IRENE watched the entire scene unfold with her fist clenched, little drops of blood were dripping from her hand. Apparently she'd dig her nails into her palm unknowingly. However for this moment she didn't talk, she didn't say a word, she didn't even flinch. If Moriai tells her to wait, it's for good reason.
After about twenty minutes of yelling, Helios slumped to the floor just glaring at everyone like a dummy. "The serum wasn't even that concentrated," Jamal scoffed and shook his head then bent forward to ask him the questions.
"So, Mr Helios Charmalagne, you are the Narvach of the ElderTide waters, is this correct?" he began.
"Yes sir," Helios said. "Although his lips were moving, his face was devoid of expressions. He didn't have any thoughts of his own and seemed like the only thing he wanted to do was answer questions.
Jamal nodded. "Good. How old are you?" He demanded.
"Thirty Four years," he replied.
Jamal nodded. "So, I want you to narrate what unfolded on the fourth of this month. Tell me everything without leaving out a detail." He said and then stepped back.
Helios then began, narrating all the events of that day. "I have always met the man, Felis, for trading. He had uncanny luck and was good at finding Cryptological Sigils. He also had one of the best Potion makers on his ship. Their cryptological potions were always seventy five percent pure even with the crude equipment they used. " He explained, pouring the contents out of his emotionless face.
"On this day, two of my scouts on his ship reported to me two important things. One, they found an Asterisk Sigil and two, their captain was harboring four young Cryptids. I came aboard the ship and expected to end ties with the smuggler and destroy his crew. He already outlived his usefulness."
Helios paused to catch his breath, even though he couldn't do anything other than tell the truth, he still needed to do the basic human processes. "It all turned sour when I killed one of the Captain's crew members. He revealed who he was to me and he destroyed the Silent Sorrow with one punch. His hair glowed like the embers of the sun, he held his hand high in the air and stood for minutes but I knew we stood no chance against a man who beat god! So I ran but it… it wasn't enough."
He kept narrating, giving every detail of what had happened. His story wasn't necessarily arranged but he told them what they needed to hear and at last the serum's effect faded away and he landed in a thud, completely unconscious. Jamal stood up from the fainted body of Helios and glanced at the council.
"Do you see how far we have fallen as a people?" He began, his voice filled with authority. "We now put spineless individuals in place of authority. Can you imagine how much he has been crippled with fear that even with a truth serum he still believes he'd fought Godblast."
Jamal paused and then glanced at the Notary with a nod. The man walked over to Helios and slapped him awake. Helios jerked up, his body recoiling as he remembered all that he'd been through for the past few minutes. He scurried away from the floor and into the dock where he was being questioned.
"You are a disappointment to all that we believe in," Jamal began, his voice clear and domineering. "You not only lost four resources that could have been used by the Sagittarium, you also lost one of the named ships and fifteen crew members."
Helios at this point had reached his limit, he knew that all he was waiting for was a glorious and painful execution. "What would you have me do?" He demanded. "It was Godblast," he repeated.
Jamal glanced at him with a chuckle, walking closer to him in a menacing stride. "What do you think this is?" he asked. "A playground?" He held Helios by his golden hair again. "You failed the very kingdom that allowed your petty existence. You failed your God and even desecrated his name by saying you met his one and only equal! You have sinned against the Sagittarium and all it stands for and yet you speak!" Jamal yelled into his face and proceeded to smash his face into the edge of the wooden confinement.
Helios didn't utter a word, he'd screamed his lungs over the past few minutes and compared to the pain he felt, this was nothing. "Fear has crippled you! Fear of the unknown, fear of a being that has probably died from the injuries incurred from the battle with the GodKing and yet you claim you met a being like that…" the sage ranted smashing his head over the edge continuously.
At this point, Irene's fury was at its limits, she glanced back at Moirai and the elderly woman lifted her hand from the shoulder of the Marshal, giving her a slight nod. The woman hadn't completed the downward stroke of her head when Irene appeared in front of Jamal, her hand clasped against his arm.
The sage halted, gasping with shock as Irene appeared in front of him. Her white hair was swirling on her head and he could feel the aura pushing from her body. "Get your hand off him," she said, looking directly into his eyes, as a purple aura spread around the entire hall.
There was a vivid tension in the atmosphere as a subtle sound of bones cracking filled the room; Irene was holding Jamal's hand a little bit too firm.
"Stand down Marshal!" The Admiral stood up.
Irene glanced at him. Normally, she would cower in fear and just listen to whatever he said but her anger had boiled beyond its limits and she could barely feel the respect and admiration she had for the Admiral at the moment. "Tell your man to let go!" She replied with a growl!
"Are you disobeying a direct order?" The Admiral demanded and was only replied with an intense aura explosion from the woman!
The ground beneath her cracked and she glanced up at the Admiral with purple streaks dancing around her eyes, her hand still on Jamal who was trying to counter the Marshal's aura with his. "Tell your man to let go!" She repeated.
The Admiral glanced at her for a while. "Let go Sage!" He ordered and Jamal obeyed immediately.
Irene's aura receded afterwards and Helios slumped on the edge of the cubicle, his breaths uneven, his face was horrific, covered in blood. He looked no less than a petty criminal, the woman sighed and then turned to one of her guards that'd followed her into the place.
"Get him to the Retribution's sick bay!" She ordered. "Make sure not to give him any potion," she said. The last time he'd burnt half of the doctors trying to heal him in his wake. ?
The guard obeyed, lifting Helios onto his shoulder as he began to walk off. "What the hell is this! The hearing isn't finished!" Jamal rushed forward, like a starved lion watching it's only prey get away. He was however halted by a steel sword placed on his neck.
Marshal Irene was holding her Mythic grade sword to the man's neck. The sword was a towering monolith, almost six feet long and was a foot wide. Its blade was as black as a starless night, seemed to drink in the surrounding light, leaving only a faint, ominous glow along its razor-sharp edge. "Say one more word," Irene warned, her voice as cold and unyielding as the steel she wielded, "and I swear in the name of the God King, you will join the countless souls imprisoned within Twilight!"