EmeraldWings1992: Hey guys! Here we are again!
WolfieRed23: On to chapter 2! I think we've kept them waiting long enough, don't you Emerald?
Emerald: (I'm shortening my name for this) Definitely. Before we start though, we should respond to a guest review from Gamergirl!
Wolfie: Let me just say, I love reading your reviews, they're always so fun!
Emerald: As do I!
Review Reply to Gamergirl: (E) We were hoping too! (W) You have no idea how much time we put into trying to figure a way out to do this. (E) Especially since we didn't want Aurora's and Shaylee's relationship to become one sided with Shay always saving Aurora. That was the hard part, since Shaylee is much more powerful than Aurora right now…(W) Heh, sorry about that...but it's not like she's OP! And Aurora's still got plenty of development to go! (E) Exactly. She didn't start out since BBS and get trained by a Master. That's actually how we came to the idea of Aurora saving Shaylee in a different way. (W) Shush! They've probably figured it out by now, but try to keep them in suspense ;) (E) Whoops. Anyways! Thanks for reading, Gamergirl! We hope you enjoy this chapter too! (W) And I hope we can keep you on your toes! Combining two universes is a tough job, after all.
Emerald: Anything else to say, Wolfie?
Wolfie: Nope! I think we're good! Just remember if you're ever confused on our characters, check out their previous two stories in order to understand! Now enjoy!
Emerald: ONWARD!
…
Chapter Two: Day One - Investigation
Aurora yawned as she stretched and rolled over, accidently falling off the bed with a thud. Because of Shaylee sleeping over and sharing their room, the Seer had given up her bed and shared with Trucy, despite the Guardian's protests.
Probably not the smartest idea, in retrospect. Turns out Shaylee was right after all. Two teenage girls couldn't fit comfortably in one twin sized bed with a body pillow in between them.
"Ow…" she groaned from where she was laying on the floor next to the bed. Her fall was loud enough to wake Trucy, who was a very heavy sleeper.
"Aurora…?" The magician whispered sleepily.
Aurora raised her hand up so that Trucy could see it over the edge of the bed. "Here…" she groaned.
"Maybe this wasn't such a smart idea." Trucy giggled. Aurora sighed with a shrug, finally pulling herself up and standing with a stretch.
"Maybe. We'll have to figure something out for tonight," she sighed softly, before looking over at her bed. "Looks like Shay's already awake," she added, heading towards the door.
"I'll meet you down there. Don't go jumping Not-Riku again, okay?" Trucy teased as she laid back down. Aurora blushed furiously, but stopped in front of the mirror to make sure her hair looked halfway decent anyways. "Are you planning to cheat on Riku with Not-Riku?" Trucy gasped dramatically.
"What!?" Aurora gasped, spinning around to face her. "No! I always make sure my hair's not a rat's nest before leaving the room!" she said, before stomping out of said room, Trucy's giggles following her. Trying her best to ignore the magician, Aurora walked straight over to the coffee pot and poured herself a mug, pointedly avoiding looking over at Sora and Riku. Phoenix peeked up from where he was eating a slice of toast behind his papers.
"Everything okay?" he asked.
"Peachy," Aurora replied.
"Is Shay still asleep?" Sora asked as he turned around on the couch to look at the grumpy Seer. That question snapped Aurora out of it though, as she slowly put the coffee pot back and added milk and sugar. She turned to the Keyblade wielder, glancing into the livingroom.
"No… I assumed she was already down here," she said slowly.
"We haven't seen her all morning. And she's always awake before me! She even beat Riku when we were flying, and Riku can wake up at dawn." Sora stressed, worry suddenly coming over his features.
"You think she's in trouble?" Riku asked, concern now showing on his own features.
"Hm… maybe she went for an early training session? We're not that far from the park," Aurora said, taking a sip from her mug thoughtfully, not willing to jump to conclusions just yet.
"But Shay only trains when we're flying! She's never trained when we're on a new world cause she's worried she'll be spotted thanks to her abilities!" Sora protested, panic starting to lace his voice.
"Whoa, hold up, guys," Phoenix said, suddenly standing. He reached over the couch and grabbed the television remote, turning on the volume of the previously muted news. He had spotted the words 'BREAKING NEWS' from the kitchen.
"This just in. Police have arrested a person suspected of killing up and coming artist, Leo Ardo, owner of the Ren Sance Art Gallery," the news anchor announced.
"Oh, man…" Phoenix muttered. Aurora shook her head at that.
"The suspect in question, a young girl, is currently suffering from a concussion down at Hotti Clinic. This is the picture the police have provided." The news anchor continued.
A picture of a girl with dark brown, almost black, hair and wearing a silver stylized heart shaped pendent as well as a purple glass star was shown on the screen. She was in an alley, eyes closed and being held in the arms of Detective Gumshoe.
Aurora made a strangled kind of noise, her hand jumping to in front of her mouth. Riku looked like he had turned to stone. Phoenix's eyes were as wide as they had been when he'd learned Miles Edgeworth had been arrested all those years ago.
It was Sora who broke the silence.
"WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?! WHY IS SHAY ON THE SCREEN, WHAT ARE THEY DOING TO HER, WHERE IS SHE, WHAT...THE...HECK...IS...GOING...ON?!" The Kingdom Key wielder yelled in one breath. His voice could almost be described as three, with an underlying fourth, for a brief second before he turned to Riku, his ocean blue eyes begging for answers.
Aurora was instantly in motion, rushing up the stairs. But it was Phoenix who answered.
"She's at a medical clinic, getting her concussion treated. They… they think she killed someone. Once the clinic releases her, she'll be taken to the Detention Center, where she'll await trial," he explained, putting a calming hand on the boy's shoulder.
"What do you mean trial?!" Riku demanded, his expression suddenly morphing into a much calmer version of Sora's currently livid expression.
"It means they're going to look at all of the evidence and listen to testimony to see if she's innocent or guilty," Aurora said as she quickly came back down the steps. Rather than the shorts and oversized sweatshirt that acted as her pajamas, she was now wearing her teal business suit, quickly pulling her hair up into a bun.
"Aurora?" Phoenix asked, surprised.
"I'm going down to the Hotti Clinic. She's going to need a lawyer," she said, drawing herself up to full height once her hair was fully pulled back.
"But you haven't done a case before now." Phoenix argued half-heartedly. He knew her mind was already made up but he had to try.
"Gotta start somewhere. Besides, starting with a murder case is like a Wright Anything Agency tradition, right?" she asked, pouring her half-drank coffee into a travel mug before leaving. Phoenix sighed, knowing she was right about that.
"What did you mean, she hasn't done a case before now?" Riku asked.
"She only got her attorney's badge a week ago." Phoenix explained, "Literally at that. She's never had a case before so this would be her first." He then sighed. "Get ready. We should meet them at the Detention Center," he added, heading back up stairs.
…
Aurora was pacing the visitor's room when Phoenix, Riku, and Sora arrived.
"Did you see Shaylee yet?" Sora asked, his voice the most worried Aurora had ever heard him or her Sora. She shook her head.
"No. The clinic had already released her by the time I got there. One of the officers gave me a ride here, though. I'm just waiting for them to finish questioning her, now," Aurora explained.
Just then, the door opened and Shaylee walked in. Her eyes, which had been glowing with happiness just the day before, were now dull and darker than before; they had an almost haunted look to them. Her hair was disheveled, as were her clothes, both most likely from the alley. Her skin was paler than even Sora had ever seen it in the years he's known and traveled with the Guardian.
Her hands, however, gave the biggest sign. They were shaking even as they clutched her Wayfinder tightly, her knuckles even whiter than her skin and the risk of her cutting her palms becoming greater the harder she clutched it.
"Shay!" Sora and Riku cried as they saw her.
Slowly, she raised her eyes to meet her sons'.
"Sora...Riku…" She whispered, her voice soft and hoarse.
Something in Sora broke as he heard her voice and a single tear fell from his right eye as he reached a hand out to the glass, as if he could reach through it and touch her, comfort her, just as she did for him many times.
Riku was shaking in anger, his fists clenched tightly and his calm features now more closely resembling the angry, jealous boy he had been two years ago. A boy she had risked her life to save, time and time again.
Aurora was having a hard time keeping a cap on her own emotions at seeing Shaylee in this state. This was the same girl who had saved her, gave her a part of her own heart, without asking questions. She had been strong, and brave, and so kind the last time they met. So to see her this shaken up…
...Aurora was going to destroy this prosecutor if it was the last thing she did.
She took a deep, calming breath, though. After all, she had a job to do. She stepped forward.
"Shaylee, are you okay?"
"...I...I am fine…" Shaylee whispered as she looked down, though her eyes remained steadfast on Sora and Riku.
Sora felt anger rise up inside of him. This was his friend, his teacher, his mother and she shouldn't look like this!
Riku felt the same way as his best friend, his fists clenching and unclenching as he tried to control his anger.
Neither of the Guardian's sons spoke, too wrapped up in their emotions that she felt loud and clear.
Aurora pulled out the sole chair on their side of the glass and sat so that she was eye level with Shaylee. "Don't worry," she said with forced cheerfulness. "We know you didn't do it, and I intend to prove it. I just… need to ask you a few questions, 'kay?" she asked, pulling her notebook and pen from her bag and flipping to a clean sheet of paper. "First of all… what happened?"
"...I...I...I don't remember…" Shaylee whispered, seeming to shrink in on herself as she seemed to tighten her grip on the Wayfinder, if that was even possible. "I...there was a note...the...the law enforcement...the police...took it...I...I don't remember…anything...my book...my book tells...me nothing...my light...says nothing...I can't remember anything…" Tears began to fall from her eyes.
"Hey, hey, please, try to calm down," Aurora said soothingly, making calming motions with her hands. "It's okay. Memory loss is normal with concussions. The doctors said it wasn't that serious, though, so the memories should come back, okay?"
Shaylee shook her head quickly, as if what Aurora said was impossible.
"My book...it should tell me...but it...hasn't…" The Guardian whispered.
"You mean nothing's appeared in the Book of Destiny?" Riku asked, his concern over what this meant outweighing his anger.
Shaylee nodded once, her head hanging in shame.
"Well, that's not your fault. It could be because of a few different things," Aurora said optimistically. "The concussion. Being in a different universe. Or, you know, maybe the book isn't supposed to be used for this kind of thing?"
"No, that book's called the Book of Destiny for a reason." Riku shook his head.
"The book's magic, if there's anything Shay doesn't know, it appears in that book." Sora added.
"Okay, but she's not the Guardian of Destiny in this universe. Maybe it's like…" Aurora cast around for an example they would understand. "Like Port Royal," she finally said, looking at Sora. "When Luxord stole the gold. Jack was cursed, because he was a part of that world. You, Donald, and Goofy weren't though, right? Because you three didn't belong to that world. Maybe the book is the same thing?"
Shaylee shook her head roughly before she finally released the Wayfinder and took out the book in question.
She flipped through pages before she stopped and slid the book to Aurora through the opening at the bottom of the glass.
On the page Shaylee had flipped to, words were written in a beautiful cursive scrawl.
"I do not understand this, but what has happened and what will happen is being blocked from these pages. However, I have recorded everything that happened previously. Show this to Aurora when she arrives, for otherwise she will not believe. Evidence is everything in court."
As soon as Aurora finished reading the book, Shaylee reached out and snatched it back before she opened it again to the first page and showed them what was written there.
"Regardless of warnings, the future doesn't scare me at all. I am here to guide you with the knowledge Destiny gives me, gives you. No matter where you go, I will be there, as long as your heart beats and your light shines as bright as Kingdom Hearts.
-The First Guardian"
Aurora finished reading it, before looking up at Shaylee. This… could mean a few things then. The most important thing to check… She closed her eyes stretched her senses out for Shaylee's heart, ignoring the rest that were in the room with them. She needed to check to make sure the Guardian's heart was balanced as it should be.
It was just like before. The lighthouse. The storm. Nothing had changed. Taking a deep breath, Aurora opened her eyes again and looked at the book. For a moment, her mind jumped to one person. She shook her head at the thought. There's no reason for him to do this to her. I'm his target. He probably doesn't even know who Shaylee is…
"Aurora…?" Phoenix asked, speaking for the first time since they had arrived. He was still very confused, but he could get explanations later. Right now they needed to get Shaylee to calm down. Aurora turned and looked at him for a moment.
"Yeah, Nick?" she asked.
"Any changes?" The blue clad attorney asked.
"Nope. It's just like before…" the teal clad attorney replied.
"So something else is blocking the book." Riku stated logically as he crossed his arms in thought.
"We...shouldn't speak...of this any...anymore…" Shaylee whispered as she looked up the slightest bit, failure sparkling in her dull eyes.
Aurora took a deep breath, wanting to hug the girl. She simply nodded, glancing back at her notes. On the bus ride to the clinic, she had jotted down questions she had wanted to ask.
"Well, do you remember why you went to the gallery?" she asked.
"No...note...the note said...to go…" Shaylee whispered as she clutched the Wayfinder as if it was her lifeline. "I...I'm sorry I went...alone…"
"Why did you?" Sora asked, his voice equally angry and concerned, while Aurora took notes.
"The note...said...t-to…" The Guardian answered.
"So… almost like blackmail?" Aurora asked, looking up. We need to get our hands on that note…
"Y-yes...but I...I don't know...know if I didn't...didn't do it...I-I could've...I c-c-could've k-killed that...that man…" Shaylee whispered, her voice becoming impossibly soft as she hunched into herself, as if she could protect herself that way.
Sora and Riku looked ready to break the glass if it meant they could comfort the forlorn Guardian. Aurora wanted to do the same, but she knew that would only make matters worse. Instead, she quickly stowed her notebook away and stood, grabbing the boys' shoulders.
"Alright. I understand. I'll get to the bottom of this, Shaylee. Promise," she said in a determined voice.
"But...but I...I could be...be...a-a...a m…m-mu..." She couldn't get the word out.
"But you're not," Aurora said firmly. "I might not know you as well as the boys do, but I know you wouldn't do something like this. Besides," she smiled at the girl. "I've been taught to believe in my clients. And I believe in you." Phoenix smiled proudly at his cousin's words.
"Aurora…" Shaylee whispered in awe as tears of relief slowly fell down her cheeks. "Th-thank you...all of you…"
"Don't worry, Shay! We'll get you out of here before Master Yen Sid even realizes we're missing!" Sora promised with a bright grin, looking more like himself than he had in hours.
"That's right. We'll help as much as we can. We'll get you out." Riku swore with a small smile.
That made Shaylee cry even harder, tears of happiness and relief falling down her cheeks as fast and as thick as a waterfall as she whispered her thanks over and over again under her breath. She looked as if a huge weight, the fear of having done something without memory of it, had been lifted from her shoulders. In that moment, her eyes seemed to shine just a bit more than they had when the group had entered.
That fact alone made all of them smile.
"Alright. I think we have everything we need from here. Time to investigate the crime scene," Aurora said, before hesitantly looking up at her cousin/mentor. "Right, Nick?"
Phoenix laughed. "Right. Will you be okay, Shaylee?"
"Y-yes...I have...my friends to comfort me in there." Her voice was stronger than it had been a minute ago and her grip on the Wayfinder seemed less like a lifeline and more of a treasured item. Her eyes stared down at the glass star as if it was her only light in the dark cell she was returning to.
"Huh?" Phoenix asked, not understanding. Aurora grinned.
"She means in her heart. Now, come on." She began pushing Phoenix towards the door. She stopped and looked back at Shaylee with a warm smile. "We'll be back."
"I'll be here." Shaylee nodded, her voice strong and genuine which warmed her sons' hearts to hear again as they followed Aurora out.
Aurora and Phoenix led the boys to the bus station, where they got on the bus going to the gallery.
"Hey, what was that thing you did after Shay showed you her book?" Sora asked suddenly as the four of them sat down. Aurora, without thinking, took the seat next to Riku, forcing Phoenix to sit with Sora. She glanced over at the brunette.
"What do you mean?" she asked, forgetting that these two didn't know about her ability.
"When Shay showed you the passage at the Book's beginning." Riku explained, "The one about how her heart should stay as bright as Kingdom Hearts."
"Oh, right. You two don't know," Aurora mused. She rested back in her seat. "For as long as I can remember… I've been able to sense the balance of light and dark in a person's heart. And… when I close my eyes, I see a vision - an image that symbolizes their heart," she explained.
"That's so cool!" Sora gasped in awe. "What do our and Shay's hearts look like?"
Aurora hesitated. "I… well, I don't know if Shay will appreciate me telling you about her heart, but…" First she looked at Riku, and closed her eyes.
A large field with the night sky stretching overhead. Aurora stood on a path, alone. The path stretched towards the rising sun, and a warm breeze alleviated the chill that was around her.
"A path, in a large field, moving towards the rising sun," she said, opening her eyes and looking at the silver haired boy. It was the same exact vision that she saw with her own Riku - except my Riku has a bush growing next to the path. She then turned to Sora, and braced herself, before closing her eyes again.
A path at high noon. To the right was a rolling, grassy field. To the left, it looked like there had once been a forest, but… all of the tree's had been ripped up by their roots.
A sunset over a peaceful city, the light spreading over the walls facing the sun, as long, deep shadows stretched away from the dark sides of those buildings.
A perfect mirror image of the previous one, with just the same amount of light and darkness.
A sunny beach, the waves lapping at the sand rhythmically. The only shadows were cast by the spattering of palm trees further up the beach.
Each of these images were superimposed over each other, with the beach being the clearest.
Aurora opened her eyes, hiding the wince.
"And a sunny beach," she told Sora, not knowing how much about his own heart this Sora knew.
"Wow…" Sora whispered, his eyes wide in awe.
"Impressive." Riku nodded with a small smile.
"Kinda like Shay's power over light!" Sora exclaimed, his grin bright like the sun. Aurora smiled shyly.
"It's not all that great. With my eyes open, I sense darkness as cold, and…" she shuddered. "It makes going into places like the detention center a bit chilly. Besides, it's not like I can use it to defend myself, like Shaylee and her light," she said.
"Your powers are more similar than you think." Riku countered, "Shay says she used to pass out if she even attempted to use her light abilities. It took her ten years to not pass out on some of them but she's always out of breath and has to step back, leaving her vulnerable."
"It's only when it's a necessity that she uses them. If she uses too much, she could end up in a coma." Sora added. "She...did that once, during the Battle of a Thousand Heartless. To save me…"
Both Aurora's and Phoenix's eyes darkened at the mention of that particular battle, but Aurora nodded. "Makes sense. Light is a powerful weapon… though she didn't tell me she went into a coma…" she said.
"She doesn't want to make people worry. She's as stubborn as Riku at times." Sora stated.
"What was that?" Riku asked, raising an eyebrow at his best friend.
"Nothing!" Sora grinned innocently before the two began to playfully fight and tease each other. Aurora giggled at that.
They're not too different from my Sora and Riku, she thought in amusement. Phoenix shook his head at the two, their previous grim expressions gone.
Sora and Riku shared a look, happy their plan to bring the two Wrights out of bad memories worked, just as it always did on Shaylee.
Just then, the bus reached the gallery and the four got off.
"Why'd someone ask Shay to come here?" Sora asked as he looked at the gallery as well as the police cars and tape surrounding it. "Why would anyone come here with all these cars and the tape here?"
Aurora was too busy giggling to answer, so Phoenix said "The tape and cars are the police's. They're investigating the murder, so… they wouldn't have been here yesterday. As for why someone would ask her to come here… well, that's what we need to figure out."
As they walked up the steps to the gallery's entrance, Sora whispered to Riku,
"So why're they here now?"
Riku shrugged, as he himself didn't understand it.
"Some worlds are just stranger than others." He answered.
Inside the gallery, the police milled about, checking for evidence such as fingerprints or hair, and taking pictures. One man, in a scruffy green trench coat, stood near the white outline on the floor where the victim had been found. It was towards this man that Phoenix led the group.
"Detective Gumshoe!" Phoenix called as Aurora, giggling all the while, answered Sora's questions. Even Riku seemed interested yet confused with her answers, the same as Sora was.
Gumshoe looked up. "Ah! Mr. Wright! What are you doing here, pal?" he asked.
"I'm assisting the Agency's newest lawyer in her investigation," Phoenix replied, a hint of pride in his voice, as he motioned towards his cousin. Aurora looked up, the giggles fading. This was her first time meeting a detective while on a case of her own.
"You? But you're still just a newbie, aren't you pal?" Gumshoe asked, "Why're you taking a case this big right off the bat?"
"The defendant is my friend. I couldn't just not take her case, right?" Aurora replied. She would have been stung by the detective's words… if they hadn't been true.
Just then, Gumshoe's eyes landed on Riku. "Hey! It's you! Long time, no see. Errrr…. Riku, right?" he asked. Panic immediately surged through Aurora as Riku stared blankly at the detective.
The one time he remembers a name CORRECTLY! She thought. Before Riku could say anything, as he was going to, she spoke up.
"Ah, um, Detective, this isn't Riku. This is… his twin! Right. Histwin, ,Lance?" Aurora's words seemed to tumble together near the end as she turned to the boy in desperation. Riku stared at her in confusion for a minute before he nodded.
"Right." The newly christened Lance agreed. "I'm Riku's twin brother, Lance. I'm in town right now with my friends, Sora and Shaylee. We're traveling through and Shay and I thought we'd stop in town to see her friend and so I could meet my brother's girlfriend that he's told me about." Aurora blushed at those words..
"Smooth, Aurora." Phoenix muttered sarcastically, only for her to elbow him in the ribs. Hard.
"But that wasn't smooth." Sora stated, confused, only for Aurora to smack him upside the head. Gumshoe watched in confusion before he turned away with a 'right' mumbled under his breath.
"Where'd you come up with that name?" Lance whispered to Aurora subtly.
"I read once that 'riku' means land. And land and Lance sound similar. It's the only thing I could think of," Aurora admitted.
Just then, the teal clad attorney noticed the lost look the detective was sending the group.
"Don't you have a job to do, pals?" Gumshoe asked. Aurora jumped slightly, quickly reaching into her bag for her notebook.
"Right. Er…" she flipped to the page she needed, the one that had questions for the detective. "C-can I ask you a few questions, Detective Gumshoe?" she asked. It was clear she was a little nervous, and being called out by him didn't help.
"Er, I dunno, pal. Detectives aren't really supposed to help the defense. And the prosecutor on this case…" Gumshoe shuddered. Phoenix, who has seen this sort of behaviour from the detective before, bit his lip. He was a little worried about who that prosecutor might be. Aurora wouldn't be dissuaded though.
"Please, Detective? I'm just trying to find the truth of this case. And… as it's my first case, can't you help me a little?" she tried, widening her eyes just a bit.
Gumshoe cracked in a second. Not even Maya managed that. Phoenix thought, impressed.
"Oh, alright, but...just this once!" Gumshoe agreed. Aurora lit up.
"Thank you!" she said brightly. She looked down at her notebook. "So… who reported the crime?" she asked.
"A friend of the victim who had been visiting that night." Gumshoe answered, "And for the record, his alibi is rock solid, pal."
Of course it is… Aurora thought as she wrote down the answer. "I guess he's going to be testifying, huh?" she asked.
"You betcha! Should be an open and shut case with this guy." Gumshoe nodded, though he sounded the slightest bit unsure of himself. Phoenix smiled at that.
"Where have we heard that one before?" he asked off-handedly.
"Well it's never one with one of you pals on the case!" Gumshoe argued, his fists clenching as he began to breathe more heavily. Both cousins looked at him, the family resemblance shining through in that instance.
"What do you mean?" Sora asked, curious.
"Another time for that story, Sora." Phoenix brushed him off as Aurora returned to her notes.
"So, this witness… can we get a name?" she asked, turning up the sweetness-level again.
"'Fraid not, pal. The prosecutor's...strict on this stuff." Gumshoe answered, seeming to be a bit proud of himself. Aurora deflated.
"Okay." She glanced at her notes once more. "So, what was the cause of death?"
"Seems to be a poison known as Glocknyl Poison." Gumshoe answered, "It's a very rare poison only found in some parts of the world. Which is why we arrested the suspect in the first place!"
"Wait, what? Why? Because she travels? That's not rock solid evidence. That's like… a theory. At best," Aurora said, looking up from her notes. "There has to be more as to why you arrested her…"
"We found something to connect her to the poison as well as other evidence that pointed to her. Have a look if you want, even you won't be able to deny this evidence, pal." Gumshoe smirked. Aurora drew herself up to full height.
"Well, we'll just have to see about that," she said, closing her notebook and putting it in her bag. She then began to look around. Phoenix looked at Sora.
"Don't touch anything," he told the boy, having way too much experience with a few people like him.
"What? Why not?" Sora almost whined, not understanding the importance of not touching anything. "I touch stuff on my adventures all the time! How else do you look at stuff?"
"Yeah, that's how we got stuck in Space Paranoids," Aurora grumbled, thinking back to when Sora started slamming on the keyboard of Ansem's computer.
"And how I met Pooh!" Sora added, sounding proud of himself as he placed his hands on his hips with a grin.
Phoenix ignored that and was focused on getting his point across to the boy. "This is a crime scene. Messing it up is a crime in of itself, and we're surrounded by officers. Besides, if you mess it up, we can't find the truth."
"Or save Shaylee." Riku stated bluntly as he shared a look with Sora.
The two boys nodded before they turned to meet Phoenix's eyes. The blue clad attorney was surprised to see just how serious the two boys looked. They looked like loyal and determined warriors instead of the kids they had been since they arrived.
He'd seen that look on Aurora's face a few times since she returned from her own world travels. But the look on the boys' faces just made them look so much older and Phoenix imagined Shaylee's eyes were even worse than theirs.
Meanwhile, Aurora began her investigation. If it was poison, it had to enter the body somehow… she thought, looking around. She spotted two mugs on a table and walked over. A forensics officer was already there, spraying them with some kind of aerosol.
"Excuse me, officer. What are you doing?" Aurora asked. The officer looked up, and smiled slightly.
"Checking for traces of poison. If there's anything on the mugs, this chemical compound, devised by Detective Skye, will make it show up," he said. Aurora nodded, watching the mugs. A moment later, the officer pulled out a pair of glasses with pink lenses and handed them to Aurora. "What do you see?"
Aurora put them on, and gasped softly. On the rim of one of the mugs was a red substance. She told the officer, who turned to write it down. Aurora added the information to her own Court Record before giving the glasses back. She wandered over to where Phoenix was crouched next to the white outline.
"He ingested the poison," she said, crouching next to her cousin. Phoenix nodded.
"Yeah. An officer found traces of it on his lips, too. And look at this," he said, pointing to glass fragments that were scattered on the floor.
"You think that was the container it was in?" Aurora asked. Phoenix nodded, and Aurora quickly added all of that to her Court Record. Phoenix glanced at it, to see what she had so far, and nodded with a small smile.
She stood and walked around, inspecting everything she could see. She suddenly stopped however, staring at something on the floor that was right near the back door.
"No…" she breathed, crouching down. She reached for it, about to pick it up, but stopped herself at the last second before she touched it.
"That's Shay's!" Sora pointed out. "She plays with it all the time when we're flying."
"I know it's her's," Aurora said, before looking up at him. "I'm the one who gave it to her."
"You were?" Riku asked as he walked to stand beside Sora. Aurora nodded.
"The first time we met. I gave that to her as thanks, and so she wouldn't forget me. And she gave me this ribbon." Aurora held up her right wrist, where the pink ribbon was tied. "It was a way for us to stay connected, despite being in different universes. We didn't even know if we'd ever meet again, to be honest." She looked down at the pin for a moment longer, before standing and going over to a forensic officer. Seconds later, he was pouring aluminum powder over the pin and gently brushing it off.
"It's covered in prints," the officer concluded. "And all of them belong to the defendant."
"Well, yeah, it belongs to her, but is there any other prints on there? At all?" Aurora was almost begging.
"Nope," the officer said, walking away. Aurora groaned, jotting it down and taking pictures with her phone.
'Why's there a ladder here?" Sora asked as he approached said object curiously. "Seems a little out of place in an art gallery."
"You mean a step-ladder?" both Aurora and Phoenix asked in unison.
"No, it's a ladder." Sora insisted.
"It's clearly a step-ladder. They're two different things, Sora," Aurora said, looking over at said object.
"What's so different? A ladder's a ladder, right Riku?" Sora asked, looking for support from his best friend.
"Sorry Sora, I'd call it a step-ladder." Riku apologized halfheartedly.
"And Ardo probably used it to hang the pictures up there," Aurora added, answering the boy's original question, as she pointed to the paintings that were above head level.
"I still say it's just a dang ladder." Sora muttered as he crossed his arms and pouted. Phoenix shook his head at the exchange.
"Why does this always come up?" he muttered, walking away to continue searching for evidence.
After they investigated the crime scene from top to bottom, the group of four headed back to the detention center to finish questioning Shaylee.
They piled once more into the visitor's room and waited for her to appear on the other side of the glass.
Shaylee entered quietly, her Wayfinder still grasped in her hands and her eyes brighter than when she had entered the last time. But she still refused to smile and that bugged Sora, Riku, and Aurora to no end.
Aurora smiled at her. "We checked out the crime scene," she said, sitting down.
"Did you find anything? I...I still can't remember if I...I did it." Shaylee asked. Though her voice was stronger, she still hesitated when her memories came up as well as the question of her innocence.
"Well, have you ever heard of Glocknyl poison?" Aurora asked. She was stalling on bringing up the pin.
"...A little bit, before everything began and I started training and traveling." Shaylee answered. "It's...a rare poison, is it not?"
"It is," Aurora replied with a nod, having really hoped Shaylee wouldn't have. "That was the cause of death. There were traces found on Ardo's mug and lips, and the container was smashed right next to where his body had been found."
"What an awful way to die…" Shaylee whispered, "Poor Mr. Ardo…" Then her eyes shot up to meet Aurora's. "You are hiding something from me, aren't you."
It wasn't a question.
Aurora sighed and pulled out her phone. She opened one of the pictures she had taken and held it up for Shaylee to see.
"This was found at the scene, and it has only your fingerprints. It places you there…" she said.
"I thought so." Shaylee said grimly. "I knew it was missing and I...guess I must've thought the...note sender had it...maybe? I figured out it was at the crime scene when I woke up without it and when I asked the prosecutor about it he wouldn't tell me anything about it. The pieces weren't that hard to put together."
"And Shay always knows when something's being hidden from her." Riku answered Aurora's unspoken question of how Shaylee knew the teal clad attorney was hiding something.
Aurora smiled slightly at Riku. "I wondered. Then again, I'm so used to it, too. After all, everyone at the Wright Anything Agency are basically human lie detectors," she said with a smile. She then looked at Shaylee.
The Guardian looked almost defeated, even as her eyes held some light in them.
"Hey Shay! Guess what we saw at the gallery!" Sora suddenly cut in. Aurora and Phoenix sent the brunnette a confused glance, not understand what he was doing.
"What Sora?" Shaylee asked.
"A ladder! But the rest of them call it a 'step-ladder,' but it's a ladder, right Shay?" Sora asked, his eyes practically begging Shaylee.
"Yes. Sorry to disappoint all of you, but there is no difference between a ladder and a step-ladder." Shaylee answered, her head falling forward and her hair hiding her face.
Aurora felt personally betrayed by her friend. "What!?" she gasped. "There is totally a difference! A ladder needs to be leaned against something, and a step-ladder can stand on its own!" she pointed out in an aghast voice.
"That doesn't change the fact that they're both ladders, in essence." Shaylee stated.
"Yeah! What Shay said! And Shay's always right, so you all are wrong! I win! Ha, I finally beat you, Riku!" Sora grinned.
"This isn't like our races, Sora." Riku stated, though a smile tugged at his lips.
"Yeah it is! And I beat you, so hah! As long as I have Shay on my side, I'll always win! Just like the fact that it was a ladder!" Sora boasted as he jumped from foot to foot.
"OBJECTION!" Aurora yelled, pointing at Sora. "That was just her opinion! I still say it was a step-ladder! That like calling a tiger a cat. They might essentially be the same thing, but a tiger is completely different from a house cat!" she argued.
Sora did not let Aurora's, admittedly logical, answer deter him.
"So what? A tiger is still a cat, just like a lion! Besides, I was a lion and so was Shay! Didn't change that we were, in essence, human!" Sora argued back. How he sounded almost logical, or how this went from an argument about ladders and step-ladders to cats of all things, was beyond all of them. The grin on Sora's face did not reassure any of them.
Aurora, however, smirked, crossing her arms and quirking an eyebrow. "Would you call Sabor from Deep Jungle just a cat?" she asked slyly, having heard all about Sora's first adventure from her own Sora.
"Yep! Because he acted like a cat and looked like a cat so he was a cat!" Sora nodded.
"But not like a house cat! If that battle happened the same way to you as it did my Sora, SABOR ALMOST ATE YOU!" Aurora exploded.
"Doesn't change the facts." Sora practically sang.
Before Aurora, who looked as if she wanted to strangle Sora, could answer, the group heard a sound they hadn't heard in what felt like forever.
It was a laugh.
Shaylee's laugh.
The brunette Guardian was laughing so hard she looked like she was about to cry. When her laughs died down enough, she opened her eyes and did something else none of them expected.
She smiled.
And that simply made Sora's grin all the brighter as well as Riku's, who had started to smile when the argument had become one about cats as he figured out Sora's plan then.
Many hearts in that small room sang with happiness at the sight of the smile that seemed to make the room a little brighter. The irritation on Aurora's face at Sora's illogical argument melted away, and she smiled warmly.
"Thank you, Sora. Thank you so much." Shaylee smiled, her voice full of meaning. "Aurora...I want to officially ask you to...what's the word? Ah, yes, I want to ask you to 'defend' me in court."
That caused Phoenix and Aurora to laugh. It was obvious Shaylee was not as used to a modern world as she had once been.
"Of course," Aurora said with a warm smile. "Just leave it to me."
"Even if it turns out I am the one who killed Mr. Ardo, I believe you can help me. And help my sons too, cause Kingdom Hearts knows they need it." Shaylee stated and she smiled again as Sora and Riku began to comically protest her claims.
The detention center had never been so warm as it was that day.
…
Emerald: And here we are, at the end of chapter two!
Wolfie: Man was that an emotional roller coaster!
Emerald: Hopefully Aurora can pull off a full acquittal for her first case! Because not just Shaylee needs it. Could you imagine what would happen in her universe if she's arrested on a murder in the first degree charge?
Wolfie: I...don't think my Sora and Riku would survive that. They'd bring everyone in DDD back to your universe and break into prison to get her back. And not to mention how Ven, Roxas and Xion will react. That'd be a mess for not just Sora, but everyone. Anyway, we hope you guys enjoyed! Leave your thoughts in a review! See you later!