The sky was full of grey clouds and pouring heavy rain. The sound of raindrops hitting the white pavement of the capital sidewalk was eminent. Beto was sitting in his car, hearing the droplets hitting the top of the limousine's roof, pnning how to enter the courtroom, knowing exactly where Crimson was. Dankle was sitting in front of him, holding the umbrel, waiting for his boss to make a move.

  Beto gave off a heavy sigh, “Alright let’s do this and remember what we prepared for at the end it was all a coincidence.”

  Dankle opened the door swiftly with the umbrel once he exited he immediately opened it to cover Beto leaving the car behind him. You can feel the sheer force the rain was emanating and the impact they made caused them to bounce back up skyward. The Stairs to the Capital courtroom was drenched looking like a small waterfall. With the manticore statues on the opposite side of the staircase looking like they were crying. Two Royal guards wearing blue uniforms are standing in front of the giant spruce door, holding two spear guns in their hands. As Beto and Dankle walked up the marble stairs the guards stomped their feet on the ground ordering the two to halt.

  “The Capital Courtroom is closed sir, but if you are here for the governmental trial that has been moved somewhere else.” One of the guards excimed.

  The rain poured harder, “And where or when is it being held? I was ordered here.” Beto said a bit pissed off.

  “Your name sir?”, The guard asked sternly.

  “Jouvins Beto.”, he replied.

  The other guard walked up lending out a pstic pass with the manticore sigil on it. “The Royal Courtroom sir”, he said, not giving any eye contact.

  Beto grumbled under his breath, took the pass, gave the soldiers a salute by putting his arm on his chest, and walked away towards the car. Dankle opened the door for Beto to get in and swiftly followed behind.

  “Well, that's exactly what I didn't want to hear. The Royal court is the worst thing we could have heard.” Beto pulled out a cigar from his pocket.

  “What's so bad about it? All we have to do is go into the castle.” Dankle said with a bnk expression.

  The car started driving towards the inner part of the Empire.

  “It means that there is a high chance that the King will be present, he wants to know every detail of this meeting by being there in person. Not even serial killers get this treatment in court.” Beto said with the rain barely drowning him out.

  “Not to mention the other two are going to be there.”

  The Limousine was put to a stop when being in front of the main gate, to the golden blood of the Empire. A guard went up to the back window and knocked with his knuckle. Unlike the guards from before they were wearing red uniforms.

  Beto unrolled the window, “Hello Sir what brings you here today?”, the guard questioned.

  Beto showed him the pass and the guard had nothing else to say. He bowed his head in respect and waved to the other guards to open the gate. Once driving through the golden entrance the other side was beautiful. Not a single crack in the road, pnts were growing in outside garden plots, and every house was bigger than a reasonable apartment complex in the commoner areas. People wore gowns and suits in the rain not caring about them getting tarnished, there was even a woman with a pet Cerberus walking casually as if it was a pet.

  Dankle looked onward at every house like a child excited over which one would show up next, while Beto sterned in his chair. The only reason why Beto brought Dankle along was if Dankle was going to be questioned for information he would have none to give. Plus it’s Dankle not even he knows what he knows.

  They finally reached the pace entrance where unfortunately they would have to walk out into the pouring rain again. Just like before Dankle would get out first and hold the umbrel for Beto to exit, the guards were already waiting for them this time beside the limousine. They were wearing bck uniforms showing that these were the best soldiers the Empire had to offer to protect the King.

  “Mr, Jouvins Beto I will be your escort to the Royal Court Room please follow me.”, One of the guards commanded,

  Beto and Dankle followed in a line behind the guard while two others were behind them sandwiching them together. Once the giant doors opened, and they stepped inside the noise of the rain disappeared. Portraits of past Kings hung on the walls, behind the armor stands, and other relics. The only noise that could be heard was their echoing footsteps. Once reaching the fourier the guards stopped in front of the Manticore statue and saluted it, Dankle joined in to show respect and not to feel left out. The guards continued until they reached the royal library walking through shelves and shelves of books. At the end of the room was another rge door made out of iron, with the lion's head painted onto it. The guards opened the to a giant Courtroom,

  The room had sky lighting with nterns lit on the side of the walls, while vines of orange flowers sprouted on the furniture. The Guards walked Beto, and Dankle to their seats in the very front row. There were other people there too in different rows, a very tall woman with a long nose in the row beside them, four elves sitting in the very back, and even a few Harlifs sitting in the very middle. They had dog-like features with tails and ears. One of them, a blond-haired woman, was staring at Beto from across the room with interest. She was wearing a b coat with a pair of goggles resting on top of her head.

  Beto looked at Dankle and nodded, it was time. Before coming in they had a pn to record everything that happened in this meeting by putting a bug underneath their bench and pn to retrieve it after. It was going to be harder now but they needed everything they could get. Dankle pressed the button in the middle and went through with the pn. After doing so hours went by and more people entered the courtroom until every row had an occupant sitting in them. Right when the castle bell rang twelve times in the middle of the afternoon, two people came out from the entranceway behind the throne and walked to their seats at the Bench on opposite sides of where the king would sit.

  One of them was an Elvish woman who had blue hair and purple eyes. She found the cure to a disease that was considered fatal to the human race five hundred years ago, making them at the top of the ranks out of the elves. The other was a Lion like Harlif. His hair was wild, and his eyes were sharp like a manticore. He is one of the greatest generals in the Empire, and his successor is the leading Commander and personal guard to the king.

  Everyone stood up as the Commander walked through the entrance with a small Harlif scryer to the side of him, then his royal majesty entered, and guards gave a welcoming salute.

  The Bench was not very well lit especially where the King sat his Throne was submerged in the shadows. All you could hear were his footsteps, and see his eyes. Once he sat down, so did the rest of the Courtroom. From the side door entered Minel in handcuffs with two guards on each of his sides. They walked him to a podium and uncuffed him in front of the judge's bench in the middle of the room, the trial had begun.

  The Commander walked down the stairs to stand in front of the bench,

  “Ladies and gentlemen we are gathered here on this te spring afternoon to discuss current Head Scientist Minel Loppin's exact punishment for recklessness of public safety. As a Reminder the minute you the audience have walked through those iron doors you have been put under a spell where you can not talk about what is discussed in this room. Would the defendant like to say something about the topic at hand?”, the Commander said with a stern tone.

  “I will only tell you all the truth,” Minel responded with a smile;

  “Ladies and gentlemen, as you may know, I am the Head Scientist Minel Loppin, and unknown to the public Miss Lana of the Elverin Sages, and Great General Regional, under the guidance of his majesty put me in charge of a great project. You all knew her as The Science of The Future, but now she refers to herself as Crimson. Subject 1746 D.S. was behind the Laboratory burning down outside of the Tractor Highway, not a dragon. Many of you knew what we were doing,’ He said, turning towards the audience, but especially staring at the blonde Harlif woman.

  He continued speaking while using his arms to gesture throughout his speech, “But I will remind or tell those who didn’t know where their “charity” was going. For over twenty years we always had an issue with other countries or other species. Yes, I'm referring to the dragons and the difficult country of Leorna. It’s believed that they tamed dragons themselves and have one of Eden's other halves. With this arming news along with some other countries' help, we joined them into an empire and traded magics with the Imperials for years now. His Majesty knew one day that the Imperial government would get rid of us like they pnned to for Leorna, so we made an idea. This wasn’t The Science of The Future but for Our Future. However it would take some sacrifices of many to get to the point we are at with it, using the DNA closest to Ancient beings from a different time we almost achieved our living weapon, but as you can see”, he paused.

  Minel Turned towards the King and the other judges. “There were three people who Visited the b that day, The first was Miss Rochelle Spring of Harlifs Laboratory, and university in Biology, the second was the Commander who came for a simple assist and delivery never entering the facility, and the st one was right before my world burned to the ground Jouvins Beto, One of the biggest donors to the project may it be for paying for his crimes.”

  Beto raised his hand for a turn to speak knowing that what he may say would be an utter coin flip of being questioned further. Lana noticed and pointed towards him, guiding him to stand with her hand; she then interrupted Minel, “I'm sorry but that man would like to speak probably on his behalf.”

  Beto bowed, “Thank you, your honor, I am Jouvins Beto, the man he was referring to there, and to be honest I have been in that b twice, once for a meeting on what exactly I was donating to, and another was an invitation of discussing more funding towards the project by the Head Scientist. I was brought there only on being asked. I never visited without an invite, I would like to crify that it was all a coincidence.”

  The General raised an eyebrow but Lana raised her hand, “You speak the truth I was using detect on you to see if you were lying, and not a single thing has changed. However, was the person sitting beside you there that night as well? Please stand.”

  Dankle stood up fidgeting with his duckie cufflinks and remembered what Beto told him before they got here, “Make your answers short and simple, don't over-expin your answer like if they ask what you did say you were just in the car. It's not a lie so it won't get detected.”

  Lana spoke again, this time suspiciously, “Sir where were you that night at the Tractor Laboratory?”

  Dankle responded, “I was in the car, waiting for my boss, I never left so I don’t know anything.”

  Minel noticed that he was a different person and interrupted, “Your honor, that is not the same man who guarded him that night. There were two bodyguards that night.”

  Beto stepped in to help defend, “Those two men are vowed to silence in one way or another. One of their tongues was cut off as a child, and the other took a pact of silence after a traumatizing incident, and was a friend of mine long before.”

  The general looked again at the sage, “Once again no lies were spoken, both of them may sit.” She responded

  Beto Bowed his head in response and proceeded to take a seat, and Dankle proceeded to sit while shaking.

  “As for Miss Rochelle Spring, do you have any testimony for yourself being there on the day of the accident?” Procimed General Regional.

  The woman stood up with her peers gazing at him in disbelief “As a partner in this project I was assigned to the anatomy growth of Subject 1746. I was there for a check-up due to her current goal being completed for not being malnourished for three weeks.”

  “You are telling the truth, you may sit down Miss Rochelle.” Said the Sage looking at the scryer's long page of testimonies.

  “You may proceed again, Head Scientist.”, the general said resting his hand in his palm,

  Minel continued, “Thank you, yes it is true everything Mr. Beto and Ms. Spring said, but I will now talk about what happened that night. We found out that after three weeks of testing her resilience, she could have been the key to our success in creating the living weapon. Usually, before we leave the room we use magical ice to freeze the air in the vents to prevent her from using her powers, but it malfunctioned and she escaped. She went on a rampage killing all workers in her sight, freeing other b volunteers and even taking out a small dispatch team. I never thought she could achieve this not with what our charts were showing. After she broke my assistant's ribs by kicking her to the side she gave me a threat that we would all burn in her hellfire leaving me there until being rescued.”

  The tall woman raised her hand, and was permitted to speak, “This idiot put us all in danger. Has she even been caught yet?”, she asked in arm,

  Minel responded, “Subject 1746 has not eaten in three weeks the longest she has sted was two, and used a lot of her overall mana from her Aura, most likely she is passed out in a forest and could be dead in a couple of days. Not to mention it won't be hard to find her the minute a soldier sees her she's gone.”

  The woman sat down frustrated, but she knew that was the best expnation she was going to get.

  Then in the back of the room, one of the four elves raised their hand, and the General raised his hand in response for them to take the floor.

  They stood up and asked their question, “If she is a magical being could she somehow corrupt the magical energy that our nd provides if she were to die? As an example when one of the first revive spells was used it made a bst in an area corrupting wild dogs, and turning them into Cerberus. So could she have an impact like that on death with magical energy?”

  “If she dies she would like any other creature from past knowledge, she may start a forest fire but that's about it. Everything is under control with her, if you still have me around.” Minel said now defending the idea of safety.

  The Commander finally spoke up after questions were asked, expining the stakes for Minel and his punishment;

  “If Head Scientist Minel Loppin is found guilty of the recklessness of public safety, then he will lose his title and his certificate in scientific practices. You all may rise if you believe he is guilty or not.”

  For the first time, the king spoke through the trail while he stood under his shadowed veil, “Those who believe he is guilty rise.”

  The four elves and the older women stood.

  “Now the not guilty”

  Beto and Dankle stood to keep them from looking suspicious, along with the Harlif scientists and a few other people who donated a big sum towards the project.

  “Then it’s settled, Minel Loppin you are to stay as the Head of Science, keeping your title. However, I would like you to be observed by a commanding officer or Grade A soldier at all times. Under the wish of public safety. This Trial is dismissed. The king spoke again, just the tone of his voice made Dankle tremble a bit.

  Everyone walked out one by one out of the iron door, but before they left Dankle unattached the bug from the bench and swiftly put it in his pocket. Then walking behind Beto trying to look not suspicious by staring at the skylight. The Harlifs were following right behind them with Rochelle still staring at Beto. All that was left in the Courtroom were the judges Minel, the Commander with a few guards, and the King. The room went cold.

  “Leave us. All of you except the Commander and the Head Scientist, this includes the General and Sage.” The King commanded.

  The two gazed at each other and walked off behind the throne hearing the doors behind it close. The three were truly alone. The King sat back down at his throne at the Bench swishing his chalice of red liquid around for amusement.

  The only thing Minel could see were his red sharp eyes piercing him.

  “You failed Minel. You failed me, Minel.”, he said softly.

  “What am I going to do now? That was my st hope.” he continued to compin.

  Minnel walked away from the podium closer towards the Bench looking up with pleading eyes, “Your Majesty please do not doubt me, if we find her there is no harm we will just move to another b, and if we don’t I have every step we used for Subject 1746, plus we have someone close to her genetic mutation, 1745.

  “Oh and does it have the same power I lent you for 1746, or will any of the others?” He mocked.

  “No, your Majesty, they haven't even got close to her goal,” Minel replied shakily.

  “Then what use is it, or you?” The king scoffed.

  “If we find Subject 1746 or any DNA of hers that has sixty percent of the gift we can multiply it and inject it into future soldiers. Not to mention I believe twenty percent of the human race has these DNA mutations like hers” Minel responded.

  “The power I gave you is not just some DNA transpnt thing, it's a gift, an elemental power from Eden itself that no one can replicate but myself. I want her dead and thrown into the sea if found. For I only know what the future may be if she's not caught.” The King argued Throwing his Chalice to the side of the room and standing up.

  “If you continue the project, use something else, or terminate everything.” He concluded by exiting the Court Room leaving behind the Commander and Minel.

  Leaving the inner gates back out to the commoner's part of the Empire, the storm roared louder.

  “We got it, boss. All of it.” Dankle smiled.

  “Good now we have proof of the trail in every detail, they would never expect us to have this kind of technology. Remind me to thank those kids in the battle ring for making this work so well. Smart little shits I’ll tell you that.” Beto ughed while lighting a new cigar.

  “Boss, that Harlif woman was staring at you a lot, is she someone we provoked?” Dankle asked, fidgeting with the bug.

  Beto blew out some smoke and answered, “No, I worry she could have smelled Crimson's scent on us or something, she is a dog Harlif. If she's the doctor for her she would know the scent well. Yet she never said anything or spoke up, she must be pnning something.”

  “Do we show the recording to Crimson and Vincent?” Dankle wondered.

  “Vincent yes, Crimson no. That girl has enough on her pte already, yet again she is the safest where we left her.” Beto said confidently.

  As it stormed in the Capital that day, it was bright and sunny in Hollybrook. Crimson sneezed in front of the book merchant holding the Encyclopedia of Monsters as if she knew someone was talking about her.