Sylvia bit her lower lip upon hearing Alicia's scathing words, and she turned her face away, not willing to meet the hot gaze. "I go as far as I need to..." She turned back to look at her, having found inner strength. "If it means I can protect you, and everyone else." The crowd once again cheered, but Sylvia was not in the mood for that. She gestured for the judge to end the chatter, and waited for Alicia's rebuttal.
The tension that followed was nearly palpable, and some audience members took some distance away from the pit, feeling stuffy. Sylvia blinked at the mention of Mariette. "You have a list?" She asked offhandedly, but then gasped as Alicia called Kimble for a testimony. 

As the light girl might have expected, there was an uproar in the audience. 
"Kimble? What does she know? Was she also Justine's pawn? What is going on?" Confusion ran rampant until the judge banged his mallet. "Bring her here," the Beckoner ordered, and soon enough the catgirl was led into the Hall of Judgement. She looked sheepish, her tail wrapped around herself as she looked around fearfully, the crowd parting before her like the Red Sea for Moses.
Once she was standing on the floating podium assigned for giving testimonies, Sylvia approached her. "Do you swear to speak the truth, and only the truth, while in the Hall of Judgement?" She asked, and Kimble nodded rapidly, her fluffy ears bouncing atop her head. "I purromise!"
Sylvia nodded. "The floor is yours, miss Hayden," she then said, and made way for the defendant to question the monster girl and make her case.

"[i]We[/i] have a list," Alicia replied, glancing up at the Judge and those seated with him. "I gave it to the Beckoners so if you didn't know about it then I don't know what to say."

She waited as the courtroom was thrown into an uproar, determined to make the best of this opportunity while she had it. This could make her entire case, and affect Kimble as well. She watched like everyone else as the catgirl entered the courtroom, frowning with sympathy at how scared she looked. She had guessed that this would be hard on her, but she didn't have much choice. She just needed to have faith in her ability to handle it.

Once she was ready, Alicia floated forwards. She decided to start easy, and let her get comfortable before getting into the difficult questions. "Alright Kimble. Can you tell the court how you know me, where we met?" Easy enough, as far as she could tell.

" Okay," Kimble answered with a straight back, and looked around at the court before she began talking. "So, Mistr-Um, Miss Hayden and I met when we were in the Overcity. I was...Not myself then. " Kimble paused. "I was turned into a bad kitty...By Justine." The crowd gasped at the revelation, and even Sylvia seemed to be taken offguard, putting a hand to her mouth. "But then, Miss Hayden rescued me! She spared my life, and gave me a chance. I'm forever grateful, nya!" She then blinked and shut her mouth, feeling embarrassed to slip with her vocal tic at such a dramatic moment.

Alicia shot Kimble a pleased smile, appreciative of the testimony. It wasn't quite how she would have phrased things, but there was something to be said for winning over the audience. That said, now she had to move on to something more difficult. "Alright. And how did you come to work for Justine? How did she make you a 'bad kitty'?"

The proceedings had taken a significant turn with Alicia calling in Kimble. Janet didn't even know the monster girl was at the HQ. Watching the witness enter and take her place Janet was confused to say the least. What was Kimble doing here? And if another of Justine's girls were here, why was she on trial? Thanks to the magic that had been cast on her, the girl didn't have a overly strong reation. 

This didn't mean that everything was good though. Kimble didn't blow up the Headquarters that killed several Beacon girls. Nor was she part of Beacon before that, to her knowledge anyway. Justine wasn't much about letting her minions get to know about their pasts. For now she would just have to wait and listen to where things went.

Kimble looked down, tears starting to form in her eyes. "She...She used magic. It was so dark I couldn't see anything. It felt like I couldn't even breathe. After that...I don't remember. I mean, not much...I remember being really angry, really cruel...and how I wanted to kill and hurt. But those weren't my real feelings! They were twisted!" Kimble then began sobbing, and Sylvia looked away, sighing from empathy. "How terrible...I had no idea she had that kind of power over others..." She mumbled. The audience whispered among each other in heated debate, as they tried to comprehend the implications to Beacon as a whole.

Alicia fell silent, not  willing to speak for a minute or two after Kimble had finished. It  wasn't entirely what she had wished for but she was not going to  complain about the results. It seemed to have had quite an impact on the  crowd at the very least.

 During the moments of silence Aurelio reordered the magic he was casting over the Hall. He let the curtain of [color=bc8dbf]Patience[/color]stay hanging over the spectators but would no longer supply the magic to kept it running and instead sent a flow of [color=f26522]Confidence[/color] and [color=662d91]Understanding[/color] towards Sylvia. Being forced to face your friends and foes was never a kind experience even if it was needed from time to time.

With that said, she returned to Kimble for one last question. "Thank you for that. You said that you didn't remember much from your time when you were serving under Justine. But do you recognize that girl?" she asked, pointing at the platform where the accused stood. "Or does the name 'Janet Howell' mean anything to you?"

Kimble nodded, feeling better as she was complimented by Alicia. "I do. Justine mentioned the name a couple of times, I think. She must have been the jellyfish girl who accompanied her."

"Wait, I have a question," Sylvia then asked. "We haven't detected any dark magic within Janet, how do you explain that?" Sylvia then asked. "If she was turned into a monster, how was she purified without the Beacon's involvement?"

The sudden swing in topic was also unexpected, but she did her best to respond without hurting her own case. "After HQ was attacked, me and Suwako ran into a pair of Djinn girls whose powers involved granting wishes. With what we were up against, I wished for something that could purify any corruption, no matter how deep. When I ran into Janet earlier today, I used that on her and removed her corruption." She'd been pretty busy at the time, so telling them about the encounter had slipped her mind when it had happened. And then she'd been in the Overcity for a while so there had been other things for her to focus on. But just to prove it she produced the vial where one might see lingering stars if they looked closely.

The mention of the djinn girls was another alarm for the Beacon. "I heard rumors about them, but it sounded super sketchy..." The whispers drifted. "Can they grant any wish you'd want? Sounds super dangerous." "We can't let them roam free."
And when Alicia actually produced the empty bottle, clearly labeled as a purification potion, the audience looked on in wonder. A moment of silence passed the jury's texting having turned from rapid responses to more deliberate writing. The judge broke the spell. "Do you have any further questions, miss Starshine?" Sylvia shook her head, and gave the faintest smile. "No, your honor."

With both sides having made their case, it was time for the jury's decision. The magical girls all stood up, and one of them announced. "Based on the current evidence, we have deemed Janet Howell as..." The entire hall seemed to hold its breath in anticipation.

"...Not guilty."

About a third of the audience booed and shouted, clearly upset by the decision, but the judge banged his mallet. "Order! Janet Howell," he addressed the girl, and her podium seemed to shift down, until it was hovering just above the pit. "By the light of Beacon, I shall revoke your excommunication, and welcome you back as our fellow chosen of justice. However, you will first be put under supervision. Alicia Hayden, you are to be assigned as her commanding officer. Prepare for further orders. Dismissed." With one final bang of the tiny mallet, the crowds began dispersing from the Hall, as judgement has been made. For the first time since it's construction, it was made in favor of the defendant.

Sylvia pushed aside the magical girls who wanted her commentary on the result, and reached Alicia and Janet as they were walking out. "Alicia, I'm sorry. I know that what I did was awful. But you have to understand my position; as much as I trust you, that's not enough to guarantee Beacon's safety." 

It seemed that while she was gone, both from having been kidnapped and after being freed from Justine, a lot had happened. It was going to take some time to sort though it all. In only a day she'd managed to be clensed, had trial, and avoided being killed. Although she'd still have to step lightly. Just because she was cleared didn't mean everyone was happy about it. Turning to head out she looked down at her hands. They were red from how tightly she had them clenched. 

With a sigh of relief Aurelio let go of the spells he had woven throughout the Hall and nearly sank to the floor as he did so. Large scale blanketing was always rough and the atmosphere of the trial wasn't doing him any favors, thankfully his spells would linger for a bit longer so it was unlikely that anything rash would be done so soon after the trial ended.

Straightening up he gave a deep bow to both the Judge and the rabbit that had vouched for him. He hoped he at least nodded in acknowledgement of the warning he had received earlier, but he honestly couldn't remember due to the focus he put in to his spell weaving. Then he turned and strode out of the Hall in search of the people more directly involved in the trial, lapping up the ambient emotions as he went.

[color=fff79a]"Well that was quite the event."[/color] His approach was mixed with an aura of [color=2e3192]Relaxation[/color] as he gently tried to sooth the friction that the trial surely had caused between everyone. [color=fff79a]"Hopfully you didn't mind me stepping in as I did, was just trying to keep everone on track."[/color]

Turning to Aurelio , Janet shook her head. [color=cyan]"No that was helpful. I wondered where that came from. Thank you...."[/color] She trailed off, not knowing the boys name but offered a hand to shake. Hopefully he would get the hint. She was inturupted briefly as her things were being returned to her. Fishing around in her backpack she searched for her phone.

Aurelio took the offered hand without missing a beat [color=fff79a]"Glad to be of help."[/color] he replied with a grin [color=fff79a]"And I go by Aurelio while I'm suited up but otherwise my name's Kyle, pleasure to meet you all."[/color]

Having said her piece, Alicia fell silent and waited quietly as the jury went about their deliberation. She felt like she had done the best she could given the circumstances, she just hoped that the jury agreed with her. If she hadn't succeeded and Janet was found guilty, she didn't know what she'd do with herself. 

A sigh of relief escaped upon hearing the verdict, the tension released from her body as she visibly sagged. She didn't mind the conditions that had come with the verdict, and was just glad that she had succeeded as she was pulled back from the middle of the room by the floating platform while everyone else exited.

Arriving at the entrance, she stopped as Sylvia came up to her. "I know," she assured the other girl, patting her on the shoulder. "You're doing your job. I'm just not used to finding myself in the crosshairs." She could imagine herself being on the other side, if she hadn't had the information that had proven her innocence.

"Yeah. I'm not sure I would have been able to present my case as well if I acted as defendant. Anyway, I got a lot of paperwork to finish now, so catch you later." And with that, Sylvia left, hounded by a horde of gossiping girls.

Alicia turned to Janet, flashing her a thumbs up. "Congratulations. I guess this means you have to call me Boss now." She then paused, a subdued frown taking over as she regarded her friend. "That is, if you want to stick around after everything that's happened." She wouldn't blame her if she needed some time after what she'd just been through.

[hr]
Helga nodded back to Su, and moved towards the source of the sound some more, purposefully using her body to block line of sight to Su as she went to lean on a nearby fence, hopefully masquerading herself as a normal passerby. "Sure thing, twintails," the boy's voice responded, and soon enough, he stepped out of the shjadows to confront Helga. The [url=https://i.imgur.com/Z6JXvWE.jpg]magical boy[/url] had a wide grin on his face as he held his hands in his pockets. He was accompanied by two magical girls: a [url=https://i.imgur.com/7tUZdAj.jpg]serious-looking girl[/url] with flowing red hair, sinister armor and an intense glare, and [url=https://i.imgur.com/R8cXOXK.png]a more cheerful-looking girl[/url] with a native-looking islander outfit. "Hi there!" The boy lifted his hand up. "I'm Charlie, and these are Charlie's Angel's!" The red-haired girl squinted, and quickly slapped him in the back of the head. "Ouch! I mean, she's Janice, and the other one's Noida." Janice scoffed as she crossed her arms and looked away, while Noida came right up to Helga. "You're a magical girl, right? Is the other girl one too?" She pointed towards Su. Helga shook her head. "No, she's...I rescued her from a robber just now, and was leading her back to home. Isn't that right, Su?" Helga turned towards her.