49 Defense

{RIKU POV}

"Nyx, are you not the Goddess of Chaos?"

Riku narrowed his eyes at Shizu's nonsensical question. He would've thought that she already realized that she was supposed to play prosecution in this mock trial they were enacting. Her eyes told him that she had no idea what she was doing, but he also knew that she was sharp enough to tell that something was up with their current trial.

"What kind of question is that?" Nyx scoffed, her tone coming out low enough to sound dangerous. "Of course, I'm the Goddess of Chaos. There's is no doubt about that."

"And it says here that you also embody the Aspect of Mischief and Entertainment, is that correct?" Shizu followed up while looking at her papers.

"That's what I am," the goddess blandly stated, wisps of chaotic energy starting to waft over her. "What are you implying, Shizu?"

From where he stood, the former assassin felt like something was brewing around him. Shizu was asking basic questions that anybody in the room could tell her the answer to. Looking around, the gods on the jury's stands were exuding boredom from the scene in front of them. Meanwhile, Themis remained impassive, giving away little as to what they were supposed to do.

'Something's not right here...' he thought to himself.

Narrowing his eyes, he tuned out Shizu's random questions as he dove right back into his papers once again. Clearly, their papers were vastly different from one another now, the question then was how drastic the difference was. Obviously, he was holding the defense papers while Shizu held the prosecutor's, but what if that wasn't the only difference here?

'Trial by Justice.... Perhaps it was more literal than that?'

The God of Order gave them little to go off on beyond just plopping them on the courtroom and letting them do what they wanted. With only the papers they had in front of them and the title of the trial they were supposed to do, it almost felt like they made a mistake in choosing this instead of just fighting one another. But then, if they took the Trial by Combat, then the chances of both him and Shizu getting to the next Realm together was practically zero.

But then again, did he even need Shizu? Obviously not, but having allies was always good for his continued survival. Shizu had a rare breed of loyalty to her, and her potential was something that would greatly aid him in his quest to win.

'Justice...' he inwardly thought to himself. 'What is justice?'

In his opinion, justice was whoever had the most firepower at the time. Justice was what the winner had over the loser. It was the reason why the saying 'justice is for the rich' even existed in the first place. Those without power could never achieve justice, and those too meek to use their power was cursed to always be trampled on by those that didn't hesitate to use what little power they had to get ahead in life in the first place.

"And so, what are the chances of you not bothering to be sorry about your attempted vandalism?" Shizu accusedly asked Nyx, her tone as serious as she could make it despite the nonsensical question she just asked.

"Didn't I just tell you that I didn't regret doing it?" Nyx grumbled, her annoyance growing as the chaotic energy hovering around her started to exert more pressure to the air around her. "Can you start making sense already, Shizu?"

Riku blinked as he returned his attention to the trial happening in front of him. Shizu was still trying to rile up Nyx for some reason, and his goddess was clearly running out of patience with their friend. Looking at his fellow Champion, while her expression exuded confidence, her eyes were sneaking glances at him, clearly asking for direction or asking for him to act. She was probably only acting based on what she read on her papers then since he was sure she wouldn't be doing something this stupid without prompting.

Then, that meant that he had to play defense for now. They'll have to play this by ear, especially with how nonsensical everything was right now.

"Objection! The prosecution is being illogical with her questions," he announced, pointing at Shizu and prompting her to stop.

However, what he didn't expect was for her to point at him right back.

"Objection! The defense is also being illogical! The prosecution is asking completely logical questions in the pursuit of justice!"

The former assassin did his best not to laugh at the nonsense happening in front of him. Meanwhile, Shizu was shaking where she stood, her eyes bewildered and practically lost even through her bravado. It was... they were getting nowhere with this.

"Hey, don't I get a say in this?" Nyx absently asked.

"The witness has no right in dictating their justice."

Themis's voice caught both him and Shizu by surprise as they both turned to look at him. This was the first time they heard him speak, and Riku made sure to listen to whatever it was he wanted to say.

"You of all people should know, Nyx," the God of Order bellowed with a hit of his gavel. "Justice is reserved for the neutral party."

Riku narrowed his eyes at that. The amount of power in his words almost made him think that Themis had more to say about the concept of justice. Or perhaps... maybe that was it? Justice was for the neutral party, but what exactly was the neutral party? It was the one that had the power to enact said justice...

Trial by Justice... Justice is power... Perhaps...

"Your Honor, the defense would like to present justice to the prosecution," he began, his hand already visibly hovering over his knife. "What exactly is justice?"

On the other side, Shizu's eyes gazed on the way he was hovering over his weapon. Likewise, she placed a hand on her deck of cards, her eyes shining as if she had just realized something as well.

"Justice is... Justice is whoever is in the right," Shizu stated, a faint smile forming on her face as she nodded at him.

"And whoever is right is who is strongest," he finished.

Their eyes met, and immediately, they knew what needed to be done. Justice is power, and they simply had to exert theirs and show they were worthy of it.