Though Athena suspected the crowd was largely inattentive and chattering amongst themselves, she formally commenced the trial and stated the rules: "If the majority votes in favor of acquittal, it shall be a complete pardon. If the majority votes in favor of punishment, the means shall be determined by the Erinys, known alternatively as the Furies or the Eumenides. If the vote is tied, we shall default to an acquittal. Do all agree?" 

 There was no assent nor dissent, so she simply indicated the opening statements begin. 

All eyes were fixed upon the shimmering golden plinth; or, more specifically, the vaguely humanoid bird-like creature with thick scarlet streaming from her gleaming black eyes, a grotesque tongue flinging spittle across the marble as she spat and howled. 

 

 "This man here murdered his mother!" Alecto's shadowy holly leaf wings furiously beat the still air as she paced, her claws wearing deep, powdery groves. "The woman helplessly screamed for mercy as her son ran her through with a sword. A sword she had, in fact, gifted him for his eighteenth birthday, forged of Ares-blessed steel. You'd have us spare one guilty of heartless matricide?" 

 

 Tisiphone and Megaera screeched in agreement. Athena had dubiously accepted them as a singular force fitting of serving as prosecution, her sole stipulation that one of them spearhead the argument. She had admittedly expected the marginally more cooperative Tisiphone, who prominently championed avenging murder, to take lead, but did not oppose the choice of Alecto. The Furies were, after all, wholistically a headache and individually interchangeable. 

 

 "I am indeed the one who has slain Clytemnestra." Orestes, the defendant himself, rose from his seat, strode forward, and stood tall on the plinth, unflinching as Alecto towered over him. "But I acted in accordance with both earthly morals and divine judgment, and for that, to label me as ‘guilty' would be erroneous." 

 

 The Furies only hissed in response. 

 

 Athena sighed and called out, "So does the defendant plead to the charge of matricide? Guilty, Not Guilty, or No Contest?" 

 

She'd intended to maintain some degree of separation, presiding above from her olive wood throne, elevated even amongst her fellow eleven judges—naturally, though, as they were mortals. Evidently, however, she would need to intervene quite frequently. Stupid of her to believe the Furies could behave professionally in any capacity. Acknowledging her intelligence, though, perhaps it was stupidity so much as the conscious decision to grant the sisters a second (third? Fourth? Athena hadn't lost count, no, she didn't do that, but she couldn't presently muster the will to recount each and every failure) change. 

 

"‘Not Guilty," Orestes declared. 

 

Such a typical mortal hero, confessing to a crime and then immediately denying guilt. She held no particular fondness for this one and was swiftly developing distaste. 

 

"Objection!" shrieked Alecto. "He admits to slaying his mother. It is on these grounds that we claim him." 

 

If I sustain that, this trial will literally conclude prior to any witness testimonies. It was not the precedent she hoped to set, so she overruled it with a pointed comment about how to actually use the phrase. Which was... painfully ignored by Apollo, acting as a defense attorney, approximately a millisecond later. 

 

"Objection!" He grinned, white teeth as idiotically radiant as ever. He was one of

Athena's more tolerable siblings; he had an agreeable disposition and rarely engaged in the humiliating—and generally mortal—affairs their family tended toward. Despite that, his propensity for vanity was beyond immature and Athena wanted to order him to grow up. "I personally endorsed Orestes' actions." 

 

 

 Pressure clamped down on Athena's temples and she identified a secondary headache, appropriately labeled God of the Sun and Stupidity.

 

"It would not be just to punish him," Apollo continued, "considering the circumstances. 

His mother, after all, murdered his father!" 

 

  Cue outraged uproar. Athena, unimpressed, cast her gaze upon the Furies. Surely Apollo did not think family drama was sufficient justification. Neither of them, after all, had yet slaughtered their parents or siblings. Though, he was tempting her. She expected basic competency! Please!

 

 "Mothers are special," Alecto contested. "They deserve exceptions. Without mothers, there would be no life."

 

 Oh, really? 

 

 And suddenly Athena decided she'd vote for acquittal. 

 

 "Besides, Clytemnestra was driven to this by the sacrifice of her daughter, Iphigenia, at the hands of her own father. She avenged one child and was in turn slain by another." 

 

 Again with the inaccuracy! Artemis had swooped in to rescue the girl, replacing her with a deer. Yes, she'd originally demanded the sacrifice, but it had been a test of morality, and 

Agamemnon, the father, had undoubtedly failed it; Iphigenia was not made to suffer due to her father's lacking. 

 

 Apollo ignored this, instead asserting, "Women are not, in fact, necessary for life. Men, however, are." 

 

 Was it wildly unfair that her brother was acting as the defense attorney? Absolutely. Had the Furies chosen any other appeal, perhaps they'd have earned her vote. As it currently stood, Athena was actively repulsed by their claims. Her attention lapsed. She fed seeds to her owl. Plotted the trajectories of eighteen potential future conflicts. Revisited Odysseus as an astral projection. His son was adorable. She hoped they'd reunite. Candidly, she cared far more for Odysseus than the supposed "hero" in front of her, but Orestes' actions had little influence on her judgment. 

 

 She did look up, however, when Alecto pleaded, "Pallas Athena—" 

 

 Ah, Athena hated that name. Made her think of her old friend she'd accidentally murdered. 

 

 "—imagine it were your own mother."

 

 I have no mother, she thought impatiently. I sprung from the head of my father and, if you mistakenly believe I have any attachment to his current wife, please know that Hera, for whatever reason, thinks my mother to be Zeus' first wife and resents me for that. You might know her. Metis.