Zephyr: The Elemental Clans

110 - A Welcome Arrival

Storm Zephyr - POV;

I returned to the hotel at eleven that morning after an entire night of scouting for lawyers willing to represent Xyder. We were a mere hour away from the deadline and I still had no luck. It wasn't surprising either with the unjust and unfair terms imposed by the World Heirarchy in their fine print.

I ascended the flights of stairs and entered one of our rooms, only to find Satella in tears, finally breaking down from the stress, sorrow and burden she'd been hiding. Jacqueline, Sorine, Disas and Celes were visibly distraught as well.

"Satella..." I murmered sadly as I walked in.

"I'm sorry... I shouldn't be..." she whimpered between cries.

"No you should. Don't try to bottle it all in," I assured her as I sat on the bed beside her and wrapped my arm around her shoulder to comfort her.

"So I guess you girls didn't have any luck either?" I asked the others.

"We were hoping you would come back with something," Celes muttered. At this point, Disas and Jacqueline hugged each other tightly and quivered in fear and sadness. It seems that they had held out hope that I'd return with good news but now they were shattered.

"Damn it!" Sorine snapped, tossing down a glass vase, completely destroying it.

"What's the commotion?"

All of our eyes turned to the door from where the voice emanated.

"Dagan?! Your back!" Celes stated somewhat excitedly.

"Where were you?!" I exclaimed, "You just completely disappeared without a word!"

"I spent the night at Lord Seraphim's place. I went with him and Lady Catherine to the Regulus Summit as per her request and it didn't end until night had fallen. Either way, I gathered some unfortunate news," he explained.

"Unfortunate?" Sorine enquired.

"We all wished that maybe Lord Seraphim had actually made arrangements for the case and Xyder would be safe even if we couldn't find help... well as it turns out he hasn't raised a finger in aid," he revealed, "Please... please tell me you all managed to get someone."

All of us bowed our heads in silence, unwilling to share the unfavorable news.

"I see," Dagan sighed, "Shit."

The quiet yet tense atmosphere persevered for quite some time before Dagan received an unexpected call.

"Who was it?" I asked once he hung up.

"Nero. He says he'll be here in a minute."

****
Dagan Zephyr - POV;

"Judging from everyone's expressions, it seems that you haven't had any luck acquiring an attorney," Nero surmised when he arrived.

"What about you Nero? You've looked over thousands," I pressed.

Nero exhaled loudly before speaking, "Unfortunately my result is the same. Despite my rediculously large number of connections through my father's company, I was unable to acquire a lawyer willing to represent Xyder in the courts. Part of me wants to say that this is to be expected though, given the rediculous measures instated by the Heirarchy in this particular case however. Not only is three days extremely short notice for building a case but the prosecution has been openly boasting of an extremely strong case on their side as well. To top it off, those dogs calling themself the Six Kings went so far to proclaim that should the defence be found guilty, attorneys representing him would be found guilty of being an accomplice in his crimes and charged with Royal Treason, Murder Of A Heirarchy Official and a number of other unreasonable charges that would see them dead and their closest family severely punished at best. They've played their cards carefully. They want to see Xyder die!"

"From the moment we saw those terms we knew there would be very, very few who would come close to accepting this but even we didn't expect such opposition," I stated.

"I don't know what to say myself. I'll continue to see what I can do between now and his actual execution at Great Zenith. I can't promise anything but I'll try to twist some ears and call in some favors," Nero proposed.

"No... once they take him it would have been to late to settle this... at least legally," I hissed.

"What do you mean?" Nero inquired worriedly.

"Thank you for everything you've done for us Nero. You've proved an ally to us through this entire ordeal with Blaze, the tournament and this case but this is where we must part ways," I told him.

"Part ways? Why?"

"We can't rope you in to this next plan. You would suffer for it."

"What are you planning?" he interrogated.

"We're breaking Xyder out. If we can't release him through the law, we'll intercept his transport and free him ourselves!" I declared.

"Dagan, don't be rash!" Nero intervened.

"No, you can't talk me out of this. We've already made up our mi-"

"Guys!" Evelynn exclaimed as she burst through the room door.

"Evie?!" Satella cried out in surprise.

"You've got to listen to this!"

****
Xyder Zephyr - POV;

"Oi! Get up Zephyr! It's time!" the guard hollered as he banged on the metal bars with his baton.

"Time? For what?" I murmered, sitting at the corner of my cell with my head bowed as I leaned against the wall.

"Your execution."

I let out a low chuckle and shook my head with a smile.

"No one wanted to take up your case! You were given a chance at redemption but in the end everyone sees that murdering scum don't have a place in the world. Get your tail off the floor and let's go! We don't have all day to be waiting for you!" he growled, opening my cell, "Face the wall and put your hands behind your back!"

I complied and he quickly slapped a pair of handcuffs around my wrists before he and a friend grabbed me and guided me through the prison. They took every chance to shove and berate me but I was unfazed. We eventually reached the end of a long hallway which led to an open door. Just outside, a waiting van was stationed, whose purpose was to deliver me from the prison to the public execution platform erected at the Great Zenith City primarily for me. Though such barbaric actions were seldom employed in this day, it seemed that they wanted to set a strong example to the world against attacking the Heirarchy.

As they cracked open the rear doors and began to usher me inside, a third guard bolted down the aisles towards them.

"Stop!!! Stop!!!" he yelled to them.

"What's the matter?" they asked, staring at the panting male.

"Carry... carry him... back," the man wheezed.

"What? What do you mean?"

"He... has... a lawyer... They just... came in! At the... last minute!" he told them. The two guards were visibly surprised by this, even as they hauled me back towards the waiting area. I was placed into a room as I awaited the arrival of my lawyer whom I would be seeing face to face for the first time. I couldn't help but wonder what type of person would willingly take up my defence. I'd heard of the unfair rules in place for any potential attorney of mine and I'd immediately ruled that no one would give up that much for a stranger but here we were. Suddenly, the door cracked open gingerly and a figure stepped in.

"Oh, hi there Xyder. It's been quite a while hasn't it?"

I stared at the newcomer, dumbfounded.

"Y-you? Why are you here?" I blurted out.

"Why? Isn't that obvious? Attorney-at-law, Naomi Ailani is on the case!"