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After the mountaintop melee, Glenn and James escorted the rescued captives down from the mountaintop upon the wings of the drakes. Lizbeth had experience handling animals and managed to handle the tamed beast, as did Glenn with the assistance of the wounded ogre, trusting out of fear for the raptor. The rest were handled by the other townsfolk who had divvied up between them at who was best in animal riding. She was also asked by Glenn to provide a sling for the wounded ogre's arm, which she made dutifully for him. The ride down the mountain was long only because of the uncertainty all of them had in riding the beasts, carefully guiding them downwards, having been given careful short guidance by the ogre. Once their captor but now their guide. At first they were not entirely responsive to being ridden by those other than their ogre masters, but the remaining ogre had managed to calm them down enough to make them accept their new roles, gliding in a circle like vultures over a dying body. Their bodies shone in the sunlight, the wind skimming across the back of their wings as they made their way ever downwards carefully. James was enjoying the view, trying to keep his mind off of his teacher's adverse outburst. Why was Glenn so mad at me, he thought. He didn't have to hit me for fuck's sake, the guy's a goddamn kidnapper, he was gonna sell these people into slavery. What the hell did Lizbeth mean about not turning into a fiend? I'm not a fiend, I'm a good guy, I'm just heavy-handed about what people deserve. And bastards like that guy deserve to be thrown off a cliff, dammit! If Glenn wanted to be all noble about shit, he should have become a priest or something.

In the midst of his thoughts he ignored the clouds skimming past him with the wind turning his scales cold enough to make him shiver. Lizbeth focused on keeping the creature flying, ignoring the raptor behind her as she did her best to not fear the heights. It was intimidating enough to be riding a wyvern, but to be high enough above the ground that any fall from such would cause quite the red smear upon the ground was even worse. Yet it was the only way they were going to get off the mountain at all. Glenn merely kept control of the steed without fail, his grip firm and unwavering, pondering upon his student and his most terrible actions. I thought I had trained the boy to be stronger than this, he pondered. Why would he become so sadistic, even towards an enemy? The beast was unarmed, practically pleading, and yet he was fully willing to murder, nay, torture him. Perhaps I must assert his state of mind more clearly upon our return. I cannot allow him to possess such a mentality the day he walks free from my rudimentary training, for it will surely bring him nothing but death and misery. It took a long time to navigate the winged beasts down to the ground safely, but thankfully there were no major problems other than the two wyverns ridden by uncertain not entirely skilled townsfolk. They were so panicked about riding high above in the clouds, that they needed reassurance from Glenn and his riding companion, who swung around to them and gave them advice to calm down and guide the beast with confidence. Landing finally upon the ground took perhaps as long as getting up the mountain itself, with generally smooth landings owing to the wyverns themselves priding upon their grace, despite their riders.

As the wyverns' passengers all departed, the ogre asked cautiously: "Whutta we do with my wyverns? You can't jus' leave 'em 'ere, sumthin' migh' 'appen to 'em!" "We shall find good homes for them," assured Glenn, "perhaps the royal army will accept them as noble steeds. In fact, thy offering of these fine beasts to the King will surely allow them to be more lenient with thee." "Y-you sure?" "I assure thee." "W-well...a-a-alrigh' then. Jus' so long as they treat 'em well." "Very well. Lizbeth, as sorry as I am to leave thee-" "We can make it back to Dorino, don't worry Glenn. Thank you for...for rescuing us." "I would do so for anyone in need. James." The raptor turned hesitantly towards his instructor, expecting more critique, somewhat angry with him. "I need thee to accompany me to Guardia Castle with the wyverns, so that we may give this ogre his sentence. Canst thou take two of the wyverns by their lead?" "Okay." Taking two of the wyverns' bridles, one in each hand, James walked with Glenn and the ogre who both took one each, walking north and skirting around the town of Dorino. The three said nothing, more or less occupied with their beasts than each other, and James was somewhat thankful of it. He wanted to avoid another argument with his teacher, which had wounded his spirit. They soon came upon a large grand bridge that stretched across a sea, the sun rising towards noon, the sky blue and piercingly cheerful, the salty breeze skimming across the bridge. James had rarely smelt the sea, and found it to be a rather unpleasant scent to him, choosing to ignore it and walk onwards silently, His thoughts turning away and the bridles scrunched up in his hands, with insult dwelling inside him. He wanted to have a good long hard argument with Glenn, he knew they didn't see eye to eye but this was the limit, to even pull this shit out when he was busy making an example of a worthless kidnapper. Granted he hadn't killed anyone, but given the chance, he might have, and James was sure that where the intent lied, there laid also the punishment befitting them.

Glenn was not too concerned for his pupil, giving him time to cool off and to consider what he had done by allowing him a task to focus on, accompanying his prisoner who was meek and clearly too wounded to become any sort of threat. He did not speak to the ogre. Yes he was a kidnapper, and his intentions to sell good folk as slaves was irreprehensible. But when unarmed and willing to surrender, he deserved to be brought to justice, if anything as an example to all those such as him. The walk across the bridge was only lengthened by the wyverns occasionally turning unruly and being forced to restrain themselves whenever a sudden draft of wind caught them by surprise, but other than that there was little incident. Soon they had crossed the bridge, and made their way through the Guardia Forest, the castle itself in sight. Guardia Castle was almost fairytale-like to James, as with the rest of this land. Pristinely white, banners billowing in the breeze, spire-capped towers noble and empirical. The sight of Glenn made the guards bow immediately towards him, steel-clad and holding spears with the emblem of the kingdom. They were admittedly surprised at the drakes that were being pulled along by the knight and his companions, but they kept their constitution firm. "Ahhh Sir Glenn! We are honoured by your presence." "Verily, good sirs. I bring thee a prisoner to bring to trial." "Oh?" "This ogre was captured by myself and my student whilst his leader and cohorts were kidnapping townsfolk from Dorino. He is wounded yet he surrendered pleading for mercy when unarmed, so we took him to thee. As evidence of his humility, he offers his four prized wyverns to be donated to the King's army." "Hmmmm...indeed they are fine creatures, worthy to be in our guard. Is this true ogre?" "Y-yes sirs," said the former slaver. "I plead to ye, on the mercy of King Guardia VII, to serve me sentence in any way I can, and even give you my dear draggies." "Well, that is kind of you, if you are truly willing to amend yourself of your crimes. Come then." The guards called out to more of their brothers in arms who carefully took the wyverns to another area of the castle outside to be kept safe, while two more grabbed the ogre carefully, minding his arm as they took him in to give him his sentence. James was admittedly glad to never see him or his dragons again, even though a childish part of him did think them awesome. "So...uhm...what now, sir?" "Now we must wait for the sentence to be carried out unto our prisoner." "Why do we have to wait for that?" "We are witnesses, and more than that, the ones who arrested him. They will require us for the trial." "Oh...we can just tell them that he surrendered after I disarmed him right?" He sniggered inwardly at his usage of the word "disarm". "No." "Wh...what!?"

"Thou shalt tell them nothing but the truth." "But...technically it is!" "Not entirely. Thou shalt tell them of thy brutal actions upon him. In fact it will even help his sentence upon finding that he was assaulted when unarmed and surrendering." "H-he wasn't surrendering when I broke his arm dammit! You gonna twist this shit out and make him look good!? What, you wanna marry him or something!?!?" "I will not allow liars to escape me, not even from those I train." "He was NOT surrendering when I broke his arm. He was surrendering when I was going to throw him off the cliff, but who wouldn't, come on!" "Thou speaketh the truth. Why then, art thou afraid of speaking it before the royal court?" "Because fuck that guy, okay!? I don't have to go to court and tell everyone what he did, he's so willing to put himseif in jail he can do it himself!" "...I sense that his actions have wounded thee deeper than I suspected. Dost thou possess a deeper well of antagony to those such as him than others?" "No! I mean, not like, slavers specifically, who doesn't hate them come on! I...I...just-" "Then why such fierce anger towards him?" "I-i-i dunno, it was a spur of the moment dammit! I was angry with him cuz he was fucking me up, he was beating me down with the mace, he broke my fucking short sword, I wasn't gonna let him get away with that!" "...allow me to rephrase that for myself. Thy reason for such fury unto him specifically...was that he broke thy blade?" "...n-n-no, not SPECIFICALLY, I mean come on, did you forget what he was DOING!? Why do we even have to be there, it's a fucking court, it doesn't matter what we say!" "James." "What!?" "Thy heart may be young, but that is no excuse to let it guide thee in battle. This is thy last warning." Glenn's eyes stared coldly, brandishing a gloved finger upon his pupil. "If thy fury is left unchecked, then thy years of training will be rendered useless when thy corpse is run through in a fit of madness." "Oh jesus, I don't need this crap, I'm here to learn how to swing swords, not fucking social etiquette!"

He could soon barely move when a blade was suddenly at his throat from his instructor. For the first time, he truly saw something terrifying within Glenn's eyes. The deathly still blade, fiercely contained within those hands held nothing. But his eyes were laden with fury. Glenn's voice turned dark enough to chill James' spirit. "Thou art nothing but a despicable vagrant." "Wh-what the-" "Silence. I hath willingly given thee a few years of my life to train thee. Thou promised me in the beginning that thou wouldst follow me in all that I would say. All...that I would say." "B-but I-" "Dost thou even desire to return home? I offered thee a chance to protect thyself and yet as of late, thou hath become an unruly pupil with a blatant disregard for my words. Any fool can swing a sword, and I saw thee do just that, badly. Now...promise me this." "Wh-what?" "Thou shalt never allow thy anger to control thee. Thy anger is a cancer upon thy soul. All it shall do is weaken thy mind and render my years of training poured unto thee worthless. I do not have time for those who dare waste it." "O-okay." James was genuinely frightened now. He wasn't even angry anymore, having it drained out of him with a slightly blanched expression. "I am thy master, and thou art my student. It does not matter what thou believeth of me or what little experience thou might possess that I do not. What does matter, is that thou hath the potential to degrade into a violent unrepentant cur whose destiny could very easily lie as a rotting memory within the jails beneath us. Now...will thy anger become an issue in our training...or shall I abandon thee to die with eyes forever transfixed into thy foolish rage?" Glenn's tone was dead serious. There was no comeliness, no confidence of success, just pure authority. The kind of tone he got from Sarah whenever he REALLY fucked up. The last time he remembered that was when he got involved in a group with less-than-noble reasoning upon society at large, and it ended. Badly. All he could do was softly reply: "I...I won't argue with you anymore sir." "Is that a promise, boy?" "Y-yes...please...d-don't leave me." He was starting to tear up with fear for the first time in seeing Glenn's potent fury tightly wound up within his amphibious eyes. "I can't leave, n-not like this, I'll...I'll do everything you say." "Very well." And with that promise made, he sheathed his blade and made his first order. "We shall give our testimony to the court. Thou shalt tell them nothing but the truth. Then we shall return home and continue thy training." "Yes...sir." "Good lad."

The trial was soon arranged within the next week, with James and Glenn becoming royal guests as part of the proceedings. Having a chance to gaze upon the interior of the castle, he was surprised to find so many traditional things. Banners, knights, a massive kitchen, impenetrable stone walls, a grand throne room where three chairs higher than his head sat. Glenn also told him of the armoury, the quarters for the guards, towers, private rooms, storehouses. The castle was essentially fully able to stay sufficient upon itself for quite a while. James had also calmed down in that time and now had a mind more composed for giving an unbiased testimony, under threat from his instructor to do so. He said to his teacher: "I'm...kinda surprised that a place like this has stuff like courts and a trial. I mean...royal family and all, I didn't think they'd have democracy for that." "It is a recent system," replied Glenn. "One that due to the incident that began my entire adventure with my dear friends of past and future, had to be implemented for generations, remaining for at least six hundred years so they tell me." "Daaaamn...so...I never really asked, who were these friends of yours? I met that robot dude but where are the others?" "Ahh...three of them come from six hundred years into the future. Lucca, a strong-minded lass with a great skill for all things mechanical. Marle, a descendant of the royal family and herself the princess of Guardia in her time. Crono, a fine youth with exemplary skills in swordsmanship, and a heart of such purity that I hath never seen another yet that shone more brightly than his." "Hah, cool." "Then there is Robo whom you met and comes from perhaps nineteen-hundred years into the future. And then there is Ayla, a primal savage woman who was the leader of the human tribes far far back in this land's history." "So, how did it all happen?" "From what Lucca told me, or at least tried to explain in layman's terms, she was working on a teleportation device of some kind, at first a novelty to move one between machines. But something occurred due to Marle having a pendant that reacted with the device, and as a result, Crono and her were cast back into mine own time. A most fortunate fate for had they not done so, I fear the entire world would have become unbound, doomed to its own existence of the apocalypse." "I still can't believe you time-travelled and everything. Wish I could be able to get a power like that and control it more properly." "And here I suspected thou already possessed such." "I mean control it more specifically, like KNOWING where I'll end up beforehand. I think up a keyword, the data in my head's all 'kay I'm gonna shove you into monster land even though you said banana' aaaaand boom I get involved into the weirdest shit." "What sort of lands hast thou travelled to?" "Well-" "Sirs Glenn and James?" The two looked up towards a guard who approached them. "The trial is about to commence, please follow me." "I'll tell you later."

They got up and followed the guard towards a large rather dignified-looking area, almost like an interior cathedral. Wide seats on both sides were filling with people to watch the trial, with a separate set for the jury. Murmurs already came for why a fiend would even be given such a fair trial, and why he wasn't killed already, which made James wonder if this entire trial was even worth it with such an attitude amongst the folk. The judge's seat sat higher than all, emblazoned with a window behind him of seraphic radiance, as if one was to be judged before a god, or at the least a counsel. The frog and raptor waited within the witness stand, the ogre standing on trial upon a lone stand, diminished in size compared to everyone else. Clearly to give the impression that the entire universe was judging upon him. Indeed, he looked terrified, yet there was something in his eyes James was seeing. Regret? Humility? Honour? He wasn't sure, and all he could do was watch as the the trial began. In all honesty, this was not even the first time he had been in a court, and he was naturally rather nervous of being in such a place of authority. The judge soon came in to take his seat, wearing something oddly like a short plumped chef's hat, but with more regalness, as well as wearing purple robes. "State your name, ogre." "My name is...Roan Cagnazzo." "Do you know the crime that you have been accused of?" "Yessir." "And how do you plead?" "I...I plead guilty, sir." The murmurings of the court were that of surprise that a fiend would so willingly accept punishment. "And why do you plead guilty?" "Because I know whut I did wuz wrong. But I had me reasons, even if they won't excuse 'em. I came 'ere cuz I wanted to, things changed in me life to make me this way...I hoped that if I came 'ere of me own will an' regreh'in whut I did, then I'd be seen in a beh'er light." "Then we may proceed with the process. Roan Cagnazzo, you have been accused of the kidnapping of several civilians from the town of Dorino, with the intent to sell them into slavery. We have two witnesses, the ones who captured you, one of whom is a highly distinguished knight whose word holds great weight over any other. Is there anything else you wish to add?" "Only me story sir." "You may speak that at the end. Sir Glenn, please step forward." At the call of his name, the frog walked over staunchly so, and held a hand up as a recitation was made. "Do you swear to speak only the truth under the banner of Guardia?" "I swear by it, my lord." "Then please, give your testimony." Glenn spoke of what occurred and how he came to know about it, hearing reports from allies across the land of any possible crimes so he could act upon them sharply. He went into detail of how him and his student in training climbed the mountains west of Dorino, and faced the ogre's group upon the plateau with hostages bounded. They battled, only to be foiled by the two swordsmen in a fight, killing three slavers who had fought to the bitter end.

Then he came to the part where his pupil disarmed Roan, the counsel soon making their questions. "Tell me, when this ogre was disarmed, did he surrender?" "Indeed." "And your student, did he put him under arrest?" "No, it was I who did such, my lord. My pupil is here with me to explain the details further." "And what was Cagnazzo's disposition afterwards?" "It was one of remorse. I admit, I found it strange for him to be such a way considering his crime, but perhaps he can illuminate upon matters further when he can explain himself." "And how did you navigate down a mountain with the rescued townspeople?" "Sir Roan offered to give us support in navigating his prized wyverns down towards the ground, and I explained to him that were he to come here to pay penance for his crimes, then he would be seen upon more favourably." "And what of his wyverns?" "They have been donated to the royal army to be well cared for, willingly turned over in ownership by Roan himself." "Very well. Sir Glenn, you may leave. Now...James Campbell?" Hearing his full name in such a tone made the raptor flinch and want to run, but he calmed himself down as he got up the moment Glenn seated himself, looking at each other tensely. He realised that his master had not spoken about the specifics of the fight, and as such meant that James had a choice to make. He raised his hand slowly as stood upon the stand. "Do you swear to speak only the truth under the banner of Guardia." "I...swear by it, my lord." "Then please, give your testimony." For the most part, he recounted what Glenn had said, but within his own words and only as far as he knew, right up to the part upon the plateau. James spoke about how Glenn was fighting the leader whereas he was busy with the rest of them, and keeping them away from his master, killing two of them. Then he spoke of Roan. "He came at me with a mace, ready to take me down, and I had my gladius out already. We bashed away at each other, but eventually his mace was strong enough to break my sword." "So, you were unarmed?" "...no. I still had some of it left." "And then what happened?" "I...I stabbed him in self-defence, then I grabbed his mace when he was weakened and bashed him across the face. Then I broke his arm." Indeed the sling alone was evidence of that. "Was he surrendering at that point." "No...I...he didn't really get a chance to say." "So he surrendered after you broke his arm and then your master came to arrest him, once he was finished with Roan's leader?" This was a perfect opportunity for James to weed away from the real truth. He looked at the audience around him, he could see they didn't care for the bruised ogre. Sure the raptor looked closer to the ogre than to the humans, but he didn't have any sympathy for the ogre, it didn't matter to him. Then he looked at Glenn. His eyes judged him strongly. What happened if he said no? Why did anyone care about this detail? The ogre pleaded guilty, he was going to jail anyway! "Sir Campbell? Was that all that happened in your duel with Cagnazzo?" A part of him wanted to say yes. Why did anyone care so much about him? Why did Glenn care so much about every single part of the truth, that he was willing to make his pupil look worse for it? And what did Lizbeth even mean by him becoming a fiend? But Glenn held power over him. Nevertheless, there came this word from James' lips. "Yes." "So...that was all that had happened?" He looked over to see his master. Shame was dwelling up within him. Deep shame. He was given a painful reminder, once when he was on the stand as a witness. A memory stung deep within his mind. It was similar enough to him that it came back hard to the back of his head.

A grimy courthouse with single lights pierced upon him, the stench of Chicago's streets diluted within, the beady eyes of the court audience stared tenderly down upon him. He remembered what he did. Everything was clear in his memory. He saw Sarah in the witness stand waiting for the reply she wanted him to say. His fear rose up within him, young and panic-stricken. "Mr. Campbell?" "S-sir?" "Was that all that occurred in your confrontation with Mr. Delaney?" Delaney. A name he'd long forgotten. He still didn't understand why she was so forceful about it. One little detail nobody would miss. "Yes. I don't know what happened to him after." "No further questions, your honour." The rest of the case passed in a blur, fast-forwarding to only what was important for him. Sarah was snarling in his face. "What the fuck were you thinking up there!?" "Wh-what are you talking about?" "You damn well know what I'm talking about kid, you KNOW what happened to Delaney!" "Why do you care so much about him!? What about me!?" "I don't care about him jackass, I care about the other guy that YOU practically sentenced to jail because you conveniently didn't mention what you did!" "B-but if I told them what happened I could have gone to jail! I didn't mean it Sarah, I swear to god I didn't! Why won't you believe me!?" "Because I know you James. I know what you did to that guy. Whatever happened that night, you caused his death, and YOU should pay, not some other kid!" "But he's a punk like me, who cares!?!" "Exactly. But he was just a kid who happened to be in the area who robbed the guy's body, but he had nothing to do with killing him...but you...you did something. Why should that kid have to go to jail, and not you? I told you I would cover for you only once. I meant that." "But...y-you're supposed to look after me, I thought you'd-" "I didn't sign any papers for you kid, I do it because I care. I don't want you turning into every single other punk kid your age who gets away with crimes on people who DON'T deserve it, especially when you do it out of spite and rage!" "FUCK YOU! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, HE WAS AN ASSHOLE!" "For WHAT!?!" "........" "...I knew it." "Wh-what?" "I thought you'd have grown up by now...but you're just the same selfish little boy who tried to rob me...a stupid kid who thinks he can fight anyone and no matter what, that people would sympathise." "B-but I...I-i was trying to-" "Shut up. I'm glad you're not my son." "Wh-what?!" "Cuz if you were, I don't think I could live with the fact that you're a cowardly little bitch. I'm ashamed of you." Tears had sprung to his eyes, first with rage, then with shock. Sarah had never said that to him before. Disappointment perhaps, but never shame. He couldn't take such a word from her. "But...S-s-sarah-" "Why don't you go back to London and die on the streets like you should have? This city has enough people like you, just another pathetic little shit who'd rather save his own measly little skin instead of doing what's right."

"NO!" James slammed himself back into reality, seeing the medieval court once more around him, the audience gasping slightly at his outburst, the judge especially. "Wh-what is it Sir Campbell!?" "Your honour! I mean, my lord! I...I have something else to add." "On what?" "When...when he was defenceless...a-and not fighting back...I wasn't done with him." "Yes?" The judge turned wary as James tried not to babble, his guilt screaming and clawing inside of him begging to come out of his chest. "I...I dragged him by his broken arm, to the edge of the cliff. He was screaming that he was surrendering, but I didn't care. He couldn't even resist after the pain I put him in. I was going to throw him off the cliff." "You....were going to kill him, even though he was unarmed and surrendering?" "...yes." The crowd gasped, somehow finding less sympathy for James than they did for the ogre. "Well...that is certainly a terrible thing, especially for someone in training as a swordsman." "I didn't stop there. My master stopped me before I could, and I mocked Roan. Sir Glenn said that because he was harmless I shouldn't hurt him and we should take him to here for trial. I forced Roan to stand up, I mocked him, tried to make him fight, forced him but he was in such agony he couldn't...then my master beat me and made me stop." "...is this true, Cagnazzo?" "Y-y-yes sir...'e wuz...horrible. Can't blame 'im, bu'...the way 'e wuz torturin' me, ready to kill me when I pleaded full surrender...I wuz scared for me life."

The court fell into silence. The counsel merely laid back in their seats, pondering upon the words of their witness. James was terrified, he was sure that this was some sort of sentence, that some sort of punishment would be considered for him. Eventually, after conferring amongst themselves, they spoke again. "Sir Campbell. While we can understand your antagony towards Roan for his crime, your actions are dishonourable for one in your discipline. We hold honour very highly within this kingdom, as well as mercy. You showed neither when fighting and defeating Roan. Whether he would have extended the same decency to you or not, is not in question within this court. You may leave." With a shame that weighed down upon him from the eyes of the audience, he sat back beside Glenn, the only one to smile at him as the sentence was passed. Roan Cagnazzo was found undeniably guilty by the entire jury of his crime, and as such was sentenced to 20 years in prison, barring a few off for good behaviour. The court was dismissed, the two swordsmen leaving with everyone else. "I am proud of thee James." "For what?" "For not hiding behind thy cowardice in allowing the truth to be seen." "What truth? He was going to jail anyway, and now I am too. What was the point of it, sir?" "A slaver he may be, a criminal no matter what his origins, but had thou not faced thy consequences of brutality sternly, then I feared that thy restraint would turn ever weaker." "So...you wanted me to admit what I did, because it'd make me more...responsible?" "Indeed. A swordsman must know self-control as well as several other things. If thou doth not learn such, then I fear for thy future." "So...what now?" "Now, thou shalt pay penance. By mine own hand." "W-wait, the royal court's not gonna do anything?" "Nay. Thou art my responsibility. And I shall teach thee penance. Come, we leave for the town of Truce." The swordsman walked from the castle towards the east. His pupil followed uncertain.