May 30

Prosecutor's Office

4:45 PM

Cotoli Morix

It didn't take us too long to get to the Prosecutor's Office after we finished our conversation with Polly. The Prosecutor's Office was nowhere near as chaotic as it had been the past few times I had been there, something for which I was internally thankful. Dealing with the mess that was Blocker Law was bad enough, and this would only add to my stress. I wanted to get in, talk to Prosecutor Daegana, and get out before anything could freak me out even more.

I gestured for Victoria to follow me once we got inside. I started towards the elevator, and she followed me wordlessly. I pressed the button for the proper floor, and we waited for the small room to take us upwards. I didn't say anything, but Victoria didn't seem to like the silence.

"What do you think he'll want to talk to us about?" Victoria questioned. "It must be important, but I don't know what it could be."

"I have no ideas," I admitted. "I wish I knew what this was about, but I have nothing. I don't know what to think at this point. I'm sure he'll explain it soon enough, but I'm going to be eagerly awaiting hearing from him until then."

"We'll have an explanation soon enough, so there's nothing to worry about," Victoria said, trying to be optimistic. I could tell she was worried about what we were going to learn, and I didn't want to add to her fears. There was no need to worry her unnecessarily.

The elevator doors opened, and the gentle hum of the elevator came to an end. I stepped outside after Victoria. She glanced around silently, trying to figure out what direction we should go in. She didn't seem to have a clue, so I took to the front of our little duo. We found the door to Prosecutor Daegana's office, and I stopped in front of it. Victoria halted her walking when she noticed I had.

"Is this it?" Victoria asked, looking up at me with curiosity in her eyes.

"It is," I answered. I reached out one hand, the back of my knuckles gracing the wood gently. I rapped my hand against the door a few times before taking a step back, allowing Prosecutor Daegana to open the door when he so found the time.

Prosecutor Daegana opened the door soon after. He was much shorter than he had been the last time, and his mask was nowhere in sight. This certainly fit with the description we had heard from Lily last time there was a case at the Prosecutor's Office. I hadn't ever doubted that they were lying, but I could see for sure now that it was true without a shadow of a doubt.

"Welcome," Prosecutor Daegana told us, gesturing for us to come inside. There were already two chairs sitting on the other side of his desk, and he walked back behind the table to sit in his own seat. "Sit, please."

We followed his directions. I took the seat to the left, and Victoria sat to my right. We shared a brief glance of concern before looking back to Prosecutor Daegana. My curiosity was more furious than ever before, and I could feel my stomach turn into a knot.

"What is it that you wanted to tell us?" Victoria said hesitantly after the silence hung in the air for a while longer. "If it's enough to make you think we should leave our other case behind to come talk to you, it must be important..."

"It is important, as a matter of fact," Prosecutor Daegana replied. "I have found the truth behind not only my past, but another person's as well. As for if it helps your case... I highly doubt it will do anything in solving this murder. However, it will help you outside of the murder."

"Helping us outside the murder?" I echoed. "I'm afraid I don't understand."

"This will provide an extra fact or two about a person you know very well. Their past has been a mystery up to this point, but it will hopefully all come to light as I explain it here. The two of us... Me and this other person... We are tied tightly against our wills, and I have to explain how we are connected," Prosecutor Daegana replied, intentionally remaining vague. I didn't know why he refused to specify at first, but I realized that he was probably afraid of our reactions to what he was about to say. That was the only explanation I could think of, and that only worried me more.

"Please start from the beginning," Victoria asked him, and I could tell she was getting antsy the longer Prosecutor Daegana danced around the truth. She fidgeted in her seat, biting firmly against her lip.

"Of course," Prosecutor Daegana answered. "My name is not Elec Daegana by birth. In truth, I come from a different world entirely... A world that is largely unseen by most people. It is incredibly dangerous to be involved with, I'm afraid, which is how it stayed away from most people."

"Danger... How is it so dangerous?" Victoria questioned, her words barely making their way out of her clamped lips. Her anxiety was becoming clearer, and I couldn't blame her for being afraid. In fact, I felt the same way, no matter how much I tried to hide it.

Prosecutor Daegana hesitated, as if trying to find the words to explain what was happening. He let out a small sigh. "In truth, I was born as Eric Lewis Elliot Cambell. I had a twin brother once, long ago. His name was Antonio Theodore Cambell, though the members of my family knew him by a different name... Anton," he finally said. "It's the very same Anton that you know well, the same one who works here and is involved with this case as an assistant to the prosecution. He's Prosecutor Burke's adopted son."

"Anton... What happened with you two?" Victoria inquired, her voice only growing with intensity as the seconds ticked by.

"The Cambell family was known, many years ago, for being involved with an underground drug ring. Our parents and relatives provided drugs to be distributed and sold all over the country. Anton and I were too young to be involved with such fully, though we were used to send messages since none would suspect a young child to be involved with an underground drug ring," Prosecutor Daegana went on. "We were forced into it by our family, and I did my best to forget about it all. Anton actually forgot about it, and I cannot help but be jealous of such... I remember it all too well."

"I never heard about this... I mean, I know there are people who sell and produce drugs illegally, but I didn't know any details. Those exist back home as well, though I get the feeling they are different from how things operate here," Victoria frowned.

"It was not a pleasant thing to be involved with. It was no way to be raised. It focused on playing off the innocence of childhood to commit horrible acts... Between the two of us, I believe some people who had tried to investigate the ring were killed since they got in too deep. I have no official confirmation of such, but I can put the pieces together well enough," Prosecutor Daegana explained. His voice was detached, and it was as if he was giving a simple explanation of evidence rather than giving a full story of his past trauma.

"Murder..." was the only word Victoria could manage to get out. She continued to shift in her seat, staring emptily at the wood on the corner of Prosecutor Daegana's desk. She couldn't seem to figure out a way to approach this subject without making him uncomfortable, so she remained silent and waited for him to speak first.

Luckily for her, he did. "I don't remember what happened exactly back in those days. Everything is a blur now, and I don't want to make any mistakes in my recounting of the incidents... All I know is that the police showed up at one point. Our parents began to panic, and they shoved us and all they could into the car. We were used to running from the government, but this time was different... I could tell something was wrong. Everything seemed to be going wrong in the blink of an eye," Prosecutor Daegana murmured.

"What happened?" I asked, keeping my voice gentle. I hoped he got the message I was trying to get across silently. He could tell us everything without us judging him. We wouldn't hate him at all, and if he needed to take his time to try and relax to prevent stress, he was fully able to do so. I watched him with tender eyes, waiting to see a shift in his behavior, no matter how small it was.

"We were driving way too fast... It was nighttime. This memory is both hazy and crisp at the same time. I can't say for sure, but if I had to guess, I would say that I imagined some of it in nightmares after the fact. Regardless, the general gist of it stays the same, and it should tell you all that you truly need to know," Prosecutor Daegana started. I could tell he was only getting more anxious now, and I felt a pang of pity for him deep down.

Victoria and I shared a brief glance, unsure of what to say. Both of us could tell that he was about to say something bad happened, though we didn't know exactly what it would be. The knot in my stomach only got larger, tying itself over and over again until I thought the tension in my core was enough to make me burst. Such is the way of anxiety, it seems.

"The car suddenly slammed into a tree. The tree broke near the base, and the trunk came down on the car. Our parents died as soon as we made impact, and the tree nearly cut the car in half. It went through the roof, and if it had been any thicker, it would have hurt me and Anton severely. However... We got lucky. We were able to escape it, and we survived by some incredible miracle," Prosecutor Daegana continued after a deep, heavy pause.

"I'm glad that you were safe," I murmured, unsure of what else to say. If his parents had truly been involved with trafficking illegal drugs and killing people who got too close to finding the truth... They were much more guilty than he could ever think of being. I didn't know how else to think of it. I didn't want to step over any lines by saying that their parents deserved to die, so I kept my thoughts on such to myself. Regardless, I knew for sure that Prosecutor Daegana and Anton were innocent, far too young to be responsible for committing such heinous acts. They were forced into it against their wills, and they could not realistically be blamed for what they were pressed to do. They deserved lives outside of what they were forced into.

"I don't remember much after the tree came crashing down. There were sirens all around us, and I saw blue and red flashing lights just before I passed out. When I came to, I was in a local hospital, and I was told that my parents had been killed. I don't even know how old I was at the time since I tried to block out everything to do with the drug ring," Prosecutor Daegana continued. "However, I know for sure that Anton was not present. He disappeared, though nobody knew what could have happened to him after the car crash. He wasn't in the vehicle when the police got inside it."

"What happened next?" Victoria asked gently, biting down onto her lip again. She was gripping the edges of her seat tightly, leaning forward as if that would get her to hear the story faster. Concern and worry were clear on her features, and I got the feeling she wanted nothing more than to rush forward and pull Prosecutor Daegana into the biggest hug known to man.

"I was taken in by my mentor soon after. Everyone claimed I was innocent and too young to know anything, and... In a way, they were right. I blocked out as much as I could about the past, and it wasn't until I was older that I started to push through the trauma and remember. I was released without any issues, and he started training me to become a prosecutor. I wanted to follow in his footsteps to thank him for all he had done for me leading up to that point. I was hired at the Prosecutor's Office as soon as I was old enough to work there thanks to his influences getting me the job. I met Anton there, but I didn't realize he was my brother due to how hazy my memory of the past was. I could barely remember that I had a brother, and even if I did know that clearly, his name was different. Plus, we had both grown up a lot. I couldn't put the pieces together up until recently since my mind was working against me," Prosecutor Daegana went on.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through all that... I couldn't imagine dealing with all of that from such a young age," Victoria murmured, her grip tightening around the seat of the chair. "I'm glad that you're here now. You survived it. You came out on the other side alive and ready to make a different path for yourself. Not everyone can do that, you know... I'm proud of you for doing such despite how awful your past was."

Prosecutor Daegana flushed at the sudden attention, and he looked down at his feet. "Thank you for saying such... I truly do appreciate it," he murmured. He looked ready to curl up into a ball and hide under his desk until he was finished with his moment of embarrassment. I couldn't exactly blame him for such, as I had always behaved just the same way.

"I do have to ask though..." I began cautiously, not wanting to probe Elec too much. "What happened to Anton after you two split up? Were you able to find that much out? If you couldn't, then that's alright as well since I know this was probably hard to find out more about, but... I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you have anything else to tell us, we're happy to hear it. We don't want you to hold in too much of this since you have clearly been doing that for more than long enough as it is."

"I wasn't aware of what happened to him up until recently. I started doing serious digging after the previous murder at the Prosecutor's Office. I hadn't wanted to do it sooner out of fear of what I would find, but I finally set that aside after what happened to your coworker," Prosecutor Daegana began. "As for what happened... After the car crash, he got amnesia. He forgot everything we had been through, and he practically disappeared off the map."

"And yet, despite going missing, he somehow managed to wind up with Polly," I murmured. "Do you have any ideas on how that happened, or are you just as clueless as the rest of us with that?"

"Surely you must have heard how the two of them yet, yes?" Victoria asked, turning her attention towards me.

I nodded slowly. "She did tell me the story at one point. She said that she had been walking through the woods on an investigation when she found him wandering around alone. He was badly bruised and didn't seem to remember anything. He passed out soon after she found him, so she took him to the hospital. When he got there, nobody knew what had happened to him. It was a mystery nobody knew how to solve. In the end, Anton remembered one thing from his past, which was what he thought was his name. However, if Prosecutor Daegana is telling the truth, this was only part of what his full name once was. He started to go by Anton, and Polly took him under her wing since he didn't have anywhere else to go. As for how he wound up in the woods like that, nobody knew for sure. Anton himself didn't even have a clue," I explained.

"After the car crash, he likely woke up in distress and tried to find a way to get out of the car. He was confused and without memories, so he didn't know better. He wound up squeezing his way out, unaware that his parents were dead so close by, and sneaking away before the police went into the car to see if there were any survivors. After that, he started wandering around, which was probably when Prosecutor Burke found him and took him in," Prosecutor Daegana went on.

"They met under complete chance, and yet, if they hadn't run into each other, poor Anton would have been in a lot of trouble due to his injuries," Victoria murmured. "I'm glad that they found one another. I think they get along rather well, and I don't even want to imagine what would have happened to him if Prosecutor Burke hadn't found him when she did. He really did get lucky that night..."

"All of that happened back before I met the two of them. I asked about it later on, and Polly told me that story. She said that she felt a connection with him after taking him to the hospital, which was why she wanted to protect him in the first place. In the end, that connection led to her adopting him when she got the chance," I told her.

"Speaking of Prosecutor Burke, I haven't the slightest idea how she is going to react to hearing about this... After she returns from the detention center, I will be able to tell her the truth about where Anton came from, but I'm not entirely sure she'll want to hear it given how awful his past was. Plus, she'll be learning that her adopted son is my twin, which is undoubtedly going to unsettle her a little bit," Prosecutor Daegana said, cringing slightly at the thought of her potential outburst at hearing such a story.

"I don't think she'll behave unreasonably. She's a nice person, and if she thinks that you need to be taken in, she'd be happy to help you out. I mean, she already did a lot for Anton, and she wouldn't mind doing the same for you, especially now that your mentor has passed away," I told him. "I've been dating her for a long time, and she's nothing but nice to children like Anton... Well, I say children even if he's technically eighteen now, but... Oh, well. You know what I mean. The point is that she would be happy to help you if you said that you needed it. I would also be glad to do everything I had to if it would ensure that your future will be bright."

Prosecutor Daegana stared at me for a moment. "You... You would really do that?" he asked. His eyes were as wide as saucers, and with how pale his face had gotten with shock, I halfway expected him to fall over unconscious.

I nodded. "Of course. I'm not the type of person that can resist others in need. Besides, you've done so much to help us out in the past with the two most recent murders here at the Prosecutor's Office. I feel like taking you in when you need some help is the least I could do, truly. However, if you decide that you don't want to do such a thing, that's alright as well. I'll leave the choice up to you since I don't want to force you into anything," I said.

Prosecutor Daegana's face went from being a pale shade to bright pink in a matter of seconds. He looked away from both me and Victoria, his cheeks very clearly flushed from embarrassment. He stumbled over his words for a minute or two before finally managing to spit out a phrase. "I would like it if you and Prosecutor Burke took me in," he told me. "It's been so long since I've actually had someone to live with, not since before my mentor passed away. I want to get to know my brother after being apart from him for so many years, even if he doesn't know that I exist. If you don't mind... I would love to take you up on your offer."

I smiled brightly in response. "There's nothing wrong with that at all. In fact, we would be delighted to have you in our lives. After this case ends, I'll be sure to talk it over with her. I know that you're eighteen now, given that you're the same age as Anton and all, which means that I don't know if we can fully adopt you, but we would be happy to take you in as if you were our child," I replied.

Prosecutor Daegana looked down and away, though I could still tell that his eyes were lit up like a pair of radiant stars. "Thank you so much for all of this. I don't know if I could ever begin to tell you how much this means to me," he said softly.

"You don't need to tell me. I can already detect how you're feeling," I assured him. "For now, I think you should try to relax. You've clearly been busy with researching if you were able to find out so much about the past that you tried so hard to forget. Plus, you figured out what happened to Anton after the car crash, which was undoubtedly no easy feat."

"Yeah... It was a lot of work," Prosecutor Daegana admitted. "I'll be right here for the rest of the day, though I won't be doing too much in the way of paperwork, so if you decide that you need to talk to me about anything else, feel free to come right in."

"Thank you for the offer. I'm not entirely sure if we'll need to take you up on it, but we appreciate it regardless," I smiled. "Don't feel the need to stick around here just for us though. I know that you probably have other business to attend to, and if you wish to leave us to manage that first, we completely understand."

"I don't mind it at all," Prosecutor Daegana shrugged. "Don't worry about me. I'll head home soon enough. I'm not going to tire myself out after all I've done so far, so you don't need to concern yourselves with that at all. Focus on finishing up your investigation. I know that you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow."

"We do, as a matter of fact," I nodded. "Thank you so much for inviting us here to talk to us. I know that it must have taken a lot of nerve to call us over here to explain all of that given how rooted in trauma it is for you. You went to great lengths to find out about Anton as well. I don't think I could ever begin to express my thankfulness to you, Prosecutor Daegana. If you need anything else until I can talk to Polly, all you need to do is call me. I'm happy to do what I can to assist you. It's the least I can do after all you did for us by explaining the past."

"It was no problem," Prosecutor Daegana assured me. "You really don't need to worry about it at all. I told you because I thought it would be the best idea. I don't think you owe me anything in exchange for receiving such information. It's really a fair trade. Plus, you're going to get Prosecutor Burke out of prison, and if all goes well, she's going to take me in. If you ask me, this works out perfectly. I helped you out by telling you about what happened to me and Anton, and you're helping me by defending her in court."

"I guess everything really did work out in the end. I'm happy to hear that," Victoria smiled. "Even if this didn't do much to help us in finding the truth behind the murder, I think that's okay. This was important to learn about, and we had to hear it someday."

"I agree. It was only a matter of time before we learned the truth, but I would much rather hear it sooner over later. We greatly appreciate all that you've done for us, Prosecutor Daegana," I told him, a warm smile slowly spreading across my face.

Prosecutor Daegana hesitated before shaking his head. "You don't need to call me that. Please... Call me Elec," he said. "If you and Prosecutor Burke are really going to be taking me under your wing, you shouldn't need to refer to me by any title. Simply my name will do well."

My grin only seemed to widen at his words. "Alright then... Thank you for everything, Elec. We're going to do all that we can to get Polly out of the detention center as soon as possible for your sake and everyone else's. That much I can promise you," I told him.

"I know you will," Elec smiled lightly. "Until then, you have an investigation to attend to, and I don't want to hold you up any longer than I already have. You should go and see about what your next step is going to be. Plus, if I recall correctly, you still need to speak with the other members of your agency about what they might have found in their time researching."

My smile slipped away as I realized he was right. "That's true... And they still haven't contacted us to say that they've learned anything. How unfortunate," I murmured. "What could possibly be taking so long? Maybe they hit a roadblock in their research... Even so, I would have expected at least one message from Chrysalis about their progress up to this point, regardless of if they've found anything significant or not. The fact that we haven't heard anything is concerning."

"I want to know what's going on too," Victoria frowned. "It really is odd that we haven't heard anything from them. Maybe we should just go back to see them now, just in case they need our help with finding the truth. We shouldn't leave them out to dry like this."

"Even if you think that would be best, you have to remember that you still have an investigation to finish before you can go to ask them about it. What if the witness is gone by the time that you're finished talking with them? I doubt your conversation back at the agency will be a short one," Elec pointed out. "Maybe you should finish all your other business first and then go to see what they are up to. That gives them more time to figure out what is happening, which will hopefully lead to greater results in the long run."

As much as I hated to admit it, he had a point. Judging by the heavy frown that had appeared on Victoria's face, she had realized that he was right as well. Hesitantly, I nodded. "You're right... Speaking of, we should probably go and make sure that Ms. Quell is still down at the crime scene. We certainly have quite a bit to ask her about before the trial continues tomorrow, and we'll be at a disadvantage if we miss her somehow," I said, though I wanted nothing more in that moment than to go back to the agency and hear everything that our coworkers had found. That wasn't exactly an option if we wanted to get as much information as possible, but I was starting to get desperately curious. Hopefully, if I focused on the other aspects of the investigation, I would stop thinking about it as much, though I somehow doubted that was going to ring true in this circumstance.

"Good luck out there," Elec said. He waved as Victoria and I scooted our chairs back to rise to our feet.

"Thank you again for everything!" Victoria chirped as she walked for the door. She opened it and stepped out into the hallway, holding it open for me.

"It really does mean a lot to us," I smiled to Elec once again. We exchanged one final set of waves before I followed Victoria out into the hall, and the door softly clicked shut behind us.

I turned my attention towards Victoria and let out a small sigh. "Well, our next step seems clear as can be. We have to go and find Ms. Quell. I hope she's at the scene of the crime, though I somehow doubt she would be anywhere else given how important she is as a witness," I told her.

Victoria nodded. "Yes, I agree. We don't have a moment to lose," she said.

I started off down the hallway once again, Victoria trailing a few feet behind me. I couldn't stop thinking about what Elec had said, and I wanted the case to be over now more than ever for his sake. I wanted to wait until after Polly was out of the detention center to ask her about taking him in, but part of me already knew that we would be getting another little one in our home soon enough.


This update acted super weird when I posted it so here's a rerelease

-Digital