This part plus the last part was a 16 PAGE word doc! (if you don't know, the others were about 5-6 pages) Enjoy!

The castle was lit up so much that it was the brightest thing in the kingdom that night. Many people entered the castle in fancy clothes greeting one another. Inside was a giant main hall with decorated tables and chandeliers. An orchestra played in the background and people huddled near the buffet table.

"Wow…" Aphmau said amazed at the scenery, "The king did this?"

"Actually no." Nirvana said, "The king doesn't really attend these things so most of this stuff was planned by me."

"You?"

"Yup, tada!"

"This is amazing!"

"Thank you, not bad for a rush job." She smiled, "You should go and socialize. I have some things to attend to. Have fun!"

Nirvana left three who were still confused about what to do.

"So what now?" Katelyn said.

"How about I get you ladies a drink." Lawrence asked.

"That be great." Aphmau said.

"Ok, now where is it." Lawerence then went into the crowd of people.

"We should get in there too." Katelyn said.

"Yeah I guess." Aphmau said nervously.

A few minutes past and during that time Aphmau found herself in awkward conversation with lords. Most of the conversations were about politics and current events. She then abruptly left the person or changed the subject. She eventually ended up near the buffet table.

"*pant* *pant*." She was tired of going through people. Someone then handed her a glass and she instinctively grabbed it and drank it. "Thank you." She looked to her side expecting to see Lawrence but instead it was man in a red coat with slick black hair and a goatee. "Oh sorry!"

"It's fine, I was handing to you after all." He said.

"Thanks."

"Trouble handling the crowd?"

"You could say that."

"Don't worry most people here are in your position too."

"Really?"

"Actually no, just thought it would liven your spirits."

"Hehe. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Aphmau of...um... Phoenix Drop."

"Yes I'm well aware, my name is Ace Redfield, member of the Jury of Nine."

"You're part of the Jury?"

"All Jury members are required to attend the Oath Ceremony."

"All of them?"

"Yes. I was searching for Katelyn to congratulate her."

"We'll she's here, somewhere."

"How about I show you the people you need to know, mostly other jury members and their lords."

"That would help."

"Let's start with the elephant in the room." He pointed his glass to a tall man in black armor covering his entire body. He had a sword sheathed and a black shield on his arm. He stood next to a male elf with dark purple skin. "Dextras. As far as I've known him he's never taken off that armor. The one next to him is Lord Haldir of the dark elves."

"Dark elves?" she asked.

"They've been persecuted from their homeland by wood elves and a small group of refugees came to the country. They've been doing well these past few years with the help of Dextras and even better when he decided to join the Nine."

"Is he an elf?"

"I don't know. Like I said he almost never takes of his armor, he could be an elf or human or even a werewolf." He went on and pointed to a man who was with a woman in a yellow dress. The man wore a green coat and had a gauntlet on one of his arms. He had black hair, a scar running down his face and stood there with an expression of disgust biting on an unlit cigar. "That irritable brute is Thaddeus von Vanderbilt. The kind woman next to him is Lady Eliza Farwell. The two of them are complete opposites, why Eliza chose him to be her head guard I will never know."

"Maybe they have a history." Aphmau suggested.

"Perhaps." He moved on to the next juror. "Over there is Cecilia Faraday and her lord, the young lady Maribel." He pointed to a woman with long shining black hair in a sexy red dress who wore a feather scarf, next to her was a little girl about the age of twelve or fourteen wearing a beautiful blue gown. "Until today she's been the only female member in the jury."

"That's her lord? She's so young."

"Don't be fast to judge. Though she may have only been a lord for about a year, Maribel has done very well in helping her village. Not only that she's a medium and is known to have premonitions of the future. She's never been wrong yet."

"Wow."

He turned and pointed over to a crowd of women who were huddled around none other than Devlin Blackehart. Blackehart wore an unbuttoned black coat with a fur collar and his signature curved sunglasses. "That is Devlin Blackehart. Don't be fooled by his charisma, that man is extremely dangerous. I wouldn't get to close to him."

"…yeah…"

"No doubt you met Barthus. He's the jury representative of O'hkasis itself. I haven't seen him here so I can only guess he's with the king." He continued to look around, "Don't see the White Wolf but no doubt he's here somewhere. Don't blame him for hiding."

"White Wolf?"

"One of the jury members is Lu'pine. Though not sure what tribe or what species. He's one the most recent jury member, it was only a few months ago that he entered the grand hall of the castle and demanded to be made part of the jury. We were hesitant at first but he's proved himself many times. Thanks to him most of the werewolf tribes have learned to fear the lone wolf and have taken up to human customs by force. Though I don't agree with it."

"Why?"

"Forcing a species into a new way of life, past trials have only ended up in violence. But I know that Bodolf is only doing what he thinks is best for his people."

"B-Bodolf?!"

Before she asks him about it a bell tolled loudly in the grand hall. "My apologizes," Redfield said, "But there's still somethings I need to attend to, good day."

"No wait!" But then a familiar voiced called out to her.

"Aphmau!" Lawrence said. "Who was that?"

"A member of the Jury of Nine."

"Seriously? Of course you run into one of them. Sorry about the drinks."

"It's fine. How about we go find Katelyn?"

"Good luck finding her in this crowd."

"Don't worry I had a helpful guide."

She and Lawrence then entered the crowd in search of their friend. On the other side of the hall Thaddeus von Vanderbilt was standing pissed off next to his lord.

"You should smile Thaddeus," Eliza Farwell said. "This is a party after all."

"Hmph."

"Eliza!" a voice said. Across from them was Cecelia and Maribel walking up to them.

"Cecelia, Maribel how are you two?"

"Fine, thanks for asking." Maribel said quietly.

"This party isn't as boring as I thought it would be, certainly better than the last one." Cecelia said.

"Only because you heard there was alcohol here." Maribel muttered.

Cecelia pinched her lord's cheek tightly. "Don't think I didn't hear that! Here's an idea maybe you could use a drink."

"You know very well I'm under age!"

"Pfft, you're no fun." She said. Thaddeus growled and walked away from the ladies. "Huh? Where do you think you're going?"

"Outside."

"What's his problem?"

Eliza smiled. "The guards didn't let him smoke indoors."

"So he's just going to leave you here by yourself?"

"Of course not, he left me with you two."

"Heh, I hate it when he's smart."

Suddenly Maribel's eyes went pearl white and a saw an image of a black cloaked shadow enter the building. It weld a scythe and swung toward a woman in a purple dress. Maribel fell forward but Cecelia caught her.

"Are you ok?" Eliza asked.

"Another vision?" Cecelia said.

"Y-yes. Someone here is in danger."

"Who?"

"I don't know. Cecelia keep an eye out for a woman in a purple dress."

"That's not very descriptive but I'll do my best."

"What was that?" Maribel thought, "A shadow knight? No, that can't be. So who was that?"

At the front entrance guards were holding back a crowd that wanted to enter but weren't allowed. As they were distracted by the people a figure in a black cloak and familiar white mask slipped past them and entered the building. "I finally found you." It muttered in a distorted voice.

Meanwhile Lawrence and Aphmau had found Katlyn.

"I knew I shouldn't have dressed like this."

"What are you talking about? You look great!" Aphmau said.

"I've been flirted with by several people. I should have showed up like Dextras."

"Stop it. You should embrace it. Who knows you might just find a good guy here."

"You sure about that?"

"Maybe." Soon the music switched to a waltz people began pairing up to dance.

Lawrence bow in front of Aphmau with his hand reached out. "Milady."

"Fine, just this once." Aphmau looked to Katelyn who was surrounded by guys offering her to dance. "Go on." She whispered to her.

They danced a while and when it came to switch partners Lawrence ended up with Katelyn and Aphmau with Redfield. "Are we going to keep meeting up like this?" he said.

"You never told me about you."

"Not much to tell, my lord is my brother who is over by the buffet table stuffing his face."

"Hahaha."

"Other than his appetite he is a good lord and I'm happy to follow him." His expression then changed. "You do realize what Katelyn is agreeing to right?"

"…yes…"

"Are you're ok with it?"

"If it will protect the people I care about, then I'm ok with it."

"Alright."

Redfield didn't notice but as he and Aphmau danced Lawrence stood there glaring at him. Katelyn began to smile. "Now Lawrence, you aren't jealous of him are you?"

"What!? Me?! Of him? Please."

"I don't blame you, he's quite handsome."

"You're teasing me aren't you?"

"Not at all."

"I liked you better when you were in armor." At these words Katelyn stepped on his foot with her high heel. "Ack!"

"Oops, looks like I misplaced my footing."

"Ha ha."

They danced a few more times until a scream came from a crowed. The music stopped and people looked toward the source of the sound. A man had his glass cleanly cut in half by the cloaked mystery person, who was now holding a scythe. The masked intruder then looked toward Aphmau and walked toward her slowly.

"You." The person said. "You'll pay."

"W-What?"

The figure then sprinted toward her with its scythe in hand "It's your fault! You'll pay for what you did! DIE YOU BITCH! Timed seemed to have slowed down. Katelyn and Lawrence raced toward Aphmau. The scythe was only a few inches away from her neck. Suddenly a blur of red passed her and the masked assailant. Ace Redfield appeared behind the scythe wielder with a black blade in his hands and then he slowly lowered it. The scythe then burst to pieces and the mask shattered.

It was Lillian. The woman that helped Zane and the one that brainwashed Garroth. She then fell forward on to the floor. Even though Redfield hadn't cut her with his blade she had multiple injuries. She wasn't unconscious but she didn't look like she was going anywhere. "D-Damnit." She muttered. A man began to walk towards her and when she looked up she saw a sole of a shoe. Devlin Blackehart loomed over her preparing to crush her head under his boot.

"Did you really think you could come here and expect to live?" he said. "Pathetic." She closed her eyes and waited for her inevitable death. But instead Dextras pulled out his blade and used to block Devlin's stomp. The two objects didn't class but a gust of wind blew through the crowd.

"Let's not stain the floor with blood." Dextras said, he had a deep and serious voice and obviously wasn't intimidated by Blackhart, who was glaring the black knight.

"Fine." Devlin slowly lowered his foot and walked away from the scene. "You can take care of this yourself."

Dextras looked at Lillian who was still struggling to get up. He pulled out a soulstone and placed her inside. He then looked to Redfield and said, "I'll take her to the cells and come back."

"Don't take long," Redfield told him, "The ceremony will start any minute."

Dextras nodded and walked to the exit. As he left he saw Thaddeus who was leaning on a wall smoking a cigar. "Heard a commotion in there, what happened?" he said that as if he knew that whatever it was, it wasn't important.

"An intruder came to kill one of the lords. They have been dealt with."

"Anyone hurt?"

"No casualties, worry not Lady Eliza was nowhere near the assailant."

"Good." Thaddeus tossed his cigar to the ground and stomped it out. A puff of smoke came out of his mouth and he started to walk back into the building. "Whoever thought they could assassinate somebody in a place where the most powerful people in the kingdom are gathered; is a fucking idiot."

Dextras said nothing and continued to walk out of the building.

Inside Aphmau was still in shock of the whole experience but Lawrence and Katelyn came to her to see if she was alright. Redfield turned to her and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah."

"Did you know that woman?"

"Yes…"

"Hey!" Lawrence said to Redfield, "You think you can ask these questions later?!"

"Lawrence, its fine."

"No, it's not! You almost got killed." He faced Redfield again. "I thank you for protecting her but I'd like it if you didn't pester her with questions."

"Understood. I'm sorry if I caused an inconvenience."

Lawrence took Aphmau to a table away from where everybody is and let her have a seat. "You ok?"

"I-it was Lillian."

"I know, I saw her."

"H-How?"

"It makes sense, if Garroth and Zane came back then she would have showed up somewhere as well."

"How did she find us?"

"That I don't know." Lawrence said. "Katelyn told me the ceremony starts at midnight, that's only a few minutes from now. Are you sure you want to do this?"

She paused for a few seconds, "I'm sure."

"You know I support your decisions one-hundred percent."

"I know."

He gave her a patient smile, "We should get going then."

"Yeah."

Aphmau and Lawrence met up with Katelyn who was talking to Redfield, as they got there a bell tolled to signal that midnight was upon them. Redfield left them and an entire platform raised in the middle of the hall. The juror members took seven of the nine positions, even Barthus Kumadori and a man in a hood took their places even though they haven't been seen during the entire party. The seven of them were then raised on pillars that went as high as to a balcony that looked over the entire hall. On the balcony the King of O'hkasis stood. People began to bow their heads at the lord and so did the jury.

"Katelyn the Fire Fist! Please step forward!" the king announced. Nervously she stepped on the platform and on a large circle pattern on it. The circle raised up into a column that reached the balcony as well. "You have been brought before this court to discuss your reinstatement as a member of the Jury of Nine. You take an oath of loyalty to this kingdom and then the current members will give you their approval."

"Yes sir."

"Katelyn the Fire Fist, do you pledge your loyalty to O'khasis, to fight under our name and banner?"

"I do."

"Do you pledge to come at the beckon call of war and when our kingdom is in attacked by our enemies?"

"I do."

"Do you pledge to protect our people, our country and your own people?"

"I do."

"I leave the final decision to the jury." After these words the pillar Katelyn was on rotated and the pillars that the jury were on were raised. The king began to call each member by name and title. "Thaddeus the Surge Fist, Dextras the Arcane Knight, Cecelia the Sorceress, Bodolf the White Wolf, Ace Redfield the Crimson Light, Devlin Blackehart the Shadow Devil, and Barthus Kumodori the Gale Wind. Shall Katelyn the Fire Fist be reinstated back into the Jury of Nine? Aye or nay?"

The people looked attentively on the jurors, awaiting their decisions. None of them said anything for a few moments. "Aye." Bodolf said.

"Aye." Said Redfield.

"Aye." Said Dextras.

Thaddeus growled but said, "Aye."

Cecelia smiled. "It'd be to have another girl in this group of meatheads. Aye."

Barthus shifted his glasses. "I see no major downsides in this action. Aye."

Devlin Blackehart sat down and stared down at Katelyn. "Heh. You clearly have the majority here so really my vote means nothing. Ah to hell with it. I say Aye, this could be fun."

The column turned back toward the king. "By unanimous vote, Katelyn the Fire Fist is now a member of the Jury of Nine. Congratulations."

"Thank you your highness." She said while down on one knee like a traditional knight.

The king spoke to the rest of the people. "Feel free to enjoy the rest of the festivities for the night."

The people clapped and cheered as the pillars lowered. When she was all the way down Katelyn gave out a long sigh. Aphmau went up to her and embraced her. "You did great!" she said.

"Hopefully that'll be last time I get to be in the center of attention like that."

"Oh no. We're having our own party when we get back home."

"You know what, I'm ok with that."

Lawrence approached the ladies. "So shall we go for another round on the dance floor?"

"Actually," Aphmau said, "After everything that's happened these past few days, I just wanna go home."

"Have to agree with Aphmau there." Katelyn said.

"As you wish." Lawrence bowed.

As the group exited they were greeted by many lords and ladies that congratulated her. Outside carriages were filling up and one of them belong to Lady Maribel who turned to see Katelyn before she entered. "Katelyn!"

"Y-Yes?"

"My name is Maribel." She greeted. "You might not know me but my guard is-" Before she could finish her sentence a woman grabbed Katelyn and hugged her tightly. Cecelia Faraday.

"This is great!" She said squeezing Katelyn. "You don't know how happy I am to not be the only girl in that Jury. Seriously the meetings are so~ boring. Finally I have someone to talk to!"

Maribel grabbed her guard by the ear. "Heal." She said with a stern voice.

"Ok! Ok! Ow! You don't have to pull so hard!" She let go and Cecelia began to rub her ear. "But seriously, I want you to know you do have at least one ally in this jury."

"It was…great meeting you." Katelyn said.

"Well we have to go, see you soon." Cecelia said entering the carriage.

"Goodbye and safe travels." Maribel said.

When the two left Katelyn let out another long sigh.

"See." Aphmau said, "You're making friends already."

"If she hadn't pulled her away she might have suffocated me."

"Come on now. Was it that bad?"

"That woman has a very tight grip surprisingly." She looked down. "Do you think I made the right choice?"

"You did what you thought was right. What it tells for the future, we don't know yet."

"Are you speaking or has Irene's artifact been rubbing off on you."

"H-Hey! I can be wise too you know!"

"That's the Aphmau I recognize."

"Oh ha ha! Come on let's get back and get ready to leave in the morning."

The three of them took a carriage back to the castle. Each of the Jury made their travels back to their lands. This was the Oath Ceremony, this one marked the start of a new path in fate. A new thread in time. The actions that have taken place on this day were only a fraction of the epic events that were to come in the inevitable future of this world…

Thank you to everyone who kept through with my first story. This was really fun to write and I hope people liked it. If you like what you read then please share and leave a review. Also I wouldn't mind if people suggested other series/shows/anime/whatever they'd like me to write about or maybe I will make a sequel of this. And as always PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE. I love the original series and can't wait to see how Aphmau will really end it.