I'm so sorry about the wait, I'll try to do better next time! ;^;

Roman's POV:

We had decided to meet up at the court, outside, in the small garden covered in handmade clay buckets and old rusted wheelbarrows, plants spilling out the ends and vines softly covering the already moss-strewn bricks. A small path was made of a dark mauve granite, bits of golden-bronze metal speckled across the road. 

I stepped gingerly over an overgrown, tangled root and glanced around the garden. Virgil flinched back from a violently red flower and sneezed, blinking from all the pollen in the air and sighing grumpily. 

We had all-- except for Janus, of course-- come to the court to meet Irys Jade. 

As it turned out, Irys was a short, pretty person with dark features and short-cut, hazel brown hair. They smiled at us, sitting neatly on a bench with their hands crossed. "Nice to meet you," they greeted us, patting the bench. "Welcome. Lia's told me a lot about you, you know."

I waved back nervously, sitting on the bench and glancing around the park we were meeting them in. "The pleasure is... all mine," I said, trying to sound smooth while their dark, fox-like eyes stared at me, gold and bronze glittering in the depths and swirls of ebony-black. 

Patton held out his hand, grinning cheerfully. "Nice to meet you too! Lia's told us that you're really nice!"

"Well." They straightened their tie, looking embarrassed. "I don't know about nice. I do try to be fair, though, if that counts."

Virgil sat down next to me, slipping his hand in mine and squeezing it anxiously. "I'm--" he started, but Irys interrupted him with a silent hand. 

"Virgil," they finished, nearly purring the word, now gazing at my boyfriend. "Pleasure. And you're Roman, correct?" They turned their gaze toward me and I felt a shiver go down my spine. 

I nodded quietly, trying not to quail under their eyes. "Y-yes," I said. 

Lia sighed, plopping a hand on Irys's shoulder. "Irys," they murmured. "You're scaring them, don't stare so much."

They blinked up at Lia, looking confused for a second. "Oh! Oh, sorry," they rushed, looking startled. "Here, just a second!"

Rummaging through their bag, they pulled out a pair of round glasses and slipped them on, shaking their hair out. "Apologies," they laughed. "I can be intimidating without trying sometimes."

Now that they had stopped gazing creepily at us, they seemed much kinder. Their skin was a tawny bronze, shining gently in the park's scattered light. Their jacket was rolled up to the elbows, and a pretty shade of dusty purple, with pale rose edges. Their glasses caught the light and shimmered, lighting up their clever eyes. 

Virgil blew out a breath, peeking out from my shoulder. "Y-yeah," he muttered, dusting off his shirt. "It's alright though."

Irys grinned at him. "Again, sorry. Now, you wanted to talk to me about something?"

Remy stepped around the bench, slipping next to Lia and leaning against the back of the bench. "Yup," he explained. "We're um. We found evidence of bribery in the trial? We think it's being rigged by our opponents."

They hummed thoughtfully. "Well if that isn't trouble," they muttered. "Mind telling me which judge? My brain is in a whirl right now."

Lia rifled through her phone for a second before nodding briskly. "Cora Smith," she informed Irys. "You remember that one judge who always has plain cereal for breakfast when she comes here?"

Irys, much to my alarm, made a ferocious growl that made me yelp. "Smith? Again?" they hissed. "That is, I do believe, the third time that sack-of-shit judge has let herself be bribed."

Lia stared at them. "Really? Oh my god," she worried, pulling at a strand of her hair. "That's really not good."

"Truth," I sighed, leaning my head on Virgil's shoulder. "So... what should we do?" I asked Irys, sitting back up and fidgeting nervously with my hands. 

Irys took off their glasses to rub their eyes. "Well, there are only a few things we can do right now," they admitted. "First of all, we have to get this information to my coworkers, and we can help you with this snag. Second, we should request a different trial, with completely new jurors and a new judge. How about that?"

Virgil bit his lip. "Is there... anything else?" he questioned, raising his eyes to Irys's. "That doesn't seem like a lot of options."

They barked a laugh. "That's because there aren't. More might come and meet us, but for now, the best thing we can do is go and meet the rest of the higher-ups."

Rising to their feet, they clapped their hands together, grinning wryly. "So! Who's going to come into the lion's den with me?"

---

I tiptoed through the hallway, padding gently as to not make an echoing footstep in the large marble corridor. Virgil was next to me, squeezing my arm with such force I kept yelping, at which point he would glance apologetically at me and lessen his grip, only to slowly begin tightening it again. 

Irys didn't bother with trying to be quiet. They strolled ahead, their boots making tapping sounds on the floor. "What are you waiting for?" they asked me. "Come on!"

I hurried my pace, anxiously looking back at Remy and Logan, the only other two who had opted to come. Remus, Patton, and Emile had decided to go back, and I didn't ask them why. 

The answer was obvious as I walked down the hallway, my gaze slipping from painting to painting, little plastic containers filled with leaflets or mints. Remy tried to take a mint and Logan grabbed his hand to stop him, which would've been funny if I wasn't so stressed. 

Finally, we arrived at a large, dark door with polished wood and an opaque crystal doorknob. Someone important was definitely behind that door, but as the nameplate was written in cursive-- the one font I hated-- I couldn't read who. 

Virgil scanned the label. "Beatrix Lorelei, Toby Fox, and Kendra Jacob," he murmured, blinking at the elegantly inked words. 

I raised an eyebrow. "I can't read cursive, but even I can tell that's an 'm', not an 'n'," I informed Virgil. 

He sighed, elbowing me in the side. "Think what you want, but when we go in there you better not call them 'Kemdra', got it?"

"Sure, whatever," I grumbled. "Think you can read better than me."

Lia pushed the door open, glancing about the large room. "Bea, Toby, Kendra!" she called, looking around for the three. 

Virgil snickered. 

I rolled my eyes, thwacking his shoulder. "Know-it-all."

Two people came out of the door, one yawning with messy hair, and the other in pristine shape, her jacket neatly ironed. 

"Hey," the messy one said, taking off her glasses to wipe them down. "I'm Beatrix Lorelei, a high judge here." She waved at us, smiling in a welcoming way. She had short-cropped blonde hair and dark skin with a light birthmark apparent on the side of her neck. 

The other bobbed her head. "Pleasure, I'm Kendra Jacob. And you are?" Her raven-black eyes sparkled, but her smile was neither cold nor warm. 

"I-- I'm Roman," I stuttered. 

Virgil waved casually back at Beatrix. "Yo. I'm Virgil. Those two fighting over a mint back there are Remy and Logan." He looked back at the two, who were arguing loudly. "Please don't mind them..." he sighed. 

A third person walked up. Irys smiled at him. "This is Toby. He's mute, but not deaf or blind."

He nodded and stepped back, smoothing his red hair down and tying it back. He began to sign something at us, but then seemed to remember that we probably didn't speak sign and just smiled at us instead. 

"Well..." Kendra folded her hands behind her back. "What can we do for you?"

Lia stepped forward, holding out her phone. "We have reason to believe that there is a case of bribery being orchestrated in our trial, and we came here to request a different trial with a new judge, jury, and time."

Beatrix tapped her foot on the floor. "Would you like to come in?" she invited us after a long pause. "It must be tiring standing out there like that. Come on inside."

"Oh..." I blinked. "Thank you. Remy! Logan!" I called to them. "Get over here!"

Muttering one last thing at Logan, Remy strolled over, glancing at each person in turn. "Hey, I'm Remy," he introduced himself. "Nice to meetcha. I guess they already told you why we're here?"

Kendra nodded. "Yes. Now, as Bea said, let's all come in and talk about it over some tea."

The inside of the room was cozy, with a carpeted floor that muffled footsteps and pretty oak counters, coffee mugs and flowerpots placed on them. Two large windows shone light into the room, the pastel-pink curtains pulled to the side. 

"It's... really nice in here," Virgil murmured. 

Toby grinned and signed something, which Irys-- who apparently knew sign language-- translated it for us. "Thanks," they echoed. "I chose the wood for the countertop myself."

Logan thought for a second before signing something back at Toby, making the other gasp in delighted surprise. 

The two began a conversation that I could not understand, and I was left to aimlessly watch them. 

Kendra coughed lightly. "So. Bribery? And is it Cora again?" she asked Irys, her voice tired. "I swear I'll get her fired."

Slowly, Irys nodded. "...unfortunately."

Beatrix groaned. "Jeez, what is that woman's problem!" she hissed. "I just don't get it!"

"You're not going to need to listen to my evidence?" Lia asked, surprised. 

Shaking her head, Kendra considered it. "Well, I suppose I have to, but I don't really need evidence. She's already done it around... five? Times? I don't remember. Anyway, this problem can be solved with a more reliable judge."

Logan stopped chatting with Toby to interrupt our conversation. "Would we need a new lawyer?" he asked. "I understand if we do, but--"

"No, no," Beatrix said. "Neither of the lawyers were involved-- to our knowledge, at least, so not really."

I looked around at everyone before speaking. "I, um... me and my friend Emile first heard them, and while I don't have firm proof, I only heard Andy talking about bribing the judge and some of the jury."

Growing more and more nervous with each word, I made myself keep talking. "And, well, that makes me think that neither of our lawyers were involved... right? So..."

Toby thought it over before nodding at me. 

"That's decided, then," Beatrix declared. "We'll arrange for a new trial immediately. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, and we hope that we have helped."

I glanced back at Virgil, squeezing his hand and feeling him lean comfortingly onto my shoulder, sighing. I didn't know how to feel, but the little gnawing feeling of anxiety still hadn't gone away, and something told me it wouldn't for a while longer.