"Fredrick, why the rush?" Rivena inquired, her tall heels clacking against the floor with unmatched haste.
The group trailed closely behind the man, Revian in specific checking the long corridors for the proposed 'D' that Fredick'd mentioned would be their destination.
Fredrick's gait slowed for a moment, the arms behind his back crossed as if in contemplation. "Malric and his family await Revian's arrival, so I must see to it that we arrive in a timely fashion."
His steps' rapidity grew, the aloofness in his composure strengthening. He didn't bother to wait for a reply, granting the group just enough time to match his pace.
"Why would Malric's family be waiting for Revian? He only just got discharged from the hospital," Varek mused, stepping forward to walk parallel to Fredrick.
"News of his awakening spread quickly. They're not the only ones waiting." Fredrick stopped in his tracks, looking back at the group to watch as they each halted to stand before the door in front of him.
A large, metal sign hung over the platinum door, reading 'D' in full, darkened italics. It thrummed with energy, only responding to Fredrick's presence.
"We're here," he stated calmly, reaching for something in his pocket. "Now, be mindful that the proceedings have already begun. Enter quietly and with serenity."
The door whirred open at the sliding of a white I.D. card, the bright white inside forcing Revian to squint his eyes in defiance to the searing of his retinas.
"Still half-asleep, huh, kiddo?" Varek joked, turning his body to pat Revian on the shoulder. "Don't worry, just leave this to the adults."
Looking at her assistant nurse, Rivena pointed her thumb to the hallway they'd just traversed, tilting her head to signal a silent retreat.
After Katria's footsteps were lost to the distance, Fredrick urged the trio to follow behind him with a raised hand, stepping forward to reveal the interior.
Blank. That was the only way to describe it.
The ceiling, the walls, even the floors were all enveloped in a plain white, the only thing soliciting any form of intrigue being the atmospheric mana thrumming its tunes to whatever runes powered the light.
Beyond that, though, was furniture--and rather extravagant ones at that. Laden in gold and silver embroidery, there rested a number of seats and tables to allow respite to the inhabitants inside, forming rows.
On one end of the room where the group had entered, the floor was at its lowest point, but as one went further and further ahead, the floor clawed up to make a room-wide staircase, eventually converging to one final height where three tall seats sat.
It was as if the design was centered around a courtroom, but the architect was dared to puke white everywhere.
"Are you Revian?" a voice boomed, its origin up above the staircase. "If so, please take a seat opposite in the room from the plaintiff."
Plaintiff?
Clattering of a hard object could be heard just to Revian's right, the boy behind it sitting with crossed legs. It was Malric, eyes red with irritation. Judging by the dry streams of crust trailing from his eyes, Revian assumed that he'd been crying just moments before.
"That's him, ma! That's the boy that almost killed me and my friends!" he yelled, dropping the pen in his hand to point at Revian. His voice shook at the insistence of whatever ploy he'd had in mind.
Revian's eye twitched, his hands tightening ever so slightly. Malric hid it well, but Revian understood that whatever filled the air was most certainly a byproduct of Malric's theatrics.
"You there, Revan! Is it you that has caused this great tragedy on my boy?" a woman asked, her voice rasp. Her brows were furrowed uncontrollably, the only other thing nearly as noticeable being her tight grip on a man's wrist behind her. "To have made him suffer so, believing that he was going to die in that moment! Shame, shame on you and your blood."
'It's Revian', he scoffed to himself, turning his head away for a moment at the humor.
"Dastardly thing; do you believe this to be funny?" she continued, fully prying the man next to her from his seated position. "Honey, don't you have anything to say about this?"
With violent spontaneity, he shook his hand free from her control, his nostrils flaring as if he were going to take action against her. But after looking between himself and the room, he opted instead to look up at the others present.
"Quiet, Beatrice, and don't order me." Swatting his hand clean of any contagions, he looked back to Malric--his deep pout an amusing, yet still embarrassing show of weakness. "And you, we'll talk later. Arise, and present yourself as a Solmar."
At his father's insistence, Malric's big emotional show fell apart in an instant, his face and limbs stiffening to the same strength they'd possessed when he'd stormed Revian's hospital room.
"Now, it was of my understanding that you would swiftly and unanimously enact the boy's expulsion, so why is it then that we must sit here and listen for his testimony? I find your arbitration to be of the utmost disrespect to me and my family." Malric's father stepped forward, looking up at a man standing above his tall seat. The two to his side stayed seated, although they both seemed to have something to add as well.
"That's...!" Varek gasped under his breath, his eyes wide and mouth agape.
"Iskandar, I understand your annoyance at the major atrocities your son claims Revian acted out, and I assure you that if he is truthful, we will deal with the boy ourselves."
Malric's father--Iskandar--scoffed at the remark, stepping back so as to allow the man above him the floor.
"And as for the matter regarding your family--don't worry, we wish to make no transgressions upon the Solmars. As an act of good will, your family will be granted remittance in exchange for your son's continued enrollment." The man raised his hand forth, invoking a violent flash of white to appear on two opposing sides of the lower floor.
Revian had to close his eyes to defend himself from the luminosity, but while this was happening, he felt the tight grip of Varek's hands on his wrist.
Allowing himself to be pulled along, he heard small whispers in his ear. "Revian, do not speak even for a moment. The man before you is Beldrum, Head of Magic-State Affairs. His involvement in this entails that something beyond just civil dispute is going on."
Opening his eyes once more, Revian looked on at two five-foot tall stands with mics attached at their ends.
"Now, will both sides present themselves to the court?" Beldrum asked, plopping back into his seat.