1689
Dr. Azrael looked at the book that had been handed to him by Katherine and the scraps of paper with the letters "MC" or "LS" on them.
"Their journal?" Dr. Azrael asked.
"Yes, detailing their plans, mentality, and glorifying their actions," Linus answered.
"And the scraps of paper?" Dr. Azrael asked.
"Both Sister Cruz and I went through it," Linus told them, "with nearly everyone that has served the witches presently unconscious, and those who aren't asleep were remade through their actions, we do not have much in the way of witnesses. They're journal is about all we have. The scraps with "LS" indicate entries that support my argument and those with "MC" indicate entries that support Sister Cruz's argument."
"So you are presenting evidence that both supports and criticizes your argument?" Dr. Azrael questioned.
"No, I am presenting the entries that support my arguments," Linus answered, "Marie will present the entries that support her argument, as as a "cross-examination" of the entries I present, or as a separate piece of evidence on her own."
"Proceed."
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"They presented the same piece of evidence?" Alice asked curiously, "at the same time?"
"Remember that this is long before the days of photocopying machines," Marie-Eliza answered, "the only way they could introduce a copy for Linus and a copy for Marie would be to have someone copy the journal by hand and then have one or all of the witches sign it for authenticity, which would have delayed things... and with only a month's worth of darts, that would take too long... it's partially why Marie thought of the idea to have a lobotomy performed on the witches..."
"Would that have worked?" Abbey asked, "I mean really. Mommy can perform the procedure, but she believes that it doesn't really work the way those that invented the procedure intended."
"How do you..." Maddex asked.
"We were hanging out in mommy's office one day, as take your daughter and nieces to work day, and looked through her old medical school textbooks and the latest journals she had received," Abbey answered.
"We spent the rest of the day looking up words in our dictionaries," Samantha added.
Maddex only sighed at that, knowing that Alice, Abbey, and Samantha were the pack's most avid readers, and did on occasion read things tht many considered beyond their age level.
"Auntie Julie did have to explain some things when we also began to ask questions," Alice finished.
"Marie Cruz was certain that lobotomizing the witches' connection would remove their ability to use their magic," Marie-Eliza answered, getting back to the main topic, "though Linus's counter point that the child familiars would ALSO need to have the procedure done to insure that the witches didn't just turn to them full time in the sense of direct instruction."
"But if they had to be directly told what to do, wouldn't the child familiars have realized how wrong the witches were?" Betty wondered, "and they would have turned on them, which they wanted to avoid."
"The witches had managed to keep Joella in the dark for years," Marie answered, "they certainly would have had to change their tactics with the child familiars, but that doesn't mean they were incapable of changing tactics. And to assume that they couldn't or wouldn't would be just as faulty as the witches assuming the Big Bad Wolf Pack would abandon or toss out the pups that they had colored brightly in ways that no Lupman or mundane wolf is colored."
"And I take it, that sort of concern that the procedure would have to be done to children hurt Marie's hopes of keeping the first people who truly knew her to be female, outside of her godfather,alive?" Lawrence guessed.
Marie-Eliza nodded.
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"I will start with the first "LS" entry," Linus spoke as Dr. Azrael opened the book, "and I quote: "we visited the praying town today with grandma and saw a Mister Running-Bear. It is a prison where the invading Puritans put these poor people for being free. They lived freely with no rules and no laws, and the Puritans have wrongfully put them there and made them follow their laws. That isn't fair, and we hope to free them so they can live in their free world again. -Goldwyn." Now, I was not here for the establishment of the praying towns, but I was hired to help establish something like a local militia in the aftermath of a war in which tribes following Prince Phillip launched violent attacks against the Puritan people, murdering many, and burning down towns. If that is what the witches want to restore... then they are the worst kind of lawless villain. We have laws and civilization to prevent the wars that those who do not live by laws and by civilized life... be they the savages, the Mongols, or the Huns before them in Europe."
Dr. Azrael then skipped forward a few pages.
"Next is the next "LS" entry," Linus continued, "Grandma has been murdered and the people do nothing for her. They claim that the law was to protect her, but it only protects her killer. The law ENCOURAGES murder and evil, for if the law opposed those things, the murderer would be PUNISHED by now. -Gita." Justice in this land is designed to try to insure that an innocent man is not punished for a crime. I have seen many people who look similar to each other, and strangely were not related. Suppose the man that was caught for the murder of Balthilde Volksheer was merely someone who LOOKED like the actual murderer. By the witches' own admission, they wanted to merely kill for revenge."
"I FORGAVE HIM!" Golgotha screamed.
"SILENCE!" Dr. Azrael growled back.
The doctor then turned to the next entry with the "LS" marking. Linus continued.
"The next entry is: "Joella is dead! Killed by those vile Lupmen... the Winter Wolves! We had hidden Joella in the lands to the north of Glendale to protect her from movers and creditors that would have killed her... and instead the Lupman killed her! I went to check on her and inform her that my sisters and I were still working to fix our earlier mistake, and a Lupman attacked me... practically without warning. Saying something that he couldn't allow Joella to be on his land. HIS NAME WASN'T ON THE LAND, SO IT BELONGS TO EVERYONE, NOT HIM! But he attacked all the same and deliberately killed her! Tore her head from her shoulders. I tried to punish him for it when another Lupman attacked and took my eye. Princess says that their pack is too strong to fight right now... but, oh, how I hate them for what they've done. They will pay. I will, one day, kill every last Lupman that lives on this planet as slowly and as painfully as possible so they know exactly what their kind has done to me and my sisters by taking our friend from us! -Goldwyn."," Linus quoted, "this goes beyond murdering one or two people. This is exterminating an entire race, for apparently killing a girl that shares the name of the one they have been caring for. Yet, they never brought this charge to the authorities, and they never bothered to realize the laws that go along with land ownership. The Lupman pack legally owns the lands north of Glendale. To hide someone there, is trespassing at the least. Not a lethal offense, mind you, but it would explain why the Lupman "attacked". The Lupman was defending his territory and likely had no intention of killing anyone. Merely driving the intruder OUT of the pack's territory. But for doing what was likely his duty to his pack, the witches intend to exterminate the entire Lupman race."
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"Genocide," Lawrence spoke.
"Yes, but that word wouldn't be coined until after World War II when the Allies found the horrors of the Nazi death camps, in which they found the dead of every race, Human, Lupman, Leoman, Felman, and Dragon," Marie-Eliza nodded, "though many of those cases were complex to understand. And we do not have time to go into them."
"Wouldn't they all have been Jewish?" Samantha asked, "Mr. P says that Lupmen fought for Germany."
"We do not have time for that right now," Marie repeated.
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Dr. Azrael then turned to the last entry that was marked "LS". As he did so, Linus continued to quote the entry.
"Golgotha was right. The Dog has come to enslave those we have worked so hard to free to the laws they so foolishly serve. But before those who are free of laws and its chains... they were extremely weak. We gave them a crushing defeat, killing at least two of them outright and leaving two so injured that they would die eventually. The last fled like the coward he is. It is a lesson we will carry to all the world. All their law makers will fall before us and no King, no Prince, no Duke, no Baron, no Pope, no Sultan, and no Emperor will ever stop our remaking all the world in our image. For we are the REAL Gods of this world. Not some stupid bush that enslaves people and jealously destroys those who are free. We will free the world and all will serve us, as we have made it so! We are invincible! - Gomorrah."," Linus quoted, "They not only challenge mortal laws but God himself."
Dr. Azrael looked at the three witches with a look that would give many nightmares. But while their time was coming, it was not there yet, and he could not speed that up, but he would make sure that his masters knew of their actions.
"And these are the only entries you wish to share?" Dr. Azrael asked.
"Yes," Linus answered.
"Do you wish to present the entries you feel supports your argument?" Dr. Azrael turned to Marie while Linus returned to his seat.
"Yes, your honor," Marie stood up, while Dr. Azrael went to the first "MC" entry, "I quote: "Grandma said to be good, and only children are good. They are kind and innocent. They don't make war. They don't kill people because they're scared. Gita wants him to die, but that wouldn't be good. Mr. Running-Bear and Grandma would agree on that. It would be best that he live as a child again so that he can be good... but Gita wouldn't approve of that, so a proper compromise needs to be reached. So I turned him into a figurine of young monkeys for forgiveness. He will see what few good memories he had. And he will be good now, and will know that he has been forgiven. -Goldwyn." The witches did not start out as they are now. They started out as children as we all do, and I would think have suffered much. They believed that children were more pure or more "good" then adults... and to some extent, perhaps they are, in the sense that they are more innocent. This shows that they aren't some tyrannical despot seeking global conquest. More misunderstood children, who would ultimately make many serious mistakes."
Dr. Azreal then turned to the next entry.
"The problem with the Lupmen is their hierarchy. If they fight being freed from it, I suppose what will have to be done will be done, but maybe they can be freed. But so long as their pups are raised to follow that hierarchy they will fight to defend their laws, not knowing that it is their laws that enslave them... but the CAN be freed. It may seem cruel, but Princess and I have the perfect plan. The Felmen in Europe are covered in brightly colored fur of all sorts of bright colors. Some of them even seem to sparkle. And they aren't so militaristic and enslaved to laws the way Lupmen are. So, we'll give their pups brightly colored fur. Nice pinks and blues, purples and greens, all colors. A rainbow of little Lupmen. When their parents throw them out to follow their laws, we will save them and they will learn that it is the laws they follow that are the cause of all their troubles. -Goldwyn."," Marie quoted, "any sign of desire to eradicate the Lupman had to have only been an entry made out of anger. If they truly sought to exterminate an entire race, they would have killed those pups rather then give them bright colors."
Dr. Azrael then turned to the final "MC" entry.
"The rune was supposed make the world good, make everyone children again. But, it was apparently not to be. It backfired on my sisters and I... but it did create one good thing... I AM FREE! My mind has been opened freed to the wonder of the Infinite Chaos and I see everything as it should be. Satyrs, Centaurs, Minotaurs, Sphinxes, more Fairies, Nymphs! All of them so pretty and free, not constrained by oppressive laws! Wouldn't it be marvelous if everyone could be free like them? Free like my sisters and I? Oh, I wish we could bathe everyone in the Infinite Chaos to free them as we have been freed! It would all be so pretty. -Gomorrah."," Marie quoted the entry, "THIS is where things went badly for them. Where their mistakes drove them insane. From this point on, they can not be fully responsible because their mind is not capable of making a rational or sane decision... and ties in an expert witness's knowledge of Magic and the Infinite Chaos... if I may be allowed to call my next witness."
Dr. Azrael nodded and closed the journal.
"You may call your next witness."
"The defense calls Linus Sure to the stand," Marie spoke.