Once again, the previous chapter was supposed to be much longer. So instead, have a shorter Chapter 5. For some reason, this chapter was a pain to write.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ace Attorney and its characters. Capcom owns them.

Chapter 5: Downfall

Date: October 10th 2016, 12:21 PM
Place: District High School, Schoolyard

The boy scouted every parts of the schoolyard, but no sign of the one he was searching for. He swore he had seen him before when he started school earlier in August. These two hair antennas were just too obvious to forget and he knew that the brunette attended the same school as him. Thanks to the famous social media website and its awesome name search system, it confirmed the fact furthermore.

It had been about a week and few days since Clay had been saved by that Apollo and his mentor. He had absented himself from school and his everyday life from the outside world the entire time to mourn over the murder of his mother. Thanks to the young hunter advice, he had decided to have his own chords of steel sessions of shouting "I'm fine!" at home whenever the thoughts of his mother came back to him.

Of course he still missed her, but he told himself he couldn't grieve over her forever. If someone like Apollo lost all his family, save for his little sister, and still managed to hurl a sincere smile at everyone, then he could do this too. And aside, he had his loving father to support him and he had never been so glad to still have a direct family member alive with him. He now knew that he must never consider the ones he loved for granted.

He still remembered the day at the "firm" of the hunters, which was nothing more than a residence, when his father came for him with Mr. Gavin. He had wondered how did Mr. Gavin find out the address and phone number to call his father, but it appeared that all of that information were found on his mother. He also pondered how he knew he was with Apollo in the firm, but apparently Apollo himself sent him a text to tell him about it.

He had forgotten to thank Apollo and his master for everything they did since he had not said a single word when he left with his father. He wanted to make up for this and bought a deluxe chocolate box as a thank you gift. However, he needed to find Apollo first.

He walked among all the other boys and girls, all of them staring at him with their eyebrows higher, wondering why the heck he was holding a box of chocolate at school. Some of his classmates who were by chance on his way even went as far as teasing him by asking "Who's the lucky girl?" Little did they know the tragedy behind all of this…

Soon enough, his intense search for the antenna boy finally went fruitful. He could see him, sitting alone under the shadow of the great lone tree, on the outskirt of the schoolyard, calmly reading some kind of huge book. Clay had never been so glad to find him. "Hey, Apollo!" he shouted out, calling for his attention.

To his disappointment, Apollo did not turn back at his call, and suddenly, Clay felt a little too shy to approach the guy anymore. Maybe he was ignoring him on purpose, or he just didn't want to talk. Maybe…

Wait a minute. There were some kind of white cords reaching for his ears… Oh, headphones, that explained the silent treatment! Clay let out a sigh of relief and ran after the quiet, studying boy, calling him again, this time, much louder.

Thanks to his efforts, Apollo quickly raised his head upon hearing his name. He took off a headphone and turned around to see the one he had saved, rushing toward him. The brunette's lips immediately curled up at the sight of Clay. "Hey, Clay!" Apollo called back, waving back at him.

"Apollo! You remember my name!" Clay added when he finally reached the other boy who started to stand up to meet him.

Apollo laughed with a meek grin. "Of course I remember you, Clay Terran! Why shouldn't I?"

At the question, Clay slightly lowered his head on the side, scratching his neck in shyness. "Well, I didn't think someone as cool as you would remember someone so uncool like me…"

Hearing the word "cool" suddenly gave a chill to the young hunter. "Wait, you think I'm cool?" Apollo asked, still shocked.

"Of course!" Clay loudly answered. It seemed he had adopted the brunette's "chords of steel". "I mean, you're a hunter and you saved me! So, hum… I want to thank you… so I bought this box of chocolate for you!"

As the black haired boy held out the box to the other, Apollo stood still, silently watching the sweets, dumbfounded by the sudden gift. He was not sure what to say about all of this. A perplexed expression appeared on Clay when he noticed his companion's confused face. "Wait, you don't like chocolate?" the taller kid questioned.

"Well, I'm… flattered…" Apollo revealed, a bit on the shy side. "But… I wasn't expecting this… And also, you've thanked me enough times that day already, and your father thanked us too, so it was all right…"

At Apollo's comments, Clay looked a bit down. He really seemed to have worked hard to bring the gift, even though there might be some truth about the gift being a little "too girly" as the others teased.

"But hey, that doesn't mean I won't accept your gift!" Apollo abruptly exclaimed as he reached for the box, displaying another smile. Clay's eyes shined with delight. "I adore chocolates! And even better, why not sharing them with you? Come and sit down!"

The brunette quickly sat on the ground and watched as the black haired boy shyly followed him by sitting on his side. Excited about having some chocolate for dinner (because he had forgotten his lunch at home), he shoved his hands on the box cover to rip it apart like a joyful kid with a gift on his birthday.

The two guys initiated their sweet dinner, and goodness, those chocolates were extremely delicious. Laughers and enjoyment reigned on these two as they devoured the sweets together. The minutes went by, and it was almost as if they had been friends since forever, speaking of their own dreams. Apollo wished to become a successful defense attorney, defending the innocents from false verdicts, and Clay dreamed of becoming a renowned astronaut who will eventually go beyond the moon and even Mars. Soon enough, they'd both start speaking about everything and anything.

"That reminds me," Apollo started, his mouth still full of chocolate. "When I saw you in the park last time, I couldn't recall seeing you before. I mean, we are the same age and yet I've never seen you in my past classes, or even seen you in other classes…"

"Oh…" Clay said, cleaning his messy brown stain on his mouth with a napkin. "That's because we've just moved in the city this summer for my father's job, so that's why!"

"But you remember me as a student from another class!"

"Well, your hair antennas stand out!"

"That much?"

"Yes."

Apollo started to fiddle with his two pointy hair pieces, letting them fall in front of his face, his two dark brown pupils watching them innocently. "Well, I still like them!" he protested, chuckling.

Clay smirked like a silly hyena along with him, but after soothing down a little, a frown appeared on his face. "Say, Apollo, do other students know that you're a hunter?"

The smaller boy became a bit thoughtful at the question. Strangely, he stared at his weird bracelet for a while before he looked up above, toward the clear blue sky. It took him few moments before he gave an answer. "No, they don't."

The other one's eyes went wide, gasping at the answer. "Huh? Why not?" Clay expressed, shocked. "I mean, people will come and praise you for what you do!"

Slowly, Apollo turned to Clay, his stare filled with some kind of innocence and melancholy. "Clay, I'm not searching for praise. I just want to make a useful contribution in this world."

"Woah, so you just want to help people?"

"Yeah!" Apollo replied, enthusiastic, but his tone went down a little after. "Well, there's another reason why I can't really tell anyone. I mean, do you notice how… young we both are?"

"Well, duh, of course I do!"

"That's exactly it. Legally, I don't even have the rights to hunt vampires, at least not with a lucrative goal in mind. You need to be at least eighteen with a hunting license, and… guess you know that I don't have one!"

Because he wanted the young hunter to have the recognition he deserved, Clay suddenly wanted to object, with his index finger ready to prove him that laws couldn't stop him to gain fame, until he quickly admitted defeat after deeper judgments. "So, all the kills you do, I bet it's credited to your mentor?"

"Yep, exactly! That's why I can't really speak about it out loud. If the authority finds out, there's a chance Mr. Gavin will lose his license and his hunting firm! So, let's keep this a secret between us, all right?"

"Hey, no problem! I mean, you saved me, so there's no way I'll betray you!"

Unfortunately, their chocolate box was now empty of sweets, and both of the boys dropped their lips in disappointment. They would have liked to get more in stores right now, but they knew the school recess was about to end soon. However, before letting the school bell ring, a determined expression appeared on Clay, his two fists clenching toward the ground. His shoulders raised higher and he intensely stared at Apollo. The brunette watched the other boy, stunned at the sudden reaction and at how… silly he looked.

"Say, Apollo!" Clay began, his own chords of steel in effect. "Before we return to class, I just need to tell you… that I don't know much people here, and that I'm new and all! So let's be friends, okay?"

A silence was in place for a few seconds before Apollo burst out laughing. He let more giggles out before he finally gained control over his voice.

"Clay, I thought we were friends already!" Apollo revealed.

Date: March 22th 2019, 6:45 PM
Place: Cosmos Space Center, Space Museum

Like a lost soul, Athena desperately tried to search for the one she considered her big brother. She kept calling him, only to get an empty answer. An employee watched her hopelessly and wished she could give the child a clear answer about the whereabouts of the man, but she hadn't seen him either. The little girl looked so much anxious to not find her "samurai" that, in the end, she used up all of her courage to ask the employee for an answer, but the woman simply shooed her away since she needed to clean up the museum.

Unsatisfied, Athena ran toward the main entrance, where she noticed one of her small friends around. "Ponco!" the girl called the other one, waving frantically at "her" while introducing her brightest smile.

Ponco was, in fact, the robotic product of one of Metis and Aura's main researches, but Athena had always seen the machine like a normal, live being. The small robot, upon hearing the call of her name, turned to the little girl and, interestingly, called the live one back. "Hello! Hello!" the robot greeted with a visibly enthusiast, childish voice as Athena went to give her a hug.

"Ponco!" the girl called again, intensely staring in the "eyes" of the robot, showing signs of worry to the machine. "Have you seen Simon? I was supposed to meet him today, but I can't find him!"

The robot spun her head around with her arm crossed, the screen of her face showing an expression of confusion. "Simon?" Ponco questioned. "I have exactly thirteen men with the first name of Simon in my database."

Athena laughed at the robot. "Silly Ponco! You know who I'm talking about! Simon Blackquill, of course!"

Ponco stopped spinning her head and to make sure she found out the answer to the little girl, a picture of a man appeared on her screen. "Is this the Simon Blackquill you spoke of?" the robot asked.

"Yes! That's him!" Athena replied with a clapping on her hands. "Have you seen him?"

The intelligent machine returned to her happy expression and started pumping her arms in the air to display joy. "Yes! I've seen Simon Blackquill!" Ponco revealed. "He said he was going to the robotic lab!"

Upon getting a finally decent answer, the girl went speechless. About twenty minutes ago, she was over there waiting for the young man. If she'd waited a little longer, she'd probably have met him already. She smacked her forehead before she turned back to the lab after thanking her little mechanic friend. She ran as fast as she could, ignoring all the people on her way. She'd even shove some around and she was getting annoyed stares everywhere. But she didn't care; her only wish right now was to see her male friend!

Soon, as she turned around the corner, one more door and she was there! Only if there wasn't something on her way to suddenly charge into. She brusquely fell down on the floor with a small headache. When she lifted her head up to see the thing she went into, she found the one she had been looking for!

Simon was on the ground, dazed by the small calamity. When he found the cause of the accident, he couldn't help himself but smile at his little friend. "Hey there, Cykes-dono, how have you been?" he greeted with a small laugh.

"Simon!" the girl called cheerfully, quickly getting up to hug him by his neck. "I heard you passed the bar exam!"

The samurai man gave her a little pat on the head. He entered a hand in one pocket to take out a new shiny sun badge. "Wow! That's beautiful!" Athena whispered in admiration, her eyes sparkling with marvel at the slight light reflect from the little badge. "That means you are now a prosecutor, putting the bad guys in prison!"

Happy to see Athena on such good mood, he decided to reveal a last thing. "This doesn't end here," he added. "I've just gotten my hunting license as a private hunter as well."

Athena almost squealed like a rabid fangirl. "You are so awesome, Simon!"

"I'm… flattered!" the guy laughed, blushing a little. "You know, I wish I could have these ears of yours, they'd be quite useful to find a prey!"

The girl nodded in agreement as he spoke. "Uh-Huh! I know, right?" Athena declared. "That's why, when I'll be older, I'll help you find the bad vampires! Spare the good ones, remember!"

Dumbfounded by the hasty revelation, Simon gulped. Since when did the girl want to be a hunter? He sighed. Exasperation could be hear from him, and Athena fell it too. "Cykes-dono, hunting for vampire is not a game, do you realize this?"

After hearing her friend's comment, Athena moped and crossed her arms in frustration. "Of course I know it's not a game!" she cried out in protest. "But if it's dangerous for me, it's dangerous for you too! I thought the bigger the team, the safer! And aside, I know I'm too young for this now. That's why I want to grow older before I do anything dangerous!"

After little Athena spoke of her words, his samurai soul started to kick in his mind. His conscience was trying to tell him that no girl, especially not the daughter of his mentor, should let herself exposed to such danger at night. However, part of his more humane side really wished this little girl could put her skill to use so it will make her happy. After all, happiness should be mandatory on everyone, and the girl definitely lacked some.

"So," the girl started, prancing left to right gleefully. "Are you going to announce this to Mommy and Aunt Aura?"

Date: April 6th 2019, 3:06 AM
Place: Cosmos Space Center, Personal Cykes Lounge

There had had been better nights in this lounge, the "home" of the Cykes family. Tonight, exhausted, Metis had to deal with a certain daughter of hers who kept having nightmares, unable to keep her sweet dreams as she drifted away in the darkness. The little girl ranted how things, monsters and people were keeping her awake and that they wouldn't go no matter what. It was so tiring to the point that the mother was so tempted to use one of her sleeping pills, but of course, she would never do that to her own child.

Crying "Hallelujah!" was of her best interests when Athena was finally sound asleep like an immobile, silent rock, but for her own good, it was better remaining silent for the rest of the night. Metis, smiling at her sleeping child, gave a gentle kiss on her forehead, wishing her a sweet good night before she returned to her room, closing the door as soundlessly as possible before disturbing her much sensitive ears. Even if this was Saturday and she was given the day off, she still needed to act and be the mother her child needed by the morning.

Oh well, the sunlight of the morning was sure to come faster during the spring season.

To her dismay, as she fell aimlessly on her comfortable bed, a loud crashing sound came upsetting her cherished silence. Naturally, startled by the crash, she quickly grabbed her tool knife with a grunt, almost not even scared of what may come to her (maybe she was too tired to think in a way). She speedily made her way to the Robotic lab where the sound seemed to come from.

She did not expect the surprise that awaited her.

"Aura!" Metis cried out, horrified by the sight, her trembling hands dropping the small knife as it made a clung sound upon hitting the floor. The mother observed her friend who was limping around in confusion, a hand weakly leaned on a table with the other one holding the side of her neck, a warm flow of dark blood protruding from an unseen wound under her shaking fingers.

The leaned hand of the destabilized engineer finally gave in as Aura fell down on the floor with an unheard short cry. Metis leaped over her injured friend, checking for signs of what exactly happened to her. She remembered Aura decided to go for a nice girl time in the downtown for the Friday night earlier. Was the injury the result of all of this?

Then Metis saw it: a bite mark on Aura's bloody neck.

A vampire bite.

"M-Metis…" the distressed woman whispered, virtually crying of pain, her teary, terrified eyes watching the psychologist. It took all of her effort to simply call her friend. It seemed she was begging for help.

"Aura!" Metis called again, panicking but trying to keep her composure. "D-Don't move, stay here, okay? You've been bitten by a vampire, am I right?"

Once again, Aura's eyes refused to leave Metis's, and all the mother could see was despair and horror in them. "Am… Am I going to be… one?" the bleeding engineer asked in fear, her trembling lips almost unable to say the right word for the creatures of the night. "I-I-I mean… I'm still a-alive… and when b-bitten humans stay a-alive…"

Metis snagged a cloth on the table and laid it on the injury. She forced Aura to hold it with her hands as she got up and frantically rummaged through the laboratory cupboards until she found the things she was searching for.

The partial result of her side researches, the medications to make vampires part of the human life, the medications that will control their hunger and instincts.

Metis knew, and it was a common knowledge among the human beings and among the vampires as well. She knew when a human get bitten by a vampire and that the human does not die by the bite or by another means, the human is condemned to suffer the unfortunate fate of the immortality of the night, for eternity. And Aura will become one of them in a matter of minutes.

However, there was a solution to this, and Metis knew Aura did not have to succumb to the predatory instincts that would eventually hit her as soon as she will feel the hunger of the bloody feast. No, she made her solution as a part of her researches, and now, she was able to test it.

Quickly, Metis snatched one of her prized pills and carefully slipped it in the bloodied mouth. To her horror, under Aura's upper lip, she could see them: the newly formed fangs.

"Here, Aura…" Metis whispered, her gaze full of compassion, with a gentle smile appearing on her own lips. Aura looked at her as she nervously gulped the pill, and the stare Metis gave her strangely soothed her soul like she was the own kindhearted mother she needed in urgent times. "With this medication, you will live like a normal person, just like me, anyone else or your former self… Don't worry about your condition, you won't become like them with these pills, I can assure you. Trust me…"

"Metis…" a calming Aura muttered when she started crying on the shoulder of her redeemer, leaving a mix of teary and bloodied stain on Metis's robes. "T-Thank you for your presence… Thank you… for everything… But… please… don't tell anyone… Especially not my little brother Simon…"

A sigh escaped from Metis with her next reply. "But Athena will know…"