ᴛʜᴇ ᴅɪᴠɪɴᴇ

ᴀᴄᴛ 1 - ꜰᴏɴᴛᴀɪɴᴇ ᴀʀᴄ 3

Chapter 17

Wriothesley pauses momentarily, his gaze fixed on the sparkly liquid of their blood splattered across his boot and glove, a sneer twisted his lip. "You think I'll fall for your little tricks? You're not the first person to try this, you know."

His voice dripped with disdain as he rolled his eyes, watching Y/N's feeble attempts at self-defense. They cradled their likely shattered nose in their trembling hands, wincing in pain.

"F—" They faltered, a cough escaping their lips as golden blood filled their mouth. "Fuck... you..." Despite the pain, they sent a vicious glare upward from the ground, their determination surprisingly shining through their display of weakness. Struggling against the handcuffs that were biting into their wrists, they attempted to get up. Wriothesley let out a humorless laugh before roughly dragging them back to their feet, shoving them forward as a cue to resume walking.

As the two of them trudged onward, Y/N stumbled, nearly face-planting onto the ground. Just then, something yanked painfully at their hair, resulting in a yelp that escaped their lips.

'Great... now I have a terrible headache on top of everything else.'

With a defiant glare thrown back at Wriothesley, they pressed on, the journey dragging on in stark silence. Eventually, they were forced to climb a narrow flight of stairs and were unceremoniously deposited into a waiting room. As they were forcefully seated in an unexpectedly comfortable chair, Y/N glanced around, trying to gather their bearings.

Suddenly, the door burst open, slamming against the wall with a loud thud. Y/N turned, met with the piercing gaze of a woman whose face radiated pure annoyance. "Ah hello, 'Y/N'," she drawled mockingly, though her expression quickly shifted to one of neutrality, as if trying to mask her distaste with required professionalism.

"I will be your defendant tonight," she continued, her tone dripping with an air of dismissive superiority. "I do hope you don't cause me any trouble."

Mostly ignoring her, knowing that she probably won't be of any help, Y/N watched as the lights on the stage flickered to life, an ominous buzz filling the air. Heart racing, they stood and leaned over the railing, anchoring their handcuffed hands against the edge to stabilize themself. The trial was finally about to begin.

A voice in their head resonated unexpectedly, and Y/N blinked in surprise. Bubbles began to float in the air, drawing their attention. No one else seems to be looking at it either, suggesting that only they can see it. Translucent files seem to be floating in all of them.

'Is this really the only game mechanic I've got? Why is this only happening now?'

Frustration bubbled within them as they struggled to manipulate the shimmering bubbles towards themself, eventually being able to tap one, causing it to pop. immediately the lady that they never got the name of starts speaking. 

"The creator has never encountered anyone who bears such a striking resemblance to them, and it seems almost impossible for someone to be born with such a close likeness," the 'lawyer' began, her expression growing eerily blank as the words spilled from her lips in a robotic monotone. Surprisingly the scales of the Oratrice Mecanique Denalize Cordanal tilted once in Y/N's favor.

The trial unfolded like a storm, filled with amazing highs and crushing lows for Y/N. There were moments when they honestly thought they lost, the thoughts of this possibility pressed down on them, whispering that all hope was lost, only for them to be able to rise again with renewed strength. Hours stretched on, which distorted like rubber, feeling more like an eternity than just a day.

Finally, after what felt like forever, the scales balanced once more when Neuvillette declared that the Oratrice Mecanique Denalize Cordanal had reached a verdict. As he retrieved the answer, Y/N leaned forward, gripping the edge of the railing tightly, bracing for the possibility of loss. They adjust their feet and glanced around for the closest exit just in case.

'I refuse to spend another moment in this stupid place. I can't believe this was once my favorite nation.'

They hastily wiped away the remnants of dried tears as Neuvillette cleared his throat, signaling he was finally about to speak.

"Y/N..." He hesitated, taking a moment that was as dramatic as it was filled with disbelief. "Is... innocent." His declaration was immediately drowned out by a roar of commotion from the crowd. "Please, calm down," he urged, raising a hand which almost immediately caused the crowd to silence. "There's... a second note, so please, wait a moment before exiting."

A wave of relief washed over Y/N at the first part of his statement, but anxiety gripped at their chest as they unconsciously held their breath, anticipation crackling in the air as Neuvillette opened the second note. His expression fell, eyes quickly widening until his face matched the color of the new Natlan characters, all color drained from his face.

"Shit."

The opera house gasped collectively at Neuvillette's single word, a word that no one had ever heard from him, that echoed throughout the chamber like thunder. The crowd buzzed with confusion, casting baffled glances at one another as he quickly dropped his knees in a deep bow, leaning on his cane to support him, his humility contrasting sharply with the chaos suddenly erupting around him. "I apologize, your majesty," he spoke, his voice thundering around the opera house, and is heavy with regret.

As the spectators erupted into a frenzied mix of surprise and frenzy, Y/N quickly found themselves lost in the whirlwind of emotions unfolding before them. Somehow, amidst the chaos, their cuffs were removed, and they were guided toward the stage. Once they snapped back to reality, the cacophony of "I'm sorrys" enveloped them, people bowing and crying in a dizzying display of remorse. Fearful and reverent whispers filled the air: "I hope they don't punish us too badly..." and similar sentiments ricocheted around like a haunting refrain.

A/N: Okay hey guys I am actually so sorry for the wait. AP World has me literally swamped and being at a new school has made it really hard on me to find motivation to write. Thank you guys so much for 16k reads. I really appreciate it. I'm so tired rn and it's not even 9 yet.... I CANNOTTTTT DO THISSSS..... AIUDHIUSHDAUIHDSUIH. But anyways there was a kind of threat at my school where someone posted something thaat they were going to attack people so thats fun! Anyways so sorry for the wait, thank you so much. My Co-writer has been really busy recently so I had to re-read this like 10 times to make it better. SORRY. ALSO RQ this was all posted before Natlan was released (and before much info on it was released too) so I will be changing up some of the lore later on but it'll make sense i swear (maybe)... Alright gnn guys see you soon (hopefully) Dont forget to vote and comment!! :D 

Word Count: 1213