Verdict

The flash of cameras rippled across the walkway up the staircase to the halls of congress. The sides of a small corridor through the crowd and up the stairs were held back by men in suits and with obvious weapons on their persons, to allow one man to walk towards the building. Wearing sunglasses, not for the sun, but to ward off the incessant cameras and other flashing lights, he stepped through the corridor made for him slowly. The sunglasses were perhaps the only conventional attire the pale skinned man wore, everything else was odd, almost comically so to many watching around the world.

He wore a black robe, the back of which stylized with a strange golden sigil that was found in no time in history. Under that, he wore some kind of armor made from multilayered leathers and padding, of a similar black color. On his feet, he wore boots which added an inch or two to his height, and adorned atop his head was a large, almost cone shaped hat, made out of black fabric. In one of his hands was a gnarled wooden staff, made out of what seemed to be ebony, formed into a spiral shape, and tipped with an ensnared piece of jade, which glinted in the light of the sun. He seemed to be a little over forty, maybe in his late thirties at the youngest, but with a hood pulled up and sunglasses pulled down, exact features were hard to pin onto him. Though many who had seen the previous days’ worth of proceedings knew the rest, an average looking gentleman with no oddities to speak of facially.

As he passed up the stairs, people shouted questions at him.

“How many people like you are there?”

“Do you have any agents in global governance?”

“Are dragons real?”

“Is your organization accepting applicants?”

“Are you concerned about the upcoming verdict?”

He ignored all of them with a neutral expression, passed through the corridor, and entered into the halls of governance. More camera flashes, more voices to be ignored there too, as he strode through the halls and to the chamber where he was required, entering through large double doors, and straight through the center, walking down to the seat he’d inhabited over the past few days. 

After taking his seat, and being thankful for his sunglasses to block further camera flashes, he set his staff to lean up against the table and turned his attention forward, waiting for the proceedings to resume once more.

After about thirty minutes to an hour of waiting for things to get into order, the room finally went silent, with the banging of a gavel. The man of the hour, one Senator Castor Richardson, looked to those still speaking in the fringes with disdain, soon bringing the lawmakers to order. He then looked down to the man with sunglasses, who slowly removed them to reveal a pair of brown eyes which looked up to make contact with Richardson. 

The Senator began to speak after a moment of silence. 

“Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, and those watching across the world, we come to the final day of our trial of one Arulin Nied. Mr. Nied’s testimony has been most enlightening, regarding an apparent organization on both the soil of America, and many other nations of the world, including, but not limited to, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and People’s Republic of China. An organization with a field of science that was, and still is for the most part, completely unknown to all of those nations, and in truth, likely any nation. An organization made of people who proclaim to be wizards.”

A moment of silence.

“We have discovered an enlightening window into this organization, which if the testimony is to be believed, could be a fantastic ally to the people of the United States, and one that we intend to welcome with open arms. Before we conclude an issue our verdict on this matter, and give some closing remarks, we would like to open the floor to Mr. Nied, for his final words.”

He looked down to the man expectantly, who stood from his seat, grabbing his staff and using it to walk over to the front of the room. Refusing a microphone, he instead spoke with a volume unbefitting of his body, reaching everyone in the room with ease. 

“To the governing body present here, the people it claims to speak for, and the world watching, I thank you for listening long enough to reach the one statement of importance for these entire proceedings.”

His voice was deep, and was gravely serious in tone. 

“This entire trial was performative. The charges, that of trespassing on “American” soil and performing illegal research, while perhaps accurate, will not be followed through on. The intention of this is an attempt to garner favor with my order, and orders around the world, while lovely to see, are fruitless. You intend to offer me amnesty, for the aforementioned crimes, in exchange for loyalty, however it is not something we will or can offer. We will not fight your wars for you. We will not interfere on any kind of scale for you. And we will not offer you any assistance. I am only here, and have only spoken, to add a disclaimer.”

He put both hands on his staff.

“Do not look for us. Do not attempt to learn our secrets. And do not attempt to force us to divulge any of those two things. There are some things in this world far worse than international embarrassment.”

He then turned around, muttering some kind of words under his breath, a gateway, a rift in the air opening in front of him. Security guards moved, drawing weapons, and readying to fire them, however, before they could, the metal melted in their hands. Their screams being the only thing that broke the dead silence, as the wizard closed the gate behind him.