"The old oak trembled
And the fall of it was great
So great villains fall"
"Once there were small flowers
Swaying in the gentle wind
until the rain came"
-Untitled Haikus from Matt's notebook
---
A week passed. Matt was thrown into a jail cell below the Immortal world. He was fed well enough. The bed was soft enough. He was not uncomfortable.
The guards came. Matt stood when they opened the cell door, and stepped out. Roughly, they pushed him along.
They walked him out of the Immortal world and into the Second dimension.
The town square had been destroyed in wars of the past, and Zach had set up a podium and some chairs to serve as a court.
Matt was sat down in the center.
Everyone was there. Everyone from the battle- except for Sky.
Zach was the judge.
Raven, Dak, Varrick, Finn, Juan, Noah, and Maddie were all there. There wasn't much of a gathering. There weren't many people in the world to gather.
"Well, without further delay, we'll begin," Zach started, but as he did, Sky walked in and everyone fell quiet. She walked with her head down, and sat beside Noah. Matt's eyes were glued on her, longingly.
Zach suddenly realized he'd fallen silent, and picked up his slack. "Let's begin with the charges.
"Matt, you're charged with the murder of Alex, who worked on our side against Harley. You are charged with murdering Sky, also an ally and your girlfriend. You are charged with evading the law and not turning yourself in for the two murder charges. You murdered the king of the Second dimension, who also happened to be your father, and forcefully took that throne from Maddie for yourself. You murdered King Juan of the Third dimension. You murdered Finn, the head of the Royal Guard in the Second dimension. You murdered King Noah of the Fourth dimension. You harmed and murdered innocent guards and civilians. You unlawfully became an Immortal without permission from the Immortal leader, me. You killed Harley for selfish gain. You waged war on all the heroes, and attempted to murder me. The whole time, you failed to do your job as the Dark Prophet of the Fourth dimension, did not act as a king for the Second dimension, abused your power as an Immortal, and evaded the law and your warrant. Is any of this untrue?"
Matt was still staring at Sky. He didn't respond. Zach seemed to take that as a no.
Zach nodded. "It would be unwise to let such a magnitude of great crimes go unpunished, which is why we are here today. Obviously, the crimes committed outdo any sort of punishment within any of our power, but we will do our best. The first order of business is to decide whether or not he lives. The people vote."
Juan was the first to stand. "He deserves to die," Juan said firmly. Finn stood up as well, nodding. "After all he's done, death is a merciful punishment," Finn muttered, his eyes on Zach so as to avoid looking at Matt.
Zach only nodded. "Two in favor of death."
Noah stood up next, leaving Sky. Sky simply looked at the ground. Noah looked around at everyone, including Matt, who was still looking at Sky.
Noah also spoke without hesitation: "As someone who's made similar mistakes, I say we don't kill him. He deseves punishment, but he also deserves a second chance before he dies."
Zach only nodded. "Two to one. Who's next?"
Slowly, Maddie stood up. She took a deep breath. "Obviously," she began, "I am his mother. And because I am his mother, I love him, whether he believes it or not. I'll always love him, no matter what he thinks or does. However, I do not-" her voice broke slightly as she tried to hold her composure, "I do not want to be biased. He- he deserves to die for what he's done."
Maddie sat down quickly, and there was a moment of silence before Zach spoke again. "Three to one." Slowly, he looked at Sky. Matt hadn't stopped looking, except a quick glance at his mother when she'd been speaking.
"Sky, would you tell us your story?" Zach asked, and all eyes turned to her. She stood up, taking a deep breath. She nodded slightly, still keeping her eyes off Matt.
"Well... obviously you guys know that... Matt killed me. He wasn't- it's not his fault. It was my fault as much as his. We drank the bottle of champagne Zach gave me for my birthday. Alex kind of... took advantage of me. He didn't know Matt and I were dating- no one did, really. Matt saw us, Alex was kissing me, and Matt just... he snapped. And he killed me.
"Apparently, I got into Heaven. But I wasn't happy. I was completely miserable. I ran away from the people who wanted to help me. Unhappiness in Heaven leads to one thing: Hell. So, I fell into Hell.
"I ran into-" She glanced at Zach. "-your father. Adam. He helped me get out. And... here I am."
Everyone was quiet. Sky had accomplished the impossible. Coming back from the dead was not impossible, but escaping Hell? No one had ever done that by their own power before.
"Here's what I have to say. I love Matt. What he's done is... insane. But if you're going to kill him, you'll have to kill me, too. I came back for him, and if he's not around, I don't know why I should be either. That's all I have to say."
She sat down, Matt watching her, looking miserable.
Zach opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted. Lucius, the guy who loved Zach's daughter and had "a plan to fix everything", stood up out of nowhere.
Lucius was immortal. He was very smart, and always had a plan. He could even outsmart Zach, and overpower his words. He had dark brown hair, and a strong build. His eyes looked like galaxies, and he wore a galactic hoodie to match. He was certainly something special.
"Wait a second, Zach, you haven't given Matt a chance to defend himself, since he doesn't have any sort of lawyer. Matt, do you have anything to say?"
Matt's head turned when he was directly addressed. All eyes were then on him.
"What do you want me to say?" Matt's voice was quiet; he'd hardly used it in the past week. "Nothing I say will change anyone's mind.
"I guess I could say I'm sorry, but it really makes no difference, does it?
"However, I can speak to my defense. Raven has killed people. Noah recently killed a whole bunch of people, including Liliana, my dad's mom. Zach, you're on the list of people Lucius says case evil in the world plenty of us here are criminals."
Zach interrupted him. "Not so bad as you."
Lucius held up his hand, silencing both of them. "Do you want to die?" Lucius asked Matt. Slowly, with a glance at Sky, Matt shook his head. Lucius smiled. "That settles it then! You can stay here in the palace of the Second dimension. All of your powers or titles can be taken from you at any time. The house will be guarded, and you cannot go outside without a guard. You cannot leave the Second dimension unless you're invited to. You can't visit anyone unless they invite you or come to visit you. Does that sound good?"
Matt looked at Sky, who was looking at the ground. Slowly, he nodded again.
"Good!" Lucius grinned. Zach opened his mouth to protest, but Lucius was already calling the guards.
Next thing anyone knew, Matt had been taken inside.
No one followed him.