Grand Tribunal Hall – Minutes After the Bloodied Arrival
The courtroom pulsed with unease.
Officer Karrin had barely been carried out, bloodied and unconscious, when the verbal battle ignited. Neither side waited. The court hadn't yet officially resumed, but words clashed like blades drawn before a duel.
Prosecutor Valen Durei of the Sunblade family stepped forward with the elegant weight of certainty.
"The accused, a student of SkyCloud Academy, has fled custody during legal transport. That alone, Your Honor, is a breach of law and a defiance of court authority. I request immediate classification of him as a fugitive."
Ayna snapped, stepping into the middle of the floor before Velren could raise his hand.
"He didn't flee!" she barked. "He was taken—or worse."
Valen smiled thinly. "Interesting. And who would dare 'take' him? The Law enforcement officers escorting him were injured in the process as well. Perhaps the clouds conspired?"
Kael, fists clenched, shot back. "Who benefits most from his disappearance? Certainly not Neo. He wanted this trial. We all know it!"
Valen's voice rose. "He is not a hero. He is the thief. And likely, the murderer!"
"ENOUGH!" thundered a voice that crushed the chamber like a hammer slamming down from the skies.
Judge Malkor Veyren, the presiding authority of the Central Tribunal, rose from his elevated seat. His crimson robes billowed as if stirred by internal stormwinds. The golden circlet atop his head glinted menacingly.
"You speak as if this court is your arena for petty bickering and political games!"
The entire chamber froze.
Velren's eyes narrowed. Damian Sunblade tilted his head slightly but said nothing. A few gasps were quickly smothered as Judge Locht turned to the guards near his bench.
"In light of the accused's failure to appear—and the attack on law enforcement—I hereby issue a direct apprehension order."
He extended one hand, and a nearby aide handed over a document, already signed and sealed.
"The Martial Sky Guards will personally oversee the retrieval of Neo of SkyCloud Academy. Dead or alive, if resistance is met."
Ayna's breath hitched. Kael looked at Velren—but the Principal's expression was unreadable, carved in stone.
Then the judge turned back to the courtroom.
"And you two—" he gestured to Valen and Ayna "—have turned this chamber into a mockery. Let your rhetoric ring in your own ears!"
He slammed the gavel.
"This session is adjourned. Until the accused is found, no further deliberations shall proceed. Court is dismissed."
The sound echoed. Cold. Final.
As people began to move, whispers filled the grand hall like smoke. But above all of it, one truth towered:
Neo was now a fugitive. Not just suspected—but hunted.
And somewhere far from that courtroom, someone smiled in the dark.
---
[Flashback: Earlier That Morning]
The seconds ticked forward in silence.
Neo sat with his arms restrained but his back straight, staring out through the shaded glass of the Skycloud Enforcement Car. The vehicle was matte-black, blocky, its plating reinforced like a mobile fortress. The windshield held a shimmer—not unlike the unreadable eyes of a man who knew too much and said too little.
Outside, the city flowed past in high-speed retreat. Towers, balconies, buzzing conduits—blurring. It was a stream of life running backwards.
He narrowed his eyes.
No, he thought. It's not the world running. It's me being carried away.
A humorless smile formed—but only for a second.
Then he noticed it.
The buildings had begun to thin.
Concrete gave way to stretches of dusky land. The central arcways and judicial districts were long behind. This was no standard route to Skycloud's Central Court.
Neo leaned forward. "Where are we going?"
The officer in the driver's seat didn't respond.
He frowned and repeated, sharper this time. "I said, where are we—?"
Then he saw it.
The driver's neck wasn't moving. No muscles shifting. No life beneath the uniform.
A glint of metal peeked from the side.
Not human.
He blinked. A puppet?
Panic crawled up his spine.
Before he could reach for anything—words, a plan, a break—an explosive jolt ripped through the car. The entire vehicle tilted as something massive struck it from the side.
Neo was flung into the door like a ragdoll. Metal shrieked. Glass cracked. His vision blurred.
Pain.
His ears rang. His shoulder felt dislocated. Blood dripped from his forehead into his eyes, stinging.
The world spun—but the vehicle wasn't moving anymore.
He lay there, mangled amidst metal, arms still bound, vision swimming.
Then they came.
Boots crushed gravel outside.
Five figures. Emerging from the smoke. Each clad in pitch-black armor trimmed with ghostly blue. Helmets shaped like elongated skulls.
Skull masks.
They moved without sound. As if they'd done this a hundred times before.
Neo tried to rise—but a boot pressed him back down.
A gloved hand grabbed his jaw roughly. Another wrapped black cloth across his eyes.
"…Who are—"
Darkness.
And then—
Nothing.
---
[Outside the Court - Skycloud Central Judicial Hall]
The massive doors of the judicial hall groaned shut behind them, a sound that rang final. Judgement suspended, but no justice felt.
The sunlight outside was blinding, cruelly bright for such a bitter moment.
Ayna walked stiffly, her fists clenched so tightly her knuckles had turned white. Kael followed a step behind, his expression carved in stone, lips thin with frustration.
"Reckless. Emotion-driven. Uncalculated."
Principal Velren's voice was calm, yet stern—a judge in his own right. He walked beside them, hands behind his back, robe trailing softly against the stone-paved steps.
"You both allowed the courtroom to become a theatre. A mistake unbecoming of Skycloud Academy's top students. You gave them exactly what they wanted—an emotional outburst, and an adjourned trial with public approval tilted against you."
Ayna halted, turning to speak, but Kael placed a firm hand on her shoulder.
Before either could say more, the clicking of polished heels echoed like mock applause.
Damian Sunblade descended the opposite side of the stairs, flanked by his butler and two uniformed house attendants. He moved with lazy grace, a confident stroll that didn't match the firestorm he'd just helped unleash.
As he passed the trio, he paused deliberately.
"Ah, such a shame…" Damian said, tilting his head slightly, his voice carrying just loud enough for them to hear. "I thought he was just a thief… a gutter-born with some luck and flair. But to evade the court so precisely—hm. Perhaps we were too naive."
He turned to face them fully, a sly smile dancing on his lips. "Maybe Neo was never acting alone. Maybe he's a pawn in a larger web. A criminal organization, perhaps? Now that would explain so many things…"
Kael's teeth ground audibly.
Ayna took a step forward, eyes flaring.
But Principal Velren extended a single arm between them, as immovable as the mountains that loomed behind the city.
"Hold your fire," he murmured.
Damian offered a dramatic little bow. "Until next time," he said with a chuckle, and turned away—his laugh echoing down the stairs like the tail of a poisoned wind.
Kael muttered, "One day…"
"Yes," Velren replied, his voice low. "But not today."
---