"Aria, you're scared, and it's reminding you of something even more terrifying," Adomoye said calmly.
"Do you know what I'm thinking?" Aria nervously clasped her hands, only allowing herself a brief moment of thought.
"Your sadness, your fear, they can't escape my insight," Adomoye's voice resonated deeply. "Before I delve into your mind, do you have anything to explain?"
"It wasn't me," Aria asserted.
"How do you prove your innocence?"
"I... I can't. But I believe... I wouldn't do it."
"Let me see into your heart, to see if what you say is true, or if you're lying..." Adomoye's calm voice turned cold, issuing a detached command. "Kneel."
Aria obeyed the command, kneeling on the ground. Adomoye's fingers slowly slid to her forehead, and Aria tensed, fearing the impending pain. She stared at Adomoye's pale face, devoid of any expression.
A bright light flashed, growing increasingly intense until it resembled a piece of bleached paper. Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced Aria's forehead, like a steel needle piercing her brain. Aria cried out in agony, wanting to pull away, but her body wouldn't respond, her hands numbly hanging by her side.
"Don't resist..." Adomoye's voice echoed in her mind.
Aria tried to respond, but no words came out. There was only endless pain, spreading from her forehead to her entire body. Soon, she was writhing in unbearable pain, wanting to scream but only able to whimper.
"All of your memories..." Adomoye's voice echoed, as if another needle pierced Aria's forehead, almost causing her head to explode.
Memories seemed compressed into a single point, drawn out from every dark corner. Along with the excruciating pain, she felt as if she was back at the starting point of her memories, glimpsing some childhood fragments, but unable to recall how old she was or where it happened. Then the scenes began to jump, her searching through the cramped room of Echo Tower, the day she lost an important message from Sovereign Bastion. Suddenly, a bloody hand appeared, but the image was too blurry to discern clearly. Finally, the pain overwhelmed everything, her mind blank, consciousness gradually leaving her body.
"Don't resist me... Don't hide... Tell me everything..." Adomoye's cold voice continued.
"I haven't... It hurts... Please stop..." Aria pleaded inwardly. With the intense pain and flashes of white light, the scenes began to repeat over and over again, thousands upon thousands of times.
"The Oracle... she's mortal..."
Another voice sounded from a distant place.
Aria felt her body falling, the icy hand on her forehead withdrawn. She stiffly collided with the ground, her brain and body still in agonizing pain. She curled up on the ground, tears streaming down her face, her body trembling uncontrollably.
"Have her memories been restored?" Lucius's voice came from nearby.
"Only a few early memories, the rest disappeared," Adomoye said calmly. "I'm puzzled... why can't I see them? She couldn't have forgotten so deeply, as if they never existed. And there are some that don't belong to the present... I suspect her memories are flawed..."
"She mentioned upon waking that she lived 280 years ago. I also suspect her memories are flawed. Could someone have tampered with her memories? Like you, using magic to alter them?"
"No one among the demigods can perform mind-reading spells. If someone deliberately altered her memories, only I could have done it," Adomoye said sternly.
"Of course, it couldn't be you," Lucius agreed. "When will her trial begin?"
"As scheduled," Adomoye said emotionlessly.
Aria slowly opened her eyes, watching the white robe receding into the distance. The Oracle had left. By the lake remained her, Lucius, and Tayvon.
In Aria's heart, the last hope shattered in an instant. Even the mighty The Oracle of the demigods could not help her retrieve her lost memories. How could she recover the memories of over two hundred years? And the impending trial left her at a loss, facing execution without her memories. Aria's face was pressed against the icy grass, immersed even more in the endless sorrow of losing her memories.
"Don't move, you're bleeding," Lucius said, squatting down, pressing her head to keep her still. "Are you resisting Adomoye?" he asked, slightly reproachful.
Aria tried to move her eyeballs, but tears welled up like a spring. "I'm not..." she said weakly. She was sure she hadn't resisted, cooperating wholeheartedly.
"Oh my, her eyes are bleeding..." Tayvon said fearfully from the side.
Lucius sighed softly, his palm gently supporting her painful eyes. A white light flashed, and Aria's pain seemed to lessen slightly.
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"Are you healing her?" Tayvon asked in a panic. "We're not allowed to treat prisoners..."
"She hasn't been convicted yet," Lucius said. "She must stay alive before the trial."
Lucius's magic flowed through her eyes like a warm stream. Aria closed her eyes, and as the magic began to spread throughout her body, the pain in her head gradually subsided.
She didn't know how long she had been lying there until Lucius confirmed that everything was fine and took her back to the room.
After Lucius left, Aria wiped the bloodstains from her face with her hand. In the quiet room, moonlight gradually filled the space, and outside the window was a serene night sky. This night, she was questioned and sentenced to death countless times in her dreams. Sometimes she woke up drenched in sweat, or the burning sensation in her eyes forced her to turn her head, emitting a distressed moan. Aria tried her best to recall, but no one could tell her what had happened.
She remembered the night when the candlelight went out, and she fell into the dark abyss. Thanatos seemed to really want to save her. But was it just because her hands had unsightly scales? Perhaps, if she hadn't impulsively sought death that night and had obediently followed Thanatos, the situation would be completely different now.
Aria felt as if she had plunged into an endless fog, where every choice seemed wrong, and every memory was blurry. Losing her memories made her feel helpless and confused, longing to find herself again, to retrieve those lost fragments. In this chaos, she discovered a deeper struggle. Her heart, like a castle eroded by time, was desolate and lonely. The forgotten memories, like cracks in the walls, were filled with pain and confusion time and time again.
She closed her eyes, trying to calm the waves in her heart. However, the unease in her heart grew stronger, like a torrential flood pulling her into the abyss. She felt lost and helpless, adrift in the dark solitude. At this moment, she longed to find a glimmer of hope, a clue leading to redemption.
The dawn's bells toll, heralding the arrival of the day of judgment.
Aria stares with wide eyes, having spent the night sleepless. The sound of the bells echoes outside her window, pushing her emotions to the brink.
Led by Lucius, she arrives at the lakeshore, where hundreds of demigods stand silently upon the moss-covered stone ground. Their long hair flows elegantly, and their faces resemble snow, as if carved into perfect sculptures.Adomoye stands on the surface of the lake, accompanied by a small Celestial Deer frolicking around her.
As Aria steps into this domain, the Celestial Deer twitches its ears, as if sensing something amiss. The protruding eyes on the stone ground begin to blink, observing her silently and eerily.
Lucius gazes at her, his eyes filled with concern. "Are you ready?" he asks, his voice heavy with weight.
"I will face it bravely," Aria replies, lifting her head with determination in her gaze.
Lucius nods, seemingly satisfied with her response. Under his guidance, they proceed across the moss-covered stone ground by the lakeshore, preparing to embrace the impending trial.
The demigods standing around them seem like frozen sentinels, silently watching their arrival. Aria follows behind, hoping to avoid the piercing gazes with Lucius's protection. Even without directly observing the surrounding demigods, she can still feel the hostility and animosity in the air. She tries to steady her breath and pace, preparing herself for the interrogation, firmly believing that she is not the culprit.
A demigod elder waves a silver staff, and the lake water immediately freezes, forming a path of ice leading towards The Oracle.
Aria stepped onto the ice. Although she worried if the ice could support them standing on it, she still followed Lucius's footsteps.
They stopped a few steps away from Adomoye.
The elder demigod stepped out from the crowd and approached Aria. He tapped the ice with his staff, making a resounding sound. He declared, "I will reiterate your three major crimes: trespassing into the Celestial Sanctum, killing a demigod, and destroying the Celestial Eye."
"It couldn't have been me," Aria explained, lifting her head.
"Quiet," the elder demigod interrupted her impatiently, then turned to Lucius. "In the Celestial Sanctum, the murderer of a demigod has no right to speak. Lucius, didn't you restrain her?"
"She is not a demigod, but a mortal. Strictly speaking, I cannot treat her as I would a demigod. She cannot withstand our powers," Lucius maintained his calm tone.
"Lucius is correct," Adomoye added coldly. "We cannot use spells on mortals; they are too fragile, even if she is truly guilty."
"You must face the crimes you have committed, whether it is trespassing into the Celestial Sanctum or destroying the Celestial Eye. These are unforgivable sins," the elder demigod holding the silver staff said.
Aria lifted her head, looking back at him with determination in her eyes. "But I didn't do any of those things. I am innocent."
"Innocent?" the elder demigod scoffed. "What can your innocence prove? You destroyed our Celestial Eye, yet you attempt to evade responsibility."
"I'm not avoiding responsibility; I just don't remember what happened," Aria's voice trembled slightly, her heart filled with struggle and helplessness.
"That excuse means nothing to us. You must bear the consequences."
The demi-gods behind also chimed in, "Yeah, why did you destroy the Celestial Eye? What are you hiding?"
Aria felt a pang in her heart, unable to find words to explain her innocence or comprehend why she was in such a predicament. Because she didn't remember what happened that day or how she destroyed the Celestial Eye and killed a demi-god.
As the interrogation progressed, the atmosphere grew increasingly tense. The demi-gods' questioning was incessant, as if they were trying to penetrate Aria's innermost thoughts.
"Why should we believe you?" a young demi-god demanded harshly. "You have no evidence to prove your innocence."
Aria closed her eyes, trying to recall the lost memories, but it was all a blur. Her mood grew heavier, as if trapped in an inescapable dream.
"We can't waste any more time here," Lucius's voice suddenly rang out. "We need a conclusion. Let me explain for her."
The subsequent questioning was almost entirely answered by Lucius, who seemed to understand the entire process even better than Aria. From Aria's intrusion into the forbidden area to the disruption caused by the Celestial Eye, which shook the entire Celestial Sanctum, to the discovery of an unconscious Aria and a demi-god's corpse, Lucius recounted almost every detail.
Aria listened in shock, even more surprised than everyone else present. However, the demi-gods here did not believe her; they thought she was deliberately using amnesia as an excuse. The questioning from hundreds of demi-gods almost drowned out Lucius.
"Lucius, are you sure she's just a mortal?"
"How could a mortal destroy the Celestial Eye? It's a powerful artifact."
"She's lying; she must be hiding her powers."
"How could she have killed a demi-god guarding the Celestial Eye?"
"I believe these items can prove how a mortal managed to do it, possessing an object that can threaten demigods, all in the hands of a mortal girl." Lucius reached out, and Tayvon hurriedly approached, presenting the tray with both hands.
Lucius slowly lifted the cloth covering, as if there might be a demon ready to break free from within. When the item lay quietly on the tray, all the demigods in the pool emitted a shocked gasp. Even the usually indifferent Adumoye couldn't help but shift her gaze to focus on the mysterious object.