"She stays."
It was only two words, but Jason spoke them with such conviction and absoluteness that many of the council members actually blinked in shock! The tone of Jason’s voice did not sound like Jason was asking them for permission at all! Jason had literally just told them that Gina would stay regardless of whether they wanted her to or not! Kalum and Rak’hael both immediately leaned forward with scowls on their faces, and they were about to ask Jason who he thought he was to speak to them in such a manner, but C’thlyanu spoke up before things could get out of hand.
"I don’t believe the presence of Gina Fey will make much of a difference to the trial. And besides, Gina Fey was a part of the events that led up to the eventual crimes, so she might provide valuable insight should we need it. Let us just focus on the matter at hand. Please read out the first case to be deliberated on."
C’thlyanu directed his final words to the official voice that had been speaking earlier, and the voice spoke up once more.
[On the case of Jason Marc versus the Primordial State, the first matter for deliberation is the Machina Massacre. The statement detailing the sequence of events goes thus: On the sixth day following the Half-Blood Moon, Jason Marc, along with another assailant that has now been identified as Gillian, the previous Queen of the Vympire of Nox who possessed the title ’Blood Angel of the Battlefield’, both arrived in Machina, and without justifiable cause or reason launched multiple attacks upon the people of Machina that led to the death of hundreds of millions. According to reports from survivors of the Massacre, Jason Marc was seen using his Necromatic abilities to work together with Gillian in order to ensure that they murdered as many people as possible. These acts go against various tenets of the Primordial Treaty. This includes Section 12 Article 5: the prohibition of invasion and murder without due cause. Section 23 Article 4: the forbidding of military action against a civilian populace. Section 14 Article 89: the disobedience and attack of a presiding world tasked with governing a domain. How does the defendant plead to these accusations?]
All eyes immediately returned to Jason once the voice said that last part! Everyone in the room knew that the number of crimes that were being put on Jason right now was more than enough to send him to jail for the rest of his life. Just the fact that Jason attacked the Machina at all was enough reason for him to be hunted down and killed, so the fact that Jason had also killed civilians in the process was a guaranteed life sentence! They all waited calmly to see what sort of defense Jason could possibly have against something so damning, and Jason simply took in a calm breath before he spoke in a calm voice.
"I plead innocent. I didn’t do these things."
"YOU MURDERER! HOW DARE YOU STAND THERE AND LIE!?"
A loud voice suddenly echoed from behind Jason, and Jason didn’t even need to turn around to know that it was Sexes that had stood up angrily! Jason still had that nonchalant expression on his face, and he waited as Sexes was forced to sit back down before he looked up at C’thlyanu as the mass of purple gas spoke up.
"Did you just say you were innocent, Jason?"
"Yes, I did. I’m sure you all have truth detectors in this place that allow you to tell if anyone is lying or not, so you can check it if you want. I did not do these things you accuse me of. Yes, it was my body that you saw committing these crimes, but that was not me."
Murmurs broke out in the hall as many people began to whisper amongst themselves, and C’thlyanu raised his voice and told them all to calm down before he spoke up to Jason again.
"So then, who would you say is responsible for the crimes that were committed?"
Jason looked towards Hesabeth for a moment, and Hesabeth leaned back in her seat and nodded to Jason in agreement before Jason finally said.
"All blame lies on the previous Queen of Nox, Gillian."
The murmurs in the hall became even louder once they heard this, and this time, even the council members couldn’t stop their curiosity! The council members already knew that there was a chance that Jason would try to remove some of the responsibility for these crimes from his own shoulders, but they never thought that Jason would try to remove the blame from himself completely like this! And the worst part of it all was that the council knew Jason was speaking the truth! There was a magical rune carved into the floor of the trial hall which could easily detect when someone was telling a lie to the council, and that rune had not reacted even once throughout the time Jason had been speaking, so it was either Jason was telling the truth, or that Jason believed absolutely that what he was saying was the truth! One of the council members, known as Kalum, the ruler of Getrine, leaned forward and spoke in a gruff voice.
"And where is Gillian now, Jason Marc?"
Jason’s answer sent a wave of shock throughout the entire hall.
"Queen Gillian is dead. I killed her."
Jason just watched calmly as the hall descended into murmurs once again, and Jason waited for everyone to calm down! Jason couldn’t understand why everyone was having such intense reactions to the things he was saying! Right now, Jason was basically trying to pin all the responsibility on Gillian while absolving himself of the crime, and even though it seemed like Jason was trying to trick the council, there was no denying that Jason was definitely telling the truth, so there was nothing that the council could say or do against Jason’s claims!
Jason turned to his left as Val’kat, the king of the goblins, spoke up.
"Jason Marc, hear me. Yes, from my memory, which is quite good, I seem to remember that those bitten by Vympir become one of their subordinates. The victims lose all sense of themselves, and they are taken over by an alter ego whose entire life’s purpose is to please their Vympir masters. Tell me then, how is it that you killed Gillian if she is your progenitor? Yes, oh yes. And if you killed her, then does that not mean that you were never under Gillian’s control in the first place? Does it not mean that you were perfectly conscious when you committed the crimes against the Machina?"
The hall went quiet as they waited for Jason’s answer. Val’kat’s questions were very damning, and Jason stayed silent for a few seconds as he organised his thoughts before he finally spoke.
"Yes, it’s true that I was in control of myself when I killed Gillian, but it’s also true that Gillian was in control of my body when the crimes against the Machina were committed."
Val’kat leaned forward.
"And how is that possible? Oh no, no, the Vympir toxin is not so weak that it can be suppressed on a whim."
"Well, I’ve only been a Vympir for a few days at this point, so I’m sure you’re more capable of answering those questions than I am."
Val’kat narrowed his eyes at Jason’s cheeky answer, and Jason turned away from Val’kat and faced Rak’hael as she spoke up. Rak’hael had a deep frown on her face that showed she was not at all in support of Jason at this moment, and Jason could feel hostility in every single word she spoke next.