The Harpy was holding court, and all the little children of the Central District came before her to make their accusations, or to pay their boons. She was dressed for work. The outfit was a fuchsia pantsuit, with black kitty kat heels and horn rimmed glasses. Her hair was tied back into a braid and her nails were long, sharp and painted the color of blood. Her eyes were black and heavily shadowed, and her very aura said fear me. Somehow, her aura also said love me, and most of the plaintiffs and defendants did a little of both. Tonight she'd heard a few cases about who had the right to what feeding ground, a complaint about the Luminary building being an eye sore (which she rather enjoyed), a custody battle over a dog familus, and most recently a fae who was arguing for more rights for fae to practice their faeness openly.
She'd broken up the feeding grounds, playacted the complainer, awarded sole custody of the dog in exchange for a minor boon, and told they fae that the masquerade ruled supreme. It was a rather slow night for the Harpy, and she was getting bored. The bar downstairs was jumping, but up on the second floor it was quiet and relaxed. Harps and piano played peaceful Barque pop, and her staff was dressed as nice as any Anarchs ever had. Suits, full dresses, top hats and petticoats all littered the upper floor. Jake and Lisa-Joe shared the philosophy of more was more, and ceremony was an important metric of control. In reality, she was the daughter of bums, had been a tavern whore until her siring, and had spent eternity killing, fucking and having a good time. Why should anyone listen to her judgment? Why should citizens respect her authority? What was to stop that 1,500 year old ancient from tearing out her throat when she rendered a judgement he didn't like?
The answer was prestige. It was mystery, smoke, pomp, elitism, and the truth that people saw power in those who cast the biggest shadows. Her's was momentous and suffocating. The great bird sat on a throne with a golden frame, ostentatious and gaudy, French sixteenth century, with lavender upholstery. A marble end table was placed next to the throne, and on it was a fine water glass filled with blood. She sipped it and then used a Kleenex to blot her lipstick before saying to the Brujah attending to her, "next case!"
Amy, her punk little bailiff, was wearing white tie and tails tonight, her pink hair tightly wound into a bun. She crossed the room and waved the next case forward. Two vampires and a pet came forward. The plaintiff approached the Harpy. She was about ten years in the ground, and about twenty three in appearance. She had long blonde hair and a curvy figure, a beauty and looked mad as hell. The defendant was a smug looking vampire, probably two hundred or so, and gleefully stood with a stoned looking human woman. The human was nineteen by a day, high as a kite, and holding the pretty male vampire by the arm. Lisa-Joe looked back and forth between them, before flipping to a page in her binder relevant to their case. It was a dispute over who had pet rights to the mortal. It was a typical occurrence, and something she'd handled before. The plaintiff had been dating the human, but then the human had cheated with the male vampire. The plaintiff wants the male punished because he fed on a pet, but the pet and the male vampire are stating that the human didn't want to be with her anymore and should be able to choose a new vampire. Lisa-Joe looked first to the plaintiff.
"Please state your case before me," she said, looking disinterested. The female vampire looked nervous and stuttered through her entrance. "Oh, um, miss Harpy, Lisa-Joe Hampton, mam, ummmmmmmm. I was dating Marissa for two months, and had her registered with the Central District as a pet. Then two weeks ago this...," the vampire looked at the human who'd betrayed her, "... whore cheated on me by letting him feed from her!" The attendants gasped! Lisa-Joe smiled cruelty, turning to the defendants. "Any defense," she asked, sounding very much like she'd already made up her mind. She hadn't, she just liked to mess with people.
"I don't want to be with her," the human said, chewing gum in the Harpy's presence. "She's bad in bed, and won't feed from me in the right places. Cliff does it all," she said gripping the male vampire. Cliff beamed a proud smile. Lisa-Joe heard some more arguments from both, and then decided to render a decision. She sat up straight on the throne and folded her hands neatly in her lap.
"This court was going to rule with the plaintiff. We have laws in the district, and one of them is proper pet registration. Had this pet been properly registered, then I would've been honor bound to punish Cliff here. However, upon checking your original paperwork, I found out you never finished the process!" Another audible gasp took the room.
"That makes this human nobody's pet, and therefore I rule in favor of the defense! Please be sure to register with the Keeper on your way out," she advised Cliff. "I decree, that you mam now owe Cliff here a minor boon for the trouble of coming to court when you can't fill out a fucking form. Case dismissed!" The room was all a chatter as the three figures walked away; two of them were quite happy, while one cursed loudly as she wandered down the stairs. Lisa-Joe loved her job. She was about to call for the next case, when she heard what she knew instantly was a car crash, and it was right outside her bar.
"I'll be back gang," she told the room, before rising from her throne and gracefully moving to the stairs. She made her way down to the first floor, where she heard chatter like, "oh my god, is he dead," and "he almost hit the place." Lisa-Joe didn't have trouble shoving her way outside, and her eyes widened with rage when she saw what had been brought to her doorstep. The smell of burning engine contorted her face, and she covered her mouth and nose to avoid having to taste or smell it further. The wreck was far too close to the White Rabbit, and Lisa-Joe would have nightmares about how many would've died if the driver had plowed into her bar. Speaking of the driver, she found him a clumped mess against the vacant building next door. She knew this face, and her own lit up in disgust as she looked at the mess before her.
"What the fuck did you just do," she screamed, looking strange in her elaborate clothes. With a lighting fast hand she grabbed the cigarette from his mouth and smoked it. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't drag you into the alley and bleed you dry and leave you for the sun!"