(May 12, at noon)
Aether was restless, pacing back and forth in the confinement room that couldn't even see windows to see outside. As the rules of the place were, finding himself presumed guilty would have to stay in that room until the verdict occurs. However, he still had not lost the right to his limited visits from his sister who was just as powerless as he was, in those 30 minutes they both looked at each other and enjoyed each other's company, at that point the silence was more than enough, because there were no more tears left to cry, and words were superfluous in these last moments of the two of them. Although Lumine managed to remember a bit, she still felt inadequate at not being able to save her brother from the clutches of whatever happened, perhaps it was her weak perception influenced by affection that made her think that the shogunate had been so merciless with him. His brother for both of them to have had such an unfortunate journey. Neither of them has slept thinking about every detail of what was revealed two afternoons ago, although a ray of hope appeared, as in its nature it vanished with the same speed, leaving a mark on both of them.
They were in the visitor's room, both sitting face to face at a desk delimited by extremely resistant glass and being watched by at least 4 cameras from different angles. However, Aether was lying on his hand resting on the table, gently closing his eyes to sleep because those 30 minutes were enough to rest in peace and think that everything is fine. Lumine reviewed the thin strands of her brother's hair over and over again with her gaze, analyzing and thinking: "we are running out of time".
"Aether" she tried to get her brother's attention with his gaze lost on her, until he looked back at her with a slight exhausted smile.
"Mhm?" Aether felt sleepy after so many sleepless nights, until his movements began to slow.
"I'm going to get you out of here soon, even if it costs me my life" she stated decisively.
Aether knew she was making a complicated expression, and though she tried to smooth it out it was difficult. He knew how stubborn her sister could be, so even if he told her not to pry into this hopeless case, she would do it anyway. And he could understand that feeling, for he, too, would go all over the world to find and save his sister, even if the shogunate itself made her disappear.
Their gazes finally merged with a sad, ephemeral beauty, like two friendly flowers waiting to spend the rest of their days together and be able to enjoy the morning sun again. With a glass that appeared to be thin that demonstrated a clear gap between confinement and freedom.
Aether was already anesthetized from that sensation, but he still reciprocated her sister's gesture. A big test had been written off, but the possibility of being a presumed culprit was still a looming threat. It was true that Jean was looking for that goal when they were tied hand and foot, but with the new evidence revealed they logically hoped to achieve the subject's innocence.
Jean told Lumine that given the scenario, it is very likely that Aether will be deprived of liberty and the investigation will continue, which could last up to half a year and in the best of cases it will be dismissed or archived. Now, in the worst case, it would be pretrial detention with a continuation of the investigation and possibly the filing of the case. But that even if this happened, they could, as well as not, have a solution. But Aether's fall into Oblivion would be necessary and they would have to deal with the biggest challenge while investigating: Making Aether stay alive inside Oblivion and not cause any act that would make them doubt his innocence.
As he remembered what Lumine told him, an outside person pulled him out of his memories, indicating that the peace time for the two had ended, so they took Aether by the arm to return him to the containment room. Hardly bringing him back in touch with reality, while the men guided Aether to his room, he could see the desolation and hatred on his sister's face, who after a few seconds was also picked up by one of the guards in the place saying that her permission to be in the room had also run out.
As soon as Aether crossed the door, one of the guards of the place was waiting for him, that man was tall, slender and rigid. So Aether gave him a curious look, since it wasn't normal to have that man in his room.
"Mr. Bonafeste, given the regional contingency and by order of the Shogunate, your sentencing session will be brought forward to tomorrow, May 13 at noon. This was news that my superiors just gave me."
As soon as Aether heard that news, he stopped looking at that man, because just as it had been the previous nights, even if he asked something, he would not be answered, unless Jean was by his side, which is where he could speak and express himself at least as necessary to know what was waiting for him. The counterpart, seeing that he did not receive any interaction with the prisoner didn't stay in the place any longer, he quickly left through the same door, ringing the room's security padlock as soon as it was closed. According to your point of view, nothing could turn out worse in that situation, in any case. What national contingency are you talking about? He hasn't been able to access the news lately, and if his sense of time is right, there's no holiday coming up either. No matter how hard he tried to remember, he knew that even if he remembered something, no one would answer anything back. So that no longer mattered to him, there was nothing else that fell into his hands, and he had already cried all he had to cry and rage. The rest of the work would be for his sister and lawyer if they could turn the tables. Even so, that feeling of mourning did not disappear in either of the two brothers. It didn't matter if he walked in circles, ran from one wall to another, or lay like a log on that white bed with no sheets due to anti-suicide measures. But when he thought about it, it wasn't like "nothing matters" either, maybe it was just too many emotions that overstimulated him.
He rolled over in bed and closed his eyes, wanting to rest for at least a moment. However, when he least expected it, the guards returned to look for him to tell him that it was time for the sentencing session. What seemed to him to be 2 hours turned out to be 10. His internal clock had definitely broken down.
(may 13th, at noon)
"What contingency are they talking about?" Lumine asked flippantly, but nothing personal since she was speaking to Jean.
The two women were walking down the court aisle clicking their heels, both looked tired and fed up with the latest news, but they were formally dressed, Lumine looked a little brighter this time than the other days due to taking care of her Lawyer who now watches that he eats and sleeps enough to try to unlock more memories that were apparently forgotten by the shock of the moment.
"It's hard to explain, miss" Jean was overwhelmed enough to make her counterpart understand.
"Do you know anything about this?" Lumine showed surprise, at the same time waiting for the explanations.
"More than I should." Jean added.
The curses stopped sounding as soon as they saw the dark-skinned man who always seemed to be a peacock because of his attitude and clothing. However, there was no longer that playful expression on his face, for a moment he seemed somewhat subdued, which was surprising to Lumine as she followed the rules of nature to the letter: "The most beautiful and showy plants are definitely the more poisonous ones." It wasn't until he sensed the known presence of his ex-colleague that he brought back some of his brilliance to care for his image, just as a peacock spreading its feathers cleared his voice so he could come up with some sarcastic comment.
Lumine couldn't take that victory energy that he wanted to project for her brother's case anymore, so she was determined to fight Kaeya until she was pulled by the arm by Jean, which made her move back abruptly. The young woman had a certain notion of that man's story from brief comments her lawyer made to her, it is true that she did not tell her everything about the job since they were not exactly friends or colleagues. But once when they were involved in this extraordinary case, they did make comments regarding certain characters. And with "certain characters" it was obvious who precisely they were referring to.
"Why do they look at me as if I were the one who will meet them 4 hours before it starts?" Kaeya asked with some annoyance.
"You know perfectly…" Lumine stopped dead as soon as she felt Jean's grip intensify, to the point of pain, beginning to color her pale skin red. For a moment Lumine thought that her wrist would be detached from her body. He was surprised that this woman had such strength in her hands.
"I didn't say anything to make you respond. I wasn't even going to talk to you" Jean's expression is colder than ever, projecting a clear "I don't have time for this or you" energy in an attempt to end the interaction.
"I see that daddy's daughter can be mean too, interesting. I never thought you'd say something so mean to me" Kaeya seemed to be the only one in the room who couldn't interpret that Jean currently had kindness on the underground level, or else liked her. make people in more vulnerable situations uncomfortable.
"At least I have a dad"
Jean began to pull Lumine in the direction of the main room where they were summoned, leaving the man who decided to let that bad comment go by baffled and silent, clearly expecting any comment except for something so personal that he left more than one passerby watching the scene. Jean began to walk fast, to the point that it was difficult for the young woman to keep up with her.
"As soon as we get out of here I'll tell you what I know, but for the moment don't even think about mentioning anything if I don't give you permission to do so. We're against the ropes, the last thing we need is to make a scene with that idiot" Jean mentioned.
"It's true that aiming at his non-existent father figure is not a scene" thought Lumine ironically, who broke free of his grasp and began to caress herself and hide the suspicious mark on her arm.
You didn't have to be close to Jean to know that both in person and professionally she is someone so far away from her impulsiveness and her emotions, nor would she allow herself to be manipulated or provoked by a braggart like her ex-colleague. She projected to be the kind of person who puts others before herself, justice before herself, and kindness before herself. So seeing her say that in front of her opponent was unexpected for Lumine. Even more so that firm grip that she made to contain her, at that moment she did not know that Jean was handling so much information that she could not even bear the presence of that man, that she must be so overwhelmed to let herself be carried away. The only thing he could think of was that Jean represented a much more powerful piece than he appears in this situation.
Aether entered the room with more guards than usual surrounding him and guiding him to the podium, which was unusual, since Aether had at least always stood out for his good behavior. Lumine couldn't help but examine her brother from a distance, knowing from the first moment that something was wrong.
The protocols continued as always within the sentencing hearing with the presentation of the judge on the big screen and the most relevant people in the case. Then, the actuality of the case was shown and repeated, with the available evidence and the refuted evidence. Once all this information was repeated, the sentence was read by the judge:
"In the case of the Shogunate against Aether Bonafeste, after having reviewed all the relevant evidence and legal considerations, this court has reached a conclusion: Aether Bonafeste is charged with manslaughter. After evaluating the evidence presented and hearing witness testimony, this court finds Aether Bonafeste guilty of the above charge."
This phrase made the whole court go wild with comments in unison, then, the presents started to discuss. But Lumine and Aether just keep silent due to the surprise, they are unable to process this information.
"Mr. Bonafeste, in accordance with the crime committed and the corresponding laws, the following sentence is imposed on you: For the charge of involuntary manslaughter, you are sentenced to life imprisonment within the Oblivion maximum security prison, acquiring the status of red target once you are admitted today at midnight, all your bank accounts will be confiscated and your shogunate social security number will be blocked, as well as all your shogunate benefits of you and your family will be revoked. Your lawyer has a period of 90 days to open an appeal, however, you must comply with the sentence even during the appeal process and reopening of the case."
The "word life imprisonment" echoed in the heads of everyone present, creating a great commotion in the room. Aether wanted to faint for a moment, because this prognosis was even worse than what Jean had told him. However, great was his surprise when he heard the reaction of the audience.
"This is incredible", "It is impossible for them to give him a life sentence even after what happened in the previous session", "This is a farce of the Shogunate?".
"The court concludes this reading of the sentence. Let it be recorded that this decision is final and binding, unless it is reversed or modified by a higher instance or in the framework of a successful appeal." the projection ended, causing the screen to change to a black that reflected the entire audience.
As soon as the lock on the doors gave way to the pressure of desperate journalists, the flashes of cameras and phones reappeared again, swallowing Aether whole in a sea of lights and people wanting their scoop.
"Aether!" exclaimed his sister who tried to look for him before the guards forced his head down to yank him into the confinement room. It wasn't where he tried to see his sister slip out of his grasp and then not even see her, since she had already been swallowed by the sea of people.
No matter where she looked, dozens of people tried to hold her back and openly questioned the judge's decision.
"Miss Bonafeste, what is your reaction to seeing that even when the murder weapon was dismissed the Shogunate decided that your brother is guilty instead of giving him the option of pretrial detention as it has always been?"
That was one of the questions that left Lumine frozen once the session ended.