10: Helping Out
I will not admit to being the world's greatest assistant in such a case like this. Most certainly, Dyka could have picked someone who was better suited for such pressure. Nevertheless, I helped Dyka as much as I could, even when I didn't even realize I was doing it.
The truth of the matter is that the trial was much shorter than anyone really would have thought, even with some of the delays that we ended up having. One of the delays was due to Tsukinousagi's sickness, but after three days, she was ready to go once again.
-She will be fine, the doctors assured us. -Given her condition, she is doing much better.
We weren't sure quite what they meant by her condition; however, we came to conclude that it was because of her thin body and pale skin, compounded with her constantly changing planetary environments - she had been on ten different planets in less than three months, and her body was apparently not genetically disposed to rigorous space travel. In fact, we wrote that as being the official notarized cause of her taking ill. However, I had my suspicions, my own, strange, unfounded suspicions.
-She's thin and tiny, I commented to Dyka on the way to the Court of Justice the day the Three resumed the case. -She knows this. It seems oddly timed that she should take ill during her trial, don't you think?
-Perhaps. Dyka rubbed her brow. -Unless you are hinting at something else, Floritiuse.
-Well....... I shrugged, -She is a Vika soldier......
-You think she purposely made herself sick?
Dyka looked at me with a curious face. I gave a nod, as it made sense to me. She had already stolen my room, so what would make me think otherwise that she was simply getting attention for herself? The papers made quite a ruckus, and it made her seem more sympathetic when she was being seen as sick as a possible result of her speculated treatment in prison. But I digress; I will speak more on that interesting thought later.
-Well, let us keep those thoughts to ourselves. Dyka turned away from me as we approached the Hall of Justice. -It would be prudent lest it harm our already fragile case.
-.....Right, Dyka.
I gave a nod as the door to our transit opened. We both went out and strode towards the great building, waiting for the onslaught of reporters that would inevitably hound us all the way to the entrance. Recorders and writers never slept when it came to our story, it seemed. But I digress.
-Seema-ships! Instantly, they were on us. -Dyka! Themis! Seema-ships!
To elaborate, seema-ship is a title given to those who were in the Seemarin, and had official posts. I, of course, was not an official Seemarin senator, but I did work with Dyka. Through her grace, I recieved the title of seema-ship, and I was allowed to wear the personal badge of a seema-ship. It is a six point star made of the rock of Asgerd, and it glows bright blue in the dark. But I digress.
-Seema-ship! Suddenly, one recorder in particular came upon us. -Dyka, how does it feel to be among the most hated soldiers in the galaxy?
-Hmph. Dyka turned her head up. -I have nothing to say to you, Kastalle.
-Oooh, is this so? the recorder gave a smirk. -Well, don't worry, I'll fill something in for you instead.
I gulped, and hid behind Dyka, hoping that Kastalle wouldn't see me. Kastalle, you see, was no ordinary person of the press; she was a sailor soldier. She was the owner of her own newspaper, Sailor Sentinel, which had every piece of gossip and news on every sailor soldier that was making news. She was fervently a Tsukinousagi hater, and was always pressing for a comment, any negative comment from us, which she could put into her paper for her own devices. It was fair advice to simply not say anything around her.
-You do that, Sailor Kastalle. Dyka pressed forward. -And you shall regret it when I see the lies you put into your paper.
-Oh, I'm sure I will! Kastalle laughed as we went into the court, where her kind was forbidden to go. -Have fun, girls!
I really wanted to say something in rebuttal to her, but as I opened my mouth, the great doors of the Court closed behind us. My bold and snide remarks against the loathed recorder were, at the moment, little more than plots in my mind. In fact, I forgot what I was planning on saying to Kastalle some time ago, so even if I wished to write down what I thought of now, for your interest, I couldn't.
-You know, I do remember mulling about it, however. -If I had the chance, I'd give Kastalle a piece of my mind.
-That is a terrible idea. Dyka walked down the hall. -You're better off wasting that piece of mind on other things.
-Like what?
-Like keeping your mouth shut. I meekly followed her. -Kastalle is nothing more than an opportunistic grubber. Most press people are. Just ignore what she has to say.
-
The proceedings of that same day are somewhat important. For, in that day, we had another sailor witness whom Kepe called to the stand.
-With your leave, your Majesties, Kepe bowed. -We shall call another sailor soldier to the stand.
-Bring her forth, Sailor Kepe.
At once, a young girl came forth. She was dressed in green, and was tall, and looked formidable. Yet she was shaking, most ostensibly frightened from what I could see. I gave a sigh as she came upon the stand; again, Dyka seemed prepared for whatever Kepe had in store for her. I looked over at Kepe's assistant Sailor Bora, writing in her notebook, and wished that I had a notebook to entertain my mind.
-The Prosecution calls Sailor Mido to the stand. Kepe motioned. -Have a seat, girl.
Sailor Mido quickly complied. She seemed very scared to be there, and she kept skaking each time Kepe turned around.
-Mido. Kepe looked at the shaking sailor. -You are the soldier of the planet Mido, which lays in the galaxy of......Sailor Mido?
Sailor Mido was shaking slightly. She turned white as a sheet when Kepe looked at her.
-Sailor Mido.
-I........ she shook. -I can't.....I can't do this..........
-Sailor Mido, calm down. Sailor Kepe's voice became sharp. -Be calm, please.
-I c-c-c-c-c-c.......
Kepe gave a sigh as Mido suddenly burst into tears. Quickly, three guards came forth and escorted Mido out of the witness cage.
-I...apologize, your Excellencies. Kepe took a deep bow. -This witness....recently lost her mother.
-Is that all? Savitri chuckled. -Little to worry about. If you must, you can bring her back later.
-Yes, your Highnesses.
I shifted uncomfortably at how Savitri dismissed such an event. Though I did not myself know my mother very well from my childhood, it was, regardless, somewhat surprising that the Three dismissed something like that so easily.
-Do you have any other witnesses?
-Yes. Kepe quickly recovered. -I would like to call Sailor Tartes to the stand.
Another soldier, who one without an eye, came to the stand. Certainly, she would not quiver and cry on the stand; she seemed a bit too tough for that. In fact, she almost gave Dyka a cold glare as she was brought up onto the stand.
-Thank you, Sailor Kepe.
-Yes. Coming out of her bow, Kepe came to the stand. -State your name.
-Sailor Tartes. Her voice was low, choking. -I come from the planet Tartes, in the Rigan galaxy. Not far from Asgerd.
-I see. Kepe began to do her pacing. And how do you know Tsukinousagi?
-I met her.
-Is this so? Kepe looked up at Tartes. -Where did you meet her?
-I met her in Quadrant Eight, over near Zero Star Sagittarius, three years ago. Actually, she met me.
-What did you think of her when she first came to you?
-I was very suspicious of her. Tartes replied. -I didn't like the look in her eyes. She seemed to be very irritated.
-Do you know why?
-No.
A slight murmur came from the few people, the few observers allowed into the courtroom. I began to really pay attention at this point, mainly because I had decided that I had nothing better to do. Truly, it is frustrating when you really have nothing to interest you, and you find you are not interested in the conversation going on around you. At first, I was not interested at all, yet had no real choice. What I really wanted were some coocor, but they did not allow eating in the court.
-Well, the next thing I remember was some of Kepe's final questions. It had been a good amount of time after the questions had started. -So it is true that you met her near Zero Star Sagittarius? With these passport documents you made for her?
-Yes.
-And did she seem at all.......unusual to you?
-No. Tartes shook her head. -I did not find much to be concerned about. She seemed normal to me.
-And so we submit these papers for evidence, Kepe put in, -That Tartes created these papers to shield Sailor Moon's identity in the case of her being caught for her actions.
-Yeah.
-I have no more questions for the witness.
I gave a yawn as Dyka went to stand up. At first, it didn't quite register, since I hadn't listened to half of what was asked and answered. I learned later, because I hadn't paid attention during that day, that Tartes, also one of the twenty soldiers rounded up at Veldanis, claimed to have worked as an identity seller. She reportedly created false identity papers for Sailor Moon so, when she broke the rules, she would be able to slip by the law through an alias. A good amount of the testimony was showing how she made the false papers, but for some reason I cannot recall even seeing any of it, though Dyka kept insisting after we left that she really went into such a demonstration. I wish I had paid attention; it could have been interesting. But I digress.
Then, it kind of hit me. I had been suspiscious of her. I didn't find much to be concerned about. She was irritated, she was normal.
-Dyka!
I quickly grabbed Dyka's suit. She swung around and gave me a look. It was very similar to the look she gave me when I had returned from collecting evidence, having found barely any. But I dragged her back to me.
-What do you want? she growled.
-Dyka. I kept my voice as low as I could. -Dyka. Tartes contradicted herself.
-What?
-In the beginning. She said Tsukinousagi was irritated. I nodded. -But just now, she said she was normal.
Dyka blinked. Perhaps it was the fact that it had been such a long questioning session and demonstration, or perhaps even Dyka, like myself, had stopped paying attention at some point. Yet I saw the realization in her eyes when I spoke and she gave a nod.
-Sailor Dyka? Savitri's voice came to our ears. -Do you have any questions?
-.....Right. Dyka finally stood up. -Yes, I have several questions for the witness.
I realized. My heart leapt. I almost cried happily. I had helped!
I was so incredibly grateful that I had helped. Truly, I almost felt redeemed by the fact that I, not Dyka, had noticed that the witness had blundered in her testimony. Essentially, she had contradicted herself, and I had found it. I could not believe it. I know, I know I am repeating myself, but the joy I felt in doing something right, after all the wrong things had happened....! It was such a wonderful feeling. So wonderful that I didn't even hear how Dyka discredited the witness on the stand using my discovery. And to be honest, I didn't care.
-
We finished the day flushed. At least I did. For not only had we discredited an important witness of Kepe's but we also had something coming for our side of the case. Sailor Jyanda, one of our three witnesses, would be testifying within two days, and I for one looked forward to it.
-That was something.
I looked at Dyka as we began our walk out of the court. It had been a long day, with several other witnesses presented on the side of Kepe as to the evils that our client had committed. But the memory of Tartes was on my mind in particular, and when I looked at Dyka, I realized that it was on her mind as well.
-That was quite clever of her.
-Huh? I was confused. -What do you mean?
-She did a good job with Tartes. Dyka nodded. -She made the deliberation with her so long that when Sailor Tartes accidentally exposed herself as unreliable, I didn't notice. If it hadn't been for you, no one would have caught it.
-Caught what now?
We both stopped. We turned to see Kepe behind us, Bora in tow with her notebook. We all stared at one another for a moment.
-Kepe, Dyka said smoothly. -You really don't think you could deny what you did with Tartes to me, could you?
-Ya'll think I would? A twinkle came from Kepe's eyes. -I ain't never said all my witnesses was that completely reliable. But they all given me reason to think they'd known her, from their tesimonies from Ved'nis and all. Cert'ly, though, one of 'em out of 'em twenty convinced me pretty good 'yond a shadow 'a' doubt....confidentially, 'course.
-One?
Dyka looked at Kepe warily. I, of course, pondered what Kepe meant.
-How do you mean, Kepe. Dyka looked at Bora, then back at Kepe. -Your witnesses have, so far, not been very impressive to convince me.
-You'd be surprised. At this, Bora spoke. -Our last witness will be a surprise to you. She has some very reliable....very intimate information.
-...Last witness, eh? I gulped at this. -What, she slept with Tsukinousagi?
At this, the others suddenly laughed. I wasn't sure why they were laughing, since, after all, I wasn't joking. In fact, I was shaking a little when I said it because I believed such a possibility to be true. But I digress.
-Well, Kepe chuckles. -Let's just say that our last witness....may put some doubts 'bout yer girl to rest. That's really all I cin say now, ya'll.
-Well. Dyka smiled. -Don't worry. We have some people on our list as well.
-Well, I'll be ready for what ya'll gots, I hope. Dyka winked. -Well, ya'll have a good night. I'm tired!
With that, Dyka walked off, and Bora silently followed. I looked at Dyka, then looked back at the two vanishing sailors. I was secretly worried at what this supposed last witness of the prosecution could offer, especially in light of our own weak evidence. Of course, it was nothing we could worry about at the moment. All we could do was walk away, and open the doors to the outside, where the glaring lights and harsh voices of the media awaited us.
