Be With You
"Milord, I—..." Before Talon asked, Artemis raised his hand.
"You have failed to bring upon the evidence I specifically requested, did you think that I would judge these accused purely by hearsay? Sir Talon, I am not so much of a fool that you make me as," Artemis said in a cold tone that seemed to silence many people in the room.
"No, milord, I did not mea—" Cutting him off once again, Artemis snapped his fingers.
"Silence, let us now question the good man beside you, what is your name?" Artemis looked at the other representative.
"I am Marcus, Milord. Marcus Forester," Marcus said.
"From the Forester family, where is your evidence?" Artemis asked. Marcus began to sweat profusely.
"You have none, as expected from Sir Talon's accomplice," Artemis said.
The entire room erupted into an uproar.
Artemid did not raise his hand, instead, he let the other representatives in the room unleash their doubts against the two men who accused the Dorne and Fidell families wrongly.
"I propose an inquiry!" Someone asked.
But Artemis, despite having a fair trial, did not have time for inquiries since that would give the two unwanted advantages by paying fake witnesses to stand up.
He did not want more people to be tried for corruption.
Artemis then raised his hand again but it took a minute before everyone calmed down.
Artemis walked towards Talon and Marcus, looking them directly in the eye.
"Arrest these men," Artemis said. Reinhard then ran in with a few knights, tied their hands behind their backs and took them away from the throne room.
The others then cheered as justice was put to light.
"Jon Dorne and Joseph Fidell are hereby declared not guilty of the accusations placed upon them by the foul mouthed, scheming, and conniving men. And as such, they are to be released and compensated for the embarrassment they had procured," Artemis announced.
Several knights then came and cut off their bounds. The men then stood, ran towards Artemis and knelt down.
"We thank you, Lord Erik!" They both said in unison.
"Do the people good and I shall reward you appropriately, now go," Artemis said.
The two men picked themselves up, bowed their heads one more time and walked out of the throne room filled with happiness and an increased loyalty to Artemis.
And then the trial proceeded.
The other five accused tried their luck but ultimately failed. Those who accused them had several documents that they presented to Artemis. All of which were genuine documents with their stamps, none were even forged.
Some of the accused tried to say that the documents were forged but since Artemis had the ability to determine if the documents were indeed forged, Artemis dismissed their appeals.
After approximately two hours of roasting the accused, they were declared guilty of crimes of corruption, embezzlement, treason, and inciting rebellion.
The verdict was death by hanging.
And with the trial over, the accused were taken away to the dungeon and the assembly went home.
A sense of a newfound state of security and justice spread amongst the population that night, with the Man in Black having returned to the city, all now had high hopes that their new lives would continue to prosper.
In the castle, Artemis went to his room.
It was a cold night, the storm had just passed and the wind blew in from the open balcony.
[Dear, can you stand over the balcony for a while?] Caitlyn asked.
"Sure, why not," Artemis stood from the bed and walked towards the balcony with the wind still blowing.
Caitlyn then appeared as a projection clinging to Artemis' left side.
Artemis felt her embrace around his left arm. As if she had a physical body and was actually there at Artemis' side.
"I feel you," Artemis said.
"It's my gift," Caitlyn said as she leaned over Artemis' shoulder.
Artemis felt a tad happy.
"Your emotions... they still haven't recovered… but, I know you're still the Zack I fell in love with years ago," Caitlyn said.
"I'm sorry I don't remember the past, and I'm sorry that, if you let me remember, I might go insane," Artemis said.
"Dear, it's okay. I'm happy with what you are right now, although.. you've done some... horrible things but I can understand that you were merely trying to accomplish what I vaguely told you, and for not being with you sooner, I'm sorry," Caitlyn said.
Artemis then placed his left arm on Caitlyn's shoulders as if she was there. Artemis felt as so.
In reality, Caitlyn was manipulating Artemis' senses to give the illusion that she was there.
It was the only thing she could do for him, for now.
As the two of them embraced under the moons that were finally peeking through the gaps in between the clouds in the sky, they turned to each other.
"Tell me, what was I like back then? When, Earth or the entire civilization was... alive," Artemis asked, feeling hesitant.
Caitlyn giggled and hugged him tightly before answering.
"You were one big idiot, and a master of cussing." Caitlyn said.
And she was serious.
This made Artemis regret ever asking what he was like back then.
"But you were a good idiot, an idiot and a master of cussing so good that you angered every different galactic government and race in a span of five point sixty seven seconds," Caitlyn teased.
If Artemis could chuckled, he would. He then immediately kissed her forehead, making Caitlyn blush.
"Dummy, sneak attacks aren't allowed," Caitlyn said, chuckled as well.
"Aw c'mon," Artemis said.
Caitlyn was happy with what they were now. Although she was not there physically, at least she resided in her husband's mind.
She laid her head on his shoulders viewing the two moons together.
"The other me is mobilizing your full military force in this region."
"I already knew, I felt more of my Drones were close. But Isn't it too soon for world domination?"
"You're always being patient as always, let's deal with them already, even though the continent is huge and maybe could make them take for a month to finish, they have magic. I've heard the drones reported to me that the enemies are already mobilizing their military forces for a short period of time. We should invade them first before they invade us."
"Aren't you being impatient? I think that's the right accusation humans always make."
Caitlyn chuckled.
"You act more like a human than before," Caitlyn said.
"I know and I embrace it, but that doesn't change my goals, but it only changes my ways of achieving my goals, albeit, a little," Artemis said.
Caitlyn walked in front of him.
"Then, take me with you until the end," Caitlyn said as she placed her hands over Artemis' cheeks.
Artemis smiled.
"How long are you gonna stay in that form?" Artemis asked.
"Zack, dear, I will stay like this until I say so," Caitlyn said.
"Which means?" Artemis asked.
"I'll stay like this, while the other me stay physically,"
Both of them smiled.
The two of them then kissed under the two moons.
While the two were in a romantic moment, meanwhile the full might of the Machine Empire was about to begin.
The Upcoming Storm will begin to flow towards the western region and the whole world will soon change forever.
Soon, the Empire, the Republic and the whole Western Region will soon see the full and final might of the Machine Empire's wrath.
A New World Order is nigh.