Seth tuned out the testimonies of the witnesses ahead of him. He prided himself on being strong and level-headed in the field, but this was something different, something he didn't really have experience doing. On top of that, what Colin had told him about the forest was getting to him. Add more to the mix, the fact that he might ruin his testimony put him even more on edge. Thankfully, trials moved a lot quicker in the Violet City than they did Skyside, but that did little quell his nerves. What if he couldn't get the mirror to work? Why did he have to do this in the first place? Colin was innocent why couldn't everyone see that? The sooner this was over, the quicker he could go to Isabella.
"The defense calls Seth Logan to the stand," Marcellus's voice boomed after what seemed like hours but was likely no more than twenty minutes.
Seth knew how to exude confidence even when he was terrified. It was a skill he'd had since before he could remember. He brought his patent bravado forward, a bravado he realized he hadn't used often since he'd met Isabella, but she wasn't here, was she? Seth stood tall and strode to the witness stand. The mirror was with Marcellus, so he could introduce it to the court officially during Seth's testimony.
After Seth detailed his time traveling escapade with Isabella, the judge accepted the mirror as evidence. Marcellus handed it to Seth.
"And this is the item you and Isabella Foxworthy observed in Dodge's Diverting Delectables upon your return?"
"Yes, it is," said Seth, resisting the urge to pull at his collar. Cool and collected. That was him. He was doing great. "It showed us everything that happened in the Ghost Realm and who her killer was." People's reactions were skeptical as expected, but Seth pressed on. The truth was on his side, and so was the mirror with secrets ready to be revealed. "The mirror locked onto the last moments we saw in the Ghost Realm."
"Why do you think that is?"
"I don't know. Perhaps some entity was trying to help us tell the story as accurately as possible."
"We have checked it for dark enchantments, and it's clear. The mirror," Marcellus projected, turning to the courtroom as if performing in a play, "is a Mirror of Incident. What is revealed through it is as real and true as if it was happening before all your eyes. It has been proven authentic but can only be revisited by someone who was at the very scene in its real time. Since Mr. Logan and Miss Foxworthy traveled back to the date of incident, he should be able to make it work." Marcellus turned back to Seth. "Did you know what type of mirror this was when you first saw it, Mr. Logan?"
Seth shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He hadn't been able to make it work back at the Landry House, and he'd been so pre-occupied worry over Isabella, that he hadn't tried to make it work again. But thankfully Elias had told him the proper way to summon it forth. "No. That all happened really fast," he explained to the room.
"All right then, summon the incident," said Marcellus.
Seth took a deep breath and clutched the handle of the mirror. "Reveal the night of July 13, 1954, Foxworthy Hotel," Seth said, summoning the memory to his mind as Elias had instructed him to do along with the faces of the people he recalled being there: Jack, Isabella, Serena, Long John and the bloody broken body of Beatrice Foxworthy.
After a few seconds that had Seth believing that he was about to fail both Isabella and Colin, the handle warmed and the mirror swirled with various colors. "It's working!" he blurted out. He wanted to shake it to speed it up. But he was patient. Then, the night of the murder appeared just as it had when he and Isabella had first seen it in Theophilus's store.
"May we observe, young man?" The judge to his right asked. Seth immediately handed her the mirror.
In the next second, a ripple of energy swept through the rear of the courtroom, causing several people to clutch their belongings and cling to their seats. Behind the ripple stood several Jack Boots members, sneering. There was an uproar, but it was quickly quelled. Not wanting to delay or even take a break, the intruders were seated towards the back as if they were late arrivals not interlopers, proving all the more that this trial was going through no matter what. The leader's eyes pinned to the back of Colin's head. Seth could tell he had it in for him, that he'd shown up to see Colin put away for good. No more Midnight Brotherhood to keep the Jack Boots in check.
Seth seethed but kept his manners for Colin's sake. The judges grim-faced and shocked handed the mirror to Seth.
"Would you please share it with the courtroom?"
Seth looked to Elias who nodded. "Illuminate!" The image of what he and Isabella had seen project itself like a movie for the entire room to see. Everyone gasped as they watched Jack snapping Serena's neck and handing her to Long John. Then it revealed something Seth and Isabella hadn't seen before—Long John's face as his hood fell back. It was John Johnson.
"Johnna's father!" Seth, Micah and Xander all cried out, leaping to their feet.
"Well there you have it," Seth said a lump in his throat from seeing Serena's death again, "Colin is innocent, and you need to go find the real killer."
The court was in uproar. No one could believe what they had just seen. The prosecution was demanding her experts re-examine the mirror.
"Any further questions for this witness?" the judge to Seth's right asked Marcellus.
"No further questions, your honor."
"Ms. Prudence?"
The prosecutor stood. "None at this time, your honor."
"Then you are dismissed young man."
But as he got up, the mirror pulsed in Seth's hand. His eye snapped down to the glass to see an image filling the reflection.
Isabella locked in an invisible chokehold in the middle of a purple forest. She struggled but could not free herself.
A voice echoed. "She's too close to him...not ready. This will come to pass."
When Marcellus reached for the mirror, Seth held it away from him and marched over to Colin. He shoved it at him as the imaged replayed itself. "I need to go to her."
Colin looked at the mirror, eyes wide. "No," he gasped. "I can't leave yet. They won't let me."
Micah, who'd approached from behind just as Seth reached Colin, grabbed for the mirror. The Brotherhood leader gave it over to him. "Is this real? It's telling the future now?"
"What if it's fake?" asked Xander.
"It's not. It's the time witch," said Seth. It wasn't fake. "She's controlling this object. I can feel it."
"Seth's right. The mirror cannot show false images. The time witch may be moving through time and sending back something she's seen," said Elias.
"But how would she know how to connect Isabella to this mirror?" asked Xander.
Elias moved forward. "According to you, Seth, the time witch that took you to the Ghost Realm was a guardian of the Foxworthy family, correct?"
Seth nodded. What were they doing standing around talking? He held his breath and listened to the rest of Elias's explanation. Maybe it would be of help.
"That means," Elias went on, "that she connected to Isabella in a big way as a Foxworthy whose just traveled with her help. She could be still watching her, waiting to see if anything is amiss with time or has followed her back here. And if you left abruptly that could have easily happened."
"How far in the future is this?" Seth ground his teeth together, trying to push back the panic threatening take over his senses.
"There's no way to tell," said Elias.
"Sorry. I have to go!" Seth pushed away from everyone. "If anyone's coming with me, you better hurry. I'm not waiting around," he called over his shoulder.
"I'll be right behind you," said Colin, "when I get out of here. Neeta, go with Seth..." were the last words Seth heard as he pushed out of the court room and through the lobby of Empath Hall. When emerged from the building, he found Xander, Micah and Neeta by his side.
Seth flew down the stairs. "Seth!" Neeta cried out. "Stop!" Seth kept running. When they reached the bottom steps, she tried again. "Seth! STOP!" People turned around to look at them. Seth did not care. "Look, you need to stop."
Seth did not answer, instead, he ground his teeth and lifted his eyebrow expectantly.
"I know of a way to get you there fast her. If she's with Cleo, this should work. It'll take a cohort connection. Come on!"
"Let's go then!" Seth didn't waste a second following the dark-haired empath around the block with Xander and Micah right on his heels.