Immortal Destiny

Clover's Trial

Clover was facing trial before the eyes of every living being in The Observatory.

Before thousands of universe immortals and countless other living creatures that inhabit The Observatory, Clover was going to be sentenced.

In a corner of the observatory, on a small modified asteroid, Clover's sisters, Arya and Verna looked up at the sky towards their big brother who was standing trial and they could not help but sob.

Today, when they had woken Clover up and told him that he was asked to go to the lighthouse, the sisters at that time already had a feeling this was what was going to happen.

Ever since the sisters, Arya, and Verna were old enough to understand a little of how the world worked, they had already understood that their brother who had taken care of them and loved them in the place of their parents was basically a convicted felon waiting for his sentence to be passed out.

Throughout their childhood, the sisters had had to deal with others looking at them strangely while calling their brother names behind their back. They had also been implicated in this matter, even though they were innocent in the matter. As they had only been newborn babies at the time their parents died, nobody would have been able to accuse them like they had done their brother. But this did not mean that they were spared from persecution.

Just by being associated with Clover, the sisters had had to shoulder all kinds of hardships no growing child should ever have to bear. It was fortunate that they still had their brother.

Now, that brother who had taken care of them and shielded them throughout their lives was now going to be punished.

There were no words to describe just how indignant the sisters felt.

Suddenly, the younger twin area could no longer hold back her tear and they started to pour out in a torrential flood.

Still desperately trying to hold herself back from crying, Arya bawled softly. At the same time, she held onto Verna tightly to support herself.

Whispering in a voice that was so soft it was hard to make out what she was saying, Arya asked, "Sister... is big brother going to be ok?"

Verna was standing loftily as she looked into the sky. Her star-like eyes seemed to be able to pierce through the vast distance of space to see clover standing calmly inside the Break Room without any change in his expression.

Hearing Arya's question, although Verna too was finding it hard to hold herself back from crying out loud, in order to appear strong for her little sister and support her, Verna clenched Arya's hands tightly as she replied.

"You don't have to worry, Arya. This is big brother we are talking about. He is a big bad wolf, so he will be fine. Nothing is going to happen to big brother, okay? So stop crying. You wouldn't want big brother to come back and see that your cheeks became puffy from crying. You know that he will pinch your cheeks and bully you because of that."

Hearing Verna's reassurance, Arya was finally able to calm down. Although she probably knew that Verna only said all this to get her to calm down and stop crying, Arya still felt reassured at her words.

The two of them continued to look up at the sky as they waited for the result of the trial and Clover's sentencing.

Back at the break room...

Clover was still standing in place without saying anything at all. Right now, he didn't know that his trial was being broadcast throughout the entire observatory. still, even if Clover knew, he wouldn't have cared since doing so would not change the current situation. It's like Clover did not even care about his current situation at all. He would have only felt it was a pity that his sisters had to find out about his sentence in this manner.

Clover had wanted to come up with a gentle way to break the bad news to his sisters. Unfortunately, there was no need for him to do that anymore, as they would find out the result as soon as it was concluded.

The voice from before continued to speak after a short pause.

"A hundred years ago, we had previously conducted a trial regarding this matter and had already reached a preliminary verdict. Now I will quickly give a brief recap of the previous verdict."

"The defendant, Clover Newell, on the charges of colluding with external forces is accused of the following crimes; aiding, abetting, and ultimately contributing to the loss of the Obelisk as well as causing the deaths of Casimir and Pricilla Newell, two of our finest warriors."

"During the trial that was held a hundred years ago, Clover Newell was found to have accompanied his parents, Casimir, and Pricilla, as well as his two younger sisters on a vacation trip when they had been attacked by external forces. Evidence gotten from the investigation conducted after the attack shows that prior to when the attack happened, someone had previously used the private access key of Casimir and Pricilla Newell to gain access to the obelisk which had been hidden in the [Black Vault] inside the Lighthouse. This had taken place just hours before the attack when the family had briefly stopped by the Lighthouse to perform the final checks before Casimir and Pricilla were temporarily relieved of their duty."

"From the evidence gathered, all signs point towards the defendant, Clover Newell, being the one to have removed the Obelisk from its hidden location. At the same time, he had directly hindered the efforts of his parents, who had tried to retrieve the missing Obelisk after the attack had happened, causing them to lose their lives and the Obelisk to be lost."

"Everything that has been previously mentioned was the final conclusion that had been reached after a thorough and exhaustive investigation had been carried out by related personnel. The evidence is irrevocable, and it points to the defendant, Clover Newell, being found guilty for the crimes he was charged with."

As the voice of one of the elders spoke explaining the charges filed against Clover, including the process of the investigation, as well as the final verdict... everybody who was listening was very surprised. This was the first time they were hearing about this.

Unlike now, when Clover's trial was being held publicly and everyone could watch the process from anywhere in the Observatory. The first trial that was held a hundred years ago had not been made public, so nobody actually knew what had happened then. The only thing that people were aware of was that ever since that day, Clover had borne the title of the one who had killed his parents.

This was the first time that anybody was actually hearing the details of what had happened on that day. Not even Arya and Verna, Clover's sister, had been aware of this.

Immediately as these details were explained to everybody, discussions started sounding out from all over the Observatory.

Naturally, these discussions could only be heard by those that were around each other, but ever since the trial had started, most universe immortals had hobbled together to watch Clover being sentenced. After all, this was a grand event that would normally not happen in many years.

Nobody wanted to miss it.

It should be noted that the universe immortals were the only intelligent creatures living in the Observatory. The universe immortal clan was a very secluded clan, and they did not associate too much with any other races. That is why the Observatory was completely closed off to anyone that was not of the universe immortal clan.

Every other living being were just ordinary unintelligent race. This is why the council of elders could dare to hold a public trial for such a sensitive matter.

The elder immortal that had been speaking continued.

"The charges against the defendant have been explaining as has the verdict been given. Now it is time to move on to the sentencing."

"Due to the fact that the defendant had not come of age during the time he was tried, it was decided that his sentencing would be delayed until he has completely come of age. Now a hundred years have passed, and it is finally time to pass on the sentence."

"Normally, due to the various charges the defendant has been found guilty on, it is enough to warrant the heaviest penalty that this council is able to give out. That is, having the defendant's soul and life force extracted by the Obelisk so that it could continue to nourish the realm. Sadly, the Obelisk is no longer available. At the same time, judging from how old the defendant was at the time, it was actually suspected that he had been under a bewitching spell that had caused him to do what he had done. Taking this into consideration, the defendant will be spared from suffering the highest sentence."

"Alas, although the defendant will not be given the highest sentence, he will still have to pay for the crimes he has committed."

When the elder immortal had mentioned the matter of Clover's sentence, every immortal paying attention perked up and listened attentively. 

Hearing that Clover's crimes were enough for him to warrant the highest sentence available in the court, everybody was shocked. This was especially so for Arya and Verna, who had immediately paled in fright when they heard this.

The highest sentence of the council was not something that was given out lightly and there were only a handful of times when this sentence had been carried out. It was said that this sentence was the most frightening punishment that an immortal could ever receive.

All the universe immortals dreaded it. The thought of Clover receiving such a sentence was unimaginable and the sister could not handle the thought of it at all.

Thankfully, Clover did not have to go through the sentence. As for what his actual sentence would be, everybody could only wait in anticipation or, in the case of Arya and Verna, anxiety, for the Elder Immortal to finally give out Clover's sentence.