I hope you guys enjoyed the last chapter. It wasn't easy thinking of a court case so if it's lame…I'm sorry. Anyways, here is part 2 of the court case.

Phoenix walked out of the courtroom and into the defendant lobby after the recess was called. Jonathan was then led out by the guard.

"Jonathan, were you anywhere near Blue Mountain during Pearl's kidnapping?"

"No, I was at the Fey Manor. I don't know how anyone could have seen me there."

"Hmmm…do you have any siblings that look like you?"

"…one, but he's…not around anymore."

"Was he killed or something?"

"No, he just disappeared one day, without any warning."

"Hmmm…I fear he may be back then."

Before Jonathan could respond, the guard came back out and told Phoenix that the recess was almost over. Sighing, Phoenix walked back into the courtroom, hoping Pearl and Trucy were okay.

(In an unknown location) "Uhh…my head…where…where am I?" Looking around, Trucy could only see walls of rock around her, but a bright light shone at the end of the tunnel. (pun not intended) Moving her arms, she noticed that they were tied to a nook in the wall, but her legs were free. Pulling hard against the rope, she noticed that it was pretty loose, like someone carelessly tied her up. Shaking her arm in rhythmically, while pulling, Trucy was able to barely get out of the knot of the rope. Running to the entrance of the cave, Trucy dashed outside, to see she was on top of a mountain, with Kurain Village barely in sight to the east. Knowing help was near, Trucy sprinted as fast as she could.

The usual chatting of the court was quelled when the judge slammed down his gavel. "Court is now back in session. Prosecutor Lortimor, have you prepared your witness?"

"Yes your honor. The prosecution calls Christian Lumarta to the stand."

Phoenix noticed a brown-haired, freckled teenager walk into the courtroom.

The judge looked at Christian and said, "Mr. Lumarta, I understand that you saw the kidnapping of Pearl Fey at the base of Blue Mountain, am I correct?"

"Yes, your honor. It is correct."

"Very well, you will testify to the court about what you saw."

"I was walking down the path near Blue Mountain. I heard a murder took place long ago and I wasn't scared at all. Hearing a scream, I looked to the right and saw the defendant put a cloth on the face of a blonde haired girl. Before I could make a move, the defendant picked her up and carried her off."

"Hmm…I see. Very well, you may cross-examine the witness Mr. Wright."

"I was walking down the path near Blue Mountain—"

"Hold it! Why did you go down there to begin with?"

"I'm a photographer and I heard there were some great views there. I just had to take some pictures."

"Even though the area was prohibited to enter?"

"Yep, you got a problem with that?"

"…no. Please continue."

I heard a murder took place long ago and I wasn't sacared at all, hearing a scream, I looked to the right and saw the defendant—""

"Hold it! Are you sure you saw the defendant?"

"Yes I am, looked exactly like him. He's even wearing the same clothes today as he was then."

"Hmmm…Mr. Wright, was this important?"

"…no your honor."

"Very well, please continue witness."

"I saw the defendant put a cloth on the face of a blonde haired girl—"

"OBJECTION! Mr. Lumarta, are you sure you saw the kidnapping?"

"Wha…what kind of question is that? Of course I saw it."

Shaking his head, Phoenix glared at the witness. "Yet, you made a very critical mistake."

"What's that?"

"The hair color, naturally."

"Hair color?"

"That's right, Pearl, the victim, is brown-haired, not a blonde!"

"N—NOOOO!"

The court erupted as people were saying that the witness was a fake.

Slamming his gavel, the judge looked at Christian. "Mr. Lumarta, how could you have mistaken the victim's hair color?"

"Uh…I…I'm sorry. You see, I sometimes make mistakes while speaking. I say one thing but mean the other. Please, let me testify once more."

"…very well. Mr. Lumarta, please revise your testimony."

"I did see the kidnapping! The defendant put a cloth on the face of the brown-haired girl. The girl fought back, scratching and clawing. However, the defendant overpowered her and flung her on his shoulders, knocking her shoes to the ground."

"Hmmm…your testimony has relatively remained unchanged. Mr. Wright, continue with your cross-examination."

"I did see the kidnapping! The defendant put a cloth on the face of the brown-haired girl. The girl fought back, scratching and clawing—"

"OBJECTION! Your honor, Pearl didn't fight back, if the kidnapper was my client."

"What do you mean Mr. Wright?"

"If Pearl 'fought back, scratching and clawing' we would see scratch marks all over my client. However, there aren't any! How do you explain that Mr. Lumarta?"

"Easy, she didn't scratch him that hard. The cloth obviously had a drug on it that caused her to fall asleep, therefore she didn't have the strength to scratch him hard enough to leave a mark."

"But…uh…I can't think of anything."

"Mr. Lumarta, please continue."

"However, the defendant overpowered her and flung her on his shoulders, knocking her shoes to the—"

"OBJECTION!" Phoenix took out Pearl's sandal and placed it on his desk. "Mr. Lumarta, there is another error in your testimony."

"What's that? Another weak outburst from a weak lawyer?"

"Mr. Lumarta, you testified that Pearl's 'shoes' were knocked to the ground."

"Yeah, so?"

"These SANDALS in front of me belong to the victim. They were found near a blueberry patch. Pearl always wears these, therefore Pearl couldn't have been wearing shoes when she was kidnapped! She was wearing sandals!"

"What?! How is that possible?"

"Mr. Lumarta, you've been lying to the court!"

"OBJECTION!" Prosecutor Lortimor looked at Phoenix. "The witness might have said shoes in general. He didn't bother to say sandals!"

"OBJECTION! In a court of law, the witness has to be very specific, including the things on the victim's feet!"

"OBJECTION! The witness didn't know about all the rules, so he didn't know he was breaking any!"

"OBJECTION! It was your job to tell him all the rules! That is what you were supposed to do when preparing him!"

"Urk…" Lortimor started sweating profusely and looked down.

"Good job Nick! Looks like Lortimor isn't doing so well!"

The judge banged his gavel. "Prosecutor Lortimor! You have neglected your duties while preparing this witness! I will be forced to penalize you!"

"Um…your honor?"

"What is it Mr. Lumarta?"

"I remember something I completely forgot about before. You see, after the defendant knocked the victim unconscious…I followed him."

"You…followed him?"

"Yes…for a ways until I lost track of him."

"Very well, you may testify once more."

"After the defendant picked up the victim, I followed him for a while, until I got to a waterfall. I couldn't find him and the only other thing I saw was a cave, but he couldn't have gotten there, so I went back."

"Hmmm…why couldn't the defendant have gotten to that cave though?"

"The waterfall itself blocked him. The rock wall was too high for him to climb it, so I figured he couldn't have gotten there."

"Hmmm…Mr. Wright, you may begin your cross-examination."

Cross-examine what? His testimony is pretty solid.

"You can do it Nick! I believe in you!"

"After the defendant picked up the victim, I followed him for a while—"

"Hold it! How far did you follow him?"

"I was just about to get to that point, Mr. Lawyer, so be patient."

"I followed him for a while, until I got to a waterfall."

"Hold it! About how many minutes did you follow him until you got to the waterfall?"

"Hmmm…about five minutes."

"Nick, that's impossible. It's about a twenty minute hike to get from Blue Mountain to the waterfall."

"OBJECTION! Your honor, the witness is lying."

"How so Mr. Wright?"

"My assistant, who lives in Kurain Village, says it takes twenty minutes to get to the waterfall from Blue Mountain. However, the witness said it took five minutes! Clearly, a contradiction!"

"Indeed Mr. Wright. Mr. Lumarta, why did you lie in your testimony!?"

"Uh…urk…I…promised that I wouldn't tell."

Phoenix quizzically looked at Christian. "Who made you promise that?"

"Uh…this…creepy looking lady…the real kidnapper."

The crowd burst into a frenzy, calling Christian a fraud and a weak person. The judge had to bang on his gavel several times to get the court to settle down. "Mr. Lumarta, why did she make you promise that?"

"She said…she said she has powerful friends in high places. If I told, my life would be put in danger…"

"Wha…WHAAAT?" Phoenix yelled.

The crowd burst into another frenzy. This time, however, the judge could not calm them down, so he postponed the trial to the next day. Meanwhile, Christian Lumarta was placed under protective custody and sent to a fairly comfortable cell in the detention center.

Thanks everyone for reading. As you can tell, there will be another court trial, but not in the next chapter. Please don't forget to review.