dramatic pause, Zongi held up one finger, "Save one person. The judge. He is the one who will decide the outcome of this case."
Dilandau shook his head, "In Zaibach, they taught us that the jury decided the verdict, and the judge merely carried out the sentencing."
Zongi smiled a vague, mysterious smile, "Perhaps we're talking about two different trials…" he said, and he held up two long fingers, "Two different judges." he muttered.
Then, leaving Dilandau sorely confused, he faded back into the darkness. Dilandau almost took a step after him, wanting to ask for clarification, but he was held back by a cold, strong hand.
"Do not follow." A deep voice said.
Whirling, Dilandau said bitterly, "You."
"You do not know what lies beyond this circle of light." the dark figure, Last, gestured, "If you go beyond this boundary… You can never come back."
"What do you care?" Dilandau said, jerking his arm from the stranger's grasp, "You're them, aren't you? Those madoushi who tore my mind apart, stole my mother's life." his voice was filled with hate.
The rest of the group coalesced like a cloud, and were silent.
Dilandau stared for a moment at the tall figures, rising like great stone monoliths out of the smoky ground.
"You will return tomorrow." came the soft voice of Shy.
"We will see you then." True spoke, forcefully.
Dilandau felt the world around him shift once again, and then he felt his body heavy in his chair, his muscles sore from sleeping in a strange position. He heard birds speaking to each other outside his window.
He kept his eyes closed for a moment, merely savoring the smell of his dead fire. The ashes still had a scent, one that comforted him. It was a welcome change from rot and posies.
The door creaked open, and Dilandau knew his mother was peeking in. He heard her giggle, sigh, and then he heard the door close stealthily, and smiled to himself. For some reason, that almost made him forget the promise that he would start with the trial right where he left off when he slept again.
Author's most awesome note!!: I'm just digging the double exclamation point lately… Well, I bagged this chapter in no time whatsoever! Booyah! I'm two chapters in one week, baby! I just finished this on 5/9/03, but I won't post it for six more days! You will have suffered by the time I post it! MUAHAHA! This one's got lotsa words, too. Anyhow, I'm glad for the response I've already gotten, and I hope to bring more people in! I don't know how long this will go… At the very least, 10 chaps. I hope. Anyhow… I'm really really tired, so off I go to bed..
But not until I answer my reviews!!
Macky: Thanks again! I'm hoping to delve really deep into Dilandau's psyche with this fic, and really get to the heart of what's bothering him. The names of the Council of Shadow (I think I'll keep that moniker, it sounds so cool…) are pseudonyms. For them, it's easier to refer to people by a characteristic instead of their given name. That way, they can try to leave their past behind them somewhat. It's just easier for me to give them names. The names were given in the same order as last chapter, so if you want, you can try to put them together, except I believe a couple of them didn't speak in the first chapter. There are five of them. About Van, Merle, etc… I don't know. Perhaps I'll have them cameo later, I was planning on having the fic be very insulated, but I'm not sure. Maybe I'll have them move around a little. Visit folk.
Etowato: All right! I was planning on having him seem more mature. I mean, when you think about it, he was much more mature and intelligent than the normal fifteen-year-old boy in the series, and so as an eighteen-year-old, he's even that much more mature. It's also because he's had so many experiences… It's like when people came back from, like, the Vietnam war. They were still young, but they had seen so much that they were old inside. Or something..
Feye Morgan: (tries to slink quietly away) You're crazy! I mean, really, It took me one day to write that… and I was half-asleep when I did! #^^# You make me blush with all your niceness, anyhow. But leave em alone! If you stop them, there'll be no plot, so leave those guys be!!