The Three Houses of Hyperdimension

by DeraldSny

Semi-sequel to 'Rei Ryghts: Ace Attorney- The High School Turnabout'. After returning to Garreg Mach, a newly-corporeal Sothis has to adjust to living and interacting with the students and staff of the academy. But will the sinister conspiracy that ended the life of Byleth's father rear its ugly head once more...?

33. Trial, Day 2 (Part 2)

The Three Houses of Hyperdimension

A Fire Emblem: Three Houses & Hyperdimension Neptunia Crossover Fan Fiction

by Derald Snyder

Episode 33: Trial, Day 2 (Part 2)

Court Record:

-Headmaster's Affidavit

-Bishop Rhea's Affidavit

-Flame Emperor's Mask

-Broken Axe

-Bloody Sword

-Remote Claw

-Wrecked Gauntlets

-Security Footage

-Byleth's Testimony

-Young Yoshisaur

-Tenten File

-'Monica' File

-Forensic Analysis

April 16, 10:27 AM

Adrestia High Court

Courtroom No. 1

Count Hevring banged his gavel to quiet the gallery. "This court is now back in session. Prosecutor Blackquill, is the witness ready to testify?"

"Indeed, Your Greenness," Blackquill affirmed. "Professor, if you would take the stand." Hanneman promptly walked up to the stand with a neutral expression on his face. "State your name and occupation for the record, if you would."

"I am Hanneman von Essar, professor at Garreg Mach Military Academy," the old man introduced himself. "I specialize in offensive magic, math and science. Oh, and I dabble in blood disorder research on the side as well."

"So, you have taken blood samples from all members of the current student body?" Blackquill inquired.

"I have, with one or two exceptions; all voluntarily," Hanneman nodded. "For medical purposes only, of course. I obtained a sample from my fellow professor Byleth as well."

"S-so tell me, P-Professor Hanneman," Rei spoke up, "were th-there any anomalies you d-detected i-in any of th-the student s-samples?"

"Only two," Hanneman replied. "Lysithea von Ordelia... and Edelgard von Hresvelg."

"What? The defendant has a blood disorder?!" Count Hevring gasped, the gallery quietly muttering amongst themselves.

"Not exactly..." Hanneman shook his head. "More along the lines of, her genetic sequence was tampered with."

"Tampered with? In what fashion?" Weldmar pressed.

"Well, I'm not 100% certain, but given her unnatural strength and battle prowess, I believe she may have been forcibly implanted with the Maker gene," the old professor hypothesized. "As I'm sure most everyone here knows, a Maker is a female human who can exhibit strength and power nearly on par with the CPUs themselves, such as Lady Neptune's right hand woman IF, or the famous singer 5pb..."

"SILENCE!" Blackquill cut him off. "You were called to testify, not give a lecture. And I believe you've gotten the point across, professor."

"How rude. Did no one ever teach you to respect your elders?" Hanneman grumbled.

"Regardless, th-this definitively p-proves that Edelgard was experimented on b-by sinister f-forces!" Rei insisted.

"...Indeed. And she has our sympathies for such a harrowing ordeal," Blackquill ceded. "But it has no bearing on the here and now!"

"OBJECTION!" Rei called out. "This ties directly into the motive of those who slither in the dark to frame my client!"

"SILENCE!" Blackquill shot back. "Even if this proves motive, which is still somewhat dubious, there is still a crucial element you have yet to account for."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Sothis challenged.

"Opportunity. If those who slither desired to frame Miss Hresvelg with a clone, wouldn't they have had to acquire a DNA sample to clone from?" He slammed a hand on the bench. "How do you propose they got past the fortified walls of Garreg Mach to acquire such a sample?"

"Well, the houses go out on missions every so often," Sothis pointed out. "Someone could have easily gotten a sample-"

(Wha-P-SHING!) Some of Sothis' hair was cut off, causing her to squeak in fear and hide herself beneath the bench! "It seems our young lass has forgotten the most important thing: evidence. Does the defense have any proof that Miss Hresvelg had a DNA sample taken from her?"

"I'm glad you asked that, Prosecutor Blackquill," Rei smirked as she crossed her arms. "This next piece of evidence will prove that those who slither did have the opportunity! TAKE THAT!" She presented the file on Monica, again tossing it to the judge's bench.

"You do realize that you could just hand it to the bailiff," Count Hevring sighed as he opened the file. "Wait, Monica von Ochs? Wasn't she a Black Eagles alumni from the previous year?"

"Yes, Your Honor, but she suddenly vanished into thin air, only reappearing when she was found along with the headmaster's sister Flayn, who had been kidnapped by none other than the Death Knight."

"The Death Knight?! The Flame Emperor's subordinate?" Count Hevring gasped.

"Yes, Your Honor," Rei nodded. "And when Flayn was rescued, that Monica was found to have been held captive along with her. ...or so everyone thought at the time."

"But it was all a big fat lie!" Sothis took over. "The real Monica was likely long dead, and this one was an impostor wearing her face!"

"A-an impostor?!" Weldmar gasped, the gallery buzzing in concern and confusion.

"SILENCE!" Blackquill objected, slamming a hand on the bench. "What does this have to do with the defendant allegedly being cloned?"

"OBJECTION!" Rei shot back with her pointer finger. "Kindly button your lip, maggot, and let me finish making my case!"

"Argh!" the ex-convict said with gritted teeth.

"Now where was I? Right, the Monica impostor," Rei muttered. (ahem) "Anyway, this worm's true identity was Kronya, an assassin from those who slither in the dark! And her main assignment was carrying out the murder of Professor Byleth's father, Jeralt the Blade-Breaker!"

"WHAAAAAAT?!" Count Herving cried in shock, the chattering from the gallery growing louder, forcing him to bang his gavel to try and restore order.

"SILENCE!" Blackquill cried, and the chatter promptly died down. "Again, your weapon has failed to hit its mark. How does this assassin have any bearing on the case at hand?"

"Quite simple. Before she made her move, that fake Monica was almost always hanging out with Edelgard herself!" Rei exclaimed. "Thus, she would have had plenty of opportunity to get a DNA sample! All she would have needed was a small bit of blood from a wound after a tough mission, or a shed hair with an intact follicle! This is how the clone of my client, the true Flame Emperor, came to be!" The gallery gasped as the dots were finally connected in their minds...

"Order in the court, please!" Count Hevring banged his gavel thrice. "Well, I have to say, Miss Ryghts, you've certainly made quite the compelling argument here... the possibility of a clone seems quite far-fetched, but you've explained how it could have actually happened quite well."

"Hmph. The key words here are 'could have'," Blackquill sniffed. "It's quite the elaborately constructed fairy tale you've put together, Ryghts-dono..."

"How can you still say that?!" Sothis protested.

"Well, riddle me this, young lass: even if those who slither in the dark were responsible for tampering with Miss Hresvelg's genetic sequence all those years ago, why go to so much trouble to frame her now, so long after the fact? She's just one girl, after all."

"OBJECTION!" Rei cut in. "Framing Edelgard wasn't their only objective, peon! What they were trying to do was cause a scandal so great that the academy would be forced to shut down, along with the adjacent monastery! Being worshippers of the Deity of Sin, of course they would want to undermine faith in the CPUs any way they can!"

"Indeed, the school has fallen on hard times recently," Hanneman nodded. "And these recent terrorist incidents haven't been helping matters. Framing one of the academy's best and brightest students would indeed be a scandal that the school might not be able to survive."

"I agree; the loss of Garreg Mach would indeed be a heavy blow to the region as a whole, at least in my opinion," Count Hevring nodded. "And given that Miss Edelgard is the direct descendant of one of the school original founders..."

"But she isn't the school's original founder, now is she?" Blackquill tapped a finger against his forehead. "Times change, and so do people's opinions. Would it not be far simpler to assume that Miss Hresvelg decided that the old order of things needed to be upended in order to move civilization forward? And by her own admission, she's not very devout at all... thus, destroying the school and monastery, at least figuratively speaking, would only make sense to someone like her, would it not?"

"HOLD IT!" Sothis slapped her small hands on the bench. "Yes, she wants to reform things, but by the book! That's why she wants to run for governor in the future, to root out corruption in Adrestia's government! And she's made no secret of that, right professor?"

"Indeed, she's made her goals quite clear," Hanneman nodded. "Which is why joining forces with such a corrupt group would be utterly nonsensical for her!"

"Well, you're still as sharp as a tack, Professor, even in your old age," Weldmar nodded.

"Old age? I'm only in my mid-fifties, Your Honor!" Hanneman shot back, looking insulted. "I'm still a long ways off from being shipped off to the old folks home, thank you very much-"

"LOOK OUT!" Sothis cried, a dagger suddenly flying through the air, right at Edelgard's head- only to be deflected by the disjointed tip of the Sword of the Creator! "Nice one, Byleth!"

"Dammit!" hissed the sexy woman with pale skin and orange hair who'd appeared as if from nowhere. "You always get in my way, you asshole!" She quickly turned and dashed out the courtroom doors...

"Stop right there, Kronya!" Byleth cried as he promptly gave chase.

"Bailiff! After that woman, and with your fastest men!" Count Herving ordered, the bailiffs quickly moving to comply.

"Miss Edelgard, are you all right?!" Hanneman moved to check on the Black Eagles leader.

"I-I'm fine, professor," Edelgard grunted, looking a bit shaken from such a close call.

"Well, it seems your assassin has done you a kindness, Ryghts-dono," Blackquill stated. "After all, why try to assassinate Miss Hresvelg if you weren't coming dangerously close to hitting your mark?"

"Does that mean you concede the duel, Prosecutor Blackquill?" Rei pressed.

"Hmph. A twisted samurai I may be, but even I know when it's time to sheath my blade. The prosecution rests." Nodding his head towards the judge, he said, "Your Honor, your verdict if you will."

"And only now do you refer to me by my proper title," Weldmar shook his head. "Very well, then. On the counts of aggravated assault and attempted murder, this court hereby finds the defendant, Edelgard von Hresvelg..."

NOT GUILTY

The gallery immediately broke into cheers, confetti raining down from the ceiling, Edelgard smiling and nodding to herself in relief, Rei standing smug with crossed arms while Sothis jumped for joy (though she made sure to dismount her stool first). As for Simon Blackquill, he simply sat with his back to the court, ostensibly to hide his displeasure at losing.

"This hereby concludes this trial. Court is adjourned!" Count Hevring announced, banging his gavel with finality.

*Episode 33- End*

A/N: Bet you didn't see that twist coming at the end... but how did Byleth know Edelgard was about to get shanked? Find out next episode! ;-)