Solana's Trials

Solana sighed as she laid on the bed in her new house in Fiore, curled up in a tight ball with her knees to the chest. The past few weeks had been hell for the Ranger as she’d been dealing with everything that had come with bringing her father to trial as well as getting everything into her mother’s name. The trial itself had been even worse than she had expected. It had been rather swift, lasting only four days, but it had still taken its toll on her more than everything else had. Even now, she was doing her best to put it behind her, but it was hard. She could still hear the strangled cries of the women and girls as they broke down and gave their testimonies about what Kinsley had done to them or what they had escaped—if they were lucky—but still witnessed. Unfortunately, the number that escaped his treatment fist were few and far between, but none of escaped unmarried either physically or mentally. Luckily, just had been swift and unrelenting. The jury had taken less than five minutes to convict him of every single count on the list. From assault and battery to kidnapping and stalking to domestic violence and spousal rape… Every single count had stuck; the overwhelming evidence had seen to that. He’d been put in jail for basically the rest of his life with the only chance of parole not being until he was about eighty. Over two dozen people had given their testimonies against Kinsley. Most were the girls and women that served as maids and nannies to Solana and her sister, but there had also been plenty from the few men that served as butlers as well. Then there were the thousands of photos and hundreds of hours of video. Most of the video had been far too graphic to show in the courtroom, but they’d played the audio and Solana could still hear their screams in the back of her mind and they weren’t going anywhere for a long time. Then there was the physical evidence gathered from Solana and Pandora themselves. The X rays and photos taken of their bodies within the first twenty-four hours of the investigation. Both of them had severe internal damage on top of their extreme scarring. Solana thought herself lucky for having just her front and back scarred; her mother’s entire body was marred beyond recognition. It was to the point where Pandora refused to wear anything that showed any skin below the bottom of her neck and anything less than her hands. But that wasn’t what had distressed Solana the most. It was the fact that Summer was nowhere to be found. It had been a month since this had all started and she had tried frantically to get in contact with her friend, but Summer had formed a mental block that not even Mewtwo could get through. The most he knew was that she was in her Blaze’s Asada, tracking down some legendaries that might be able to help her so she could remain a Ranger. Outside of that, there had been no news from her best friend. Chairperson Erma had put her on indefinite leave as as soon as she’d reported back to the Ringtown Base. She had been granted two months leave so she could deal with the trial, but now that she was back in Fiore a month early, she had been put on indefinite leave. She was doing her best to help ease her mother into a normal life, but it was hard. Solana was barely able to leave the house due to Pandora clinging to her out of fear. She understood he rmother’s fears and did her best to reassure that Kinsley would never come near them again, but it was hard. That was taking its toll on her as well. She wanted to get back out and serve the people around her and see her friends again, but Pandora’s fears kept everyone away. Lunick had entered the house to greet Solana when she came back, but Pandora had suffered a major panic attack seeing the boy. Her fear of men was deep and she understood why; she had suffered abuse from her own father starting at a young age, but the true horrors hadn’t started until she had married Kinsley. She hadn’t slept in days. Whenever she drifted off, the nightmares haunted her. The screams of the victims rang in her mind and she woke up, crying for the horrors that would follow them for the rest of their lives. She didn’t care about herself; she just wanted them to never suffer again, though she knew their own nightmares were just beginning as one ended.