Warning: this fic contains spoilers for all games, mainly for AA4 and AA5.
This is yet another cheesy fan fiction idea that came out because of a silly dream. Half AU with the same Ace Attorney characters, and this time, Japanifornia has been infested by vampires.
I tried to enter most of equivalent events to fit with the in-game timeline. And a main difference from the canon is that Apollo and Trucy had lived together as siblings since forever.
Disclaimer: I do not own Ace Attorney and its characters. Capcom owns them.
Prologue: Lost Soul
Date: ?, 2027(?)
Place: ?
He gently opened his eyelids, the terrifying, bright light shining through the barred small window, blinding his sensitive eyes. Suffering from the horrific burning sensation caused by the light, he let out an excruciating moan, immediately covering his sight in pain with his shivering hands. When the relief finally came to his orbits, he directed them to the dull but virtually comfortable dark walls. The surfaces were dim and rather unpleasant, being infested with few crawling spiders and some other disgusting bugs. Sometimes, he could see a rat wandering on the floor, and from times to times, more of those execrable rodents came to him as if they were feeling pity for him. He wished he was able to shoo them away, but he could not. How annoying.
And the smell. Oh, the repulsive aroma! What fitted its best description? Maybe some mix of cat pee and animal poos. Let's add some dead worms under a humid air after a heavy rain and some humanly sweats from a man who hadn't had the possibility to clean themselves for weeks.
Wait, that last part probably came from himself. How sickening. How long had he been here, anyway?
He did his best shot to sit down, but his body lost his last willpower to move. After all, he just used his remaining efforts to cover his eyes with his palms. Such a pity, he wished he could at least watch his friend on the other side of the cell from whom he could, strangely, hear the tiny, repetitive up and down movements made by his agonizing breathing. He tried to call for his companion's attention, but no words were able to escape his lips, and it seemed his friend was trying in vain to do the same thing.
Oh yeah, that's right: his friend and he were stuck in this dark, remote cell, apparently in some abandoned prison, with no way to flee, nowhere to go.
Suddenly, his new senses were picking up a new smell approaching from outside the barred cell. It appeared someone was coming for them. Wait a minute, this couldn't be… The first thing he noticed was that he could smell someone was coming close to them. Why couldn't he primarily hear the sounds of the steps they made? Why not some kind of feminine intuition (that girls like to use so much) that somebody was indeed approaching? No, he had to use his sense of smell first of all his five senses, and this fact alone repulsed him to no end.
What about his tummy? Oh goodness, he felt so hungry. Not hungry like when you walk, and, suddenly, your stomach starts growling, but more like a primal, survival hunger. He felt like he'd find anything alive and edible, and then he'll eat it like a vicious beast. Of course, it did not help that he had not eaten and drunken for maybe a week or so, he was not so sure anymore, and he wanted to curse himself whenever his nose kept picking new smells, mostly some putrid ones, but also some faint, wonderful ones that left his mouth hanging, watering with appetite.
He acknowledged at the very moment that his last remaining humanity was gradually fading away from his being, and he knew he was unable to stop this insanity from consuming his very soul. He was also aware his friend on the other side was suffering the same fate. The total despair was overshadowing his tiny faith for a particular reason: he, himself, was the sole cause of his friend's current agony, and he definitely did not deserve any pity from his companion or anyone else.
They were becoming no better than animals.
He wanted to cry, to unleash his emotion and to relieve his soul, but of course, he could not, because very soon, they'll both no longer be themselves: their very souls will be corrupted by instincts and madness.
He finally managed to turn his head toward the bars, but in his lying pose, unable to see the new one coming for them in question, he made no effort to guess who that person was, because he knew exactly who it was. Who wouldn't recognize the smell of the young man who put them in here like two caged savage monsters? And, who knows, maybe he'll open the door and let them out, free like two cheerful wild beasts. But wait, he was dying and the lack of energy made his body lifeless like a heavy rock. Common sense knows that rocks can't move by themselves, basically preventing them from getting out happily from their cell.
The newcomer stood still, proudly watching his two captive young boys, but oddly enough, there was nothing but a serene, feebly worried look in his eyes. As expected, he took a key, unlocked the door and approached the dying brunette who was still faintly moaning with discomfort from the burning feeling earlier. The standing young man made no effort to close the door behind and he gently sat down. He carefully reached for the captive boy in his arms, cautiously landed his head on his cold, yet warm chest and started to delicately stroke the weak boy's hair, humming a strangely soothing lullaby. More rapidly, his will of life began to vanish from his soul.
This couldn't be! It couldn't end that way, such… a savage manner to be gone from this world, to become a degraded shell devoid of thoughts, ridden of his soul, of… of…
No! Keep trying! He frantically closed his eyes in an attempt to keep his humanity intact from the malfeasance he had fought against his whole life… Deep down, he dug into his mind, into his happiest memories, then… he found her back, a young girl beaming with life, friendly grinning at him, holding out her soft hands to him, begging for his wholehearted company, needing him to protect her like he always did ever since she was born… His little sister…
My only family… She… She… needs to… join… me…
No, no, no… What am I thinking…?
Please… no… Not this… Not her…
I… promised…
B… But… Ye… Yes…
C-Come to me…
"Struggling again, boy?"
The captive one attempted to ignore the extraordinarily sweet, melodic remark by his abductor as he was starting to be lost in a dream, an old, real memory. With the sweet lullaby soothing his ears, he could see himself back as a child.
He was crying, craving for his mom's comforting song because he was afraid of vampires since they recently killed his grandfather. His brave mom, courageously hiding the sadness that overtook her as much as her son, wrapped him in her arms and started to cradle the crying child. The boy finally calmed down and peacefully slept under the lullaby she was singing to him, feeling her every warm breaths like a breeze on his slumbering face.
How her soft, gentle voice was like appeasing music to his ears, and how wonderful this dream felt like.
And to his horror, the lullaby his captor was quietly humming was the same as his mother's, the very same she created only for him. Alas, he couldn't escape this sudden control that took over his body and mind, and drowsiness was getting weighty on his soul. As the darkness fell on him once again, he could hear the last words his captor was softly purring and he couldn't turn away from the light that was reflecting on his faintly visible, shining fangs.
"Good night, Apollo."