CHAPTER 167(Trial & Punishment)

Please read the author's notes. (Examples and explanation of moves and appearance+ Monster Sources)

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pat.treon:/Keanu_Eugene

CHAPTER START---

"The trial is starting soon, I should get going," Hephaestus says.

Sitting beside Thalie with her legs crossed, Tsubaki was waiting outside the hospital room for her goddess as Hephaestus spoke to the now awake adventurer.

Thalie was wrapped up like a mummy, still missing her lower jaw but finally awake. Cuffed to the bedframe, not that she had the strength to go anywhere, and if she did these restraints wouldn't stop her.

The woman weakly looks at her goddess with her head resting on the pillow, unable to form an apology, all she can do is stare and listen.

"I made a plan for the trial but, if it fails then...that's the end of it I suppose," Hephaestus releases a deep sigh as she looks up at the ceiling. "Yang is still locked in a metal box underground, he hasn't woken up yet. Welf is in his cell just waiting for the verdict...fuck, it hurts to see them like that you know."

Hephaestus's eyes roam back down to Thalie, taking in the shape of her deformed face before shaking her head.

"It even hurts to see you in pain like this... it shouldn't, you did this yourself. You probably didn't expect to have to live with the consequences so it was easy, but they knew what they were doing. They knew the risk and did it anyway. Honestly Thalie, I hate saying this but...you don't deserve friends like them."

Thalie doesn't even react, this wasn't news to her. Hephaestus was simply stating facts she accepted the moment they decided to help her.

"Now they need to live with the consequences of your...ambition, and selfishness. Now people think Welf is just another murderous war-seeking Crozzo, after all the work he'd done and how far he got to distance himself from that. And Yang, he gets locked in a box with a missing hand," this revelation earns a groan from Thalie, her eyes widen in surprise.

Hephaestus frowns at the woman," right, you didn't know that. Well, he lost a hand, got locked in prison, and now... depending on how the trial goes never gets to go home, all because he wanted to help a friend, just..." Hephaestus gets up from her chair and cast one last pitiful glance at the woman.

"Don't go killing yourself now. They did all this for you, so don't throw it all away, don't disappoint us again," Hephaestus says as she leaves the room.

Looking at the back of her goddess Thalie silently cries, her entire body numb from medication but the pain of knowing what this endeavor cost her friends was more than losing her jaw a hundred times over, the pain of knowing that for all the suffering, they failed the adventure. That Adrestria would return and start all over again someday, that everything they did and everything she spent her life becoming, was for nothing...

---The Trial...

Within the Denatus chamber of Babel, Hephaestus and Welf stood before the presiding gods of the Denatus. Almost fifty gods in total, each of which had at least one level-two member in their familia.

While Hephaestus and Welf stood in the middle of the room there were only a few chairs in front of them, smooth white stone with gold detailing, only the leaders of the top familia's would sit here as well as the guild representative. Behind the chairs were stone bleachers, rows upon rows with the lesser gods of the city.

Hephaestus only stole a glance at Welf, seeing him looking dirty and disheveled from his time in the cell, with shackles still keeping him in place here, his worn and haggard face staring down at the floor blankly, making sure he didn't look at his goddess. He didn't even have the nerve to face her, a shell of the man she admired.

With Ottar guarding Welf, the doors opened for the third and final member of the council to enter.

On this occasion the meeting would be led by the guild, as the controlling body of Orario, this was their jurisdiction.

With a dramatic flare, Royman enters the room and takes the head seat to conduct the trial, holding a small stack of documents in his hands.

"Very well now, let's conclude this as quickly as possible, best to move while we can," his words struck a nerve in both Hephaestus and Freya, not liking his dismissive tone.

Royman was never one to slack off on his duties, for all the things he was, lazy would never be one, he was a faithful servant of the guild and Ouranos for over a century at this point.

Freya shares an uneasy glace with Hephaestus, giving her sister a subtle nod before speaking up, "will Ouranos not be joining us?" she asks.

Royman looks over to the goddess before narrowing his eyes at the accused, "he won't be necessary here, this is a simple matter after all."

'A simple matter? This couldn't be more complicated, high-ranking adventurers betraying Orario... Hephaestus was right,' Freya thinks to herself as she gets up from her seat. "Then I trust all of you to look after the best interest of Orario, " she saunters toward the exit, giving Hephaestus a knowing look as she passes.

Ottar only nods in acknowledgment as his goddess exits, but he remains to act as security for this trial.

"Hmm, you're leaving?" Royman asks, not quite sure what the woman was thinking.

"Of course," she casually waves her hand back to the crowd as she makes her way toward the hall. "I have a trial to get to," she says, the doors shut behind her, and Royman clears his throat.

With a single clap of his hands, all attention is brought to him once more.

"Residing gods and goddesses, we may now officially begin the trial of Lady Hephaestus's Trifecta, a team consisting of Welf Crozzo-Ignis, Yang Shen-The Elementalist, and Thalie," he looks down at the paper with a raised brow as he reads her alias, "Thalie-Item Hound," he says. Never having heard anyone even mention her by that name before.

"Can we make this quick, I ordered a nice shipment of wine for this evening," one of the gods in the chamber yells out. Treating this as a game, everything was a game to most gods after all.

"Yeah, I have a date later!"

"I skipped breakfast for this hurry up!"

Clapping his hands once more Royman gets everyone to settle down, "the faster we get through all the evidence, the sooner everyone can go back to their regular business, let's begin..."

After almost an hour of back and forth, they finally come to the final stretch of the trail. Some of the gods were not so subtly sleeping in the back rows while others didn't even fake being interested anymore. But the main protectors of Orario, Loki, and Ganesha as well as other gods who help maintain the city were still completely attentive in the first row.

"Now then," Royman sets down his documents as he prepares to close out this trial. "Seeing as the court has agreed that The Trifecta, while being tried separately spare Hephaestus's familia itself from further punishment is acceptable from this moment onward. We must decide a punishment now, for the crimes of High Treason and endangerment of the entire city, and by extension, all of mankind via provoking a war, the guild has already tabled many possible punishments, capital punishment however is being favored at the moment," he says.

Loki gives him a strange look, "the guild? You mean you and Ouranos, maybe Ganesha too right?" she accuses.

"My children were killed by them, of course I was consulted," Ganesha says, folding his arms and sitting up properly in his chair.

"Be that as it may," Royman raises a hand and gestures to all the gods in attendance, "I now open the floor to the gods and goddesses of the presiding council to volunteer another punishment instead of the most drastic, but effective method, to guarantee the safety and stability of Orario... and the world," he says, leaving the floor open for the gods to speak up.

None of them could think of a proper alternative, the risks were too high, not only to Orario but personally to them and their familias. A quick execution would solve all the problems as they stand.

But one goddess spoke up.

Seeing the hurt in Hephaestus's features Loki groans as she snaps her fingers, turning all heads to her.

"You can't kill them Royman, just give them a fine instead, that's what the guild usually does right?" she says.

"You'd have me handwave them almost starting a world war by causing a power struggle within Orario?"

"No just...establish order in a less bloody way, it won't be as effective but the payoff will be good. Contrary to what the mountain of evidence says, you can actually trust their team," she says.

Ganesha grunts as he looks toward Loki, "but we cannot ignore the evidence, you'd have the deaths of our adventurers and destabilization of Orario in the eyes of the world go relatively unpunished?"

"Yeah, I would," Loki says challengingly. "I don't really care about other gods and their brats, but Hephaestus is a... close friend. Honestly, I'd give her a nice slap on the ass with a firm grab and call it even if I was in charge, but Finn figured that wouldn't work so he suggested this Fine thing. This was his idea anyway," she says.

"Braver wants the team which acts as an excuse for nations to overthrow Orario, the team that put most of his team in the hospital to simple go free?" Royman asks.

"Yeah, he did. He thinks Yang and his whole team are freaks. The kind of freaks we need, not us as a familia, but mankind. Besides it's not like you could get anyone to properly execute them anyway," Loki says.

Royman looks confused at this statement, "what do you mean?"

"Ugh," Loki facepalms, then points at Ottar standing behind Welf. "That guy is the only person in the world that can execute Yang in his sleep before the weirdo wakes up and punches a crater into the city, Finn is level seven but he doesn't think he could pull off a flawless sneak attack and I doubt Allen would be much better, and I don't think Ottar is gonna be following your orders to harm any of them unless Freya orders it, even if the orders were coming from Ouranos," she explains.

"Hmm," Royman only casts a looks toward Ottar before the man responds.

"Action against Hephaestus familia is forbidden unless my goddess decrees it," he says before returning to his stoic demeanor.

"Exactly," Loki gives him a cocky smile, "and my kiddos aren't gonna be killing any of Phae-tan's kids either," she gives Hephaestus a warm smile which the goddess matches.

"Alright," Royman looks from Loki to Hephaestus and Welf, "thankfully the reach of the guild does not only consist of those two familias, seeing as no workable suggestion has been agreed to we shall proceed with capital punishment," he claps his hands once more, setting the decree in stone.

As the murmurs are about the start and dread is about to set in for Hephaestus, Welf considers tearing the shackles out of the ground and making a break for it. Ottar would likely just let him go, knowing his next move would be to rescue Thalie and Yang.

The doors silently open up and Freya walks in, holding a single sheet of paper. "Then it's a good thing you're not the one in charge here Royman," she says. Sauntering over and handing him the sheet before turning around to give Hephaestus a knowing smile.

Noticing her sisters scheming together Loki decides to keep that information in the back of her head for later.

"This is... strange, but why?" Royman asks Freya as he reads the page in disbelief.

"New evidence came to light, this team is now invaluable to the guild," she says. Looking up at the gathered crowd she locks eyes with Ishtar for a moment, then takes in the sight of all the other goddesses in the stands. Deciding to take a moment to address the gathered vultures she makes a gentle announcement, "If any of you even think of approaching Yang Shen I'll pluck your eyes out with my own hands and lock you on the roof of Babel," she says warningly before turning on her heel and exiting the room, Ottar wordlessly falls into step behind her.

"This...preposterous!" Royman jumps up to his feet and glares at the paper, "The Trifects shall have their adventuring account emptied and be placed under house arrest within their floor of Babel until further notice! This... this is a slap on the wrist for almost starting a war!" he crumples the paper and throws it to the ground.

Beside him Ganesha is fuming, "I can't even get justice for my children, I Ganesha say this is not justice!"

---The Real Trial...

Glaring down at Freya, Ouranos sat atop his alter in the middle of his prayer chamber, silent anger building at the audacity of the goddess. Freya could feel the air becoming heavier by the second under the weight of his divinity.

"You would dare intrude upon my prayer chamber?"

"Yes, I would. You sent Royman to the trial which means you've already made a conclusion, right?"

"Right, and what of it?"

"You plan to execute them?"

"Of course, that is the most assured way of showing the solidarity of Orario, anything less could risk us looking disjointed internationally, I shouldn't have to explain this to you, War God," he says.

"Mhm, the usual nonsense. The leading superpower spills its blood in the water and the rest of the world becomes sharks, cut off Orario's trade and supplies from them then most of the familias leave the moment war is declared and you lose your hold on the dungeon because the guild loses all its forces, I know how it goes, but Yang is more valuable than that," she says.

"Just, Yang?"

"Yes, but this is a package deal, he won't help you if you kill his friends, you know that."

"Why would I ever need his help, he's but a child, even if you do enjoy sharing his bed that changes nothing," Ouranos almost growls the words out, not seeing any point in her argument.

"My Odr wrote the monster manual, that book of the new monster that Hephaestus so miraculously found after they appeared, it wasn't her having some old contact, it was him," she says.

A chilling silence befalls the room as he sits back in his chair, peering through her with his gaze, she was telling the truth, she believed he was her Odr just as she believed he wrote the book.

"That would explain why he appears barely two weeks before the dungeon suddenly changed," Ouranos says.

"Exactly."

"So the dungeon changed because of him then, he's dangerous," Ouranos realizes.

"No," Freya immediately stops those thoughts from crossing his mind, "he predicted the change. The dungeon pulls from lore, all lore as long as it's enough to create from. He studies monsters and animals the same way, he found books. Old ancient and forgotten books, he knew it was only a matter of time before the dungeon changed so he came here when he expected it," she says.

"And why did Hephaestus have him on her payroll, that seems highly suspicious," Ouranos points out.

"Because she wants to create new things, and new things are needed in new situations. New monsters---"

"Means new situations, yes...these monsters have very unique traits, such as that strange energy some of them have, does he have an explanation for that?" he asks.

"Yes, in fact, Odr explained it to be something called 'Dragon Energy', it's like the embodiment of nature used by 'Elder Dragons', monsters that force their environment to fit their needs, he believes that's why those that naturally roam don't stay still on one floor, and why they consume other monsters," she explains.

"Hmm, he believes they're following their nature even as monsters made by the dungeon."

"Precisely, now you see how invaluable he is, new high-level adventurers can always appear, but his mind is one of a kind. You can't risk losing something like that, can you?" she smirks, knowing she was cornering him.

"Hmm, and you can't risk losing your 'Odr'... do you truly believe that prophecy nonsense, Freya?"

"I found him, didn't I. It's real and it's him," she glares at the man as if trying to kill with a look.

"If you really believed that you could have let him die, and his soul would have found its way back to you, but that's beside the point. I assume he withheld the new monsters that would appear on the lower floors, yes?"

"Of course, those things would scare adventurers from even entering the dungeon, the same reason the guild withholds what they found down there. People wouldn't live this close to monsters like that even with an army between them," she says.

"Hmm, and I doubt you'd let him hand over all the information even if he wanted to---"

"Never going to happen, he needs to keep some leverage on you," she says confidently.

"Then I don't have much of a choice...I shall change the punishment, but we cannot risk losing him, their team shall be placed under house arrest for a time, it is likely Yang Shen won't be allowed to enter the dungeon from this point onward," he says.

"Ha, good luck trying to stop him, a word of warning Ouranos, Yang is very reasonable and understanding, but that all goes away when someone steps in the way of his adventure, even you, I'd imagine."

"I am sure we can come to a middle ground...eventually," Ouranos says.

"The sooner the better Ouranos, he only cares about his adventure," she says.

"More than you?" he asks.

Freya froze, then scrunched her face in disgust at the thought.

"Ugh, just call one of your lackeys in here to write the judgement..." she pouts and folds her arms, deciding to stare at the suddenly very interesting floor as the question leaves a sour taste in her mouth...

END CHAPTER---

All of this happened simultaneously with the last chapter. Trial complete, this was really hard to write hope it came out well.