Richard's POV:
The council took a seat as Louis was standing in the accused area in the middle, Paris standing off to the side near him for support. I glanced at all the princes and princesses gathered here today, smiling at them pleasantly. I took a head count, noting the more prominent ones such as Val, the Princess of Italy, Dante, the Prince of Germany, Victor, the Prince of Russia, Laurence, the Prince of England, and Rose, the Princess of France. There were others, but these were always the more powerful ones on the council. They would be leading the decision along with me. They'd have to be my targets.... The rest would fall like dominoes. Easy as pie. I glanced at them then. They were all wild cards except for Rose who would take it easy on her brother Louis or do it for Paris if not out of love for Louis. "This Royal Court will now come to order. Today we gather to discuss and determine a future for one of our own- Louis Grimm, Prince of Wales. As many of you know, he recently attacked major armies and took out over a thousand newborns in less than two hours. Paris Grimm, the Prince of France, has brought him to court to have this justified before us according to our laws and traditions. If you do not already know, please take this moment to refresh yourself," I announced as I sat in my chair. Some of the vampires glared down at him, watching as he met their gazes evenly without any fear. He could at least act afraid and respectful.... I sighed to myself and crossed my legs, tapping my pen against my papers.
"Shame.... I always thought that Louis would be one of the only ones never to be questioned and judged by the council," Dante said, loud enough for everyone to hear. I glanced over at him then. He must not be on the side of rescuing him from punishment then.... Great. One major influence to fight. He's highly considered a war god and to be intimidating. The less influential here will probably be torn between the two of us. As long as Laurence doesn't join him.... Laurence usually helps decide what happens. Most will follow him. Of course, I have my own influence here as well. I'm a strong member here too.... I could fight and win against the two of them and possibly even if you added a third influential member to the list. I smirked then.
"It happens to the best of us Dante. Please keep that in mind," I told him, earning a small giggle from a younger princess. "After all, even you have been judged before the court....When you started World War Two I believe?" He narrowed his eyes at me then.
"This is entirely differ-" I cut him off then.
"You killed more than he did, so I'd be quiet if I were you." I saw Louis glaring at Dante then like he wanted to go over and kill him. I bit my bottom lip and glanced towards Paris. If he wanted his twin safe... he'd have to help keep him under control and make him look more innocent to the Court. Paris shot a glance from Dante to his twin and growled lowly.
"Knock it off." Paris hissed out, not afraid to prove he really had the guns in this meeting. Louis quit immediately and glanced at everyone before looking at his twin.
"Moving on to business," I started and looked down at Louis. "What do you plead, if you plead anything?" He looked up at me then and offered us all a pleading look.
"I plead insanity.... I haven't been in my right mind, and I throw myself at your feet, begging humbly for forgiveness. I will do anything to make it right." I nodded approvingly. He might actually pull through this then. He's going to have to play suck up for the others.... I can't do all the work for him. I looked around at everyone then to see if they had anything to say.
"You will do anything to make it right?" Laurence asked him and raised his chin slightly as he looked down at Louis. Paris became uneasy then. We was both still not certain if he was going to fall onto our side. Louis rested his eyes on him and tilted his chin up to him.
"Yes...especially to you Laurence....especially to you." He bit the inside of his lip then, an almost unnoticeable thing, but I was able to see it slightly. I glanced over at Laurence. I really hope he doesn't go to Dante's side.... It'd be so difficult. Laurence stiffened a laugh and walked towards Louis then in a rush. He got to just a few steps in front of him and Paris tensed. Laurence grabbed a hold of his hair and gripped it sternly as he pulled Louis's head to his face.
"You aught to be saying that to Paris, I just want a few thousand replacements. He on the other hand needs more then a couple of newborns." Laurence flickered his eyes to Paris and then around the room. He threw Louis down onto the floor, laying him down under his feet, as he moved on top of him. "Don't mess with my friends Louis, or I. Your going to get a hell of a treatment today." I clenched my jaw as I sat there. I can't seem too biased.... If I stop him, I might lose support among the others. Louis didn't say a word as he looked up at Laurence, not even bothering to move or show any signs of wanting to fight back. He looked broken compared to the Louis a few days ago. I frowned at that. What exactly happened in Hell? Was it even Hell that did it? I glanced over at Dante who was smirking at the prospect of having Laurence on his side.
"Yes, you should be ashamed Louis.... You betrayed your own twin," he hissed out, earning respectful glances from a few princes and princesses. Shit. Laurence snapped his eyes to Dante and smiled wickedly.
"How many in this room has ever had a sibling, once in their eternity?" Laurence asked suddenly. He glanced around at us all. Paris raised his hand. I raised my own hand reluctantly, not liking where this was going as I noticed most of us had raised a hand in response. I really hope he is going to attack Dante's words with this.... "Then you all should know what it is like to disagree with your sibling and to pick a fight with her or him. What happens though? You always forgive them. No matter who spit gum in who's hair or who put ants in who's bed. You end up becoming the best of friends not long after. It may take a hour... a day... a month... or almost eleven years." Laurence turned his eyes to Paris. He gave a soft smile then. "You forgive him for spitting in your hair right?" He asked. YES! I smirked over at Dante who sat back in his seat, looking completely pissed. I glanced over at Val and Victor then, the only two wild cards left. Victor looked completely bored with the matter and was on his phone. Guess he's not participating much today. I looked back towards Laurence then and stood up, approaching the two on the floor slowly. When I got close, I put a hand on Laurence's head and ruffled his hair.
"He has a point," I said softly, making sure to project my voice. We could work with this. Louis was looking up at Laurence gratefully but still didn't dare make a move in case Laurence attacked him immediately. Laurence stepped off of Louis then and looked over at Val, claiming his next victim to take to the dark side. He looked like he was coming up with a master plan. Val was sitting there, looking off into space with crossed arms. She looked chilled and laid back.
"Valerian Robin." Laurence called directly to her. Val sat up then and snapped her attention to us, acting like she had heard everything.
"Yes?" Val asked gracefully.
"Could you come here a second?" Laurence reached out a hand. Val got up then and walked over to him and took his hand. "Val I want to ask you something, and everyone should listen because this is important." He glanced over the room and then went back to Val. "A couple of days ago you had taken one of your made vampires home with you to New York... Am I correct?"
"Y-yes I did." Val looked Laurence in the eyes in wonder. "Why are you bringing Lauren into this?"
"Is it true that she was sided with Paris here... but also had ties to a vampire who was sided to Louis?" Laurence wasn't just asking Val. I glanced towards Louis then and held out a hand to him. He glanced at it and then up at me before taking it and standing again.
"His name is Benjamin," Louis murmured softly. Hey....maybe we could rack up sympathy points? I glanced towards Paris to see what he thought. Paris gave a nod towards me and then looked at Laurence.
"It is true." Paris whispered.
"Yet you knew." Laurence pointed out.
"Correct. I did know." Laurence looked at Louis then. Louis was pretty much staring her down.
"You caused me a lot of trouble," he muttered. "Benjamin was worried sick." I smirked at that.
"You seem to care a lot about your newborns....don't you Louis?" I asked, sending a meaningful glance towards the others. It was a good thing when a maker cared about his newborns.... most makers ditched them sometimes.
"Of course I do," Louis said quickly. "I protect my newborns." Dante narrowed his eyes.
"This has nothing to do with the case! Either get to the point or I will start to speak again," he hissed out. I watched as I saw his eyes flash red at me. I narrowed my eyes and exposed my fangs to him.
"I suggest you quiet down Dante.... It is not your turn to speak yet," I told him.
"You're abusing your power as ruling Prince over the Court today," he protested, sitting up as he exposed his own fangs. The Prince of Russia looked up from his phone then, sensing the tension.
"Gentlemen... There is no need to expose fangs here in front of the ladies." Laurence interrupted us. "As the eldest, I would like my say in anything that happens in court... Especially since I see things none of you could ever imagine seeing. LET me get on with my point." He folded his arms behind his back. "Louis and Paris I would like your attentions. I was not done with where I was getting at. If you two knew about their love affair.. why didn't you stop it? Shouldn't you have forbidden them from loving one another for the war?" Louis glared down at Laurence then.
"And why the hell would I tell Benjamin he can't love his mate? Besides, they even have the cutest little girl now," he said and smiled softly. "My newborns are free to love their mates.... even if it means that they are on the opposing side. Mates are mates after all. I'm sure that Paris wouldn't even get inbetween two mates, right?" He glanced back at his twin then. I blinked as I looked at Paris. He wouldn't....probably.
"Well Paris?" Laurence asked. Paris was looking deeply at Laurence for a moment and then looked at the court.
"It is absolutely absurd to get between two mates. You should all know this by now from the revolution." Paris made a small joke and laughed. "I understand how powerful love is for a mate, you would do anything for them. I let Lauren see him because eternity can be shortened to a second.. and I wanted her to get all of that second with her mate. Even..... if that meant seeing a rival." Laurence cleared his throat then. A Princess raised her hand then.
"May I ask a question?" I looked to her and tilted my head. I saw it was the Princess of Brazil. Interesting.... she normally doesn't speak. I nodded to her. "Are the two lovebirds here today?" I glanced towards Louis then who shook his head.
"No.... Benjamin is not here due to the customs."
"Unless he is invited, he cannot come," I spoke up. She frowned.
"Well.... I want to meet the two." Louis glanced from her to Paris then, slightly shaking his head like he didn't want to bring him here. He kept it subtle so that no one could really see it except for the ones closest to him.
"Benjamin is a little tied down to Lauren. She has gained a new power recently- telekinesis. So it is best to keep them away from here. In order to keep Lauren sane... she has to be with Benjamin. I would like to keep the two out of the picture." Laurence spoke up. "If you like... we can introduce you to them after." She nodded and got quiet again, leaning back in her seat. Dante was starting to look really upset and impatient with us, but he wasn't saying anything. He's plotting, I realized. I glared at him. He better keep his mouth shut. "As my conclusion~ You may be wondering... as to why I brought this up... Well it is safe to say that over everything love wins the war. You must show compassion, for if we did not... War would be brutal. I suggest that because Louis has showed the compassion to ask for forgiveness that we must... return it. That is all I will say on this matter, please think this over." Laurence took Val to the chairs and took a seat by her and Rose. Laurence gave a glance to the princess that had previously spoken up and gave a warm smile to her. She looked pleased with Laurence's speech. I noted that for later. It appears that she likes compassion and things to do with being a good maker. Nodding, I glanced around.
"Does anyone have any more questions for Louis? Anything to say before we go to vote?" I made sure to look each one in the eyes as I passed my gaze over them, putting my hands behind my back. Paris glanced around the room and gave a final glance to Dante before looking back to me.
"What the hell kind of speech was that?" I heard Dante mutter. "Love never won any war, and I should know that better than all of you. Louis is spiteful and needs to be punished for it. He killed thousands of newborns in just a few hours. This Court- this scale of balance- protects us from being taken over, from losing our control. We all must abide to this court that judges each of the royals so that one of us doesn't get to powerful. It was an agreement to establish it to keep tyrannical leaders like the old kings and queens out, and Richard, you should understand that out of all the deciding ones here today! After all, wasn't it Paris's parents who refused to let you have your mate, along with your own father?! We must make an example out of him for anyone who thinks they can take over, to protect all of us!" Dante stood up, narrowing his eyes as he walked up to Paris, Louis, and I. "I know for a fact that not only did he kill newborns, he also had teamed up with Vampire Hunters towards the beginning of his short, pathetic little war. What happened to them? He killed every single one that worked at the HQ and betrayed his own teammates. We can't trust him yet, and we should punish him for what he's done! He needs to pay for it! We've been lenient on each other for far too long about these things, and we keep having more and more wars like this happening!" He looked out across the crowd then and turned to look at Louis, glaring him down. "We cannot let this continue happening...." Narrowing my eyes, I started to walk towards him. If he thought that he could come in here and steal my show....he was sorely mistaken.
"You are the one that made it clear that you joined up with Louis, we should also be questioning you Dante." Laurence hissed out and stood back up, getting tense. "You knew he was in the wrong but you joined his side so freely." He scoffed. "We shouldn't even be letting you make an decision. You should be as lip tight a Louis. You are lucky you aren't going to get a punishment this time. Unless you want to strike more pointless accusations towards Louis... then well- I can make a good show for the rest of the court today by beheading you." He laughed wickedly then. He came to a stop as he got serious. "Though I hate to admit it... Louis does need to be punished, we shouldn't let him walk away freely." He crossed his arms. I bit the inside of my lip then. Is he still a wild card then? Dante narrowed his eyes at Laurence but didn't say another word as he didn't go back to his seat.
"Is it true you orphaned a girl?" A Prince called out suddenly. A chorus of murmurs erupted then, but Louis looked up at them wide eyed.
"Orphaned a girl? Why on heavens would I do that?" The Prince narrowed his eyes at him.
"I heard from a very credible source that you did."
"I did not, and you can try to find all the evidence you like, but you won't find any," Louis said and smiled at him before looking down at his feet. That's right.... Louis had brought her parents back this morning and had all three of their memories erased of the night he killed them. He covered his tracks for later so that they wouldn't be able to throw this at him. Smart move. I smiled approvingly and looked at Dante who narrowed his eyes at Louis.
"Liar," he hissed under his breath, spitting at his feet before walking back to his seat. Hopefully no one listens to Dante too much today. I sighed and started to walk back towards my seat then stopped, glancing towards Paris.
"Paris, would you like to make any remarks perhaps? It's not unheard of you know.... After all, it was you he did most of this to...the reason we are here today," I said softly, watching him closely.
"Louis is my twin, I never intended to kill him if I won the war, I was simply going to punish him really really bad and then kick him out of my territory. What he done was wrong, but when I read his mind- every time I met him from the moment I arose from the coffin.... I could hear his thoughts... His thoughts were longing to make things right with me. The feelings grew stronger over the course of time and finally- after the last major war efforts he made... He called me and we made an arrangement of peace. He is guilty, I can hear his thoughts. He is terribly sorry as well... In fact he wasn't going to attack the hunters headquarters here IF IT wasn't for a certain someone..." Paris's eyes flickered to Dante. "Now I am going to have to deal with the angry HAHQOA. Which I hope, it will not affect any of you. I don't mind it though... Not too much. I was planning on doing it myself. The point of that was that he wasn't going to and that is the last thing he done wrong. He went to hell to make up for a few of his wrongs. I take full responsibility for most of this war. I should have been more of a twin and tried to make better arrangements with him then jumping the gun. I am dearly sorry... But who can blame me? I was in a box for ten years and I came back to find my manor being ran by another vampire- NOT EVEN LOUIS!" He laughed then. "I love him no matter what he does, I know he's still got his sanity in there somewhere. I knew he did all along, I could hear his conscience. Insanity and sanity... We all are mad here though, am I right?" He exposed his fangs with a huge smile. "You shouldn't be so hard on him, I know a few of you have gone insane here and there, including I." He stopped it at that. I noticed then that a few vampires were holding back laughs as they probably were agreeing with him. We were going to win. I smirked and went back to my seat then.
"Good... If that is all, let's move on." I sent a glance around to see if everyone was satisfied and smiled as I saw that everyone seemed content- except for Dante. I nodded then and gestured for the Court Witch to take Louis out to the holding room while we decide what to do with him. She gave a curt nod and flicked her wrist at Louis, smirking as his eyes widened and he fell to the floor numbly. Gesturing to her two guards, they came over and hauled him up, dragging him out of the room as she followed behind while inspecting her nails. She got paid a lot for each Court case.... After all, she pretty much is the one that makes this all possible. Her powers allow her to bind anyone's power. I glanced towards Paris as the door shut and patted the seat next to me that was empty. "Come on," I called, giving a smirk. Paris danced over and took a seat by me then kicked back in his seat like he ruled it. Laurence took his seat then and gave us a smile of assurance, like it would all be okay.
Louis's POV:
I was shoved into a seat in a somewhat dim room, the witch standing above me with a cruel grin. "You know they are going to have your head on a platter...don't you?" She laughed and then ran her fingers from my shoulder up to under my chin, forcing me to tilt my head up. I couldn't move at all as I was stuck, no control over my body. "Too bad.... You were kind of cute." She leaned in then. "I'm going to enjoy watching them torture you," she whispered in my ear. I felt an involuntary chill go down my numb back and tried to move to shove her away, but I couldn't. Giggling, she moved back and looked at her two vampire protectors. "Watch him. If he somehow gets up or someone comes for him, keep him from going anywhere. I'm going for a milkshake!" She started to walk to the door with a bounce in her step, humming. "Tata~! See you in an hour young prince."