Arcanum Academy – Central Hall of House Ignis (used for formal trials)
A cold winter morning.
Students flood the courtyard, buzzing with gossip.
A magical noticeboard lights up red for the first time in five years.
🛑 "PUBLIC TRIAL NOTICE – SUMMONS FOR LUCIEN DREX"
🧾 Charges: Academic misconduct, tampering with evaluation relics, unregistered sigils, and unpermitted manipulation of staff protocols.
🧑⚖️ Overseen by: Tribunal Board, House Ignis.
> Renn (reading aloud, panicked): "LUCIEN'S GOING TO COURT?!" Ira (snacking): "Oh no. Anyway."
Word spreads instantly. Drama ignites.
Even students from Year 4 peek down from the icy balconies.
Lucien is calmly sipping non-tea (just to make a point), watching the notice glow.
> Lucien: "Huh. So we're doing this the theatrical way." Renn (almost crying): "W-who even reported you?! That's House-level court! You could get banished!" Lucien: "Relax. If I get banished, I'll finally get to nap in peace."
As if on cue, two masked House Ignis guards approach with enchanted scrolls and sealing cuffs.
> Guard: "Lucien Drex. By order of the Tribunal, you are summoned to the Central Hall." Lucien (mock shocked): "Do I get a lawyer, or do I represent myself like a lunatic genius with flair?"
Caelum watches from a balcony, arms crossed.
> Caelum (quietly): "They're baiting him." Seraphina (appears beside him): "And he's walking right into it." Caelum: "No. He's walking above it."
Lucien walked with two Ignis tribunal guards at his side, hands not bound — because, honestly, no one trusted what he might do if he couldn't use his hands.
Behind him, Renn was practically jogging to keep up.
> Renn (whisper-shouting): "Lucien! Are they gonna throw you out? Suspend you? Memory-wipe you?!" Lucien (sighing): "Hopefully. Imagine how peaceful life would be if I forgot who you were."
They passed the main fountain, where a group of Year 2 girls from House Liora stopped mid-gossip.
> "Is that him? The one on trial?" "He doesn't look guilty." "No, no — that's how guilty people look in novels."
Lucien turned, offered a slow wink, and dramatically fake-whispered to the girls:
> Lucien: "I did everything. Even crimes I wasn't accused of. Just for fun."
The guards didn't know if they should cuff him harder or applaud.
Renn hissed behind him, "Can you take this seriously?!"
> Lucien: "I am. I'm walking slowly so the scandal has time to build."
Just as they reached the doors to the Central Tribunal Hall, a hooded janitor sweeping the ice leaned close to Lucien's ear and whispered:
> ???: "The court is theirs. The game is yours."
Lucien paused mid-step. His eyes flicked sideways. But the janitor was already gone — broom left behind, snow undisturbed.
> Lucien (muttering): "...Architect's note?"
> Renn: "What?! What note? What architect? Who was that?!" Lucien: "Probably just a guy who loves sweeping in riddles. Happens."
Then he stepped through the great doors, completely calm.
The courtyard was packed. Students lined the high balconies, whispering behind illusion-shields and enchanted wards. The buzz was undeniable: Lucien Drex was being formally accused of sabotage.
As the towering tribunal doors groaned open and Lucien stepped inside, he looked around the massive courtroom filled with solemn faces, ancient spell-scribes floating in the air, and an absurdly ornate red carpet.
He paused. Frowned.
> Lucien: "Wow. They really brought out the expensive rug for this. What's next, fireworks? A guilt parade?"
One of the guards twitched.
> Lucien (to the guard): "Relax. I'm just admiring your budget priorities. You can't afford warmer uniforms, but this carpet? Velvet guilt."
From the audience, someone snorted. Renn, behind him, was already sweating.
Professor Mirein stood at the center, dressed in her dark adjudicator's robe. Her eyes were sharp, silver-rimmed glasses gleaming under the winter light.
Lucien? He arrived late, sipping from a bright pink flask. Not tea this time. Something green.
> Mirein (coldly): "Lucien Drex. You stand accused of malicious manipulation of sigils in the restricted alchemy labs. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
Lucien blinked. Then smiled.
> Lucien: "Well, first, who wears a robe that long? That's just asking to trip. Secondly, define 'malicious'. Because the rats loved the explosion."
> Mirein: "Do not mock this tribunal."
> Lucien (sighing): "Fine. Then allow me to present... my counter-case."
Gasps. Even Mirein faltered.
Lucien snapped his fingers. Renn, sweating bullets, rushed forward with a floating orb. Inside: timestamps, heat sigils, aether fluctuations. A visual log of the actual tampering — done after Lucien had already logged out of the lab.
> Lucien: "I thought it was weird someone forged my name with my old signature. I haven't curled my 'x' like that since last semester. Sloppy."
> Virella (from the crowd): "Impossible!"
Lucien turned.
> Lucien: "Oh hey, Virella. How's that secret ruin where you mutter my name dramatically into the shadows? Cozy?"
Laughter broke through the court.
> Marcus: "You're twisting the facts!"
> Lucien: "Marcus, if you're going to accuse me, at least read the rules. The log you submitted? It's a forgery. Your sigil trails are all over it. I borrowed Professor Mirein's lecture on 'Trace Magic Forensics'. Excellent bedtime reading."
Professor Mirein narrowed her eyes, examining the evidence orb.
> Mirein (quietly): "He's... correct. This data exonerates him. And implicates..." But this isn't enough to prove everything you said is right ? We need more to really prove you're innocent
Lucein: oh really here we go again
Professor alther: turns to miren why don't we postpone the judgement to tomorrow, and also inform the headmistress she must me present tomorrow. Mirein nods her head
She turned.
Gasps. Even the illusion-barriers shimmered.
> Lucien (mock whisper to Renn): "Trap two was so easy I almost feel bad."
> Renn (blinking): "There was a trap one?"
> Lucien: "Oh, sweet Renn. You are trap one."
---
Scene Transition: Later That Day, Moonlit Tower Library
Lucien leaned against a crystal window, notebook in hand. Caelum stepped into view.
> Caelum: "You baited them into trying to disgrace you... just to expose them publicly." So what will you do next to save your self tomorrow?
> Lucien: "Sometimes it's better to let people build their own rope. I just hand them the scissors."
Caelum sat beside him, tossing him a wrapped snack.
> Caelum: "Next time, give me a warning. I nearly believed it."
> Lucien: "But then it wouldn't be fun."
From across the room, Headmistress Elenora watched through an invisibility scry.
> Elenora (to herself): "You play the game well, Drex. But whose game is it, really?"