A/N: You guys can kill me now. Seriously. I no longer can show my face to you, lovely readers, ever since I stopped updating for x months! Almost a year of hiatus-ness! Forgive me, please?

My muse disappeared on me, see? Then I got distracted with watching DGM and other yaoi titles.

Then there's college and art.

I do hope you guys will continue on reading this though. I think I made quite an improvement in my writing skills.

Note #1: I own nothing! But I can dream, right? He he he~

Note #2: The setting is fictional – product of my own imagination. Heaven is not like what you'd read down below, okay? I might get accused of sprouting lies and all that jazz.

Note #3: Beware of lunatic Demyx and Zexion! Nah, I'm just pulling your legs. Heh.

Lastly, I'm proud to dedicate this chapter 13 to: Kel-Vampyre, lovetheHams, Vivi, The Odd Dreamer, DemonGirl13, The Mad Empty Shell, SkyeFlyte, InvaderLii, Tylida, Tre Le Coco, Captara, What About Today, HarrylovesDraco, BlueFox of the Moon, Tater'n'Channy and for all those who faved and alerted! Yay! ((does the victory dance))

-----

Inside the Life and Death hall, a large number angels of different classes had inhabited the place, watching silently the sight before them. These witnesses obviously attended the trial all for the same purpose - to see if E-Class Seraph Roxas, alleged heretic of their kind would really be sentenced to Divine Laceration for committing the crime an angel could ever commit

The sin which he went against his Superiors.

The sin in which he turned his back to the Heavens.

The sin which he displayed blasphemy towards god.

The gravest sin – Angelic Sin.

Or so that was what Xemnas, Xigbar and all the other higher-ups stated against the younger one.

And there was only one way and the ONLY WAY for such a crime to be forgiven: to verdict that offender to Divine Laceration – the total removal of the holy gift an angel is blessed with.

Wings extraction.

Unfortunately, the young angel had no idea what was just about to happen; not even aware of the spiked beverage he drank just earlier before. Roxas quietly made his way inside, entering the massive hall with a brave heart. Today was the day he would defend himself against all accusations and reveal just how fraudulent the superiors and their authorities were.

It ends right here, right now…

"E-Class Angel Roxas, please step up to the podium to be recognized."

-----

Demyx, Zexion and Axel stood behind the walls and watched the many seraphs running inside the hall, whispering words like "It's starting!" and "Hurry, we can't miss this."

The red-head felt his body getting heavier each time he would be reminded of Roxas and the latter's possible death punishment.

Just exactly how could he be of help? He was merely a human.

A powerless one in addition to that.

"You can't waver now, you." Zexion spoke as if he just read the red-headed teen's mind in an instant. The soldier then gazed at him; his eyes flashing determination to Axel's hesitant orbs. "Didn't you decide to save him? Then save him you will at all cost."

Demyx, who was crouching at his place, looked at the human behind and beamed at him. "That's right. You wouldn't want to waste Namine's efforts, ne? And our efforts as well."

Axel paused for a while, his gaze averted from the two and thought deeply. To save him is my first priority. No matter what the circumstances, I need to get him out of danger…

…even if it means him forgetting me.

Or worse, I die at the process…

To die for a being whom Axel believed to not exist before was something he never thought of happening. It was highly unlikely, or so that was how he would react if he was still his angry self.

He was once just a sad loner, living in a world that seemed like death to him. He lived without relying and to be relied on. He strove to stand up even though the hardships constantly pushed him down.

He was almost about commit suicide, Axel remembered suddenly.

And yet, he came to my rescue. Coincidence or not, Roxas changed what was needed to change in me.

He was hope's personification. Axel's only hope.

I can't let him die just yet! Not until I thank him and tell him I lo—

"The trial will begin now. All angels near the hall, please enter immediately. We repeat, the trial will begin now. All angels near th—"

Zexion stared at speaker with squinted eyes, listening attentively at the announcement. "We need to remove Roxas from the hall, that's a priority. Next is using the machine there at the west wing."

"How the hell are we supposed to do that? The place's filled with tight security!" Axel asked as he started feeling the same anxiety he felt minutes ago. Just then, a red medium-sized tube-like thing rolled to his feet. Demyx quickly snagged it away just as the red-head was about to reach it. "O-kay…? What's up with you?"

"Careful!" Demyx exclaimed, protecting in his arms what looked like more of those tubes. "One wrong move and it's BOOOM! for you!"

The human stared at the angelic soldier as if the latter was crazy. "EXPLOSIVES…?"

"Yup, that's how we'll make our rescue fashionably sparkling, mortal." For the first time in Axel's life in Heaven, he saw the once sour-looking Zexion smirking eerily joyful at him.

Why do I get the feeling they've gone past sanity? Are angels here really that whacked?

-----

"Quiet in the hall! QUIET!" One of the securities angrily shouted at the noisy crowd. Apparently, everyone now had something to say – just when the trial was about to begin. The moment they saw the familiar young blond seraph standing at the podium, words mixed of disapproval, resentment, concern and support echoed inside.

Roxas just braced himself, closing his eyes and ears to anything that would distract him. He just needed to see the judge, tell his side of what he learned from earth, point out the blind eyes and deaf ears of authorities and remove the "classes" that placed rifts between fellow angels.

If no one had even noticed just how corrupted the Heavens was, he was the first one to fight it for it.

"We shall begin." A voice that resounded so much dominance spoke, making the audience silent instantly. Roxas raised his head and opened his eyes. Just when the young angel thought that things would start to go for the better from thereon, it didn't it.

Not when Xemnas was the judge for his trial.

No… way…

"Prosecutor, you may now state your side to the jury, as well as to the audience." Xemnas stated, signaling the official start of the trial. With that, Xigbar, the said prosecutor, advanced in front.

With a quick movement, so quick that no one was able to see, Xigbar looked at Roxas and tugged one side of his lips upward. Using his mouth, he spoke with an inaudible manner, "I'm winning already, punk-shit."

Roxas just glared at him; despite not being able to hear what the Superior just said, he knew it was something insulting.

Okay, I've got about forty-five minutes to stall and to let the medicine take effect. The one eye-patched angel still had his sinister smile plastered on lips, watching Roxas then turning his gaze to the judge. "Your most precious Honor, distinguished jury – high and mighty – and my fellow co-angels. I am Xigbar, an S-Class and merely a victim to an unwanted assault. I only wished for certain angels, who have the potential, to be properly recognized – a title befitting to their strength. What is so wrong with that? I, for one, do not know the answer."

What came next was something that Roxas, and even the people who knew Xigbar personally, never thought of seeing.

Xigbar softened his once intimidating exterior, feigning a hurtful and disappointing look on his face to the jury then to the judge. He almost wiped an invisible tear from his only working eye. "I'm only helping the little ones to work even harder, see? I only wanted to acknowledge their strength and maybe, just maybe be an inspiration to them. To see them serving our only god is my sole goal as an S-Class."

Then, in a blink of an eye, the so-called prosecutor changed from a beaten-up puppy appearance to an enraged, growling seraph – his eyes squinted and teeth gritted. "Do you think I deserved to be injured just like that? With no reason at all? I daresay it was injustice! Uncalled for!"

Roxas eyes couldn't get any bigger than they already were. What lies and kissing-ups were he sprouting about, the blond hissed. Not only the Superior was pretending like a bastard that he was, he was also telling lies.

"…And did anyone hear him say that our Mother Heaven is corrupted? Not only that Roxas is an angel against god but also a cheater, a sinner and down-right enemy to us all!"

Then, the final blow. "He's even in love with a human! A human male! He wanted to live on Earth!"

The audience was too stunned at the response at the older seraph, who happened to be pointing his gloved-index finger accusingly at the young defendant. Even the jury was too shocked at his bold statement.

Xigbar looked at Roxas with a disgust expression, scowling at the boy like he was the embarrassment of their race, the family. The young angel, on the other hand, was still in his stupor of shock and disbelief.

"Is there anything else you would like to add on that, prosecutor Xigbar?" Xemnas, who was sitting too comfortably on his chair, asked the older man below him.

"No more, your Honor." Was all Xigbar's response as he sat down to his seat.

"Then will the defendant state his side to the jury? As well as to the audience?" Roxas, finally out of his stupor, nodded and immediately faced the angels behind him. He once more gone over his thoughts and plans of what to tell everyone and hopefully would receive a favorable response from his fellow seraphs.

Just as he was about to talk, a head-splitting migraine suddenly hit him, stopping him from speaking. The pain was too intense, too strong that it caused him to drop on his one knee. He held one of his temples and cringed in pain. The feeling was all too foreign to him, he thought, because this migraine was something he had never felt before.

What th—what's happening…?!

-----

"You're going to simply dump explosives in the Hall? Won't you guys be sued to, err, angelocide or something?"

That was, if angelocide actually existed in the law book; Axel contemplated as he ran after the two.

"You're seriously making that up!" Demyx exclaimed too happily – only to be shushed by his partner – as he placed a small tube on the adjacent wall of the trial venue and ran to the next checkpoint "And what we are going to dump inside the hall is smoke screen! Then some of these little bombing babies."

The mortal just kept quiet, wondering if the two were truly servers of god.

Not when they were planning to destroy the place to smithereens like a couple of criminals on the merry bombing-spree.

"Hey, I heard that Roxas doesn't want to speak. What the hell, right? I mean, he gotta at least do something and not just stand there in front." Hearing useful information, Zexion stopped his motor and made a quick turn to the previous corner they just passed by. He crouched from where he stood and listened closely to two soldiers walking away from the venue. "When he thinks doing so would get him sympathies, he's in for a huge disappointment."

Damn, the medicine, is it? The young eavesdropping angel cursed. It's starting to take effect!

"Dem, there's no time!" Zexion called out, shouting a little to his co-angel. "We need to commence the bombing now!"

Demyx didn't need to look back upon hearing what his partner just said. Instead, he took out another peculiar item from his side bag, where the other explosives and bombs were placed, and shoved it to Axel. The red-head, on the other hand, just looked at the thing curiously. It was black and… it was cloth. "Don't just stare at it. WEAR IT NOW."

"What…?"

"The moment we drop the bomb, you'll get in there –disguised as one of the angels guarding the entrance –and take Roxas with you. When you do so, run outside until you reach the end of the corridors. You'll see a metal door – the experiment room where the Transmigration machine is." Demyx explained in a swift as he assisted the mortal on wearing the disguise. Axel, however, was too baffled to react.

They were going for it now. For real. This one chance of saving Roxas must not fail at all cost, Axel said to himself as he squirmed on his new clothing. Let's do this.

-----

"Order in the court! Order in the court!"

But it was futile, when the audience's murmuring talks turned to boisterous reactions the moment they heard nothing from the young angel. They waited long enough, watching Roxas' expression turned from panic to distress for many minutes now. Time seemed to quicken on their part.

But to Roxas, time seemed to move painfully slow on him.

Not only he suddenly acquired head-breaking migraines, but he also felt sting sensations inside his throat. The pain won't go away and instead, they got worst by each minute. "Your Ho—

I can't… my throat… so much pain…

He held his throat with one of his hands. That was then realization hit him, like a bad omen that just smacked him across the face.

He couldn't speak.

No words came out from his lips. Not even incoherent sounds. What the hell was going on?

"Defendant Roxas, the time alloted for you is nearing its end. Why aren't you stating your side?" Xemnas finally asked, looking very seriously and impatient at the young angel in front. Again, there came no response from the E-Class seraph. "Are you implying that what all the prosecutor accused about you is true then?"

The noise got even louder and madder; them shouting, "Sentence him now! It's obvious his guilty about it that he couldn't defend himself anymore!"

"He's so ashamed, he couldn't speak!"

Roxas stared at the audience with wide eyes and panicking emotions. His hands were shaking and he could feel himself weakening by the second. No one was noticing the unusual gestures he was showing – signs that spoke his unwellness and the inability to speak.

Why couldn't anyone see his troubled situation?!

No, you can't do this. Don't you see that there's something wrong with me?! Why are you jumping to conclusions already?!

But no matter how hard the young one pleaded inside himself, no one seemed to be able to react otherwise for him. No one couldn't read Roxas' thoughts, let alone understand the behavior he was showing.

"If you, E-Class Angel Roxas, would not defend yourself in the next five minutes, I have no choice but to go about the decision of the jury of sentencing you to Divine Laceration." The judge announced, causing everyone to finally stop their loud talking.

But to Roxas, he felt himself going numb; sweat trickling from his forehead down to his cheek. Just like that, all his will and determination slowly draining away.

…This… can't be the end...

And time was running out fast.

-----

Continue?

-----

A/N: By request, I've somehow made this chapter longer than normal. To compensate my rather snail-writing skills, I've decided to add another chapter – the end of Angelic Sin, the final chapter! I do hope you guys will stay with me until the very end of this crazy literature piece. And yes, I sincerely apologize again for going semi-hiatus (SEMI?! Unlikely! More like over-hiatus-ness!) for the past months.

Weird things happen, see? And more weird things will happen in the future. Argh.

In any case, do review, my lovelies! Reviews, comments and suggestions make my heart go all buttery!

Yours truly, Setsuna. XIII