Ivory had never dressed as slowly as she had now since she had joined the gang. Usually she'd throw an outfit together and be on her way; this time, it was different. The impending doom that awaited Valen and the other protestors sat tight in her stomach and throat. She felt nauseous for the first time in a while.
She had almost forgotten how cruel, sinister, psychopathic, violent, and ruthless Blue was.
Here, it felt like she was back at square one. It felt like the old times ..... how The Blue Dragons once was when it was just a NYC gang.
Blue would now have his old time fun.
Ivory had stared at herself in the mirror -- a black skintight dress and a blazer with black heels. The perfect representation of what would come next.
And Valen didn't realize the danger he was in .... no human did.
They would now.
Ivory's heeled slowly and loudly tapped along the bedroom floor, and she opened the door to see the midwife holding Lyra. The midwife nodded at Ivory, who planted a kiss on Lyra's head and walked down the hall. She entered the garage and saw Blue in his black tuxedo --- he was ready for his old time fun.
The ride to the courthouse was silent. Ivory stared out the window and even glanced at Blue, who was too busy texting someone on his phone, a few times before silently shifting her body close to the limo door.
When they reached the courthouse, news reporters were already there. Ivory saw people walking inside. She knew they were there for Valen's trial.
Ivory and Blue stepped out.
Ivory silently followed behind Blue when a news reporter came up to him with the microphone, and a camera man on the other side of him.
"Mr. Gravesend, what are your thoughts on the man who not only protested against you, but had shown blatant disrespect toward you as a ruler?"
Blue smacked the microphone out of the reporters hand and walked off.
Ivory shrugged to herself; she knew that would happen. Now the public will see that Blue was not someone to cross.
Blue walked up to Harley, Spike, and Red.
"Valen, his family, and the jury are there," Harley replied. "The trial is ready to start when you settle in."
Blue nodded, took Ivory's, hand, and together they walked into the courtroom. Everyone's eyes stared intensely at the couple; Ivory saw that there were humans in their gold robes and the Serpahyne.
Ivory knew that Valen wouldn't have a fair trial ..... and he didn't.
When the judge had asked Valen and Blue individual questions, Valen had given his logical reasoning. He felt that humanity was fine and didn't need be held captive by the Seraphyne, that Blue's rules were dumb and they never existed before he invaded them, and that everything should go back to how it once was.
Ivory looked closely at the judge and her stomach dropped; she saw the blue scales all over his neck. She looked even closer and saw that he had covered most of them with concealer --- his hair wasn't blue. Perhaps he dyed his hair or was born with dark brown hair.
There were two sides: 1. humans were inferior to the Seraphyne and will evolve to be better an stronger with their guidance and control; 2. Humans were fine the way they were and may not be the same or as advanced as the Seraphyne, but they are equal and should be able to live their lives separately.
It was the jury's time to decide.
Ivory met Blue outside in the hallway during recess. The jury needed time to decide what the verdict would be: a jury of 10 Seraphyne and 10 humans. Ivory had a feeling that Valen would be guilty. Then, as Blue and Harley spoke, their voices faded as Ivory was lost in thought.
Viper's trial came to mind. Ivory remembered how Viper was arrested and put on trail when they were only nineteen. Fox and Swindle H had come up with a crazy and bizarre story about Viper and Viper was not only sentenced, but then went missing.
Ivory felt her chest get heavy, and her eyes watered. She found the nearest bathroom and found that it was empty. She placed her hands on the countertop and stared at herself in the mirror as she took deep breaths.
She wondered if Viper's trial was rigged. Did she face the same fate because Blue knew the judge? Did he have connections with the police? Ivory knew that the one detective had tried to help Viper and did believe her, but Viper knew deep down that she would lose.
How did she know?
Ivory felt Viper behind her, and heard her screaming at her.
Ivory locked herself in a stall and sank onto the toilet, and had begun to cry.
Seeing the courtroom made her remember how she had lost her best friend; she wasn't even sure if the video Blue had shown her was really what Viper had felt, or if she was forced to say that confession. That meant that the jury would most likely say Valen is guilty just to protect themselves from Blue's cruelty.
Someone knocked on the door. Ivory silenced herself; she didn't want anyone knowing that she was crying.
"Ivory, are you in there?"
It was Lily.
Ivory gulped. "Yeah, yeah, I'm in here."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I just have a stomachache. I'm going to be a while."
"Let me in," Lily said. "I know when you're lying to me."
Ivory unlocked the stall and there, Lily stood. Lily wrapped her arms around Ivory and enveloped her in a hug.
"Ivory, what's wrong?"
"I ... I can't go back in there. I just remembered what had happened to Viper. It's .... Blue had to have known the judge or something," Ivory sniffed. "I just feel Viper hating me on the other side."
"Ivory, I'm sorry," Lily pulled herself away and set her hands on Ivory's shoulders. "You can't blame yourself. We all knew that Viper wouldn't make it out. Valen won't either. Do you need to stay in here? I can tell Blue your stomach is hurting."
Ivory nodded.
Lily left and Ivory closed the bathroom stall again. She couldn't face Blue or the final verdict.
...
What felt like hours was only minutes. Ivory's hands were in her lap, and soon they met her face nervously. She was isolated in a bathroom stall; no one entered or exited. She was left alone with her thoughts. Her mind raced; she couldn't stop thinking about Viper and her verdict --- it echoed over and over again. Then, Ivory couldn't stop thinking about how she tried to leave to save her friend, but was cornered by Hawks and Lucky.
She wondered if Hawks was really her friend? The entire time she had known him, he obviously had feelings for her. He protected her and gave her his life advice. She knew he had to protect himself from Blue; it meant making sure Ivory never left and torturing Viper.
Her feelings for Hawks had never left. Every day it felt like her feelings had grown stronger; she always thought about him.
She was removed her from her thoughts as the door opened, and she heard slow and calculated footsteps slowly near the stall. She saw the familiar black dress shoes.
She unlocked the stall, and saw Blue standing there.
"Oh, hi, Blue," she said quietly. "What's the verdict?"
"Guilty," he replied without emotion. He cocked her head, "Lily said your stomach was bothering you," he eyes shifted to the door and back at Ivory, "Though, I know better than to believe that. You're my wife; you should be able to tell me what's wrong."
"I ... I --- I can't explain it," Ivory replied.
"What's the matter?"
"I thought about Viper's trial; it wouldn't leave my head: her verdict, her disappearance, and her death," Ivory said quietly. "I couldn't bring myself to go into that courtroom."
Ivory expected Blue to laugh at her, but her eyes just met his. He said nothing at first.
"Grief sneaks up on you," Blue shrugged, "I can see why you decided to stay in here."
Blue held out his hand, and Ivory hesitated before taking it. She wouldn't have to grieve Viper if Blue hadn't ordered for her to be burned alive.
Blue walked over to the mirror and held her in front of him; he stared at her reflection.
"I know this isn't going to make you feel better about Viper's demise, but her body was shutting down. She didn't feel anything before I had her burned to death."
"How do you know?" Ivory asked.
"I've killed enough people to know when their bodies are giving up; Viper didn't have much time left anyway," Blue replied.
He turned her to face him and placed her head to his chest.
"I'm sorry she wasn't a good friend to you, but you're exactly where you need to be ... where you should be."
Ivory looked into this eyes.
"It's been a long time since Red, Harley, and I had our old time fun," Blue replied.
Ivory nodded because she knew what that had meant.
A human publicly defies the new government.
Blue holds a hearing.
He listens calmly.
The human refuses to apologize.
Blue orders a severe punishment.
Ivory watches and wonders whether Blue has changed—or if he has simply become who he always was.