Morgan Ace Attorney

by TheLittleDarkLord

Scandal in Ylisse! Lucina has been accused of homicide and is going to be put on trial! With Robin away on vacations, who can save the princess? The awesome Morgan, of course! But being the princess's attorney won't be an easy task! Hidden truths will force Morgan to face not only a mysterious enemy, but her friends as well, leading to a scandal like never seen before!

10. Hideous Plans and a Talking Stroganoff

I'm a bit later than usual because I had some writing issues at the middle of the chapter and recently suffered a small accident with a knife that delayed me some days.

By the way, I know the chapter's name is ridiculous as hell, but I ensure you'll understand why it's named like that.

Well, nonetheless, here we go again!

Disclaimer: Fire Emblem and everything related to it, except for this story, belong to Nintendo. Anything related to other franchises belongs to their respective creators. I only own this story and the characters created for it.

And my 3DS, of course :D

Morgan: Ace Attorney

Chapter 10: The Hideous Plan of Terrance, the Talking Stroganoff

Ylissean Court, September 25th, 9:04 PM

Still disconcerted by the argument between the two girls and the disastrous result of it, the Shepherds remained in the Ylissean Court even after everyone else left, separated in small groups that commented the most varied things about that calamitous day in a low tone.

While most of the adults tried to digest what they saw, in the group formed by the children, Brady, Severa, Inigo, Owain and Cynthia incredulously listened to Laurent and Kjelle narrating all the events they missed.

The folder disappearing, Lucina being massacred in court, Morgan being slapped…

Yes, it was a huge mess to process.

"Lucy, calm down. You're trembling," Sumia said with a worried tone, carefully making her daughter sit on a chair nearby.

"What did I do?" Lucina asked herself, shaking her head in disapproval and apparently unaware of what her mother was doing. "What did I do? What did I do?"

"Lucina, please calm down."

"Gods, what did I do?" the princess murmured sourly. "How could I do that? WHY did I do that?" in utmost regret, Lucina hid the face in her hands. "She'll never forgive me…"

"Lucina, that isn't true," Sumia said with a serious tone. "You did something bad, but Morgan will forgive you."

"After that? How?" the princess replied a bit ruder than she wanted.

"Dear, what you did was wrong and I won't deny it," Chrom suddenly appeared at Lucina's side, putting a hand on her shoulder. "but it happened. There's no use in mourning it now. The best you can do is apologize to Morgan whenever you have the chance."

"Yes, that's right," Sumia agreed with her husband. "You just have to apologize. I'm sure Morgan will forgive you. You two are friends."

With a deep sigh, Lucina looked down and bitterly said:

"That's what I hope."

"That Morgan will forgive you?" Chrom asked.

The princess shook her head negatively and corrected:

"That we're still friends."

Sumia and Chrom exchanged worried looks. It was a fact that the Shepherds didn't get along all the time and always found a way to get over their problems, but they were forced to admit Lucina was right.

That situation was on a whole different level.

"Maribelle, I'm not saying it'll happen or that I think it'll happen, but… is there any chance that Morgan can…" Stahl pulled the collar of his shirt nervously and gulped. "Abandon the case?"

Everyone that heard it looked incredulous at the man, who flinched and instinctively took a few steps back.

"I-I'm not saying it'll happen!" the man desperately repeated. "I'm just worried! Only that!"

When they got over the shock, all eyes turned to the Valkyrie spinning her parasol in a clear sign of nervousness that made a chill run down everyone's spines. After a few more seconds of hesitation, Maribelle sighed and answered:

"Since Morgan accepted to be Lucina's attorney, the law forbids her of abandoning her duties without a good reason. However, there's a way she can do it."

"And that would be?" Cherche asked a bit unsure if she really wanted to hear the answer.

"Well, let's say what happened now was indeed the last straw and Morgan decides to abandon the case," the Valkyrie proceeded to explain. "The first thing she can do is use this incident as a reason to abandon her duty."

"What do you mean?" Stahl asked.

"She can accuse Lucina of physical harm and open a process against her."

Everyone nearby gasped.

"B… but that would mean… she would be accused of three things?!" the green knight asked jaw dropped.

"Yes," Maribelle confirmed with a nod. "Homicide, forging of false testimony and physical harm. Since Morgan is one of the impaired parts, her duties as Lucina's attorney would be automatically ended."

Despite the distance, Lucina overheard the conversation and felt her nerves tensing.

"B-but Morgan would never do it, right?!" Stahl stuttered nervous.

"I don't think so, but…" Maribelle bit her lip worried. "She has all the resources for it. And the reasons too…"

The whole place was filled with a morbid silence. No one believed (and didn't want to believe) that Morgan would do such a thing and abandon Lucina when she most needed her, but it was impossible to deny that the Grandmaster's daughter had the reasons and the resources to do it, and that alone was extremely scary.

"So… ya are telling me the folder disappeared while she was out? Today? Before she began the investigation?" Brady asked worried.

"Yes, it did," Kjelle answered.

Brady scratched the back of his head. Noticing the boy's nervousness, Kjelle got closer and gave him a suspicious glare.

"What are you trying to hide?" she asked with a severe tone.

"Uh? What are ya talkin' about?" Brady retorted.

"Don't try to fool me," the Knight shot back. "You're clearly nervous. What was in that folder?"

"Lemme think… the documents Ma got. What else?" the Priest said sarcastically.

"Are you mocking me?" Kjelle glared holes at the boy.

"Not ya. Just the fact that ya needed someone else to tell you the obvious," Brady glared back.

"O-okay, okay… calm down you two," Noire quickly got between the Priest and the Knight and separated them. "We already had a very bad argument today and don't need another one."

"Yes, man. What happened to you? I never saw you like that." Inigo asked Brady, who just uncharacteristically huffed and turned his face away.

Except for Kjelle and Severa, who were glaring at him, all the children looked confused at Maribelle's son. He rarely, if ever, used such rude sarcasm with anyone, so what made him become sour so suddenly?

In truth, that unexpected change in attitude was just a way he found to hide his immense nervousness.

"Dunderhead…" Severa growled in her mind, shooting darts with her eyes at Brady.

"Okay, everyone. Today was an eventful day and I think we all need to rest," Chrom suddenly announced to all, noticing the worried faces around him. "We should go home and get ready for tomorrow. By the way things are going, I don't think it'll end so soon."

Everyone nodded; they were indeed tired and the following days looked to be even more stressful, so a good night of rest was a need. They were still worried about Morgan, of course, especially because of how she left without saying anything, but considering what and how it happened, going after her didn't sound like a good idea.

Or at least, it wouldn't be a good idea for some people, as there was someone who had more chances of looking for her with reduced chances of undesired side effects.

"Mother, father," Noire turned to face Tharja and Henry. "I have an idea of where Morgan may be. I'll go after her."

Both parents gave their daughter a curious look.

"Are you sure about that?" Tharja asked emotionless.

"Yes. I'm worried about her," Noire then looked down. "And if my guess is right, it'll be better if someone is near to keep an eye on what she's doing."

Although not sure of what she meant, the two spellcasters ended allowing Noire to go after Morgan, with Tharja simply nodding and Henry happily saying a loud:

"Ok, then! Go on!"

The young Archer nodded, thanked her parents and ran to the door at full speed, her sudden leave getting the attention of all who didn't hear her request.

"Where is she going?" Chrom asked, looking intrigued at Noire leaving the building.

"She's going after Morgan," Tharja answered with a monotonous tone. "Apparently, she knows where to find her."

Hearing that, Lucina immediately got up and went running after Noire, ignoring her parents telling her to stay. Seeing the princess leaving prompted Brady to also go after the Archer at quick steps, surprising everyone.

However, both were stopped by their parents before reaching the door, Libra quickly putting himself in front of Brady and Chrom going after Lucina and firmly holding her arm when she was about to grab the doorknob.

"F-father?" Lucina asked surprised at her father's action.

"Lucina, I know what you want to do and I understand that," the blue-haired man said, gently pulling his daughter a bit away from the door. "but Noire should go alone."

"But she knows where Morgan is!" the princess said exasperated, trying to get free from her father's grasp. "I have to find her! I must apologize to her! I have to fix what I did!"

"I know, I know…" Chrom grabbed Lucina's other arm to control the girl. "You want to fix this and that's excellent, but, considering everything that happened, it would be better if you don't go after Morgan yet, because she's probably still upset."

"B-but…"

"Besides, excluding Robin and Aversa, Noire is the closest person to Morgan in the army," Chrom quickly cut her. "She knows what to do and say. Leave it to her."

Lucina still wanted to go after her attorney, but was forced to admit her father was right and reluctantly complied with him, letting the man lead her back to her seat. Not far from them, Libra was also trying to convince Brady to stay.

"But I gotta go after Morgan, Pa!" the young Priest constantly tried to get past his father.

"Brady, I don't think that's a good idea," the War Monk kept stepping from one side to another, blocking his son's way. "Morgan's still angry and she becomes unpredictable in these conditions. Noire knows how to deal with her when she's like that. It's better if she goes alone."

"But I have to speak with her now!" Brady insisted.

"You can't. If you have something to tell her, you'll have to do it tomorrow," Libra said with a stern tone.

"Honey, listen to your father," Maribelle approached Brady from behind and held his arm. "Let Noire go alone. It's the best thing to do now."

Knowing he had no chance to convince his parents to let him go, Brady sighed disappointed and unwillingly complied. Satisfied, Maribelle let go of his arm and went to speak with Chrom and Sumia, with Libra going after her. When the two got away, Severa slowly walked to Brady's side, positioned herself at his right and sarcastically asked with a bored tone:

"Nothing to worry about, huh? Everything will be fine, huh?"

"How was I supposed to know the folder would be stolen?!" Brady turned to face Severa with an irritated expression.

"I'm not saying you were supposed to know it would happen. I'm saying you should have hid it in a way easier to be found INSTEAD OF HAVING THAT STUPID IDEA!" the Mercenary shot back. "If you did, she would already know IT and we wouldn't have to worry, but now we don't know if she saw the message you left and have to wait until she comes back to discover!"

"Ya know just as well as me that I had to make it hard to be found!" the young Priest shot back with a glare. "We were bein' followed!"

"But did you need to hide it like THAT?! Who in the world would discover it?!" the girl angrily inquired.

Brady nearly said something, but ultimately decided that continuing the argument would be pointless and decided to put everything aside and concentrate on the current events.

"I just hope she found it before they stole the folder…" Brady said to change the subject.

"She better has. Otherwise, all our hard work will have gone to waste…" Severa bitterly added.

Outside, completely unaware of what was happening in the Ylissean Court, Noire ran to the middle of the street and stopped to look around, trying to mentally locate herself and decide which route would be the fastest to get back to the castle.

Unfortunately for her, our intrepid Proxy was very far away from Ylisse Castle in that exact moment.

The Golden Barrel, September 25th, 9:17 PM

"Carla! Fill the mug!" Morgan yelled loudly to the waitress, slamming the empty mug on the table.

With a sigh, the waitress, who was the 'Carla' Morgan called by the way, approached the girl, took a jar full of beer and filled her mug AGAIN.

"Morgan, don't you think you're drinking too much?" the woman bluntly asked.

"What are you talking about?!" the Proxy asked with a loud, dumb voice before turning the mug and drinking all its content at once. "There's none of that… 'Hic!' Bullshit of drinking too much when we speak about beer! Beer is… 'Hic!' Purer than water coming straight from… 'Hic!' The fountain in Ylisstol!"

"The water from the fountain isn't pure… it's the rain water that accumulates in the water galleries and can't be used to drink," Carla retorted annoyed.

"You got what I meant! Now fill the mug again! And bring me more fried chicken!" Morgan raised both the mug and the empty plate on her table.

Without much choice but obey, Carla took the mug and the plate rolling her eyes and went back to the kitchen get more for one of the pub's most 'loyal' clients.

"I'll tell ya one thing! Ya better pay attention!" Morgan began discoursing to an imaginary friend. "There's nothing better to do when you're sad than drink alcohol! Remember always that alcohol is… 'Hic!' Good for you! Whisky, vodka, beer, wine, tequila… everything! EVERY SINGLE SHIT OF THAT MAGICAL THINGAMAJIG!"

While Morgan continued giving life lessons to… someone… a certain red-haired man entered the bar with a sigh, snapping his fingers and yawning loudly.

"I'm exhausted…" he growled grumpy, scratching the back of his head. "That woman is surely a handful…"

It took a whole afternoon and a lot of persistence, but Gangrel finally convinced Emmeryn to let him go. She insisted he still needed to treat his wounds, though, and stubbornly held him in… wherever they were as much as she could, trying to convince him to stay longer.

Thinking back, Gangrel noticed he didn't know exactly what was that place Emmery took him to, but considering the amount of medicine and people dressed in white, he thought it was a hospital or medical clinic. How she had access to that place was another unanswered question, but she was the former Exalt, so he could theorize Emmeryn had a special permission or something of that kind.

What he really couldn't understand was why he let her take him wherever she wanted without complaining or resisting, especially considering it was, in a certain way, her fault that he ended all bruised and hurt.

Yes, he was the one who tried to pull her and ended ripping her clothes, but it wouldn't have happened if she wasn't so stubborn! They had already finished their business there, so why stay more? Thanks to that, Gangrel was mistaken for a molester and forced to endure a lot of people spanking him nearly to death. And to see Emmeryn's skin. Her soft, delicate skin…

In any case, those things had already happened and didn't matter anymore; he was back to his monotone, stupid life and all he wanted was something to eat. Of course, a pub like that one he had just entered wasn't exactly the kind of place he liked go to, but with limited resources (aka: money) and an empty stomach that wouldn't stop complaining he didn't have many options.

Still a bit annoyed at the place he was forced to choose, Gangrel stopped to look around, searching for an empty table that he could use without having to share with anyone else when a familiar voice reached his ears.

"Carla! Fill the mug! I'm bored! And can't get up!"

Instinctively, the former Mad King turned his face to where the sound came and saw a drunk Morgan holding a mug above her head and shaking it with a silly smile.

"What is she doing here?" he scornfully asked himself.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I just realized Dark Knights can't use Dark Magic!" the girl dumbly yelled something she already knew like it was the discovery of the century. "What a loathsome bullshit! Why are they called Dark Knights, then?! Did they just want a… 'Hic!' Badass name? Because if that's the case they should have chosen a name that doesn't… 'Hic!' Mislead people! If they wanted a badass name they should have called themselves… Flabby Butts! Because it's bad ass! Badass! Bad ass! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"She's drunk as hell… I better leave before…"

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOH! Gangrel, mah boy! What's up?!" Morgan suddenly said, getting up from her chair and pathetically walking like a boneless chicken straight at him.

"Too late…" the man grumbled mentally.

Gangrel wondered if he could simply pretend to have heard nothing and just walk away, but when he was about to take the first step it was already too late; Morgan reached him and grabbed his hand, preventing him from moving.

"Hellooooooooooooo, Gangreeeeeeeeeeeeel!" the girl cooed with a silly smile, her mouth launching a strong smell of alcohol that made Gangrel's nose twitch. "What ya doing here? Did you come for a… 'Hic!' To have a nice meal?!"

"I DID, but changed my mind," the man grumbled irritated, trying to get free from her grasp. "Let go of me. I'm going home."

"GAH! Don't be such a jerk! Let's have some… 'Hic!' Drinks and foodies together!" Morgan said and happily dragged Gangrel to her table.

"Stop that! Let go of me!" he yelled angrily, shaking his arm in a useless attempt to escape.

Powered up by the amazing effects of alcohol, Morgan dragged Gangrel with extreme ease to her table like he weighed less than a feather and forced him to sit on a chair. The man tried to get up and leave, but the drunk girl pushed him back, nearly making the poor man fall from his seat.

"Now, we're going to eat fried chicken and… 'Hic!' Drink until our livers beg us to stop!" the Proxy screamed with determination and dumb happiness, pumping a fist in the air.

"We aren't going to do anything, because I'm not staying here with you!" Gangrel yelled furious.

"Don't be such a killjoy! I'm paying! You'll enjoy it!"

Gangrel opened his mouth to protest, but Morgan cut him with:

"You agree. Shuddup."

"Is that what the tactician taught you?" the red-haired man growled crossing his arms. "Insult, mock, be a bossy pest to your colleagues and drown your brain with beer?"

"Don't mock father!" Morgan pointed an accusing finger at Gangrel that nearly poked his nose. "He's the bestest best of the… 'Hic!' World's bests! Besides, who said he taught me this? He doesn't even… 'Hic!' Know I'm here! I couldn't tell that to him" she began laughing maniacally.

"Oh, couldn't you?" Gangrel rubbed his chin with a quirky smile. "Which means he doesn't like you to do this kind of thing, right?"

Morgan nodded stupidly.

"That's interesting…" the red-haired man grinned as a plan materialized in his head. "Let's make a deal: you leave me alone and MAYBE I won't tell your father that his sweet daughter was having a lot of fun with her 'friends' beer and fried chicken. What do you say?"

Maybe because he was expecting the girl to shudder or at least look shocked for a moment, seeing her start laughing uncontrollably to the point of making tears fall from her eyes filled him with an awkward feeling.

"Oooooooooh… trying to be bad, Gangreeeeeel? Not gonna work! No, no, no, no, nope!" the girl moved her finger from one side to another. "And you know why? Because I have a better deal for you!"

Morgan sat on her chair, approached Gangrel and whispered to him:

"If you aren't a big jerk AND don't tell father about this, I won't tell Chrom that you tried to strip his poor, defenseless sister."

Gangrel felt his jaw dropping and all the blood of his face disappearing.

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

Morgan just gave him a cheeky smile.

"Wait a moment… that old rascal told you?!" the former Mad King of Plegia shouted.

"YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!" Morgan chanted nodding her head.

An unmeasurable fury filled Gangrel's mind and made his blood boil. The stupid old man promised to keep silence about what happened, but it was clear that trusting him was a mistake.

"It doesn't matter! It was just an accident! I have no reason to worry about it!" the man grumbled irritated, turning his face away.

"It may have been just an… 'Hic!' Accident… BUT! Do ya really think that Blueberry Head will believe you?"

That was true. Not in a million years Chrom would believe it was just an accident, especially because it was Gangrel who did it. If that story spread around the Halidom, it would be just a question of time before the Exalt heard it and put the Plegian's head to prize.

Not that he really cared very much about his trash of a life, but after that… eventful afternoon with Emmeryn, he began fearing for his life (and consequently his safety) a bit more than he used to, so Morgan's threat actually made some effect.

Teeth gritted, nerves bulging and hands clenched in anger, Gangrel took a deep breath and sighed in defeat.

"Fine… I'll stay," he grumbly announced.

"Excellent!" Morgan celebrated.

In that moment, Carla passed near the two with three mugs for another client. Noticing the woman, Morgan yelled her name to call her attention. The waitress looked to the direction she was called and sighed as soon as she noticed who it was.

"Carla! Bring more fried chicken and some of your roasted sweet potatoes! And one mug of beer for… 'Hic!' This big guy here!" the girl pointed at Gangrel, who just looked away and huffed.

Carla rolled her eyes, scribbled something in a little note she had and went back to the kitchen.

"You'll see! This place's beer is the best!" Morgan said animated. "Why is it the best? I'll tell you why: it's because… I DON'T KNOW! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" she then began laughing maniacally.

"Great… I escaped a needy, stubborn girl to get stuck with a drunk girl that's two times more stubborn that the previous one…" Gangrel facepalmed.

Training grounds, Ylisse Castle, September 25th, 9:42 PM

After a fruitless search, Noire sat on the floor, leaned her back against a wall and sighed.

"Well, looks like I was wrong…" the girl lamented, stretching her legs and giving the training area an empty look. "She's isn't here after all. I wonder where she went…"

Surrounded by the silence and the faint light of the torches around her, Noire put her brain back to work, trying to guess where her white-haired friend could have gone. Being one of the closest people to Morgan, the young Archer knew that, whenever she got very angry, the girl would usually:

One: go to her father's office, lock the door and spend the whole night there, reading Robin's books, eating the chocolates he kept hidden somewhere or play videogames until morning;

Two: invade the kitchen and eat everything she wanted, leaving a giant mess behind or;

Three: go to the training area and explode dummies with all the kinds of tomes she had.

However, Morgan apparently had a different idea that night, as Noire couldn't find her anywhere around the castle.

She knocked on the door of Robin's office many times, but never got an answer. She went to the kitchen, ready to find lots of food and drinks scattered everywhere, but the place was empty and silent like a graveyard. She then went to the training grounds, preparing herself to see lots of fire and destroyed dummies, only to discover there was no one there.

In other words: Morgan wasn't doing any of the usual things she would do when angry, leaving Noire confused and even more worried than she already was.

"Think, Noire… think!" the girl scratched her head nervously. "Where else could Morgan have gone?"

Once again putting her neurons to work, Noire carefully began listing what Morgan liked to do, attempting to find anything that could give her a light.

"She likes to play videogame, but if she isn't doing it in Robin's office then she's doing it in her house, so I can try going there. She also likes bear meat, but I don't think that'll help much now. She also likes to tease the boys, but I doubt she would do it now. And she also likes to…"

The girl's eyes widened in horror as a thought came to her.

"Oh, no! Not there! Not THAT again!"

Determined to lose no more time, Noire got up and ran at max speed straight to where she thought Morgan was, internally hoping her guess was wrong.

The Golden Barrel, September 25th, 10:17 PM

"And ya know what?! I don't give a… 'Hic!' Damn to what people say! For me, 'Ocarina of Time' is the… 'Hic!' Best Zelda ever! After that is 'Breath of the Wild'! And after that is 'Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth'! And after that is 'Ape Escape'! But the best game of all times is 'Fire Emblem Awakening'!"

"Maybe I should let her tell the princeling about the whole thing with Emmeryn…" Gangrel mumbled in annoyance, taking a small sip of his beer and wondering if living was indeed worth standing that ridiculous situation.

"Oh, boy! I just remembered… 'Hic!' A great joke! Wanna hear?" Morgan asked while turning the mug and drinking all the beer in one gulp.

"No," Gangrel answered annoyed.

"Great! Here it comes!" Morgan proceeded to tell the joke nonetheless. "A Risen sees a banner promoting an election for the first president of Ylisse. He becomes a candidate and wins! What's the name of the game?"

"I don't want to know."

"PRESIDENT EVIL! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

If it was possible, Gangrel would put his head inside the mug just so he didn't have to listen Morgan anymore.

"I remembered another! Wanna hear?!" the girl enthusiastically grabbed Gangrel's sleeve and pulled him closer.

"NO!"

"Great!" she celebrated, although it's unknown if she was understanding him wrong or simply ignoring his answers. "Why Ryuk from Death Note can write even in the dark?"

"I DON'T CARE!" the red-haired man yelled angrily while trying to get free from the girl's grasp.

"BECAUSE HE'S ALWAYS NEAR 'LIGHT'! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"This must be divine punishment for all the crimes I committed, because there's no way this girl is anything but a DEMON!" in a desperate attempt to not hear anything else, Gangrel began slamming his head on the table, hoping to fall unconscious and spare him of more alcohol filled nonsense.

If you think the owners and workers of the pub allowing Morgan to be so loud and Gangrel to spank himself when they had clients was weird, then you would be completely right; the only reason they allowed is because, at that point, the drunk girl had already scared everyone else, leaving only the two.

Why they didn't kick the two out? Because Morgan was one of their most loyal customers and Gangrel was with her.

"Carla! Another… 'Hic!' Two mugs for us!" completely unaware of her 'friend' trying to kill himself, Morgan called for the waitress, ordering even more beer.

With an annoyed sigh, Carla left the game of cards she was playing with her colleagues, went to the kitchen, filled two mugs with beer and took them to the Proxy and her companion. However, before leaving the mugs on the table, she gave Morgan a stern look and warned with a serious tone:

"You already drank thirty-six mugs. Not to mention the bottles of whisky and vodka you ordered a bit ago."

"Worry not!" Morgan grabbed both mugs completely unconcerned. "I can take it! My second name is 'Iron Liver'! And my…"

"First name is 'Invincible' and your last name is 'Terrance, the Talking Stroganoff'. I know, I know… your father always said that whenever he got drunk here…" Carla rolled her eyes.

Surprised by what he heard, Gangrel stopped slamming his head on the table and asked the waitress with intrigued eyes:

"The tactician? Does he drink?"

"Drink?" the waitress laughed, getting back to her chair. "He doesn't drink; he literally drowns himself in alcohol."

Gangrel was about to ask something else, but was interrupted by Morgan slamming the mug she emptied in less than ten seconds on the table.

"AAAAAAAH! THIS IS GOOD AS HELL!" the young Proxy yelled, feeling the alcohol filling her body and running through her veins.

The girl yelled so loud her voice escaped the walls of the pub, echoed in the street and reached the ears of a white-haired Archer approaching the place.

"Oh, no… she's there," Noire lowly lamented, speeding the pace to get in the pub as fast as possible.

Arriving at the Golden Barrel, Noire opened the door and spied inside, getting a bit surprised at how empty the place was. A bit more of scanning later, her attention quickly changed from the number of vacant chairs to a familiar figure with a stupid smile shaking a mug over her head with one hand and pulling the sleeve of someone faceplanted on the table with the other.

"Morgan!" Noire gasped worried and ran to her friend's side.

"Uh? Oh, Noireeeeeeeeeeee!" Morgan hummed with a large smile. "So good to see… 'Hic!' You again! Came here… 'Hic!' To enjoy the party?!"

"Kill me…" Gangrel, still faceplanted on the table, grumbled lowly.

"Gods! What did you do to yourself?!" the Archer said, voice filled with worry and despair.

"What did she do to herself? You should be asking what she did to ME!" Gangrel complained.

Noire took the mug from Morgan's hand and freed Gangrel from the girl's grasp, then carefully made her friend stand up to take a better look on her.

"Oh, Morgan… Look at you!" she checked the girl's condition and got worried. "Your hair is a mess, your clothes are an even bigger mess, you're smelling like Vaike in Chrom's wedding, there are bits of fried chicken on your shirt…"

"AAAAAAAAAH! Don't worry! I don't have to worry about it!" Morgan shook a hand dismissively. "And you… 'Hic!' Know why? It's because…"

A wide smile appeared in her face as she suddenly sang:

"I take a look at my enormous PEEEEEEENIIIIIIIIIIIIS!"

"Morgan! Don't say that!" Noire shook her hands desperately, her cheeks turning a deep red.

"You don't even have one…" Gangrel added in a low tone.

"Be quiet!" Morgan ordered. "You're just jealous because I take a look at my enormous PEEEEEEEEEEEENIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!" she began singing again.

"Dear gods… How much has she drunk this time?" Noire turned to face Carla, who was back to her game of cards.

"Thirty-six mugs of beer. Plus one bottle of whisky and one of vodka," the waitress answered without taking her eyes from the cards in her hands.

"Thirty-six and two bottles of what?!" the Archer repeated incredulous.

"Uh… wouldn't it be thirty-seven?" one of Carla's colleagues asked.

"Oh, right. Thirty-seven, to say the truth," Carla corrected.

Noire's jaw dropped so much it risked breaking.

"And why didn't you stop her?!" she inquired a bit angry.

"She's the client. I have to do whatever she wants even if I don't agree," Carla retorted unconcerned. "Besides, I warned her. If she didn't want to listen, then there's nothing I could do."

"And you, Gangrel?! Why didn't you do anything?!"

Hearing his name being suddenly mentioned made the man snap out of his misery and shot a heated glare at the girl.

"Do I look like her babysitter to you?!"

For a moment, Noire nearly entered her maniac mode, furious at everyone's negligence, but took a deep breath and controlled herself. That wasn't the time nor the place to start an argument; Morgan needed help and quickly.

"Come on, Morgan. I'll take you back home," the young Archer gently grabbed her friend's hand.

"Don't worry! I can go home by myself!" Morgan said confidently, freeing her hand from Noire's and walking away to the door. "Let's go home have more girl fun! Let's goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo…!"

That was the last thing Morgan had time to say before tripping and falling faceplanted on the floor.

"Morgan!" Noire ran to the girl's side and kneeled worried. "Are you okay?!"

"Heeeey! Who put this… 'Hic!' Floor here?!" the drunk girl asked irritated.

Sighing, Noire grabbed Morgan's hand again, helped the Proxy get up, passed the girl's arm around her shoulders and slowly walked to the door, holding her friend and keeping her balance.

"I'll make sure you'll be paid," the Archer said to the workers playing cards.

"Don't worry. I know Morgan will come to pay later," Carla reassured, still focused on her game.

When they were to pass the door, Morgan looked back to face Gangrel and gave him a wide smile.

"Thanks for everything, Gangrel!" she said loudly. "I know we don't… 'Hic!' Get along all the time, but know that you're very dear to me! No matter what happens, you'll always have a special place right here!" the girl then pointed to her heart.

"Sure, sure…" the man grumbled unconvinced. "You're saying that only because of the alcohol. I doubt you really mean it."

In truth, that was one of the only things Morgan said after getting drunk she had total consciousness of what she was doing.

Robin's house, September 26th, 7:23 AM

"Ugh… What happened?" Morgan grumbled holding her head and opening her eyes. "Am I home? How did I get here? Oh, yes… Noire took me."

She tried to take a sitting position, but suddenly felt a strong headache and decided to stay lying on her bed.

"Damn… stupid hangover…" the girl complained rubbing her forehead with both hands. "Why this always happens to me? It never happens to father or mother…"

That statement wasn't completely right; although it was true that Aversa never had a hangover before, it was mostly because she never drank enough to have one. Robin did have a few, but the symptoms on him weren't the same most people would have, so Morgan never noticed.

Still unwell, Morgan remained in bed for some more minutes until she felt good enough to get up and went to the kitchen at slow paces look for something to eat. After some search, she got a bread and a glass of water and sat on the table to have breakfast.

"Not exactly what I call a good breakfast, but I don't think it's a good idea to stuff my stomach too much right now…" she thought, feeling like there was a knot inside her belly.

Slowly munching the bread, Morgan tried to remember the events of the previous night without forcing her pained head too much. Little by little, small pieces of the happenings began playing in her mind like shattered memories long forgotten returning.

The night in the pub, Gangrel at her side, Noire coming, the trial, everything Seiji said… her argument with Lucina.

That last memory was better forgotten, but trying to recall what happened to her accidentally brought it back, making Morgan sigh irritated and unconsciously rub the same cheek Lucina slapped her. It wasn't hurting anymore, but a faint tint of red was still visible on it.

"Stupid girl… stupid, selfish, stubborn girl…" the Grandmaster's daughter angrily insulted. "I spent all that time trying to help her to be rewarded like that? Ha! No wonder father is always complaining about something related to his job! I would be very pissed if I had to work for that… bunch of ungrateful royal asses every single day!"

With a huff, she gobbled down the rest of her bread and drank all the water at once.

"You know what? Lucina can go screw herself as much as she wants! That's what she deserves!" Morgan used the back of her hand to clean the mouth. "I don't care about that bitch anymore!"

…

"Awww… Who am I trying to fool?! I love that bitch! I can't abandon her even if I wanted!" in a mix of irritation and disappointment, Morgan put both hands on her head and leaned back on the chair. "But what am I supposed to do if she doesn't tell the truth?!"

With her wills and feelings conflicting, the poor girl was left without knowing what to do. Her mind screamed for her to help the princess, but in their current situation that seemed completely impossible.

Trying to get her mind away from all those problems, Morgan went back to her room and grabbed her smartphone, which Noire took from her pocket and left on the desk the night before, to see the time and maybe play some games or search for a way to get her Nintendo Switch out of the customs, but a notification of three messages got her attention and made her immediately leave all her plans aside.

The most recent message was from Maggot, sent to her the night before at ten forty-six. Since it was the one appearing at the top of her list, she decided to read that one first.

"Madam, we went to the Ylissean Court after you and your friends told us what happened. Please, don't worry about my previous message; go back home and rest. Come to speak with us at the Secret Service HQ whenever you're feeling better."

At least Maggot was nice enough to give her a rest, but what was that previous message he sent?

Morgan returned to the previous menu and searched for anything sent by Maggot. Immediately, she saw a notification of a message sent by the man at eight fifty of the previous night and opened it.

"Madam, the DNA tests were done and the results are quite unexpected. Please, come to the HQ as soon as possible."

Unexpected? What did it mean? What could they have discovered that needed her to see it by herself?

Despite her body protesting, Morgan quickly changed clothes, washed her face, got her Levin Sword, a Thoron Tome and left in a hurry to the Secret Service HQ, wondering what the Elite Trio wanted to tell her.

The sudden need to know what happened was so big that she accidentally forgot her smartphone on the desk, a notification of an unread message from Brady in the screen.

Meal room, Ylisse Castle, September 26th, 7:36 AM

Lucina was silently sitting at the large table, constantly gazing at the clock and shaking her leg impatiently. In front of her, fruits, breads, sweets, cakes and other foods of delicious appearance waited to be devoured, but the princess couldn't find the will to eat anything.

She had something much more important to do than eating: she had to plan what to say to Morgan.

Another quick look at the clock revealed it was seven thirty-eight, which meant she still had some time to plan her apology. Morgan usually arrived only at eight forty, since her duties started only after nine, but since she was replacing her father as the Grandmaster, she had to arrive earlier than that, as Robin's duties started at eight.

Of course, because she was working as Lucina's attorney, Morgan gained the luxury of not having to do the Grandmaster's duties while she was working in the case, which allowed her to run the investigation the day before instead of taking care of her father's responsibilities.

Which also meant that she could make an excuse not to appear at all.

Concerned, Lucina took another glance at the clock; not even a single minute had passed since the last time she looked at it, despite it feeling like an hour for the princess.

That was killing her. The more she had to wait, more she sourly remembered what she did and more the regret mercilessly crushed her. Morgan wasn't an angel (nobody is), but despite her peculiarities and inconvenient habits she was a good friend. Whenever she needed, whenever anyone needed, Morgan would always be nearby to offer a hand and wouldn't measure efforts to do anything.

And yet, after everything she did for her not only in the case, but before that as well, Lucina had the courage to hurt her.

Just apologizing didn't sound enough; Morgan deserved much more, she wanted to show that all her efforts were valued and that she would always be grateful no matter how many times they argued before, but Lucina couldn't think of anything up to that.

The only thing that came to her mind was doing what Morgan asked and tell her the truth, but that was completely out of question.

It was too shameful. It would ruin her reputation. It would fuel all the ill rumors spread across the Halidom about her even more.

Above everything else, it would disappoint her parents.

Not exactly because it would humiliate or hurt them, but because it meant Lucina broke a promise she made.

Ylissean Secret Service HQ, September 26th, 8:13 AM

"Here, this tea will help alleviate the nausea," Maggot said with a caring voice, handing Morgan a cup of tea.

"Thanks…" the girl weakly thanked, grabbing the cup and taking a sip of the warm liquid.

"Not gonna lie, boss, you're looking very bad," Tick admitted scratching the back of his head. "But considering how much you drank, it's very impressive that you can still stand up without help."

"Heh… I'm the daughter of Grandmaster Robin and Pegasus Knights Captain Aversa. I can't let some…" the sentence was interrupted by a cough. "Drinks get the better of me."

"Sad that Shorty doesn't have the same resistance as you," Tick whispered pointing to the boy faceplanted on a table behind him.

"I heard you…" Flea grumbled holding his stomach.

Seeing the boy remembered Morgan he had a date the night before and provoked her curiosity to know what happened, but her mind quickly warned her to concentrate on what was important and leave that for later.

"Maggot, I saw your message a bit before I left home," taking another sip of the tea, the girl turned to face the man. "What did you discover?"

Maggot turned around, walked to a table, got some papers from it and returned.

"We purified the fur we found to get rid of the human genetic material and repeated the tests, expecting to have a different result, but…" he handed the papers to Morgan. "They didn't change at all."

"What?" Morgan inquired loudly, which made her head hurt a bit.

"The human genetic material isn't ours, it's from the fur," Maggot proceeded to explain. "All the tests we made after the purification prove it."

"Are you sure?" the girl stared incredulous at him and began reading the papers she received.

"Totally. We made many tests and purified the fur more than once to make sure we weren't wrong. The results were always the same."

"So, who left it is a human?" Morgan asked confused. "It isn't fur, but hair?"

"That's what intrigued us," Tick approached them and entered the conversation. "It has human genetic material, but we also found traces of something completely different."

"Of what?"

"We don't know," Flea muttered weakly. "That other DNA we detected isn't compatible with anything we have documented before. The only thing we could discover is that fifty percent of the material we extracted is formed by the unknown DNA and the other part is made of human genetic material."

"Only fifty percent?" confused, intrigued and perplexed, Morgan put the papers down and stared blankly at the table. "Half human and half… something? What on Earth…?"

"Wait just a second…" she began musing. "Fur… half human… big as a bear… physiognomy that reminds a wolf… paw marks like a… RABBIT?!"

The results, the testimonies, what she knew about the mysterious animal… Everything began falling into place.

She knew what, or better saying, who it was.

And if HE was there, in that place, at that time, it could mean only one thing:

That long eared bastard lied to her.

"YAAAAARNEEEEEEEEEE!"

Meanwhile…

"Ugh…!"

"Yarne? What's wrong?" Laurent asked the Taguel, noticing how he suddenly stopped in place and trembled his whole body.

"I… I'm not sure… but, for some reason, I suddenly had the feeling…" Yarne felt a chill running down his spine. "that I got myself in trouble."

Back to the Secret Service HQ…

"I shouldn't have screamed so loudly…" Morgan lamented, feeling her head hurting because of her own shout.

"I agree…" Flea painfully added, also feeling like his boss's yell exploded his head.

"Yarne? The Taguel boy?" Tick asked. "Do you think he's the creature?"

"I don't think, I'm totally sure!" the girl angrily affirmed. "It all makes sense. Yarne, being a Taguel, can use Beaststones to transform. His transformation matches with everything we know about that animal."

Morgan took a better position on her chair and began listing the characteristics that matched.

"He looks like an overgrown rabbit, big like a BEAR. However, his body is very slim like a WOLF. Even his paws have the right size. However, like I said before, he's an overgrown RABBIT, which means his paws probably have a format that matches with one."

Maggot, Tick and Flea gave it some thought and nodded.

"More than that," Morgan crossed her arms. "The trail of paw marks starts in the road, but from that point on there are only marks of chariots, domestic animals and PEOPLE. When not transformed, Yarne is a PERSON, which means he could very well have gone to that place as a person, then transformed after that. It would explain why the paw marks start at the road, but aren't in it."

More nods.

"And that's not all," she continued. "Yarne told me he cancelled his appointment with Nah because he had a date to go in the night the crime happened, but didn't tell me WHERE it would be. The guards also don't know where he was and it automatically means his location at the time is UNKNOWN, turning possible that he was there!"

"But if he had a date, why would he be in that place? I doubt he would meet a girl somewhere so far away from the village," Tick commented intrigued, scratching the back of his head.

"I don't think he had any date to go," Morgan said. "Not only because of that, but also because of the situation. I mean, do you remember what people said about the second flying creature seen that night? It looked like a wyvern and was chasing that 'mysterious' animal. Who we know that looks like a wyvern, or at least can look like a wyvern sometimes, and would have a reason to chase him?"

The three men became quiet and wondered for a few moments, widening their eyes as the answer came to them.

"The Manakete girl?" Tick voiced their thoughts.

"The one and only," their boss confirmed. "At first, one could imagine Nah was trying to get revenge for what happened to her, but after connecting all these points I noticed a small detail I failed to see before: if it was indeed what happened, then why nobody except Yarne, Nah and me know about it? I mean, do you really think Nah would accept that he simply put her aside to go with someone else and tell nobody, not even Lucina or her parents, about it? After being the jerk he was?"

"Now that you mentioned," Maggot rubbed his chin thoughtful. "both were missing the night Nikolai was killed, which means they weren't in Ylisse Castle neither in the village. If they're the mysterious animal and the unidentified flying creature, it means they were close to that road near Ever Woods when the crime happened. Few people go there at night, which would explain why nobody knew their location or why they began acting weird in the following days."

"And, as surprising as it may sound, even that intriguing DNA test strengthens my suspicions," Morgan said with a serious tone and looked at the papers Maggot gave her. "The results confirm the fur is fifty percent human genetic material and fifty percent of something we never documented. Yarne is half human and half Taguel and, coincidentally, Taguel DNA is something we DON'T HAVE DOCUMENTED IN OUR ARCHIVES BECAUSE WE NEVER EXTRACTED TAGUEL GENETIC MATERIAL BEFORE! Until Panne appeared, the Taguel were thought to be extinct and since she and Yarne are the presumably the only ones left AND are under the Shepherds guard, we never bothered to collect their DNA."

Maggot silently thought for some seconds before reaching to a conclusion.

"If Mr. Yarne is the mysterious animal seen that night, then it's very likely he's the creature Mr. Henry and Ms. Lucina heard running in Ever Woods, which means…"

"He was nearby when the crime happened, thus turning him a witness," Tick finished for the man.

With a scowl, Morgan nodded, leaned against the chair and crossed her arms again. In the end, Yarne not only lied to her, but also hid being a witness. If he gave his testimony, it could be used to further prove the truthfulness of Lucina's testimony and of the others as well, but instead, he kept everything to him.

The boy lying so shamelessly was very out of his character. He doing something that could be harmful for Lucina was even more out of his character.

What could he be hiding that was worth not helping the princess?

"Everything you said makes sense, boss," Flea weakly turned his face to Morgan. "but, despite how much sense it all makes, we need concrete evidence to prove that, otherwise it won't be accepted in court."

"I know…" Morgan sighed. "I need a way to prove Yarne is the creature and that he was in Ever Woods or I won't be able to summon him. The judge won't be convinced by sightings of an animal that COULD be him or a DNA result that says half of the material found is UNKNOWN. I need something irrefutable."

"Something to connect him to the animal… Let's think…" putting a hand on his chin, Tick turned around and began thinking.

The room was filled with silence as the Elite Trio and their boss began mentally replaying and analyzing everything they knew to find any detail or fact that could connect the young Taguel to the animal seen during the night of the crime.

Well, at least Maggot and Tick were, as both Morgan and Flea were forced to stop thinking when a strong headache, side effect of all the alcohol they ingested the previous night, hit them like a cart filled with rocks.

"Ugh… What am I doing? What's the point of looking for something that connects Yarne to the case anyways?" Morgan internally groaned, burying the face in her hands in sudden irritation and disappointment. "It doesn't matter… If Lucina keeps lying, everything else I discover will be useless. It's very likely that she'll be arrested for forging a false testimony even before I can discover what really happened!"

With the headache now mercilessly torturing her, the young Proxy held her head with both hands and laid it on the table, her left cheek touching the old wood.

"I can't understand why everyone is lying to me! What the hell is Yarne hiding that's worth harming Lucina's case? And what is that girl hiding that's worth all this mess?!" if the Elite Trio wasn't nearby, Morgan would have started to hit her head on the table. "Why is everyone doing it?! I just want to help them, but they keep making my job harder!"

Morgan clenched her fists in frustration and let out a loud, angry sigh.

"How am I supposed to help them if they don't help me?!"

"Simple. Don't help her. Let the princess do whatever she wants, however she wants, as many times she wants. Lucina is an adult. It's her right to do whatever comes to her mind and her obligation to stand the consequences."

Suddenly, Aversa's words echoed in her mind, like trying to make Morgan notice something.

"Stand the consequences…?" for some reason, that part caught the girl's attention much more than all the others.

What was the reason? She didn't know yet, but it surely was a good one because, the more she repeated these words in her mind, the more her brain slowly brought back fragments of the conversation she had with her mother.

"Think a bit, Morgan. Why would the princess be so determined to hide something to the point of lying in court?"

"Well… Considering everything I know about Lucina it may be because she believes 'it's for the greater good and to keep order' like when she lied about being Marth."

"Or…?"

"Or…?" Morgan repeated in loud voice without noticing.

"Huh? My apologies, Madam. I didn't understand you," Maggot asked turning to the girl.

Morgan didn't answer; she didn't even hear Maggot speaking. Her mind was too focused on the memories to notice what was happening around her.

"Madam?"

"The princess may not be convinced or arrogant like most aristocrats or high society people," Aversa's words continued playing in her head. "but she's still a member of the royal family, which means she has a reputation to watch over. In my sincerest opinion, I think the only reason she would lie in court is because…"

"It could seriously damage her image."

"Or maybe she's just embarrassed to admit whatever she did."

"Embarrassed?" Morgan repeated.

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" a segment of what Lucina said the night before suddenly popped up. "THAT WOULD DESTROY MY REPUTATION! THE REPUTATION OF MY FAMILY! IT WOULD CAUSE TROUBLE TO EVERYONE, EVEN TO R…"

"Hurt her reputation…" something tingled in the back of Morgan's head. "She's embarrassed of it, that's why she doesn't want to tell me or her parents to know, but she also said it could hurt her reputation. She's considered practically an angel to everyone, so what could hurt her reputation so much she would fear revealing it?"

"She's giving even more fuel to all the ill rumors about her!" her own words sounded loudly inside her ears.

"The ill rumors? But all bad rumors about her were proven wrong. Unless…"

Light bulb.

"I think the boss had an idea," Tick suddenly commented after noticing Morgan's expression changing from contained anger to incredulous realization.

"I had, and if it's right, I already know what Lucina is hiding. I need proof, though" the girl said with a serious tone then turned to face Maggot. "Can you teleport me somewhere?"

A bit surprised at the sudden request, the oldest man blinked his eyes a few times before shaking his head to recover composure and answered:

"Sure, it wouldn't be a problem," he announced politely, but gave Morgan a curious expression. "And, please forgive my manners, but may I know where and why?"

"Trust me, Maggot," Morgan put a hand on her forehead and shook her head. "If it's what I'm thinking it is, you better see it for yourself."

Training grounds, Ylisse Castle, September 26th, 9:03 AM

If not for Cynthia and Owain constantly shouting their 'trademark moves' names and saying something about warriors, heroes or killing evil beings every minute, that would be a relatively quiet morning in the castle.

Aside from the two already mentioned children, Kjelle, Laurent, Gerome, Inigo and Noire were also there, the first three listening the Archer narrating the previous night and the Wyvern Rider quietly training with his princess.

"I never expected to see her like that again…" Noire lowly said with a voice sadder than her usual. "The last time she got so drunk was after Robin sacrificed himself to kill Grima and we didn't know if he would return."

"Which means she was very upset," Laurent added, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Or angry," Kjelle added, to which everyone worriedly nodded.

"My poor Morgan…" Inigo lowly lamented. "I should be there with her! Why no one told me you were going after her?!"

"Because it wasn't necessary, you dumb," Kjelle huffed at the boy. "Besides, if you wanted so much to go after her, why didn't you just do it instead of lying on the floor like a boneless chicken?"

"It wasn't my intention!" the Mercenary shot back, his cheeks red like Cordelia's hair. "I was going to follow Noire when my legs failed me!"

Indeed, Inigo planned to look for Morgan too, but after hours of fixing the toilet wall (which he still didn't know why he had to do, by the way) his legs simply stopped working when he tried to run after Noire and fell faceplanted on the floor of the Ylissean Court. Fortunately for him, not many people noticed that.

"Maybe it was for the best, though," Kjelle suddenly said with an annoyed expression. "After all she had to go through, the last thing Morgan needed was your philandering."

"Why does everyone think I only want to do that?!" Inigo loudly complained, feeling irritated and slightly offended. "Is it so hard for you guys to understand that I really lo…"

"Excuse me," a voice suddenly cut the conversation, prompting everyone to look at whoever spoke.

It was Lucina; a very worried looking Lucina.

"L-Lucina?" Noire immediately noticed the princess's worried expression and became a bit nervous.

"Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I have to ask…" in hesitation, her voice failed for a moment. "if someone has seen Morgan today. I need to speak with her."

The question made everyone, even Owain and Cynthia, give the princess an awkward look.

"Lucina, not wanting to be rude or inconvenient, but…" the princess's cousin scratched the back of his head nervously. "Wouldn't it be better if…"

"No, it wouldn't," Lucina cut Owain with a serious, stoic tone. "I need to speak with her as soon as possible."

Everyone turned their faces away.

"What's wrong?" the blue-haired girl felt her nerves tensing at her friends' sudden silence.

No words were said for a few moments, filling the training grounds with an uncomfortable silence. In the end, Noire couldn't stand it anymore and decided to tell Lucina what she witnessed the previous night.

"Lucina, after the trial and… you know what," the girl seemed a bit unsure on how to touch that subject. "Morgan went straight to a pub and consumed all the alcohol she could until getting completely drunk."

Lucina gasped in shock.

"When I found her, she barely understood what she was doing," the Archer reluctantly proceeded. "I took her back home and left her in bed. She must be having quite a hangover right now…"

"B-but…! Is she…?! Can Morgan…?!" at a loss of words, Lucina darted her eyes everywhere unsure of what to do. "I have to go see her!"

"You better not."

Everyone looked a bit surprised at Laurent.

"E-excuse me?!" the princess asked incredulous.

Sighing, Laurent adjusted his glasses and explained:

"As much as you're worried about Morgan's condition, visiting her now is a bad idea. If she consumed the amount of alcohol Noire said, then she must be suffering severe side effects. It's very likely that she must be in a very bad mood right now."

Lucina got ready to argue, but Laurent quickly cut her and forced himself to say:

"And I don't think Morgan will speak with you while having a hangover after what happened yesterday."

Lucina immediately flinched. That statement felt like a heated blade cutting through her chest, impaling her heart and roasting it to ashes.

And the worst part was that Laurent was right. If Lucina couldn't forgive herself for what she did, then how, or even worse, why would Morgan do it? Which reason she had to accept Lucina's apologize?

"I… I see…" filled with a feeling of uselessness and a crushing regret, Lucina looked down. "W-well… in this case I will… do something else and… wait for her to… to…"

She couldn't find the words to finish the sentence; just turned around and left with hurried steps. Everyone looked at the leaving princess with pained expressions, knowing how much she blamed herself for what happened. Seeing Lucina so hurt was torturing to them, but in their current situation there was nothing…

"Uh, excuse me," Brady's voice suddenly interrupted everyone's thoughts and made them look at him. "Sorry if I'm interruptin' something important, but have you seen Morgan?"

Raised eyebrows everywhere.

"Uh… Why do you need to speak with her?" Noire asked curious.

"N-nothing important," Brady lied, turning his face away.

Kjelle decided to ignore the clear lie and answered his question.

"No, no one has seen her today. Morgan is home recovering from a hangover and hasn't come yet."

"What?! Is she home?! But why isn't she answerin' mah calls, then?!"

"Which part of 'recovering from a hangover' you didn't get?" the Knight retorted annoyed.

"Man, what a problem! What a hassle!" Brady said exasperated, his voice revealing a faint worry. "I need to know NOW! There's no time to waste!"

With that, he turned around and ran away at full speed, heading somewhere else and leaving a group of confused people behind.

"He isn't heading to Morgan's house, is he?" Kjelle asked grumpy. "Didn't he understand that she is…"

"Hey, guys!" Severa suddenly came from nowhere and approached them. "Have you seen Morgan? I can't find her anywhere!"

Another round of raised eyebrows.

"Uh… No, we didn't see her," Noire said feeling some sweat running down the back of her head. "She's home recovering from a hangover. In truth, we just told this to…"

"Home?! But why isn't she answering my damn calls then?!"

"I've heard this before…" said an annoyed Kjelle.

"Urgh! I can't wait anymore! I need to know NOW!" Severa announced with an irritated tone and ran somewhere else.

The training grounds were filled with an awkward silence of confused people trying to understand what had just happened. Lucina they could understand, but why Brady and Severa also wanted to speak with Morgan so much?

"Why is everyone suddenly so interested in Morgan?" Inigo lowly grumbled, a faint tone of jealousy in his voice.

Somewhere near Aeternum Village, September 26th, 9:22 AM

Using the trunk of a fallen tree as bench, Morgan and Maggot quietly processed the new wave of information they got, each one reacting a different way.

The oldest of the Elite Trio kept a blank stare, looking emotionless at the green hill in front of him for not knowing what else to do. His young boss, on other hand, was clearly much more affected by everything she heard a few minutes ago, covering her face with both hands and feeling a mess of feelings spiraling inside her.

On the good side, her suspicions were proven true and now she not only knew exactly what Lucina was hiding, but also why she was so determined to keep it a secret. On the bad side, her suspicions being proven true also meant the reason was unbelievably RIDICULOUS.

"Since I was hired to be part of the Ylissean Secret Service by your father, I've seen many unusual, hard to believe or weird things," Maggot commented, keeping a blank stare at the green hill. "But, without exaggeration, that was probably the most unexpected thing I've ever heard in any case I worked."

"This… is… overkill…" these were the only things Morgan could mutter to Maggot's commentary.

Once again, both fell in an awkward silence.

"Soooooo…" Maggot tapped his fingers on the left leg and spied Morgan with the corner of his eyes. "Since we already know what Ms. Lucina was doing and why she's hiding it, things should become a bit smoother for you in court, right?"

With a loud sigh, Morgan took both hands from her face and shook her head irritated.

"In theory, yes, it should make my job easier," the girl began with a scowl. "However, even though I already know the truth, I can't use it in court yet."

"Why not?" Maggot asked confused.

"Because Lucina had the 'great' idea of making up a story and claiming it as the truth," Morgan bitterly groaned. "If anyone, even me, HER ATTORNEY, reveals the truth, then her testimony will be proven false and she'll be arrested for forging and using false information in court with total awareness of this. If I plan to use in court what we discovered now, Lucina MUST CONFESS SHE LIED AND TELL THE TRUTH HERSELF."

Morgan sighed and shook her head.

"And, considering what really happened and how determined she's to keep it hidden, I don't think we can simply convince her to spill the beans just because I already know the truth," groaning, she crossed her arms. "Which completely SUCKS, because I need to use THAT to make the rest of the evidence and information I got make some sense!"

"So, unless Ms. Lucina tells what we discovered herself, revealing the truth would result in her arrestment," Maggot concluded thoughtful.

"Yes, and that's the hard part! How make her speak?!"

Thankfully, the effects of all the alcohol Morgan ingested were gone and now she could use her brain to plan something to make Lucina speak without fear of suffering excruciating headaches, although it wasn't making the process any easier.

It was extremely frustrating to have the truth at her hands reach and be completely unable to use it, but until Lucina changed her mind and confessed, that option was completely out of question.

However, despite how frustrated she was at the situation, Morgan could understand why Lucina wanted to keep what she did before going to the festival hidden so much.

Some time ago, a bit before the fall of Grima to be more specific, the Grandmaster's daughter witnessed in first hand a very unpleasant sequence of events that began thanks to ill rumors related to the princess and her personal life that deeply harmed not only her reputation, but of the whole army too. Many months and lots of effort later, all the bad stories and gossips were buried deep in the ground to rot until the end of the world, never to see the light ever again.

But then THAT happened and, unfortunately, could dig up all these stories, restarting the whole emotional and moral mess these days before the Fell Dragon's defeat were.

On top of that, it would happen when the princess was being accused of a crime during the biggest political and economic crisis the Halidom of Ylisse ever faced, which would result in even more popular dissatisfaction. What is that 'political and economic crisis' I mentioned? For now, I can't tell you, as it's another story for another day.

In that moment, what really mattered was how Morgan would find a way to make Lucina tell the truth. She knew it could have ominous effects in the long run and would be extremely harmful for both the princess's image and ego, but keeping it hidden wasn't an option.

Lucina had to tell the truth or she would lose her freedom for only the gods knew how long.

"Madam, may I suggest giving your father a call?" Maggot suddenly asked, making Morgan snap out of her thoughts. "He may give us an idea of what to do. If not him, maybe your mother could."

As tempting as it sounded, Morgan sighed and shook her head negatively.

"Asking father and mother would be a good idea, but I sincerely don't want to bother them with this," she put both legs on the tree trunk and crossed them. "They're in the middle of their honeymoon, a special time between the two. I already felt bad for calling three times this week to bother them with this case and this would be even worse."

Morgan scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

"I mean, this is a very sensitive topic for the two, so I think it would be very unpleasant to hear about it during their trip."

"Uh… Well thought, madam. It wouldn't be a good idea," Maggot awkwardly agreed.

With all this said, they returned to their silence. If asking Robin or Aversa for help wasn't an option, then what could she do? Devising strategies and tactics was something Morgan loved to do anytime she had an opportunity, but due to how risky things were getting, trying to be innovative probably wasn't a safe option.

Maybe she should stick to something her parents had done before; their plans and tactics were already used and confirmed to work, so it was a good point to start.

"Very well, lemme think…" the Proxy tapped a finger on her chin. "What would father and mother do in this situation? Hum… Father would probably get everything he had and speak with Lucina or maybe find a way to use some law or article to tell the truth without hurting her case, but I don't know if I can do it. I don't remember anything in the Ylissean Law Code that could help me now and speaking with Lucina is useless. At least for ME it's useless…" she rolled her eyes. "Now mother… What would mother do? If I'm having problems to make Lucina collaborate then it would be even worse to her. The two don't get along very well and I'm sure mother would…"

"Simple. Don't help her. Let the princess do whatever she wants, however she wants, as many times she wants. Lucina is an adult. It's her right to do whatever comes to her mind and her obligation to stand the consequences."

The words that returned without warning hit Morgan like a chariot, nearly making her fall on her back.

A chariot carrying an idea.

"Uh… Madam? Did something happen?" Maggot asked with a slightly worried face, getting a few inches away from the girl.

For some reason unknown to him, Morgan's eyes suddenly widened and shone a sinister gleam, her face filled with a wide, malicious smile and some of the purple marks of the Shadowgift she inherited from Aversa glowing evilly.

"Oooooh... Yes, Maggot. Something happened," the girl said with a playful tone, turning to face the man. "Until now, Lucina has been very difficult to deal with, but that situation will be reversed."

"What do you mean?" Maggot asked, a bit unsure if he really wanted to know the answer.

"I had an idea," Morgan's smile became wider. "And not only to make Lucina speak, but our little long-eared friend too."

Robin's office, Ylisse Castle, September 26th, 9:46 AM

Quickly entering the office and locking the door, Morgan went straight to her father's chair and began opening drawers, looking for paper and pen. After getting them, she took the paper the man that worked in the clock tower gave her and began transcribing everything to the blank sheet.

With this done, she began to write the other facts she discovered during her investigations and pieces of testimonies that were of her interest.

As a last touch, she added some other 'extras' that would be used later to force a certain 'mysterious animal' to open his mouth and connect the facts together.

Everything finished, she put the pen down and looked at her creation. The result was so beautiful she nearly shed a tear out of pride.

It was the physical incarnation of the most daring, complex and malicious plot against someone she ever made in her whole life.

"Mother would be SOOOOOOOOOO proud!" she silently praised herself.

Carefully folding the paper and putting it in her pocket, Morgan then opened the drawer at her right, looking for something very specific.

"I know father had one here," she muttered to herself. "Where could it be? Aha!"

Having found what she wanted, Morgan victoriously grabbed and hid it inside her coat, giggling evilly in the process. Now that she had everything needed and with Maggot back at the HQ to tell her orders to Tick and Flea, the young Proxy could proceed to the next step of her plan.

By the way, to avoid being bothered by anyone (and because she wanted to stay away from Lucina at all costs for more than one reason), Morgan asked Maggot to teleport her to the corridor closest to Robin's office, so she could get there without anyone noticing.

"Oh, my little friends… you must be boasting yourselves so much for fooling me, but be careful! I discovered everything and I'm more than ready…" a wide, diabolical smile appeared in her face. "To payback. Kya hee hee!"

To celebrate her newly made 'evil' scheme, Morgan happily got up, walked to the bookshelf and took some books from place, revealing a shiny crystal pot filled with chocolates of all sizes and shapes. She eagerly got it, removed the cover and began searching for her favorites.

A bit of search here, a bit of search there, a bit more of search somewhere else… and her smile was replaced by an annoyed frown.

"Come on! Where are the ones filled with cherry liquor?"

Morgan shook the pot a few times, her eyes carefully scanning its inside after her desired sweets. Some insistent shakes later, one small cherry liquor filled bonbon shyly popped among the other chocolates.

"Only one?! What the hell?! It's not possible!" she grabbed the chocolate and frowned her brow. "There should be at least five here! I know it! I remember seeing five when I got some after… leaving… the folder… here…"

The girl stared incredulous at the chocolate in her hand as her mind processed what she said.

Since Morgan discovered the folder's theft the day before, no one, not even herself, entered Robin's office and Chrom ordered guards to keep constant patrols in the area, so there was no way someone came and ate the chocolates during that time. Not only that, but that pot was always kept hidden behind the books and Robin rarely showed it to anyone, turning its location and even its existence unknown to most people.

Even more, the sweets disappeared after she left the folder in the office. If nobody entered there until she arrived, then the chocolates disappeared after Morgan left the folder and when she discovered it was stolen.

In other words, the chocolates probably disappeared at the same time as the folder.

But if the pot's existence was unknown to most people, then how could someone enter and find it without moving anything else out of place?

In her mind, Morgan created the following scene:

Someone, who probably is a professional thief since he or she could unlock the door without leaving trails, entered the office, took the folder, found the pot, took the chocolates and left before anyone noticed. That person apparently knew the location of the folder and the pot, thus barely moving anything and leaving practically no evidence that he or she was there.

Morgan nearly slapped herself for creating such a stupid theory, but that was the only thing she could imagine. After all, if that wasn't what happened, then what had?

Sure, a professional thief that would risk leaving any clue of its presence just for candies was a ludicrous idea. Someone that knew her father's office, on top of that! No one would fit such nonsensical description!

Except…

"No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no! No! Hell no!" Morgan shook her head exasperated, nearly letting the pot and the chocolate in her hands fall. "Calm down, Morgan… You're jumping to conclusions… Don't do that… Control yourself…"

Despite trying her best to shoo the thoughts away, her brain insisted in bringing them back. Morgan felt her hands sweating and the annoying headache returning, this time with much more force than any other time before.

"No! No! It can't be! Stop thinking that!" the girl grumbled angrily to herself, shaking her head violently. "There's no way! It can't be! There's no way it was HIM!"

Or at least, she hoped there was no way.

Meanwhile…

It was a slow day at the store, but her boss insisted someone should stay at the counter if a customer appeared and she ended being the 'lucky' one to do that.

Now, while all her colleagues were at the back of the store doing something, she was standing there without anything to do, watching people on the outside coming and going without stopping neither to look at the showcase.

With a sigh, she closed her eyes and lowly grumbled something impossible to understand.

DING

The sudden sound of the doorbell announced the arrival of a possible customer. Only one person wasn't exactly what she wanted, but was much better than nothing.

Clearing her throat and putting a big smile in her face, she looked at the newcomer and said:

"Welcome! How may I help you?"

Slowly, a tall man of soft features, yellow eyes, refined air and deep black hair that reached his shoulders approached her. He wore very fancy clothes and had a relaxed, although a bit sinister, wide smile in his face. However, what really caught her attention was the black tattoo on his neck that looked like a bird she couldn't recognize.

"Good morning, my good lady," he bowed politely. "I am looking for a very specific product and could not find it in the other stores around here. Since this establishment was nearby, I decided to try my luck here."

"What would it be?" the woman asked casually.

"Something very special," he laughed lowly. "A box of the finest chocolates produced in Valm, using only the most carefully selected ingredients. Where I lived we used to call it by other name, but you probably know it as Black Pearls."

"Ah, you mean the Rosy Black Pearls, the bonbons filled with a mixture of cherry cream, cocoa powder and vanilla extract covered with strawberry liquor?"

"Yes, that is exactly what I was looking for," the man smiled warmly. "Would you have some?"

"Sure! We have boxes with twelve, twenty and thirty bonbons," the woman said, pointing to a stand covered with the sweets.

"Ah… I made a good choice by coming here," the man said satisfied, getting closer to the stand and carefully looking at the chocolates. "I want forty-five boxes of thirty bonbons, please."

The woman nearly fell backwards by the request.

"E-excuse me?! Forty-five?!" she asked incredulous.

"Yes, if possible," the man turned to look at her. "Would that amount be too much for you?"

"N-no! Of course not! We would gladly answer your request!" the woman quickly said, fearing to lose a potential customer. "Just give me a second! I'll get a package to put the boxes!"

"Please, there is no need for that. Some bags are more than enough," the man gently refused.

Although becoming a bit surprised again, the woman decided to just ignore the weird request and got some bags to put the chocolates inside. She went to the pile's side and began to carefully fill the bags with more and more boxes of bonbons.

"You want to ask something. I can see in your eyes," the man suddenly said, once again getting her unprepared.

"Uh…? N-no! Don't worry! I'm okay!"

…

"Huh… to say the truth, you're right. I have a question," she shyly confessed.

"Please, do not keep it for yourself. Feel free to ask," her customer invited.

For a moment, the attendant wondered if she could do it, but he did allow her to ask him what she wanted, so…

"Sorry if my question is invasive, but why do you want so many of these? I mean, they're very expensive, so most people usually buy just one or two at most. Sometimes three."

The man let out a giggle that made a shiver run down her spine.

"To be sincere, they are not for me, my good lady," he smiled widely and a malicious glow appeared in his eyes. "They are a reward for a job well done."

To be continued…

Sometimes I feel a bit bad for putting Morgan in such a complicated situation. I mean, it looks like she can't trust anyone.

First Lucina, then Yarne and now… :p

Well, with this part finished there's only one thing left to do and it's the author note I originally planned to make in the previous chapter and delayed. It's a bit big and I'm slightly tempted to leave it for the next one AGAIN, but I can't keep pushing it forward forever, so let's go!

Author note: some time ago, in chapter 3 to be more specific, when I still commented the reviews, I promised to make Alba from Ace Attorney Investigations and Severa witnesses in the story. Unfortunately, some time after that, I ran into a problem with the plot and was forced to scrap the idea.

What happened? It embarrasses me a lot to say, but while I was writing chapter 5, which is the one when the investigation began, I discovered the plot had a BIG hole.

Like, big enough to fit two Grimas inside.

It was so problematic that I couldn't simply change one or two details to make it work without messing the story even more. Whenever I changed something to make one part of the story work, other two would fall out of place. If I changed something to make one of these other two parts work, then another one (sometimes one I had already fixed before) would start giving me problems.

I'm not good at math and even if I was I wouldn't be able to calculate it, but if I had to guess, probably 60% of the original story had to be changed or scrapped to make things work again.

Yes, 60% of the original concept had to be changed AFTER I started the story. You have no idea how ashamed of myself I was and still am…

I didn't tell anything before because I really wanted to make Alba and Severa appear in the story and was trying to find a way to fit them again, but I couldn't do it and the part they were supposed to appear is approaching, thus why I decided to reveal it now.

There are many other details or things I cut, changed or added, but I see no real need to specify any other than the cancelled testimonies, so I'm saying this mostly to convince myself that it wasn't so bad after all.

It isn't working, by the way… :(

Guys, I'm really, REALLY sorry for this. If I knew it would happen, I wouldn't have promised it before. The good side of that drastic change in the plot is that I fixed lots of problems and found a way to turn the story more intriguing than it originally was, but I still feel bad for not keeping my word.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that my mistake hasn't brought any serious damage for the quality of the story.

To all you, my thanks and sincerest apologies.

See you next time!