-"Ya goin' to explain what happened, Iu?"
-"I said it once and I'll say it again, Hakos Baelz, I have no clue what went down.
Here's the timeline of what I was doing with the vouching of those who saw me so you all can get off my case."
Iudex began recounting every single event in boring detail.
"I was at TEMPUS, we were discussing things about my debut, I get the perfect idea thanks to their words that gave me my inspiration.
I left for a small walk through the maze of hallways, and I didn't even see the red trident until the last moment, when the blue-hair arrived."
Him saying blue-hair and not calling her by a title didn't sit well with Kronii.
Now if it was friends she didn't mind them calling her anything, Kronini, Kronster, whatever one might like.
But Iudex wasn't a friend of hers yet. And she was the concept of Time afterall, the Time Keeper herself. She won't be just disrespected like that.
-"Know your place, Iudex. I won't be referred to as blue-hair.
Address me properly."
-"Your priorities are all over the place, lady, I thought you cared about the fact shark-girl was your friend."
Task failed successfully, now Kronii is even angrier. She was a very self-righteous person, her behavior is best described as two-faced. One moment she is happy and self-depreciating and joking with everyone, the other she's a cold and fearless deity.
And Iudex seemed to be facing the second face here.
-"Do not even try to go there, fool.
You did not have to hit her that hard. No matter what you say I will never believe the fact you couldn't control that hammer."
-"Yeah sure. You do you, off-brand Chronos."
-"EXCUSE ME!?"
-"Hoookay! That's about time for this round, fighters to your corners!"
Baelz barely restrained Kronii as she pulled her away from where Iudex was sitting, the expression on Kronii's face was bewildered, the redness of fury encapsulating her beautiful features.
-"Ahhh.. When will Kronii get rid of her protectiveness..
Don't pay her much mind, she's always like that to newer members. She just doesn't trust you, especially with how you came in."
Fauna clasped her hands in her lap as she said her words, her closed eyes coupled with her weary appearance affirmed her words, this wasn't Kronii's first offense.
-"Let's.. Not talk about those other times, Fauna, I don't think I want to reminisce nor does Iudex want to hear anymore about Kronii.
Instead, how about we discuss what Gura said to you.. Whilst that was going down.
Will you cooperate Iudex?"
It's not like he didn't want to, if this would help stop any future repetition of such instances, then by all means he'd be the most talkative person.
-"If someone asks me that one more time after this.. I don't know what I'm going to do."
He had a habit of twiddling his thumbs whenever he began monologuing, and it was on full display as of that moment.
-"All I heard from her was 'Back to the dead, judge!' and that was it."
Mumei and Fauna looked at each other, Baelz was still holding back Kronii outside the small room they were in.
-"Ju..Judge?"
-"Judge I guess comes from Iudex, which as you all know is my name now.
But why was she telling me back to the dead, was it a taunt?"
It wasn't hard to tell. They knew something he didn't.
Judge. Whoever it was, wasn't someone that Gura was fond of.
-"You could say so? It's an impossibly long story of who she meant there.
And I don't think it's for this time."
Fauna didn't seem keen on narrating the backstory of who this "Judge" person is, so she tried to turn away from that topic, her lips thinning into a line and her head shifted away slightly.
-"Hold your horses, you're not going to feign your way out of this."
-"I believe I will. Apologies, Iudex, but you won't find anyone willing to speak to you on this."
Mask off, and Fauna came out swinging. Her gentle nature can morph into a ruthless one in an instant.
Sensing the impending tension of round two, Nanashi Mumei took it upon herself to do what Baelz would've done.
-"Fauna, leave us two here for a moment, go check on Kronii and Bae, they might have already went away."
-"..."
-"Please."
-"Okay."
Reluctance was the one thing adorning Fauna's entire being that moment.
They were acting totally different than when he had met them on the stage, one can't exactly be mad at that, due to their closeness to Gura, but it was such a ridiculous change of pace to Iudex.
Once the two were alone, Mumei locked the door and took her place right next to Iudex, laying back on the sofa Iudex was on.
She put one arm on the armrest, and the other laid out on the back of the sofa, her cold hand was just making contact with Iudex's neck. The soft chill of that touch could cause a shudder to ring through your entire heart.
He turned his eyes to look at her, she had an air of uncertainty about her.
-"Jude. I will speak to you in full directness."
The call of his name made him focus more. She was about to drop some intense piece of world building.
His thumbs continued twiddling even though he was fully silent, Iudex's thin hands pressing further against his own legs, as if grounding himself to the moment.
"This will not be the end of your bad encounters, many many others will turn a blind eye to you in your times of dire need. And it's for something you can't grasp.
Me and Fauna will always be here for you should you ever need anyone for help, even Bae and IRyS, Kronii.. I'm positive you two will make up before long."
-"You're not explaining why the bad encounters happen."
-"I said you can't grasp it. We do not meant to belittle you, Iudex. You're physically incapable of handling that information.
If we give it to you, who knows what might happen to you.
Trust our judgement, Iudex. We all know more than you."
They were concepts, beings of time ancient, and he was a nineteen year old, didn't take a scientific mind to see where she was coming from.
-"Never had any answers in my life and it doesn't seem like I will be getting any anytime soon."
-"Atleast you're taking it better than I anticipated."
-"I fear all of your expectations. May I be spared from anticipation if it comes from you guys."
Mumei tapped the back of his neck with a finger before letting go, that caused his body to go totally still for a moment, falling back against the couch.
"...?!? M..Mu-"
He couldn't speak, he couldn't formulate a sentence in his brain.
Iudex went into total shutdown as Mumei watched it happen.
It took a few seconds for Iudex to regain his handle on his own body but when he did he jumped out of the sofa and looked at her with a hint of wariness in his eye.
Mumei stared at him as she crosses one leg over the other, she wasn't smug, nor triumphant. She was conveying something he couldn't understand.
"Oh. Oh.. S-"
She puts her index to her lips in a shushing manner.
He understood what she meant, he LITERALLY PHYSICALLY couldn't know it.
-"You are not to speak about me doing this to a single soul. I did this for you.
You will know soon enough what the Judge is.
Forget anything that happened now, okay?
Let's try to start over on a blank note."
The overall vibe and tensions went back to normal, and as if on queue Baelz opened the door and Kronii stomped back in.
To restore balance, Iudex decided to eat a gut punch in his dignity.
-"Lady Kronii."
That sent her face redder than a tomato, the suddenness of it all was an added factor too.
Baelz whistled and Fauna gasped.
-"H..hmph. I'll take that from you, human."
-"My brain is going to loop on itself if someone calls me human one more time and then tells me I'm not."
-"You're beneath me and that's all that matters. Keep up the obedience and you might just earn some respect."
-"Shifting from this tiresome meaningless pitiful power struggle that would only serve to ignite the flames of regicide should it continue..
How's Gura doing?"
Iudex just casually threatened her with murder and asked how Gura is doing. Smooth.
-"Uuuu~ Iudex versus Kronii boxing match?"
-"Shuddup all of you.."
-"Gura's doin' good, Iu."
-"That's good to know. Now stop calling me Iu."
-"Okay Dex."
-"Iu it is."