Aphrodite v Hermes

{if Court round == 1}
You see a tall woman walk in, her bright red toga having rose petals fall off of it onto the ground behind her. "APHRODITE, please keep your glamour effects under control lest I do so for you!" "But Persephone gets her petals!" "And that is not a glamour effect, and you know it perfectly well. I will have order in my court." "Oh come now, can't we make an exception for a titan such as myself?" "No exceptions, you know perfectly well that pulling rank won't work on me, cousin. Or need I remind you that you are the youngest titan?" Aphrodite turns off the glamour effect, rose petals no longer coming off her dress, a little pout on her lips. The judge simply points to the prosecutor's seat, and Aphrodite takes her seat, dramatically flopping down.

"Well, that answers my question," Hermes speaks up, "can't say that this will be an easy court case to win. It will be . . . enjoyable, however." "Ah, Hermes, good to see you enjoy my company so much; of course I've yet to hear complaints from anyone on that front." Realization strikes your face: those two are definitely flirting with each other, and the trial hasn't even started yet. "I'm afraid I must interrupt you two; you can fuck later, preferably outside of my court." Hermes retort, "you said preferably, which means technically it could be inside your court." The judge simply responds by pulling up the tapestry beneath her and searching it, finding a thread near the bottom that seems to weave through the whole of the fabric. She pulls at a thread, and you see in the corner of your eye Hermes being lifted in real time and spun, as with an invisible hand. "Just because your thread can't be cut doesn't mean it can't be manipulated, Hermes." She releases the thread, and he plops to the ground, clearly somewhat shaken.

"Today's case is on the matter of who this cleric next to me is truly dedicated to, as evidence has been brought forth by the prosecution as to question their loyalties to the defense. The prosecution will be the spontaneous Aphrodite and the defense will be the wily Hermes." It would appear that neither Aphrodite nor Hermes particularly hates the adjective used to describe them, as they simply gather their wits for the trial.

"Per agreements dating back centuries between the two here today, this trial will occur over the course of five rounds. The first will be on the matter of fame, the second on the matter of intuition, the third on the matter of revolutions, the fourth on the matter of humility, and the fifth on the matter of preference." A moment pause passes before she continues, "let the trial begin." You feel yourself subjected to a truth spell, and find yourself unable to resist its effects. Whatever you state, it must be the truth.

Aphrodite stands, and approaches the witness stand. "So, Cecillia, we both know that you shouldn't explicitly seek fame out. However, does fame actually pose a problem? I can't say that I've seen any problems caused by it, I use subterfuge plenty and have never had it interfered with by my fame. Hermes simply has a methodology problem." "Can't say my methodology is particularly flawed when I can still have you moaning my name at the end of the day." Aphrodite's cheeks flush, but she nevertheless retorts without turning around, "yet it was not I who couldn't form a coherent sentence at the end of last time." She then continues, "Cecillia, do you think fame, by itself, can cause problems, or is it simply a problem of 'getting good' so to speak?"
{elseif Court round == 2}
You see Aphrodite turn around, confidence in the sway of her hips as she returns to her seat. "That concludes round one." Hermes stands, and rather than flying, struts forward. "Cecillia, intuition has its place but let's be real for a minute, shall we? Underhanded tactics explicitly exploit intuition, and use it against a mark. There's so many ways to exploit intuition that it's practically worthless. Wouldn't you say that it's far better to rely on hard sense and axioms which can't be exploited due to inflexibility than intuition?" You happen to glance over to Aphrodite, who seems to have lost all previous signs of arousal and, far from it, her heat seems to have transitioned to irritation and anger.
{elseif Court round == 3}
Hermes returns to his seat, confidence in his swagger. "That concludes round two. You have the floor for round three, Aphrodite." She stands up and marches towards you. {if temp alpha = true}"First, let me say that you did well to respond as you did; never ignore your woman's intuition, it has certainly saved me on more than one occasion.{else}"Hermes may have swindled you into agreeing with him, but don't ignore your woman's intuition; doing so could just save you from a fate worse than a bear.{endif} With that said, let's get back to the trial, shall we? I am the Lady of Passion, and obviously from what you saw earlier, that does indeed include sex. You know what else it includes? Revolutions; nothing gets the blood going like a passionate revolution. So, Cecillia, would you ever start a revolution, if the cause were just in your eyes?"
{elseif Court round == 4}
Aphrodite turns on her heel and returns to her seat, energy in her step. "That concludes round three." Hermes stands, and flies over to you. "Cecillia, you and I have both witnessed individuals who we know need a bit of humbling. In fact, I would say that everyone except a very few need a bit of humbling. Is there any scenario in which someone who's become fuller of theirself than their actions support that you wouldn't support them being humbled, be it yourself or someone else?"
{elseif Court round == 5}
Hermes floats back to his seat, clearly satisfied with himself regardless of outcome. "That concludes round four. Aphrodite, please take the floor for this final round." Aphrodite stands, and sways her way over to you. "Now that I'm a bit calmer, let's finish this trial. If you've already caused one of us to win, this last question will be completely irrelevant and just a bit of fun info to find out about you. On the other hand, if we happen to be tied, your response will resolve the question of which of us you'll be dedicated to from now on. So, the question is: do you prefer men or women in the bed with you?"
{elseif Court round == 6}
"And that concludes the case of Aphrodite v Hermes in the matter of the cleric to my left.{if Prosecution points > 2} I judge Aphrodite to have won this case. {if Prosecution points > 4}However, due to the cleric in question's total betrayal of Hermes, they are ordered to forfeit all gifts Hermes gave her on initial dedication. {elseif Prosecution points > 3}However, her new cleric is ordered to forfeit the spell Hermes granted her on initial dedication. {else}However, due to her still partial loyalty to Hermes, she may keep the spell Hermes initially granted her, although he may reclaim the boons of ability he granted her on initial dedication.{endif}{else} I judge Hermes to have won this case. Aphrodite is ordered to surrender all current claim to his cleric.{endif} All parties may return at once." And with that, she returns to weaving. Both Hermes and Aphrodite vanish from the court, although you feel that things have changed surrounding you.
{else}
Apologies, but these chapters only work well in game mode - too much chapter bloat if I separate it into the five rounds and aftermath.

However, below is a teaser from within the chapter:
Realization strikes your face: those two are definitely flirting with each other, and the trial hasn't even started yet. "I'm afraid I must interrupt you two; you can fuck later, preferably outside of my court." Hermes retorts, "you said preferably, which means technically it could be inside your court." The judge simply responds by pulling up the tapestry beneath her and searching it, finding a thread near the bottom that seems to weave through the whole of the fabric. She pulls at a thread, and you see in the corner of your eye Hermes being lifted in real time and spun, as with an invisible hand. "Just because your thread can't be cut doesn't mean it can't be manipulated, Hermes." She releases the thread, and he plops to the ground, clearly somewhat shaken.
{endif}