The door to the wing opened carefully, trying it's best to not make a sound.

Angel was probably asleep at this point, he was going to need all the rest he could before the trial after all. She really didn't like visiting him in her pjs of all things but it wasn't like she had much of a choice in the matter either, only being able to sneak out as the guards fell asleep. She hadn't seen Jackie since Luna left but had the feeling she'd be pretty dissapointed she had been left with some of the worst of the worst to guard the princess of mewni of all things.

But tonight, it was an advantage, though she only planned to be gone a few minutes anyway.

Sneaking out had been something she'd do for Judas, and Nora kinda counted as well, she'd never tried doing it for the prince she had conflict with for so long. Didn't really think she ever would either, but at least it wasn't to rescue him or anything. She was careful, using her wand to light her way and just hoping it didn't go out as she approached angel's bed, the boy passed out in his sheets, and it looked like he was wearing some of judas's old pjs.

Boy she hoped he wasn't wearing judas's old underwear either, but somehow she knew he probably was.

At least she wasn't the one having to supply the guy with her old clothing.

He seemed rather quiet and peaceful, and though she reached out to tap his shoulder, she quickly stopped herself .Was this a good idea? Knowing him she'd startle him and he'd wake up everyone, or think he was being attacked in the middle of the night and bite her, or a number of equally uncomfortable things. Maybe she'd be better off turning back? No one had to know she was here and she could speak to the prince before the trial started tomorrow.

She tapped her foot, thinking it over again, debating which was worse as angel stirred.

"So...what do you want...princess butterfly?".

She froze, oh right, angel had an AMAZING sense of smell, he could tell when someone was around without even looking at them.

He sat up, four eyes blinking at her as she became embarrassed to be caught, yeah, this WAS a bad idea. She made a mental note in her head to fuss at sunny later for making her decided to actually do this, Angel himself looked rather embarrassed as well, though maybe it had to do with how awkward the situation was for now. He looked like he wanted to say something, apologize to her and get it out out but was trying his best to resist, as if expecting sky to reject his apologies.

"You're...awake?".

"I'm having a hard time sleeping...tomorrow...it came so sudden...and...I'm not sure what to expect...".

"Right...".

This was by far the most painful conversation sky had in a long time, even she was having a hard time knowing what to say and if to actually spill it out to him. The guy wasn't even really trying to look her in the face directly, sweating nervously, and coughing. "I'm not sure if judas told you...I...I can't really tell who it was...under the mask, they...even disguised their scent. He...he knows this might be a lost cause to protect me...you...you don't have to do this..".

"I know you don't believe that'll stop any of us, especially not him, you're going to get punished either way, nothing you can do about that...but jude and me know what it's like to not be liked by a lot of others and...he wants to keep you from getting the worst of it...I guess...he's...never liked seeing people he cares about get in trouble. If he doesn't try and save you, he's going to blame himself for not doing something for years, it's just how he is.", she still wasn't looking at him directly but she could tell angel agreed with her on that front.

"He's...too nice...", he gripped the shirt he was wearing as the words left his lips, "Does he do this stuff for you...regularly?".

"Have me wear his old clothes? No. Do nice things for me to make me feel better and reassure me? Yeah...like...a lot, he does that a lot when stuff goes wrong. Get used to it, this is the treatment you can expect when you're jude's friend...but, it's far from a bad thing.". Talking about judas seemed to make the situation a lot more comfortable then it had been a second ago, if only because it was a topic that was a little less painful to talk about then the incident that started this current mess.

"You think he'll want to still be friends...if things don't work out tomorrow?".

He sounded so small in a way, not prince-like, and not bratty either, drained of all his pride and stuffiness he seemed to hold before.

"Yeah, it's judas, he doesn't give up on people...".

"Have you given up on me?".

And there it was, she was surprised he even managed to chock it out of his system considering how hard he was trying not to address it.

It left a strange silence in the room, sky wanting to both answer and not angel and angel wanting her to answer and wanting her to not answer his question. Though she needed to cough something out, the longer she waited on this the worse i'd be, "I...uh...I don't want to...". It wasn't exactly a yes or no, but angel didn't press further on it either, "I...I'm...truly sorry for what happened Sky, I-I don't expect you to forgive me I just want you to know i'm deeply sorry".

Her eyes met his again and he seemed almost on the verge of tears, it almost felt like a crime to not accept the apology like this.

And yet, she was having a hard time trying to respond to it.

She'd feel guilty to not accept it, knowing how much he regretted all this and that he was practically crying, but was something like this going to just be fine with a simply apology either? Her lack of an answer seemed to make Angel more uncomfortable and worried, he turned away and moved some of his hair aside. "We can talk more tomorrow, before the trial, I...expect you'll be there...with your moms being a couple of the judges, or..maybe just your one mom since the other is still out...".

She mumbled so quietly she felt like Nora, "Yeah...sure...".

He nodded again.

"Well, i'll see you tomorrow then...sky...", he turned around and laid back on the bed, pulling the covers over himself. Sky didn't move though, as if frozen to the spot, even though her mind was telling her to just go and leave the guy be. Angel didn't even look at her but his ears twitched, he was probably wondering why she was even still here at this point if she didn't have anything else to say to him or even want to fully make things up between them.

She felt paralyzed before she forced herself to make a step backward, then another, then another, turning herself around to him.

Then she stopped again.

"I uh...thanks...for...what you did, or what you tried to do...", then she kept heading on her way out, as angel sat back up in his bed and looked at the back of her head, "I-I should be more grateful, you saved my life, you and prince lucitor...i'm the lucky on. But...you're welcome...I...I just wish I had succeeded...". Sky paused, back still turned, "Maybe you'll get another chance...next time...we'll...keep you informed.". She quickly left after, eager to get out of the already awkward and increasingly uncomfortable situation.

Angel watched her leave, also feeling a lot less uncomfortable but still a little sad as his ears seemed to move downwards as if he were some kinda dog.

Tomorrow, maybe tomorrow.


Judas quickly fixed Angel's tie, trying his best to brush any and all dust from his vest to make him look more presentable. The prince was in one of his older prince outfits for the time being, angel already constantly trying to fix his hair and avoid sweating bullets. The food judas brought him earlier was almost threatening to come back up his throat at this point, and the demon quickly tried to reassure him with a pat on the shoulder and a smile, turning his head to see Sky arrive carrying a bunch of stuff in her arms, mostly papers and books.

"Sky? Whoa...", she stopped in front of him, catching her breath, "I got all the girls together, they handed me what I needed...I tried to get some more testimony from some of the witnesses on trial. I don't kow how you handle this much stuff jude but i have a lot more respect for you then ever before for managing.", judas reached out to help her carry some of the stuff but she pulled back, "No no, gonna bring it in in a second, the girls will be seated soon too, congrats angel, you're about to witness mewni's terrible court system play out...".

Angel seemed to tense up.

"Don't worry, we can still try to manage to beat something that already sucks with our own suckish argument, just try not to do anything stupid while on trial. All our parents are going to be up there...including my moms...". Judas blinked at her, "Wait, Queen Star has returned? She's been out on her search for days I thought she wouldn't make it back in time for the trial.". His companion bit her lip in frustration, shaking her head, "This morning, she made it back, in a mess actually...Jackie and Kelly...they're now out on the search instead in the meanwhile.".

"Well i'm glad she's ok, if anything, I can imagine it wasn't a fun search for her...", sky still seemed rather nervous and distant though, tugging the stuff in her hands even closer to her chest. "Sky, you're gonna have to speak to her about what's been going on, it's going to be ok, I know you got this.". The girl nodded and looked to the doors to what was normally the magic high commission's meeting room, now fitted as a courtroom, and it seemed as if it were magically expanded to fit everyone inside, "I better get ready, people are starting to arrive...".

She looked to angel, her blue eyes to his red, before heading in.

"Try to breathe angel...".

"I wish I could...but...everyone is going to be staring at me...they hate me. They'll probably hate all of you for even trying to defend me...".

"They already hate us angel...", judas snickered, fixing his own hair, "People well...I've had more time to think about it...of what you've said to me, and luna...and other friends and...some people are just always going to hate you...they're always gonna hate me and sky...but...well...I care about what you think of me more then them, you want to be in our good graces...and I want to do so with you too.". The prince seemed even more touched by that, his face almost a darker shade of pink.

"I-I...thank you, Prince Luci- Judas...".

"No matter what, after this, i'll try and grab us all something to eat...it's going to be a long day...no matter what.".

Angel had to agree to that.

"Judas!".

He turned his head to see Sunny running up, dragging Galexia behind her who looked equally as excited. Sunny seemed super happy to see Angel, tugging his hand and shaking it, "You're going to do great in there and hey, if you gotta do community service, then i'm sure it might be fun.". Angel didn't seem to be so cheerful, the 16 year old probably wondering if doing labor would result in any physical damage to himself. Even Judas seemed to catch on to angel being uncomfortable, trying to change the subject.

"So sunny...what do you think of our chances?", actually, now that he thought about it, that would probably make angel MORE nervous.

"Well, it's not the HIGHEST chance, mostly because you're going against several kingdoms who already don't like angel much to begin with...and now found out about what he did, but we might be able to turn this around if we know right where to hit em!", She patted angel on the shoulder herself, "Just stay confident, you got friends looking out for you, we're gonna keep them from dethroning you, just you watch!". The girls made their way inside and Angel leaned against the wall, "I...I don't want to face them...".

"I know you don't...but you're going to have to own up to your mistakes...it's an important step in improving and it might help a lot.", angel took another deep breath, and Judas felt tempted to cheer him up, "Hey, if you do get dethroned, you're allowed a room at my castle...maybe even sky's too. You're not going to have to be alone or anything, or even have to live at your kingdom, those queens and kings in the past that got dethroned had to move forward somehow...you'll be ok.".

"I just know some of them won't forgive me...".

"Yeah, but it's worth a shot, if you wanna be king and do better for your people you deserve a second chance.".

"You ever been to a trial before?".

Judas thought back and nodded, "One, but i was pretty young, and it was one of those high council trials and they used the box, and it was towards a guy i really didn't know, I think he got in trouble for trying to fiddle with dark magic and he ended up doing labor to make up for it, and had the spell erased from his mind but i wasn't around to see that happen. Dark magic is...well...dangerous stuff, it can corrupt those who use it and spreads like a virus if you're not careful with it, it's why sky would be in trouble for it...eclipsa's spells are mostly harmless but some spells out there...not for the public.".

"I assume you haven't spoken to eclipsa much since...it happened, have you?".

The demon was silent for a moment, before leaning against the wall next to angel, "No, we really haven't, she hasn't been around much and we had other matters on our plate...i'm not sure about you, you seem to get along with her quite well.". The monster gave a brief nod, before crossing his arms, "She reminds me of my mom in some ways, I haven't spoken to her much either, I worry she's worried i'll blame her or something for what happened...side with sky...I think she'll be at the trial though...".

"Well, we'll try to talk to her lat-".

"Will nora be there?", he asked so fast judas was surprised, though a small sorry came from the boy's lips quickly after.

"I...don't know, her parents won't tell me where she is, I know they're visiting your wing and seeing your mother..but...nora...I don't know where she is i just know she's in the castle somewhere.", the spider's nose twitched, "Perhaps, i might know...". Though his conversation was quickly interrupted as Judas was greeted by his parents, King and Queen Lucitor arriving in a burst of flames and in matching royal outfits as they usually were during important events.

The Queen wearing a dress of course.

"Judas, Prince Angelus...", Angel stiffened at the sight of them, though Judas was being warm to them, his current situation with them definitely making him a little uncomfortable despite his mother's welcoming expression. King Tom Lucitor walked forward and fixed his son's shirt, "Been a long time since we even had to go to a trial, and having to judge one is even more of a surprise...be careful out there judas if you're going to be speaking for this boy, you'll be speaking in front of all the other attending kingdoms after all.".

"It'll be alright, I promise...it's not like you wouldn't do highly insane things for dad or Queen Butterfly, Angel is...well he's a friend, we're going to try and get him through this trial...", neither could argue against that, tom's eyes gazing towards the door to the newly fitted courtroom, "We'll have to judge fairly judas, even if he's your friend. We're in a position to agree with you as you've been deeply involved with the people closest to the source of the problem but you need to still make a case for his punishment...".

Marco took a look at Angel's sad eyes and seemed to have a hard time looking at him in the face, crossing their arms and trying to keep most of their focus on Judas. "We're not taking any joy out of this, believe me, but treason is a serious matter and this is just not something he can get off scot free, even as much as he regrets it...he's going to have to find a way to make amends and you're going to have to argue why he still should be allowed to be in a position of power.".

"I Understand, I promise...".

A smile was placed on the King's lips, "We'll see you in there, we love you...", and the couple walked through the doors together, the door shutting behind them. Judas still looked troubled when it came to them but he had to relax for angel's sake out there, taking his hand and guiding him elsewhere, "They'll all be arriving soon too, let's head to the bathroom, finishing prepping you, and head down to where we need to before they call you out, don't wanna run into too many others before this...".

Honestly, he just didn't think seeing more and more of the people who despised angel would do much for the boy's health anyway.

"You seem more worried then I am...", judas turned to look at the prince whose eyes were following him curiously, "Look, if things...do go wrong today...I...I don't want you to blame yourself. It's...bad enough feeling what I do, it's not going to be a lot better if I have to feel worse because you're blaming yourself because of me...I...screwed up, it's my fault...I know it's my fault...you just have to do what you can manage for me.". Judas was pacing, before stopping at a sink and splashing his face with some water.

"Judas...".

He turned to look at angel, his hair still a little damp and still a bit tired, "Huh?".

"If you're truly my friend and want to help me because you think of the best of me despite what I did, and you're not doing this as some attempt at redeeming yourself for the guilt you felt being powerless as a child, then please, tell me you'll promise to accept whatever verdict i get today...", his voice grew somber, "I'm not giving up, and i trust you to do everything you can, but whatever happens, happens, whether it's the best or worst outcome.".

"I promise..."., he leaned against the sink, "But I won't give up till it's all over either...".

He could feel angel nervously putting a hand on his back as well, even though he new angel was shaking himself, "Sky...came to visit me last night, we talked for a little bit, I...apologized but...she never responded to it, she...did tell me she was grateful however...for everything...and i'm grateful too, you both saved me...i'm in your debt more then ever no matter if i'm a prince or not after this.". Judas turned around and quickly pulled angel into a hug, the spider surprised and caught off guard as judas held him and smiled into his shoulder.

"We'll you'll owe us bigtime when we save you in this trial, and I mean when, i'll accept it if we fail...but...we're going to do it, I believe in those girls in there and I know we'll figure this out.", he let Angel go, Judas seeming more relaxed as he took another deep breath, fixing his hair. "You'll be heading in there real soon, it'll probably be a long trial, just try to stay calm in there and be honest about everything as much as possible, well...except for the whole...you know what?".

"The fact those girls in there are um...from alternate timelines I assume?", Angel said, one eyebrow raised, "Yes, well, i'm sure that's not relevant enough to the case to mention anyway, since this is mostly my crimes...but I assume if i said anything the queens would have my head so...i'll be quiet on that. However, I hope that means the girls were prepped for this too, because they witnessed what happened and they can't exactly let that insane fact slip to everyone in the room.".

"They've been prepped, I promise...".

He seemed thankful on that.

"I get the feeling I won't be allowed to talk about that much in general till this trial is over...will I?".

The demon smiled, conjuring a flame and drying his hair in an instant.

"Sounds about right...I'm sure you still have a ton of questions about it, once this is over, no matter what happens, we'll answer them all for you."


Judas watched as the nervous prince stood on the pedestal in front of the awaiting royals seating above him in an almost jury type box, all of them dressed well and all of them looking down at the poor boy with disappointment. Judas could feel angel sweat on stand, looking around at the seated crowd, he could spot the girls, katrina, and sure enough, eclipsa and globgor were in the audience as well. The people attending weren't a large amount, but were just enough to add to the anxiety.

Judas was not well educated on earth trials, but knew enough from his mother to know mewni didn't work like earth, mewni was sloppier, it had different rules and different ways to declare it's verdicts.

Witnesses had truth potions, witnesses faced a truth machine called the box to force them to speak the truth or die, with magic witnesses could have their minds read entirely, it made it easy to bring most crimes to an end compared to human ones. Though at this trial, there was no need to force truth out of a boy that had admitted to everything, there was nothing more to squeeze out of him, he had been drained of all information he could disclose, what this was about is what his fate should be.

It may of ended in a few minutes if it weren't for the fact they wished to participate, going over what angel did and properly deciding what to do with him.

It wouldn't be easy among so many different kingdoms however.

Some would want to punish him with labor, some would wish to take it easy on someone still so young, some would decide to dethrone him with no question regardless. Getting a verdict everyone could agree on was most likely not possible, but it was possible to at least have more sway to the options that wouldn't further ruin the prince's life. He would be scoffed at no matter what, but losing his crown meant he would never have a chance to redeem himself in the eyes of his people and quiet possibly never be able to return home.

It was not exile, but it might as well have been.

Judas could spot Sky already digging through her stuff, as if deciding what she should talk about first, sunny helping her by her side.

Sky was really serious about this, more serious then Judas had been expecting.

And despite how nervous he was, he felt a little proud of her.

The high commission he could spot seated in the very back, all of them sitting and watching and it made his blood boil.

He turned to spot a goblin quickly entering, out of breath as he weakly blew into a royal horn he was carrying, still out of breath. "S-sorry...I-I'm here to annonce the queen in charge of this trial, the trial of Angelus Arachford, The gracious and lovely...Queen Butterfly!". The eyes quickly were drawn to the door as the Queen stepped inside, golden gown and all, with her hair in twin buns and tired as ever. But she was actually smiling as she usually tended to, but she must've lacked much rest from her hunt.

"Hello everyone! Sorry I'm a little late...long story, Pardon me...", she quickly headed over to the grand seating area to join Janna who quickly patted her shoulder, clearly impressed.

Sky groaned and grumbled from her seat.

The Queen cleared her throat as the goblin who had entered coughed into his fist and blew into the trumpet once again before putting out a scroll he'd been carrying on his person and reading it aloud, "Today begins the trial of Prince Angelus Sebastian Arachford, as headed by Queen Star Butterfly of the Butterfly Kingdom, the accused is charged with treason and conspiring with a criminal for months, only caught recently. Said criminal is currently only charged with breaking in and robbery, but had also enchanted the Royal Spiderbite family inside their own home for days on end before they were rescued.".

Angel was twitching, have a hard time looking at anyone, his eyes facing more downwards then anything as judas forced himself to stay where he stood.

"- as such, the prince has confessed to sharing information with the criminal in trade for the return of magic to his people and a cure for the sick Queen Arana Arachford, his mother. He has also confessed to being used to get close to the princess , Princess Skyler Butterfly, in order to grab new information for the masked criminal...as well as being used as a distraction for the criminal to further carry out crimes. As such, Prince Angelus Arachford has been considered responsible partially for the terror that had been roving around mewni for some time now, though he declines telling the criminal anything about the systems that were put in place by Miss Butterfly or in terms of actions laid out against the criminal. Today's trial will be to determine the Prince's fate and whether or not he should be trusted after this incident.".

Judas and Sky both let out a ting of frustration for the same reason, no mention of angel trying to take the criminal down.

Figured as much.

The goblin bowed and backed away as Star conjured up a small toy hammer, slamming in down on the table in front of her, honestly the likelyhood she knew how courts worked on earth was a bare minimum, but as long as she took the rest of the trial seriously they're have a chance. Angel forced himself to stay still, his legs folded and saying as close to his body as possible, trying to stay small and try and keep the confidence he knew the others wanted him to have.

"Well, honestly if the situation had been simple, we wouldn't need a trial to decide what we should do with you. But with you having affected all of mewni, and you being royalty, there was no other way to go about this, everyone seems to have different thoughts on it and everyone feels like they personally should be given a chance to speak on the matter. It's not every day a child kinda affects all of mewni so drastically, and puts them into a panic...", she was almost amused in a way, if not still frustrated.

Judas could feel Sky rolling her eyes, knowing full well her mom did her own set of changes to mewni around that boy's age.

"But, it's also been made clear the prince himself was critically injured by the criminal, and from our witnesses he had been intending to betray and capture the criminal himself. The Arachmen as a species have the ability to paralyze others with a venom they store in their fangs, though this is activate by them, the vemon will keep the victim paralyzed for hours and the prince has admitted his goal had been to capture them and bring them into custody, believing he had been threatened to work with them or suffer as a result".

There were murmurs among the crowd.

"The boy's told others that he had intended to help as a favor in order to help his people, but found himself unable to leave without being threatened. And as it's clear from his injuries, this criminal was indeed no mere criminal, displaying magical powers that harmed him greatly and had the ability to force others to work under them, which is why the prince of the ponyheads had often went missing for so long and had no memory of where he went.".

Angel's ears twitched, the sounds of people murmuring only making him more nervous.

The Queen's blue eyes look directly at the monster prince, gathering herself as she crossed her arms and stared him down. "Prince Angelus, is everything i've said so far true, or is there anything you wish to correct me on?". His eyes darted to the royals watching down on him, though his eyes specifically skipped his own father's, who sat alone in the back. No doubt him even showing up was a risk on his part, but a necessary one considering who was on trial here.

"No, that...sounds about right...", he could feel jude's eyes on him, and was quick to speak as normal as possible so he could be heard among the crowd.

"So he really did do this huh?", star turned around to spot the Ponyhead queen, who looked incredibly unhappy to be here as she usually was, "It's his fault I got dragged in here instead of getting my main looking fancy today, and making everyone paranoid as heck. Jeez gurl, and I thought WE did some crazy stuff, like if St O's were still running, you know he would've been sent to that evil little prison instead of being forced on trial for this kinda stuff.".

"Well...actually-", Larry Kelpbottom spoke up next to her, a little nervous as his wife stared him down, "I mean, that place was for misbehavior like property damage, and avoiding royal duties, and being a messy and irresponsible princess and prince...it's um...quite different from doing a large crime like this? When princesses and princes go against their own kingdom like this, it's just not simple enough that a boarding school can help with it...", the pony's stare only grew larger and he got more quiet as the other royals spoke among themselves.

The Pigeon king let out a cough, his booming voice getting the other's attention, "The boy taking a stand against the criminal is rather commendable, especially if faced with death if he had lost, his alliance with them must've caught them off guard when he attacked. It's quite like us pigeons, it's always the ones you underestimate that become your downfall". Eclipsa let out a snicker from where she sat, if only because some of the other royals were giving the king strange looks.

"I say we just dethrone him and get it over with, prince never did much good and he couldn't even capture them. If he can't do that then why should he have the throne over someone more capable instead of taking their boss down well after they went behind the other kingdom's backs...", it figured the one speaking would be a Johansen, the current queen in fact, the dark haired woman grunting and slamming her hand on the table in front of her, "This boy did nothing but terrorize mewni and it's people for years, get into fights, start protests, keep people from working so he could complain-".

"Well for the record, we were complaining about the whole "My race was almost wiped out by a mewni queen" thing, which is probably a decent reason to kinda be upset, I mean...not everyday your species almost gets wiped out, loses it's powers and history for the most part and goes forgotten and poor is it", Leave it to Queen Janna to be snarky at a time like this, the other Queen being noticeably mad but also not daring to challenge her too much either.

"Maybe we should start asking the witness questions?", Queen Spiderbite sighed, standing up, "Prince Angelus, were you in anyway responsible for what had happened in the spiderbite kingdom? It is believed the one who attacked us was your boss, did you know she would attack and were you apart of it?". Angel shook his head, "No...I didn't know about it, I wasn't involved, I found out about it after the fact, because she offered Princess Spiderbite's book as my reward to help cure my mom...I was left out of what happened there...".

"and the Lucitor heist?", Tom stood up now.

It may of been useless garbage, but it was still a robbery to a place that was supposed to be secure to many precious items.

"Well, I originally was but...my attempts to try failed...I wasn't even able to figure out a plan before they did it themselves, the only thing I may of helped on was...I was the one who told them about it, because I heard it from my father and at the time we were just talking and I was rambling on but...they were interested...I didn't think much of it, I just was talking about stuff and that the lucitors had this item and soon enough they wanted me to take it...only to do the task themselves...".

Honestly, now that Judas thought about it, Angel wasn't a very competent minion.

"So...you didn't directly have a play in most of the heists? That's-".

Then Queen Johansen spoke up again, "but he was there when they attacked butterfly castle, correct queen butterfly? I remember after that happened we specifically asked for more safety shields and protection, and the boy had been caught at the scene.". There were more whispers among the royals and the crowd and angel had to nod along with her words, he couldn't say no, he was indeed there. Though he did attempt to speak up, "I was transported there while i was asleep...I didn't go on any orders...".

"You must have known why they moved you there though? There was no other reason for you to end up inside on your own, and yet you went right along with their scheme and ended up running right into Prince Lucitor, Princess Skyler, and Princess Nora, putting a few heirs at risk directly.". Angel gulped, and judas tried to force himself not to say something, only to give in and walk over to where Angel was standing, catching the royals off guard.

"Prince Lucitor? So you have something to add?", Queen Spiderbite asked, Judas looking to angel before nodding.

"I was leading the charge with him that night, fully attempting to let someone know he was here and take him back home, I ran into sky down the line and nora was with me because we were looking for a friend. We ran into him by pure chance and ran into sky by pure chance, on our hunt at the time we ran into her as well. Angel had no direct affect as to how we ran into them or to putting us in danger, he'd been forced to the scene to make a distraction and wasn't at fault for why we ran into the criminal, he was an unwilling participant.".

"Prince Lucitor, you witnessed what happened the day this young man was arrested right?".

"Yeah, I'm the one that saved him from getting hurt from the thief's escape, and before then i had been looking for where he went off to, we listened in on his meeting with his boss. Angel was being honest when he told the knights and guards before that he'd been trying to back from their deal before attempting to bite them and paralyze them, when he got attacked and was injured it was a direct result of him attacking the criminal and then turning the tides on them.", judas sounded confident but he knew he was sweating bullets, trying to avoid focusing on the whispers around him.

"What is your relationship to this boy?".

"Well, we're uh...recently friends, we were more of familiar acquaintances before, but we've gotten closer more recently.".

"Then how do we know we can trust your words on this matter?".

"Because Sky was also there, and so were our other children, not to mention your own daughter", Marco nodded to Judas before looking the woman in the eyes, "They all gave similar stories, it's why we have the story we do, i doubt they would all be trying to cover for this boy with a fake story, he had been so injured it took awhile for him to properly heal. This boy was attacked Penelope, he might not have been here at all if it weren't for the kids, they all stated angel had risked his life to turn on her.".

"Yeah but, he still chose to work with her, I ain't hearing him tell us he was forced to work under her or something. ",Queen Ponyhead looked more bored then ever at this trial, judas looked to Angel to speak, "You're right...It uh...didn't start out that way...I...I thought she was an ally...but it took some time into our alliance before I realized that I didn't like it and felt like if I turned my back she'd destroy me...her uh...attitude and words got scarier...I was afraid what she could do to my family or me...or...my friends...".

"So you believe it was almost like a con.".

"Yes, something like that...I...feel like I was tricked and then I couldn't get out of it...".

"A prince whose easily tricked into giving up valuable information to a stranger isn't exactly a good sign of a leader...is it?", Queen Jaggs coughed out, "Imagine if he had given out kingdom secrets and how our military all worked, this person doesn't exactly seem to look like the most trustworthy individual, and yet you fell for everything they were offering to you? Promises to fix everything you've wanted...it sounds too good to be true for most kingdoms".

"Yeah but I...I just...they showed me what they could do and...I felt like they really wanted to help me...", he sounded so vulnerable but there still seemed to be some skepticism among the group, doubts being spread on whether he had been tricked or had accepted knowing full well what he was getting into. Star glanced over to sky and back to the prince, nervous about her next line of questioning, "The lessons, the ones you took with my daughter...?".

"Yes?".

"Did you use them to manipulate my daughter, did you tell the criminal anything about her?".

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room, the whispers dying down quickly as to hear the answer.

Angel could barely get it out.

"Y-yes...B-but i didn't do it to manipulate her! I wasn't trying to trick sky into telling me anything, I-I just told them we were learning together! And that sky and I were learning stuff like magic and royals stuff and history...sky never...she never said anything to me i could even consider telling anyone else!". Though the questioning continued, and Judas stepped in front of angel as more questions arose from the group. "So does that mean if she did say something you would've spilled?", asked Queen Pidgeon.

"What? No no no...I mean, well, I guess it depended when it happened, if it had been early on It may of happened, b-but i got in serious trouble with them more recently for keeping my mouth shut about anything going on!"

"Just because you stopped helping doesn't remove the fact you were willing to do it before, you're rivalry with the princess is fairly clear to mewni, your grudge against her and her family alone makes it hard to believe where you align, and now you've said you would've been willing to say just anything about her to some stranger." Judas seemed to be looking for something to interject in but it was pretty hard to really defend angel on doing actions he hadn't done but could've done.

However, Sky stood up now, getting the room's attention, papers still in her hand.

"Princess Butterfly?".

"Look, angel can kinda be the utter worst sometimes...and kinda an idiot, but he doesn't really want me hurt either...when we fight, it's with no intention to really hurt each other. My kingdom ruined his kingdom, i'm sorta in the way of him trying to get my mom to help fix things, i have to kick him out. It's annoying but not malicious. I mean seriously, angel could only do one simple spell for ages it seems, you really think angel wanted to harm me? He never even tried to bite me or use a weapon or anything!", defending him by insulting him, works well enough.

She made a fair point, one that could not be proven against either.

"I-I think it's cruddy...that he went behind my back like this...but we weren't friends when he did this either and when we were it was when he gave up wasn't it? He didn't exactly betray my trust because at the time he didn't trust me yet...it was the fact he...that it felt like he was only friends with me or opened up to me to use me after everything that I...that I ended up feeling the way I did. Angel's not a bad person...he just makes bad choices and does dumb things because he cares..."., angel's ear flickered, his eyes closing.

"As touching as that is princess butterfly, are you saying this somehow means he should not face conflict?", Mr Kelpbottom asked curiously, "surely you can't be asking for us to redeem him solely because he he didn't ever really betray you?". Sky stepped forward, "No no, that's not what i'm saying, I mean, angel screwed up and he knows it...but like, he's willing to do anything for his own people and make sacrifices in order to help people he cares about, isn't that what you'd want in a future king?".

"Yes, but even his own people don't like his actions, what do you think King Arachford?".

Angel's father had been remarkably quiet this entire time, listening and not speaking to those around him.

He was having a hard time making eye contact with his son and he coughed and proceeded to speak, "Well, Angelus isn't popular with our people, I can attest to that...though the kingdom did seem almost thankful to have been granted the ability to use magic again they thought lost. Seeing it come from the prince they all seemed to dismiss was...well...a surprise. They had chalked it up to being almost a miracle, but it seemed a lot more then that...".

Angel was more then just his name that day.

"They were not...happy for a few reasons...they wanted to remain in good graces with the butterflys and...angel trying to protest them them stood in the way of that, they were fearful of what the butterflys would do if angel went too far. I'm deeply sorry Queen Butterfly, I wished to never bring this up, but I have no choice in this matter. The people are glad to finally be getting aid from you and...they hated angel because they were scared of you.", he looked ashamed to look upon the queen's face as she turned to him.

"You were scared I would stop helping you because angel was annoying the kingdom?".

"Yes, I'm deeply sorry.".

"King Amir...no, that's...I'm sorry you ever felt like i'd abandon you at the drop of a hat...simply because of your son. You should trust me more then that...I should never have made you feel like you were on a thread. I'm the one who should be sorry here.". Her blue eyes look genuinely sad, "I'm supposed to be helping monsters in mewni and yet they're still scared of what i'll do to them? That's against everything I stood for...Maybe your son had a point...in me not helping enough.".

"Your majesty?"

This had quickly turned around to be something else entirely, Star nodding before turning back to the group.

"When the trial ends, we'll speak on this further.".

Sky stepped forward, clutching the papers in her hand, "Angel's still a kid, he's sixteen, he still has time to fix things, he still has time to do better before he's crowned. Dethroning usually only happens with adults, with adult leaders and royals, how can you put angel in the same category as them? If someone younger then him did something similar, would they be just as guilty? Would they deserve to be dethroned despite them being six or something? He made a mistake when trusting someone but he didn't know he was causing any harm, so why remove him from the throne from it?".

"Princess Butterfly, you are only a year younger then him, are you not?", her blue eyes met the one's of King Rock Johansen.

"Yes sir."

"So you're mature enough to speak about this, but he's too immature to be punished?".

"Well I-".

"Excuse me...", sky watched judas cross his arms, setting himself in front of his friend, "Her point still stands here, no matter how young she is, you are holding a sixteen year old monster prince to the same standards as an adult, the adults were dethroned in the past are not the same as angel here. They were fully aware of the crimes they were committing and if they had turned on their people or put them in danger, angel believed he had been doing something good and we know who we're dealing with has magic...".

"As much as you're trying to argue here, Judas and Sky make decent points.", Marco spoke, holding tom's hand and keeping themselves levelheaded despite the chaos. "Should we really be judging the prince under the same rules as a normal king? If the situation was a trap and he was forced to help or suffer, then he's a lot less blameless then...committing murder. I'm not sure what most people would have done under his situation, especially if you worried for the life of others.".

"Reporting it was an option, was it not, the sooner he said it to someone the sooner we could've saved everyone and protected those in danger!".

Angel suddenly got smaller on his podium and there were more whispers, judas quickly filling everyone in.

"Angel...felt if he told someone, they wouldn't believe him, or...there was no way he could save his mom, this person held a cure over his head to keep him helping.", and the King's eyes got more somber, " He felt he had a live to save and...I feel like if my parents were on the line, or my brothers...or sky...i feel like i'd be doing everything in my power to want them safe. People just...make bad choices if it means they can safe the life of someone they care about. It's his family we're talking about here, his mother.".

It felt like they were winning, like they were winning the audience over with not removing the prince from power.

But it was clear some would not give up so easily.

"Would his mother approve of his actions? Would she have approved of him messing with the princess's feelings or doing these things to save her life?".

The room was tense.

"B-but that doesn't matter!", The demon snapped back, "Maybe she wouldn't have agreed to what he chose, that doesn't change the fact angel wanted to save her life and didn't know what he was getting himself into! I can't speak for her but I doubt she would want her son dethroned either for this!". King Lucitor was quick to whisper to their partner, Marco nodding and coughing into their hand, "As Prince Lucitor and Princess Butterfly have mad clear, the prince is a teenager, who had been tricked into helping for the sake of his own mother's life, now whether we feel he should be judged as an adult would is still up for debate it seems, but I suggest for now we hear from someone else on this matter...".

Janna smirked, fixing her crown as she laid back in her seat, "Oh, who you got under your sleeve diaz? another one of your exs?".

"What? No! I meant Eclipsa, she was the one who informed you of the incident and had been teaching him and sky for awhile now...and Angel reports they had been hanging out outside of these times to help him with his magic, I think we should hear more from her.". Their gaze went to the woman with the dark clothing and spade markings as she stood up, reassuring globgor before walking forward. Judas and Sky being shooed off to the side as Eclipsa stood next to Angel, nervous, but still ready for anything.

"Geez, your own mom kicked us out...", the princess wasn't happy, grumbling under her breath as they leaned against the wall.

"We were hitting the same points over and over, it makes sense to have more of another opinion on this...eclipsa might know more about angel's intentions then we think...".

"Eclipsa Butterfly, how close are you to this young man?", Eclipsa was a wild card sometimes, and Judas could tell his mom was a little worried about speaking to her. Logically Eclipsa was the next step into getting further on this issue but what eclipsa thought was ok and what others thought was ok could be widely different. Not to mention Star's mother instincts kicked in heavily with sky ever since eclipsa also got her hurt and sky could tell she was almost afraid of hearing eclipsa had gone too far again.

"Well, he and sky were learning under me for a while, lessons kinda got cancelled when what happened...happened. Angel however, has been a rather charming young man, very silly though sometimes, he'd come alone to talk and he was worried sky and judas didn't lik-". Marco interrupted though, "Eclipsa, that's not necessary, did he ever tell you anything about the current situation? As in, did he talk about being forced to do these tasks or about his intentions to betray the criminal controlling him?".

"Oh well no, not directly, he told no one...however...".

"Eclipsa...".

"It's possible at one point i may of used mind-spying on him...".

Angel's eyes lit up, his head turning to look at her in disbelief.

"Wait...wait...you...WHAT?", his face was suddenly very red and embarrassed, and Eclipsa both seemed embarrassed for having done so, but judas could tell she was also a little amused. "Don't worry, i'll keep the personal stuff to myself, in terms of this situation at hand so we're on topic, it's entirely possible i was so worried about him because he was getting so sickly and anxious I wanted to see maybe where the problem was stemming from since he didn't want to speak about it...".

"And you saw...Her?".

"She was in his thoughts yes.".

More murmurs, some good, some bad.

It left Judas and Sky both feeling uneasy as the dark queen kept talking.

"It wasn't incredibly weird though, globgor himself went investigating and found her hanging around a lot near his kingdom, So we already had seen something like this coming. We only didn't want to scare the boy, we simply kept our distance until we got more on the matter of what was happening. The boy is still quite young, i wasn't going to go around doing any foul deeds to him to get him to cough it up or anything, well, at least not him, he's a good exception.", Eclipsa seemed rather fine with her statement but it was clear the royals seemed to be ranging from confusion to anger to her.

"You knew about this and decided to say nothing?!", Star gripped the banister in front of her as she leaned forward, freaking out. "My daughter almost died out there! All because she went after that boy, If you had told us sooner we could've prevented anyone from getting hurt and stopped them much before-". Then Eclipsa held up a hand, "Star, dear, there wasn't enough there to prove whether he was at fault or not, her being around his home, and her being in his thoughts alone isn't enough to convict anyone, you should know that...i was arrested under much less convincing reasons..".

"Ughhhh, still, you should've said something...c'mon eclipsa, sky was in danger...".

"Right, right...".

"She just cares about me!", Star's attention was turned back to angel, "M-maybe she should've said something, but if she had blabbed...well...there's fair reason to believe that...thing would've thought I was the one who squeaked and...I might not be here today! Eclipsa just...I needed someone to talk to sometimes who...I new for sure would want to help me and would trust me at the time...talking to her...helped me decided that I had to stop her...she didn't know but...I asked her what she would do if people she cared about were in danger and...if she did something against the bad guy they would be in more danger...".

"And i said, I'd kick their butts and get my family out of there, because I know they'd prefer it if i helped save us all then let us live miserably and let worse happen.", she finished, nodding to him. "So...in the end it was best I had to do something myself and just...keep everyone else from getting hurt. I didn't want judas or sky involved cause they could get hurt and I couldn't let anyone know because then i'd be dead...I just...I needed to take her out by myself and...then...no one gets hurt.".

"You were blasted in the back...right?", Larry Kelpbotton asked, the spider nodding. Star also let out a long sigh, brushing some blonde hair from her face. "He was in our wing to recover, it wasn't pretty but he managed to heal pretty fast, unfortunately another hit and he might've died. Apparently Sky had moved in by that point and had been the one to save his life, according to the prince the criminal had full intentions to silence him so he wouldn't be able to spill.".

"I-I asked for my mind to be wiped when i said I wanted out...", the spider added, "I told her to have me forget everything if it meant I could get out, but they...they thought it was better i became like Prince Ponyhead, my mind in her hands. Because even if I had my mind wiped, then people would just wonder what was wrong with me and figure out my mind was erased and I may of had a part to play. I guess maybe they thought the idea i was kidnapped or i ran away was much better then any chance of me going back with no memory and having my memory jogged...".

"Why would you want your memories to go?", the King looked puzzled at the monster prince and Eclipsa motioned for him to explain himself better. "Well no no, the meeting, me wanting out, the memories...It was a front so i could capture her. I did really want out but I rarely can ever find her in person or get close enough to bite her or anything, So i figured...if i invited her to something super important, she showed up, got close enough to do a spell on me, I could get her...just like that...I thought I could do it...".

"He'd asked about training...with me.", Eclipsa coughed, "Angel had...well...I believe the term to most others are "Gone feral"? He'd done it at least once in our training sessions to practice fighting, though his people call it an "Ultimate". It's almost their form of the butterfly form, except of transforming, he becomes suddenly more powerful and more monsterous. He didn't tell me why he wanted training for it, but he wanted private training to see if he could master it, and he was working on it during nights".

"During...nights?".

"He's been here mostly since the spiderbite situation, before then I picked him up a few times from home with my butterfly form, after that it was only a walk to my tower.".

"I thought I could do it...who better then me? I was already working for her...she'd have a harder time seeing me coming...or they...I still don't know who they are. I was getting so much better with it, I thought I could bite into their wrist, their arm, they would be paralyzed by my vemon. Then I could take her directly to the castle or unmask them and you could have them in custody, and they wouldn't be able to stop you, you could even prevent them from using magic in that time before the vemon wore off...but It all went wrong...I..I missed.".

is head hung low, "I failed...again...even when I'm trying to do better...I still failed...".

He was on the verge of tears and eclipsa reached out to comfort him, people still talking to each other about his confession. And Sky and Judas may as well have stepped in as well if the guards in the room hand't put their hands in front of them, making them stay put on the matter. "Sorry your highness, no more barging in the middle of the conversation, you'll only be called when asked from now on, same goes for Prince Lucitor on the matter.".

Of course.

"Eclipsa I-".

"Hey, you told me I was his new teacher, and he wanted to learn something alone, I'd say he has every right to learn on my account. You never said not to teach him about this stuff at night."., She patted his back, careful of any lingering injuries he might of still hand, "I for one, thought he was quite a fun student, I think when he sets his mind to something it's hard to get him out of it. Sky's similar in that regard, though too busy to need extra lessons.".

"You were the one who informed the queens of what was happening...correct?", Angel didn't look at his father as he awaited Eclipsa's answer.

"Oh yes, that was me, I...I know not everyone thinks I should've done that...but...I already lost a girl i care dearly about for before...I...I couldn't have it happen again...", judas felt sky shift, her anger still present. With meteora still being alive it was no wonder. He wrapped an arm around her and she leaned against him, Eclipsa still speaking to the court. "Thankfully everyone made it out alright, who knows what may of happened otherwise.", there were more murmurs, and eclipsa felt she was probably about done.

Then Janna spoke up.

"Eclipsa?".

"Yes?".

"What exactly do you think angel should be granted throughout this? I mean, you kinda got imprisoned cause of some losers in power.", she eyed the commission, all of which didn't seem amused, "How would you judge this guy if you were up here?". Eclipsa looked to angel and sighed, "If I were in your position, I'll be honest, I would free him of all charges...even though he did screw up and go against all of mewni. I feel like I know him better then to think he has bad blood and would ever do this again. The boy has promise and I don't think dethroning everyone who you don't like without giving them a chance to prove themselves to do better is the route mewni should be going in".

Angel seemed touched.

"You are dismissed eclipsa...".

The woman returned to her seat, Star sighing and rubbing at her face, "I suggest, we take a small recess...and when we return our final witnesses can come up and give their presentations. Then we'll decide on the final verdict for the prince here.". There seemed to be a collective agreement as angel got off the stand, judas and sky walking towards him as they all headed out the doors to regroup and talk. Sky giving the high commission a glare on the way out.


"I think we're doing pretty well out there...I think".

Sky quickly ruffled through her papers, "We've established your motives, we've gone into how unfair it is, and we've had people go up about your character in general. I think maybe the people in there might think of you in a bit of a lighter view then they used to...at least i hope so after this.". Judas was still pacing, mostly in a circle, trying to deduce exactly where everyone on stand was at this time. He knew his own parents were probably more understanding and less likely to incriminate the boy, especially now knowing he wasn't directly involved in the incident that got them hiding in a safe room.

But Sky's mom seemed mixed in some cases, the Johansens seemed deadset on punishing him greatly, Queen Ponyhead barely seemed to care and when she did she was annoyed with him, the Spiderbites were a complete mystery and the list went on. Their odds seemed more in their favor then against but that didn't mean something couldn't completely flip that around suddenly. Angel was only so sympathetic because he meant no real harm and hadn't directly caused any major harm, not to mention being a kid who got tricked.

But that might not be enough for most people and there was still time to turn the tides.

"When we get back in there it's sunny's turn to speak, and i think celeste and galexia are joining her...if only we had nora...she was a witness too.". Sky grumbled to herself, going through her documents,"I had to pack so much of mewni's history of dethroning and court cases, I had to study more for this then eclipsa's own classes...ugh. But I think we can kinda win this...not sure if we could get the verdict eclipsa would prefer considering the crowd but...".

"I think it's fair to say when everyone found out angel had done this they expected him to admit he'd been dropping tons of info on the castles and had been planning everything and left and planned to stop her cause he wasn't getting what he wanted out of the alliance or something. I get the feeling that him having done little on purpose and getting force to work and leaving because he regretted it was not fitting with how people saw him before this point...no offense angel, i think to the public you were seen a lot more bratty...", he stopped in his tracks and looked to the boy sitting on one of the sofas nearby.

"It's fine...I...I wasn't my best...I was just...too stubborn to accept I was doing nothing but making everything worse...".

"Well whatever, I think we might have it, just need to seal the deal with the next line...unless they all decide to screw us over despite all this...ugh they better not. I don't want us to have worked so hard on this only to have them all decide it meant nothing because they hate angel too much to give him another chance." Judas walked up to the dark-haired princess, patting her on the back, "You did well out there sky, i'm really impressed how well you're holding yourself.".

"Thanks jude...you too.".

"Alright you guys, you ready?", Sunny came bouncing by, nervous as ever but determined. "You guys did pretty darn well in there but the fight isn't over, it's not over till the verdict is determined. And you never know if something else comes into play last minute, we better keep on our toes.". Galexia and Celeste walked up behind her, Celeste still reluctant to be here but also required to be here, "Since mason is too young to be here and nora is...wherever, they dragged landon as someone to question with us, he's uh...not excited...".

"They really should let all of us tesitfy shouldn't they?", sunny looked up to Judas and he only shrugged.

"I mean, i guess three of you is perhaps enough, but i won't deny I think nora and mason should have some imput...but i can't argue against my parents on that, he saw a lot he probably was too young to see...we'll just have to work with who we got. If angel does get dethroned, he's not only vulnerable and he'll most likely never be able to go home, but if we really think about it...it's a good time for anyone to step in and take that kingdom for themselves in this state...someone like...".

"Don't finish that, I don't wanna think about it...", sky said, waving her arm at him, "Let's just go in there and finish this, for angel...and for our own safety.".


The court got back in order, everyone returning to their seats, or in the case of sky and judas, along the wall.

Queen Star took her seat and Angel got back on his podium.

The final fight was ready to begin.

The goblin running in to blow on his horn once more, coughing, "We now resume the second half of court today for the trial of Prince Angelus Arachford, accused of committing treason. By the end of this trial his fate shall be determined by the rulers of mewni, let us continue...". He headed out as Star tapped her fingers on the table nervously, "Well, we're moving on forward by calling some new witnesses to talk about what happened during the situation, since judas and sky are close with the boy, there is potential their attachment to him may of made their truth a little different...so to be safe, we're calling on witnesses with less of such an attachment...sunny, galexia, and prince landon lucitor diaz!".

The three teenagers quickly headed foward, landon and celeste of course incredibly unhappy to be in this situation as the girls next to them smiled ear to ear.

"Girls, and...Landon, can you confirm what the prince has said as the truth? Did he or did he not attempt to take the criminal down with his vemon?".

The girls all looked to landon, who coughed, "Only I saw that part m'am...they entered the scene after sky and judas went in to save angel...yeah, it's basically what happened. He's not lying and neither are sky and my brother on that...dude kinda tried to take her out, almost died, they came in to save him...sky blasted the guy...". Landon clearly didn't want to be there, but he went on, "There's not a lot else to add, we were just out there to find him when we saw what happened.".

"Girls?".

"We saw everything after, with judas saving the prince, the queen saving sky, and the being getting away in a flash of light, the queen herself i believe i can attest to that.".

"I can.".

"Well...if there is little to add, then sounds to me we can decide on the verdict as is", Marco crossed their arms, looking to their company, "We've gone over some of the history relating to this, put the rules into question,, and have gone over the details surrounding this situation. The boy had good intentions and it sounds to me he had been manipulated and threatened to work for them, i'd say in a way it's brave for them to have even considered betraying them at all. I think on the basis it sounded like a clear case of him betraying mewni, but it seems he never had a huge part to play in most of the incidents and most of what he did was minor or accidental. This situation is not as clear cut and dry as it had seemed".

There seemed to be mainly nods from most of the other royals, sky raising an eyebrow.

Did they win? Already? They actually did it?

Judas let out a sigh of relief, angel's surprised face almost turned into a smile.

"WAIT!"

The audience collectively turned to someone standing up in the crowd.

The High Commission.

Sky felt her teeth grit.

"What is it?", Star looked annoyed, crossing her arms and sighing, "We're almost done here".

Hekapoo turned to the others and sighed, "We have a question for the witnesses...".

"What? The witnesses? Is there something wrong with their story here?".

She closed her eyes, "Witnesses, did you mention what color was the magic princess butterfly shot out of her wand when she saved the prince?".

Landon rolled his eyes, "No, why would that matter?".

Hekapoo turned her head to look at Sky, the commission following suit.

"Because the magic that came from her wand, wasn't normal, it was green!".

There were gasps everywhere, whispers.

Sky felt her stomach drop as they pointed a finger at her, everyone looking at her.

"Once more, Princess Butterfly intended to kill!".