A place of judgement made bargain. Certainty, order, defined the Tevarians. Ruled by the lineage of the Therons for generations. As proven the moment Lucaen set foot on the very soil of his governance.
There was no time for thoughts or appreciation, as the High Chancellor of Tevar greeted the High Lord Justiciar the moment Lucaen's steps reflected through the Privy Court made concrete. The stage was always accessible. Void of any grand door that served as absolute transparency of law and life.
An identical scaled exos stood firm. One bowed while the other, had his hand to his chest. The High Chancellor, Thyra, and the Lord Advocate, Thyrae.
"The Court of Elysium stands convened, Lord High Justiciar." She spoke matter-of-factly, before turning to set her eyes down at Lieutenant Solivane, who was immobilized. His two lieutenants, Cyran and Iscen, had restricted Solivane well.
It painted a clear picture. One, Aurelius would despise if he had known.
All attendees waited, eyes on him as he took his seat on the dais. The court was respectful, but distasteful. The irony of him to play judge in the middle of a crisis was absurd. There was no law to uphold in this predicament.
Lucaen nodded, a gesture for her to continue.
"By the authority of the Optic and the Laws of Elysium,"
"Aurelius Everhart, Governor of Enarc, is held in lawful custody." The words echoed in the court with certainty. Solivane was silent; some might say he was law-abiding.
"A foreign lieutenant has entered our borders in defiance and stands detained."
"Jurisdiction rests with this court." She glanced at Thyrae, and settled by Lucaen.
"The matter awaits your judgment, Lord High Justiciar." The ball is in his court as she retreated to her own podium.
Duty precedes sentimentality.
"Defend yourself, Solivane."
Solivane tilted, not with a full motion of his head. His wings were detained with a pin to the concrete. All the while, his wrists were cuffed in front of him. "This court has no authority over a foreign governor."
"Your law means nothing to us, the Enarchies."
His words were an outright defiance. It was evident in the tightness of Lucaen's lieutenant's grip. A conscious demand of respect the moment Solivane spoke of their dictum.
Such a hive mind, doesn't exist in this land. They are loyal to Lucaen's words. To his law. But one thing remained a question. Solivane is not an ordinary military officer. The absence of any signs of retaliation troubled him. He had expected wreckage upon entering; he had behaved, surprisingly.
"Then, why do you let yourself be captured by my lieutenants?"
"Are you not, the Senior Military Lieutenant Solivane of Enar-" "To get a definite justification of our act, before our governor rose to find Tevar and you, away from this synced realm."
How brazen. Though, it's predictable.
A bird surrounded by packs. One would quiver.
Thyrae's steel maw bared slightly at the audacity presented in front of him. His bulky artichoke exo let out a thump from his wide gait, which even his own lectern trembled
Solivane's words were a clear threat. Sufficient enough of a death row if Lucaen deemed it fitting.
No one would dare to doubt the Theron's judgement. One of the existing founding families of Elysium. The archivist.
He wished to see which side I chose?
"Conform to the court!" Iscen criticized, shoving Solivane's shoulder for a change of behavior. The younger Lieutenant was right, yet wrong in his manner of handling.
Impulse. Get rid of your own impulse, Lieutenant Iscen.
Cyran glared down Iscen, his ancestral sharp ears brought low, a hint of disapproval. Iscen shifted his gaze away, straightening himself with a cough.
"What can you guarantee us that Aurelius will defend Elysium as a whole?"
"Are you implying that you have the slightest chance to influence his behavior?"
Lucaen eyed him down, shoulders weighed. Wishing for a better confrontation than talking to an exo of a different level of comprehension.
"If he denies the contribution, would the Enarchies afford to battle on four fronts, simultaneously?"
"Shall I list them all for you?"
"Though, I am sure the representative of Enarc is not a fool."
Solivane's demeanor was fixed. No fixing his uncomfortable position, no tugging of his wings, not even a sway of his cuffs. "This speaks of your ignorance, Theron Heir."
Thyrae clicked his maw. Countering immediately in an attempt of keeping the court respectful, the moment Lucaen's lineage was thrown wholeheartedly. "One more word, Lieutenant, and your presence here will end."
Thyrae stepped a step closer, steel grinding with every snap of his maw.
"The law does not argue with defiance." He continued.
"Our governor, Aurelius, is more than powerful enough to kill all of us if he wishes."
"All bark, yet no bite." Thyrae brought his maw gapped. His killer jaw was made display above Solivane's kneeling form. A taunt.
"The Enarchies are defending your lives as we speak."
"Say, are we in the wrong?"
"When, as of now you have the luxury to play judge?"
Thyrae scoffed, "Hah-!" His tail flicked the dais's floor as he cocked at the crow.
"Enlighten me as to why we are still alive then?"
"Don't you think the Enarchies are a little...bit delusional-"
"Lord Advocate!" Thyra slammed her sharp claws against the gate that bordered the accused from her. An attempt to ease the session. To calm her big brother.
"I would not let the Enarchies look down on our law." He retorted. Turning his body to meet hers. His heavy tail flicked the side of Solivane's torso. Intentionally.
Lucaen let out a low breath, casting away his robe.
"That was a mistake." He declared, knowing what would happen by that glaze of tail.
A thud, echoed.
As if the universe itself testified to his statement.
The Enarchies are predictable. Solve by strength. The powerful above all else.
Apparent to Thyrae's fluids cleansing the dulled floor. Coating the concrete with a shine. His exo had fallen three steps away from his little sister.
"Order."
"Attend to the injured."
Solivane had broken out of the lieutenants' hold, standing almost dismissively. The cuffs shattered beneath as he stood with his wings stretched, yet pinned. He had compressed his mana to pierce through Thyrae's scales.
A large stroke from his back was almost seen on his front before he fell. Leaving his own fluids to cover the animosity of his ripped exo. It was an instant death.
Her clawed hands subconsciously reached out for her twin brother from her sides. She then forced her maw to face Lucaen. To take action against the injustice. But, Lucaen was sitting there, unfazed. Not an acknowledgement. Not a shift of his gaze from Solivane.
Thyra flinched as Solivane looked down on Thyrae's rhythmless exo. "We had been too lenient."
"I suggest you try your best in attending his life as of now, since the Theron heir and I have matters to discuss to." He said matter-of-factly.
Iscen scurried to Thyrae's body, holding the two sides from the other. He bowed to Lucaen for a grant of leave.
"Seems like Tevar's lieutenants are inadequate." Lucaen whispered enough for every attendee to acknowledge.
Cyran flinched. That was a personal view of his competency. He yanked Solivane's wing, only to be met with a glare and a sword on his neck.
"You.." Cyran groaned; his hands were lowered the moment he felt that sharp sting in his latissimus plate.
"You and I are not peers." Solivane clicked his joints, freeing his wings from the pins. His wings were flimsy, soft-looking. A flexible pair of wings that may be seen as useless.
"Under one rule." Lucaen leaned toward the front of his desk.
What had happened, was a loss. At a glance, the slash was deep. It doesn't take a genius to announce that Thyrae was.., as good as dead.
"Wake Aurelius, in front of me."
Iscen moved efficiently out of the court's way. Leaving Thyra's gaze, sneaking glimpses of his brother exo out to the path of the treatment center.
"Lord-" Thyra pleaded softly.
No context was needed to guess what she would say. Her twin brother died in honor. So, Lucaen treated as such. A nod at her was all it took. She was smart.
As a High Chancellor, she must remain a figure for those who wish to follow her steps. And a slight bow was the confirmation that she understood.
Thyrae had served Tevar honorably.
Life was merciless, he couldn't provide the sympathy for her loss when Tevar was built out of pure efficiency. Sentiments hold no power here, and are discarded.
"Adjourned."
His claws were flat up to the attendees, a gesture of decision that had been made as he took his steps out of the court. Billowing his robe that he had cast away as Cyran stoically followed Solivane's back. Ensuring the safety of General Lucaen, who was leading them.
The dulled grey praetorium was vast. Minimalist, disciplined in architecture that reflected throughout all Tevar. Nothing can be hidden without taking up unwanted space.
The deep green carpet was the only acceptable aesthetic that differentiated the floor from the ceiling.
Lucaen navigated through the immense building, followed closely by Solivane. Neither wished to fill the silence, only fixated on the same goal.
"Proceed-" He turned, his back faced a room where Caius was seen standing protectively over desynchronized Aurelius.
He was expecting Solivane behind him, but to his surprise, an ominous figure stood looming over him. The width of his shoulder was wider than Solivane's. A brute at a glance. An exo, built heavy.
Solivane?
Lucaen's eyes shifted to Cyran, who was supposed to keep an eye on Solivane. "You."
"Civil Court, left wing."
"Turn yourself in, Lieutenant Cyran Elriche."
You're joking me.
Are Tevar security protocols a decoration?
Do these officers not take their duty seriously?
The one standing in front of him was menacing. He nudged below to meet Lucaen's gaze, before shifting his eyes to the back, to Aurelius.
The stature walked passed through, eyeing Caius. A demand for him to move. "Step aside, you're a hindrance."
Caius took a step back, hesitantly. "Who are you?" But it was clear that Caius was protective of the asset in front of him. His claws were visible from afar. Prepared in case anything goes wrong.
"I don't see the need for me to make myself known." He replied, assessing Aurelius' desynchronized body as he knelt beside Aurelius.
"Sir-" Cyran's demeanor screamed of confusion.
"Accused of abuse of entrusted power."
"You let him in, did you not?"
"Lieutenant Valtron Stork, 3rd in command of the Enarchy militia." Valtron asserted.
"Aurelius' next in line for governorship."
"And.. Cyran did not let me in. I threatened him."
"Less, you need a scapegoat." He chuckled low as he inserted an Enclavian fused crystal that was as thin as the tip of his talons.
"Nonsense." Lucaen faced Valtron, a step closer to him.
There's no way I'm not made aware of an heir.
A successor system in Enarc at that.
Caius observed by the side, watching the crystal dissolve into the wavelength of the unawakened rhythm inside Aurelius sync port.
"We have no data regarding a third lieutenant Valtron that had been stationed in Enarc."
"Why do you assume everything must flow under the Optic?" Valtron scoffed at the audacity of the idea.
"I know everything about you, the Therons."
"Aurelius' brother."
"But you,"
"You know nothing of me." He seethed while watching an unseen rhythm dispersed, merging with Aurelius' inner system.
It was evident by Aurelius' parts tightening, a wave of new coating covered his tungsten, an upgraded exo. His tungsten had thickened.
The room temperature spiked instantly as Aurelius pushed his body up in a swift motion with an annoyed grunt. Stretching the gears, shifting his joints with fumes efficiently exiting between the modified plates.
"My Lord." Valtron greeted him.
Aurelius was alerted, wings tucked, shaking his head slightly, scanning his proximity.
Lucaen called out, hoping for his attention. Yet, even his tail stretched away as if it was bracing for an unknown rejection. "Aurelius, I know you are confused."
"However, we are in a tight pinch-"
Aurelius reflexed to the side, away from Lucaen's touch. "Valtron, would you mind explaining to me, why Seyvron's corps is leading the frontlines?"
"Regarding that-"
"What frontlines?" Lucaen demanded, clenching his void fists.
"Retreat, all of you. Regroup in Cort, defend the wall."
"Yes, sir."
"Aurelius!" Lucaen growled slightly.
Aurelius shifted his attention. His head low, leveling to Lucaen and Caius with a cynical mocking tilt. "What are you guys doing here?"
"The helminths are forcing in, and the lots of you are here?"
"Comfortable living while others die for you?"
"Always us."
"Your meat shield."
"Sir, will you be synchronizing to Enarc?"
"I will fly there. I no longer able to weave through Elysium's port."
Valtron nodded, his exo became particles in an instant as he weaved himself without a linking port.
Lucaen grabbed Aurelius' brachii slightly, only to be discarded away like a Theron's touch was the touch of a helminth itself. "Aurelius."
"What do you mean by you're unable to sync?"
[COM: General Nefertari>General Lucaen]
[I need updates.]
[Tell me what happened between you two.]
"Exactly as it is." He huffed.
Aurelius flared his wings, forcing everyone to give space in the small chamber. His wings were the same as ever. Dense, broad yet sharp.
The wings that flapped elegantly with minimal movements. He went for the sky at haste, void of the usual glide of Aurelius. Replaced by a frantic, swift necessity.
[COM: General Nefertari>General Lucaen]
[The Enarchies are retreating.]
[Did you do something?]
[The helminths are spreading out onto Corra's border.]
[I need backups in the frontlines, Tevar lieutenants.]
The Privy Court, for a brief moment, was cold. Cold from the winds that Aurelius left behind. Leaving the heat of his exo, inexistent.