[center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/391715867517386752/407269409309327361/faith_and_aleecia.png[/img]

~ [i]Trial in Absentia[/i] ~[/center]

Aleecia quickly stepped up from her chair as it started to lower, doing her best to ignore the newcomer's words. The blind girl back pedalled away from the mechanic sounds, only to hear the starting words of a debate between Max and the new boy Thomas. Aleecia reached around until she found her cane and moved forward. The cane came in contact with a counter, and Aleecia moved so that she was pushed up against it.

Other Infinites started arguing against each other in pairs too. Was this some kind of debating table? If so, who was she against?

[colour=MediumSeaGreen]"Haha! Destiny has surely smiled in my favour~!"[/colour] was all Aleecia heard as her opponent stepped up to the podium. Even without seeing her face or outfit the voice was clear and true, cutting through the shouting of the other Infinites like a knife. Faith removed her book, placed it onto the counter, removed a green felt tip from its lid, and pointed it at her adversary, [colour=MediumSeaGreen]"My duty here is to convince you against your course, Allie~!"[/colour] she exclaimed, oblivious to the obviousness of her statement, [colour=MediumSeaGreen]"And I dont intend to lose~"[/colour]

Aleecia shook her head. She may have only just met this woman, but there was no way Faith was going to swear here, [color=lightblue]"Neither do I- L-Lose I mean."[/color] She took a long breath before bettering her resolve, crossing her arms. [color=lightblue]"While I don't doubt you may have had problems with the robots in the game you may have been in before hand, Nariko is different. I've spent time with her and she wouldn't normally kill anyone... At least right away. If I can talk her down, she'll let Krista go, because otherwise she'll anger Monokuma."[/color] The girl's face showed a small, if not forced, smile.

Faith let out a small giggle, and quickly skipped backwards a few pages into her book. 
[colour=MediumSeaGreen]"You got to know a Carnage Sister? Impressive~"[/colour] she hummed, before placing a finger on a single paragraph, [colour=MediumSeaGreen]"Our game's girls were just a pain; I tried to set one up with one of the patients at their behest, lemme tell you, [i]that[/i] was a mistake~"[/colour] she chirruped, and skimmed the page with her hand, [colour=MediumSeaGreen]"She tried to murder him on the Night of Carnage right after their first date~! Just cause you [i]think[/i] you know how they'll act, they're all unstable. If she'll go so far as to kidnap a patient, what makes you think she wont just snap and kill her in a moments notice~?"[/colour]

[color=lightblue]"B-Because she has insecurities that prevent her from doing so! She knows the rules, and she knows how she's supposed to act and it immediately hurts her if she does something wrong. She's not going to instantly kill someone and if she starts to hurt Krista, she'll know what she's doing is wrong. It's [i]in her programming.[/i]"[/color] The poor girl shuddered, [color=lightblue]"As much as I hate to say it, Nariko can't change the way she was programmed. It's not the night of carnage yet and I believe Krista will be fine until I get there. I can find out why Nariko holds her in any esteem and try to shatter whatever strong feelings Nariko feels for her. That way she'll only focus on me."[/color]

She clenched her hands into fists, [color=lightblue]"I care for her and she cares for me, that has to count for something!"[/color]

Faith didn't speak for a couple moments, running through the argument in her head, drumming her fingers lightly atop the counter she found herself stood behind. She didn't know the robot personally, hadn't seen her interact with the others, and the situations that had occurred with the Killing Game thus far. All she really had was evidence from her other game, and what she had learned from the other members.

[colour=MediumSeaGreen]"Isn't that the problem, though? She cares for you, after all~!"[/colour] she chirruped, flicking a page forward and jotting down a quick note, [colour=MediumSeaGreen]"From what I've been able to ascertain, each of the sisters has their own unique, and complex, personality - how Davis did it I'll never know~! - but if Nariko is doing this, if she's kidnapping people, it must be something in her programming that causing it; some error in the sequence that Warlock used. She has all these insecurities and issues, and because she cares for you they're piling up into a conglomerate, leading to our little... predicament~!"[/colour] she stopped, placed her pen down, and looked straight at her foe, [colour=MediumSeaGreen]"So if all of that is true, what's to say you going anywhere near her wont set off a bigger chain reaction than we're equipped to deal with~?"[/colour]

[color=lightblue]"I know something is wrong with her programming or else she wouldn't do this. Doing anything to go against her father will make her feel empty and depressed..."[/color] The younger girl bit her lip. [color=lightblue]"S-She's not exactly kidnapping people! I mean, Krista came to the Morgue on her own, maybe something happened there messed with her despair programming... And um-" [/color]

Aleecia's train of thought was cut off for a moment, [color=lightblue]"Warlock?"[/color]

Faith tilted her head, looking oddly at Allie for a moment, before letting out a light giggle.
[colour=MediumSeaGreen]"I'm the only one who noticed~?"[/colour] she smiled to herself, and drummed the counter with her fingers, before crossing her arms to recount the facts, [colour=MediumSeaGreen]"Weeeell, ya see, Davis is... powerful. I'm a Demigod, so I have an extreme affinity to mana, but some of the things that man can do? Even if he were alive in the times of Pure Magic, he'd be revered as a prodigy. The Carnage Sister's are souls artificially implanted into mechanical bodies, and he's managed to set up an Anti-magic field around the entire area strong enough to affect even [i]me![/i]"[/colour] she let out another giggle, and closed her Tome entirely, [colour=MediumSeaGreen]"Don't worry, though, he may be powerful, but I haven't seen any evidence of any [i]grand master scheme[/i] or something~! The Council will be here before you know it, and we'll be free in a heartbeat~!"[/colour] she concluded, puffing out her chest in pride.

[colour=MediumSeaGreen]"But that's off topic! Nariko totally did kidnap her! If Krista can't leave the Morgue of her own choice, then she's been kidnapped! The fact that she knows and understands the rules makes everything worse, 'cause she can tiptoe around them so she doesn't upset Monokuma!"[/colour] she took a second, and softened her tone. [colour=MediumSeaGreen]"I know how it feels to not want to watch a loved one suffer... but Nariko is unstable and dangerous... her personality traits make her too volatile to reason with - if we could, we would - but I've already seen six corpses in Davis's game. Her threats are real. So we gotta take her out before she kills anymore of our friends, kay~?"[/colour]

Councils and magic and souls, all this was so confusing in Aleecia's head. Sure, the girl made up fantasy worlds as a kid. But she had never gotten fake wands or toys and she had been completely dismissed when asking to have a fairy party. The girl had completely given up on her imagination when life got hard and she wasn't willing to risk it. Almost as if... the sounds of cheering and horses hooves had trampled out all of her imagination to be left in the stadiums she had been paraded around in. 

Aleecia shook her head, skipping over her past thoughts to get back to the debate itself. [color=lightblue]"S-She can't kill Krista, and you can't kill her! I won't let you hurt her! She needs love and companionship to fix her, not to be gutted or smashed to pieces!"[/color] Aleecia opened her eyes and squinted, doing her best to push through the pain of her stinging retinas. [color=lightblue]"If you say Nariko's soul has just been artificially placed in a robot's body, you're also saying you don't care what happens to that soul! You're all going to murder the defendant without trial, without a hearing. [i]I need to hear what she has to say.[/i]"[/color] Tears sprang from the blind girl's eyes. [color=lightblue]"Or else, how could I face her in the afterlife?"[/color] Her arms fell to her sides.

[color=lightblue]"Without medical attention, I'm just going to get worse. There's no way I'll be able to meet her so soon after such a heartbreaking betrayal."[/color]

Faith couldn't help but find herself moved by the words. She had her morals, her beliefs, her ways of doing things and the things she disdained. All her life, with the guidance of the Initiative and her Mother, she had built up herself from nothing, established hersefl and her beliefs over countless years. But she could not call herself the Daughter of Ylemetris if she did not find empathy for her foe, desparate to save her friend; the love between compatriots, if not something more.

[colour=MediumSeaGreen]"I-I understand, Allie, I do... Nariko has suffered, in her actions I can see it; she doesn't deserve to be put to death. Not really."[/colour] she trailed off, something clouding her vision ever so slightly, but wiped away quickly, [colour=MediumSeaGreen]"This is her Trial in Absentia... we have Cyrus the Witness, Nariko the Defendant, Monokuma the Judge, and us the Jury. By all accounts she is guilty of crimes, that in this place would be enough for execution."[/colour]

She placed her hands to her side, oddly saddened by the turn of the argument. She didn't want to do this, not anymore. She wished there was another way, some way to sort things out that didn't involve violence or a divide among prayers. But it was too late for that.
[colour=MediumSeaGreen]"Depression and the like are cruel mistresses... and for those that suffer at their hands, full support should be given..."[/colour] but as quickly as she turned, she placed her hands back upon the counter, staring her foe in the face, [colour=MediumSeaGreen]"But that is no defence for actions that bring harm, or threat of harm to others. Nariko has done both. You have Mercy, the doctor... but Nariko has shown the depths of her instability... I-I'm sorry..."[/colour] she trailed off, a single tear rolling down her cheek, [colour=MediumSeaGreen]"...I-I will request my mother help her soul reach the afterlife at the moment of her passing..."[/colour]

[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCt4aLirnrk]Her heart[/url] skipped a beat, before stopping all together. Faith had vocalized the trial of Nariko's execution, one of Aleecia's closest friends here. Aleecia couldn't see Faith's face, and for once, the blind girl was greatful. At the very least, she couldn't see the resolve Faith had come to. Faith's last words couldn't be processed with Aleecia's brain, all she heard was the sorrow in her opponents voice. 

Aleecia's legs couldn't hold her weight anymore and she slipped down to her knees, her hands still holding onto the counter as if for dear life. Her tears drenched the front of her sweatshirt and her soul cried along with them. Even the idea of the loss of a closest friend was a much deeper pain then anyone else's death had been. Aleecia knew she was a horrible person in doing this, believing and relying on the enemy, but she couldn't take that. Nariko had helped her, but not treated her as a burden, someone that was only useful for her talent. The robot hadn't had to deal with her parents or the press like her brother. She didn't have to deal with the responsibility of keeping so many people alive like Ice. But... she had to deal with problems of an even higher level. And now the blind girl was leading her to the slaughter. So much for not being a burden.

She had done this. If only she hadn't been so broken and needed help. If only someone Nariko had relied on someone more capable like Ice or Ellie. Nariko wouldn't have felt the need to do such dire actions, nothing would have messed up her programming so bad. [i]What was better?![/i] To have lived as a killer robot normally and died without having felt the feelings of joy and companionship, or to have felt all of this, only to die before being released from her shackles?

Aleecia's sobs grew louder as her brain came to the realisation of her own faults. She curled up in a ball and screamed out for her own helplessness. Was this what Ice had felt? His need to not get attached to anyone because he felt this pain?

Watching her opponent break down in front of her tore at Faith. Though she was her foe, though her goal here was to convince her to side with them, that their cause was just and right, her heart stung with guilt. This wasn't the kind of outcome she had wanted. She didn't want to destroy the girl, leave her crying in a broken mess on the floor of the Diner, crying out for the life she wanted to save but couldn't. How she wished for some kind of time altering spell, to go back and fix what she had said, to convince Allie in a way that wouldn't result in their current predicament.

Faith slammed her hand onto the counter and forced herself over it in one action, landing behind the girl with an odd amount of dexterity. She couldn't change things, but at the very least she could help with the pain. She knelt down, over the crying girl, and took her into her arms, hugging her close, hoisting her up off the floor so her clothes wouldn't be dirtied.
[colour=MediumSeaGreen]"...I'm sorry, Allie..."[/colour] she whispered, [colour=MediumSeaGreen]"...[i]I am the stone. The castle. The blanketed void. Protection. Penitence. The Protector. The Guardian. This contract of blood, the seal my soul. My Ward no harm shall befall you. Aureus Castellum.[/i]"[/colour]