Rifts

Part 19~The Trial

"It's less impressive than it looks. These are all secondhand accounts, oral histories, folk stories, none of them verified." Moon sighed as Hekapoo stood up.

"There's no way around it. Come on, everybody, grab a stack."

"You guys aren't gonna seriously sit here and read all of that?" Star stared in horror as Hekapoo dumped a pile in front of Marco.

"Hey, why are you giving me the biggest stack?"

"You need to practise your Mewni," Hekapoo responded with a smirk as Marco sighed.

"Listen, I don't mean to fuss," Eclispa started, "but exactly how long is this trial meant to last?"

Moon sighed. "As long as it takes. Now to begin, we must organise each and every one of these documents by date and author."

Rhombulus grumbled, looking at his stack. "Sounds like maths!"

"Once we've constructed a rough timeline, we can-" Moon stopped as Eclipsa raised her hand.

"That won't be necessary. I request a trial by Box."

Rhombulus cheered, throwing up his hands and knocking his stack onto the floor.

"Well, it looks like I won't be needing these anymore," Hekapoo laughed, pushing her stack to the side.

"Can I burn this one?" Marco looked at the document he read, his finger creating a small fire.

"Best save the arsen for later."

Moon frowned in concern. "Eclipsa, are you sure about this? The Box is a ruthless seeker of truth. If you attempt to conceal anything from it, crystallisation may be the least of your worries."

Eclipsa held her head high. "I'm tired of sitting around waiting for you to decide my fate. I'll give you the truth, all of it, and if that means crystallisation, so be it."

Moon sighed in defeat. "Sean, we wish to invoke trial by Box."

Sean jumped up, running out of the room and grabbing the cart. "The Box of Truth has arrived!" Sean opened the curtains, reveling the blue Box.

"Wait, is that Truth or Punishment?" Star tilted her head in confusion as Moon stared at her in shock.

"What? No, no, no, no. This is the Box of Truth."

"That, my friend, is Truth or Punishment. We played it at my sleepover."

"You played it? The Box is not a game!"

The Box lifted itself up, glowing as it spoke. "Who do you have a crush on?"

Moon stared at the Box. "It must be on the wrong setting." Moon picked up the Box, turning the dial that controlled it. "The rules are simple. Each member of the Magical High Commission shall ask one question, and the accused must answer."

Moon started up the cube as it floated higher, glowing as it spoke. "To all who seek the path of knowledge, listen well to this decree. Surrender to the eye of justice. Swear an oath of truth to me."

The Box opened its mouth as everyone in the room- except for Star- took the oath.

"And now, it's time for the trail by the box." The Box spun, its eye creating a spotlight on Eclispa.

Omnitraxus asked the first question. "Eclipsa, did you write the evil chapter in the book of spells?" The Box spun, producing a hologram of Eclipsa's chapter.

"Yes, I did, but for the record, I never called it the evil chapter. That was your people's name for it. I wrote plenty of eviler spells that never even made it into the final draft." Eclipsa began to flick through her pages. "Writing is rewriting, you know."

"Truth," The Box declared as Hekapoo put a tick on the evil half of her piece of paper.

Star scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Whatever. Have you guys even read her chapter?"

Hekapoo chuckled. "No, but Marco has. I'm sure you remember the effect that had on him."

Marco blinked, holding up his hand. "For the record, I have dealt with that, and the evil implanted in my soul has been removed."

Moon sighed deeply, rubbing her eyes. "Hekapoo, the second question goes to you."

Hekapoo stood up. "Box, pull up the royal archives for me, would ya? Did you abandon your husband, King Shastakan, and your kingdom to elope with a monster?"

The Box projected images of Eclipsa running to a monster. Eclipsa's cheeks began to glow as she looked on fondly. "Oh, hello, sweetie. Yes, I did run off with a monster. But could you really blame me? How could I resist a smile like that?"

The Box declared, "Truth again," as Hekapoo put another tick in the evil column.

Moon turned to Rhombulus, "Rhombulus, the third," she couldn't finish as Rhombulus jumped up, shouting out his question.

"Did you eat those babies?!"

Eclipsa tilted her head in confusion. "What?"

Hekapoo groaned, gritting her teeth together. "Ugh! Bobipsa was the baby-eater, not Eclipsa!"

"Oh, right. I wanna take my question back."

The Box spun. "There are no take-backs in trial by box!" The Box projected a bad drawing of an evil Eclipsa holding two babies to eat.

"Well," Eclipsa started with a small chuckle, "I hate to disappoint you, but I'm afraid I have not eaten even a single baby. Now, I did hurt the occasional teenager, but only psychologically, and they always deserved it."

The Box turned green. "We're on a roll here, people!"

Hekapoo put a tick on the evil side as Star grumbled. "What is wrong? Didn't you hear her? She didn't eat those babies!"

"Star, sit down." Moon gave Star a look. "We must respect the rules of the Box. Eclipsa, are you sorry for what you've done?"

"No, I'm not."

The council screamed in outrage, their decision made. Rhombulus began to glow as Marco stood up. "If I may, I believe I'm allowed a question as well." Hekapoo gave Marco a strange look, and Moon looked startled. Marco could see Star watching him as he took a breath. "Eclipsa, you must have had a reason for what you did. What was it?"

Eclipsa smiled softly. "For my family." The commission continued to shout, ignoring the Box. "Which actually brings me to my question."

Rhombulus stopped, all his faces looking confused. "Wait. What?"