Antonteo, Magical Attorney

I did a writing prompt titled “You’re a mage who specialises in magical law and, to be more specific, legally and magically binding contracts. Whether it’s about selling your soul or trading a firstborn child, you got the papers covered.” I ended up going more of a private investigator route than attorney, but whatever. It was interesting, and I myself am curious about the city that I created, as it seems to be a weird mix of people and demons in once city, only staying in line due to some high mages. I could have gone into more detail, but I only spent a couple hours on it. Check it out!

Antonteo, Magical Attorney

I was sitting on my office, leaning back in my chair with my feet propped up on my desk, sipping on some bourbon when she walked in. She was obviously distraught, and if I wasn’t mistaken, crying, although demons didn’t every cry. I immediately had my suspicion, but I let her walk across the dusty, dimly lit room and settle in the hovering chair before addressing her. She was obviously in distress, and I wanted to approach her carefully.

I withdrew my feet from the table before sitting normally and addressing her. “What can I do for you Ma’am?” I waited for her to collect herself before pressing her further.

Her convulsing sobs seemed to get under control before the barely whispered, “I was supposed to be beautiful…” She wasn’t bad, if you had a thing for demons, which I didn’t, which was good because I don’t like getting caught up with clients.

I wasn’t sure how to address that though, so I awkwardly responded. “I think you are pretty enough….” as I failed in my attempt to console her.

“I should be a human!” she shrieked and fell back into sobbing.

Bingo. I had seen cases like this before. Human wants something and sold their soul for it. They likely weren’t clear enough, and the malicious entity that carried out the bargain utilized that for their advantage. It made sense that she was in my office, she wanted this contract inspected and ideally nullified. This was my forté.

I waited for her to calm down before pressing on. It explained the sobbing, a human reaction, on this objectively attractive demon, as far as demons go, since demons didn’t cry or sob: those were human emotions.

After a few minutes, she composed herself, and she related that she had desired to be the most beautiful women in Zaloriva, the city we inhabited. In her quest to be the prettiest women, she eventually came into contact with Xul’ragi, a particularly infamous demon who basically ran a mafia ring. Xul’ragi agreed to make her the most prettiest woman ever, for her eternal servitude in his domain after she died. Tanora, as she finally introduced herself, had agreed. Unbeknownst to her, since she did not consult an attorney beforehand, the pact did not specify which race she would be the most beautiful in, so he turned her into the most beautiful demon to himself, which very much explained why he wanted her in eternal servitude after she died. She now wanted to see what she could do about repealing the pact and gaining her human body back.

“My fees are 100 gold coins per hour, plus other expenses” I informed her.

She sighed before resigning to the cost, “So be it, please just get me my body back”. I was curious how she was going to pay for it, and more importantly, why she wanted to be the prettiest women ever, but I didn’t question my clients motives, as long as they paid.

We departed my office, and I closed the door behind us, admiring the silver placard embedded into the door. Antonteo, Magical Attorney. I hadn’t been working as an attorney very long, only a couple years in fact, but my success had rapidly propelled me in the professional circle, although it would still be a long time before I had a better office. I told Tanora to come back in 2 days, and I would see what I could do. The first thing to do was to go to Xul’ragi.

I had to visit an old acquaintance of mine first. I hastily made my way through the market and arrived at the Judicial Academy, where all lawyers and judges, both in normal and magic affairs, trained. I went to Barthon’s office and patiently waited for him now that I was at my destination. After an hour or so of waiting, he came into my office, flustered, and then slightly annoyed at seeing me.

“Hello Antonteo” he almost sighed, “what brings you around these parts?” He seemed like he had more that he wanted to say, but he cut himself short.

“I think you might be interested in a case of mine.”

He eyed me doubtfully with a side-glance. “You say that every time Antonteo” he said while organizing the books that he had brought into the office with him from the class he had just taught. He had a knack of saying my name as often as possible, doubtless to display his distaste for me.

“This time it’s different. This time it has to do with Xul’ragi” I said while barely containing a smirk.

This got his attention. “OK Antonteo, you have my attention” he said as he turned around and sat in his desk, fully facing me. Like many others, Xul’ragi had also made a pact with Barthon’s brother which had resulted in him being eternally damned, only to settle a fued between him and another denizen. It was binding, and there was nothing anyone could do about it, and Barthon always wanted revenge, but since he was impartial, he could never judge in any case involving Xul’ragi, since Barthon was a Head Magical Judge in Zaloriva.

“I know I pester you with help from time to time, but I will particularly need your help with this one.”

“Go on…” he coolly compelled.

“I need to read the contract that Xul’ragi has, and while I am sure that it is rock-solid, as it always is, I might mention that I have a witness who can testify against the legality of the contract. We know he plays dirty, and by tampering with the investigation, in whichever way I am sure he will, we can catch him red handed, and make him settle with a plea deal.”

“That’s not entirely allowed-” Barthon Began.

“But it’s not entirely illegal to ‘mention’ that I have a witness who can testify against him!” I interrupted. “Besides, he tricked her, and that alone holds the possibility to charge him as he withheld that information.”

“The morality of the situation was briefly considered by Barthon before agreeing, as he desperately wanted to see Xul’ragi punished in some way or another.

After settling the specifics of how things would entail, I left his office and headed to the Harbor of the Damned on the south side of the city, where Xul’ragi and his cohorts tended to hang out. More than a couple shady people looked upon me with curiosity, but I carried a sense of superiority that left them unwilling to provoke me. I eventually managed to locate the current club where Xul’ragi was at, and I pushed my way in, demanding an audience with him.

I entered through some curtained doorways into the back. I suspected that the curtains might actually be strips of flesh, but it wasn’t the worst I had heard that these demons did. Xul’ragi was resting on a chair which was fashioned to look like a throne made out of a dragon skull. He was tall, with pale black skin. His long bony legs were crossed as he drank from a goblet which he held with one of his 4 arms. His short wings, which didn’t look big enough to be functional, were tucked behind him, and his piercing gaze with his toothy smile beamed down on me as I entered the room.

“Ahh, Antonteo… I have heard so much about you” he rasped with his surprisingly high pitched voice.

“And I, you” I simply replied.

“And what can I do for you on this glorious afternoon?” he said with a stiff upper lip.

“I have come to address the pact that has been created between you and a Ms. Tanora.”

“Hmm.. Ms.. Tanora you say?” and then after a brief pause of obvious stalling “Ah yes! I recall her, and what about our pact? It is signed in blood and is binding, just like all my pacts.”

“It is believed that Tanora may have signed that contract under duress, which would weaken the binding, but more importantly, I have an eye witness that states that Tanora did not in fact sign the contract with blood, as per requirements for all magical and supernatural contracts, but with a normal pen, only accepted with non-fantastic contracts. Additionally, you withheld information pertaining to which race she would be most beautiful in. As such, I demand access to inspect the contract and divine whether these claims hold any value.” I sat there waiting for his response as he eyed me with contempt for a few, long moments.

“My contracts are always performed to the letter so your magical judges can’t cause me any trouble, and yet, here you attorneys are, all the time, trying to get someone out of a pact.” Xul’ragi then made some odd sound that sound like snarling while a pot was being hit. I was a little on edge, but it must have been some command, as someone came from a side room carrying a scroll which he brought to the table in the center of the room and laid out.

I read through the contract. As expected, it was devoid of loopholes. I pondered which lawyers were writing his contracts, as they were the most solid contracts I had ever seen. Since I also had basic magic abilities, I divined the scroll, which, also as expected, revealed that the scroll was signed by 2 willing parties, and the signature was indeed blood. There wasn’t much to do against the contract, and I briefly worried that I wouldn’t be able to do anything for my client.

“The contract appears to be in order, but as I mentioned, there is a witness who claims to see Tanora signing the contract under duress, so I will have to meet up with them and see about possible litigation. Additionally, your lack of race in the contract is misleading.”

“This is a farce, and Tanora is lying, but please, carry on” he said, dismissing me with a wave as he sat back on his throne.

I left the club and then went back to the market district, where I would meet up with the “witness.” As I approached the witness, I asked about the conditions under which he saw Tanora signing the contract. About halfway through my question though, an arc of lightning erupted from behind me, hitting my supposed witness, which vanished in a cloud of smoke. The witness didn’t go up in ashes like a normal person would, but in smoke because it was simply an apparition, and a particularly strong one that was linked to a hex that would locate and stun the caster.

Barthon had cast the spell upon seeing me enter the market in hopes that this might happen, as per our plan. While Xul’ragi played by the books with legal matters where he could get in trouble with the high judges of the city, he still wasn’t apposed to criminal acts. Unsurprisingly, the culprit was one of his demons, and Barthon quickly found him and ensnared him with magical shackles. This demon wasn’t very strong willed, and he quickly confessed to being sent by Xul’ragi.

We rapidly informed the security division of the mage’s order, and a contingent of highly skilled mages was dispatched with me to Xul’ragi’s place. We arrested Xul’ragi under connections to the attempted murder, and what I was hoping for, Section 8.7, subsection a:

“Any attempt to interfere in the investigation of magical contracts will null the contract if either of the 2 parties desires it.”

Even though it had only been an apparition, the fact that they tried to eliminate a possible witness meant they had interfered, and Tanora could nullify the contract. It was a stretch, but Xul’ragi had a bad enough record that the High Judges would let it slide, as it was nothing compared to the other charges they had in store for him.

And all that in just a day’s work; that’s why I had such a good reputation, and even Barthon seemed to warm up to me after that. Two days later, as planned, Tanora came by my office. She nervously sat down while I sipped on my bourbon.

“…and?” she sheepishly asked, still visibly upset. I wordlessly slid her the contract.

“It’s a long story, but I managed to get him to interfere in the investigation, making the contract voidable by either party.”

“So that means that I can not be locked away indefinitely, and I can also get my old human body back?!” Her upset had quickly changed to excitement.

“Yes” I smugly said, proud of my own success.

“Great, then how do we do it?” She eagerly pressed me for a resolution.

“700 gold.” I simply said. She looked confused for a second, so I continued, “My hourly fees. I spent 7 hours on your case.”

“Oh… right…” she started slowly reaching for he coin purse.

“I am not running a charity, unfortunately” I jokingly said, but also slightly annoyed that she seemed so reluctant about paying. She wordlessly handed me the gold, and I then pushed the contract right in front of her to the edge of the table.

“What now?” she pressed.

“The ward’s protecting the contract are now removed for you, you can shred it if you desire.” Unsure if it would really work, she slowly went to shred the paper. As she did so, her body was engulfed in light. She continued shredding the paper in a delightful fervor. When the light enveloping her subsided, there was a remarkable woman sitting in front of me. She had long blonde hair, almost like the Naire of the Summer’s Plains. With a narrow physique and slanted eyes, she almost resembled a young woman, Asian in appearance, but with radiant blonde hair.

“I am sorry it cost so much, but I hope you are happy with not being stuck in eternal servitude, and that you have your human body back. And for what it’s worth, I think you’re pretty enough as is.”

She only seemed to be focused on the money part. “It doesn’t matter much anyways, I will get prettier other ways and find a rich man to marry and get all the money back after I leave him.” With her body back, and me paid, she promptly stood up and walked out the room, leaving in such a haste that she left the door slightly ajar. I paid no attention to the door though as I leaned back in my chair, setting my feet on my desk, and continued sipping my bourbon, waiting for another client to come into my office.

I may have not played fair in lying to Xul’ragi about the supposed witness, but he had performed much more heinous acts, and needed some dirt to finally get him in for it. I felt even less guilty about lying after considering that Tanora was trying to get better looks only for getting money from men. She was already pretty enough, and a human again, but sometimes you never know who is truly a demon on the inside, even if they don’t look like one.

Oh well, this whole city was full of demons, whether literally or figuratively, and I had to make a living somehow. I also had my own list of dirty laundry, so I couldn’t judge others.