Villain Retirement

"...Riley?"

"Good afternoon, Aerith."

Everything became silent then. The gazes of the people that were aggressively and blatantly trying to avoid her, now no longer matters as a single pair of eyes was the only one she could see now—quite literally.

Riley was standing right in front of her, blocking the view of the throne. She wasn't hearing anything, and knowing Riley, he probably placed a telekinetic bubble around them.

"When—"

And for the first time ever; after facing and being in front of themarian royalty several times—Riley finally kneeled.

"What… are you doing?" Aerith could really only raise an eyebrow; the tone of her voice, slightly amused.

"Surrendering to you, Aerith."

"Aerith of House Hel!"

A loud voice then reverberated throughout the entire throne hall as the bailiff announced Aerith's arrival, calling for her to walk to her station. And even then, however, almost no one stood up to pay attention; they were a few, but most of them quickly sat down when they noticed no one else was standing.

"..." Riley turned to look up at Aerith, before standing up and walking to the side to give her space to walk. Seeing this, Aerith could really only let out a small but very deep breath.

"So, Hera was actually able to bring you here," she then said, "So, how is the Theran experience so far? I told you, themarians are all inherently psychopaths."

"..." Riley tilted his head to the side, before observing the people in the throne hall, "My experience has been okay so far, Aerith. They seem normal to me."

"...Of course," Aerith could only sigh and close her eyes, "I forgot who I was talking to."

"It's me, Aerith," Riley's eyes quickly widened ass he looked Aerith in the eyes, "It's Riley Ross."

"Wha—Yeah, I know who you are!"

"That is good," Riley then let out a small but very deep sigh, "Let's talk again later, Aerith."

"No one's allowed to visit me," Aerith shook her head and let out another sigh. Riley, however, did not seem to care as she just watched as he walked away, joining an unusually tall woman and a member of the Grand Militia who was seated on the sides along with the other audience.

Even on Theran, Riley gathers the weirdest of companions—Aerith thought. She was going to walk toward the throne but noticed the tall woman staring her straight in the eyes.

"..." Aerith just raised an eyebrow, wondering who this was. But after a few more breaths of exchanging glances, Aerith finally walked across the carpet; standing on the pedestal—no, standing on the stage that was set for her.

"Aerith'Hel!"

And as soon as her foot touched the pedestal, the bailiff's voice once again reverberated through the hall.

"Guilty of leaving Theran, and abandoning her duties as the Princess of Hel, fully knowing that she is the only remaining heir of His Glorious Highness, King Arthus. Despite the King's orders, Aerith'Hel left, leaving a bad example for our new generatio—"

"She left to find and hunt Caitain'Ur!" And before the bailiff could finish his introductions, one of the people from the audience raised his voice, "She did it for—"

But alas, his mouth, however, was quickly covered by the people around him.

"Be reminded that you will be thrown out of the throne hall if you talk unnecessarily," the bailiff glared at the heckler, before clearing his throat and proceeding with the introductions,

"At the year 5,455 of the Rule of King Arthus, Aerith sent 10 guards loyal to the kingdom to their eternal deaths. 10 citizens of Hel, of the kingdom, that were only ordered to prevent her from leaving our beloved home, Theran…

…Even now, their family mourns their loss."

And with those words, the throne hall that was filled with whispers and murmurs slowly faded away; their heads, all looking down.

Riley watched as Aerith's eyebrows also started to furrow; her breaths that were becoming heavier by the second, obvious for him to see even from the distance.

They called it a trial, but no one was even defending Aerith. She just stood in front of the throne…she just stood in front of the kingdom for everyone to see her shame. This isn't a trial—it's a show.

"This is treason to the highest of degrees; treason that our Kingdom has never seen before. And in accordance to the law…" The bailiff broke the silence as his loud words almost pierced through everyone's ears, "...Aerith'Hel is to be sentenced to Eternal Death!"

"..." Riley's hands started to roll into fists as he heard the bailif's words.

"We are now once again gathered here to today to witness the fair trial of Aerith'Hel!" The bailiff continued, "Initially, today was going to be the day our honorable jury would decide Aerith'Hel's fate. But the defendant has presented another witness for us today!"

The audience's whispers once again traveled in the air. As for Aerith, the only thing she could really do upon hearing the bailiff's words was to sigh and shake her head.

A new witness that she wasn't aware of—there could only be one.

"May we call the witness, Riley Ross, to stand and kneel before the throne!"

And without any hesitation, Riley stood up from his seat; everyone's eyes, all looking at him and wondering who he could be. Some of the women, even let out loud gasps as they whisper to each other.

"Is it an evaniel? I thought they were not allowed here?"

"I can sense a little bit of energy in him; a half-breed?"

"He's… so handsome. I wonder if he's—"

"Quiet down!"

"..." Riley did not really care about all the stares and whispers. Instead, he just calmly stood in front of the throne, staring at it and looking at the melted and melded crowns it was made from,

"Where is King Arthus?" Riley then said.

And as the people saw him fail to kneel, an orchestra of gasps and whispers once again danced in the air.

"You are not allowed to speak until the jury asks you a question!" The bailiff quickly raised his voice.

"..." Riley turned to look at the 10 people sitting near the throne; all of them, looking at him from head to toe—and some even seemingly looking at his soul. Riley then turned to look at the one that seemed to be the oldest—a middle-aged man; the sides of his hair already showed signs of greying.

He carried with him an air of authority and confidence that stood above the 9 others he was with. If Riley was right, then this should be Lucien, Princess Tifa's oldest son.

"..." Lucien's thick eyebrows quickly furrowed as he noticed Riley staring at him. Riley didn't flinch or look away, however.

"The jury is allowed to ask the witness any question they deem important to the case," the bailiff announced, "The witness must answer truthfully, and will answer truthfully as we have a device that could detect his lies."

The bailiff then raised an orb, "If this lights up in red, then the witness is lying, and would therefore lose his credibility as a witness, and will be kicked out of the throne hall."

"..."

"If everyone understands, then we will proceed with the trial," the bailiff then sat down, before looking at the jury, "Jury, you may begin asking the witness a question."

Riley finally looked away from Lucien, before glancing at Aerith and raising his thumbs up.

Once again, Aerith felt like a mother being embarrassed by her son—or like an old best friend being deliberately teased. Finally, Riley didn't make the situation permanent for her, as he faced the throne again.

And now, looking at his back, Aerith could really only close her eyes. Paige also stood as a witness for her in the previous trial; even using her abilities of projection to show exactly what Aerith did for Earth.

But it didn't matter. Everything that was happening to her is only for show—everyone knew that.

In truth, she didn't even know why she came back to this planet in the first place. Perhaps a part of her still hoped that her family would still welcome her back, but no. Even bringing Caitlain'Ur, the criminal she promised to bring to justice, was completely ignored by her father.

Although, a large part of her knew this would happen—that she would be prosecuted. Maybe…

…Maybe she just underestimated how tired she really was?

Traveling across the Universe, traversing the Unknown, finding Earth, staying there for Caitlain'Ur, staying there for the people, fighting, falling in love with a beautiful human, fighting, giving birth to a son, fighting, falling out of love, fighting… fighting, fighting to the death, resting, waking up again.

Her time on Earth was short, but she found that the most tired she had been was there. It was fun, she lived her life fully unlike what would happen if she just stayed here.

She is content. She did her part in protecting the people of Earth from evil.

But little did she think that the one to defend her in her final moments would be the very evil she tried protecting the people from. The reason for so much of their suffering.

"..." Aerith could really only smile. Fate… fate was playing with her.

"What is your relationship to the criminal?"

And finally, after much silence, one of the jurors raised her hand and asked the first question; Riley, however, did not even look at her.

"She is my lover."

"!!!"

"Riley, you can't lie here."

Aerith could not help but cover her face and sigh. The others, however, quickly turned to look at the orb the bailiff was holding.

"Lying?" Riley once again glanced at Aerith as a hint of a smile crawled on his face,

"I'm not capable of that, Aerith."