Somehow the mere acknowledgment brought immediate ease.
She knows what she's doing.
"Thank you for the demonstration," Lisette thanked before she seemed focused on her papers for a few moments. "Did you know that you have to be injured at the L2 ligament in your spine or lower to be able to send magic signals to your lower half?"
She asked it so casually, and yet no one was able to answer. When the silence continued, she carried along as if she hadn't asked a question.
"It's an intriguing finding, really. I'm sure magic and medicine aren't as vital in this universe, and it's almost impossible to try such measures without the risk of permanent paralysis, but I'm one-hundred percent certain that anyone damaged from the L1 ligament upward would find extreme difficulties in being able to walk." Her head moved in Elisha's direction. "Don't you think, Elisha?"
"H-How am I supposed to do know that terminology? What do I look like? A doctor?! My predicament is all thanks to your defendant, who made me disabled! Yet, now you're trying to focus this trial on medical science?"
"Ah, well, you see, medical science is pretty important when it comes to your disability," she emphasized and moved away from the podium. She began walking towards the jury.
"You can simply look this up, but magic has its limits when it comes to the nervous system. No matter the limitless possibilities magic delivers to the palm of an individual's hands, without a properly working nervous system, they're nothing but a puppet that needs strings to take each step and move each arm. The only way someone can use magic to aid them with the lower half of their body is to ensure the nerve endings down there are active enough to do so. If damaged, one has to go through a vigorous healing process either with magical machinery that carries a ton of healing flame or magic in general, or you'd have to be in a coma long enough to be worked on by multiple mages to repair the nerve endings. It's a lot faster when you're unconscious though. It's the very reason some may be forced into a coma to make sure their body not only recovers from their injuries through magical injections with IV drips but also ensures the nervous system is able to rejuvenate itself with the aid of the flowing magic entering the body."
Coma and rejuvenation. Does that have something to do with Elijah currently being in a coma? Did he injure himself from the collapse that left multiple injuries, so they put him in a coma to aid his recovery?
"We didn't come here to be lectured," Officer Waters huffed.
"I agree with you," Lisette declared with a smile as she spun to look over to Officer Waters. "So if you continue interrupting, I'll ensure you have a fine exit out of here."
The way she said the second half sent chills through me as her voice dipped to a deadly low. No one else even dared to speak as Officer Waters once again kept his mouth shut.
With another spin, she was back to her smiling self as she faced the jury.
"Please refer to the fifty-fifth page of your document."
After the shuffling of their packages, the jury began to mutter, while the judges exchanged looks and began to whisper amongst themselves.
Lisette waited until the room quieted before she continued.
"As you can see, on the official health documents, it was stated that Elisha was injured at the L1. I'm sure that's not a big deal. One off shouldn't show such a difference, but as many of you may have noticed, Elisha used no magic during her demonstration."
That led to a few gasps while Elisha's eyes widened. Before she could interrupt, Lisette continued. "I'm sure a few of you may state that she simply could have hidden her aura to ensure no one witnessed her use of magic and give her the privilege to be amongst us in society rather than letting her disability control her livelihood. I totally agree with such, however, that isn't the case here. In order to use magic to walk, the legs not only give off immense heat from the shift in thrumming energy rushing through the bloodstream and nervous system to aid in muscular awakening but in ninety-five percent of cases, the individuals gain incantations upon their flesh that are hot enough to burn through pantyhose."
She pulled out her phone then and with the press of a few buttons displayed a screen that showed the current temperature.
"As you can see, the temperature is currently seventy-eight. This is the normal temperature in this courtroom for all cases unless…" She paused and flicked her fingers, a flame bursting to life with enough heat that the temperature rose on the monitor in seconds. "Magic that heightens or decreases the temperature is activated."
With another snap of her fingers, the flame was extinguished, and she slipped her phone back into her pocket while moving to return to the podium. "The few steps Elisha took to get from the stand to the podium would have either burned through her stockings or increased the temperature even by one degree. Also, not enough time has passed for the temperature to easily drop back down to the standard. Due to the tension in the room, the mere exhibition of heat would have contributed to a further increase in temperature."
She looked back at Elisha before she really began deciphering everything.
"This brings me to a number of issues with Elisha's sworn revelation. Elijah Hamilton's phone had a number of encrypted text messages, that surprisingly were deleted, but he apparently had a second phone that had a backup of every conversation he's had since entering Witchling Academy."
Elisha's eyes widened while Lisette moved from the podium to begin pacing while explaining her findings.
"After an intense investigation with the help of Witchling Star and my own associated agency, Tracker Hive, we've not only discovered that Elijah Hamilton is actually innocent, but it's been revealed that he's a twin."
Another round of shocked gasps filled the room while my heart was hammering against my chest in anticipation of what was about to be revealed.
The truth.
"If you turn further into your files, you'll see the core evidence of both birth certificates. The older Elijah is currently the one wanted for a number of crimes he's recently committed in alliance with the well-known shadow organization that aids in a number of underground criminal activity. The younger Elijah, or second twin, is currently in a coma at a private medical hospital. I won't disclose the name or location of this place, but you can see in your files the official picture taken this morning by yours truly. The injuries of this Elijah confirm that he's been in a coma for some time. And, after further investigation, I discovered an Elisha Waters at the same location."
The jury looked puzzled as Alexis decided to speak up. "Elaborate on your last comment, Ms. Cross."
"Gladly," she replied and looked over to Elisha. "You see, I had to take a swift trip back to the private institution because there were records of a woman by the name of Elisha Waters admitted to the psychiatric ward. It wasn't my responsibility to investigate such a peculiar discovery, but with the trial only two hours away, it didn't make much sense to me. Surely, one Elisha couldn't be in two different places, right?"
She looked over to Alexis before she clapped her hands. Ceil promptly moved to stand next to her, his arm extended with the sheet of paper she needed as he bowed to her service.
"Thank you, Ceil," she praised and flicked the photograph in the air until it multiplied and moved to slide before the jury and each of the judges.