Truth or Dare – Everyone in uproar


Avalon wasn't quite sure even with his aura reading if Nebula was joking or not. Maybe because she wasn't sure herself. The guards stayed on their toes. Yet let Avalon handle this mess. For the rest of the recess, Avalon used to guide the girls through some meditation and showed them how they could stay calm and get into a good head space or happy place as he named it. Normally he would have done so in the days before the hearing, yet their trip to Cloud Tower had prevented that. And it was obvious to him that Griffin had done nothing to prepare the two at all. The guards only reported the unsanctioned use of magic from the fairies to Councillor Aithlin and he took note of it. But nothing else happened on that regard for now at least. The girls got a huge hug from their classmates, who had been stuck with Faragonda and other Professors taking care of them and their needs. Blade's parents had kept a bit of a distance after Faragonda's request to ensure Blade wouldn't be seen as weak. But she only needed a look from them to know that they were with her. After the recess, the word was given to Philopa again who finished her grant speech. It went on for around ten more minutes. Afterwards, she was stepping down from the main podium, yet stayed up front. The furniture actually had been changed a bit. There were more, smaller podiums creating an U-form in front of the Council members.

Councillor Shiri, the Werefox Fairy animal, picked up after the never-ending speech, "Great, now that we are done with… this introduction. Please take your stand and elaborate exactly and without any further ado, how Desertia's diminished noble houses concluded your prior accusations, you named quite a few and severe once, Lady Philopa. This better be not just hot air. Desertia already had its drought solved," Shiri's fox ears twitched rapidly and laid down backwards. Shiri was quickly bored and annoyed by anything and she hated rambling even more. It was widely known that it was easy to lose her attention and then she would vote to cut speech time short or move on to the next point on the agenda. "So?" She barely had finished her request. She was pushing hard for some actual content and was unimpressed by anything Philopa had done so far.

Philopa didn't lose her cool, "But of course," She stepped to one of the smaller podiums for the next part of the hearing. "Well, the Magic Council already knows of the raised Witch numbers, who had come under the assumption to earn quick coin with their dark magic. That is irrefutable. They hoped to, as always, make a living off the suffering of others."

"That is pure speculation on your part," Shiri answered cold, she was in her human form for all hearings. Werefoxes were known to be cunning Fairy beasts, which normally were in their hybrid form and had the ability to turn into humans for a period of time. They were among the few sentient Fairy animals. And also, long-lived and therefore wiser than most. Shiri was a dark magic user like all of her species. She of course would not let such a blunt statement stand. "Where is the proof?" Shiri growled slightly.

Philopa smiled confident, "Well for one, they destroyed the MagicWeb Tower and not forty-eight hours later the palace crumbled to dust. Attacked and overrun by black magic monsters. And also, by a cowardly move of planting bombs and traps a long-known tactic of Witches. They obviously cut Desertia off the communication lines beforehand otherwise that insane plan never would have worked. All nobles know Witches wait in the dark and strike than least expected. That is the reason why we pushed to ban the Witches in the first place. We only held off with the decision on the accounts of befriended kingdoms, who advised against it. A mistake we paid dearly for."

Blade looked to Nebula, 'Cowards indeed. Nebula, your turn. We got to do this now!'

Nebula was about to raise from her seat as the doors opened wide and a horde of farmers from Desertia waltzed in. Interrupting the proceedings.

"The only mistake you ever did was getting born!" A man shouted or rather screamed from the entrance.

"Order, please!" Councillor Cahagan raised his voice. Without any warning, a group of farmers had appeared as if on cue. The guards of course had let them in, it was an open hearing for all, officially. Yet the farmers' arrival made quite the fuss. They had no will to stick to the etiquette of any kind. And weren't there to stand by and watch. They were hell-bent on making their voices heard.

Another farmer shouted and made his way to Philopa, however, got blocked off instantaneously by the security, "You water-hoarding sons of bitches! I lost my farm because of you!"

"Who cares about your stupid acre, Marc," the next tried to push past, "You let all my cattle die for a stupid hot bath!"

"Hot bath? We never got any rations! Have you puff-pants ever washed yourself with sand for weeks? No? Go, try it! Let's see how you like sand in your butt cracks," an old Lady swung her patchwork handbag.

"Silence!" Councillor Neptune roared, to his disbelief he was answered by a short pause and then a massive shitstorm of comebacks.

"Never again!"; "Shut it fish face, no one ask for your opinion!"; "Let's just take his water next time!"; "Yeah, we'll see how you roast next time. I bet you wouldn't be so high and mighty then!"

Votzaak and Nerrocean were smirking as they watched how the light faction Councillors tried to establish order in the hall. Eaden on the other hand seemed to grow a massive headache. He was glaring pissed at Griffin in the dark faction stances.

"How dare you insult me?" Neptune jumped up from his seat again. Just to, yet again, be held back by Cahagan.

Councillor Iawenna flew to the front, "People, people, calm yourselves. You all will be heard you have my word on this." The Pixi Queen tried her best to sort the mess out.

"We heard that before as if we would believe empty promises!"

"Yeah," the masses agreed.

Blade watched Griffin stand up from the seating of the dark faction. So far, she had not raised a finger or done anything. Finally, she would act, 'Hey, Nebula look!'

Griffin gave a short nod to Eaden and then cast a spell, "Aeris aliquid sistero!" The air suddenly was heavy. An eerie feeling was in the room. Especially the young magic users of the light alignment gasped for air as they had not expected dark magic to flood the hall. All sound had vanished the second the spell was uttered. No shouting or whispering, nothing. Irritated people looked at each other. Griffin spoke as soft as a breeze with a hint of superiority, "You heard Councillor Iawenna, you will be heard right now."

"That's not - I ran into that one, didn't I?" Councillor Iawenna unaffected by the spell sighed and flew back to her seat. Shiri glared at Pixi annoyed.

"Please line up and bring forth your cases and the reasons why you requested the help of the Witches. And all accounts of harassment you have witnessed for yourself and those you hired." The demeanour of the farmers changed promptly. They followed suit like little ducklings her mother. It took the farmer crowd only seconds to be sorted into smaller groups.

Blade couldn't hide a smile, 'Of course, she made a big fuss… what an entrance…how come we need to be so stuck up, Nebula?' She looked to the side and noticed that Nebula herself was rubbing her throat. Their fellow classmates and students were coughing noiseless in the back. She herself was fine though. 'You alright?!'

'Urrgh, yeah, that spell just makes the throat itch…' Nebula smiled at her friend shortly just to nod in the direction of the Council members, 'What is his problem I wonder… Votzaak is staring at you again.'

'Pretty sure he is staring at both of us,' Blade felt a shiver run down her spine. Councillor Votzaak was still a mystery to her. And something rubbed her the wrong way about him.

The farmers got sorted and Councillor Sybilla addressed the first one, "Mister, please state your Name and City."

Gladly the spell subsided quickly. "Marc, from Djehzar, I lost my acre because of none excitant water rations," the man started.

"Djehzar lies in Lady Eshes district if I am not mistaken…" Councillor Shelliefi, the Selkie, checked the map. "Lady Eshe to the podiums please." Yet nobody moved. Nobody stood up. It was a rather awkward silence.

Councillor Aithlin sighed deeply, "Are we in kinder garden…" He looked to Eaden closed his eyes shortly and sighed again, "She has not partaken in the hearing so far. Besides her official summons. Lord Shadaka to the stand then. You have worked on the ration system together with the late Court Mage Shabaka, your father. Let us get this resolved quickly, please."

That young man was the spitting image of Lord Shabaka. Blade and the class had done extensive research on the royals from Desertia and their statements in the news. She knew Shadaka, the son, was only a simply Paladin and nowhere near his father's strength. Nonetheless, she was on edge and ready to jump to action. The guards side-eyed her closely. They had not reported the private talks, but nothing said was forgotten. And as much as they were there for their protection an act of violence would be stopped at first sight.

"The rations were handed out as stated in the official reports. He is lying," Lord Shadaka simply answered calmly.

"What?!" Marc got furious, "My ass they did. Where are those reports anyway, huh? I want a look myself."

"They got destroyed in the attack by the Witches…" Lord Shadake shook his head and sighed. "I can understand your frustration. But all of Desertia has received water by now and the drought has ended since the Witches are gone. You should have more than enough water."

"What good is the water of the OTHER kingdoms now? Everything is dead! How am I supposed to feed my family?" He glared at the noble, "Prig…" he mumbled.

"That's enough!" Councillor Neptune hammered his hand on the table. "You will show respect or leave."

"Respect or leave? Is that how you operate? He is lying. It's word against word. Anyone can say empty words. Fact is my plants died. And with the rations that should not have happened. If the Witch I paid would have been allowed to stay, it would have worked out just fine. Even without your nonsense ration plan. You wouldn't have been able to keep a daisy alive with those drops. But nooo, you had to ban them all. Lady Eshe still owes me money for the barn they destroyed as they arrested the Witch brutally no less." Marc wouldn't let loose.

Lady Philopa stepped in, "So you received water."

"Not even close to what was promised," Marc defended himself, "And that doesn't excuse the destruction of my property!"

"You harboured a declared criminal and expect that we use kid gloves?" Yenma, Cousin of Isma, the new leader of the Foreign affairs stepped down the seating area. "With the ban, the Witches had to leave. Not to mention that Djehzar is near a reservoir, which had been tempered with by Witches. Queen Jewels herself proved that. You two were on that mission as well isn't that right, Lady Nebula?" He addressed her. "Please, elaborate on your findings."

Everyone stared at her awaiting an answer, "…. ….. We did find tempering of water being sucked out of the reservoir by dark magic. Yes, we also-"

"See," Lord Yenma interrupted her. "You, Mister, are not a victim, you are a thief."

"Thief?! I never received enough to save anything on my acre and by far not what was promised! I simply used what was at my disposal to get what is rightfully mine!" Marc got riled up as did the farmers behind him.

"Yeah, if you had given us what was promised, we'd never have called on the Witches!"

"Are you calling us all liars?!"

"Oh, so now every farmer is evil since it happened everywhere. I'll never sell to you shitheads ever again!"

"Yeah, do you think we farmers are dumb? All regions had to call for help of the Witches because you are incompetent!"

"If everyone would have stuck to the rations. It would have worked. You were scared and gave the Witches the best excuse to enter Desertia," Lady Philopa held against it. "And when we sent the forces to get them out, you attacked your own Countrymen, who were there for your protection!"

"Bull crap, first the rations didn't come and then we called for help," Marc protested.

"Did you ever think of the possibility that the Witches were the ones stealing the rations in the first place? We have several reports and scans from spaceships that the supply lines were interrupted," Lord Hasir, Grandfather of Hassan, the late interstellar Commander intervened. He was followed by more Desertian nobles who came down and upfront to sort this mess out.

"In the Jemri region, those rations went straight to the barracks! They didn't need that much," the older woman spoke up.

"They were sent there to be redistributed," Lord Talon brother of Talibah answered the old woman, "I was in charge of that. Or would have been. You went overboard of course we arrested the Witches in question."

"My kid is a Witch; your guys beat her up and dragged her across town like an animal!" She pulled out a phone and projected some pictures. "Look at that, you broke her arm!"

"Yeah, my Cousin came to help and she was blasted off the sky as she watered my acre at night!"

"And when was that? After the ban, I bet. We published the official statement about the ban. Do you know how many soldiers got attacked and hurt, because of your thoughtless job offers?!" Shawaka sister of Shadaka stepped up to another podium. "I treated hundreds of soldiers for dark magic burns. I am all for saving your acres but you gave no thought to the security of Desertia."

"Security? What good does security do us when we are dying of thirst? You nobles refused the water first!"

"We did not!" Lord Shadaka got angry.

"I made a copy of all received water rations papers for my farm. They prove you were nowhere close to the promised rations!" Another farmer found the courage to speak up. "Or is paper lying now too?!"

"I got pictures of your methods of arrest too!"

"I got a video!"

'ENOUGH!' Councillor Eaden's voice rang in everyone's ears. The Council had been ignored several times by now as they had called to order. None had even listened to what they had said. 'We'll do this in order for every single one of you. And shush the senseless psychic chit chat or I'll shut it down for you.'

What ensued for the rest of the day was an endless there and back of farmers of every region bringing forth evidence and the nobility of Desertia justified their decisions or at least tried to. It was a much closer race than Blade had initially thought. Of course, the Witches had gone the more illegal ways to get water. Alyssa, Steela and Gilliana in comparison seemed to be more rule-abiding types. Because they had the right type of magic sources to keep an acre alive on their own. Still, the accounts where Witches were mistreated piled up. And not everything could be explained by resistance to law enforcement. Plus, most of the witches only stole as much water as the rations promised and not more.

Nebula and Blade decided against entering the discussion for now. This was going more or less well for the Witches at the moment. At least it showed that mistakes and crimes were done by both sides, which weakened Philopa's entrance speech slowly but steady.

Blade and Nebula were meeting up with their classmates outside in the courtyard after this day's hearing session. The Guards were still at their side.

"My head hurts… so much screaming…" Rise complained.

"I know right," Snow rubbed her forehead. "I nearly fell off my seat then the farmers entered the hall."

"Was a good wake-up call, I agree," Amber snickered. "Are you sure it's fine you didn't enter the fray?"

"Yes, I bet Griffin is starting off slow to poke holes into their perfect façade. So, once the pressure hits they'll topple like dominos," Nebula elaborated.

"Still, that Yenma guy was rude… cutting you off," Blade commented as she stared into the stars. Her parents had already left for the city like many others to get to their hotels.

Dahlia laughed, "Well if that Marc wasn't so eager to pummel them. There might have been a chance."

"Ah, you hear that? Finally, some peace…" Sienna breathed out loudly. "I checked if I could dig up something more about that Votzaak like you asked during the break. I…"

"Shh, speak of the devil," Blade gave her an elbow into the side to stop her. Councillor Votzaak was walking past them with Councillor Nerrocean. Those two seemed to get along quite well. The girls grinned at the two Councillors awkwardly and they returned a strange stare in return.

"Gesh, he gives me the creeps," Nebula whispered to the girls. She saw their Professors come out with the Light Faction Councillors.

"Hey, catch!" Councillor Votzaak called Nebula out and threw a tiny ball right at her with some proper speed.

Nebula barely caught the thing in time, "Ouch, ouch, that's hot!" She played hot potato with the ball and crashed into Blade and stumbled over as something tripped her.

Blade fell over together with Nebula, "Woah, careful!"

Amber tried to catch the ball but the guards just stood by and did nothing. Yet the heat coming from the ball was so hot she had to back off, "What the?!"

Blade caught the falling ball before it would hit Nebula on the head and took hold of it. "Huh, what the heck are you talking about, it's ice cold." Blade turned the small dark metal ball in her hands.

"Are you nuts?! Keeping it in your hands!" Amber panicked, "I'm a Fairy of fire I can't even hold it."

"Ha, how interesting," Councillor Votzaak grinned satisfied. "So, you indeed are also aligned to the dark magic." He laughed and snipped with his fingers and the ball appeared in his hand and Councillor Gadiel and Shiri appeared further along the lawn out of the thin air. "Neat gadget lacks a bit finesse if you ask me."

Councillor Gadiel snorted, "It worked just fine. You're just jealous." He snatched his smithwork out of the Leprechaun's hand.

"Pah, dark aligned Fairy what is the world coming to? They are way too squishy for such magic…" Nerrocean glanced over his shoulder to Blade, "Go back to your sparkles." The group of Councillor's made their way to the school gate to leave for Cloud Tower, where they were staying at. This wasn't their mess to sort out. Though they obviously enjoyed creating this political havoc as they left laughing and paying up bets to each other.

"You can't be serious," Councillor Aithlin moaned annoyed. "What in Magix? Why would you withhold critical information? You had to know," He looked at Professor Palladium. "You can't be serious Palladium." The Elf was visibly upset. 'I thought what the guards reported was a fluke… this hearing is getting more and more complicated by the minute. We need to get on top of this fast...'

Councillor Neptune stared in disbelief at Blade, "Are you actually a Witch?! I knew it was a mistake to support King Theodor with this madness. We let a commoner enter Alfea and she chooses to become a witch, of all things. The six kingdoms will be the laughing stock of all of Magix. Do you kids ever think about how much damage you can cause?!" Neptune balled his fists his whole body trembled.

Cahagan sighed, "Councillor, anyone is free to choose between alignments as they wish. That is a fundamental right and not be intervened by politics. Please, calm yourself, you are not here as King. Still, one does not simply wake up with dark magic, Headmistress Faragonda." He side-gazed at her unhappy.

"My apologies, Councillors. It's just that we are not sure what exactly happened. We didn't have the time to conclude our findings," Faragonda tried her best to smooth the situation over. 'Great, as if we don't have enough problems already… Griffin, where are you, when I need you… She still hasn't told me anything new yet.' She refocused on the Councillors, "And no, this wasn't Griffin's work. IF this is what you are considering. Blade used dark magic in the assassination attack to protect herself and her fellow students." She was somewhat nervous. 'What to do? … If they see the dark Fairy form… my word, that would open up a whole other can of worms…'

"And you simply forgot to mention that in your report?" Councillor Aithlin just couldn't settle down. He like the rest was tired from the hearing and patients were running low. "Let me guess, that elongated stay was so Griffin could satisfy her curiosity… You may be the Headmistress of this school. However, it is not your position to decide what information is critical to these proceedings."

Wizgiz hopped forward to come to Faragonda's aid, "And what good would speculations do? Her being able to use dark magic should have no impact on her statements, whatsoever. This is an entirely different matter."

"Speculations?" Cahagan shook his head, "Have you not interviewed her about this? That is the minimum you should have done. It's protocol. I don't need to tell you that Professor Wizgiz."

Palladium crossed his arms, "They don't even know how they survived the collapse of the palace. They were weeks late, they should be dead. And you expect them to know how an alignment happened?"

"We expect you to be competent. Maybe this school needs some new staff," Councillor Neptune grumbled and gazed at Griselda.

Avalon shook his head, "What is so confusing about this? Emotions ran high, and the student's reports show this to be true. Negativity was everywhere, so many dead. Better trained Paladins have been reported to use dark magic when they were being pushed to their limits. It happens."

Cahagan replied in disagreement, "That are one-time uses, not an alignment change."

"Blade has not changed her alignment. She can use her Winx just fine. It is possible to have both alignments. The only reason all magic professionals focus on one is because it takes ages to master higher grade spells," Faragonda made her standpoint clear. "And it's more effective to learn more powerful spells than learning lower grade spells of both sides. I know. I was a Witch myself and I gave up on dark magic for that exact reason."

"You are forgetting the basics. Dark and light magic don't mix well. The dangers to the body are too high," Councillor Aithlin protested, "Spells can get taken over and explode prematurely. She'll blast herself out of the sky."

"And convergence can solve that problem," Faragonda held against it.

King Neptune laughed out loud, "You were and are a prodigy in both magic arts. She is nothing more than a commoner. She'll never reach that level, no commoner ever will, that's why there are noble bloodlines."

"And yet, the Witches played their parts to fight threats like the Trix, Darkar or Valtor," Griselda added. 'He is not really considering playing me out against Faragonda is he?! Preposterous!'

"And how often did they screw up first? The Trix are Witches themselves. Witches are not to be trusted," Neptune growled at Professor Griselda. "Since when are you on their side?"

"History aside," Councillor Aithlin got the discussion back on track, "You withheld information. And I don't care for how long." He rose his finger to shut the Professors up. "Blade, how long were you able to use dark magic?" He squinted his eyes to inspect her closely.

Blade was back on her feet, "Eh… well…" Blade wasn't sure what to say, 'Oh crap… should I say something about… no, it's way too early. If they find…' She stared at the other girls unsure.

"It's alright Blade," Cahagan smiled kindly. "You're not at fault."

"Debatable…" Neptune commented just to earn some scorning gazes from his fellow Councillors.

"She used dark magic before we came through the Ocean gate, Councillor Aithlin. And she used it in many fights, where we were alone and cut off from support. It's one of the reasons why we survived that tragedy. She saved my live with it," Nebula stepped up and took a bow. "Please, we didn't mean any harm. We just wanted to avoid any big fuss. Dark magic is viewed lesser. Besides the fact that the person makes the magic, not the magic the person. We kept it from our Professors for the same reason. It's not their fault…"

"We simply wanted some peace. See our friends. They never would have let us go…" Blade continued.

"Of course not!" Griselda was still pissed about that fact.

Aithlin closed his eyes, "She told the truth, as much as I can tell. Though Professor Avalon is better in aura reading."

"I saw no sign of a lie," Professor Avalon agreed, 'Still doesn't explain anything further…if we only had more time to convince them to open up to us…'

Cahagan sighed deeply, "Very well, consider this statement noted. Now, you all better get some rest. And next time, just be honest. Your Professors are there to guide you. Or come to us in this hearing's matters. My door is always open." Cahagan was so tired and too tired to make a big fuss about this. 'So much is going of the rails here… I need to call the other Councillors at Red Fountain...' The three Councillors turned to enter their sleeping quarters in Alfea.

"Blade, Nebula, it will be okay. Don't worry. You are doing fine," Faragonda stepped closer to the class. 'There is so much I would like to talk to you, but right now that's impossible…' She gazed at the guards. "If there is anything you wish to tell me. Just call. Cahagan is right though, it's late, you should really get some sleep."

Eight o'clock, a new day and a new dress with even more layers and fine embellishments. 'This is ridiculous, one dress would have been just fine…' Blade hated the high heels, she just didn't feel like she would be able to fight in them, because they were so high. Yet the weapon of choice in this hearing was words anyway. The shoes were pretty though, she had to admit that. Sybilla, Fairy of Justice, had greeted everyone. The hall was packed full as always. There had been so many farmers with complaints that it straight went into a continuation of yesterday's quarrel. It was a never-ending there and back. There was Marc and his around twentyish friends making a stand for themselves and the Witches, for another two hours. The end was in sight for this part of the hearing.

"We already discussed that particular incident…" Lady Akela, the elven environment minister sighed. "And I stand by my words. If the Witches wanted to officially help and had no ulterior motives they simply like any other Fairy, Paladin, Wizard or even Specialists could have gone to any garrison and officially applied for work. If they had done so, the distribution would have worked as planned. And those without sources of nature could have helped to repair the aqueduct lines. But Witches don't want to work with officials. Because they know they are in the grey zone at best. The ban was justified no matter how you put it."

Griffin stood up and took another podium, "Oh, really, then where was the invitation for that?"

Lady Philopa answered fierce, "It's always been there. We didn't write an invitation for the other professions. One would think a Witch understands the concept of the unspoken word." That woman still had the audacity to were that cloak with the Ankh.

'This is not good…' Nebula spoke to the Fairy group in their psychic chat.

'I agree,' Dahlia sighed. 'They are losing their momentum. I hate to say it. It's clear that things went wrong. But they are missing physical evidence. They can tell a thousand stories yet without proof…'

Snow snorted, 'Urgh, are you two sure you can't add anything? Nebula if you confirm…'

'And what are we to say?' Blade interrupted, 'We had a run-in with Sorceresses more than once and they weren't all just talk. Not to mention the arrests… I mean I get it, the guards were tired and on edge. Sorceresses aren't really easy to talk to… it was bound to blow up in everyone's faces at some point.'

'Yes, biggest problem will be that Philopa has read the reports from our mission. She probably has counter-questions for everything. I'm not sure how to go about this,' Nebula's voice resounded. 'Professor Pikass?'

Shanna looped the Professor in, 'How can I help you Nebula?' The Professor asked with a sincere and calm voice.

'Is there anything, I can do? I am not sure if I can say anything meaningful,' Nebula asked him.

'Hmm,' Pikass thought about it, 'Well, you always can say something. Yet like it is obvious to all here. Mistakes were made on all sides. Your mission to the water reservoir is not the best account for the innocence for the Witches.'

'Sorceresses,' corrected Blade him.

Professor Pikass chuckled, 'Sorceresses they are. You are really pushing this, aren't you? Why?'

'Because that's what they are. They are basically female Wizards, Sorceresses. Witch in comparison sounds and mostly is meant more like an insult…' Blade answered a bit tired.

'Ah, interesting. Yet you called them Witches yourself in the start and it was not meant as an insult or was it?' Pikass asked with a bit of sass.

'It's passive-aggressive. It splits and divides passively. No one needs that. It's a bad habit,' Blade answered a bit annoyed. 'Just because everyone is saying that them included, doesn't make it right. They are not to be feared.'

'My, so defensive.' Pikass addressed with a slight superiority in his voice.

'What?!' Blade got upset and turned her head rapidly to glare at her Professor. Of course, that drew the attention of the guards, some of their professors and a short glimpse from Councillor Argan, the Lumen prince, who was obviously confused. Since he didn't know what was going on.

'Something wrong?' Professor Palladium's voice joined the conversation.

Professor Pikass greeted him kindly, 'Ah, welcome to our little discussion. Blade you really need to watch out for that. The nobles will use your temper against you. Professor, I am using this time to teach a bit of public image lessons to improve their skills. Would you kindly elaborate on why you felt the need to join the conversation?'

Councillor Eadon's voice resounded, 'Please, keep the lessons short. Ms Ashfallow won't learn that in a day or a century…'

'Hey!' Blade got even more upset.

'Pfff, and you fell for it, again. So green, they'll rip you ap-' The councillor stopped as the doors flew open again. 'Oh, for crying out lou-' His voice vanished.

"Thank you, Marc, for holding the fort," A well-dressed commoner was at the peak of a massive farmer crowd. "My deepest apologies for the interruption," he bowed to the Council then to the dark faction and then to the light faction. "There was an emergency in Desertia one of the aqueduct lines broke down and we had to fix it by hand. As seemingly all capable leaders are at this proceeding and the bureaucracy is getting in the way, especially with an absent Lady Eshe." He looked around but couldn't spot her. "Lady Philopa, please," He made another curtsy, "pass on the full repair report and cost calculations. And the complaint of obstruction and neglected assistance. If the ban of the Witches would have been lifted by now, I would have been here yesterday."

"Mister Madu," Lady Philopa showed a hint of surprise. She took the papers. "I will…I thought you were travelling around with your volunteering farmers to help repairs in the surrounding area of the capital…"

"And if I recall correctly, you said, that Lady Eshe was at the construction site," Councillor Shiri hissed. "Did you lie to us?"

Lady Philopa turned around quickly, "Not at all. We inquired and that was the answer we received from her men."

"Well, wouldn't be the first time the Lady vanishes from her post. Ha, one could think someone didn't want me to come here. But that's bonkers. After all, we all want justice. So, to answer your question Lady Philopa, I placed my colleagues in charge of the repairs. Divide and conquer is the best strategy in the end," Madu laughed and stepped past Lady Philopa with a victorious grin. "Madu, leader of the farmer's defence forces. I was told by Marc that you will listen to our accounts of claims of..." He searched for the words, "the drought and the Witches prosecution."

"Your information is correct," Iawenna, the Pixi Queen answered him kindly. "We were about to wrap this up, would you like to add something?"

"Of course, we will. It took a bit longer than expected to get the hardcopy proof together," Madu turned to his people, "Go get the evidence inside." A good half of the people vanished outside.

Nebula and Blade watched as cart by cart the farmers unloaded documents, photos and all sorts of other things in the middle of the smaller podiums. It was an ever-growing mountain. The seating area got busy whispering and Lady Philopa actually lost a bit of colour.

Councillor Aithlin stared at the mountain of evidence and waved a guard over who vanished shortly after. "As you know, the incidents themselves have to be judged in your kingdom's courts as it is their law." He clarified. "However, we will concede to use this for two purposes only. Firstly, that is to answer the question of whether the Witches' presence in great numbers on Desertia was justified by the circumstances. And secondly, if there was usage of unnecessary force or power in controlling the numbers versus the prior statement of invasion and intent of maleficence." Aithlin paused, "I called for some of our best librarians of Yggdrasor as I anticipated some… more evidence from the farmer's faction." A few fine-clothed elves stepped into the hall from a smaller side entrance.

"Any objections?" Cahagan looked at his fellow Councillors, nothing. "Very well, light magic use is granted." He stomped with his staff on the ground and the librarians began to cast their spells. The first paper was flying into the air as chairs and tables appeared and the papers passed them by at a mind-blowing speed. Just to settle down behind them on different stacks.

"Lady Eshe is ordered to report immediately to this hearing, Lady Philopa, you got three hours. Or we will be forced to issue a warrant of arrest. We expect her to be here. We are adjourned for half an hour." Councillor Eaden added relieved. "And keep the use of psychic chit-chat to a minimum…" He growled as he abruptly rubbed his forehead glaring at the light faction seating. "…Urgh, how often do I have to repeat myself…"

The librarians stopped their work as well. And began after the half-hour break again. It was custom that all attending a hearing had to watch them sort through the evidence. To avoid the accusation of tempering. Here and there some papers were given directly to the Councillors to be reviewed by them. Otherwise, there were three growing stacks. One was pretty high, another was smaller and then there was a tiny one. And even that was towering higher than a person. It was still mind-baffling how fast those elven librarians could read with their spells. Especially, because some more carts were still brought in. Madu had used his half-hour to send some more to fetch the evidence still being collected all over Desertia. He wanted to get as much as possible. Lady Philopa and the nobles had been running around in the break sending messengers and whatnot to Lady Eshe's home and men. They watched the stacks with an ever more growing annoyance.

'Not gonna lie, this is soooooo boring,' Dahlia complained after not saying much for the longest time of them all.

Sienna giggled, 'This is ridiculous. I mean it's not the first time I see this. But that are the highest stacks ever.'

'I'm amazed the stacks don't tumble…' Blade puffed. They had stared at sorting for like an hour and it felt like an eternity.

'That's because of the spells, I read about this…' Snow added with a tired yawn.

'Ahahaha, you didn't just do a psychic yawn in our heads!' Nebula couldn't stop giggling. Yet when Blade stared at her she had a stone-cold face.

'Oh crap, we're not supposed to use the link for chit-chat,' Snow reminded them. 'Just look at Councillor Eaden he looks like he has the worst migraine…'

The Councillor really didn't look so fresh and on a short fuse at that. To Blade's surprise, a lot of the dark faction people hadn't come back after the break at all. Griffin seemed the most consistent at staring at the stacks. Rest was coming and going, while the light faction was close to falling asleep or seemed very absent and then being fully there again. Blade looked around, 'I swear. The Sorceresses leave it all up to Griffin. Or she doesn't trust anyone else and the light faction is working in shifts…. Even our Professors. Ha, my mum fell asleep on my father's shoulders, so typical. Don't tell me dad is doing his open eyes sleeping techn-'

Blade's attention was drawn to a Fairy that dashed into the hall. The guards were nearly up in arms. But the girl speed dropped to the ground and transformed back, so they relaxed again. "My ap-" The girl was out of breath. Blade guessed her to be around twelve at most. The clothes that were revealed were of noble Desertian design and a huge brooch filled out most of the chest part and covered the garments.

"Lady Esra?" Lady Philopa was surprised beyond belief to see the girl. And heavily confused over the brooch.

The Council gave each other's some side gazes. Councillor Shelliefi, the Selkie, took the word. "Is everything alright my dear?" She asked in her high-pitched voice. "Please, take a breath." One didn't need to be a psychic to see that the girl was in distress.

Lady Esra took a deep breath and straightened up. It was as if a different person was standing in front of them. "Lady Esra, daughter of Lady Eshe, and officially temporary head of the family." She stepped forward to choose a podium on the light fraction side.

"What an insult…" Councillor Votzaak commented loud enough to be heard. "Sending a child…"

Councillor Nerrocean gave him a clap on the back and laughed out loud, "Why not, if she is prepared to face justice, who are we to stop the Lady." He got rather intense and serious all of a sudden. "You may proceed. Only because that brooch empowers you to do so in Lady Eshe's stead according to the Desertian lore. Don't expect us to be lenient with you. Law is law. And you proclaimed that her deeds are yours. Last chance to back out. I won't ask again." The merman Paladin gave her a cold icy stare.

"You don't have to do thi-," Aithlin got a bit protective as he did not really agree with Councillor Nerrocean on this even if it was according to the law.

The girl balled her hands and answered firmly, "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't sure. I kindly ask you to, please, stop insulting my family's integrity in front of the audience. This is uncalled for." She was fierce or at least that was what she tried to project.

Blade could make out a shaking fist under the garments from her seat. The girl didn't seem angry though, 'Nebula, did you see her anywhere in the city back then?'

'No… not that I can think off,' Nebula thought about it, 'Do you think we got it wrong?'

Amber joined the discussion, 'No way if Lady Eshe had arrived on Magix sooner. The Council would know, we would know. She is high status there would be proof. She can't possibly be the attacker. We went over this several times now.'

'Yeah, yeah…we know… but it would make so much more sense. I mean wind magic guys…' Blade replied.

'I have to agree, she is gone for the hills,' Sienna agreed with Blade.

Snow disagreed, 'No way, no parent throws their kid in front of a dragon.'

'Again, without proof this discussion is meaningless. And we are in a psychic link so, shhh,' Dahlia reminded them all to shut the fuck up. Every girl stared at Eaden to see his reaction.

Yet the Councillor didn't react at all instead he focused on the girl. He addressed Lady Philopa, "Please, take the time to update Lady Esra on the proceedings. We will have some questions for her shortly." He passed on another document to Councillor Cahagan who sat next to him, the librarians had forwarded.

"Of course," Lady Philopa a psychic herself stared at the young girl shortly and then back to the stacks. She probably had looped her into a psychic link of their own.

After a while, the young Lady Esra addressed the Council again, "Councillor Eaden, you mentioned some questions. How can I be of help?" The girl was way calmer now with no sign of distress or nervousness.

Councillor Votzaak didn't wait for his colleagues, "How about this report?" He picked a random paper he got forwarded, "Here it says, that it was promised that every second day a magic user in service of the crown was supposed to check on the acres, make an assessment and call for a Fairy if need be. Yet the farmers' eye site counting's were at thirty-three officials for two whole months in your whole families governed region with around two hundred smaller and bigger farms spread across. I'm not from Zenith, but that seems to be an awfully low number."

"Eh…" The girl was caught off guard. "May I see the document?"

Councillor Votzaak shook his head in disbelief and let the paper float to the girl.

"…. … well, yes that is low…." Lady Esra admitted quietly then suddenly looked up to Talon, the Minster of Economics and Talibah's older brother and back to the Councillor. She cleared her throat, "Well, near the eastern region there were a lot of aqueduct runes failing. We concluded that fixing the aqueduct lines took priority. And Fairies especially checked the acres on their way back to the capital, that is around evening or night times. The missions they were sent on were pretty long. So, the farmers might have missed them."

Councillor Votzaak nodded, "How about this then," he grabbed a specific paper from the pages in front of Eaden. "Excessive force was used in the apprehension of a Witch. Injuries are the following, broken leg, broken arm, bruises, scratches and a stabbing wound to the stomach. The soldiers wore your family's emblems on their cloak and are part of the elite forces."

"No way…" Lady Esra protested sceptically. And shut up right away and gazed at the Desertian nobles. "I mean, we faced a lot of opposition. So of course, if the situation called for it they defended themselves. And they had the right to since the ban was officially approved of by the late King and Queen. Also, I would like to see the proof of that."

Councillor Votzaak grinned, "Of course." He inserted a chip into the indentation of a crystal ball in front of him. It was a techno-magic crystal ball to review video material and project it into the room.

"I live here," a young Witch was filmed by a shaky cameraman from behind a corner. "Here, look at my passport. I am just taking care of my grandma as my parents are away on their business trip to Linphea." The Witch in the video reached for her mantle as she suddenly got jumped by the forces. "Hands into the air!" An older soldier ordered. A younger one jumped the gun, "You Witches are not getting the drop on me again!" The Witch let her passport fall to the ground, and still got stabbed by the aggressive youth. "AHH, you asshole!" The Witch screamed in pain and flared up some magic in her hand. Yet she used the magic not to attack, but to heal herself. However, the soldiers saw it as an attack although the girl simply held it to cover the wound. Everything escalated in seconds as more soldiers, with Lady Eshe's emblem, rushed in to pull them apart. One could barely understand a thing through the screaming and shouting. The cameraman stumbled backwards from shock and the camera dropped behind some caskets filming the sky only now. "Who's there?" One of the guards could be heard, then running. "Who are you? Identify yourself!" presumably the voice of the cameraman could be heard. "A W-Witch.. a Witch, stop, please. I-i-it ran that way…I ju-jus-just saw her…." The man stuttered. "Another one this way!" And with a stampede of footsteps, the tape ended.

Councillor Votzaak stared the pale Lady Esra down, "That looks very proofy to me." He very slowly reached for the next paper. "What else do we have here…?"

"I request a recess!" Lady Philopa hectically intervened.

Councillor Eaden jumped from his chair, "Socordia!" He screamed into the room as he glared at everyone ignoring the people at the podiums. "That's it, I said no nonsense chit chatter. This isn't one of your stupid balls!" He turned to hiss at Cahagan next to him who tried to gently settle him down again, "I am for a recess."

'What's his problem?' Blade tried to ask Nebula and noticed that the psychic link was down. 'Ah.' She thought to herself.

"Let's take a vote then. Who is against a recess?" Councillor Cahagan asked with a big sigh.

Nerrocean, Shiri, and Gadiel raised their hands. As well as Votzaak, who was still staring down Lady Esra.

"Great," Councillor Eaden didn't wait and simply left the stance before it was made official.

Councillor Aithlin rolled his eyes, "Adjourned for…" He looked at Eaden stomping away, "Two hours?" Nobody rejected.