ACT VIII: Ryan, the Riddled Part 3: Trial by Hellfire

Far below Mewni's surface, in the Kingdom of the Underworld, Ryan Dragonfly gripped his wrist in pain as the ribbon grew tighter and tighter. When Jane died, her mother had sensed it and detected Ryan being the only person near her. As a result, she concluded that Ryan must have been the murderer and used the ribbon that bonded him to their family as a means of dragging him down to the Underworld. While their cousins, the Lucitors, were equally furious and had even threatened to sever all ties with Mewni's hierarchy, they demanded that Ryan be given a fair trial. The Roachley's reluctantly agreed.

After a full week to prepare and give Ryan a chance to find a lawyer and arrange for the Magical High Commission to take care of the kingdom in his absence, the trial date arrived. The king of Mewni was led through the halls of the Roachley estate, being looked down on by Lucitors and Roachley's alike. Reginald was waiting for him at the defendant table, with Jane's twin brother - Jack - waiting at the prosecutor's table. Once Ryan was seated, Cersei Roachley walked up to the judge's podium and smacked her gavel down. "Let the trial commence!" She announced.

"I object!" Ryan shouted, indignantly. "This court is stacked against me!"

Cersei lazily tilted her glasses to glance at Mewni's monarch. "Whatever do you mean?" She asked, coyly.

"The prosecutor is Jane's brother, you're her mother, and that is definitely not a jury of my peers!" Ryan motioned to the jury box which was occupied by twelve random corpses.

"Don't worry, sir." Reginald whispered, assuringly. "We'll be out of here in no time."

With that, Cersei motioned to her son. "Prosecutor, proceed."

Jack bowed in respect before making his opening statement. "King Ryan Dragonfly stands accused of murdering Queen Jane, his own wife. We, the Roachley family, have graciously been given a chance by our Lucitor cousins to prove his guilt and ensure that he is imprisoned in the Underworld for the remainder of his life… and that he remains in the Underworld long after his death."

A deathly silence fell over the crowd until it was broken by the judge. "Ah, brilliant as always, my boy." Cersei nodded and pointed towards the squire. "Defense, your response?"

Reginald nervously tugged at his shirt collar before walking up to the front. "Ahem. Ladies and Gentlemen, we will ensure that King Ryan is granted a fair trial and due process. We will also prove that this alleged murder case is nothing more than a false accusation meant to tarnish the king's name."

Over the next few hours, Jack and Reginald went back and forth with each other. Jack - having been very close to his sister - informed the court of the couple's obvious martial issues and how they often got physically violent with each other. Reginald countered, however, that Ryan and Jane had actively been attending marriage counseling recently and that not all of their skirmishes ended in violence. After four hours, it seemed that Reginald would win the case when Jack lifted a fist towards him and the squire was engulfed in hellfire before vanishing.

"Reginald!" Ryan gasped in shock at the rising smoke that was once his squire. The former king let out a mournful sigh. "Aw, man. And he was just two weeks from retirement."

"He's not dead, you dumbass." Jack rolled his eyes. "We just teleported him back to Mewni. And without any other-" Just then, a servant imp rushed forward to whisper something into the demon lawyer's ear, prompting a sinister grin. "Huh, well that is interesting. Your honor, it would appear that we have a surprise witness."

"Sound's intriguing." Cersei nodded. "I'll allow it."

Jack bowed in respect before pointing to the crowd. "The prosecution calls Simon Dragonfly to the stand!"

Ryan jumped to his feet in shock and looked back down the rows of pews to see for himself. Much to his disbelief, the crown prince of Mewni - his own son - was indeed walking towards the witness stand. In Simon's hands, the scepter had taken the form of a violet masquerade mask lined with gold, which he used to hide his other eye that was not covered by his hair. The king was dumbstruck as his son stood in front of Jack and raised his right hand.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?" Jack asked his nephew.

"Y-yes, uncle." Simon stammered before taking a seat at the witness stand, avoiding eye contact with his father.

Jack flashed Ryan a cheeky smirk before turning back to the surprise witness. "Now, Simon, you claim to be the soul witness to the alleged murder of Jane Roachley. In your own words, can you please describe what you saw to the court?"

For a moment, Ryan allowed a sigh of relief to slip through his lips. He had deduced that Simon had been subpoenaed into testifying by Jack, with the demon clearly being unaware of the boy's crippling anxiety. There was no way Simon would be able to testify against him.

Or so he thought.

"I-I was… I was sleeping next to Ryan's room on the n-night he… when it happened. I heard him… t-talking to himself. He woke me up, a-and I… I followed him upstairs." Simon took a deep breath. Every time he stammered, the mask glimmered around his eyes and his resolve strengthened. "By the time I caught up to him, um, he said something about… mom being a cruel wife and, uh, I saw him fire the scepter's magic at her… and then, she died."

Ryan couldn't believe his ears; his son had successfully spoken in front of a large crowd. Jack flashed a wicked grin towards his ex-brother-in-law. "No further questions, your honor."

"Very good. Defense? Your response?" Cersei motioned towards Ryan.

The king slowly made his way towards the witness stand. "Simon, listen to me…" He whispered. "You don't know the whole story. I wasn't… I didn't mean to… how are you even speaking in front of all these people?! You've never been able to do such a thing!"

"I'm channeling a new spell through the scepter. Whenever I look at someone through it, I see them in their underwear…" Simon blushed and held up a hand to shield his eyesight from the right half of the crowd as he cleared his throat. "Uh… that is, for those who wear underwear."

A succubus in the front row leaned forward, winked, and blew a kiss at the shy prince.

"And don't tell me that I don't know the whole story. I'm shy, not stupid!" Simon continued, angrily. "You and mom have been at each other's throats for years! You've even brought me, Lezaza, Iltztem, and Nogad into your fights more than once! I even saw you hitting each other several times! I'm honestly surprised that this didn't happen years ago!"

"Enough!" Ryan slammed his fists against the podium at his son's accusation. "Don't say another word until you put that damn mask down! If you're going to testify against your own father, you should at least have the balls to look him in the eye when you do it!"

At the sound of those words, Simon took in a deep breath through his nostrils before lowering the scepter and tucking it into his belt. "You make me hate being a prince." He declared, bitterly.

Ryan was shocked by his son's words. "You don't mean that."

"I do mean that." Simon growled, his anger rising and his eyes beginning to glow. "It's always about what you want. You never just let me… be myself. And now, I have to become king early so I can fix your mistakes!"

"Hey, how dare you-?!"

"No, how dare you!" Simon's voice grew significantly darker. "Do you have any idea how hard it was to tell my little brothers and sister that our own father was the one who killed our mother?!"

"Alright, you two, don't-!" Cersei was interrupted by a magic blast from Simon disintegrating her gavel.

"Shut up, old woman!" The prince barked as his eyes began to glow along with his cheek marks. Simon began to levitate in the air as hellfire burst into existence all around him. Ryan fell backwards in shock as his son carried on in rage. "Why do you do things like this to me?! You wouldn't give me the scepter! You sent me to St. Olaf's! And now, you killed my mom!"

"Simon, calm down!" Ryan pleaded. "What's your problem?!"

"You're my problem!" Simon shouted through the choked sobs as both of his eyes and cheek marks glowed with righteous fury. "You've always been my problem! Every single thing about you is just a problem that I have to deal with on a daily basis!" The prince's final words echoed around the courtroom. Ryan, the Lucitors, and the Roachleys could only stare in perturbed silence at the young Dragonfly's sudden outburst. Once he calmed down, Simon seemed to fully realize what he had done and he dropped back to the ground. Cupping his hands over his mouth, Simon tearfully turned away from his father and hurried out of the courtroom without another word.

"...um, let's take a brief recess." The judge suggested.

Fifteen minutes later, Ryan was scanning the crowd to see if Simon was among them. Cersei returned to the judge's podium. "Has the jury reached a verdict?"

"We have, your honor." One corpse stood up. "We hereby find the defendant guilty as charged."

Ryan's heart sank. "W-wait! Where's Simon?! I need to talk to him!"

"Out of the question." Cersei snapped, sternly. "Ryan Dragonfly, you are found guilty of murdering your own wife, Jane. As punishment, you will be sentenced to three years of torture in the darkest pits of the Roachley estate. After which, you will be put to death and remain a permanent resident of the Underworld!"

The judge slammed her gavel to make it official, signalling two demon bailiffs to lead the former king away. Ryan struggled, angrily, trying to break free. "No! Simon! You can't do this to me! Simon! Get your filthy claws off me!" He shouted. "Simon! Simon! SIMOOOOOON!"

And so, three years later, Ryan found himself on the verge of death in the Roachley's torture pits. Just as all hope seemed lost, Jack Roachley approached him with an interesting offer to avoid any further punishment. Ryan the Riddled would be going back to Mewni for one day for a different trial by fire; being nice to his son.

To Be Continued!

Author's notes: Next one should be up this weekend! Please read and review!