Witch Zanthia's Little Shop Of Horrors

Everyone in the room had their eyes fixed on the witch. The Truthteller's look seemed more mysterious and esoteric than ever. It seemed to exert an almost tangible pressure on everyone present and many people gulped.

"No, I'm not responsible for that at all. In no way, direct or indirect. "Zanthia lied, giving a sigh before continuing, "And besides, as far as I know, Opal Twister is not either. Who, in my opinion, had no way to poison my candies."

Everyone looked at the Truthteller. He nodded with dignity. The room erupted in endless comments and exclamations of amazement.

The witch was innocent! And the girl too!

The Truthteller had confirmed it so there could be no doubt about it. Even if the witch was more powerful than the Bishop, she could not deceive the representative of the God of Truth who could differentiate the truth from the falsehoods even in the words of devils and deities. Tiwanzhorus did not allow mistakes or lies to his monks and since he was still alive and undamaged, all that was it said was the absolute truth.

Who then was the one who had killed Lucas Montes?

Who kept his soul trapped and prevented his resurrection?

These questions had no answer.

The mother of the dead boy broke down in tears while her husband hastened to comfort her. Other women and men of the Montes faction did the same while a few protested angrily. Some others demanded a broad investigation of the whole matter. Roberto Gomez requested the immediate release of Opal Twister and Pedro celebrated it. The witch, on the other hand, was as silent as the Truthteller and calmly awaited the magistrate's decision.

*BAM! BAM!*

"Order in the courtroom," Louis Philippe shouted over all the noise as he hit the dais with his gavel.

The guards rushed to control the crowd. Little by little, order and silence were restored.

"Witch Zanthia, thank you very much for your testimony. The confrontation is terminated. You can get off the stand. "

"Thank you, Lord Magistrate."

"In view of the testimonies offered by Pedro Gomez and by the Zanthia Witch, I have decided to release the accused Opal Twister and order a more thorough investigation of the facts."

The Gomez celebrated with the witch. Pedro hugged her tightly both Zanthia and Roberto. Zanthia looked with distress to the excited kid, who had some snot hanging from his nose, but Roberto Gomez had a smile from ear to ear. He had contributed to this victory and his kid considered him nothing short of a hero. What else can a father ask?

But on the Montes side everything was silence and bad faces. However, at the moment there was nothing they could do. They dared not challenge the magistrate and the Truthteller. And in fact, there were no more defendants to accuse or other clues to follow. This hearing had been very frustrating for them.

But, when nobody expected it, a person expressed all his pain with a shrill scream that hurt the ears of those present.

"NOOO!"

"IT CAN NOT BE!"

"This is not possible! I refuse to accept it! "

The one who spoke with clenched teeth was a trembling Fiona Percy, whose face was ashen and contorted with pain and fury.

"S-She ... she's the responsible for all of this. I'm sure." Fiona said pointing at Zanthia with her trembling hand and biting her lips until they bled.

"Because I was the one who asked Lucas to break your shop's window. For that reason my friend was in that low neighborhood. And surely that's why you poisoned him with the help of that obnoxious wandering girl and that foolish son of Abercrombie Company man. You wanted to take revenge on us. "

Zanthia frowned. Fiona was no longer trying to damage her reputation simply for fun. No, this time there was real suffering in hers words. And besides, it seemed that she firmly believed that that was what had happened. Why?

It did not make sense. Unless she knew something that others did not. But what could she know?

The young witch discreetly moved her left hand until it was behind her back and made a quick gesture.

[SYSTEM: Host activated a skill. Horror Control Level 50. Designated Objective: Nightmare of Penance residing in the body of the human Fiona Percy. The activation is successful!]

Fiona and Zanthia made eye contact for a moment. The eyes of both shone briefly while a series of scenes reproduced in the minds of both.

They saw Fiona flirting with Lucas Montes. They saw Lucas join his friends to go to the last circle of the city in order to find the shop and do some damages. They saw him eating the candies. And then they saw a semitransparent figure that was trapped in a dark place. Kneeling, being hit again and again, while the flames burned his body. Suffering a lot of pain. And they heard someone laugh. It was a cruel laugh that chilled the blood of both of them.

Zanthia sighed. This explained many things. No wonder Fiona believed that she had killed Lucas!

The Nightmare of Penance made her feel the things for which she was responsible and since she had sent Lucas to do the things that had led him to death then the horror considered her partially responsible. But something was very wrong. Even if the horror was forcing her to feel part of the suffering of Lucas's death, the memory should have ended with the boy's death.

Zanthia used her control over the Nightmare to end the link and force Fiona to faint. The girl needed to rest.

When Fiona fell unconscious to the floor, a little chaos broke out. Most people approached her to see what was happening and the magistrate sent for a healer to help her. But the escort of the Truthteller had already approached and quickly took charge of the situation.

In the commotion a gray p.u.s.s.ycat that ran quickly under the benches and chairs until approaching the witch. She reached down and took it. And strange thing, for a moment it seemed that the animal was meowing quietly in her ear.

The witch nodded and returned the animal to the floor. She slid through the silent room like a ninja to the dais and climbed to the knees of the Truthteller Deiver where the grey p.u.s.s.ycat left a fish head.

The man of black the jet black skin took the fish head discreetly and put it inside a pocket of his insipid clothes. If at that moment someone had noticed the face of the Truthteller, they would have been surprised to find a smile. But very soon his face returned to emit that serious dignity that had had during all the judgment, sitting majestically next to the magistrate.

The gray cat ran down the side of the room to the place where there were more shades and dived into them until she disappeared. In all the time that has passed since she first appeared until he left, no one noticed his presence, except for Zanthia and the Truthteller. Everyone had their attention fixed on the poor Fiona.

"She is fine. It's just a faint, probably caused by stress. The best thing is to let her rest for a few hours in a bed, "said the wizard with pale skin and white tunic.

"You're sure it's not a spell caused by ..." Lucas Montes's mother said in a whisper to the magician, gesturing with her head to point at Zanthia.

"There is no indication that a spell was used. It's just ordinary stress. Something that's going to happen in a situation like this, "said Blanca Falluto emphatically.

The healer finally arrived and took the girl to rest. Her guards and some of the Montes went with her.

"Order in the courtroom!" The magistrate ordered, as he struck the dais with the mallet, "Let's continue with the audience."

"Lord Magistrate, I want to request that Opal Twister be delivered to me in custody. The poor girl has nowhere to live and after all that have happened I do not want her to continue wandering on the streets, " said Zanthia unexpectedly.

Everyone looked at her with surprise in their faces. The truth is that at first sight the witch did not seem to be the kind of woman who is friendly towards children. But then, she did look like she was friendly enough with the kid of the Gomez family. Even if she would occasionally frown at him, especially when the snotty brat approached too close to her body.

"Hmmm ... it's an irregular request. The protocol indicates that ... "

"Lord Magistrate, I think it would be a good idea," intervened the escort of the Truthteller, "Clearly, that girl needs a place to live. And the witch Zanthia seems interested in her wellbeing. So the best thing to do would be to grant her temporary custody. "

"Thank you, sister Blanca." Zanthia said with a smile.

It seemed that after all sister Blanca and the Truthteller were not so bad. Not only had they not complained because Zanthia had not followed the welcome ritual at all but now they also were helping the witch by showing compassion for the little one. Yes, these were undoubtedly monks who could be trusted.

The one who was not so happy with the monks was the Secretary. These people had no adherence to the rules, they had threatened the magistrate, put his ownr position was in danger and they had often intervened when they were supposed to be silent.

Another person who was not very happy with how everything had developed was the honorable Louis Philippe. He looked at the Verity of Truth's escort with a frown. His gaze demanded explanations. He was going to say something, but the Truthteller chose that moment to wink at the magistrate and he was so surprised by this sudden development that he could not articulate a word.

"I have not finished. Since you are a witch of so much power and are so interested in other people's wellbeing, you will surely like to collaborate with the Court. Lord Magistrate, don't you feel like she would be a fabulous Marshall of this Court? Think about it. Surely, she could be of great help to find the soul of that boy and resuscitate him. Don't you agree? "

This time it was Zanthia's turn to frown and look at the magician in the white robe. The magistrate smiled from ear to ear and the secretary had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing. So this was the plan of the Truthteller and his escort. Putting the witch in a situation where she had no choice but to agree to work in the service of the court.

Good! Good! Good! They suddenly felt that these monks were nothing bad at all.

"Very well, this court gives temporary custody of Opal Twister to the Witch Zanthia, as long as she agrees to serve as the Marshall of this Court and collaborates with tis officers to recover the soul of Lucas Montes and find the culprit behind all this."

"My services are not free," said Zanthia, gritting her teeth.

"Do not worry! I'm sure the position of Marshall is remunerated. " replied the magician.

What a cunning and shameless female monk!

The truth was that the few tens of gold coins of a Marshall's salary were by no means comparable to the services of a witch like Zanthia. Witches usually charged for their powers in magic crystals. But if Zanthia now refused to work for the court because of that sole reason then her reputation would plummet.

"Also, I'm sure the Montes family will also reward your services with joy in order to get their son back. Isn't that right Mr. Montes?"

Miguel Montes alternately looked at the witch and the magician who escorted the Truth Deiver. He seemed confused in the face of this surprising turn of events.

"Y-Yes, of course! The money is not a problem. If my son Lucas comes back to life thanks to her efforts I will make sure she is well rewarded. " replied the tall, bearded man.

"Then I accept," Zanthia said in a reluctant tone of voice.

[SYSTEM: New Title acquired. Marshall of the Fifth Court of the Capital. Reputation of the owner increases by +5. The user's total reputation is now: +3]

[SISTEMA: Congratulations! The reputation of the host has finally reached positive levels. All the aftermath of Fiona's acussations have been definitely forgotten by the public. From now on, many people who previously hesitated to meet the owner would start talking to you. The influx of clients will be definitely increased. Good Job!]

An unexpected message from the system cheered the young witch. To raise the reputation was very important to give a reliable image before the clients. And getting five points just for working for the court was a benefit that surprised her pleasantly. Things improved little by little.

[SYSTEM: New clients acquired: Mr. Magistrate Louis Philippe; Miguel Montes. Type of clients: FORTUANTE. ]

This last system message was not unexpected. A similar message had occurred before when she agreed to help Pedro Gomez rescue Opal. So now she had 3 clients recognized by the system waiting for her to fulfill their requests.

But instead of selling products, in this case what she sold was her professional help services as an expert in witchcraft. Although it was not likely that she would gain too much from it, at least it would help herm to get closer to his goal of fulfilling the mission of the system.

She lacked 9 more clients to obtain the reward of the system. If she managed to satisfy this new 3 customers, then only 6 more would be left.

The details that remained were fixed quickly. The rest of the hearing went by quickly and without incident. From now on, Zanthia was officially a Marshall of the Fifth Court of the Capital. She was given permission to take away Opal Twister from the prison.

Zanthia chose to retire as soon as they gave her the pertinent doc.u.ments, but before that she asked Pedro to be patient and stay with his father. Very soon he could see his friend. Then, the young witch headed for the exit.

"Lord magistrate, we also withdraw for today. Witch Zanthia, we would like to talk to you alone for a moment, "said Blanca Falluto.

"It's okay. If it does not bother you two too much, can you talk to me on the way to the jai ? I want to free Opal Twister as soon as possible. That little girl has been there too long. "

"Of course," the magician replied.

The Truthteller and his escort hurried to follow Zanthia.

"Wait a moment, excellence." The magistrate stopped them.

The Truthteller stopped walking and turned to see the magistrate, who unexpectedly had also come down from the stand to follow them.

"It is the first time that a Truthteller comes to this Court since I am the Lord magistrate. The protocol dictates an exchange of gifts to commemorate this happy occasion. This is what we have prepared for your excellence. " said Louis Phillipe as he bowed to the waist and with outstretched hands offered the monk a silver tray.

On it was a pure gold gavel with the symbol of the Fifth Court engraved in delicate filigree of magic crystal dust. Undoubtedly, it was a beautiful gift of great value. It must have cost the magistrate one eye of the face to pay it.

The Truthteller seemed confused for a moment. He even scratched his head and looked for help; first at his escort and then at the witch but both of them shrugged and say nothing.

However, very soon the man recovered his majestic dignity and solemnly proceed to accept the gift. He even also took the silver tray along with the gold hammer, maybe because he mistakenly thought it was part of the gift.

Of course, protocol and custom dictated that he also give something to the Lord Magistrate in return for the marvelous gift. So he searched for a moment in his clothes before finally taking out something that he quickly put in one of the hands of the judge, who was still bowing.

Afterwards he turned around and retreated with great dignity from the room followed closely by his escort and the witch.

Until the couple of monks had left the room, the still bowing magistrate did not dare to look at the gift they had given him.

He was intrigued, because it gave him a strange feeling in the hand that held it. As if the gift was somehow wet. He was sure that it must be something totally unique, because his secretary and the guard had tried unsuccessfully to suppress an exclamation of amazement.

When he finally looked up, he discovered that the gift was, without a doubt, something that nobody had ever given him before.

A fish head, still wet with drool.