A/N: Okay guys, I usually wait until I'm done outlining… but that's going to take a while. So, here's the first chapter (which is fully outlined) to hold you all over!
There are obviously spoilers to Spirit of Justice in this. There is also a slight AU to SoJ in this, but it's not going to be revealed right away because it'll spoil the big reveal at the end.
Also, with how long Apollo has spent in Khura'in, he has started wearing those clothes. I've designed the outfit, and it can be found on my Tumblr here:
maryjones1992 . tumblr post / 155577937584 / apollo-justice-and-ema-skye-khurain-outfit
Copy and paste in address bar, then get rid of the spaces. It's only Apollo's outfit that changed. Ema's redesign was just for fun!
Apologies now if Nahyuta is a bit out of character. He's… a hard one for me to write.
Also, there will be low-key Empollo shipping. Fair warning now.
Now, without further ado, here we go!
…
Chapter One: A New Khura'in
"I can't believe we finally did it…" Apollo sighed, flopping back on the couch in his office.
It has been seven months since the revolution of Khura'in. In that time, Apollo, Nahyuta, and Rayfa worked together to slog through the back log of cases that needed to be reevaluated and retried, as well as new ones that popped up.
They finally finished doing this two days ago. And Apollo slept all day yesterday to celebrate.
Today, however, was the first day he actually got to sit down and talk to his foster bother for the first time in years.
Nahyuta Sahdmadhi, International Prosecutor, regent to the queen, and now Minister of Justice, smiled, leaning back in the chair he was sitting in.
"I must admit, Apollo, for as busy as you've been, it's a wonder to see the office so clean and free of vermin," he said, looking around the clean room. Apollo chuckled, resting his head back.
"If there's one thing I learned working for the Wright Anything Agency… it's how to keep an office clean," he said. "Plus… Ahlbi's been helping," he added.
"That's good. I remember our old bedroom," Nahyuta said, taking a sip of his tea. Apollo sat up, giving the other man a playful glare.
"It was your stuff all over the floor!" Apollo countered.
"No. I quite distinctly remember a lot of red. I can happily say I've never worn red in my life. You, on the other hand…" Nahyuta trailed off, casting an eye over Apollo's mostly red outfit.
"Oh…. Whatever," Apollo countered gracefully, flopping back again. After seven months of arguing with the other man everyday (as well as other prosecutors), Apollo had no energy for even playful sibling bickering. Nahyuta smiled at that, knowing the other man must be tired. Rather than further tease him, the prosecutor got up and walked over to a corkboard near Apollo's desk. Pinned to it were pictures. Most were recent. Apollo with his friends from America, a poster from Trucy's magic show, Apollo standing in front of the Justice Law Offices with Ahlbi Ur'gaid and Datz Are'bal, and even one of just him and Ema Skye from right after Trucy's trial.
But then, there was also two older ones. One was there when the offices became the Defiant Dragons' hideout: it was of Dhurke, Nahyuta, and Apollo when they were younger, before Apollo had returned to America. Nahyuta laid a finger against it, sadness welling up in him.
"I miss those days," Apollo suddenly said. Nahyuta turned to look at him.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. When Dhurke would tell us stories of his time as a Defense Attorney, and we were just little kids with the whole country side to ourselves. No drama, no death." Apollo sat forward, crossing his arms. "I hated Dhurke for sending me away. I know now he did it for my protection, but at the time…" Apollo trailed off. Nahyuta nodded in agreement.
"I know what you mean," he said, before looking at the pictures again. The picture he focused on now was even older then the first. It showed a traveling musician in all red, playing his guitar for the audience.
"Jove Justice," Nahyuta said. Apollo looked up again. "Apollo… were you disappointed?" he asked. Apollo sighed softly, knowing exactly what he was talking about.
"Not really, to be honest. There was so much going on…" he said, letting the sentence trail off. Nahyuta gave a wry smile, glancing at the dragon tattoo on his palm.
"That's very true," he said, before turning away from the pictures. Apollo stood, stretching his arms over his head.
"Hey, Rayfa's Dance of Devotion is set to start soon. If we want to be there, we should leave now," he said. Nahyuta smiled with a nod.
"Yes. Let us go."
…
Phoenix and Trucy quickly disembarked from the plane and made their way over to luggage claim. Phoenix had been quiet the entire time, while Trucy was buzzing with energy.
"I can't believe we're back in Khura'in! Oh! Polly's going to be so excited to see us. Right, Daddy?"
"Mhm," Phoenix hummed. Trucy glanced over at him, falling quiet for a few minutes.
"I didn't know you got air sick," she said suddenly.
"I don't," Phoenix said, glancing at her in confusion.
"Then why are you all green?"
"Uh…"
"Daddy… what's going—Oh my gosh, is that Lamiroir?" Trucy gasped, cutting off her question when she noticed a familiar figure making her own way over to the baggage claim. Phoenix bit his lip, before grabbing their bags.
"Come on, Trucy. We need to get going," he said, trying to lead her away. Despite how much he knew Trucy and Apollo needed to know the truth (heck, he was the one who organized this trip for that very purpose), he was suddenly feeling an intense dread stir in his stomach.
He and Trucy had helped each other out a lot during the darkest years of their lives. He had supported her and became the father she needed, while she became the light of his life and his very reason to keep holding on.
The thought of introducing her to her biological mother, who she already adored, made Phoenix want to hurl. He was scared to lose her.
Boy am I glad I left Athena home… he thought, knowing the young analytical psychologist would pick up on his emotions right away.
"But Daddy! I just want to say hi!" Trucy said with a pout. The kind of pout Phoenix could never resist.
"But…"
Before he could say another word, Lamiroir had reached them at the baggage claim.
"Hello, Mr. Wright. Trucy," she said with a nod. Trucy smiled at her, while Phoenix glanced at her outfit. The woman was still wearing the dark blue, star studded shaw, with the veil over the lower part of her face.
"Hi, Lamiroir! It's been a while! And you haven't released anything new…" Trucy's voice suddenly sounded downcast. The woman smiled at her.
"After the trial with Machi, the record label fell through," she admitted.
"Oh…"
"It's alright though," the woman said, patting Trucy's shoulder. "I'm still singing. Just not to the widespread public anymore."
"Well, that's good!" Trucy said with a small bounce. Lamiroir nodded, before hesitating and looking up at Phoenix. He read her question in her eyes.
"I really think we should tell them together," he said.
"Tell who what?" Trucy asked, though Lamiroir simply nodded.
"You're right. Of course.
…
Trucy was confused, but ecstatic, when Lamiroir joined them on their way to the Justice Law Offices. However, when they got there, all they found was Ahlbi Ur'gaid, closing up for the day. He looked up at hearing them.
"Mr. Wright! Miss. Trucy!" he said in a delighted voice, darting over. "You came back to visit!"
"Of course, Ahlbi," Phoenix said with a smile. "How've you been?"
"Busy. Good. I put my tour guide business on hold to help out Mr. Justice around the office. He's just been so busy," Ahlbi explained, bouncing slightly. "It's good that things are finally starting to calm down…" he added.
"Speaking of Apollo, is he in, or…?" Phoenix asked. Before the young boy could respond, there was a sudden, loud bang from right behind them. Phoenix jumped out of his skin, while the two woman screamed. Lamiroir jerked so badly, her hood fell off, taking the veil with it.
"Fear the wrath of my DRAGON SNOT SNAP!" an all too excited voice said from behind. Phoenix sighed, calming his heart, and turned to face the source of the voice.
A lean man in a paratrooper's uniform, with a purple scarf and goggles, stood behind them, laughing so hard, tears were streaming from his eyes.
"Oh gosh, PW, your reaction never gets old!" he said between laughs.
"It's good to see you too, Datz," Phoenix sighed. "I'm surprised you still have those Firecrackers…"
"The one time he used them in the office, Mr. Justice nearly had a heart attack," Ahlbi said. Datz doubled over, laughing even harder.
"It was right as AJ was falling asleep at his desk! He fell out of the chair!" he wheezed. "It was priceless!"
While this was going on, Lamiroir was calming her racing heart, not even noticing the lack of hood or veil.
Trucy, on the other hand, did.
"No way," she breathed, before pulling a poster from her bag. It was an old Gramarye one, the one with Magnifi, Zak, Valant, Mr. Reus, and Thalassa on it.
"Thalassa?" Trucy asked, looking between the picture and the woman in front of her. Both Phoenix and the woman stiffened. "…Mom?"
"Datz and Ahlbi both fell unusually silent, sensing something big and tense going on here.
"Mr. Wright…"
"She already figured it out. You know there's no use in lying to her," Phoenix sighed softly as he turned to his daughter. Trucy turned a sharp eye on him.
"You knew?" she asked.
"Yes," Phoenix said, looking away so as to not meet her eye. Thalassa noticed the hurt and anger on Trucy's face, and moved closer.
"Don't blame your father. Please. I asked him not to tell you. Not until I felt the time was right. And he agreed… because he was scared of losing you," the woman said. Trucy's eyes widened, and she looked back at Phoenix.
"Is that true, Daddy?" she asked. Phoenix nodded, not sure how to put what he was feeling into words. Trucy sighed, and shook her head. "Idiot."
"Huh?" Phoenix asked, looking up.
"You're never going to get rid of me. Not that easily, Daddy," she said, hugging the man. Phoenix relaxed, giving her a squeeze. The young woman finally let him go and turned to Thalassa.
"I bet I can guess what happened," Trucy said.
"I'm sure you can," Thalassa replied. Trucy smiled at that, before stepping forward and giving her a tight hug.
"I missed you."
"I missed you, too," Thalassa said, removing her daughter's hat and burying her face in her hair. While the two had their moment, Phoenix turned to Ahlbi.
"So, where can we find Apollo?" he asked.
"Mr. Justice and Mr. Sahdmadhi went to the Temple to watch Her Benevolence perform the Dance of Devotion," the young boy explained. Phoenix smiled.
"Right. Thanks," he said, turning back to the two woman. They had pulled apart and were waiting. Phoenix noticed that Trucy was quickly wiping her face off on the back of her glove, and wrapped an arm around her.
As Phoenix led them through the city, towards the temple in the center, a new thought occurred to Trucy.
"Daddy. Mom. Why'd we have to travel half-way around the world for you to tell me?" she asked.
"It's… complicated," Phoenix said, pushing the door to the temple open. He put a finger to his lips as they entered the hollowed hall. The Dance of Devotion had already begun.
The Queen of Khura'in, Rayfa Padma Khura'in, moved gracefully in time with the accompanying music. Recognizing the sound as an acoustic guitar as opposed to… whatever Pees'lubn Andistan'dhin had been playing, Phoenix glanced over at the man, before recoiling slightly in shock.
The guitar player had been badly burned. The right side of his face was covered in burns that spread down his neck and under the dark red shirt he was wearing. His dark hair was grown out to past his shoulders, and the musician would sometimes flick his head towards the right, attempting to get his bangs to cover the burn scars, no doubt.
However, his fingers never hesitated on the strings of his instrument as he played the song that Phoenix now had an uncomfortable amount of intimate knowledge with. Glancing around, he spotted Apollo standing a little away from the crowd. He was leaning against a pillar, his arms crossed in a classic Apollo fashion, watching the dance with a smile.
Suddenly, Trucy started giggling.
"What?" Phoenix asked.
"What is Polly wearing!?" she replied. Phoenix turned back to his protégé.
Rather than his regular suit of red, Apollo wore a red kimono like shirt that went down to about half thigh. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, it had a gold trimming, and it was tied closed around his waist with a short sash the same color that his tie used to be. Under that was a light purple shirt with a decorative sash around the neck that was gold and blue. Topping the outfit off was a pair of red pants, black dress shoes, and a Dragon's Eye badge pinned just like Dhurke's had been.
While it made him fit in better with the crowd, Phoenix couldn't help but snicker.
It just didn't… suit Apollo.
"At least he doesn't have the floaty-scarf thing," Phoenix muttered to Trucy, who started to giggle up a storm.
As the dance ended, the guitar player stood and bowed to the queen, before disappearing into the crowd.
"Let's go talk to Polly!" Trucy said, starting forward. Phoenix caught her shoulder.
"Whoa, there. Hold up a second," he said.
"Huh?" Trucy looked up again to see a tall, graceful woman with long, silver hair walk over to Apollo. Phoenix, Trucy, and Thalassa watched as Apollo immediately stood up straight and bowed to the woman. They talked for a few minutes, and the woman patted Apollo on the cheek in a motherly fashion, before walking away. Apollo smiled to himself and leaned back against the pillar again, crossing his arms.
"Who was that?" Thalassa asked.
"Queen Amara. Er, well… ex-Queen. She's the widow of the man who raised Apollo," Phoenix explained.
"Oh…" Thalassa muttered.
Apollo looked out over the crowed, knowing quite a few of them on a personal level after defending them or someone close to them. He was still reeling slightly from his brief conversation with Amara. It wasn't even an unusual conversation: she had just been asking how he was now that everything was settling down. But it was the motherly tone, and her touch, that made it surprising.
I wonder if Dhurke told her about me in that brief time they lived together after I went back to the states…
Suddenly, there was a thrum in the air. Apollo looked up just in time to see a flash of movement coming towards him. There was a brief flash of pain on his check, just under his left eye, then a loud thunk! next to his left ear.
It was dead silent in the hall for a moment before everyone started talking at once. Apollo's sharp eyes, however, scanned the direction where the shot came from, before launching himself through the people that were starting to crowd him.
"Apollo, wait!" he heard Nahyuta's voice yell behind him. He ignored it though.
Whoever is up there is armed, and obviously willing to shoot into a crowd. He has to be stopped before he hurts someone! Apollo thought, finally breaking free of the crowd and slipping into a side door. He vaguely heard the police behind him, mobilized by Nahyuta himself.
He took the steps beyond that door three at a time and slammed into the balcony they lead to.
The man who had played the guitar for Rayfa's dance turned to face them. There was blood splatter on his face. In his hands, he held an unloaded crossbow.
At his feet lay a man wearing a Khura'in army uniform, his glassy eyes wide with surprise. A crossbow bolt, like the one that had narrowly missed Apollo, was lodged into his chest.
An officer pulled Apollo back until he was protectively behind them. Nahyuta stepped forward as another officer restrained the burned man. Nahyuta checked the other, before saying a silent prayer over him. He then looked up at the burned man.
"He is dead," he said.
…
Evidence
1. Dragon's Eye
Badge of my office here in Khura'in. It's not quite my Attorney's badge, but it was a gift from Dhurke.
…
A/N: And here we go! The first chapter! I'll try to finish the outline soon. Promise!