The trial room was designed to intimidate.
Stone walls rose three stories high with seats forming a semicircle around a central floor. The place where the accused would stand while exposed to judgnt from all sides.
Every seat was filled with professors.
Yor stood in the center with her hands clasped in front. Reinhard stood to her right while Sirin was on her left, and Alice and Louis flanked them slightly behind.
At the highest seat sat an old man with a long white beard and sharp eyes that seed to miss nothing. Reinhard glanced at the headmaster, Issac. It has been two weeks since he last saw him.
Isaac’s gaze swept across them while lingering on Reinhard for just a mont longer than the others before moving on. And then, to his slight surprise, he saw the headmaster smile as his amber eyes sparkled in delight.
That looked... Did he sense sothing? Notice I have a Sigil? Or is it because I’m standing with Yor? Reinhard recognized the look of soone who had figured out a secret.
But there was no ti to dwell on it as Isaac’s voice rang out clear and authoritative. "We are here to determine the future of Yor Noctyne following the incident at the Entertainnt Departnt that resulted in dozens of students being hospitalized."
He looked directly at Yor while his expression was neutral. "Miss Noctyne, please provide your account of what led to the incident."
Yor took a breath while her voice was steady despite the trembling in her hands. "I was confronted by three students in the mall. They were the siblings of the third-year students who left the academy last month. The ones who... who touched and lost their emotions."
Murmurs rippled through the professors while several leaned forward with interest.
"They wanted answers about what happened to their family mbers," Yor continued while her voice grew quieter. "And I couldn’t give them what they wanted. They beca angry before they started insulting and trying to get to fight them... When that didn’t work, they started insulting those around . And I..."
She paused before gritting her teeth.
"I lost control." She finished simply.
"Thank you for your honesty." The Headmaster nodded while his expression was thoughtful. "Proceed with your argunts."
A professor in red robes stood, his face set in hard lines. "The account confirms what we already knew. Yor Noctyne is unstable and poses an ongoing threat to student safety."
Several other professors nodded while murmuring agreent.
"I propose the following conditions for her continued enrollnt," the red-robed professor continued while counting on his fingers. "First, she must be placed in a classroom by herself with no other students present. Second, she must not be allowed to wander campus freely and must follow a strict supervised schedule. Third, she must be constantly monitored by at least one faculty mber at all tis."
"Those are prison conditions!" Alice shouted while stepping forward.
"Miss Stone, control yourself," Isaac said while his tone was sharp. "Outbursts will not be tolerated."
Alice’s jaw clenched before stepping back as her hands remained fists at her sides.
Victoria stood from her seat with a faint smile. "I would like to address the flaws in the proposed conditions."
The red-robed professor gestured. "Please do."
"First," Victoria said, her voice echoing easily through the room. "Isolating Miss Noctyne in separate classes does nothing to help her develop control. It only ensures she remains out of control and a danger to others. In fact, it will hurt her ability to interact and communicate, making the risk even higher."
She held up a second finger. "Second, restricting her movent creates stress that could trigger the very episodes you claim to want to prevent. Treating her like a prisoner will not make anyone safer."
A third finger. "Third, constant monitoring is not only impractical given our limited faculty resources. But also degrading, since just like Miss Stone ntioned." She gestured to Alice. "We would be treating her like a prisoner, which would likely cause resentnt... that again increases instability."
The professors who had been nodding earlier now looked uncertain while exchanging glances.
"Your points are well-made." The red-robed professor said in a grudging tone. "But they don’t address the core issue. There is no way to fix her condition. Therefore, isolation is the only option that protects other students."
The red-uniform professor glanced to the side and furrowed his brows at the five professors sitting together who had remained silent throughout the proceedings. They looked down while their expressions conflicted, and Reinhard realized sothing strange.
They should be on his side, but they haven’t been standing up for him or helping... Could it be their hesitation in punishing Yor? Reinhard inwardly shakes his head. No, it can’t be that simple, Sirin ntioned they were actively pushing for Yor expulsion... But the way they’re acting now... It’s like sothing had made them not so confident... Like they gain so new information, but what could it-
Reinhard’s eyes narrowed. Did they sohow find out that Yor can control her power?
Sirin moved quickly while whispering sothing in Victoria’s ear. Victoria trembled before a smile appeared on her face.
"Ladies and gentlen," Victoria announced while her voice rang with confidence, "I am pleased to inform you that Yor Noctyne can now fully control her void power."
Everything paused; the expression of everyone had shifted. But Reinhard ignores that and focuses only on the five professors. They didn’t have expressions of shock, disbelief, anger, or suspicion like the red-uniford professor.
It was acceptance.
They knew! Reinhard thought just as the room exploded into noise. The professors were standing and shouting, and questions were flying from all directions.
"That’s impossible!"
"You’re bluffing!"
"How could she suddenly gain control?"
"Prove it!"
The Headmaster raised one hand, and silence fell imdiately. "Miss Victoria, this is quite a claim. Do you have evidence?"
Victoria nodded while gesturing to Yor. "A demonstration."
Yor walked forward while every eye in the room tracked her movents, and she stopped in the exact center of the floor. Her hands were steady while she raised her right palm and concentrated.
The void orb materialized.
Black-grey energy swirled while giving off that familiar oppressive aura, and gasps echoed through the room. But Yor’s expression remained calm while focused, and the orb began to change.
It grew from marble-size to basketball-size. Then it shrank to the size of a pebble. It split into two orbs while both spun in opposite directions. They rged back together. The orb moved from her palm to circle around her arm like a bracelet while trailing black-grey light.
She made it move between her fingers, and never once did it flicker or explode or show any sign of being out of control.
The room was completely silent. Everyone stared in disbelief.
The five professors who had known sighed while one muttered. Reinhard quickly read his lips with the words being - "It really is true."
Victoria chuckled. "There you have your proof. Miss Noctyne has achieved complete control over-"
"Wait!" The red-uniform professor stood while his face flushed. "All that shows is that she can shape the void! That doesn’t an she won’t cause another incident like what happened in the mall!"
Other professors who opposed Yor nodded vigorously while seizing on this argunt.
"Shaping power and maintaining control under emotional stress are completely different things!"
"She could still lose control if provoked!"
"This demonstration proves nothing about real-world safety!"
The montum they’d built began crumbling. And they knew they had to do sothing if they wanted to stop it.
"She is still fundantally unstable and a threat to student safety." The red-robed professor pressed while sensing victory. "This changes nothing about the core danger she represents–"
"That won’t happen again."
Yor’s voice cut through the argunts while clear and firm, and everyone turned to look at her. The void orb was still in her hand, and her silver eyes blazed with determination.
One professor blinked. "What?"
Yor’s glare swept across the professors who had been arguing against her. "I said that won’t happen again. I won’t lose control. I won’t hurt anyone else. I can control my power now, no matter what emotions I’m feeling."
Her voice grew stronger. "You can test however you want."
Reinhard chuckled with a clap of his hand; the sound drew everyone’s attention. So of their expressions show recognition and confusion when they see him. After all, they all recall the students they banned and denied from entering their class.
He walked over to stand beside Yor, and his hand rested on her shoulder.
"I can prove she won’t break," Reinhard said while his voice carried easily through the suddenly quiet room.
Issac leaned forward, his amber eyes fixing on Reinhard with interest. "And how do you propose to prove such a thing, Mister Malvin?"
Reinhard grinned. "Simple. I’ll push her to her emotional limit right here and now. If she maintains control through that, then there can be no doubt."
Murmurs rippled through the professors while so looked intrigued and others skeptical.
"What exactly do you an by pushing her to her limit?" The red-uniform professor demanded while suspicion was clear in his voice.
"I an making her feel the strongest emotions possible," Reinhard explained while his eyes never left the headmaster. "If her control holds through that, then normal daily life poses zero risk."
Victoria raised an eyebrow while clearly not having expected this approach, but a small smile played at her lips as she approved of the boldness.
"And then you all must shut up about her being a danger." Reinhard gave them a beaming smile. "Okay?"
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