When the doors suddenly started creaking noisily as they slowly swung open on its own, I instinctively grabbed Mary Priscilla's hand and forced her to stand behind me. I had a feeling something big was about to happen...
And I was right.
The gates had finally opened, and for one moment all I could do was stare in shock. "You."
"Me." Yan Wang's tone was calm. "And so now..."
There wasn't even the slightest bit of warning.
Shadows simply came out of nowhere.
Countless hungry mindless shadows.
And they were all coming for me.
I pushed Mary Priscilla to the ground and covered her with my body.
The swarm of shadows swirled closer.
And closer.
And closer.
And...
Nothing?
I slowly opened my eyes...and my heart nearly stopped beating.
The shadows.
All those shadows...
Countless hungry mindless shadows...
They were still around me.
And they were all on their knees as if they, too, recognized me as...
LOTUS.
Chapter Eleven
Only three minutes were left until the hearing was to officially start, and by now the whispers coming from the public benches had reached a crescendo. Unlike the previous meeting between the two opposing parties, today's trial was open to all those who wished to attend—-
And attend everyone certainly did.
For the Lord of the Underworld to come up above ground was a rare enough sight, but to witness Hades and the former Lady of the Underworld reunite was a scene that no one would have even considered possible in the past. It was no secret that Persephone had fought tooth and nail to keep her divorce from being finalized, and no one had any doubts that Persephone, if given the chance, would remarry Hades in a heartbeat.
But for that to happen, the god would have to give up his new Lady of the Underworld, and if rumors were to be believed, well...
Perhaps it was safe to say that immortals were more likely to bet on Zeus giving up his philandering ways than on Hades divorcing his new wife. The Greek god was said to be so enthralled with his ghost-turned-goddess consort that he had been seen doing things completely out of character. Things such as actually smiling and laughing in public, and just days ago, there had even been reports of public sex...in Mt. Olympus no less!
The heavy thud of the goddess of justice's gavel striking the sounding block cut off all speech. When in her courtroom, no one save the unseen God was above Eunomia's authority, and everyone turned towards the judge's table at the second strike of her gavel.
A courtroom clerk came to stand next to the judge's bench. "Everyone is requested to take their assigned places."
Persephone joined her counsel at the plaintiff's table, and the goddess of vengeance gave Persephone a smug smile before nodding tellingly towards the defendant's table. Only Hades was there, and as for the despicable woman he had been foolish enough to marry...
First to be sworn in was Nemesis as Persephone's counsel, followed by the Lord of the Underworld himself. Stunned gasps erupted in the courtroom when the clerk named Hades as counsel for the defendant, a reaction which Hadrian's ARM privately found ludicrous.
When the clerk asked for Persephone to take the stand, the spring goddess made a show of placing a badly trembling hand on top of the ancient bible that the archangel Gabriel had personally entrusted into the goddess of justice's safekeeping.