"Martin Whitt, unless you have something to say that could possibly absolve you, you're guilty of conspiracy in the murder of a vampire." Tatiana looked away from Sigmund and approached Martin, and Ekaterina could hear his heart racing, thudding heavily in his chest.

Feeling a sense of dryness in her throat, Ekaterina touched her throat gently, and a sweet and soft voice whispered from the side, along with an outstretched hand with a cup full of blood.

"Ekaterina, such a beautiful name. You should drink some, you look a bit pale." A beautiful woman with blonde hair and pink eyes Ekaterina had never seen a human with before leaned over with a smile.

"T-thank you." Ekaterina whispered after a moment of inward debate as to whether it was polite to accept or to refuse, but the smell of blood made her choice quite easy.

"Inara. My name is Inara Wells." The woman then gestured to the man sitting next to her, and while Ekaterina was certain she wasn't attracted to men, the man was downright gorgeous.

"You actually get along pretty with my wife. My name is Demetri Wells, Lord Wells to some, but you can call me Demetri, you belong to House Starikov after all." Demetri spoke at a normal volume, a volume which was more than enough for all the vampires in the room to hear, yet none spoke.

"I'm... new to all of this." Ekaterina wasn't as nervous, maybe it was because she had met both Selene and Heidi, who were in a league if their own, but Demetri gave Ekaterina a sense of danger even under his approachable and playful demeanor.

"No worries, we all were at one point or another. Say, do you think Martin will die?" Demetri's golden eyes squinted, looking at the man whose fear and dread were visible on his face, and then back at Ekaterina.

"I don't know. I don't know how this world works, and I can't really use human standards here, can I?" Ekaterina glanced at Martin, and while he did look pitiful, humans put other humans on trial for things less than murder. 

"Oh, you're very open-minded. I can't say for sure about Sigmund, but Martin probably won't die." Demetri sneakily tried to reach into Inara's bag, but a loud smack sounded as Inara slapped his hand away with a smiling expression.

"Surely you wouldn't want anything from someone as old as me, would you darling?" Ekaterina gave Demetri a look of confusion, but Sabine leaned against Ekaterina's shoulder and spoke with a voice full of snark.

"Apparently, Lord Wells likes younger women, and Inara's over four thousand years old, so she isn't the exact opposit-" Christabel covered Sabine's mouth and smiled apologetically at the two, but Demetri didn't even seem to hear Sabine, he was staring at the ceiling blankly.

"I didn't... mean it..." Demetri groaned and slumped in his seat, with a look of such helplessness on his face, several male vampires cast looks of pity his way.

"Well, although Sigmund's punishment isn't decided yet, punishing Martin is quite useless. He's already lost all of his previous power. Can't we just put him in a jail somewhere?" Safiya interjected and cut Tatiana off, her eyes full of pleading.

Ekaterina found that many of the vampires looked antsy or impatient as well. Apparently, judging Sigmund was one thing, but judging a human was just beyond a vampire's concern, and they deemed it pointless to even spend time talking about it.

"We can hold a vote. If you want Martin Whitt's trial to be concluded here, vote for it." Ekaterina wasn't sure exactly how the vampires attending by video would vote. 

Her question was answered when several Altered humans, some ranging from normal and others seemingly only different from the average human by their good looks and others with added features like longer ears and some with hazy appearances entered the room.

"That was quick." It took Ekaterina a moment to realize the Altered humans brought the data, and that the vampires had probably been waiting for the option to speed it along, similar to how Ekaterina would click maniacally trying to skip a cutscene in a game.

"Well, aside from a few voters, most of us seem to want the trial to be over with." Tatiana nodded towards them, and the Altered humans left together, closing the doors behind them.

"So, if we just incarcerate him, we will still have to decide on Sigmund's fate." Tatiana returned to her seat while Heidi stood up and approached Sigmund with an expression of calm that hid her inner feelings.

"What? If you kill me, do you think the other Rogue's will honestly obey you? You vampires suck up to the four Houses like you're their slaves!" Sigmund cackled madly, watching Heidi's approach, while also not forgetting to taunt the audience.

"When they get news of my death, they won't do nothing... I've turned several humans, and even if I die here, the Houses won't have it easy either!" At Sigmund's declaration, several vampires looked at him with ridicule.

"He must have lost his mind. Forget the other three. One demon is enough to deal with almost any situation, and we have four." Demetri cocked his head to the side while Inara glared at him, prompting him to stop talking.

"The Houses have ruled the world for far too long! But do you think you can rule the world forever?!" Sigmund tried to stand, but as Heidi neared him, his body was slammed to the ground inexplicably.

"While you are right, Sigmund, we aren't as kind and civilized as we show. Killing another vampire, regardless of the reasoning, was too much." Safiya opened her eyes and looked at Sigmund while shaking her head.

"A shame, while you might not have been able to get over her death, you could have found someone else to love. Instead, your stubbornness set you on a path of no return." Safiya closed her eyes once more, apparently done with the trial.

"You did it, so deal with the consequences." Selene was remarkably less serious, dismissing Sigmund with a wave of her hands, while Tatiana just shook her head.

"Whether or not we put it to a vote, your death is assured. You should have a known to never kill a vampire, Sigmund. Anything else and you wouldn't be in this situation." Tatiana frowned, her purple eyes flashing slightly.

"You incited humans to attack your fellow vampire, and because you had the time to reconsider but chose to carry out the act of killing another vampire, your life will come to an end here." Heidi glanced at Tatiana, but the green haired demon simply sighed and turned her head.

"Let me ask you something. Do you think you could let me go after I killed Millie?" Sigmund stared at Heidi, but beneath her calm black eyes, a storm raged.

"I wouldn't spare you because Millie had nothing to do with your partner's death. She comforted you in the aftermath of the incident, and you still chose to kill her." Heidi extended a hand a magical energy congealed into a thin black sword.

"I'll need half of your blood, and the rest will leave this world with you." Heidi slashed the blade, and blood leaked from Sigmund's chest, and then she used her magical energy to envelope the blood.

"Goodbye." Heidi didn't slash at Sigmund again with her sword again. Instead, she flicked her hand, and the sword vanished into a haze of magical energy.

Ekaterina wasn't sure exactly what happened. It was as if Sigmund was instantly pulled away by something at the same moment Selene grabbed at him, but before he could disappear completely, Ekaterina moved.

"Teleportation~? Is he working with a witch~? Then the witch who tried to use spells on you should feel some heartache~!" Ekaterina's fingers touched, and an eclipsed sun flickered into existence above her fingertips.

A sickly yellow light flashed in Ekaterina's eyes, but just as quickly, Sigmund's agonized shouts followed by pained growls came before the teleportation ended, with Sigmund getting away.

Ekaterina immediately slumped in her chair, feeling a sense of exhaustion, far greater than anything she had felt previously. She felt as if her entire body had been wrung dry and her throat ached.

"You... well, you didn't miss that attack." Selene gave Ekaterina a thumbs up while Heidi condensed the blood she'd taken from Sigmund into an orb barely bigger than her fingernail.

"She's fine, Ekaterina's just depleted her magical energy. We allowed him to be teleported away, but wounding him makes it more believable than him escaping without injury." Heidi wanted to catch everyone whose hands were extended into this messy pie, even if it meant Sigmund would continue living a bit longer.

"Most witches wouldn't pass up a vampire exiled by the Houses. Vampires are magical creatures, and our blood can be used as a source of magic. I bet Sigmund's life from here on out might be worse than death." Tatiana appeared beside Ekaterina, pulling her up gently and feeding her some of her blood with a look of curiosity.

"Typically, witches can cast spells without a Phantasm, but for a vampire, the cost is several times higher without opening their Phantasm. You're quite a daring one. You held a grudge against him?" Tatiana smiled and then waved her hands in surrender and retreated when Selene rushed over with puffed out cheeks.

"I didn't, I don't know what happened..." Although Ekaterina said it as such, she found herself a bit unwilling to say that the little girl inside her Vision wanted to get even with the witch and attacked Sigmund of her own volition.

"The trial is finally done!" Apparently, it wasn't just Safiya who wanted the trial to be done with, and while Ekaterina gave the pale as a ghost Martin a look, his fate may have already been better than it could have been.

"Well, Sabine, although you're young, children should be reserved." Inara smiled warmly at Sabine, who upon hearing her words gave her a look of challenge.

"Okay, let's just relax." Demetri gently pulled Inara away while shooting an apologetic look at the Starikovs. Who in the world could possibly know his wife's penchant for mischief better than he did?

"Wait, Val, you're sending Ekaterina to school, yes?" Although Inara's words seemed like a question, it also seemed more like she was simply confirming instead of asking, but to Ekaterina's surprise, Valentina didn't deny her question outright.

"I believe so. While Ekaterina is welcome to stay with us, spending time around younger vampires will help her get used to our world faster than staying with us." Valentina nodded but looked at Ekaterina warmly.

"Of course, it's up to Ekaterina to decide. Sabine wouldn't mind attending school again, would you, Sabine?" Christabel smiled and prodded her daughter's cheek lightly to snap her out of her brief daze, her expression lighting up.

"Sure thing! I'll definitely go to school with Kat, don't worry!" While Sabine proudly raised her head, Inara's smile became a bit more happy at Sabine's words.

"That's lovely, after all, my daughter missed you so much after you left the school unexpectedly last time." Inara's words made Sabine roll her eyes.

Inara's daughter Thea seemed to inherit her mother's love of chaos, as she and Sabine endlessly argued and fought while Sabine attended the school.

While the atmosphere had obviously improved since the trial, Ekaterina was a bit helpless inside. She had already completed her compulsory education as a human and didn't think she'd have to enroll in school once more as a vampire.

"Don't worry, Ekaterina, although it's called school, for the vampires attending, you'll be free to do whatever. It was designed so we the parents had an idea of what our children are up to during the day." Demetri seemed to catch her unwillingness and explained with a laugh.

"Of course, you can't feed on the humans there, but you're also able to interact with them in a more carefree environment than you're normally in as Heirs. It's great for relaxation, or so my son says." Demetri nodded his head to Valentina, and then the four demons who had fallen into a discussion of their own spoke. 

"The trial is adjourned for now. Since Sigmund wasn't put to death, he will be henceforth exiled from the Houses and their affiliates." Heidi spoke, her expression a lot less severe than it had been previously.

"And for the vampires who took the time to attend without multitasking, you should tip me." Tatiana rubbed her fingers together in such a way that completely dismantled her royal and cool demeanor.

"I'm going back, I was in the middle of my afternoon nap. Heidi, I hope you can... well, I hope she's alright, okay?" With her figure fading into a burst of deep blue shimmering particles, Safiya left.

"I'd head back too, but Ekaterina is so intriguing." Tatiana propped her chin up with her hand and looked at Ekaterina with her sparkling purple eyes.

"Shoo, I already said she's my student! " Selene quickly got between the two, glaring at Tatiana while the latter simply rolled her eyes with a look of helplessness.

"Ekaterina, thank you for your help today." Heidi approached Ekaterina and bowed her head slightly, briefly confusing her, but Heidi didn't elaborate and instead poured more magic into her Phantasm.

"For the vampires on the island, if you are leaving, I'll teleport you back to the Oceanic Dominion State's mainland, and if you choose to stay on the island for the time being, don't tear it down." Heidi vanished immediately after, and the room with over a hundred vampires finally became lively.

Looking at the bustling vampires, Ekaterina wondered if life for vampires was just this. Vampires were far more free and open-minded than humans, as several began to group together to talk despite having been in a trial dealing with murder.

"Well, it's not bad..." Ekaterina liked the lively atmosphere more than the heavy and solemn one she had experienced when she arrived, but Sabine's quizzical look made Ekaterina shake her head.

"Nothing, I was just thankful." Ekaterina smiled at Sabine, who briefly squinted but then smiled back, her green eyes dancing in the light trickling down from the ceiling.

"I'm thankful too, for you, Kat." Sabine bobbed her head in agreement and smiled when Ekaterina's red eyes avoided her own, and a sense of embarrassment crept through the link.

"Don't be shy! I'm being honest!" While Ekaterina increased her pace, Sabine laughed and trailed behind her while Valentina and Christabel hung behind them, each wearing happy smiles seeing the two get along.