Arc 1:
Part 3: Rise of the Phoenix
As I looked out through the eyehole, I counted about eleven W.M.A. officers outside our front double doors. Their attire, light padding, and armor were a blue tint. Each wearing ballistic helmets, tactical goggles, and balaclavas, each holding rifles and other weaponry on them, ready to barge in if given the chance.
"Either open your doors or we will be forced to enter," the one in the middle shouted.
I closed the eyehole and was about to grab the handle, but Ryo stopped me just before that.
"Don't. I will handle this," he said as he grabbed my wrist.
"This is not your problem, Ryo. Let go," I said, calmly staring him down.
"If it's about what went down last night, it IS my problem. Someone must have reported the incident and saw the fake Black Wolves running around and tied it to you and your crew. I'm a part of this whether you like it or not." Ryo argued.
"You're a good friend, Ryo…" I said serenely just before I pushed him back.
In this moment, Ryo had tripped backward over Havoc's manifested tail from behind. Then, through the ground, Ophelia grappled him from under his arms.
Both sank as she playfully said to him, "Hehe, sorry, Ryo. Capy's orders…"
"What the—Greed! When did you?—" Ryo shouted his final words as he witnessed my comm in my other hand having just sent the cue for both Havoc and Ophelia. That was the last thing he saw before disappearing into the ground completely.
It was just me and Havoc there now.
"Follow Ophelia, and make sure Ryo stays out of this. Find a place to keep him, and make sure he doesn't come for me," I said to Havoc, fist-bumping him as I was about to open the door. He threw me my jacket afterward.
"You sure about this?" he asked me coolly, giving me one last chance to back out. Which he knew very well I wouldn't be doing.
I looked back to him and gave him a pleasant half smile. Hands in my pockets and ready for whatever waited for me on the other side of these double doors.
Havoc smiled back and said, "Just make sure you know what you're doing, Cap." He sniffed once. "Huh, you wore it. You don't smell too much like sex this morning."
"That makes absolutely no sense. And I told you two to stop calling me Cap," I said, facing the door now, and gave him the finger from behind, sighing. "Keeper, what am I gonna do with all of you?"
Havoc chuckled and went on his way, disappearing through a random room into the Den with his hands in his gilet pockets.
"Guess it's my turn to return all those favors, old friend," I said to Ryo, even though I was the only one there now.
When I opened the double doors of the Wolves Den, I was met with the morning sun and basked in it, even though at this moment, all I heard was the charging of guns as the W.M.A.—the World Magistral Army pointed them at me.
"Hands up!" the one in the middle shouted.
"Relax, I know the drill," I replied as I took my hands out of my jacket pockets like it was a drag—because, well… I really had been here before.
"Cuff him."
They put my hands in front of me and put a bar in between them. When it activated, it cast item Bonding magic on me.
Looks like I really am getting arrested for real this time.
"You guys at least gonna tell me what I did?" I asked sarcastically.
"Like you don't already know," one of the officers retorted.
I really hated these guys. The fact that they have rights literally everywhere is already annoying as it is. There weren't many of them found in Kingdoms and Sub-Kingdoms because those places were protected by Guilds. But outside of that, like in towns or villages, they always hovered. If they were here, that means that someone called them in for backup. And I knew exactly who it was. Fine. Take me to him.
***
They took me from the Wolves Den and into the Valley Kingdom through the East Gate. When we entered the city, crowds of people had gathered, as if knowing I would arrive apprehended by the W.M.A. They jeered and scowled at me with judgmental eyes. Tasteless comments and insults filled the air as they laid their condemning eyes upon me.
"I knew it all along."
"It's about time you pay for all your crimes."
"Look at what you dogs have done throughout the Kingdom!"
"Disgusting, filthy Black Wolf."
"Look at the mess you've made!"
When I looked past them, I noticed some of the buildings and streets were vandalized and even wrecked. Graffiti decorated the sides of tall buildings and the front of shops, saying things like: "The Black Wolves were here", "Black Wolves own this city!", and others more vulgar. The biggest one, high up on another building, said "Black Wolves Territory" for all to see. All had been done from the fakes that managed to escape last night.
The whole southeast of the Kingdom had been affected and was only spreading. I clicked a tongue at myself because Ryo and I should have come back and cleaned up the mess instead of taking the night off. I didn't think the fakes would still run amok after that. So, I took the blame. It was my fault.
I held my head up and kept my eyes forward for the rest of the march. And let the insults, the comments, the trash fly my way all the way to the main Kingdom castle.
***
When they took me inside, we were in that same grand hallway that we had entered when we attended the Kingdom's Guild meeting. This time, instead of the far right door, we went in through the left closest to the entrance. It was a courtroom.
The officers led me to the middle, where there was a single pedestal. The walls around us were high and had seating areas on the top of them where other mages of council, the jury, were sitting. Across from the center pedestal was a huge stone throne with gold that protruded out of it on all sides. An exaggerated throne concocted by Sirus himself. The Royal King's seat.
Still cuffed and wearing no emotion on my face, I noticed the pedestal light up from the bottom, following the intricate patterns that lay upon it. When the light was completed, the pedestal rose and floated upward, stopping just at the height of the seating area and throne around me. Five W.M.A. officers escorted me on the pedestal; the other six stayed at the bottom and spread out along the grounds.
The jury was already sitting in their seats, pompous and jeering as they eyed me up and down from all around the room. I even saw Sirus there now that I had a better view of all of them. He was nearest to the Royal King's throne on his left. When I looked at him, he refused to look me in the eyes. Probably disappointed because he had vouched for me and my crew on multiple occasions, just for things to end up this way. I don't blame him for not wanting to prove association. He was another one I'd like to apologize to if given the opportunity.
The Royal King had not arrived yet, so I was left to stand there until he did.
"So uh… don't I get a right to a magistral attorney?" I said, my voice echoing in this large courtroom.
"Shut up!" An officer jabbed behind me, bashing my head with the back of his gun.
"Fuck. Never mind then, I guess," I retorted. Was that even legal? I thought we believed in "innocent until proven guilty." It seemed they had already deemed me guilty, and this was more of a confession stand than a courtroom.
Time ticked, and I was bored as fuck. But after a few long minutes, the Royal King and the judge arrived at the scene.
The room stayed silent as the King sat in his throne, and the judge made his way to another podium that Sirus summoned for him just across from me. This was the judge's bench.
He was wearing a long white robe with a combination of gold and red down the middle, resembling another layer—almost like a long, narrow poncho. His robe extended down to his feet, where he sported pointed shoes. His hair was dark brown and fixed in a comb-over as he carried a hard look on his face. He was probably in his mid-thirties and was the Vice Chairman of the Valley Magistral Parliament—Alphonzo.
"We are here to hold Captain Greed of the Black Wolf Knights on Trial for crimes linked outside and within the Kingdom." He announced to the court.
And so it begins.
"Captain Greed… Curious name… You were found on site along with teams of Black Wolf Knights scattered throughout the Southeastern Gate last night and this morning. In the past, there was no way to prove the link between you and reported Black Wolves activity outside of the Valley Kingdom. But with multiple sightings of Black Wolf Knights on the scene last night and this morning, with damage to both private and public property within Kingdom walls, we apprehended many and also found evidence of drug use and possession of drug substances on them. All of which were linked to sightings of alleged crimes outside Valley Kingdom walls. One of the apprehended just so happened to be a suspected trafficker who had a hideout near the Forest Kingdom—of which you were seen on site there as well."
He was talking about the abandoned church. Damn, Henza…
"Do you have anything to testify against this?" Alphonzo finished without a hint of remorse in his tone. His face also lacked any kind of emotion at all. Fitting for someone much like himself. He was perfect for his role here.
"Why bother?" I said, shrugging. "Even if I say anything to testify, anything I say will be used against me, right? And it's quite clear you all are already convinced I orchestrated these things, so my question to you is, why are we even holding this trial anyway? You already have me in cuffs and forced me from my home. Why don't you just take me straight to prison at this point? Or do you all just want to watch me struggle for your sick entertainment?" I said mockingly to them, baring my shark-like teeth in a smirk.
Disdained bickering scattered throughout the room from the council and jury. Sirus covered his face with his right hand as he sat back in his seat.
"Order," the Royal King voiced calmly, speaking his only and favorite word.
"I see. Then we shall go about it this way," Alphonzo replied.
He made a hand sign from where he was, somehow making what looked like a statue with his fingers. From this, a pentagram formed below his and my feet on the floating pedestal at the same time. The color of his pentagram was white, and mine was black. What emerged from them were two angels, the Angel of Life behind him and the Angel of Death behind me.
The Angels were silent and were both blindfolded with a serene look on their face, both similar to each other. They were twice the size of us and both had layers of chains dangling from their robes, clinking heavily as they swayed back and forth. Both Angels held scales of justice, which hung on chains on their right hands—palms facing up. And in their other hands, each held a huge sword that had Olympus features on the hilts and was the same color as themselves. One black, the other white.
"Measuring Magic: Angels of Justice."
The pentagrams below us disappeared, and the Angels stayed where they were, unflinching.
"Now you may speak freely without bias. Your honesty will be determined by the Angel behind you, as will mine as I speak on behalf of the Kingdom. Do not be disarrayed, though the one behind you is the Angel of Death. Both angels are the same. Just as when life ends, it leads to death, so in turn, through death, life is granted. I hope, for your sake, that everything you say from here on out will be true."
As Alphonzo spoke, I looked up at the Angel just behind me. It had a very odd presence about it, almost like it could read my thoughts but didn't act on anything. Still and silent like a statue, it stood there. The layer of chains wrapped around it no longer clinked nor swayed.
"Now, let us start with a simple question," Alphonzo said, staring directly at me with that expressionless face of his. His eyes were a deep red, like crimson. The look in those eyes rivaled my own as he stared into mine with that same tired resolve we both shared. I barely knew him, but I could relate to him almost immediately just by looking at his eyes. Because they had looked like mine.
At this time, he asked his question, "Are you the Captain of the Black Wolf Knights?" A trick question. I saw through it instantly as I answered him without hesitation. The jury murmured in slight confusion as they pondered my answer. "No," I said, my stare unwavering.
Sirus's hand now down to his chin, observing. His interest piqued. And Alphonzo patiently waited as the chatter in the room died down, looking only to the Angel behind me as if waiting for something to happen.
At this time, the scales of justice on the angels shifted. If you were facing the Angels, the left scale shifted up and the right one down. After this, nothing else happened.
Then Alphonzo responded, addressing me informally now. His face remained expressionless all the while.
"Looks like we're off to a good start, Greed of the Black Wolf Knights."