fifth trial

[stagemanagers]

[When the investigation finishes, the lights begin to flicker on and off as that low, gentle rumble echoes through the opera house.

Your intermission is ending. Please return to your trial room.

The court room looks just as it always has for you: the grand chandelier glittering above your heads, the dusty red velvet seats. In the orchestra pit your circle of wooden podiums are waiting. Jeremy and Steven's podiums are draped in black crepe with their grey scale funerary portraits, just like your friends before them. The ghost light glows softly behind the podiums.

The curtain is closed, waiting to open when a decision has been reached and the execution can commence.

When everyone is in their places, the Phantom's voice echoes loud and clear through the theatre from his place in box 5. His tone is even, with none of the distraction or terse notes in the weeks before. He almost sounds curious for how this all will play out.]

You must now determine who was responsible for the death of Steven Universe. Submit your vote on the podiums when you are certain of your choice.

[Gather your evidence and let's begin.]

Comments

after all the... checks...

[musacal]

Okay so... maybe instead we need to think about who would have the knowledge to do this?

Like who would know what the chemicals in the infirmary are and what one to use, and also who would know Steven had a gem that needed to be shattered to kill him?

I figured it out when I saw the gem, but I didn't know beforehand that he had one. And I didn't really go into the infirmary at all.

[37773972]

Mephisto and I were in there earlier in the week. [WHICH...YOU ALL SAW]

[musacal]

[ WE SURE THE HECKIE DID ]

[heathencall]

As much... as I am loathe to admit this. [Deep breaths]

You have the most working knowledge of modern chemicals and such.

[37773972]

No, I...I understand. [Softer] And I admitted I was tempted by the motive.

I just...don't know how to prove I wasn't there.

[heathencall]

It's simply something to keep in mind. The connection is tenuous at best.

[37773972]

[He nods] We have to keep our minds open. To...any possibility.

[But boy, he's sure not looking at Mephisto]

[likemypicture]

I knew that he was... like Spinel. But not... [She pats her stomach, and frowns.]

The infirmary goes way over my head.

[heathencall]

Most of the medical equipment is beyond me. And I only became aware of Steven's status as a gem after you told me this morning.

[Though now that he's thinking about it.]

Did Steven ever talk about what it would take to remove a gem?

[madgiganticfeelings]

He never really explained that to me. I know that he has his mom's gem now, but not how it, um, got transferred.

[musacal]

The most I ever heard was what he told us when Spinel-san was shattered...

[madgiganticfeelings]

He told me last week about the gems, after the trial. Not a lot, but... I understood where his was.

I never really looked around in the infirmary though.

[She hesitates, but...] Do you think it's possible that this really was completely a suicide, but someone just tampered with the evidence? Even if the patron didn't kill Steven, that doesn't mean he couldn't have... tried to frame one of us.

[37773972]

I think...that makes a scary amount of sense.

[heathencall]

I think you may be onto something. It seems as if Steven was the only one with the exact depth of knowledge about gems. Considering the blood I found, and the lack of wounds anywhere else.

If nothing else, I think Steven was aware of what was happening.

As for tampering... [A breath.] I worry that there was yet another among us who was tapped by the Phantom to interfere. Unless the Patron did directly.

[37773972]

If the Wizard did it...does that mean all our evidence is suspect?

[heathencall]

It might. But I don't suspect that's the case. The Phantom said we were barking up the wrong tree. I want to be sure we narrow down everything else before we return to that line of thinking.

[likemypicture]

With the trash can and the bottle being obvious-- what if We were getting help from the other side?

[madgiganticfeelings]

Even I didn't know enough. Even if I could have guessed it was possible to remove it, I feel like I don't know I'd take it out without damaging something. The other thing, though, is that once a gem is shattered, like Spinel's, that's supposed to be death, so...

... [Actually, now she's had a horrific thought, thinking this through in her head.]

Wait. Wait, I think... Do you think it's possible Steven might have tried to do what King Richard did, and remove his gem after someone else poisoned him to make it a suicide?

[heathencall]

Oh.

[He makes a face]

That could be possible.

[madgiganticfeelings]

I-It makes sense. He wouldn't have wanted someone to have to suffer through being executed, even if they hurt him. He... he wanted us all to be safe...

[musacal]

...Now that--

That I can see Steven doing.

[musacal]

But why would Steven do that though...? Unless he and someone else conspired to rewind time together but he seemed pretty against all that.

[madgiganticfeelings]

...Steven had a lot of issues with his worth, though. He might have been convinced this was to save us somehow.

[Christine had thought about attempting her own self-sacrifice a few times before, after all. This place wasn't great for those with too much care for others. She swallows hard around the lump in her throat.]

[heathencall]

How many of these trials have been directly related to the motive?

He could have gotten... tired. Could have remembered something he couldn't bear to come to grips with.

[musacal]

...That doesn't sound like Steven at all to me though.

[ like she understands you can't tell if someone's struggling internally or not all the time because lol that's her fam, but this doesn't sound right to her. ]