Visit I: The Aftermath

Inside the detention center, hours later after the HAT-3 had a successful launch into orbit, Aura Blackquill, with her hair let down, was still staring at the starry sky that was illuminated by the sun hours ago. She took all this time to be introspective of her actions and the seven years of long suffering she endured before the retrial.

She did not move from that spot, not once. All this time, she was thinking and thinking. Her brother was in this crate for seven long years and now it was her turn. When she thought about how she just needed to get away from the everyday life of crying herself to sleep and taking her daily anger out on Clocno, it made this place feel somewhat soothing.

The sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted her thought process. Aura turned around to see that a guard was there to greet her. She said nothing to him, and waited for him to state his business.

"Um, Ms. Blackquill? You…have a visitor."

A visitor? Already? There's only one person who would come to visit her. It was either the princess or her brother.

She turned her head back toward the window and replied with, "Tell them I'm not going to see them."

"W-Well, if you want to know who it is, it's Apollo Justice. And he really wanted to see you."

Apollo Justice? The mere mention of the name was enough to make her eyebrows rise. She turned herself around again to look at the guard with a curious look on her face. Why was he here? And what did he want from her?

Aura took a deep breath and sighed. "Fine, then."

The former Space Center employee took her time walking down the cell aisle towards the interrogation booth. Once she was there, the two of them immediately locked eyes.

The guard that escorted her cleared his throat again. "You got one hour."

Aura didn't acknowledge him as she heard him walking away. She sat down on the chair that was by the glass separating the two.

Apollo crossed his arms at her with a serious look. "…Hey."

A long pause before she replied. "Have you been waiting long?"

Apollo lightly shook his head. "Just about ten minutes. You're fine." His gaze targeted her hair. "Why's your hair like that?"

Aura supported her head by putting her right elbow on the table and holding her right cheek with her right hand. "I hope you didn't come all this way to ask me about my hair, Polly."

The twin-horned lawyer grimaced at her. "Oh, come on. Don't tell me you're taking after Trucy."

She lightly chuckled at him. "Hey, you know what? After getting to know your little girlfriend, she's not half-bad."

Apollo felt grossed out. "H-Hey… She's not my girlfriend. Not exactly my type."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Another long period of awkward silence was held between the two.

Aura sighed at him. "The guard says I don't have long, now get on with it."

"Right…" Apollo cleared his throat. "Well, Ms. Blackquill, Athena has been cleared for both the murder of Dr. Cykes and Clay Terran. The Phantom is now in custody and is being questioned by the chief prosecutor, Miles Edgeworth."

"…I knew that." Aura said quickly. "Well, if you just came here to deliver your little news bulletin, sorry that you just fed me information I already knew. I also already knew that without the princess's acquittal, the launch wouldn't be possible."

Apollo scratched his nose a bit. "Wow. Pretty observant, Ms. Blackquill."

Aura scoffed at him. "Eh, I learned to catch on to these kinds of things, thanks to having a little brother. With that being said, I can tell you're nervous. Why don't you just come out and say what it is you really wanted to say."

Apollo gulped. He remembered when he and Clay were very young, they'd do everything they can to avoid Ms. Blackquill. A scary lady, she was. Still scary, even though her hair is now a mess that made her look silly. "I just…wanted to ask how you are."

Aura tilted her head into her right hand holding her head up to signal confusion at his question. "How I am?"

"Y-Yeah." Apollo stuttered. "Look, you did everything you can to save your brother and have suffered after losing Dr. Cykes from your life. You had to hold many hostages and have even threatened to stage a showdown with the public using your robots. You essentially threw your livelihood out the window just to free your brother. Was it really worth it?"

How amusing. This horn-haired boy was worried for her? That's got to be the joke of the century, she thought. "Is that really all? If it wasn't worth it for me, I wouldn't have done it, right?"

"Good point." He acknowledged. But he continued, maintaining a look that showed that he was, indeed, very serious. "I spoke to the chief prosecutor before coming here. He said that with the stunt you pulled, you could be here for years, or even serve a life sentence. And there's no way you're not going to have a complete acquittal from the things you done."

Aura just keep looking ahead at the man who was telling her all this. She knew it was true. "Look, kid…" She rolled her eyes. "You think I was happy living my life with Metis gone and my brother behind bars? The law didn't really give me much of a choice here. I tried and tried for a retrial but no dice. I'm pretty lucky that Trucy girl was around to help make things work out. Speaking of which, that Wright guy still doesn't know about our little secret, does he?"

Apollo nodded. "No. He doesn't. And that's for the best. Imagine how upset he'd be at us for coming up with such an idea to stage all this. Heck, I'd even be fired on the spot."

She chuckled a bit at him. "Yeah, true. …But really, I don't care much anymore about anything. Do whatever you want with me."

"…You know he's been looking for a defense attorney to defend you on your trial."

Aura pretended to blink in surprise. "Well, he owes me a least that much for what I've done for him."

Apollo shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah. Well, I bumped into him on my way home from the celebration at the Space Center. He said he was at our agency trying to see which one of us would be willing to defend you." He scratched the back of his head. "I guess that means he trusts us?"

She smirked at him. "Well, since you bunch are the only ones working for the law that my brother and I trust, it's no wonder he'd go to you guys. Just remember, though. He's essentially unbeatable in my trial and he'll get me hung from the gallows in no time!"

Apollo felt sweat dripping down his forehead. Is this really how they show how much the care for each other as siblings, Apollo asked to himself. "Y-Yeah, well… Let's just hope you can get a reduced sentence and hopefully not the death penalty."

The guard returned into Aura's side of the interrogation room. "Ms. Blackquill, it's time."

Aura groaned out loud. "Ah, man! Oh well. You visiting me was the only interesting thing that has happened here in a while. Not much to tell you when all you've been doing is staring out at the sky in your prison cell, eh?"

Again, Apollo nodded, going with her dark sense of humor, which apparently ran through the entire Blackquill family. "I agree. Well, till next time."

"Next time?"

"Well, yes?"

Aura gasped at him. "Don't tell me… Are YOU going to be my defense attorney?"

Apollo reeled back in shock. "Ack! It hasn't come down to that, yet! Besides, I'm sure Mr. Wright or Athena would be better suited for the job! Mr. Wright is my boss and Athena was the most involved in the case involving Dr. Cykes. I'm sure either of them can do a better job defending you than I can."

Aura rolled her eyes as she slapped the table playfully. "Ugh, your humbleness taxes my patience!"

Apollo grimaced at her again. "Oh, really? You should have seen me when I was starting out. According to Mr. Wright, I was full of it."

Aura pretended to be depressed. "Oh man! I wish I was around for that!"

"E-Excuse me!" The guard shouted to get their attention. "I'm sure you two have a lot to catch up on, but your time is up."

"Hmph. Well, I guess this is good-bye for now. Don't come back so soon, ya hear?" Aura said as she playfully poked the glass-barrier.

"Duly noted, ma'am."