Chapter 238: Chair (Knees)
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"So, what does it mean, exactly, that we have to beg penance?" asked Maddie. They were still in their small room because the custody hearing meant that Danny's guardian hadn't yet been decided.
"I'm putting the paperwork together for that, now," said Azalea. "But it really does mean beg. The relevant courts don't need to grant your tasks unless they want to."
Maddie could see how this could go horribly wrong. She got up and started pacing.
"But that means we could never fulfil the conditions!"
"Yes, it does. But it's unlikely that they'd do that. While…" Azalea trailed off, oddly, tilting her head. "Your daughter has enough influence to convince the relevant parties to reconsider. But if you don't follow proper procedure, they can delay. Possibly to the point of making you unable to complete the task in time. Begging Libra will be the easiest, because you're currently in the custody of Libra. The Regency Council is assembling, so contacting Ma'at won't be too terribly difficult, nor should the Council of Ancients, since the Ancients are part of the Regency Council. You're lucky, in that way. You won't have to travel about to track everyone down."
Jack grunted. "I don't know if I'd call any of this 'lucky.'"
"You should. Before these past few years, the members of the Council of Ancients hadn't been anywhere even in the general vicinity of one another for hundreds of years. At least that's what I've heard. It isn't as if they tell someone like me their travel plans." She waved a hand in their direction. "But if that was still going on, you'd be, well, really in trouble."
"Why?" asked Maddie.
"Because then, on top of everything else, you'd have to convince them to assemble. You're supposed to get penance from the council, not the individual Ancients."
Maddie nodded in acknowledgement. It sounded like some never-ending questline from one of Danny's videogames.
"But," continued Azalea, "you don't have to worry about that, because they're meeting now, and as long as—"
Maddie blinked hard as she lost Azalea's next several words.
"—they should keep meeting regularly."
Oh.
So, that's what it would be like, whenever someone mentioned Danny.
"That's… good," said Maddie, weakly. "What would you expect the penance to be?"
Azalea rolled her pen between her fingers. "Most likely? Something that both benefits the parties setting the tasks and demonstrates your regret and willingness to be rehabilitated. I have no idea what the Ancients might set you to do. Libra will probably have you care for something. Not something intelligent, though. A ghost plant, perhaps. Probably one that's finicky. Or building something that will be beneficial to ghosts."
"And the others?" asked Jack, quietly.
"Hmm. Not sure. I mean, the Feathers mostly do stuff that you'd consider to be tort law, so I don't really know what they'd do… some kind of restitution? But what kind of restitution can you give-?"
That strange lack of sound struck again.
"Although, the penances are restitution in and of themselves…" said Azalea tapping her lower lip. "With the Ancients… Who knows? It has new members, now, and new people are always unpredictable. Considering their role, they'll probably be harsh. I think the last time something like this happened, they gave the person a quest. But that was a long time ago. Like I said, the Ancients haven't met very often lately."
Azalea pressed a seal to the bottom of the paperwork she was working on, then slid it across the table to Jack and Maddie's side. Then she took a small booklet from the legal box she'd brought in with her.
"This should give you a good overview of the begging process," she said. "Assuming humans don't have anything like it. 'Petitioning' doesn't seem entirely analogous."
Maddie picked up the book and flipped through it with her thumb, grimacing at some of the images. "You make people abase themselves just to move forward with court proceedings?"
"I mean, sometimes a bit of groveling is all the punishment people need," said Azalea. "If pride traps them in something harsher, then they deserve it, don't they? With luck, they'll be able to figure out who's looking after you before too long, and you can go destroy all the stuff you need to destroy then get on with the penances."
Maddie sat down on the bed and covered her face at the reminder. They'd agreed to destroying their 'Taboo-breaking' weapons all the way back in Phantom's- in Danny's lair all that time ago, but for some reason, she felt like if she went home all of this would feel so much more real. The Ghost Zone was a fever dream limned in bright colors, even in this relatively low-key room.
"Of course, that might be a problem in and of itself, since it looks like the GIW took a bunch of your stuff and shipped it out of town."
Maddie had to reminder herself to breathe. Jack beat her to it.
"They did what?"
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It was rare, incredibly so in the long history of the Infinite Realms, but on occasion the one chosen to be King of All Ghosts could not complete every ritual involved in taking the throne within a month of being informed of the Ancients' decision. In those cases, the Regency Council assembled.
It was thus with the current King-in-Waiting, Prince Daniel Janus James Fenton-Phantom, Time's Apprentice, Protector of Amity, Great One of the Far Frozen, Opener of Doors, Dark's Bane, Gatekeeper, Savior of the Infinite Reams, etc. He was far too new a ghost to complete the Rite of Ascension (regardless of what the older Ancients were currently reporting about his exploits in the past—He had approached the Lady Ereshkigal's throne, but he hadn't been standing and had also been horribly injured by the end of the affair), and although he'd been coronated, the Ring Ceremony had not been performed, nor the traditional celebrations, nor had oaths of fealty been collected.
Although, really, only the Rite of Ascension was truly required.
The last time a Regency Council had been brought together was well beyond the memory of most ghosts, and their previous meeting place had long since gone missing. The ghosts called to serve on the council made a new one from scratch. Due to the exhaustion and distraction of some (most) of the members, it was not as grand as it could have been, but that could be rectified in the future.
It was also, perhaps, rather… disunified. Combining Clockwork's spires, Frostbite's delicately carved ice domes, Pandora's colonnades, Nephthys's Egyptian aesthetics, Nocturne's multitude of sleeping areas, Sojourn's desire to experiment with modern open floor plans, and Fright Knight's lack of architectural sense made for an interesting building all by itself, even before getting to the non-Ancient Regents. The Ravens (strong dislike of enclosed spaces), for example, or the only Magician to have shown up (who insisted on building down instead of up).
Speaking of composition…
All seven of the Ancients were present, having been in and out of Libra for the trial.
Themis and Ma'at had come. The Observants, wisely, had not sent a representative. It would doubtless cost them their position as Judges, but that would likely have been forfeit anyway, even assuming the other attendees didn't tear them apart.
An extremely smug Tiger, glorious and burning in blue and white, was representing his people.
The Ravens had sent an entire flock, but only two of them could actually be Regents, so there had been a bit of tussle.
As mentioned, only one Magician had arrived. The rest were probably enjoying the current disorganization of the Observants, given that they had all, like Clockwork, been talked into various indentures.
Shockingly, the Treasurer, currently going by the name Moneta, had appeared as well. She had made herself scarce after Pariah Dark had been sealed away.
Daniel's legal guardians were supposed to be present as well, but until the custody hearing ended, Clockwork held that title. He would likely hold the title after the hearing had ended, too.
(At least, he hoped so.)
The First of Generals was not present. To be fair, no one knew who the First of Generals should be. Pariah's First of Generals had been destroyed when Pariah was sealed, and the lesser generals had all either died or hadn't stepped up to fill the position.
That made fourteen. Fourteen, out of twenty-three possible members. Goodness, but they had their work cut out for them. Before anything else, they would need to find appropriate nominees for Daniel to choose from to fill in the empty seats. Of course, whether or not they could, according to the rules, replace the missing Magicians would be a subject of debate, but there were five other open positions. More than enough to be getting on with.
But even before that…
"How will we decide our chairperson?" asked Clockwork, who simultaneously did not want the extra work and didn't want anyone else to have the authority.
Moneta and the Magician immediately launched themselves out of the room while the Ravens went at the Tiger's eyes. Ma'at gazed at Themis for a long moment, but not too long as Themis pulled a weighted chain from beneath her chiton.
Nephthys leered, and Frostbite took a few steps back.
Clockwork sighed. In the end, it always came to this.
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"Congratulations," said Clockwork, patting Frostbite, the only other one still standing, on the shoulder. "You're our chairperson until we can put together a proper procedure to elect a chairperson."
"Or until we get some new people, and they challenge you for it," said Nephthys, crawling back through a hole in the wall.
"Hopefully, something to do with voting," continued Clockwork.
"But, Lord Clockwork, you are the one who…" Frostbite trailed off, pointing one clawed finger towards the carnage.
"I know. That's why I get to decide who the chairperson is."
"Is it over?" asked Moneta, poking her head back in the room.
"Except for the screaming," confirmed Clockwork. "Except for the screaming."
"Good, good," said Moneta, taking her seat. "So, what are we waiting for?"
