Rambles: I'd like to say that I almost had a writer's block in the process of writing this fic. I'm not satisfied with the characterization. It's quite off. This is my first Klapollo fic and I hope you enjoy!
Justice is unjust.
Such words from a lawyer with Justice in his name.
He stood behind the mahogany wood on one side of the courtroom, waiting for the dreaded verdict. It wasn't like he was the one on trial, but...he couldn't help feeling this way. His ex-mentor was standing on the podium not as a witness for the murder of Drew Misham. Not as a suspect.
But a criminal.
That person he had known for all this time- No. Perhaps... He never really knew him. All of those acts were a farce. Fake. They meant nothing. He realized that the first time the platinum blond man was arrested for the murder of the gambler. But he wanted to believe that perhaps.. Everything wasn't really an act. Maybe the warm smiles towards the young lawyer was real. But seeing that very man brought back to the courtroom for another crime...
All his hope on believing was shattered.
The man he had admired was now trembling in anger. His face scrunched up and old, revealing his true self. And there were a few times when said man would turn towards Justice.
Pure evil.
That was the first impression he thought of when he saw those eyes. When he stared for a bit longer..
Pure anger.
Towards Justice.
The young lawyer bitterly remembered his first meeting with him. What a contrast. He reminisced the kind eyes that shone towards him long ago. The instant he saw those warm eyes that day...
Justice fell.
Literally. He fell. He clumsily tripped and fell into the arms of the blond-haired man. When he looked up to apologize, the man gave him the sweetest smile he had ever seen. Then...
Justice fell once again.
Not literally. That time.. He fell.
Fell in love.
No. Stop that. It's admiration. It has to be. Don't fall for your mentor.
Over and over. He repeated those words in his mind to himself. He still did now. But this time.. A bit different.
Don't fall for a murderer.
"Order! Order in the court!"
The gavel hit the wood repeatedly, begging for the courtroom's attention and silence.
"Kristoph Gavin... I hereby announce that you are..."
The name echoed, seeming to repeat over and over again in Apollo's ears. He unconsciously held his breath.
"Guilty!"
The crowd roared wild in applause. Many started leaving their seats to approach the young lawyer, the prosecutor and ... The door to home sweet home.
"W-Wait there! I haven't said that Verra Misham was not guilty!"
The judge's cries fell to deaf ears. No one cared. After all, the verdict of Kristoph Gavin meant Verra's freedom as well.
"Polly! You did it!"
The little magician squealed in glee, hopping on her toes.
"You got him to jail! Twice even!"
"Uh.. It's not really something I should really be proud of..."
Apollo ruffled the back of his hair oh-so-carefully to avoid ruining his tidied hair he spent his morning for.
"But, why- Oh."
Trucy's excited fists drop down to her sides.
"He was your mentor after all..."
Not just a mentor.
He silently added. But, he stopped himself before he thought of anything crazy. Like Kristoph being the man he had loved? Hah! That was crazy. There was no way that he would. No way...
"Hey, you won. So why the silence?"
The couple looked up to meet Phoenix's eyes.
"Aren't you guys supposed to leap hooray, celebrate or something?"
"Y-You're right, Dad! Me and Mr. Hat will put up this amazing show for tonight! I will start decorating and preparing!"
She flew out of the courtroom in an instant. Apollo chuckled at her behaviour.
"It will be a long night."
"Yeah."
Phoenix agreed, his eyes lovingly follow his daughter out.
"Apollo."
The young man turned back towards the older one.
"You alright about this?"
A thud hit Apollo's heart.
"Uh yeah. I'm fine...Fine!"
"That's what you say every time you're nervous."
"N-No! I'm really fine!"
Phoenix smiled, as he lightly patted the pointy hair.
"Seeing your mentor go must be difficult for you. And what's more..."
Phoenix toned his voice down.
"You like him, right?"
Apollo's face boiled to a deep red.
"N-No way! I only looked up to him as my mentor!"
A playful grin appeared on the taller man's face.
"Oh my, Apollo! Don't you look like a boiled lobster now? I certainly didn't mean it that way! But seeing your reaction..."
"Y-You've got it mistaken!"
Phoenix laughed heartily.
"Alright. Alright."
Before Apollo could reassure the older man, someone lightly poked his shoulder. He turned his head to face the person.
"Oh.. Verra."
Phoenix lightly smiled at the scene. This was the feeling he missed from his lawyer days. The times when his clients gratefully thanked him. All the hard work, time-stalling techniques and bullshitting seemed to pay off after seeing their smiles. As he saw Verra's first-time-ever-lovely smile, Phoenix quietly left.
Verra lightly bowed to Apollo to show her gratitude. The young man waved both of his hands with a flustered face.
"Ah.. It's my pleasure. But I couldn't have done it without the help of the prosecutor."
That was right. If it hadn't been for Klavier, Kristoph would probably walk away. Though that wouldn't make much of a difference since he was already in jail to begin with. But Verra would be accused of murder. So.. Apollo was grateful for Klavier's help.
"Hey!"
"Woah!"
Apollo jumped in shock and Verra's eyes widened for a bit.
"Trucy! Weren't you planning on decorating?!"
He asked the magician who had somehow appeared once again. Her eyes glinted in joy.
"I'll do that later! Now that there are many people here, I think inviting them now is the best! I don't have to go around the city to look for everyone!"
Without listening to Apollo's thought about it, she had already started hopping to each and every person she knew in the courtroom, saying:
"Hey! We're gonna celebrate Polly's success! Wanna join in? I'll do a magic show!"
Apollo sighed. He was fine with her inviting everyone to celebrate his win, but... Seriously? Polly? Couldn't she just say Apollo? He bet by the end of the day there would at least be one person who would call him "Polly".
"Hey there, Polly."
See?
He could just exhale a loud sigh and turn his head to meet the prosecutor.
"It's Apollo for you."
Klavier laughed melodiously.
"Alright then. So, Herr Forehead..."
...Somehow Polly sounded a lot better.
"A little magician told me that you're holding a party for putting my brother to jail."
Apollo's eyes widened, as his heart froze.
...Damn!
"I-I'm sorry! I will cancel it."
He knew cancelling it would make Trucy upset, but..there was no way he was going to celebrate if it would hurt Klavier.
And himself.
As Apollo was about to leave to tell Trucy the disappointing news, his arm was grabbed by the prosecutor. Klavier chuckled.
"It's fine. Your success deserves a celebration. And also.."
His eyes drooped in slight melancholy.
"I have already known all this time about his deeds.. It would be wrong of me to cover for him.."
A second later, the guitarist looked up with a new found excitement.
"I will see you later tonight, ja?"
Apollo could only smile sheepishly and nodded. That's right. Klavier helped Apollo to bring him to jail. He must be feeling a larger burden deeper than Apollo's, being Kristoph's brother and all. So.. The younger man felt like saluting towards Klavier for being able to withstand this feeling. If it hurt like hell for Apollo, how much more for Klavier?
"Kla-"
"Aaaaaah! Prosecutor Gavin!"
The high-pitched scream blew Apollo metres away from Klavier. Oh wait... It wasn't the scream that blew him away. The women had shoved the young lawyer away to fawn over the prosecutor.
"Oh my! It must be so hard for you.."
"Yeah! That evil lawyer brought your brother to jail."
...Excuse me?
Apollo couldn't believe his ears. Seriously? The evil one was the criminal himself! Kristoph himself!
"Hey! It's alright you have us girls."
"We can comfort you.."
...What?
"Pick me, Klavier! I will give you the best night!"
"No! Me!"
"Hey! That's cheating!"
The non-stop fight on who was getting Klavier seemed like it could go for hours. The prosecutor could just paste a smile on his face. He glanced at Apollo for a few seconds. Then, he looked back at the women. With his charming voice, he tried to calm the ladies.
"Fraulein.. My heart is all yours..."
"KYAAAAAAAAAA!"
...Which was totally doing the opposite of calming them down. Apollo swore he could see pink heart-shaped eyes on all of their faces. Sighing, Apollo walked away.
Well... I guess I'm off to some decorating.
"No, more to the right, Polly. Yeah there."
Apollo's arms were aching from holding the string of the banner that read: Congratulations Polly! And Polly himself was now hanging it up after countless of commands from Trucy to move it up, down, left or right.
"Daddy! Have you called Mr. Eldoon?"
Phoenix raised one thumb and grinned.
"All set!"
"Yay! Salty noodles!"
She turned back towards Apollo and the banner.
"Alright, Polly! Perfect! You can get down now and rest!"
He exhaled a deep breath, pasted a sticky tape on one end of the banner and climbed down the ladder carefully. For a little sister, she had the nerve to order her big brother around. Apollo sighed. An exhausting day it was. First, he had to watch the person he had lov- Uh, correction: he admired arrested for murder again. Then, Phoenix told his daughter and Apollo how they were actually siblings. Surprisingly, Trucy took the revelation quite nicely. More like, she jumped on Apollo and shouted, "Yay, Polly is my brother!" Lastly... His muscles were aching from setting up the room for a party. Well, at least he could get some rest now-
Ding dong
Who rang the bell?
Apollo dragged himself towards the door and opened it, revealing quite a crowd. Ema Skye, Verra Misham, Eldoon and... Who were those other people?
"Uhm... The party won't start until 6 p.m."
His forehead was then snackoo-ed by you-know-who.
"Yeah, and it's 6.15 now. So, are you going to let us in or not?"
Apollo was taken aback by the news. It was already this time? For the love of God, he had decorated for over 3 hours?! No wonder his muscles were screaming for help.
"Oh! You guys are here!"
Trucy exclaimed, hopping up and down in glee. She noticed a familiar old man with yellow sticky strings of noodle dangling out of his noodle-bowl-hat.
"Mr. Eldoon! Glad to see you here. It's quite messy, but.. You can use the kitchen to cook the noodles."
The old man whipped his noodle hair back and crossed his arms.
"Nonsense! Only true salty noodles are cooked in a noodle stall! So, I brought my carriage with me. If anyone wants noodles, then get it from outside."
"Fantastic! It gives a much more festive feeling to it! And more space for my magic show!"
...You just care about the magic show, don't you?
Half an hour later, the Wright Talent Agency was crowding. Apollo was even stunned that the place could actually hold so much people. Well, it was to be expected since Trucy had ordered Apollo to move out all of the unnecessary stuff upstairs. And after the party, she would surely ask him to bring them back down again. By himself. Because poor Daddy had a bad back.
"Ah! He's here!"
Girlish screams could be heard, as women briskly walked towards the entrance. Ema started chomping her snackoos in a rapid speed.
"The glimmerous fop is here."
She grumbled under her breath, so that only Apollo who was by her side could hear her. Hearing that nickname, Apollo could tell Klavier had arrived and he was fashionably late. Klavier greeted his fans with his ever-charming smile that melted every girls' hearts (with the exception of Ema Skye). However, his eyes seemed to roam around the place, searching for one particular person and... Target locked.
"Herr Forehead!"
Apollo flinched at the nickname. He would never get used to this name calling. Ever.
Klavier approached the young lawyer.
"A lovely party it is. The decorator..."
Klavier eyed the banner and it was obvious that he was holding back a laugh.
"..Had done an impressive job."
Apollo's cheeks coloured for a bit at the colourful name Polly. He swore he would give Trucy a good scolding.
"Klavieeeer, where are you going?"
"C'mon, talk with us."
Two whiny women with too much make-up clinged on Klavier's arms. Did Trucy really invite people she knew? The handsome man could just chuckle and paste a sad smile on his face.
"That will be for another time. The main star tonight here is Apollo. I want to talk to him."
A warm light glowed in Apollo. He felt somewhat touched that Klavier would say such a thing. Maybe the man really wanted to talk with him. Or... Apollo eyed the bright red lipstick and obvious fake eyelashes the two women were wearing. He noticed how they were excessively rubbing onto his arms, making sure every part of their bodies were in contact with Klavier.
...Maybe Klavier was just finding an escape route to avoid these women.
"But, why~ We're a lot more entertaining!"
"Yeah~"
Apollo sighed at their antics. He didn't want to get involved in this. And also.. It would be quite fun to see the man sandwiched between these two.
"I'll see you later then, Klavier."
"Wait, Apo-"
Apollo left in a haste, leaving Klavier. Even though this party was meant for Apollo, Trucy and Klavier seemed to be gaining the most attention. Trucy being a magician and Klavier being...himself. Apollo didn't mind that at all. He wasn't someone who loved attention from the beginning anyways, but a few congratulations would be nice though. After bumping a few people along the way, he found Phoenix drinking a few glasses of alcohol along with Ema. Apollo raised an eyebrow at Ema's snackoo-alcohol-combo drink. Whatever it was, it sure knocked Ema out quite well.
"Hey, Apollo."
Phoenix waved at his student. Apollo took a glance at the glass of alcohol his mentor was holding. Judging from his slight red face, he might have drank 5 or more glasses. The older man noticed the short glance.
"Care trying some?"
"Uh.. I don't drink."
The older man grinned and handed one glass to Apollo.
"Hey, you won. You're supposed to be the man of the party. Loosen up and enjoy."
The young lawyer looked at the glass in his hand. He never drank. He disliked the after-effects of alcohol that was shown in movies. Like how one guy started drinking and went wild. Crazy even. Spouting nonsense and secrets. Some even started crying or laughing for no reason. There were scenes where the drinker...died. Well, that was only in crime and mystery movies.
Apollo looked at Ema, who had fainted. See? This was why he didn't want to drink.
"She drank 15 glasses or so before she fainted."
Phoenix commented. Apollo looked up to meet Phoenix who was now smiling.
"One drink won't hurt, you know?"
Apollo's thoughts battled in his mind. His sane self told himself that it was a bad idea, but as a man.. His pride told him to drink. Like what Phoenix said, one drink wouldn't hurt, right? It was just one glass.
Yeah... Just one glass.
Hesitantly, Apollo drank the alcohol.
"Uh.. Apollo... Are you alright?"
"Haaa!? Ya speaking to meh?"
Phoenix had no idea. No idea Apollo was bad at drinking. He gave him just one glass and before he knew it... Apollo's face reddened and he started spouting nonsense. And now he was gulping down glasses in no time.
"Oh wow, Polly. That a parrot name or somethang?"
Then, the drunk man laughed at the name on the banner. At 'his' own name. His hand grabbed the large bottle of alcohol. Before he could gulp it down in one go, Phoenix snatched it away.
"No, no, no. You have had enough."
"Haaa? I just drank 4 glasses."
"That is more than enough for you!"
Apollo turned his head away like how a little brat does when his parents won't buy him a toy. Somehow, Phoenix found it a bit childishly cute. The usual Apollo would never do such a thing.
"No fair."
Phoenix chuckled at Apollo's comment.
"Well, it's enough for a newbie like-"
"Justice is no fair."
Phoenix paused in his words. The words the Apollo had spoken... He was definitely talking about the arrest of Kristoph.
"You're...actually not fine about this, right?"
The older man tried to tread on the problem carefully, not wanting Apollo to shout in the party and whine non-stop. That would be bad for the people, the party and..for Apollo himself.
"Not fine. Am not fine."
It was honestly quite strange for Phoenix to hear those words from Apollo, who would usually say that he was fine...fine!
"I know that- hic! He has to go to jail. I mean.. He's a murderer. And it's fair. But.. I just don't understand why he did that. He was a good man..."
Yeah...
Phoenix silently agreed.
"Hey old man..."
...Old man?
"..Hm?"
Despite his urge to scold the drunk man, he decided not to say anything. The best way to deal with a drunk man was to keep quiet after all. Shouting at him won't do any good. He would probably yell back while swinging a bottle around. And... Phoenix had enough of being hit by glass bottles.
"Do you think Sir Gavin's calm self was real?"
Phoenix caught the pain hidden in Apollo's voice. Honestly, he didn't know the answer to that too. During his years with the man himself, there were times when he felt.. Something was definitely up with Kristoph. Experience-wise, he could sense there was a side Kristoph was hiding. Like all criminals he had caught so far, their true self was often unexpected. Like who could expect the idiotic-looking Matt Engarde to pull such an evil face? While swirling a wine glass even! To this day, Phoenix still wondered where that glass came from...
"Uh.. I'm not sure myself, Apollo. Maybe both sides were the real him."
He lied. Somewhere in his heart, he actually knew that... It was a mask.
As Apollo heard his words, his face seemed to lighten up a bit.
"Hm.. Then, I- hic! Like one side of the real him, huh?"
Phoenix felt a bit relieved seeing the man had somehow relaxed. Sobering would be easier now... Wait.
Why is the wine bottle half-empty?
His head whipped back at Apollo, whose hand was holding a glass of alcohol. He realized... the man had poured some for himself when Phoenix was still busy thinking over the question.
Crap, crap, crap! Gotta take him away before he does something crazy!
As if his thoughts were read, Apollo stood up abruptly and yelled,
"OH YEAH! I DIDN'T FALL FOR A FAKE KRIS-!"
Phoenix hurriedly clasped Apollo's mouth. He immediately looked around the room and caught some people glancing at the two. But most of them were focused somewhere else. Thank God for the loud applause and whoops the audience was giving for Trucy's magic underwear trick. And for having Klavier in the party to steal every woman's attention. However, Phoenix caught the prosecutor's eyes staring at them. He had noticed what just happened amongst all of these noises, as if he had been watching the two from afar. No...
As if he had been watching one very person from afar.
Klavier smiled at his female audience, bid farewell and excused himself. Of course, the women started to whine when... A blast of doves flew out of Trucy's hat. A moment ago, they were upset. Now, they were mesmerized. Trucy's magic was indeed magic.
"Herr Forehead?"
Klavier bent his head down to take a closer look at the man who was stinking of alcohol. Said man could only say,
"Hmph hm hm hmm hmph hm!"
Phoenix was still keeping his mouth shut.
"Herr Wright, was it? Let Herr Forehead speak."
Then, his eyes turned to look at the glasses of alcohol on the counter and a knocked out Ema. His eyes widened.
"Oh! Is Herr Forehead drunk?"
You already know that. You've been watching him all night.
"Yeah."
"I can take care of him. My motorcycle can take him home as long as he's still conscious now."
No, bad idea. Bad idea. Apollo would surely blurt everything to Klavier about Kristoph.
"Ah.. He can sleep over here."
"Well, what does Herr Forehead think?"
Klavier turned towards the red-faced man, who was still in Phoenix's grasp. The prosecutor eyed a look at Phoenix, telling him to release the poor man immediately. He sighed and complied hesitantly.
"Ahhhh... My face huuuurts."
Klavier stifled a laugh. This strange behaviour was very unlike Apollo.
"So, what do you think? Shall I take you home? Ja?"
Apollo looked up at Klavier. He was going to give an answer. Phoenix could only pray in his mind:
Don't pick him. Don't pick him. Vomit on him. Vomit on him. That will get rid of him.
There was silence between the three, as Apollo stared at Klavier with a mix of emotions flowing in those drunk eyes. And a look of recognition. It hit Phoenix.
No... He can't be thinking... Could he?
As if Apollo was answering Phoenix's question, Apollo jumped into Klavier, his arms around Klavier's neck. He tightened the hug and stupidly grinned.
"Hm... Sir Gavin..."
Rambles: I know Apollo actually calls Kristoph "Mr. Gavin." But there is a reason for this name-calling. And you know? The more I write this fiction, the more I ship Krispollo. I'm just a sucker for psycho guys with a twisted and dark self beneath their masks. It's just so... I don't know the right term for it. Oh well, I hope it was pretty okay. Not really sure how to continue this chapter. Reviews are very much welcomed! I don't like reading stories with a drunken character (unless it's really nice) and I don't like writing it too...