IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FROM NORMAL AUTHOR!
I am still writing fanfics, including the next installment of the Janaverse! However, due to the unsatisfactory upload schedules of both JvKG:AA and T-Minus Turnabout, I have decided not to start uploading a fic until it is totally done! Fortunately, future installments of the Janaverse will be standalone cases, so I should have them written much faster. Also, keep an eye out for other fics involving vampires, weddings, and Fire Emblem: Awakening.
Author of this chapter: OH SWEET PELOR THAT TOOK WAY TO LONG. *Ahem* Sorry about that. So, uh, I'm Airey's Dungeon Master and the person that took far to long to write the extension of this fic then I should have. It was mostly me trying to figure out how to hold a candle to the flamethrower that is Airey's talented writing. Enjoy? I guess? [I'm new to this and have no clue what I'm doing in case that wasn't obvious]
Trucy was eyeing the clock on the wall. Half-past two, it read. Daddy and Athena were out at a crime scene to investigate a case they had gotten a few hours before, and Apollo was either with them or running errands. She shrugged and wandered around the Agency for a minute before the phone rang. She ran to the receptionist desk, grabbing the phone.
"Wright Anything Agency! If you need a defense attorney or a magician, we've got you covered!" she said cheerily.
"Hi, Trucy. It's me, Pearl," the voice on the other end greeted her.
"Oh, hi Pearly!" Trucy replied, smiling despite not actually being in the same room as the other girl. "Do you need a lawyer? Is Auntie Maya in prison again?"
"Wha- No! No, nothing like that!" Pearl cried, "Mystic Maya's fine!" Trucy wasn't entirely sure if she should believe the young spirit medium.
"So what I can I help you with?" Trucy asked, wondering if Pearl herself had been framed.
"Oh, well, I'm not doing much of anything until tonight, so I thought I could come to the Agency early…" Pearl said.
Trucy replied, "Same here… Polly and Athena and Daddy are all working."
An idea then popped into her head. "Pearly!" Trucy suddenly cried into the phone, and she thought she heard Pearl drop it on the other end of the line.
"W-what?" she answered after a moment.
"Bring you-know-what!"
"Are you sure Mr. Nick will be okay with that?" Pearl asked, and Trucy could imagine her bitting her thumbnail nervously.
"Yeah, yeah! It'll be fine!" Trucy said, "just get here as soon as you can - I'm calling the others!"
"Okay… see you soon," Pearl said, hanging up.
Trucy began rummaging through the 'spare' room of the agency, which (much like the rest of the office) contained mostly her possessions. She held the phone up to ear with her shoulder while she listened to the dull ringing. After a moment, a voice spoke. "Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth speaking."
"Hi Uncle Edgeworth!" Trucy greeted, and she heard an exaggerated sigh on the other end.
"I'm working," Edgeworth told her flatly.
"I know! But this is important!" Trucy said.
"And what is so important that you needed to interrupt me?" he asked. Trucy started grinning.
"Pearl is coming soon, and she's bringing you-know-what!" she told him. There was silence on the other end of the line. "Do you want to-" she started.
"I'll be there in half an hour," Edgeworth cut her off. Then she heard the rustle of papers before he hung up on her.
Ten minutes later, she had dug out a sizable trunk with a large pair of crudely-painted dragons on the front. She was grinning from ear to ear, and remembered the one person she hadn't called. She flipped open the lid of the trunk, snatching a piece of paper inside that had a list of numbers. She punched in the last one on the list into the phone, and waited for an answer.
She heard someone answer the call, but no one spoke. Instead, a hawk was screaming into the phone and she heard Blackquill's voice in the background. There was a pause before the samurai/prosecutor said anything. "Apologizes, sir or madam. I have been teaching Taka to answer the phone should I be absent."
"Prosecutor Blackquill, not everyone speaks hawk," Trucy said.
"What do you mean?" he asked, and she decided to not continue down that path of conversation.
"Uncle Edgeworth and Pearly will be here soon!" Trucy told him, "we're doing you-know-what!"
"…I shall be there as quickly as I can," Blackquill answered, "Taka, fetch your special bandana-" she heard him start, but was cut short when he hung up.
She bounced to the door as soon as the bell rang, opening it to see who stood on the other side. Pearl, Edgeworth, and Blackquill and Taka where there, each holding a box or case of some kind. Except Taka, who was wearing a black bandana with a white dragon motif on it. "We begin immediately," Blackquill said, stepping past Trucy while Taka flew ahead.
"Okay!" Trucy replied, leaving the door open for the other two.
"Are you sure Mr. Nick won't mind?" Pearl asked again, "and Mr. Blackquill brought Taka, too… I thought that wasn't allowed."
"Pfft. I'd like Wright-dono to try and stop Taka," Blackquill scoffed, and the hawk's shrill cry rang out at the mention of his name.
"Well, I personally doubt Wright would have any say in the matter, regardless," Edgeworth said, beginning to sort through his case's contents.
"What makes you say that?" Trucy asked.
He answered with, "I'm the leader of the guild - anything I say will overrule his opinion."
"Well, it's kinda his office…" Pearl mentioned, but Edgeworth ignored her.
"Well, anyways, we've got to get started before the others get here!" Trucy told them; Pearl tilted her head to the side.
"We don't start for several hours. Why the hurry?" she said.
Edgeworth and Blackquill stared at her with blank expressions, and Trucy started laughing.
"Fey-dono, I thought you where taking this seriously," Blackquill said, Taka perching on his shoulder.
"N-nevermind… let's just start!" Pearl said, becoming nervous under the prosecutors' (and magician's) stares.
…
"Are you sure it's supposed to look like that?"
"Yes. I know what I'm doing - I made this, if you recall."
"Really? I didn't know you could sew so well, Uncle Edgeworth."
"…moving on."
…
"Mr. Blackquill, where did you get your armor from? It looks so real…"
"I believe you know I attend various conventions with Cykes-dono. I have made many a cosplay with her, so this was child's play."
"What's cosplay?"
"…"
"P-please don't stare at me like that!"
…
About two hours later, Trucy was admiring their work. Edgeworth, Blackquill, Pearl, and herself where now putting the finishing touches on their costumes, each dressed as their respective characters. Edgeworth was tweaking Pearl's dress, and Blackquill was polishing his sword and the Steel Samurai Spear that Edgeworth had brought. Taka had been exploring the office, and Trucy was fairly certain he had gotten trapped or lost in her magic props three or four times by now.
"…there," Edgeworth said after a minute, cutting the excesses thread off of Pearl's dress and stepping back. Pearl examined the hems of her costumes, twirling with a smile.
"Thank you, Mr. Edgeworth! It's beautiful!" she exclaimed, and Edgeworth gave her the ghost of a smile.
"But of course. It would be a shame for one my guild to be dressed inadequately," he told her, stowing away the small sewing kit in hand.
Trucy was about to ask him if her horns where straight when she heard the door of the office open. Everyone stared at it as Apollo entered, several bags in hand. He didn't appear to have noticed them yet. He had set the bags on the receptionists desk, sorting through them when he paused. He looked up, turning to face the others. "Greeting, Justice-dono." Blackquill said, Taka alighting on his shoulder. Apollo stared at them for a good minute before he dropped the bags, pivoted on his heel, and strode towards the door.
"Polly, where are you-?"
"I'm going home to sleep. None of you are real, I'm just sleep deprived," he told himself, closing the door behind him.
"Polly, wait! Come back!" Trucy called after him, but he didn't return.
"His loss," Blackquill sighed, scratching Taka's chin.
"…so when's Athena gonna get here?"
…
Eventually, the Dungeon Master walked through the door of the agency. She hesitated in the doorway when she spotted the few assembled party members.
"Darn it! I should have brought my costume too…" she mumbled, moving to set up the table.
"Why didn't you? I mean, I thought you liked dressing up with us," Trucy said.
"I do - I was kinda busy with the case, and I thought Boss would get mad, honestly. Since, y'know, the no bird thing," Athena said, "speaking of which, why is Taka here?"
"Taka goes wherever he pleases, whenever he pleases," Blackquill answered.
"So where's Daddy at? I thought he was investigating with you," Trucy said. Athena shrugged.
"I actually don't know. I thought he would be here," Athena said, looking around the room briefly. "Yeah, actually, where are the others? Klavier isn't here, and Kay and Apollo aren't here either."
"Gavin-dono is going to arrive shortly, Justice-dono is sleeping, and Kay… I have no idea as to her current location," Blackquill said.
"I believe she mentioned wanting to find something to begin making her proper adventuring attire out of," Edgeworth said.
"Well, they oughta get here soon. I've got a whole bunch of stuff planned for tonight!" Athena said, flipping through the many papers she had brought.
Trucy idled around the office for a few minutes before heading off with Pearl to attempt to bake before the others arrived. Blackquill debated the different attributes a Hawk Familiar would yield in comparison to a Falcon with Edgeworth. Athena sat behind her folder, a mischievous grin on her face as she contained her laughter.
Oh, this is going to be a good night to be the Dungeon Master!
Fifteen minutes later, Kay and Klavier had arrived and the group was almost ready. The only two missing where Apollo and Phoenix. Kay was about to ask Trucy where the pair where when the door opened. Everyone looked up, and Apollo probably looked at Edgeworth for less then a second before he retreated back out the door, not bothering to close it behind him. Again.
"Apollo, get back here! We were waiting for you!" Athena shouted. Trucy prepared to chase after him.
"Retrieve Justice-dono, if you would please, Taka," Blackquill said; the bird swooped out of the doorway with a shrill cry.
Less then a minute later, Trucy could hear Apollo's shouting from in the hallway. "CALL OFF YOUR ATTACK BIRD!" he shouted to Blackquill as he fled past the door, Taka pursuing him.
"Will you come and play with us this evening if I do?" the prosecutor asked, not looking up from his character sheet.
"Yes! Yes, fine! Just call him off!" Apollo said, trying to swat the hawk away from his face.
Blackquill put his fingers to his lips, whistling loudly. Taka immediately flew back to his owner, leaving Apollo with several scratches. The hawk was giving Apollo a hard stare until Blackquill stroked the bird's head, murmuring something to him.
"You can come in, Justice-dono. Taka won't bite," Blackquill said. Apollo hovered near the door.
"Yeah. But he still has talons," Apollo muttered, taking his seat.
"Hey, I'm here!" Phoenix's voice called, Trucy and Edgeworth turning their attention to the doorway.
"You're late," Edgeworth said dryly, an irritated look on his face.
"…why is Taka here? I thought I made it clear that birds aren't allowed," Phoenix said, staring at Taka while setting down a bag.
"Why where you so late, Wright-dono?" Blackquill asked, ignoring the question.
"I went to get a few things at the grocery store," Phoenix said.
"Apollo already went to get snacks earlier, Daddy. Right before he ran away," Trucy pointed out. Apollo mumbled something about lack of sleep.
"Um, we were out of mineral water," Phoenix said. Trucy shook her head. She held up the bottle of mineral water that she had been drinking from earlier.
"We're not out of it," she said. Phoenix sighed.
"…it's a special kind of mineral water," he told her, and she jumped from her seat and grabbed the bag from the reception desk.
"Trucy, no-!"
"Daddy!" she gasped at him, dropping the bag. The rest of the group had become interested by now, going quiet and listening carefully to Phoenix and Trucy's conversation.
"Trucy, it's not anything to got so upset over-" Phoenix tried to reason with her, but she ignored him and spun around to face Edgeworth.
"Uncle Edgeworth! He bought grape juice again!" Trucy said, holding up a pair of large bottles. Edgeworth stood quickly, striding over and snatching them from her. He went into the small kitchen area, and Trucy heard the pop of a cork before the sound of the liquid being poured down the sink.
"Did you just call him 'Uncle' Edgeworth…?" Klavier asked. Trucy ignored him as she watched her Daddy.
"Edgeworth - no!" Phoenix yelled, running into the other room. Trucy returned to her seat, listening to the pair squabble with each other. It kind of reminded her of an old married couple arguing. She shrugged the thought off, focusing on memorizing her spells while she waited for her Daddy to get over the loss of his grape juice.
"Now that every things been sorted out, we can finally start, ja?" Klavier said, running his fingers through his hair.
"Yes," Edgeworth said, ignoring the glare Phoenix was giving him. Athena nodded in agreement, fingering some of her papers.
"Okay! Let's get this show on the road!" the Dungeon Master said.
The party was still gathered around the ginger dwarf, hanging in suspense.
"How do you know my brother?" Heironeous asked him, the dwarf shrugged.
"Cousin," Jin corrected.
"You git ta know a lot of people in this business," the dwarf said. Suchiru arched an eyebrow.
"And what business would that be exactly?" the teifling asked.
The dwarf shook his head. "S'rry, but tha's na something I'm allowed ta talk aboot," he said.
"I'll make an Intimidation Check," Edgeworth said, about to roll a d20.
"Are you that's a good idea? I mean, we need his information, but he might be less likely to talk if you threaten him…" Pearl said. Trucy started laughing.
"Nah! Uncle Edgeworth can get anyone to talk!" she said, grinning evilly. "But actually, you bring up a good point, Pearly." She pulled out her own dice.
"What?" the young mystic asked.
"We need to really intimidate this guy - let me do it, Uncle Edgeworth!" Trucy pleaded. The prosecutor shrugged.
Eusapia stepped closer to the ginger dwarf, a grin on her scaly face. "Hey, you dwarfs think pretty highly of your beards, right?" she asked.
He nodded. "'Tis me pride an' joy," he said, standing (slightly) taller.
"I'll burn it right off unless you talk," the dragonborn said, holding an orb of crimson flames in her claws. She pushed it closer to the dwarf, who backed up a pace or two.
"Okay, roll for Intimidation," Athena instructed.
19.
"Please, lass, dunnae burn it! I beg of you!" the dwarf pleaded, looking like he might cry at the very thought.
"Start talking then!" she yelled at him, causing the dwarf to back away from her. Phoenix looked a bit frightened of his sister as well.
"Me and me crew smuggle rare alchemical ingredients from tha wilds of tha Moonshae Isles," he said, trembling, his eyes locked on the sphere of fire in her claws. He glanced at Heironeous. "Your brother was one of our best customers. 'E would even help me crew get through some more difficult areas of security."
"His cousin." Jin corrected.
"Was my brother into alchemy?" Apollo asked, looking to Athena.
"Cousin. Was his cousin into alchemy," Blackquill corrected.
"That's what I meant."
"Sí, buenos señores!" Athena said, popping a Cheeto into her mouth.
"Okay, if you know my brother -"
"Cousin."
"- then how do you know I am who you think I am?" Heironeous asked him. The dwarf was silent before he burst into a fit of laughter.
"W-what is it?" Heironeous said, noticing Suchiru and Jin snickering as well.
"'Tis hard ta forget hearing aboot a beardless dwarf!" the ginger dwarf laughed. Jin no longer bothered to stifle his own laughing.
"Athena!" Apollo said, looking annoyed, "you didn't say there would be anything odd about not having a beard!"
"Haven't you seen Lord of the Rings before?" Athena asked.
"No."
"Well, there's your problem," Kay said.
Heironeous glared at the other dwarf, who had fallen on the deck and was still laughing at him.
"Even most lady dwarfs have beards, lad!" he said. Heironeous remained silent, but had curled his hand into a fist.
"Hey! Stop making fun of Heironeous!" Eusapia said, "or else I'll give you that shave I promised you!" She shoved the fiery orb closer to his face. The dwarf ceased his laughing, holding his breath in fear.
"Okay - so this place has a bunch of illegal magic stuff on it, j - yes?" Crow asked.
"Yes! Yes! It's all below deck!" the ginger dwarf cried.
"I shall have a look and assess what all is down there," Suchiru said, striding below deck.
"I'm coming too!" Tryn added, running after the teifling.
"Tha's all well an' good, but by tha beard of tha King, get tha lass to put out tha fire!" the dwarf pleaded, inching away from Eusapia.
"Eusapia, stop harassing… um… what's your name?" Phoenix said, the dwarf relaxing when Eusapia blew out the fire.
"Name's Badrick," he said.
"Pardon, sir Badrick, but is there any live cargo below?" Suchiru asked, appearing above deck again with Tryn close behind him.
"Nah. Ta risky ta try and smuggle through," Badrick said.
"Well, then there's something down there that shouldn't be. I heard something down there," Tryn said. The party all turned to glare at Crow.
"I'm telling you, I looked down there! I throughly searched this boat!" Crow said, stamping on the ground.
"Maybe you should search better next time," Jin remarked, rolling his eyes.
"Fräulein Cykes, what was wrong with my roll? 18 is a good roll!" Klavier said, pouting slightly.
"Nothing's wrong with your roll, Prosecutor Gavin. It's just what's down there is better at hiding then you are at finding!" she said, grinning from ear to ear.
"Well, I hope it's not better then I can fight!" Trucy said, rubbing her hands together and giggling manically. Phoenix gave her a weary look.
Eusapia, Zanne, Suchiru, and Tryn made their way down below deck, peering between the multiple crates and boxes stored beneath. Several minutes of searching later, they had yet to find anything.
"Can I just start shooting at stuff, Suchiru?" Eusapia pouted, kicking nonexistent dust. "Maybe I can scare out whatever's down here…"
"If you have any spells that won't burn the only thing keeping us floating, then I suppose so…" the teifling sighed, crossing his arms and waiting impatiently.
"I'll cast Cloud of Daggers!" Trucy said, rolling her dice.
"Won't that put a bunch of holes in the ship?" Kay asked, frowning.
"Well, that depends on how high of a roll she gets-" Athena started, but was cut short by Trucy.
"I got a natural 20! Whooo!"
"…yeah, there's gonna be a hole or two," Athena said, flipping through one of her rulebooks.
Suchiru glared at Eusapia while Zanne and Tryn scrambled to cork the several holes in the boat, running amidst the now-broken boxes. "Hey! I didn't burn the place! You said I couldn't burn it! I didn't burn it!" Eusapia defended herself. Suchiru rolled his eyes.
"What are you doing?! You're gonna sink us if you're not careful!" a voice cried, and a familiar brown-haired human jumped out from behind the few intact crates.
"What," Edgeworth said, staring at Athena.
"What?" she asked.
"How many people did Gavin fail to notice down here?"
Athena shuffled a few papers before looking up again. "I think that's the last of them, m'sieur."
"Who are you and how long have you been onboard?" Suchiru asked sharply, glaring daggers at Keylith.
"Help me save your boat first, then I'll answer that!" she said, trying to plug the gaps with her hands.
"I don't think that's gonna work, miss," Tryn said, reaching for the Keylith's messenger bag. A second later, the area around her hands flashed blue and was covered in a thick layer of ice.
"I kinda need my money back, halfling. Now would be preferable," Keylith said, holding out her hand for the coin purse Tryn had purloined.
"What? How did she notice?" Kay asked, checking her stats again. "I haven't been caught before!"
"Because I rolled a twenty on my Perception Check, believe it or not," Athena said.
"I choose not," Kay pouted.
"You're a wizard, too!?" Eusapia said, itching to duel with the other magic user. Keylith scoffed at this, turning to answer Suchiru instead.
"Keylith Summersong, swordmage. How long I've been on board depends on how long you have been, sir," she said. Suchiru raised an eyebrow.
"Swordmages channel their magic abilities through means of their weapon of choice, namely short- or long-swords," Suchiru said, "Therefore, as you are using your hands to directly channel magic, saying that you are a swordmage is illogical."
"…geez, did I board the wrong boat? 'Cause I thought this was that group that started the bar fight, not Mr. Know-it-all and Co.," she commented, rolling her eyes. "And yeah, I've got a longsword. I just thought it'd be better to fix a hole by not stabbing it again."
"What business do you have on board, exactly?" Suchiru asked flatly, clearly annoyed with her.
Keylith opened her mouth to answer, but stopped. "What's it to you?" she asked at length, shrugging.
Edgeworth sighed, rolling his eyes. "Do I need to Intimidate her as well?" he asked, annoyed.
"If that's what you want to do, sure," Athena shrugged, popping a cookie in her mouth.
"Well, I vote I give a shot at talking to her!" Kay said, a determined look on her face.
"I suppose…" Edgeworth said. Kay pulled out her dice.
"Hey, you can tell me!" Tryn said, smiling at Keylith.
"…and I should trust you because?" she asked, looking skeptical.
"Well, I'm a very trustworthy halfling!" Tryn said.
Kay rolled, and almost immediately tried to grab her die before anyone could read it. Trucy, on the other hand, grab at it to prevent her from hiding it. The pair struggled with each other for a moment, but Trucy ended up victorious.
"Oh dear," Trucy said, staring at the die in hand.
"What? What is it?" Phoenix asked.
"Two."
"Yeah, well, I'm not so sure about that. You're the one that was scamming people with the dragonborn wizard in the tavern, aren't you?" Keylith said, giving Tryn a look of disapproval. Tryn laughed nervously.
"Well, y'see, I was going to use my wins to found a pet shelter in Calinport!" Tryn defended herself. Keylith rolled her eyes.
"It's Calimport. With an 'M', not 'N'," Keylith corrected.
"Is it? I thought you said it was Calinport," Kay asked.
"No, I said Calimport. Its easy to get it mixed up, though," Athena said.
"You got them mixed up last time," Klavier pointed out. Athena threw some popcorn at him.
"Well, anyways, I've got some things to sort out, so I'll just be heading above deck now," Keylith said, stepping past Eusapia and Tryn.
"Or you can answer my question, Summersong. What is a swordmage such as you doing onboard this ship?" Suchiru asked her again, glaring at her.
"Or you could let me go on my way, and avoid conflict for the time being," Keylith said.
"I shall make an Intimidation Check," Edgeworth announced.
"So will I, then!" Athena grinned.
There was a brief stare down between the two, but Keylith broke the silence.
"I can plug the holes in this boat just as easily as I can burn it to a crisp. Unless you want to be swimming back to Calimport, I think you'll leave me alone," she said, hands on her hips. Suchiru was silent for a moment, but then rolled his eyes.
"I call hacks," Trucy muttered.
"Shh," Phoenix said. He believed in Athena and her dice.
"You're taking orders from me now. Step out of line, I throw you over board," he grunted, stepping out of her way. Keylith strode above deck, ignoring the death glare from the teifling.
"So, I finished patching up the other holes…" Zanne said, standing back to admire her handiwork.
"Let's head back above deck before something else happens," Tyrn suggested, stepping around the frozen patch on the floor. Suchiru was already making his way upwards, the trio of girls following quickly after their leader.
The rest of the group had been trying to get more information out of Badrick, but appeared to be failing. Phoenix was the only one talking to him at this point, the rest having started to wander around the ship. Crow, once spotting Keylith, silently slid next to her.
"You couldn't stay away, could you fräu - baby?" he said, smiling slyly.
"…Fräulein Cykes, I think someone rigged my dice," Klavier whined.
"What makes you say that, Bekannte?" Athena asked. Klavier frowned. Edgeworth gave the both of them an odd look.
"I got a 1 on my Diplomacy check again."
"…wow, you're really bad at this, aren't you, Mr. Gavin?" Trucy said, earning a glare from the rock star.
"Like I'd come here for you. I'm here for someone - er, something else," Keylith said, shoving Crow away from her.
"And might you tell us what that would be?" Jin asked, pushing Crow to the side as he stepped towards her.
"Hey! Watch it!" Crow whined, Jin ignoring him.
"Maaaaybe," Keylith said, rocking on her heels, "What's it to you, anyways?"
"Well, I might be able to offer some… assistance, in your quarry." Jin said, Keylith arching her eyebrows.
"What kind of assistance?"
"Hey, wait," Phoenix said, "Doesn't he need to make some kind of dice roll?"
"No." Athena and Blackquill said in unison.
"…Why not? Klavier had to, didn't he?"
"Well, yeah," Athena said, "he made a Diplomacy check to try and flirt with her. Again."
"But Blackquill - er, Jin, I guess - is doing the same thing!" Phoenix said, "well, not flirting, but Diplomacy-ing!"
"And your point is…?" Athena asked.
"… nevermind."
Keylith and Jin walked towards the other end of the ship, discussing whatever it was Jin had in mind, Keylith looking more pleased by the second. Suchiru glared after them, turning to Zanne, Tryn, Heironeous, and Eusapia.
"I don't like her," he said, looking annoyed.
"Huh? Why? Because she could beat you in a fight?" Eusapia asked, giggling.
"Silence," Suchiru growled.
"Well, it doesn't seem like she's done anything wrong… I mean, we're literally in the same boat as her. We stole it, and she just tagged along," Zanne said.
"We didn't steal it!" Tryn cried, "we just put it under new management."
"And where exactly are we going?" Heironeous asked, "Badrick isn't being exactly useful right now. He won't tell us anything about my brother's death!"
"Cousin," Jin called.
"Whatever."
"Wait, where is Mr. Badrick? I thought he was with Phoenix, but they seem to have gone…" Zanne asked, bitting her fingernail. As the human girl had said, the dragonborn and the dwarf were not anywhere to be seen.
"I say we take advantage of the time we have with Phoenix gone and try and do something useful for once," Suchiru sighed, pulling out several charts and maps from his Bag of Holding.
"Hey! I haven't done anything wrong!" Phoenix said.
"You haven't done anything right, either, Wright." Edgeworth said. Trucy and Kay giggled.
"Also where did I go, Athena? I'm on the ship, aren't I?" Phoenix asked, ignoring Edgeworth's comment.
"Well, why don't you have a look at this?" Athena said, handing Phoenix a slip of paper.
"What's this for?"
"Just read it."
"Alright, alright…" Phoenix said, unfolding the paper. He was only staring at it a moment before he rolled his eyes.
"What does it say, Herr Wright?" Klavier asked.
"Well, I-"
"Don't. Say. Anything!" Athena said loudly, several of the others at the table jumping at her sudden increase of volume and sudden flash of red from Widget.
"What!? What did I do!?" Phoenix cried.
"You don't tell the rest of the party unless it says you can, silly!" Trucy said, Athena nodding in approval.
"Well, you could have said that before you shouted at me…" Phoenix muttered. Blackquill chuckled.
"This is common knowledge, Wright-dono. I fail to see how you could not have known before hand," the prosecutor said, Edgeworth, Kay, and Trucy nodded sagely.
"Not all of us here are massive nerds, Herr Blackquill," Klavier said, brushing his hair to the side with one hand.
"I think you already said something like that before, Gavin," Apollo said, antennae drooping, "and you're not exactly in a position to defend your case seeing as you came back…"
"So where did they go? Phoenix is the ranger, so he's the one who's supposed to track stuff," Tryn complained.
"I don't know - it's not like I'm going to stoop to tracking my idiot brother!" Eusapia said, Phoenix giving her a warning look.
"Watch what you say, Trucy."
"I didn't say it - Eusapia did!"
"Well, doesn't anyone else here know how to track things? Even the smallest lead could help," Heironeous said.
"Well, I think Jin can, but he's still talking to Miss Keylith, I think…" Zanne said, glancing around to see where the two where currently. As if on cue, Keylith started squealing in excitement, hopping around Jin and looking like she had just won the lottery.
"Well, at least someone's made some progress…" Crow grumbled, still cross from being rejected. Twice.
Jin followed the enthusiastic girl back to the rest of the group, looking quite pleased with himself.
"What are you so happy about? My brother's gone missing!" Eusapia cried, glaring at Jin.
"Well, regardless to what Phoenix has done to get himself lost on a boat, I now have a lead as to where to go in search of Heironeous' cousin's killer," Jin said. Keylith grinned besides him. "Though there is a small catch…"
"Go on," Zanne said.
"Well, the Swordmage here has given me this knowledge, but requires something in return."
"Actually, I'm a Sorcerer with sword proficiencies…" Keylith said.
"Oh? Would by chance a romantisch - er, romantic, evening in my company be what you desire, Fr - baby?" Crow said, a playful smile on his face.
"…If you try and pull anything again I swear I will throw you off of this boat," she said, glaring daggers at the half-elf. Crow slid to stand behind Zanne, as if hoping the cleric's presence would prevent Keylith from attacking him.
"No, actually, it is Heironeous that she would like an evening with," Jin said, "and that is the agreement we have come to."
"Wait, you what!?" Heironeous cried, Keylith coming to stand besides him.
"Her argument was quite… compelling," Jin said, "and it was unlikely that I was going to be losing anything in such an arrangement. Why wouldn't I agree?"
"Because I would have thought you would know not to set me up with crazy wizard chicks!" Heironeous said.
"I'm not a wizard. And I'm not crazy. But it's okay, people get it messed up all the time!" Keylith said, smiling at him.
"Okay, really Blackquill, what the heck!?" Apollo cried, "You just sold me to this - this woman is insane! What am I supposed to do!?"
"I say take your chance while you have it, Herr Forehead. I don't think you'll be getting any dwarfish Fräuleins throwing themselves at you anytime soon, my bartlos friend," Klavier said. Athena nodded enthusiastically.
"I had thought you would be more open to the idea," Blackquill said, Taka alighting on his shoulder.
"She's part of the reason we got into a bar fight in the first place! Well, I mean, Crow didn't help, but seriously! She's just as crazy as the rest of you guys!"
The rest of the group fell silent for a moment.
"I'm casting Magic Missile on Heironeous!" Trucy cried.
"Why!?"
"You called me crazy!"
"I cannot abide such insults," Blackquill growled, drawing his sword. The real one.
"Put that back!" Phoenix yelled.
Eusapia prepared to fire her spell. Heironeous whisperd something to Tryn.
"Make it 6 and you've got a deal," the halfling said.
"Deal," the dwarf said. Eusapia flung a set of magic orbs at him as Tryn vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Eat Missile, dwarf!" she cried, conjuring another sphere of flame.
"Careful with those fireballs! You're going to set fire to the boat!" Keylith cried, drawing her sword.
"What, like this?" Eusapia asked, dropping the fire at her feet. No one moved for a second, staring blankly at the flaming orb that was now eating away at the planks.
"Put it out! Put it out!" Zanne cried.
Tryn was fleeing from Jin's hawk familiar, Gin, while holding the samurai's sword over her head.
"Heironeous, come with me!" Keylith said, grabbing the dwarf and running towards the edge of the burning boat.
"Put me down! Where are you even going!?" he cried; Suchiru was trying to put out the growing fire even as Eusapia continued to fuel it. Jin was now wrestling with Tryn for his sword, Crow singing dramatically behind them as Gin screeched overhead. Zanne was praying to her deity, having given up on putting an end to the chaos on her own.
"Okay, this is getting out of hand," Suchiru said, backing away from the now-towering flames. Eusapia was cackling manically, laughing, "Burn! Burn bright like the hellfire you were destined to be!"
"I think your sister has lost it," Pearl said to Phoenix, who only buried his head in his hands.
"Did she have it to begin with?" Apollo asked.
"We're going to have to jump overboard," Suchiru declared. Jin stood after having retrieved his sword.
"I think the swordmage is a step ahead of you, fearless leader," Jin said, pointing out to the water. Keylith was clinging onto a stray plank of wood, holding onto Heironeous with her other hand.
"Let go of me! I can swim on my own!" Heironeous shouted. Keylith ignored him.
Tryn leaped off of the boat with a excited shout, the boat burning brightly as the sun started to set on the horizon. Jin and Suchiru jumped after her, Eusapia hesitating until Zanne pulled her away from the bonfire. Crow was the last to jump.
"…where are Phoenix and Badrick? They don't appear to be with us," Suchiru asked, treading water while Jin started to break more planks off of the boat.
"I don't really know where they could have gone to - we're in the middle of the ocean!" Zanne cried.
"Maybe they got knocked off or something?" Tryn said.
"I believe I have found them," Jin said, pulling away another section of the boat's haul off to reveal Phoenix and Badrick drinking form large water skins. They both smelled strongly of alcohol.
"You've got to be joking," Suchiru said. "Wright, come over here so I can slap you."
"No."
"Oh, hai guyz!" Phoenix slurred, raising the water skin and waving to them. "Iz it hot in here, or is dat jus' me?" He asked, a few of the burning boards falling around the pair.
"…I don't even have words to describe how ridiculous this is," the warlord said, eyes narrowed.
"You shink this is ridiculous!? How'sabout using a bunch of birds to hijack a boot?!" Phoenix said, stumbling towards the hole in the side of the boat.
"Sorry lads. I thought tha lad could hold his ale better then this…" Badrick said, taking another swing from his water skin.
"Dragonborn. You can't take them anywhere," Suchiru sighed as Phoenix fell head-first into the water.
"Hey! That's not true!" Eusapia said. Suchiru glared at her and pointed to the boat. "…oh, right. Sorry about that." She laughed nervously.
"This is why we can't have nice things," Zanne mumbled.
"Does someone want to go after him or are we just going to let him keep sinking?" Crow asked, peering over the edge of his board. Sure enough, Phoenix wasn't making any kind of attempt to resurface.
"Eh, he'll be fine," Eusapia shrugged. Zanne sighed, shaking her head before diving in after the dragonborn.
"Is she even strong enough to bring him up with her?" Keylith asked, still holding onto Heironeous.
"Perhaps not," Jin said, jumping in as well.
"Well, great," Suchiru said sarcastically, "our ranger is drunk beyond being useful, our healer is going to end up drowning herself trying to save him, and the only competent fighter here has thrown himself in as well."
"Hey! I'm a good fighter!" Heironeous said, trying to free himself from Keylith's grip.
"And I've got my enchanted sword," Keylith added.
"…we're doomed," Suchiru sighed.
Once Zanne and Jin had retrieved and restrained Phoenix (who was now convinced that he was actually an aquatic hydra who's severed heads wouldn't regenerate unless he was submerged),
"Trucy, please slap your father for me."
"Okay!" But Trucy lowered her hand when Phoenix gave her the "Proceed and you will be grounded for two months" look.
Badrick joined the others on the remains of the boat, the cargo having begun to sink into the depths of the ocean.
"Badrick, what exactly did you give him?" Zanne asked, trying to wring the water out of her hair.
"Dwarven ale. I brew tha stuff meself when tha other's are to busy to notice," he said, taking another swing. Zanne promptly snatched it out of his hand, dumping the contents of the flask into the water.
"Wha - What are ye doin' lass!?" he cried, trying to take the water skin back. Zanne held it above her head, out of the reach of the dwarf.
"Because we need as much of our team to be sober as posable, and this isn't helping right now!" she said, the Dwarf looking cross.
"I 'anne part of yer team…" he muttered.
"Well, now what? We're stuck out at sea, and the only one of us who might be able to point the way to land is completely betrunken," Klavier said.
"I could try and see if I could find anything useful," Kay said.
"Why exactly was Wright-dono drinking with the dwarf? I thought your original aim was to get information from him," Blackquill asked, giving Phoenix a look of disproval.
"He was quite persuasive," Phoenix said, glancing at the slip of paper in hand, "apparently."
Just admit that you wanted to troll as hard as possible, Daddy, Trucy thought, sighing.
"Well, regardless, we need to find land. There are just as many beasts in the water as there are on the land," Edgeworth said. Blackquill nodded in agreement.
"I can send Gin to find land," the samurai said, checking his character sheet.
"Can someone help me get away from the crazy wizard with the sword?" Apollo asked, antennae drooping.
"Nah, you'll be fine. It's not like she'll hurt you or anything!" Trucy said, Athena looking like she might make a correction. She remained silent, but Widget had begun laughing.
Jin sent Gin out to search for land, the hawk returning shortly after the sun had set completely. He alighted on his master's shoulder, whispering to him while the rest of the group waited for the results.
"Gin has located an island not far from here that we can take shelter on for the time being," Jin announced, "we shall set on our way immediately."
"Roger that, mister Jin, sir!" Keylith said, gripping her board (and Heironeous) and swimming after the warrior.
"Put me down, for goodness sake! I can swim, you know!" Heironeous cried, struggling to free himself.
"Has anyone told you that you're adorable when you're upset?" she asked him, the dwarf responding with an irritated groan.
"Quit your whining - the rest of us have to swim by ourselves! You've got it girlfriend's doing all the work," Tyrn said.
"She's not my girlfriend!"
"Not yet~!" Keylith said in a sing-song voice. Eusapia laughed at how hopeless he looked.
What felt like eternities later, the group had reached the shore of the island Jin had told them of.
"Land! Land!" Tyrn cried, scrambling onto the shore and kissing the ground (and promptly spitting out a mouthful of sand).
"Yes, I believe we have arrived," Suchiru said, dragging Phoenix after him.
"I need my othzer heads! Imma all alone…" the dragonborn cried, trying to pull himself back into the water.
"For goodness sake, can some one shut him up?!" Crow sighed exasperatedly.
"The pleasure is mine," Jin said, striking Phoenix's head with the hilt of his sword. The dragonborn sank to the ground, unmoving.
"There. That'll keep his mouth shut," Jin said. Suchiru gave him an approving look.
"Yeah, love you too," Phoenix muttered. Trucy snorted.
"Well, I suppose if it works…" Crow said, prodding the dragonborn with his foot.
"Alright - Jin and I shall begin making a controlled fire," Suchiru said, directing a glare towards Eusapia, "Eusapia, Zanne, and Heironeous, I want you to find food. The forest here should prove to be useful enough. Tyrn and Crow, you can start making some kind of shelter with the parts of the wreckage we have."
"Hey! What about me?" Keylith said, glaring at the tiefling.
"You are staying here, where I can keep an eye on you. Same with Badrick."
"What? Can't I go wi'h Heironeous?"
"No," Suchiru said flatly. Keylith opened her mouth to retort, but shut it after a moment.
"Fine…" she grumbled, crossing her arms and pouting. Heironeous was already long gone, having left as soon as he could.
"C'mon Zanne! Lets go catch up to him!" Eusapia said, running into the forest.
"W-wait up, Eusapia!"
The trio had only begun their hunt for food when Eusapia heard Zanne calling them.
"Guys? Do you see this, too?" the young cleric called, Heironeous and the dragonborn following her voice.
"What's the matter?" Eusapia asked. Zanne pointed deeper into the forest. A set of massive doors could be seen through a break in the trees. Heironeous pulled out his axe as he approached it.
"I wonder if there's anything we could steal inside…" Eusapia said, "you know. Wondering for a friend."
"Maybe we should get Mr. Suchiru? He'll know what to do," Zanne said, looking nervous.
"Nah!"
"We don't even know what's in there. We might not be able to handle it on our own, and frankly I don't trust you not to attack me instead of whatever is inside," Heironeous said, glaring at Eusapia.
"Fine…" she sighed, disappointed, "let's go tell Suchiru…"
"It's okay, Eusapia. I'm sure you'll be able to wreck havoc once we have the rest of the party with us," Zanne said.
"I guess… it's just that it's much more satisfying when you take everyone by surprise, though…" Eusapia mumbled.
The three made their way back to the shore, finding Jin studying his map by the firelight as Tryn sorted through the samurai's belongings, Gin keeping a watchful eye on her. Suchiru was trying to get answers from both Keylith and Badrick, but neither of them seemed to be paying him any attention. Crow was sitting besides a poorly made lean-to, re-tuning his still waterlogged guitar.
"Guys! Zanne found some kind of building out in the forest!" Eusapia cried, only Suchiru turning to acknowledge her.
"Oh?" he said, Zanne nodding.
"There was a big door out in the middle of the forest, but I couldn't see the rest of it because of all the trees…" she said, "it looked really old. There was moss all over the handles."
"We shall investigate further tomorrow morning-"
"No! We should go now!" Eusapia complained, "I haven't gotten to kill anything in aaaaages!"
"Does nearly drowning all of us not count?" Crow asked.
"No… everyone's still here!" she said, pouting.
"Well, I don't know if that's true for your bru- brother," Crow said, pointing to where Phoenix lay on the sand. He was still out of commission between the ale and Jin's attack.
"…he's always like that," she said.
"Hey!" Phoenix said. Kay snickered. "Hey!"
"Anyway, I don't believe that now is the best time to be exploring potentially dangerous territory," Suchiru said, dismissing the dragonborn. She frowned, turning to Zanne.
"You want to check it out, don't you?" she asked. Zanne nodded after a moment.
"So long as you don't hurt anyone in the party…"
"Heironeous, you're with me too, right?"
"Uh, I don't know. I mean, with just the three of us-"
"It's either Keylith or the dungeon," she pointed out. Heironeous went pale.
"To the dungeon!" he cried, running back into the forest.
"…aren't we going after him?" Zanne asked.
"In a minute," Eusapia said.
"Hey, Tryn," she whispered, beckoning the halfling closer, "I'll give you 5 silver to get Jin to chase you into the forest."
"Make it 6 and you've got a deal," Tryn said, grinning as Eusapia handed her over the coins.
"Hey Jin! I think your bird's dumb looking, and that you're not a real samurai!" Tryn shouted, fleeing into the woodlands as Jin lunged for her. Gin gave a shrill sheik as it flew after her, claws reflecting the moonlight.
"Mr. Crow, you wanna come with us?" Zanne asked.
The half-elf gave a smile. "Of course - how can I say no to a pretty young fräu- girl?" he said, hopping to his feet.
Phoenix was glaring at him.
"Okay, you get the rest of them, I'll get Suchiru," Eusapia whispered. Zanne nodded before walking to where Badrick was teaching Keylith how to play poker.
Eusapia casually strode over to where Suchiru had given up talking to the poker-playing pair, carefully reaching for his spear. She had grabbed ahold of it just as the warlord grabbed her wrist with his claw-like hands. Eusapia looked up to receive a steely glare from him.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" he asked, just as Eusapia cried out, "Fire Ball!"
Trucy eagerly rolled her dice as Edgeworth glared at her in disapproval.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" he asked again as Trucy read the number her dice showed her.
"Getting a 16! Whooo!" she said, looking to Athena.
"You're targeting the spear?" she asked. Trucy nodded.
"Well, since it doesn't really have an armor class, sure, it's a hit."
Suchiru jumped backwards and dropped his spear as the wooden shaft burst into flames, Eusapia cackling as she grabbed the burning weapon.
"Why you little imp!" Suchiru said, voice bordering a growl, "you'll pay for that!"
"Come and get me then!" she said, taking off into the forest and tossing away the remains of his spear. She grinned, hearing his footsteps not far behind her own. Soon enough she reached the doors of the dungeon, where the rest of the guild waiting for them. Zanne was currently trying to keep Jin from strangling Tryn, and it didn't look like she would be able to keep them apart much longer. Heironeous was trying to keep Crow between him and Keylith, which was not working in the slightest.
Eusapia was about to thank Zanne for helping her round the rest of them up when she was tackled to the ground by Suchiru, the teifling pinning her to the ground.
"Give me a reason I shouldn't kill you pathetic piece of dragonborn scum right now…" he growled. Eusapia laughed nervously.
"Hey, don't you think that's a little harsh?" Phoenix asked, Edgeworth glaring at him.
"She destroyed my weapon," he said, "and that's not even mentioning the fact she single-handedly caused our shipwreck."
"Well, yeah, but killing her?" Phoenix asked, looking to Athena for support.
"Suchiru is a teifling…" she chided.
Phoenix sighed. "If I was sober, I'd stop you, you know that?"
"The point is that you are not, in fact, sober, so I shall continue as I please," Edgeworth said, pulling out his dice.
Suchiru pulled a dagger from his boot, raising it to attack Eusapia.
"Now, now, Suchiru, is that anyway to treat a young maiden?" Crow asked. The teifling giving the bard a deathglare. "Eh, well, ah, whatever you think is best, oh benevolent guild leader!" Crow laughed nervously, promptly hiding behind Keylith. She slapped him away from her.
"Huh," Athena said, "you know, you're supposed to roll for something like that, Mr. Edgeworth."
"He's good," Klavier said quickly. Edgeworth rolled his eyes.
"C'mon, lets go and check out the dungeon! I bet there's lots of neat treasure in it!" Tryn said, having convinced Jin to wring her neck at a later date.
"I was trying to before Mr. All-high-and-mighty got in our way!" Eusapia said, trying to wriggle out of the warlord's grasp.
"Excuse me?" he growled.
"Well, we're all here, lets just go in now," Zanne said, "we'll sort everything out once we're back on the mainland. Sound fair?"
"I believe I can live with that arrangement," Jin said, although he and Gin were still glaring daggers at Tryn.
"Suchiru?" Zanne said, as the teifling still had Eusapia pinned.
"…fine." he huffed, dusting himself off as he stood. Eusapia jumped to her feet, running up to the doors.
"Alright! Let's go kill some stuff!" she cried, flinging open the doors to reveal -
"Alrighty, that's where we'll end for tonight!" Athena said, grinning as the group broke out in a mix of complaints.
"Whaaat!? I've been trying to get everyone to come to the door for aaaages now! Do we really have to?" Trucy said, pouting.
"I thinking we'd find more information on my brother's killer…" Apollo said.
"Your cousin. You were hoping to find information on your cousin's killer," Blackquill corrected.
"Whatever," Apollo shrugged.
"So when are we going to meet again?" Kay asked.
"Dunno. Maybe once I finish the case I got today?" Athena said.
Phoenix nodded. "Yes, that should keep you busy for a few days. I would like to be able to sleep…" he said, yawning.
"That settles it - see you all back here in a couple nights!" Trucy said, grinning from ear to ear. As the rest of the guild bade their good-nights and started to leave, Trucy realized she was still in her full costume.
I wonder if Daddy would notice if I slept in my costume and wore it tomorrow, too… I don't think he would.
(A/N: Don't expect the next part of this anytime soon, but feel free to bug me through Airey, because it is more likely then not that I will completely forget about this being a thing I am in charge of now. I will try my best to get this done, and I do actually have an ending in mind for this story, so I will try and come back to it as soon as I can be bothered to write more of it. Until then!)