Perfect Avatar-Chapter 283: Tribunal

In several regions of the world, several forces were engaged in the final stretch before the world climax.

Mercy led the holy knights, heading from region to region and exterminating all kinds of monsters around the circle of death in the center of the kingdom.

For their part, Gloria, Freya, Hope, Liliana, Iris and Cid moved to a nearby town where Gloria had sent the Nymphs and Solaria, and finally on Fenrir, while all the troops were resting, Rhea and Eva were on the balcony, Eva’s favorite place.

The Player looked at the stars with melancholy, a face she had already worn for many hours.

She looked down to look at the ornate service, but for the first time her cup remained full.

"Where’s Dora?"

Rhea put down her cup, she glanced at the stars with visible disinterest.

"I don’t control his movements, he’s somewhere, but his alters are still with Lucca and Giudecca."

"Is that so? Maybe we should have tried to spend more time with them, they seem closer to the real Dora."

She tried to laugh, but her eyes held too much opposition.

With her head lowered, she looked at Rhea.

"I’m so sorry. Looks like we’re going straight to the worst case scenario, I’m really sorry for putting you through this."

"Why should you apologize? It’s normal for the strongest to except the biggest challenge, besides..."

Rhea stood up, putting her hat back on her head.

"If we must kill each other, so be it, I will fight as the Avatar of Pride and I will not be defeated, and if this world must disappear, I will disappear as the Avatar of Pride."

Rhea stepped forward, she was about to leave the balcony when a failed pressure grabbed her arm.

"...Is there anything else?"

"Yeah, you haven’t even finished your cup."

Rhea stood still for a few seconds but eventually sat back down. She took her cup, with less tea than she probably had left.

Next to her Eva greedily sipped her tea and gave her a teasing smile.

"...What does that mean?"

"That means I really appreciate my time with you, so let me savor every second... For the last time."

She finished her cup, under Rhea’s gaze, then placed it on the tea set.

"Rhea, I have one last mission for you, the very last. If the worst-case scenario happens, you will have to kill Dora... Until he says a name."

******

Meanwhile, at the town bar, Giudecca was finishing a third cup of milk, looking depressed.

"What the hell...Wrath is dead? And Gluttony took his soul? How are we supposed to fight her now?! Now we really have to rely on Rhea for everything!"

"You mean like you’ve been doing it all this time?" Sigma yawned.

Giudecca threw her cup at him, but Marie caught it on time.

She gave Giudecca a frustrated look, the girl flinched, then came back to her, groaning. The Personas around whistled to cheer for Marie.

"...Of course, getting more courageous to oppose me." Giudecca groaned.

Marie sighed, trying to be as small as possible in her chair, sadly noticed by the Personas.

"Don’t be afraid, if the evil gnome tries to bully you, we will punish her with the last energy."

"Please Sigma, shut up..."

Lucca was deeply offended to see her friend playing with the Personas.

"E-excuse me, but I think you’re in the wrong place to criticize my friend, especially since you left her when she needed help!"

"Please Lucca, shut up..."

Lucca stood up, clenching her fists, facing the Personas intrigued by her statement.

It was becoming obvious that there was something between Marie and Giudecca, but the two were only supposed to know each other from the Kalaharis, so they looked to Marie for an answer.

"I didn’t do it... That’s not how it happened..."

A simple answer that fueled the Giudecca fire.

"Excuse me? What are you saying?"

She got up in turn. Her temper and attitude alarmed everyone and Beta was already up, but this time something was different.

"That’s not how it happened? What are you trying to say?"

"I’m trying to say I didn’t abandon you! You didn’t even need help..."

They looked at each other in silence for seconds that seemed like an eternity, then Giudecca sighed.

"Yeah, fuck that."

She jumped above 3 meters in an instant, caught in time by Sigma before reaching Marie.

"I didn’t need help?! Is that your excuse??? You fucking bitch!!! I’m going to kill you!!!"

She struggled hard in an invisible bubble, to the great amusement of some but the great dismay of others.

After a while, they managed to calm her down and set up a large table where they all sat to clarify the situation.

It was decided that Giudecca and Marie would explain their version of what happened between them and point out who was wrong, a pathetic attempt to appease Giudecca, or maybe just a way to have fun.

Acting as a mediator, Alpha raised his hand.

"Okay, it’s very simple. Just tell everything that happened, only the truth and if possible without insulting you, the number of insults could be used against you."

"Is this a fucking court?" Giudecca groaned.

"Minus 5 points for Giudecca."

"FU...What?!"

"Objection!" Lucca stood up. "My friend has anger issues because of her tragic past, caused by that girl!"

"Objection!" Sigma stood up as well, "I heard this girl call her sister, they might be blood related for sure, so all her opinions should be dismissed!"

Giudecca looked at him like a clown, but when she saw Alpha scratching his chin with a judging look, she facepalmed.

"If you’re going to play dumb, what’s the point of asking for the story? Just say she’s right! She seems like the kind of bitch who gets away with whatever she does!"

She pushed the table away, groaning, arms crossed. Everyone looked at her with a little apprehension, they were amused by their story but seeing their reaction, Giudecca’s anger and Marie’s dismay, their amusement gave way to growing curiosity.

Now they were dying to know the truth. The bar was replaced by a real court, thanks to Sigma’s magic, with Alpha as judge, Sigma as Marie’s lawyer and Lucca as Giudecca’s lawyer.

The rest made up a juror who would determine a winner.

Marie looked at her lawyer who was carefully styling a bourgeois hairstyle.

"What have I gotten myself into?"

She looked next to Lucca and flinched because Giudecca was wearing a poor torn and neglected dress, while she was wearing a dress covered in diamonds.

Alpha slammed his desk with a hammer.

"Now calm down, peasants. It’s the case of Marie VS Giudecca, aka the Brute against Cinderella. On the trail, Lawyer Sigma, aka Sigmus Fraud, against Lawyer Lucca, aka Arhoo."

"...Arhoo?"

"Stick to the script, now, without further arhoo, let’s move on to the story. What dirty skeleton is hidden in Marie’s closet?"

A spotlight shone on Giudecca, the girl wiping invisible tears from her eyes.

"Thank you, Mr. Judge, I am happy to finally be listened to by a merciful person."

"Objection hearsay! Bribery!"

"Objection overruled, please continue."

Sigma snapped his fingers, Giudecca chuckled and took a sad face again.

"It’s a very sad story, sir. It all started when I was a child... I have a little memory of my past, but I lived with my parents in a small house in the forest. We had not many, I had days where I couldn’t eat, but I never cried because I was happy...."

"You think you’re special? My client was alone at that age..."

"Because my parents could still eat, even if I was starving."

Sigma’s arms fell, everyone shared a gaze, Lucca rubbing her knees.

Even Alpha looked shocked, he lowered his head with his hand on his face.

"Damn... This is going to be hard to counter."

"Counter? Please, you’re overestimating, there was never a debate." Giudecca triumphed.

She stood up, followed by the projector like in the theater.

"I was born an emissary, so I couldn’t die easily, even without food. I was too stupid to understand why I was suffering, the look of terror on my parents’ faces, or why I had chains in my hands. My parents were terrified of having a child with so much power, I was like a monster in my own house, but they were not desperate. There was another solution and they did not hesitate to follow it."

She paused for a moment, her eyes searching for Marie.

"Oh no, Marie..." Sigma facepalmed.

"Wait, it wasn’t me! I didn’t do anything!"

"Objection!" Lucca stepped forward. "She denies it! It’s an insult to my client’s feelings!"

"Objection!" Sigma stepped forward in turn, "My opponent is a dog, I cannot defend my client without confronting animal defenders!"

They stood in front of each other, insulting each other, Alpha hit the desk harder.

"Shut up, you idiots, or I’ll evacuate the room!"

"He doesn’t even defend her, he only insults me..."

"So you consider dog an insult? You racist..."

Alpha raised his hammer, threatening to throw it at them.

They left, insulting him silently, but Giudecca was at least able to resume her story.

"Well, in a way she’s right, she did absolutely nothing. My parents sold me to a group of people in a forest. Unfortunately, I never found out if they were killed or if the money wasn’t enough to survive, but they sure were in a hurry to leave. It was the last time I saw them, the men kept me underground for I don’t know how long, but at least I was fed enough this time, I didn’t have to steal my own house."

The Personas and Zury watched the scene while eating chips and tea, they wouldn’t give up their place for anything in the world.

Marie was crouching, Lucca was crying, Sigma was reading cards with dog jokes, this simple room was in its own universe.

Giudecca, with her mood lightened by her confession, showed less sarcasm and more emotion, clutching her fist to her chest.

"I understand more now, I was born with a strong power, so I was seen as a monster by my parents, but for some people, I was a perfect weapon. The people who sequestrated me tried to train me to obey them as their slave, I always cried for my stupid parents, so I opposed them a lot, when they forced me to obey them or satisfy them."

"These demons..." Lucca sobbed.

"It didn’t matter... they couldn’t do anything but hit me, I was too tough to risk molesting me... but I remembered all those feelings and it fueled a new emotion... a burning rage to slaughter them."

The light became redder, another effect of the spotlight.

"I tricked some of them, pretending to let them abuse me as they wanted...and when I had two legs within reach...I turned them into pieces, literally."

Her face twisted into a terrible grimace.

"I was surprised how easy it was to break someone with my bare hands, and for the first time I felt no pain when they hit me. I pounded their faces so many times, and their faces was always disfigured.. it felt so good to finally be able to return the pain that everyone inflicted on me!"

"...Objection, your beautiful honor, she’s scary."

"Objection denied, she IS scary."

"It felt so good! And they were so stupid! They always came to me, even if their comrades were getting mutilated! It was the happiest day of my life... until she pulled in."