The Final Chapter

A Verdict And A Door

Chapter 34

His head was still spinning. But his dizzyness began to vanish little by little.

She didn't fade completly. She was alive. But her power was weak. Would she make it here?

He breathed out, calming himself down again. Then his focus shifted towards the trial again.
Barnabas still stood in front of him, making his testimony.
"How exactly did that happen?", Ayam asked, moving slowly across the room behind Aether. Trying to steal his focus, making him look agitated during something that made him guilty in the eyes of the audience. He should seem irratated. Nervous. Like someone who actually commited the crime.
Aether clenched his fists, pushing his nails into his skin to keep him from panicking. It was crucial, that he had to stay calm and calculated, although his chances of winning this trial were non-existent.

"After he killed the Pyro and Electro archon, he fled the scene. I followed him secretly to Sumeru, where he forced the Dendro archon to grant him access to Irminsul. She protested, but ulimately she let him in, since he began to kill innocents to threaten her." The face of the once so caring archon was stone cold. Nothing of his former personality remained. A cold shiver ran across Aether's back in the painful realisation, that what ever they were now and however this trial would work out... They were already dead. Either to be killed or to be buried again.
"What happened after that?", the Principle of Time asked, now appearing in front of him again and standing provocatively right in front of him. His back facing Aether. Trying to get him out of his skin. It took all of Aether's control to keep calm in this situation. Faced with all of these lies."I followed him to the tree, witz the help of the Dendro archon, where I witnessed, how he erased memories. Tampering with the Dendro archons memories too. Mine remained unchanged, since he never recognized my presence", the Cryo archon explained further. Aether clenched his fists again, trying not to punch him in the face.
"I hereby end the testimonies...", the Principle of Time ended his report. He bowed a little to the audience, simultaneously with the Cryo archon and the send the witnesses out of the trial room again. He himself went up the podium again to sit back down.
A shiver went through Aether's body. It was time for the sentence. A sentence that had been decided since the beginning of this trial. But now, the audience was convinced too.
Shipati arose from her seat again. Her gaze met him briefly. And her aura hit him with it. Fear struck. Then she spoke:
"I, Shipati, the Principle of Death in agreement with the other Principles hereby sentence you, Aether the God of Light, to death."

A door to the side, like the one he was brought through, swung open. "Stop the verdict!", someone shouted. A group of five stormed into the room followed by guards. The four archons and a woman. And a floating light. The front man with short black hair and two blue front braids confidently stepped closer.

"The Heavenly Principles are lying!"

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Lumine opened her eyes again to a dark sky. Night time. It took a while for her mind to get back into real consciousness, but as she did, the reality of her situation crushed down on her. How long had she been out? Oh no... Weakness got to her. She failed. She hadn't been fast enough. What if it was already too late... Her hand looked for her sword. It somehow felt warm.
The Traveler snapped back onto her back feet, looking around for orientation.
But instead of the endless labyrinth she expected, she saw a door right in front of her. Looming over her. Like it was going to swallow her whole.
How?
With her fingers, she gently touched the door, just to see if it was real. And it was. No imagination, no dream.
How? No time to think about it. She had to act quickly, before it disappeared again.
Quickly she took the gnoses out of her back, letting them float in front of the door. There were seven spaces in the doorframe. She embedded the little figures in the frame and all of them began to glow in their respective colors. The glow began to move along the carvings of the frame onto the door, merging into a unified white light that illuminated the whole door.
Then it opened. Her heart raced. Her mind raced and her body felt different. Something came to her. Aether. She felt him. He was there. He was near. And her foot moved through the door.

On the other side was big circular room with doors on all of it's walls. The rest of the room was empty. Except for the guards positioned in between the doors, to guard them from intruders. They looked at her and readied their weapons.
Her hand clenched her sword. She had feared the moment, she had to turn her blade against those she wanted to free from the tyranny of the Principles.
A woman with bright red hair came closer, her sword in front of her, ready to kill her. Her skin was a warm brown and her eyes were glowing in gold. The Traveler blinked, not trusting her sight.
"Lumine?", a familar voice asked before commanding the soldiers, "Comrades, lower your weapons!"
The soldiers put their weapons back and went back to their posts, as her friend approached and pulled her into a hug. "Vennessa... You're alive...", she whispered. The red mane took some distance again: "You are alive! And you're back!" She nodded trying not to cry tears of joy and relief.
But their reunion soon was interrupted. Lumine's sword began glowing and floated out of her hands into the air. It got bright and all of the bystanding people had to close their eyes. They only opened them up again after the sword fell on the ground with a lozd noise.
What they saw was the spirit of a hateful woman.

"Thank you for bringing me all the way here, my dear..."

______

Since I love my cliffhangers, this is where Act II ends. I always try to update the fic on evening, but I forgot for the last days... So this comes a little late...

When does Act III go up? I don't know. I'm trying to force myself into writing Act III, but I find myself having major writer's block with this one. So please be patient...