A/N: Part 2 of the trial. Chapter trigger warning: homouality and homophobia.

Sehun was flooded with relief. The Orb was given to his ancestors centuries ago as an object to promote peace and justice. When a person told a lie, the Orb would glow and thus it was implemented as a tool in the Mermaid Justice System. Sehun remembered telling Luhan about it when the other asked about sea witches.

“Yes, we shall use it. Deformed One, fetch the Sea Witch’s Orb.” Joonmyeon quickly left and came back two minutes later, carrying a square box. He held the box out to the King who reached inside and pulled out the Orb. “Sea Witch’s Orb, proclaim to us the truth, reveal to us the lies, and help us deliver justice.” The incantation made the Orb glow a faint white color for a second. He placed it inside the box and indicated to give it to Sehun. Joonmyeon swam over and held it out to Sehun to take. It was awkward with his bound hands but he managed to balance it in both his hands and rest it on his lap. Joonmyeon returned to his notes.

The King spoke again. “State a truth to establish the truth.” Luhan called it calibration.

“My name is Sehun.” The Orb remained clear as if he was holding a transparent ball.

“Tell a lie to establish the lies.”

“Um…I have an orange tail?” The lie seemed to work and immediately the Orb produced a soft white glow from within. It faded after a second.

“Let the questioning begin. Crown Prince Sehun, from here on, answer with only yes or no.” Sehun nodded. After the first two questions the Orb could only differentiate truth from lies for yes or no questions. Luhan said polygraph. Except this is less invasive. I think. I’ll have to ask again. “My first question; did you meet with Minseok today?”

“Yes.”

“Did you meet him outside of my chambers?”

“Yes.” So far so good.

“Did you kiss him.”

“No.” The Orb glowed. Sehun’s heartbeat thudded against his chest. “That’s not true! He kissed me!”

“Do not give us your superfluous comments! My next question; did Minseok slap you?”

“Yes, but-”

“ENOUGH. Deformed One, make note that I am clearing Minseok of all charges. Senators, is there any disproval from this?” The room was silent. Sehun’s breath quickened and he gripped the Orb tighter. “I shall now continue to question this criminal to identify the severity of his crime.” Sehun’s throat tightened. I’m not a criminal. “Have you always preferred men?”

“No.” The Orb glowed and Sehun’s eyes widened. He’d been around men his whole life but he’d only considered loving one until two years ago. This can’t be happening. His throat tightened, the evidence against him was piling up.

“Are you or have you ever been in love?”

“Yes.” The Orb was transparent.

“Are you or have you ever been in love with another man.”

Sehun swallowed and he felt his eyes water. He was damned either way. “…Yes.” Please glow, please for once tell a lie! The orb remained transparent. There were gasps, shouts of incredulity and roars of disapproval. Sehun felt tears stream down his cheeks.

The King struck his triton again and silence reigned. “Have you ever touched another man?”

“NO!” He’d never been that close with anyone. To his horror the Orb glowed again. “Father it lies! I’ve never-”

“YOU HAVE ADMITTED TO LOVING ANOTHER MAN AND TOUCHING ONE, THE EVIDENCE IS CLEAR ENOUGH!”

“But father this was a set up! Jongdae-”

“You DARE blame this on your own COUSIN?! HE HAS BEEN CONFINED FOR HIS ACTIONS, HOW DARE YOU TRY AND PLACE YOUR CRIME ELSEWHERE!” The senators began shouting again. From his peripheral he could see the other senators, some he’d been close to and know his whole life giving him looks of shock, horror, and worst, disbelief and disgust. He chanced a look at Joonmyeon. His friend was the only one giving him a look of pity and he looked close to tears.

“Collect the Orb Deformed One, we are done with it.” Joonmyeon quickly swam forward and put the Orb in the box. He returned to his notes and the King addressed the senators again.

“Senators I think the evidence is clear.” There was a roar of approval. “Whoever believes Crown Prince Sehun is guilty of homoual behavior, raise your hand now.” Hands went up and many nodded their approval. “And if anyone believes he is innocent, raise your hand.” Not a single hand was raised. “Crown Prince Sehun, you have been found unanimously guilty of homoual behavior.” More tears made their way down his cheeks and his shoulders shook. His heart and lungs felt like they were being squeezed and he felt like he couldn’t get enough oxygen.

“I shall spare you from execution because you are the Crown Prince…therefore I banish you from this kingdom!”

“But Sire,” the senator from earlier jumped up. “Sire he is our Crown Price-!”

“I AM NOT DONE SPEAKING! I banish the Crown Prince for a period of six months. Perhaps when he is on his own he’ll reflect upon his actions and make more practical decisions that is appropriate for this Crown and kingdom.” There were murmurings and nods of approval from all around the throne room.

The same senator bowed. “That is most wise. But Sire, where can we banish him? He is a public figure, all of the kingdoms of the Seven Seas knows his face.” There were murmurs of agreement among the senators and for once the king was at a loss for words. He brings up a good point…when I was named Crown Prince, my likeness was sent out to all the kingdoms…

“We will be sending him to a place where no one knows his face or title.” …Where? Sehun’s heart began thumping quickly again. He wouldn’t send me into a trench would he? Or by the tectonic faults? What if he sends me to Cape Horn? There’s sharks at Cape Horn!!!! “Crown Prince Sehun! You are henceforth banished to the surface for a six month probation period!” He felt cold and clammy and he began panicking. He knew what the surface was like, Luhan had told him. He knew that life could be hard up there and for once he felt like he didn’t know enough about the surface.

The senators seemed to think so as well because another one stood up. He was new, so Sehun didn’t recognize him. “Sire, the Prince will surely die on the surface! He will be alone and quite useless!” From his tone, he was not saying this out of pity, but rather said it greasy and with malice. Sehun actually got angry at this senator. . Let’s see you try to fend for yourself, you’re probably more useless than I am!

The king nodded however and considered the man’s words. “I see. I shall send a chaperone with him. He shall observe the Crown Prince’s actions and report to me when the probation period is over.”

“Excellent Sire, whom shall you send? Which servant is trusted enough to be silent about his crimes?”

The king his chin for a second. “…Deformed One,” he barked.

Joonmyeon shot up from the steps and bowed his head. “Yes Sire?”

“You shall go with the Crown Prince. My decision is final.” Sehun looked on in horror as the senators jeered at Joonmyeon and laughed as they sounded their approval. Oh no. Joonmyeon was probably the only person he still cared about in this kingdom. He can’t do this to Joonmyeon! He doesn’t deserve this, this is my crime!

“Father I must protest! You will be losing a very useful man, he-”

“He can hardly be called that,” the king scoffed. Joonmyeon bit his lip as the senators laughed at that joke.

Sehun took a deep breath and forced his voice to be calm. “How can you speak so lowly of a man who has done nothing but serve the Royal Family for the past 16 years?!” He was now yelling. “HE HAS DONE NOTHING BUT HIS DUTY TO YOU FOR ALL HIS LIFE AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY HIM?!”

“THE DEFORMED ONE-”

“DO NOT CALL HIM THAT! His body may not be to your ideals but his mind and dedication have more than-”

“ENOUGH! This is YOUR crime you committed, so here’s your punishment! The Deformed One will accompany-”

“He is not at fault! He should not have to pay for my sin-”

“THAN YOU SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE YOU COMMITED SUCH AN ATROCITY!” Angry tears filled his eyes and he shot one last glare at the king before shifting his gaze over to Joonmyeon. He was clenching and unclenching his hands, his trademark move for when he was scared. I’m so sorry Joonmyeon.

The king swam upright from his throne and called out, “Guards!” Two guards came in while two more shut the door from the outside. They swam to the pedestal and bowed. “Take the Deformed One and release the Crown Prince from his bonds. One roughly grabbed Joonmyeon and dragged him to Sehun’s side as the other untied his hands and fins. They stood off to the side and waited for their instructions.

Sehun glanced over to Joonmyeon who was looking back at him. He was shaking. “I’m so SO sorry Hyung.” The other boy shook his head but they heard the trident smack against the pedestal and their heads snapped forward again.

The king held the trident with both hands. It began glowing and turning gold. He slowly pointed it towards the two of them and Sehun felt his heart drop. I was praying I’d never have to be in front of it ever again. “I, King Soo-man of the Korean Peninsula banish you both to the surface for a period of six months. At the end of that time you must return to the sea, or risk turning into foam.” As soon as he was done speaking, two bolts shot out from the trident hitting the boys straight in the chest. It felt like a painful sting, starting from the heart and slowly radiating up to the brain before traveling down into the arms and then down to their fins, causing an intense burning feeling. Joonmyeon cried out from the pain and Sehun rushed over to try to support him. The king lowered the trident and spoke again. “ these two to the surface. They only have ten minutes before their gills become useless. And give them a gift before you send them off.” Each guard grabbed an arm and sandwiched Sehun next to Joonmyeon. Through the pain, Sehun took one last glance at his father. The king smirked and narrowed his eyes. “We shall reconvene in this room in six months. Hopefully by then you shall be cured.”

*          *          *

Sehun gave the guards a lot of credit for swimming as fast as they did while supporting two full grown men who could barely hold themselves upright. The pain was no longer burning, but there was a throb in his lungs and fins and his breath felt shallow. Sehun glanced to his right to check on the condition of his friend. Joonmyeon was no better, except he was nodding in and out of consciousness. “I-it’s getting harder for him to breathe…h-how much longer?”

“Nearly there,” one of the guards said. Just as his fin became numb and the burn in his lungs became too much, they broke the surface. Sehun took a couple deep breaths and checked to see if Joonmyeon was breathing properly. Once he was sure the other was fine he looked around and felt a surge of relief. By some unimaginable good luck, the guards had brought them to the nearest landmass, meaning they were now at the beach next to where Sehun met Luhan.

Luhan! Oh my gods, why didn’t I think of him?! He can help! He can give us advice and-what’s wrong with my fins? The numbness was going away and he just became aware of the two appendages that now took place of his fin. Oh my gods I have legs. He didn’t dare look but he slowly moved them back and forth together. This is…weird…The guards paid no attention to Sehun’s new additions and swam them towards the beach, as close to the rocks as they could get. Joonmyeon finally seemed to be alert and now he was looking around in curiosity and fear. The guards got them as high onto the beach as they could before wiggling themselves backward into deeper water. “This is where we leave you,” one guard said. He nodded his head to the other. The other guard unsheathed the dagger at his hip where skin met scales and threw it onto the sand next to Sehun. “The gift from the King. May it serve you wisely…or end your suffering,” the guard clearly felt terrible having to speak such ominous words to the Crown Prince.

Nonetheless Sehun nodded. “Thank you…for getting us here safely.” Sehun bowed deeply to the both of them. The guards were shocked, but returned the bow before diving underwater and disappearing from Sehun’s vision.

A/N: So...that just happened. Thanks for reading, again I update once a week. No post on Sundays, ha! (Kudos to you who get the reference.)