The angel studies her face. "You speak the truth," it says in a voice like ringing crystal.

"I do." Catherine doesn't think it would be able to tell, unless it had some outside confirmation already. She hopes it does. It would make it harder for Hell's agents to convince the solars that they've been tricked, later.

"Then you shall have your stay." The angel grips its bow tighter and beats its wings faster, soaring upward and away from her.

Iomedae, in her position, would observe that when the fight ended Sunday she had only a smattering of lower-circle spells, one good arm, and no remaining ability to bend fate. She'd probably hold off on getting the arm regenerated and expend all of her spells and fateweaving before the fight with Sarenrae's executioners, so that their goal of murdering her was not made harder by their willingness to cooperate on shared ends.

Catherine isn't an idiot. She's spending enough of her resources to gate a dozen solars to her so that they can try to kill her; she's not going to spend more just for the sake of making it easy for them.

She doesn't have to.

"Do you know your name?"

She wasn't actually sure she would wind up here. She didn't expect to wake up in a clone, but the angels might not have been thorough enough - or known enough - to stop her from waking up in a baby somewhere...She really hopes Élie and Naima and Ione survived. If they're all dead Cheliax is going to be in some trouble. Mephistopheles will be delighted.

...She was asked a question. And not compelled to answer, apparently, though she doesn't doubt any answer she gives will have to be honest. Should she? Probably the psychopomp doesn't send her to Hell for not answering - not that she expects to go anywhere else, ability to empower herself as a paladin or no. But staying silent is - not entirely ceding her last tiny scrap of control over the situation, but ceding any chance at managing the situation with any finesse. "That's a bit of a philosophical question, no?"

"Your name is Alfirin. Do you know your name?"

What, does it imagine her inhumanly forgetful? She supposes some petitioners must be. And many are infants. "In that case, yes."

"Do you know where you are?"

"In Pharasma's court. Under protest."

"Does it sound to you like we are speaking in a language you understand, using words that you are familiar with, at a speaking speed you can follow?"

Really seems like that should be the first question. "Yes."

"Do you understand that you had, while alive, the capacity to take actions, and that those actions had effects on the world and on other people?"

"Really?" She's getting kind of annoyed with these questions. "Effects on other people? If that's true - that changes everything."

If the judge is amused, or cares about the answer in any way, it gives no indication. "Do you understand that the purpose of this court is to determine your alignment and which afterlife you are assigned to?"

"I understand that to be its intent."

"If there is no additional pretrial business, opening statements will proceed in a randomized order. The counsel from Nirvana is selected to speak first."

"Heaven has prepared a motion to place the trial under seal and require of all parties commitments to obeying the confidentiality of the proceedings. Heaven requests the authorization of the decedent to file said motion."

Why would Heaven want that? The obvious reason to seal the trial is because some of Mephistopheles' secrets might come out in it, but it's Heaven requesting the seal, not Hell… would Mephistopheles pay Heaven to raise the motion to deflect suspicion from Him? Possibly, in which case assenting would serve His interests… But, no, He is paying Heaven to keep his secrets already. So Heaven has reason to want the trial under seal, if they think Mephistopheles' secrets might benefit their case… which they probably do. Without that to explain her recent actions she likely resembles nothing so much as a cultist of Rovagug. That might work to her advantage though; Rovagug cultists get the Abyss, most of the time, and she does not imagine that the Abyss would not be better for her than Hell. Even with recent changes in management. Possibly especially with the recent changes in management, since Mephistopheles would find whatever analogue of joy He experiences in making sure she is worse-off for having dealt with him.

"The decedent may respond."

She hasn't been thinking that long, but she is thinking more slowly than usual and maybe it's not obvious that she's thinking about it at all instead of standing there dumbfounded.

…Axis would serve her better than either the Abyss or Hell. She hasn't read Lawful Neutral in nearly a thousand years, but maybe the advocate from Heaven expects that the last few days changed that. It's… a gamble. But hers to make or not, apparently, and if there's one thing she's learned about herself recently it's that sometimes when the stakes are high she's a gambler. "You have my permission."

Aha, Heaven bit. The Phistophilus leading Hell's legal team here was so hoping that they would.

"Hell would like to register its support for Heaven's motion and further move that the court expel from this trial those participants who are unable to make such a commitment and cannot be compelled by the court to such a confidentiality requirement." He's not optimistic about getting the Elysian delegation thrown out on this pretext, but maybe it will work to remove Nocticula, who for some reason decided to show up to this trial personally. He expects the Abyss' case to be the second strongest, after his own, so getting it thrown out before the trial even starts would be to his advantage.

"How does the advocate from Hell suggest that this court come to an unbiased and correct judgment in this case if the advocates for some sides are being preemptively excluded? Magistrate, if this motion is under serious consideration we request an opportunity to respond and a recess in which to prepare a response - "

A lantern archon winks across the chamber from Heaven's desk to Elysium's.

"Um, there is precedent for the importance of having advocates for every afterlife, Abyss v Garthulla, 3708."

Predictable.

"The precedent in Garthulla explicitly does not overturn Maelstrom v. Abyss, -12526 -"

"Maelstrom v Abyss concerns disruptive behavior within the court, not any merely speculative damages -"