"Based on the way things seem to be going, I might need to file a motion for continuance with the Judge," Annette began but was rudely cut short when her client rounded on her from the left and rasped into her ear, "Why in hell will you do something like that and with whose permission?"
The silver blonde winced and glanced down at the sheaf of papers on her desk for a moment before replying, "Because for one thing, this case was brought to me a little late and for another, doesn't it all seem a little suspicious to you? I mean no offense but we don't exactly have a solid case here; you breached the contract fair and square and even though it led to another contract, there are still enough mitigating circumstances to swing this case in his- her favor. I keep wondering why she even let it go as far as you suing her to court."
Faustus swore foully and slammed his hands hard against the polished oak surface, leaning so close to her that his warm breath misted over her face. "Listen to me you fresh faced chit, I am not paying you as much as I am to think and wonder, I am paying you to win my case and save my soul. Do you honestly think you are the best advocate there is out there but no, I had to seek an advocate in whom there is no reproach?" When he drew away, Annette took a slow deep breath and briefly shut her eyes, searching for that fast diminishing thread of serenity- the very same one that has helped her to somehow avoid committing assault or even murder for the past four weeks. Eventually she opened her eyes and turned back to the older man, murmuring in a calm voice, "You are right, I'm not the best lawyer there is- certainly not with the amount of money you can afford to shell out, so why me?"
Their eyes met and she could have sworn he suddenly looked uncomfortable, even guilty, before turning away with a fierce scowl to pace and stalk the length of her office. "It does not matter; do your work and it will be the least of your worries." His cryptic reply wasn't helping matters; in fact there were many things about this case that Faustus didn't seem eager to share to his lawyer and it miffed her to no end. She sighed and got to her feet, walking the short distance between the two of them to lay a hand on him.
The response was instantaneous as he flinched and recoiled with a startled hiss, backing a few steps away from her before mumbling an apology. "Your pardon advocate, but you surprised me." Annette guessed that she should have been used to her client's many foibles by now but so many things still didn't make sense to her, one standing out even more than the others. "I still don't understand something Faustus, if the original contract was broken by default, then why are you still here- why are we still arguing over this case after all this time?" He turned around and gave her a still look for a moment but then scowled, "What is it to you? I have given you all the facts relevant to your case, now stop bothering me and do your damned job!"
The blonde refused to be fazed by his belligerence and shook her head, "I'm sorry Faustus but if you cannot be completely honest with me about this case we might as well just stop right now. I'll tell inform my assistant and we will refund any extra charges-" His expression instantly changed from outrage to shock and surprisingly, fear, and he took a step closer. "Now girl let's not get too hasty here. I have not complained about your lawyer skills, only you get so nosy sometimes but perhaps there is no helping it when women take over fields that were best left for men." Annette didn't know whether to be insulted or gratified by his apology. She blinked and shook her head, turning to the set of chairs by the window. "Alright then Faustus, tell me whatever it is that you haven't already put on paper."
He sighed and looked furtively around him, as if checking the room for invisible ears or eyes, before taking the seat beside her. "By the end of the three years, three months, three weeks - actually well into second week- I had begun to realize my folly with the deal and desperately began seeking a way out. I sought high and low, all over the face of the earth but there was no one to help me...but then I crossed paths with this lawyer." He broke off, face easing into a faint smile as his eyes glazed with memory. "He was certainly the most eloquent man I'd ever met and quite persuasive to, as I would soon come to learn, but he offered to parley with the devil about our deal. I still cannot believe it even now but D- he managed to confound the master of all tricks and my soul became no longer forfeit."
The smile faded in slow degrees until all that was left was a wistful glimmer in his eyes. "He might have saved my soul from hell but the damned trickster with all his technicalities! Due to the wording of the contract, I'd already forfeited any chance of going to heaven from the very moment I sought the devil out and even though my soul was no longer in his prospective possession, there was no other place for it to go. In order words I had also forfeited the natural phenomenon of death simply because of the little matter as to where I would go after then."
Annette listened with steadily widening eyes, the whole situation coming under a new light as she began to understand the true reason for his plight. "So you literally cannot find eternal rest until this issue is resolved one way or another." Faustus nodded somberly and looked away. "Of course my lawyer did not know then but I always thought the devil was too obliging about the whole loss of my soul. I soon found out that he was only condemning me to a fate as terrible as hell as I am now forced to live and relive every moment of this cursed and wretched existence. I live out my full days as a man and grow old and wait for the ‘appointed time' but when it indeed comes, I am not transported to the after life- no I open my eyes and find myself in the arms of some midwife or medic or physician...and the whole story goes on again." He growled with frustration and got to his feet, resuming his restless pacing and turning around the room.
"But that is not even the worst part- no, it is not bad enough that I die and am born in a repeated cycle, but with each birth I retain the full memories of the deaths and births before. Do you understand that Webster? All the lives I have lived, the people I've known and loved and eventually lost- I am eternally tormented with their memories with every unfamiliar generation that I find myself in and every acquaintance I make...but I cannot stop because I literally can not. All my loves- all my children- I have outlived my whole blood line and witnessed every single birth and death along it." His voice cracked with pain and the attorney cast her eyes to the floor. No wonder he was so desperate to end it all; one way or another, the trial would break that vicious cycle but she couldn't help thinking of the one possible outcome of it all. "I understand now and I will do my very best- no even better than my best- to make sure we win and you are set free."
She smiled and got to her feet, making her way back to her desk, heedless of the sad look her client gave her retreating back. Faustus felt a twinge of guilt once more because he knew he'd withheld something else, something even more important from her.
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"Okay now you'll spread it all amongst yourselves evenly and dig in," Hikari murmured to the three figures standing beside her without looking up and began portioning the heavy files "hopefully between my simple common sense and your super powered brains we should be able to find out a few things." A politely cleared throat made her look up and squint beyond the halo of naked bulb light. "What are we looking for exactly?"
The lawyer shrugged and creaked to her feet, wiping her dusty fingers over her jeans. One would think that supernatural beings took better care of their records but these files were in worse condition than the cases in her agency- it seemed that bad workers were an element of bureaucracy that plagued systems everywhere. "We're looking for everything, anything that might be useful in the case."
The three ‘assistants'- code named Larry, Curly and Moe because they reminded her so much of the three stooges- were part of the complimentary package her client had been so kind to send her way and actually Hikari was beginning to think that it wasn't so bad working for the devil; they had VIP access to almost everywhere, not to mention first class transportation all over the world in the name of information gathering- there was still no word about health insurance or dental care plans but the attorney was determined to milk this windfall for all it was worth.
"Yes and that would prove useful if you were actually searching within sensible parameters," another of them replied in a voice heavy with sarcasm and the attorney felt her eyelid twitch. She knew they came with an off button but it had been tough work finding it so far...perhaps it was a spell or a command...for all their efficiency- these guys hadn't slept a wink in the weeks she'd been on the case and she doubted the underworld ran on dunkin'- they also seemed to have a problem with following her lead. She was the senior lawyer on the case for crying out loud, and it wasn't as if their boss had found anything better down there before she-he-whatever, decided to come on up.
Hikari squelched her thoughts with effort and eked out a smile, "Yes Moe, and thank you for pointing that out to me, but you forget that I don't really care to know every nasty little detail about how Faust has been spending the past three centuries because frankly, that is too much information and secondly, the parameters of his suit concern the contract and everything before the contract. Now I want you fine young monkeys to go ye into this dust smattered array detailing the evolution of paper through the ages, and find me nice details I can use to end our mutual torment."
She winked at Curly and Larry and then moved on over to her half finished daiquiri. Ah the hard life of a trial lawyer. Hikari wondered briefly whether she should feel guilty about living it up here while her fellow colleagues moldered in the agency but the feeling soon passed. It's not like she could do anything about that and besides, let them try putting their souls and eternity on a balancing act for size. Her eyes were about fluttering closed when a familiar voice murmured into her ear, "Working hard or hardly working, hmmm Hikari?" When the boss is away... the lawyer cracked one eye open to glare at her employer before remembering just in time not to meet her eyes. "Wow I could say the same thing about you; last I heard, California is still part of continental US, the stock exchange is still standing and would you look it, one more soul just made it into heaven."
Lucy just shook her head and chuckled. It was something she did more and more if these days, the attorney noted silently, wondering why her verbal sparring partner had begun to opt for the silent approach. "I am not an individual but merely a part of the collective and the collective-" She jerked a finger to Curly, Larry and Moe, "-The collective is busy finding ways to keep you happy." The light bringer parked herself unto the opposite sofa with all the grace of a feline and the unassuming casualness of a practiced super model. "And what has the collective done so far to make me happy?"
Hikari shrugged and set her drink aside, returning into a more serious mode now that it seemed the other woman wasn't about to go away. "Well I've got them sifting through the Ghost of Faustus past in the hopes of creating a skeleton for my case." Her eloquent speech, peppered with enough allegories and innuendos to impress the usual-human- client was entirely lost on the Immortal, who frowned and leaned closer, losing the unassuming casualness for a moment. "His past, and why on earth would you start focusing on his past now? I am not paying you to squander my resources on useless endeavors and if you think that just because you're so cute and witty I won't torment your every waking moment if you start screwing around, think again."
The attorney sighed and closed her eyes, partly in a bid to look casual and nonchalant and partly because the expression on her client's face was beginning to scare her...a little. "First of all, surprisingly I've found out that Faustus's existence before he crossed paths with you was a lot shorter than after and so I'm guessing it was a lot less interesting too but I digress. This isn't a criminal case Lucy, they way I sees it we're dealing more with a civil court type thing here and in a civil court there isn't such a thing as reasonable doubt. What we need- all we need- is guilt and lots of it. If we can get enough evidence to dirty his hands a little, we can convince our Judge there that Faust is the conniving little wiener you make him out to be and that puts us in the running for winning." Her explanation left her a little winded and while she took a moment to catch her breath, the Immortal put two and two together. "You are planning to mud sling him aren't you?"
Hikari nodded and lifted a shoulder in a casual shrug, "It should work to because I mean, no offense or anything, he couldn't have been a very pleasant fellow back then if he managed to catch your eye. So all we need to do is dredge up a few credible witnesses for now and let the defense choke itself trying to strike them down." She looked up to her client and raised an eyebrow at the expression on the other woman's face. It looked too much like assent and worse, appreciation. Lucy nodded and her face creased into a smile, "It positively reeks of devious and I like it. In fact Eliza, I'm beginning to think there might be room for you in my cabinet after all." The mortal instantly balked at the idea, using a few choice and eloquent terms to express just how badly that idea sat with her.
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Hikari scanned the long and very detailed list in front of her, muttering as her eyes ran down the lines, "Born to a humble fishwife, no mention of a father... but it seems his mother came from genteel stock because he was able to gain apprenticeship with a very well known philosopher and secretly a practitioner of alchemy. He was married but there are very little records- wait can we interview them as witnesses?" She looked up to her assistants and all four turned to their reclining boss, who lifted a casual shoulder in response. "There is some paperwork involved; you'll have to check with the records and censors department to check where her soul currently resides and file an application for transfer and yada, yada but knock yourself out."
The attorney was beginning to realize that there was a serious chain of command involved with this whole soul ownership business; so much red tape everywhere and it didn't even end after one was dead!. She scowled and turned back to her notes, "Fine, we'll go through all your paperwork and drag their souls from whatever corner of the cosmos they may be hiding-I'm sure your hell hounds will just be relishing this opportunity. They can provide some fodder to help us establish Faust's character in court."
She continued reading the expose and what she found brought her to the quick conclusion that Faustus lived his mortal life as a malcontent and grouser, who entrenched himself in the practice of alchemy primarily as a means to get rich quick. Too bad that didn't work out well for him. Still it would be of great help to dredge up everything she could about him at court- whenever that happened to be- and it set her thinking about the possible strategies her counterparts could be taking.
They probably would do the opposite of what she was doing; set up to paint Faustus as a reformed prodigal, who made a mistake but was being made to suffer and unjust punishment for his errors. They'd milk the whole forgiveness thing for all it's worth, she thought grimly, thinking about the other lawyer and her solid reputation for bringing the better natures out of others. Hikari banished her thoughts with a sigh and turned back to the papers, underlining a few words of interest as she read.
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"So how long were you married to Faustus, Gerde?" Hikari murmured gently and her witness looked up from her handkerchief, eyes darting around the place without resting on her questioner. It seemed rude but the woman or rather her soul had done the exact same thing when she'd been summoned to the lawyer's office earlier for interview and so the attorney knew she was just painfully shy. "We were married until death." Well her death at least, the lawyer mused, glancing down at her note pad. "I see, and how would you describe your marriage?"
She paused and turned around to look Faustus squarely in the eye before turning back to his wife, "Let me rephrase that, what kind of a husband was he to you?" Gerde looked up and shrugged, "He was my husband; m-my parents handed me over to him when I turned of age and I knew no other." Hikari nodded and then leaned closer with a smile, "Was he ever affectionate to you?" The other woman trained her eyes to the floor as she whispered in reply, "Faustus was an academic and as such he valued actions that went towards the edification of the mind; such physical frivolities were irrelevant to his person. I understood that and knew my place in the house hold."
The lawyer lifted an eyebrow in understanding and murmured, "So it was more or less a marriage of convenience; you stayed in the shadows and knew your place while he was free to pursue his academic exploits. Did you know that your husband was also an alchemist and more, a practitioner of the dark arts?" Gerde swallowed and pressed her handkerchief closer to her lips before giving a slight nod. "He made it very clear just what would happen if I ever mentioned that to anyone- that he would kill me and cut me up into so many little bits, no one would ever be able to find them when he was done scattering them around the city. I-I believed him and it was not in my place..."
Her words trailed away and she visibly floundered, settling down only when Hikari pressed her hand comfortingly, "It's alright Gerde, but what I do not understand is that although you were married to him through out your lifetime and his, there are very little records of that union. Can you explain why?"
Gerde sighed and closed her eyes briefly. "We'd been married scant two years when my husband made an announcement to me. We were both of genteel stock, albeit his family had little money and we lived mainly on the allowances that came from my dowry. Faustus came up to me one day and told me of his decision that we separate; he took control of my dowry and sent me off to live with his mother in the country. That was the last time I saw my husband until now."
Hikari allowed the silence in the courtroom to linger for as long as possible so as to give her witness's statements time to settle in with the judge. Then she pursed her lips and shook her head slightly. "He was your husband but he never touched you and showed no interest in your marriage. He was also practitioner of the dark arts and according to your statements he threatened to kill you if you ever divulged that to anyone else and then to top it up, he robbed you of your inheritance and shut you up from the rest of the world...is that the kind of man you're telling me Faustus is? A man who will use any selfish means to get whatever he wants, regardless of the consequences, isn't that right Gerde?"
She sighed and patted the witness's hand before turning away, "The defense rests with this line of questioning, your honor," and with that the soul of Gerde was summarily dismissed from the courtroom. Hikari couldn't help the smirk that form around her lips as she passed the plaintiff's table and her eyes met with her counterpart's, reading the outrage in them.
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"Can you not see what the chit is up to? She is trying to discredit me in the court, to curry the judge's favor to her side!" Faustus bellowed with frustration, eyes reddening as he glared at his advocate and the blonde nodded with a weary sigh. "Yes I am very aware of her tactics but the sad part is that you never even mentioned that you were married and there was no way I could have prepared for that." He opened his mouth to retort but seemed to rethink that decision, his scowl slowly disappearing to be replaced by an uncomfortable look. "She is not important to me; we were betrothed to each other before we were even born and I...never mind."
He cleared his throat and looked away for a moment. "That is not the point, the question is, what are you going to do about it now? We cannot very well expect to win this case if things like this keep happening." Annette nodded and reached for a thin file on her desk, "No we can't and that is why we have to beat them at their own game. Carmichael is trying to make you look bad in front of the judge and we can very well do the same thing to her client. Besides when you look at the track record, who is bound to have more disappointed customers, you or the devil?" Her impish smile tickled his funny bone and he gave a booming laugh. "Yes you are right! Then we shall fight fire with fire."
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Hikari pored over the large text spread over her laps, nose almost bumping into the delicate parchment. She was reading the very first ever independently chronicled report of the Faustian saga. It was her attempt to retain some objectivity in this case instead of depending on almost certainly propagandized editions that her client and assistants continued to ply her with and from her comparisons it stood almost at par with the others, except for a few discrepancies when it came to names and the circumstances surrounding the deal.
According to this text, Faust was just about his way to the underworld when he crossed paths with a certain character, Dietrich Webber, who upon hearing his tale, volunteered to be an advocate on his behalf with his creditor. The author also went on to say Webber managed to confound the devil with a series of trick tasks and technicalities, including a final one which apparently weighed in their souls and granted Faust freedom from the contract by default. Now that particularly interested the lawyer and she concentrated more on the topic.
Apparently Webber's advantage was the fact that he performed a completely selfless act on behalf of Faustus's soul, which was sold without any regard for its value- that is it! She straightened up with excitement and began scribbling away on her note pad. The whole basis for the broken contract was the fact that Webber's act was deemed utterly selfless in nature and therein lay the ultimate solution for this case.
If they could find a way to cast a shadow of doubt over that premise, they rendered it useless with regards to the original contract and ultimately negated the basis of this court case.
Her pen hovered uncertainly as she considered the other consequence of that; by rendering the terms of his freedom moot, she more or less reinstated the original contract and put his soul once more on the table. Hikari frowned and brushed the thought away; the original contract wasn't her concern but this case was and she was bound by ethics to do all that was in her power to defend her client, whether or not she-he is the devil .