This is the first fanfic I ever wrote that still remains on the internet- the others were murdered brutally. It is also the first time I ever wrote romance… Ever. Despite this, it was my most popular one-shot... Ever, so whatever.
I was looking at this story a while back, and I had a strange burst of inspiration. I wondered what would happen if Athena started an excursion into the past, and, well, the plot thickened! A lot! The original one-shot is going to end up being mixed up in, like, chapter 5. This story's been totally reconstructed into the perspectives of 5 different people, beginning with Athena. I may or may not separate these into different fics entirely, making this a pentilogy? If that's a thing? Whatever.
I really hope you enjoy, through the sweetness and sadness, through sunshine and snow. I hope this story is meaningful, fun, and makes your heart happy. :)
It was a pretty regular case, really- I had all the right answers, all the wrong questions, and a garbage bag full of confused crime scene sketches, empty coffee cups, and a decent portion of my sanity. I'd been sifting through piles of papers for hours now- even Apollo (who on a normal day had more coffee in his veins than actual blood) had given up for the night and headed home to his apartment so he could get some sleep. Mr. Wright had fallen asleep on the couch, soft snores coming from his mouth, quietly inviting me to slump over the desk in defeat.
But no, the great Athena Cykes would not be so easily felled! And it most definitely was because of my mighty strength and not the fact that adrenaline and terror for the next day's trial were running rampant through my veins!
...Who am I kidding? I wouldn't be able to sleep if I tried. Sighing, I spun around in my wheely chair, papers strewn about by the breeze I'd created. I tried to catch one as it fell- yet another map of the dumb crime scene with no dumb escape routes for the dumb killer. There's got to be an escape route. Rose is innocent, I know it! But even the one person who knew the crime scene best, the one person who practically lived there, the one person who believed in Rose even more than I did knew that there was no way out.
"I'm sorry, Athena… I know there has to be an escape route, but there isn't one." Trucy said, eyes tired and sad. "I know every trap door, air duct, and secret passage in the building, but there's no way anyone could have snuck out of the Wonder Bar, not even Houdini himself."
"There's got to be a way! Rose is innocent!"
"I know she is… But the evidence against her is airtight." She put a finger to her lips, clearly deep in thought. "Literally."
I could feel tears running down my face, my emotional and physical exhaustion finally getting to me. "I just know she's not the killer! And so does Apollo!"
"Daddy's too tired to believe in her, but I'm sure he does, too," Trucy added.
"...So the question isn't if there is an escape route. The question is where it is."
"Athena…"
"I need to go back to the crime scene!"
"Athena, you've been there six times," Trucy reminded me. "And I've been there six hundred, at the least."
"But the trial starts tomorrow, and if we don't have an escape route, the trial will be over in minutes!"
"Then think. If the lock isn't on the inside of the box, you've got to look outside of the box. Every good magician has an assistant to help them out."
"I've been thinking outside of the box, I've been thinking inside the box, I've been thinking around the box, I've been thinking on the box, I've been thinking over the box, and I've been thinking… Under the box…" I thought for a moment. "Wait, that's it! We didn't check under the floor! We've got to get to the crime scene, pronto!" Trucy looked at me sympathetically. "...You checked under the floor, didn't you?"
"Athena, I drew you a map of all the underground passages, remember?"
"But… What if there's one that you don't know about?"
"I've personally inspected every inch of every floor in that entire building. Athena, I'm beginning to think that maybe… Maybe Rose is guilty." I could hear the sadness in her voice, and her eyes were deep pools of the same emotion. I knew Rose was innocent, and she needed to know that too.
"You saw the mood matrix, remember? She was brokenhearted that the victim died. You didn't see any nervous tells!"
"People can control their feelings, and people can control their tells," Trucy said.
"...But they can't control the soul." Trucy and I turned around to see Mr. Wright holding a green glowing stone. "Trucy… You know your client's innocent. So prove it."
"Daddy, we can't!" Trucy griped.
"And why's that?" he replied.
"There's no escape route," I replied. "Not even a four story window, not even a garbage chute. It's like the client's in a safe."
"Except it's not really a safe. It's a danger," Trucy added.
"I think you're looking at this from the wrong angle," he said, grinning slightly. I could see the dark circles under his eyes, but the glint in them remained unchanging. "Don't ask how the killer got out of the safe. Ask how the killer got into the safe. That's the code you need to crack."
"It's not actually a safe," I pointed out.
"...I know. I was making a Dad joke," he sheepishly admitted. "But still. Don't ask how the killer got out of the room… Ask how he got in."
"Trucy, we need to go to the scene of the crime," I announced.
"But Athena… It's locked!"
"It would be locked for the culprit, too!" I pointed out. "But there's gotta be a way in."
"Athena… I'm honestly too tired for this." I looked at Trucy sympathetically- she definitely wasn't much of a complainer, and I knew I'd pushed the poor girl to her limits.
"It's okay. You don't have to go," I told her. "You get some rest. I'll try out my crazy theories on my own."
"Athena, you can't go out into the streets of Los Angeles this late at night by yourself," the Boss chided.
"Don't worry- I'm sure Apollo would meet me at the Wonder Bar, and I can take a taxi," I reassured him.
"Are you seriously planning on waking up Apollo?"
"Wake him up? Seriously, Boss, it's only..." I looked at the clock. "Two in the morning." My face drooped a bit with embarrassment. "But Apollo never can sleep right before a trial!"
"Do what you want. But if Apollo's charged with assault, I'll be defending him," my boss replied with a tired smirk.
"Then it's settled!" I grinned, giving another peace sign. "I'll see you sleepyheads later. I mean it, Trucy, you need some sleep."
"All right… Good luck, Athena," Trucy said. "I'll be cheering for you."
"In your dreams," her dad joked. I shot him a disapproving glare before I left, making sure he had been properly punished. Closing the door behind me, I bounded down the stairs with gusto and welcomed myself into the cold winter's night.
(O)
Apollo, will you meet me at the Wonder Bar? I need to do some last minute investigating!
Way ahead of you. I couldn't sleep, so I decided to do some poking around.
You're already there? Even better.
Yeah. But bring a jacket- the temperature is dropping faster than our chances of winning this case.
Shivering, I put my phone into my measly pockets and lamented about the fact that I didn't have a coat. I wasn't entirely sure where Apollo was, but the silence of the night was making me uneasy. Hey, it's not like you're investigating a bar or anything! Oh… Wait…
"Apollo!" I shouted, trying to be as loud as I could without waking anyone up. "Where are you?!"
"Right here," a voice said. I jumped when someone in a black coat approached me.
"A-Apollo?" I asked.
"...Yeah?" the man replied. I glared at him, and he laughed, taking off his hood. Two antennae stuck out, as well as a bright smile. "Paranoid, maybe?"
"You… You aren't wearing red."
He laughed. "I don't always wear the color of my heart on my sleeve, you know."
"Oh, not you too! I've had it up to here with Dad jokes," I said, unfolding one of my arms from my chest to gesture exactly how tired I was. I slipped it back in immediately and shivered.
"I told you to bring a coat," Apollo reminded me.
"You were a little too late." I sighed. "So, have you found anything?"
"Nothing too important."
"But you found something?"
"A playing card of sorts. But it's next to a bar where magicians perform. That's not exactly strange." He held it up; it wasn't quite a playing card, but that was the best way to describe it: it was white and had a pink shell on it.
"It's cute… Where did you find it?" I asked. If it belongs inside and managed to get out here, it might point to an escape route!
"It was around back." Apollo gestured me to follow him, so I did. The Wonder Bar was constructed on a hill, making it look something like a hobbit pub from the side. The further around the hill we went, the harder it became to see, and the stiffer my cold limbs got.
"H-how much f-further is it?"
"Are you okay, Athena?" Apollo turned to face me, and I tried to stop myself from shivering- it didn't work.
"I'm f-fine," I stuttered.
Apollo sighed. "I'm wearing two coats. You can have one if you want."
No! I screamed internally. The only woman who belongs in his coat is Junie!
...But maybe she'd forgive me if she saw how cold it is. A girl can take her friend's jacket, no problemo. ...Not that it mattered, because Apollo had already taken the thing halfway off. "Th-thank you."
He sniffed. "All you need to do is ask."
We walked for about a minute longer- Why does this building have to be so big, anyways?- until Apollo suddenly stopped. "Right here."
"This exact spot?"
"This exact spot." I opened my mouth to question him, but was silenced by his finger pointing at a red winter hat. "I needed a landmark, and it was messing up my hair," he sheepishly explained.
I laughed. "Well, we've got to investigate, then!"
"You're getting a little desperate on the escape route side of things. It was just a card, Athena."
"Just a card, huh? Then why'd you think it was important enough to drop your hat?"
"...I don't know. Gut feeling?"
"Hey, I'll take it over no feeling!" I replied. I looked at the side of the hill- the edge of the Wonder Bar was above our heads, supported by thick stone pillars. "You think someone could've used a stepladder?"
"...No, definitely not a stepladder. Not when a regular old ladder would do just fine."
"What do you mean?"
"A stepladder isn't going to get up there, not on the edge of a hill. Now, a regular ladder or a rope ladder might work."
"Ugh, you and your ladder specifics!"
"...You were the one who decided to be fancy and call it a stepladder," he pointed out.
"Ugh, whatever," I mumbled. "Got a rope ladder on hand?"
"Why would I have... Ack! Athena! What are you doing?"
"Climbing!" The stone pillars were made of bricks, and some of them stuck out like a kiddie climbing wall.
"You're going to get yourself killed!"
"No I'm not!" I was already out of reach of Apollo (not like it was that hard, considering his height) and climbing higher.
"Athena, seriously. You're the only one who can lead the defense team tomorrow, and if you're in the hospital, you know Rose'll plead guilty."
It was true. Rose, the defendant, was a crimson-haired professional musician with an intense fear of the male half of the human race, enough so that our client told us that Rose would rather plead guilty than take Apollo or Mr. Wright on as her attorney… Which was strange, considering that the band she'd once worked for was more than half male.
"I won't hurt myself." I rolled my eyes, taking another step, when all of a sudden a piece of brick chipped off under my foot. I screamed.
"Athena!" Apollo cried.
"I'm slipping! I'm slipping!" I shrieked when my foot failed to find a good hold, instead adding more pressure to my fingertips.
"Jump!" Apollo yelled. Right! The hill! Holding onto the pillar for dear life, I could tell that the hill was a good five feet away. I'm too great to die! Kicking off of the pillar with all of my might, I landed on the hill and breathed a sigh. "Athena! What the heck was that?!"
"You being right!" I replied shrilly, heart racing. I tried to stand up, only to feel the ground under me cave. I screamed.
"Athena! No!" Apollo cried, my world being enveloped in darkness. Not metaphorical creepy darkness, like when someone dies or passes out, though. Just plain old mildly creepy darkness. My feet hit the ground, painful heat shooting up my ankles from the distance of the fall, but otherwise unharmed.
"Apollo, don't worry! I'm fine! But there's a cave in here!"
"Get out of there!"
"I can't, it's too far up. I fell ten feet or so, I think," I yelled. I turned on Widget, light flashing around the room, and turned on its flashlight function. The room was lit up well enough that I could see, and I looked on in awe.
"Athena..." I could hear Apollo's voice trembling, and I stopped. He's lost one too many friends to tragedy already.
"I'm sorry, Apollo! But I'm fine, I promise. I'll find a way out right now. But there's a gigantic room in here!"
"P-please, just find a way out. I want to see it, but I need to see you first."
"Don't you worry." I walked down some metal stairs into what looked like a warehouse, and eventually came upon something that resembled a door. There was a lever on the side of it, and with a great amount of muscle power, I forced it open about a foot. Muscles aching, I looked outside to see a red hat on the ground right in front of the door. "Apollo?" I asked, poking my head out the door. I was met with an awkward through-the-door hug with my co-worker and friend.
"Never do that again."