Work Text:
i.
The Opera Épiclèse is home to many great performances in Fontaine history. From the epic to the tragic, all are welcome on the divine stage.
But draw back the curtains, and you’ll find yourself face to face with justice herself.
ii.
The courtroom is built so that anyone sitting there would feel interior compared to the Chief Justice and the Regina—two people with the highest authority in the nation.
Be it for a performance, or a trial.
Often both.
Most people are too caught up in the drama to care or even notice, though.
iii.
As a member of the audience, you could see the Chief Justice’s gilded throne during a trial but not the Regina’s. His voice booms from high above, yet the closer you sit, the more you need to crank your head back to glimpse the red of his seat.
Humiliating. (Or awe-inspiring. Depends on who you ask.)
Then there’s that shrill voice echoing around the dim, solemn ceiling, beloved by all yet seen by none from down below.
Everyone knows her name, yet true justice is nowhere to be found.
Only applause remains.
iv.
But really, what does it matter? To the God of Justice, the entire courtroom is a stage. Judged for both virtue and sin, there’s nowhere to hide for the supposed audience.
Answer me then, O Lady Archon: In a play to amuse the gods… are we the real spectacle?