The room beyond the courtroom was filled with the hum of thought and voices. Strangely, though the dynamic of the courtroom had toned down, changed to soft apathy, the room beyond was filled with excited voices, a quick change from the solemn atmosphere of before.
"Has it started?" one voice said, quickly.
Another flitted by, "Is this the end?"
"No." said Gaze, eager, "This is nearly the end, but it's also nearly the beginning. This is where we show him what we can really do." his breaths were coming quickly, as if he was unused to such excitement.
"Are you sure he's ready for that…?" True asked softly.
"Does it matter?" Gaze snapped, "This needs to happen quickly."
"Of course it matters." Shy said, his voice harsh, "We can't let him be broken. We're treading on thin ice as it is."
Gaze shot him a cold look, "I'll deal with this."
"Not alone. We've all got a stake in this." Last growled, "There's no way we can let you go alone."
"If you go too far, you'll ruin everything we've worked for." said Care, "Don't be a fool."
"How can I? All you temperate, kind, reserved folks are here to drag me back if I step over the line." Gaze said with extreme sarcasm, "Then let's get to it." They went back into their circle, and after a moment all animation left them and they were as before. Silent statues, a circle dance.
Change like this to a deeper roar?
What would it take my standing there for,
Holding open a restive door,
Looking down hill to a frothy shore?
Summer was past and day was past.
Somber clouds in the west were massed.
Out in the porch's sagging floor,
leaves got up in a coil and hissed,
Blindly struck at my knee and missed.
Something sinister in the tone
Told me my secret must be known:
Word I was in the house alone
Somehow must have gotten abroad,
Word I was in my life alone,
Word I had no one left but God.
Robert Frost-"Bereft"
Dilandau was soul-weary. He wasn't even able to be angry or sad anymore, he just wanted it to all be over. But the witness list said that there were many more witnesses left, a line of people there only to hurt Dilandau. Well, Dilandau thought, goes to show them, I can't feel anything anymore.
The courtroom was silent as Folken gathered his thoughts. He stood confidently and said, "I should like to call my final witness now."
"Final witness!?" Zongi said, "Your honor, the defense submitted a witness list that clearly showed tens of witnesses, and he only shows four?"
"Honor," Folken said, "It is my right to change my witness list as I will."
"He's right, Defense. This ought to help your case anyway, so be quiet." the judge said in a slightly unprofessional manner.
Zongi sat down, somewhat miffed at this treatment.
Somewhat rejuvenated by the fact that this would soon be over, Dilandau sat up in his chair. Without particularly thinking about it, he hoped that perhaps this witness would be less painful for him. But he suppressed that hope. He knew that it must be worse.
"I'll call Dragonslayer Miguel up to the stand." Folken said, smiling.
Miguel seemed to be ready for the cue. He stood immediately, grinned genially at the rest of the Dragonslayers, and left. They responded to him with troubled stares, as if they were afraid of what he was going to do.
He stared blatantly at Dilandau, a twisted grin on his face. Despite himself, Dilandau felt fear bloom in his heart. Miguel had a weapon against him that nothing could prepare him for. That he knew. He had taught them that they could only let the enemy know that something was coming when there was no way for them to dodge.
Miguel sat down, still flashing that smile at Dilandau. He turned his attention to Folken only reluctantly, when Folken interposed himself between Miguel and Dilandau.
"Please state your name." Folken said impatiently.
"Miguel." Miguel said simply, with a winning smile.
"You were a Dragonslayer under Dilandau, were you not?" Folken asked in a no-nonsense tone.
"Of course." Miguel said, toning it down a bit.
"And you died under his command, correct?" Folken said.
Miguel pause for a moment, and then, glaring at Zongi, he nodded, "I did." he said, hatred in his voice.
Dilandau looked at Zongi, who was turning guiltily away from Miguel's gaze.
"How did you die?" Folken said.
"I was captured, and then an undercover agent of Zaibach revealed his identity to me. I helped him implicate an ally of the dragon, and then he killed me." Miguel said, all the while staring at Zongi.
"In what way was your death Dilandau's fault?" Folken asked warily. For some reason, it seemed as if this wasn't going as he had planned.
"It wasn't." Miguel said simply, a trace of that grin on his face, "In fact, he avenged my death."
Folken was positively perplexed, by the expression on his face. He changed tactics, "How did you feel about Dilandau as a commander?"
Miguel shrugged, "He was a good commander, I suppose. A little harsh, physically, but truthfully, some of those guys needed it." He gestured to the dragonslayers, who seemed to be remaining studiously neutral.
"Do you have any complaints about Dilandau at all?" Folken asked.
"No." Miguel said, "We were on pretty good terms."
Dilandau couldn't believe this. Where was the unbeatable testimony that Miguel's gaze had promised him? The testimony that was still being promised to him by flashes of predatory anger on Miguel's face?
Flustered, Folken decided to change tactics, "But did you know that your commander's skills were really no merit of his own? That he was being controlled by someone outside your group?" He turned away, studying the reactions of the audience.
Miguel's face was one of utmost innocence as he smiled and said, "Yes, I knew."
This time Folken was surprised. The entire courtroom was surprised, there was a collective gasp of breath after that was said. Dilandaus' heart started beating faster as he saw Folken's expression turn to one of shock and then predatory hunger. He whirled, "How did you know?" he asked, his voice calm.
"He'd leave every so often and come back… different." Miguel said, serious.
"How so?" Folken returned, a little too quickly.
"He'd come back and he'd be more angry, more bent on us being perfection. He would start to get along with us, start to be our friend, and then he'd leave for a while, and he'd come back a perfect stranger."
"He didn't know you?" Folken asked, curious. The heartbeat quickened.
"Oh, no, he knew us, he just didn't connect with us on a personal level." Miguel said casually.
"And why was this, do you think?" Folken asked. Dilandau could feel his pulse fluttering in his temple.
"Well, it was the madoushi, of course." Miguel said, shooting a poison smile at Dilandau.
Dilandau's heart stopped.
"Who were they?" Folken said, ignoring the look of shock, terror, and betrayal that Dilandau was giving Miguel over his shoulder.
"They were in charge of making him perfect." Miguel said, "They made sure he'd never fail." His expression didn't change as Dilandau rose, shaking, to his feet. Miguel followed his rise calmly with his eyes.
Tears were spilling out of Dilandau's eyes, but he didn't close them. He couldn't stop staring at this abomination from his past, "You knew." he accused, his voice hoarse.
The courtroom was silent, "All along." Miguel asserted.
"And you didn't do… anything?" Dilandau said, his voice cracking.
Folken stepped aside as Miguel stood up, letting the entire courtroom hear the full force of his voice, "We didn't want to." he said, his voice firm and clear.
Dilandau turned panic-stricken eyes to the Dragonslayers behind him. Despite their denunciations of him, none would meet his gaze, they were all ashamed. It… it must be true.
"We knew that they were making you the perfect soldier. The perfect commander." Miguel said loudly, still standing. His eyes quirked cruelly, "Did you think we would stop that?"
Dilandau could say nothing, he could only stand there and shake. His eyes wide and blind.
"HAH!" Miguel shouted loudly, "Fool. We knew having the best commander would give us the best record. We WERE the best soldiers in the army, because of your training, because of the madoushi's work. Do you think we would put our careers in jeopardy…" he trailed off, though the last sentence had seemed to be building up to something.
His eyes searched for a moment as if he was hearing voices, and then, deflated, he sighed deeply and sat down.
Folken frowned at Miguel, but gathered that the testimony was over, "No further questions, your honor."
"I have a few questions." said Zongi furiously, standing. He walked around the counter, staring fixedly at Miguel.
Miguel's eyes were placid, but angry beneath. Zongi leaned closer to Miguel, who seemed unperturbed by it.
"How dare you?" Zongi said coldly.
Dilandau was still standing, staring fixedly at Miguel.
The hateful expression on Miguel's face did not change, and he did not make any motion to answer.
Zongi, his face still furious, turned away from the witness, "Nothing further, your honor."
The judge looked at Dilandau, and then at the bailiff, "Bailiff, will you please escort the witness from my courtroom." he said sternly, eyeing Dilandau.
A vein was pulsing in Dilandau's neck. Zongi walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. It seemed as if he hadn't noticed, but when his eyes snapped to Zongi, he tore his body away and began to shake again.
He had only just collapsed into his seat and into tears when he heard the judge's voice, "There will be a recess." he said, "We will continue tomorrow."
The courtroom emptied as quickly as a breeze blowing, and Dilandau and Zongi were left alone.
There was silence for a time, only marked by the soft sounds of soul's torment that Dilandau was making.
Zongi's cold hand on his shoulder did not give him any solace. He had thought he was dead to the kinds of pain that these erstwhile friends could cause him, but he was wrong. He could hardly think. They betrayed him. They were not true to him, they only obeyed their commander. They were never his friends at all. He no longer wanted to move. He didn't want to leave the dream. If that meant that his body wasted away and died out there, so be it.
He felt Zongi bristle, "Come on, Dilandau. Let's go." He pleaded.
Dilandau ignored Zongi.
"Dilandau…" his voice was candy, he took hold of Dilandau's arm.
His lips still moved, Dilandau found, as he said, "You go."
"I won't let you stay here," the doppelganger warned.
"You can't stop me." Dilandau said, leaning his head back against the chair and closing his eyes, saying 'leave me here, I just want to take a nap'.
Zongi paused, sighed, and turned away, "I don't blame you. Not this time." He walked slowly from the courtroom.
There was a wind of silence for some time before the darkness started to close in, and suddenly Dilandau was in another place, the misty room with the blue candles. He whirled to see the hooded figures closing in on him.
"Leave me alone!" he screamed, so desperately that it made his throat raw.
"We cannot." they said, and it was the truth.
"The morning comes." Shy observed, and suddenly a sun rose in the distance. The figures turned to it, observing as if entranced.
Dilandau took his chance, and leapt for the darkness beyond their circle.
Fast, though, lightning fast the arms stretched out, and every one of those hands caught Dilandau and held him fast, held him in this world.
"No!" he shouted, and the hands kept him in their soft grip, "No, let me go!" And some part of him was thinking how strange it was that they were so warm, when they had been so cold.
He must have fallen, because he was on the ground and there were two hands shaking his shoulders and shouting, "Dilandau, God, Dilandau what's wrong?"
Tears fell onto his face, and he finally woke up. "Mother." he said softly.
She pulled him into a firm embrace, and sobbed with relief, though she shed no tears. She pulled back and stared into his face,"What was it, why wasn't it me?" Celena asked hysterically, "What did you see?"
He paused, and then, pushing her away, he stood. His blankets lay in a twisted mass on the floor. Apparently he had become entangled in them and slumped to the floor.
Celena was still kneeling on the floor. She looked up at her son. He smiled wearily at her, but she was unrelieved. His eyes were alight with trapped panic, and dulled by sadness, a strange combination that made her heart lurch.
She watched him as he walked cautiously from the room, as if the world was about to launch a full-scale attack on him.
Or perhaps as if it already had.
Author's note: And so we're done with the prosecution. Things'll be a lot easier from now on. For you, not me. By the way! ALL POINTS BULLETIN!! If you just skipped over the poem at the beginning of the chapter, go back and read it. (waits) What, you wanna know why? Well, it's my favorite Robert Frost poem and one of my favorites ever, which is why I named the chapter after it. If anyone cares, this one should be updated on time.
It was really hard to write this chapter, because I didn't think I could top the heart-rending sadness and disappointment in the last chapter. But it just came to me in a rush. Actually, I saw Miguel saying calmly, "Yes, I knew." And I thought, what did he know? And then I figured it out. I think I actually said aloud: "That is the greatest idea ever" I was at work, luckily I was customer-less. So, tell me if that was fitting as the false climax.
Maybe I'll get the next one out soon, It'll certainly be a relief to write about NOT the trial. I miss Ravi. But anyway..
It's three AM I must have reviews…
Feye Morgan: You compliment me too much. Say bad stuff about me this time. I DID break Dilandau this time, but he'll be OK. For a while. Or after a while. Don't be mad at me. Thanks so much for your kind words. I hope that my story continues to work. I'm sure it will as long as I'm spending all of my extra brain-time thinking about it. (I'm in Trial MODE at work. That's where all my best ideas are coming lately…)
Etowato: I updated. Allen and Van may be testifying. It's a secret. (The secret is, I don't know yet. Hehe…) Yeah, I refuse to post any links anymore. FF.net is mean and won't take them. OK, though, I'm about dead tired. It really is three am. See you all.